NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Rashtriya Puruskar Portal Launched by Union Government: Union Government
has launched Rashtriya Puruskar Portal to bring together all the awards of the
various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Government of India. The
Rashtriya Puruskar Portal will make sure that all the awards are under one
platform to ensure transparency and public partnership or Jan Bhagidari. The
portal allows every citizen and organization to nominate individuals and
organizations for various categories of Awards instituted by the Government of
India.
Rashtriya Puruskar Portal is the first of
its kind in the history of India to provide information about all awards to the
public on a single digital platform. The information includes criteria,
selection procedure, and details of past awardees. The portal is very simple
and user-friendly which enables all citizens of India and various organizations
to interact with it and nominate individuals and organizations. The last date
for nominations for the Padma Shri Award is 15th September 2022, for the
National Award for Excellence in Forestry is 30th September 2022, and for the
Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puruskar 2023, the last date is 31st
August 2022.
2.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched ‘Vidya Rath – School on Wheels’ project: Assam Chief
Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched the ‘Vidya Rath -School on Wheels’
project. This project aims at providing economically challenged underprivileged
children to access elementary education for a period of 10 months. The project
was launched at a function held at the premises of Gauhati High Court in Assam.
Vidya Rath-School project:
a)
The
Vidya Rath-School on Wheels will reportedly provide access to elementary
education to underprivileged children for 10 months. After 10 months, the
children will be integrated into the conventional system of education.
b)
Children
will be provided with uniforms and textbooks and free-mid day meals under the
project. Students will be provided free mid-day meals, uniforms and textbooks
under the project.
c)
The
stakeholders involved in the project are the Government of Assam, Assam State
Legal Services Authority, Guwahati High Court Legal Services Committee,
District Legal Services Authority Kamrup (Metro), Assam State Transport
Corporation, and Assam Sarba Siksha Mission, GMDA, and several NGOs.
Note: Assam Capital: Dispur; Assam Chief
Minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma; Assam Governor: Prof Jagdish Mukhi.
3.
Punjab & Haryana agree to be name Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh: The Punjab and
Haryana governments have agreed to name the Chandigarh International Airport in
Mohali after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The decision was taken during a meeting
between Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann & Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala. The
Punjab government has already declared a state holiday on March 23, the
martyrdom day of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. The Rs 485-crore
airport project is a joint venture of the Airports Authority of India (AAI),
the governments of Punjab and Haryana. The Punjab government in 2017 had
demanded that the airport should be named as “Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Shaheed
Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali”. In 2016, the Haryana Assembly
unanimously passed a resolution to name Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh.
4.
Super Vasuki: Indian Railways longest freight train: The Indian
Railways conducted a test run of its latest train called Super Vasuki. The
Super Vasuki is operated by the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone of the
Indian Railways. The SECR ran the record long-haul freight trains Vasuki and
Trishul last year and the 2.8 km long SheshNaag train before that. The Super
Vasuki was set up by amalgamating five rakes of goods trains as one unit. Super
Vasuki:
a)
The
freight train is 3.5 km long.
b)
During
the test run, the train had six locos, 295 wagons and of 25,962 tonnes gross
weight, making it the longest and heaviest freight train ever run by the
Railways.
c)
The
train was formed by amalgamating five rakes of goods trains as one unit.
d)
The
amount of coal carried by Super Vasuki is enough to fire 3000 MW of power plant
for one full day, according to officials. This is three times the capacity of
existing railway rakes (90 cars with 100 tonnes in each) which carries about
9,000 tonnes of coal in one journey.
e)
The
train took 11.20 hours to cover a distance of 267 km.
5.
Geothermal energy to be used to supply energy to Ladakh: At 14,000 feet in
Ladakh, ONGC is getting ready to pump geothermal energy. State-run explorer
ONGC has set out on a mission to harness the steam streaming from the earth’s
core at Puga, a lonely valley off the road to Chumar on the de facto boundary
with China, at a height of more than 14,000 feet. In India, geothermal energy
is nothing new. The Indian government first provided a report on the nation’s
geothermal hotspots in 1973. This occurred after shallow drilling exploration
by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) revealed prospective hot spring and
geothermal areas. According to estimates, India has the ability to produce 10
gigawatts of geothermal energy.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Internaut Day: 23rd August: Internaut Day is being celebrated around the world to
mark the invention of the World Wide Web. An “internaut” is a person who
possesses a thorough knowledge of how to use the Internet and its history.
August 23 marks the day when the World Wide Web was opened to the public back
in the year 1991 for the first time by WWW inventor Tim Berners Lee as he
allowed its access, CERN announced that the internet would be free to everyone
and there would be no fee for its use.
2.
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition:
23rd August:
The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
is an international day celebrated on August 23 of each year. The day was
chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade. The theme for this year
is ‘Decolonisation.’ The fundamental right to self-determination is identified
by the United Nations as core to decolonization, allowing not only independence,
but also other ways of decolonization.
International Day for the
Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition History: On the night of 22
to 23 August 1791, in Saint Domingue, today the Republic of Haiti, saw the
beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of
the transatlantic slave trade. It is against this background that the
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is
commemorated on 23 August each year. It was first celebrated in a number of
countries, in particular in Haiti (23 August 1998) and Gorée Island in Senegal
(23 August 1999).
Note: UNESCO Founded: 16 November 1945;
UNESCO Headquarters: Paris, France; UNESCO Members: 193 countries; UNESCO Head:
Audrey Azoulay.
3.
World Water Week: 23rd August to 1st September: World Water Week
2022 takes place from 23 August to 1 September. The World Water Week is an
annual event organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) since
1991 to address the global water issues and related concerns of international
development. The theme of the 2022 World Water Week is: “Seeing the unseen: The
value of water”, which helps us view water in new and fascinating ways.
World Water Week is a community of
changemakers who collaborate on solutions to the world’s greatest water-related
challenges. Here you can test your ideas, learn from peers in other countries,
and share your knowledge. The Week is also a meeting place to accelerate
progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and other international
processes. This year’s World Water Week is an important milestone on the way
the UN 2023 Water Conference.
Note: SIWI Executive Director: Torgny
Holmgren; SIWI Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden; SIWI Founded: 1991.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
FTX Crypto Cup: R Praggnanandhaa defeated world chess champion Magnus Carlsen: Indian chess
master Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has defeated world champion, Magnus Carlsen,
in the FTX Crypto Cup in Miami, an international chess Championship.
Praggnanandhaa’s winning run came to an end at the hands of China’s Quang Liem
Le in the fifth round. He suffered his second loss after he went down to
Poland’s Jan-Krzystof Duda via the tie-break in the sixth round.
Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen for
the third time in a year. Praggnanandhaa earned his first victory against the
world champion, when he was 16 in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters, an
online rapid chess tournament last February. His second victory against Carlsen
came on May 20, when he stunned the Norwegian champion at the Chessable Masters
online rapid chess tournament.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
Castler tie-up with Yes Bank for digital escrow services: Global escrow
banking solution provider, Castler has partnered with Yes Bank to offer digital
escrow services for the bank’s customers. The firm is a global digital escrow
platform for individuals and enterprises, offering domestic and cross-border
escrow solutions.
Through this partnership, both are in pole
position to dominate the Enterprise Escrow Banking space and digitally
democratise the product for easy adoption amongst its varied customer base.
Escrow banking is generally quite complex and Castler with its unique digital
offering has demonstrated that technology and innovation can provide solutions
to even the most complex requirements.
Note: Yes Bank Founded: 2004; Yes Bank
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra; Yes Bank MD & CEO: Prashant Kumar; Yes
Bank Tagline: Experience our Expertise.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
Indians Remitted $6 Billion Q1 Of FY23 Under LRS Scheme: Outward
remittances under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) liberalised remittance
scheme (LRS) made a strong comeback in the first quarter of FY23 as Indians
increased spending on international travel, maintenance of close relatives, and
gifts. The latest data for Q1-FY23 released by the RBI shows that remittance by
Indians under the scheme jumped 64.75 per cent to over $6.04 billion from $3.67
billion in Q1FY22. The amount remitted in Q1FY23 is even higher than that in
Q4FY22, where outward remittance under LRS was to the tune of $5.8 billion.
Sector-Wise Contributions: International
travel contributed $2.92 billion of the $6.04 billion remitted under LRS in
Q1FY23, thus constituting almost 48 per cent of the money remitted under the
LRS scheme. In the same period a year ago, Indians spent $856.43 million on
international travel as Covid-19 restrictions around the world slowed down
international travel.
DEFENCE
1.
Govt Grants Permission to Defence Forces to Buy Emergency Weapons through Make
in India:
Taking a major step towards strengthening the Indian defence forces, the Centre
has allowed them to purchase critical weapon systems for their operational
requirements through an emergency procurement route. The approval was given in
a meeting of the Defence Ministry which was headed by Defence Minister Rajnath
Singh. It is pertinent to note that the defence forces have extensively used
the emergency procurement powers in the past and further strengthened their
preparedness through these acquisitions. Also, by utilising the power in
different phases, they had equipped themselves with the necessary weaponry to
handle any conflict or aggression by enemies on both sides.
Equipment purchased through
emergency acquisition powers recently:
a)
The
heavy-duty military equipment acquired by the forces in the past, the Indian
Air Force, as well as the Indian Army, had used these powers to receive ‘Heron’
unmanned aerial vehicles and also small arms such as the Sig Sauer assault
rifles. The aerial vehicles have now been deployed for surveillance in Ladakh
as well as in the northeast for keeping an eye on Chinese activities.
b)
In
addition to that, the forces have also got missiles that can hit ground targets
from long ranges. The Rafale fighter jets have also received a boost with the
induction of the HAMMER missiles which can hit hardened ground targets like
bunkers from a long distance.
OBITUARIES
1.
Veteran producer Abdul Gaffar Nadiadwala passes away: Veteran
filmmaker, Abdul Gaffar Nadiadwala passed away at the age of 91. Abdul Gaffar
Nadiadwala was known for backing over 50 Hindi films including 1965 film
“Mahabharat” and hit comedies in the 2000s such as “Hera Pheri” and “Welcome”.
He had started his film production and media entertainment company in 1953.
A.G Nadiadwala was a Popular Indian Film producer. He is one of the Most Popular Indian Film producers. He Praduaced Mnay Popular Indian Hindi Films. His Produced Popular Hindi Films are Mahabharat (1965), Jhutha Sach (1984), Lahoo Ke Do Rang (1997), Hera Pheri (2000), Welcome (2007) & More.
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