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Week 4, August

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched Ubharte Sitaare Fund (USF) of Corpus INR 250 crore with a green shoe option of INR 250 crore for Export oriented Small & mid-sized companies across the country.
  • India’s first smog tower has been launched in Delhi. The objective is to improve the air quality. The smog tower was developed by IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay.
  • Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman launched the asset monetisation pipeline of Central ministries and public sector entities named ‘National Monetisation pipeline’ (NMP) to list out the government’s (govt) infrastructure assets that are to be sold in the next 4 years.
  • “Maritime Partnership Exercise” conducted between Indian Navy and Philippines Navy in the South China Sea. Counter Terrorism Excersise “Gandiv” was conducted by the NSG in the National Capital Region (NCR), Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
  • Government of India has launched “Operation Devi Shakti” to evacuate stranded Indians from Taliban captured Afghanistan.
  • “Operation Blue Freedom” is an expedition for Divyangjans to the world’s highest battlefield – Siachen Galcier.
  • Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched the “SUJALAM” campaign to achieve Open Defecation Free Plus Status in villages across India
  • Ministry of Defence renamed the Army Sports Institute stadium in Pune as Neeraj Chopra stadium.
  • Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), Government of India has introduced a new vehicle number registration series called BH- series (Bharat Series) to ensure seamless transfer of vehicles cross states or union territories.

 

Week 3, August

  • Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana completes 7 years. It was launched by PM Narendra Modi on 28th Feb, 2014. It is implemented by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance
  • PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation on 75th Independence Day. Gati Shakti will act as the ‘National Infrastructure Master Plan’ and will help in setting a holistic and integrated approach in infrastructure construction.
  • Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank (NGB) at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi.This will cater the need of biofortified crop varieties. Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved.
  • ‘Exercise Konkan- 2021’, a bilateral Naval Exercise held between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of Britain in Portsmouth, United Kingdom (UK).
  • 12th Edition of Exercise INDRA-2021, a bilateral Military Exercise held between Indian Army and the military forces of Russian Federation in Volgograd, Russia.
  • Kaziranga National Park of Assam became India’s first National Park to be equipped with satellite phones, an initiative to boost anti-poaching measures in the park.
  • Kaziranga National Park of Assam became India’s first National Park to be equipped with satellite phones, an initiative to boost anti-poaching measures in the park.
  • SAMVAD stands for Support, Advocacy & Mental Health intervention for children in Vulnerable circumstances and Distress. It aims to ensure holistic development and psychosocial well-being of children and adolescents.
  • As a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the 75th year of Independence of India, MyGov under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) along with the United Nations (UN) Women launched the “Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021”. Amrit Mahotsav Shri Shakti Innovation Challenge 2021 is a platform for women. The challenge is implemented under the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (COVID-19) programme.
  • Indian Navy and Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) participated in a bilateral Maritime Partnership Exercise at Manama, Bahrain in the Persian Gulf region.
  • Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually inaugurated the Aarogya Dhara- 2.0 to increase the reach of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (ABPMJAY) programme to the poorest households of India and to create awareness about the scheme and mark the completion of 2 crore treatments under ABPMJAY. Adhikar Patra, Abhinandan Patra, and Ayushman Mitra are the initiatives launched on the occasion.
  • President of India, Ram Nath Kovind approved the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021. After his assent, the bill has changed into the Constitution (105th Amendment) Act, 2021 which will restore the power of states and Union Territories (UTs) to identify and specify Socially and Educationally backward Classes (SEBCs).
  • Delhi-Chandigarh Highway Becomes India’s 1st EV-Friendly Highway
  • Wanchuwa festival 2021 is to be celebrated by Tiwa tribal community who were living in the hills of Morten Village at Karbi Anglong District of Assam. This festival is related to agriculture as it marks a good harvest and also involves prayers for protection from pests and natural calamities. Tiwa tribesmen perform their traditional dance in their native attire along with a bunch of rituals performed by people clad in their native attires during this festival.

 

Week 2, August

  1. Naval Exercise “Zayed Talwar 2021” held between India and UAE off the coast of Abu Dhabi.The Indian Navy deployed INS Kochi and 2 Integral Sea King MK 42B helicopters. “AL MOHED AL-HINDI- 2021” was also held between the Indian Navy and the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
  2. Venkaiah Naidu Released Postage Stamp on Social Worker ‘Mananiya Chaman Lal’. It highlights the life and work of Mananiya Chaman Lal and is a part of a part of the initiatives of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ Programme.
  3. PM Narendra Modi launched the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self-sufficient in edible oil production to boost domestic oilseed production and make the country self-sufficient in cooking oils.
  4. Assam cabinet has decided to not prosecute any Gurkha member under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
  5. INS Khanjar became the 1st Indian Navy Ship to call at the Heritage Coastal Port of Gopalpur, Odisha. The visit was aimed at enhancing ties & spreading awareness among the local population on coastal security & maritime operations.
  6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 (PMUY 2.0) Scheme from Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh. Under PMUY 2.0, an additional 10 million LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) connections will be provided to the beneficiaries. Lakhs of Migrant Families are also expected to benefit from the scheme.
  7. One of the world’s Highest Mobile Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers has been built by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the Nyoma area of Ladakh at the Advanced Landing Ground.Main purpose of ATC is to control the operation of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the East Ladakh region.
  8. Minister of State for Home Affairs (MHA) Nityanand Rai stated in the Parliament that the 16th Indian Census (to be undertaken in 2021) will be India’s 1st ever Digital Census. Data for the Census 2021 will be collected through mobile Apps.
  9. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has declared Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the cleanest city of India, as the 1st ‘water plus’ city of India.
  10. South Africa became the 1st Country in the World to grant Patent to an Artificial Intelligence (AI) System. It has granted a patent related to a Food Container system based on Fractal Geometry invented by the AI system ‘DABUS’ (Device for Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience).

Week 1, August

  1. Dr Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science & Technology released the “Biotech-PRIDE ” Guidelines. “PRIDE ” stands for Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange. These guidelines will help in harmonizing and data sharing for research and analysis in the country.
  2. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a Record of Discussions with the Indian government to strengthen its technical cooperation project with the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH).
  3. Intel collaborated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and launched the initiative ‘AI For All’ under its ‘AI For Citizens’ programme to create a basic understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Indian people.
  4. 36th Edition of Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) was held between the Navies of India and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean region (IOR). The aim is to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies.
  5. Lok Sabha passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment Bill), 2021
  6. National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) & Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (RCF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) for ‘Transfer of Technology’ of fertiliser Nano Urea Liquid.
  7. Haryana Police secured the top place in India under Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS). Gujarat Police secured the 2nd position, while Himachal Pradesh was placed third.
  8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched a prepaid electronic voucher-based digital payment solution named ‘e-RUPI’ to strengthen the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and the financial inclusion of unbanked citizens. e-RUPI, the ‘person and purpose-specific’ one-time cashless and contactless digital payment vouchers was developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on its UPI (Unified Payments Interface) platform.
  9. DefExpo-2022 (12th Edition), the land and naval systems show of the Ministry of Defence has been scheduled to be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat from March 11-13, 2022. It is a biennial event and is organised by the Ministry of Defence. The last edition of Defence Expo 2020 was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
  10. Table-Top (TT) war-gaming exercise was held between India’s 3 Armed Services (Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy). During the exercise, Scenarios like facing a two-front war from China and Pakistan were war-gamed.
  11. The National Statistical Office (NSO)released the 8th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) –Quarterly Bulletin for the Q2 FY21 (July 2020 –September 2020)
  12. Government is planning to set up Garima Grihas for Transgender persons with the help of community-based organizations. Garima Grihas will provide safe and secure shelter to Transgender persons.
  13. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) constructed the world’s highest 52-km-long tarmac road or motorable pass at Umling LA Pass in eastern Ladakh at an altitude of 19,300 feet which has surpassed the record of a road in Bolivia, South America at 18,953 ft
  14. Water villas will be set up in the Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep with an outlay of Rs 800 crore. Similar to water villas in Maldives, these will be solar-powered and eco-friendly to provide world-class facilities.
  15. Ajay Dilawri, the Indian-origin entrepreneur, was honoured with Canada‘s highest prestigious Order of British Columbia award.
  16. “Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award”, has been renamed as “Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award” in honour of the hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand.Major Dhyan Chand, who was known as ‘The Wizard’, was an Indian Hockey player who represented the Indian hockey team from 1926 to 1949.
  17. India’s 1st Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) INS Vikrant has been launched for sea trials off the coast of Kochi, Kerala. A sea trial is the last phase of testing.
  18. India’s former football goalkeeper & 2-time Olympian Shankar Subramaniam Narayan (86) also known as S.S. ‘Babu’ Narayan passed away.
  19. Hiroshima Day is annually observed across the globe on the 6th August. 6th August 2021 marks the observance of the 76th anniversary of Hiroshima Day.