Current Affairs 02nd & 03rd August 2020| Current Affairs News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

World Lung Cancer Day

• World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
• The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

World Sanskrit Day

• The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
• Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
• This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
• The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
• Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
• The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
• CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

About MoHUA

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
• Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

• Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
• This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
• It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
• Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
• Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
• Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
• Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

About MoRD

• Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
• Constituency: Morena,MP

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

• Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
• Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
• It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
• It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
• A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
• It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

About MoRTH

• Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
• Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

About Bihar

• Capital: Patna
• Governor: Phagu Chauhan
• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

• The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
• Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
• This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
• This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
• Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
• The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
• KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

About KVIC

• Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
• Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
• In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
• Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

About ICCR:

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
• Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

• In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
• Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
• To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
• This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
• More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

• Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
• While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

• Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
• Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
• Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

• Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
• He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
• The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
• It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

• The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
• Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
• He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
• The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

• Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
• Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

• As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
• The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
• Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

About UAE:

• Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

• In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
• After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
• The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
• It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

About International Solar Alliance:

• Headquarters: Gurugram
• Founded: 30 November 2015
• Leader: Upendra Tripathy

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

• The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
• The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
• A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
• For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

About AIIB

• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• President: Jin Liqun

Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

• Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
• Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
• The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
• Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
• The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
• It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
• The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
• Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
• Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
• Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

About SEBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

• The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
• The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
• It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
• On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
• The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
• The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
• The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

About World Bank

• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
• President: David Malpass

Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

• com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
• The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
• Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
• com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
• com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

About Paisabazaar.com:

• Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

• Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
• Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
• Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

About Amazon:

• Founder: Jeff Bezos
• Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

• Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
• The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
• The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
• It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
• The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
• The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
• The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

About Andhra Pradesh:

• Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
• Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
• Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

• The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
• In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
• Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
• The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
• The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
• Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
• The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

About Telangana:

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
• Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

• Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
• The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
• Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
• During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

• Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
• Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
• Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
• Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
• Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
• The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
• The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
• Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
• The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
• It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
• The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

• Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
• The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
• Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

About WHO:

• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

• Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
• Max Verstappen finished Second.
• Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

• Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
• Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
• Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
• The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
• The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
• The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
• Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

• Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
• He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
• A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

• Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
• He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
• He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

• Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
• The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
• An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

DAILY CA 1st AUG

• Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
• World Ranger Day- 31st jul
• National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
• World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
• Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
• ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
• SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
• Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
• Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
• ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
• Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
• Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
• Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
• J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
• Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
• Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
• Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
• Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
• SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
• Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
• Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
• Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
• Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
• Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
• Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
• Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
• Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
• Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
• Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

• World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
• World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
• Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
• Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
• Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
• Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
• Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
• Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
• Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
• Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
• Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
• UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
• ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
• AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
• Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
• Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
• com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
• Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
• Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
• Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
• Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
• 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
• Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
• Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
• Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
• Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
• Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
• Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

  World Lung Cancer Day

  • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
  • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

  World Sanskrit Day

  • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
  • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
  • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

  Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

  • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
  • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
  • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
  • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
  • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

  About MoHUA

  • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
  • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

  Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

  • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
  • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
  • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
  • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
  • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
  • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
  • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

  About MoRD

  • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
  • Constituency: Morena,MP

  Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

  • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
  • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
  • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
  • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
  • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
  • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

  About MoRTH

  • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
  • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

  About Bihar

  • Capital: Patna
  • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
  • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

  Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

  • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
  • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
  • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
  • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
  • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
  • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
  • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

  About KVIC

  • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
  • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

  Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

  • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
  • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
  • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

  About ICCR:

  • Headquarters: New Delhi
  • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
  • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

  Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

  • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
  • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
  • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
  • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
  • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

  Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

  • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
  • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

  About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

  • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
  • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
  • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

  Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

  • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
  • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
  • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
  • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

  Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

  • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
  • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
  • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
  • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

  About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

  • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
  • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

  UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

  • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
  • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
  • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

  About UAE:

  • Capital: Abu Dhabi
  • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
  • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

  ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

  • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
  • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
  • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
  • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

  About International Solar Alliance:

  • Headquarters: Gurugram
  • Founded: 30 November 2015
  • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

  AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

  • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
  • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
  • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
  • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

  About AIIB

  • Headquarters: Beijing, China
  • President: Jin Liqun

  Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

  • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
  • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
  • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
  • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
  • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
  • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
  • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
  • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
  • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
  • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

  About SEBI

  • Headquarters: Mumbai
  • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

  Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

  • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
  • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
  • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
  • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
  • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
  • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
  • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

  About World Bank

  • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
  • President: David Malpass

  Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

  • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
  • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
  • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
  • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
  • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

  About Paisabazaar.com:

  • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
  • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

  Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

  • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
  • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
  • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

  About Amazon:

  • Founder: Jeff Bezos
  • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

  Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

  • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
  • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
  • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
  • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
  • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
  • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
  • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

  About Andhra Pradesh:

  • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
  • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
  • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

  Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

  • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
  • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
  • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
  • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
  • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
  • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
  • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

  About Telangana:

  • Capital: Hyderabad
  • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
  • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

  Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

  • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
  • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
  • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
  • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

  11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

  • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
  • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
  • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
  • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
  • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
  • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
  • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
  • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
  • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
  • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
  • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

  Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

  • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
  • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
  • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

  About WHO:

  • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
  • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

  Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

  • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
  • Max Verstappen finished Second.
  • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

  Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

  • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
  • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
  • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
  • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
  • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
  • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
  • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

  CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

  Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

  • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
  • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
  • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

  Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

  • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
  • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
  • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

  Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

  • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
  • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
  • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

  DAILY CA 1st AUG

  • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
  • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
  • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
  • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
  • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
  • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
  • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
  • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
  • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
  • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
  • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
  • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
  • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
  • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
  • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
  • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
  • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
  • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
  • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
  • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
  • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
  • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
  • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
  • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
  • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
  • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
  • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
  • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
  • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

  DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

  • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
  • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
  • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
  • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
  • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
  • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
  • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
  • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
  • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
  • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
  • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
  • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
  • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
  • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
  • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
  • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
  • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
  • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
  • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
  • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
  • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
  • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
  • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
  • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
  • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
  • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
  • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
  • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

    World Lung Cancer Day

    • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
    • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

    World Sanskrit Day

    • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
    • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
    • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

    Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

    • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
    • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
    • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
    • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
    • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

    About MoHUA

    • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
    • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

    Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

    • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
    • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
    • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
    • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
    • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
    • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
    • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

    About MoRD

    • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
    • Constituency: Morena,MP

    Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

    • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
    • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
    • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
    • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
    • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
    • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

    About MoRTH

    • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
    • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

    About Bihar

    • Capital: Patna
    • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
    • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

    Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

    • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
    • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
    • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
    • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
    • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
    • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
    • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

    About KVIC

    • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
    • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

    Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

    • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
    • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
    • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

    About ICCR:

    • Headquarters: New Delhi
    • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
    • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

    Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

    • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
    • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
    • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
    • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
    • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

    Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

    • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
    • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

    About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

    • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
    • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
    • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

    Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

    • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
    • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
    • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
    • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

    Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

    • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
    • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
    • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
    • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

    About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

    • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
    • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

    UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

    • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
    • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
    • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

    About UAE:

    • Capital: Abu Dhabi
    • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
    • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

    • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
    • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
    • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
    • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

    About International Solar Alliance:

    • Headquarters: Gurugram
    • Founded: 30 November 2015
    • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

    AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

    • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
    • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
    • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
    • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

    About AIIB

    • Headquarters: Beijing, China
    • President: Jin Liqun

    Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

    • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
    • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
    • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
    • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
    • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
    • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
    • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
    • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
    • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
    • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

    About SEBI

    • Headquarters: Mumbai
    • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

    Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

    • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
    • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
    • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
    • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
    • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
    • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
    • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

    About World Bank

    • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
    • President: David Malpass

    Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

    • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
    • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
    • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
    • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
    • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

    About Paisabazaar.com:

    • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
    • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

    Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

    • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
    • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
    • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

    About Amazon:

    • Founder: Jeff Bezos
    • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

    Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

    • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
    • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
    • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
    • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
    • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
    • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
    • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

    About Andhra Pradesh:

    • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
    • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
    • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

    Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

    • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
    • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
    • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
    • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
    • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
    • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
    • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

    About Telangana:

    • Capital: Hyderabad
    • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
    • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

    Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

    • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
    • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
    • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
    • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

    11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

    • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
    • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
    • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
    • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
    • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
    • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
    • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
    • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
    • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
    • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
    • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

    Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

    • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
    • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
    • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

    About WHO:

    • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
    • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

    Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

    • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
    • Max Verstappen finished Second.
    • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

    Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

    • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
    • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
    • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
    • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
    • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
    • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
    • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

    CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

    Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

    • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
    • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
    • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

    Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

    • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
    • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
    • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

    Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

    • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
    • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
    • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

    DAILY CA 1st AUG

    • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
    • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
    • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
    • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
    • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
    • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
    • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
    • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
    • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
    • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
    • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
    • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
    • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
    • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
    • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
    • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
    • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
    • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
    • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
    • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
    • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
    • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
    • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
    • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
    • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
    • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
    • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
    • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
    • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

    DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

    • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
    • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
    • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
    • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
    • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
    • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
    • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
    • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
    • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
    • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
    • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
    • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
    • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
    • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
    • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
    • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
    • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
    • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
    • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
    • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
    • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
    • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
    • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
    • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
    • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
    • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
    • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
    • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

      World Lung Cancer Day

      • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
      • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

      World Sanskrit Day

      • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
      • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
      • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

      Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

      • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
      • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
      • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
      • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
      • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

      About MoHUA

      • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
      • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

      Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

      • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
      • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
      • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
      • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
      • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
      • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
      • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

      About MoRD

      • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
      • Constituency: Morena,MP

      Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

      • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
      • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
      • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
      • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
      • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
      • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

      About MoRTH

      • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
      • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

      About Bihar

      • Capital: Patna
      • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
      • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

      Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

      • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
      • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
      • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
      • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
      • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
      • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
      • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

      About KVIC

      • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
      • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

      Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

      • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
      • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
      • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

      About ICCR:

      • Headquarters: New Delhi
      • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
      • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

      Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

      • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
      • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
      • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
      • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
      • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

      Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

      • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
      • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

      About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

      • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
      • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
      • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

      Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

      • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
      • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
      • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
      • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

      Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

      • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
      • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
      • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
      • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

      About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

      • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
      • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

      UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

      • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
      • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
      • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

      About UAE:

      • Capital: Abu Dhabi
      • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
      • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

      ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

      • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
      • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
      • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
      • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

      About International Solar Alliance:

      • Headquarters: Gurugram
      • Founded: 30 November 2015
      • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

      AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

      • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
      • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
      • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
      • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
      • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

      About AIIB

      • Headquarters: Beijing, China
      • President: Jin Liqun

      Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

      • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
      • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
      • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
      • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
      • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
      • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
      • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
      • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
      • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
      • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

      About SEBI

      • Headquarters: Mumbai
      • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

      Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

      • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
      • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
      • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
      • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
      • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
      • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
      • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

      About World Bank

      • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
      • President: David Malpass

      Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

      • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
      • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
      • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
      • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
      • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

      About Paisabazaar.com:

      • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
      • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

      Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

      • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
      • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
      • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

      About Amazon:

      • Founder: Jeff Bezos
      • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

      Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

      • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
      • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
      • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
      • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
      • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
      • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
      • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

      About Andhra Pradesh:

      • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
      • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
      • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

      Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

      • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
      • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
      • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
      • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
      • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
      • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
      • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

      About Telangana:

      • Capital: Hyderabad
      • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
      • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

      Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

      • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
      • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
      • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
      • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

      11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

      • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
      • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
      • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
      • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
      • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
      • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
      • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
      • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
      • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
      • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
      • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

      Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

      • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
      • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
      • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

      About WHO:

      • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
      • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

      Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

      • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
      • Max Verstappen finished Second.
      • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

      Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

      • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
      • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
      • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
      • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
      • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
      • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
      • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

      CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

      Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

      • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
      • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
      • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

      Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

      • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
      • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
      • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

      Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

      • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
      • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
      • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

      DAILY CA 1st AUG

      • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
      • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
      • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
      • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
      • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
      • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
      • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
      • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
      • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
      • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
      • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
      • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
      • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
      • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
      • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
      • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
      • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
      • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
      • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
      • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
      • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
      • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
      • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
      • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
      • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
      • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
      • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
      • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
      • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

      DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

      • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
      • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
      • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
      • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
      • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
      • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
      • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
      • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
      • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
      • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
      • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
      • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
      • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
      • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
      • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
      • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
      • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
      • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
      • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
      • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
      • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
      • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
      • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
      • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
      • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
      • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
      • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
      • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

        World Lung Cancer Day

        • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
        • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

        World Sanskrit Day

        • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
        • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
        • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

        Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

        • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
        • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
        • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
        • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
        • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

        About MoHUA

        • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
        • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

        Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

        • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
        • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
        • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
        • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
        • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
        • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
        • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

        About MoRD

        • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
        • Constituency: Morena,MP

        Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

        • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
        • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
        • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
        • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
        • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
        • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

        About MoRTH

        • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
        • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

        About Bihar

        • Capital: Patna
        • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
        • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

        Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

        • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
        • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
        • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
        • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
        • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
        • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
        • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

        About KVIC

        • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
        • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

        Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

        • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
        • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
        • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

        About ICCR:

        • Headquarters: New Delhi
        • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
        • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

        Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

        • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
        • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
        • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
        • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
        • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

        Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

        • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
        • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

        About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

        • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
        • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
        • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

        Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

        • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
        • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
        • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
        • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

        Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

        • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
        • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
        • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
        • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

        About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

        • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
        • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

        UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

        • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
        • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
        • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

        About UAE:

        • Capital: Abu Dhabi
        • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
        • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

        ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

        • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
        • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
        • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
        • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

        About International Solar Alliance:

        • Headquarters: Gurugram
        • Founded: 30 November 2015
        • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

        AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

        • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
        • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
        • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
        • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
        • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

        About AIIB

        • Headquarters: Beijing, China
        • President: Jin Liqun

        Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

        • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
        • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
        • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
        • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
        • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
        • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
        • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
        • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
        • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
        • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

        About SEBI

        • Headquarters: Mumbai
        • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

        Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

        • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
        • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
        • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
        • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
        • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
        • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
        • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

        About World Bank

        • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
        • President: David Malpass

        Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

        • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
        • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
        • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
        • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
        • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

        About Paisabazaar.com:

        • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
        • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

        Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

        • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
        • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
        • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

        About Amazon:

        • Founder: Jeff Bezos
        • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

        Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

        • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
        • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
        • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
        • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
        • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
        • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
        • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

        About Andhra Pradesh:

        • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
        • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
        • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

        Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

        • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
        • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
        • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
        • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
        • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
        • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
        • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

        About Telangana:

        • Capital: Hyderabad
        • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
        • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

        Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

        • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
        • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
        • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
        • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

        11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

        • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
        • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
        • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
        • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
        • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
        • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
        • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
        • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
        • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
        • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
        • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

        Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

        • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
        • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
        • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

        About WHO:

        • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
        • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

        Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

        • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
        • Max Verstappen finished Second.
        • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

        Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

        • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
        • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
        • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
        • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
        • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
        • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
        • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

        CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

        Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

        • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
        • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
        • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

        Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

        • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
        • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
        • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

        Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

        • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
        • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
        • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

        DAILY CA 1st AUG

        • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
        • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
        • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
        • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
        • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
        • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
        • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
        • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
        • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
        • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
        • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
        • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
        • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
        • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
        • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
        • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
        • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
        • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
        • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
        • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
        • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
        • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
        • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
        • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
        • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
        • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
        • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
        • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
        • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

        DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

        • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
        • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
        • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
        • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
        • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
        • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
        • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
        • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
        • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
        • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
        • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
        • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
        • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
        • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
        • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
        • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
        • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
        • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
        • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
        • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
        • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
        • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
        • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
        • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
        • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
        • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
        • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
        • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

          World Lung Cancer Day

          • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
          • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

          World Sanskrit Day

          • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
          • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
          • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

          Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

          • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
          • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
          • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
          • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
          • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

          About MoHUA

          • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
          • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

          Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

          • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
          • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
          • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
          • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
          • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
          • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
          • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

          About MoRD

          • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
          • Constituency: Morena,MP

          Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

          • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
          • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
          • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
          • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
          • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
          • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

          About MoRTH

          • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
          • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

          About Bihar

          • Capital: Patna
          • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
          • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

          Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

          • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
          • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
          • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
          • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
          • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
          • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
          • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

          About KVIC

          • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
          • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

          Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

          • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
          • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
          • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

          About ICCR:

          • Headquarters: New Delhi
          • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
          • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

          Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

          • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
          • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
          • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
          • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
          • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

          Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

          • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
          • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

          About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

          • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
          • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
          • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

          Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

          • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
          • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
          • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
          • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

          Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

          • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
          • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
          • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
          • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

          About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

          • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
          • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

          UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

          • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
          • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
          • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

          About UAE:

          • Capital: Abu Dhabi
          • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
          • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

          ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

          • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
          • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
          • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
          • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

          About International Solar Alliance:

          • Headquarters: Gurugram
          • Founded: 30 November 2015
          • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

          AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

          • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
          • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
          • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
          • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
          • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

          About AIIB

          • Headquarters: Beijing, China
          • President: Jin Liqun

          Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

          • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
          • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
          • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
          • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
          • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
          • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
          • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
          • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
          • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
          • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

          About SEBI

          • Headquarters: Mumbai
          • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

          Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

          • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
          • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
          • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
          • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
          • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
          • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
          • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

          About World Bank

          • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
          • President: David Malpass

          Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

          • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
          • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
          • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
          • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
          • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

          About Paisabazaar.com:

          • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
          • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

          Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

          • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
          • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
          • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

          About Amazon:

          • Founder: Jeff Bezos
          • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

          Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

          • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
          • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
          • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
          • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
          • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
          • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
          • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

          About Andhra Pradesh:

          • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
          • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
          • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

          Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

          • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
          • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
          • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
          • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
          • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
          • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
          • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

          About Telangana:

          • Capital: Hyderabad
          • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
          • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

          Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

          • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
          • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
          • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
          • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

          11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

          • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
          • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
          • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
          • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
          • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
          • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
          • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
          • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
          • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
          • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
          • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

          Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

          • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
          • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
          • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

          About WHO:

          • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
          • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

          Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

          • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
          • Max Verstappen finished Second.
          • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

          Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

          • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
          • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
          • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
          • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
          • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
          • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
          • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

          CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

          Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

          • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
          • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
          • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

          Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

          • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
          • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
          • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

          Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

          • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
          • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
          • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

          DAILY CA 1st AUG

          • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
          • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
          • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
          • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
          • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
          • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
          • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
          • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
          • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
          • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
          • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
          • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
          • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
          • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
          • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
          • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
          • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
          • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
          • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
          • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
          • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
          • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
          • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
          • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
          • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
          • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
          • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
          • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
          • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

          DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

          • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
          • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
          • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
          • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
          • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
          • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
          • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
          • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
          • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
          • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
          • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
          • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
          • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
          • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
          • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
          • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
          • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
          • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
          • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
          • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
          • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
          • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
          • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
          • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
          • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
          • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
          • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
          • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

            World Lung Cancer Day

            • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
            • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

            World Sanskrit Day

            • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
            • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
            • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

            Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

            • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
            • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
            • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
            • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
            • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

            About MoHUA

            • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
            • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

            Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

            • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
            • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
            • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
            • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
            • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
            • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
            • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

            About MoRD

            • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
            • Constituency: Morena,MP

            Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

            • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
            • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
            • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
            • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
            • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
            • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

            About MoRTH

            • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
            • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

            About Bihar

            • Capital: Patna
            • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
            • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

            Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

            • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
            • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
            • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
            • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
            • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
            • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
            • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

            About KVIC

            • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
            • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

            Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

            • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
            • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
            • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

            About ICCR:

            • Headquarters: New Delhi
            • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
            • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

            Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

            • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
            • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
            • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
            • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
            • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

            Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

            • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
            • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

            About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

            • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
            • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
            • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

            Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

            • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
            • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
            • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
            • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

            Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

            • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
            • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
            • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
            • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

            About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

            • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
            • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

            UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

            • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
            • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
            • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

            About UAE:

            • Capital: Abu Dhabi
            • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
            • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

            ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

            • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
            • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
            • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
            • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

            About International Solar Alliance:

            • Headquarters: Gurugram
            • Founded: 30 November 2015
            • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

            AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

            • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
            • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
            • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
            • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
            • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

            About AIIB

            • Headquarters: Beijing, China
            • President: Jin Liqun

            Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

            • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
            • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
            • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
            • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
            • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
            • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
            • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
            • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
            • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
            • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

            About SEBI

            • Headquarters: Mumbai
            • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

            Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

            • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
            • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
            • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
            • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
            • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
            • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
            • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

            About World Bank

            • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
            • President: David Malpass

            Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

            • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
            • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
            • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
            • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
            • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

            About Paisabazaar.com:

            • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
            • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

            Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

            • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
            • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
            • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

            About Amazon:

            • Founder: Jeff Bezos
            • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

            Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

            • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
            • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
            • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
            • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
            • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
            • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
            • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

            About Andhra Pradesh:

            • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
            • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
            • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

            Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

            • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
            • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
            • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
            • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
            • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
            • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
            • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

            About Telangana:

            • Capital: Hyderabad
            • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
            • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

            Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

            • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
            • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
            • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
            • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

            11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

            • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
            • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
            • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
            • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
            • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
            • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
            • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
            • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
            • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
            • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
            • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

            Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

            • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
            • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
            • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

            About WHO:

            • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
            • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

            Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

            • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
            • Max Verstappen finished Second.
            • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

            Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

            • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
            • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
            • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
            • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
            • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
            • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
            • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

            CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

            Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

            • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
            • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
            • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

            Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

            • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
            • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
            • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

            Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

            • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
            • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
            • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

            DAILY CA 1st AUG

            • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
            • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
            • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
            • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
            • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
            • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
            • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
            • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
            • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
            • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
            • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
            • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
            • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
            • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
            • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
            • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
            • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
            • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
            • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
            • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
            • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
            • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
            • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
            • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
            • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
            • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
            • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
            • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
            • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

            DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

            • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
            • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
            • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
            • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
            • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
            • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
            • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
            • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
            • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
            • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
            • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
            • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
            • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
            • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
            • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
            • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
            • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
            • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
            • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
            • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
            • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
            • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
            • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
            • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
            • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
            • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
            • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
            • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

              World Lung Cancer Day

              • World Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
              • The campaign was first organised in 2012 by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, in collaboration with the International Association for the study of Lung Cancer and also the American College of Chest Physicians.

              World Sanskrit Day

              • The World Sanskrit Day is being celebrated on Aug 3rd .
              • Sanskrit is the ancient language of India. It has a documented history of nearly 3,500 years, is stated to be the primary liturgical language of the Hindu culture. World Sanskrit Day is celebrated on Shravana poornima which is Poornima day of Shravana month as per the Hindu calendar. This year, Sanskrit Day falls on August 3.
              • This Indo-Aryan language has been declared as a classical language that’s identified for its scientific construction and is in excessive demand throughout the world.

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

              Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties

              • Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched digital platforms of real estate bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO to market residential properties, besides releasing a guide book for affordable rental housing scheme for migrants.
              • The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s onlineportal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference.
              • Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.
              • The ARHCs scheme, which has been launched under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, will help in providing dignified and affordable living spaces for urban migrants/ poor in need.
              • CREDAI Awaas App is a residential project discovery online platform through which buyers will be able to virtually explore and experience the projects from 220 cities across the country. The app aims to facilitate transparent home buying in India of RERA approved projects by CREDAI developers.

              About MoHUA

              • Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsand Civil Aviation: Hardeep Singh Puri
              • Constituency: Uttar Pradesh

              Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

              • Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)” of Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development based on the presentations made by the States during Regional and National workshops since inception of the programme.
              • This publication lists various ‘good practices’ followed in land records modernisation across national policy framework and in nine study states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
              • It also covers the gaps in implementation of different processes (such as registration, mutation, survey, settlement, land acquisition), technological initiatives and legal and institutional aspects.Substantial progress has been achieved under the Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme (DILRMP) since its inception.
              • Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.
              • Digitization of Cadastral Maps has been completed (more than 90%) in 19 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 9 States/ UTs.
              • Computerization of Registration (SRO) has been completed (more than 90%) in 22 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.
              • Integration of SRO with Revenue Office has been completed (more than 90%) in 16 States/ UTs and substantial progress has been achieved in 8 States/ UTs.

              About MoRD

              • Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Minister of Rural Development: Narendra Singh Tomar
              • Constituency: Morena,MP

              Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar

              • Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar through video conference.
              • Over 5 kilometres long, the four lane bridge lies on NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur.
              • It is being constructed at a cost of one thousand 742 crore rupees.
              • It involves replacement of the existing concrete superstructure of old bridge by new steel deck superstructure. The work on the bridge was started in June 2017.
              • A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu, was also announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it.
              • It will cost about three thousand crore rupees.

              About MoRTH

              • Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Shipping and MSME: Nitin Jairam Gadkari
              • Constituency: Nagpur, Maharashtra

              About Bihar

              • Capital: Patna
              • Governor: Phagu Chauhan
              • Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar

              Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti

              • The government (MSME Ministry) has approved a programme for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti and to develop village industry under the ‘Gramodyog Vikas Yojana’.
              • Initially four pilot projects will be started as part of the programme, including one in the North East.
              • This decision will help to boost the indigenous production of agarbatti and will pave way to generate rural employment.
              • This will also start the process of mitigating the gap between the indigenous production and demand and will reduce import of agarbatti in the country.
              • Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 automatic agarbatti making machines and 10 mixing machines. Accordingly, a total of 200 automatic agarbatti making machines and 40 mixing machines will be provided to the artisans.
              • The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), will provide training, and assist artisans working in this area, with Agarbatti manufacturing machines.
              • KVIC will tie up with khadi institutions and agarbatti manufacturers in the country, having good track record, to provide work and raw material to agarbatti making artisans.

              About KVIC

              • Chairman: Vinai Kumar Saxena
              • Headquarter: Mumbai, Maharashtra

              Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on 'Lokmanya Tilak - Swaraj to Self-reliant India' organized by ICCR

              • Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
              • In his address, Mr Shah stated that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak played a key role in the making of the Indian Independence movement complete in letter and spirit. The Home Minister stated that the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ given by Lokmanya Tilak, will always be written in golden letters in the history of the Indian Independence Movement.
              • Mr Shah stated that this slogan may seem natural to utter in our times, but in the 19th century very few people could have dared of uttering it and sacrificing their life and working for it to make it turn into reality. Mr Shah further stated that Tilak’s idea of India as a nation, Indian culture and Indian customs are equally relevant.

              About ICCR:

              • Headquarters: New Delhi
              • President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
              • Director General: Shri Dineshk Patnaik

              Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

              • In the run up to 74th Independence day. The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
              • Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
              • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
              • This phase will continue till 2024-25. The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) has also made remarkable progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. Over 4,324 Urban Local Bodies have been declared ODF in the country so far.
              • More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction. In the area of solid waste management, 96 per cent of wards have 100 per cent door-to door collection while 66 per cent of the total waste generated is being processed.

              Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21

              • Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21. This initiative is a national programme for popularizing science among school students of Class 6th to 11th. It was designed to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
              • While launching the Vidhyarthi Vigyan Manthan, 2020-21, the Minister stated, this is a platform to identify the talent in the field of science and to promote the scientific acumen among the students. He stated, students will help in creating the New India and this initiative will play leading role in it.

              About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:

              • Harsh Vardhan, Health minister
              • Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi
              • Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health

              Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

              • Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train. General Manager of Northern and North Central Railway Rajiv Chaudhry stated, this train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.
              • He stated, Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
              • The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of two thousand 673 Kilometres from Punjab to Tripura.
              • It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. He stated, Railways has been focusing on closer ties with the industry and trade to further strengthen its freight sector.

              Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms

              • The Central Government will spend nearly twelve crore rupees for funding 112 startupsto promote agri firms in the current financial year.
              • Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated the funds will be given to the start-ups selected by different knowledge partners and agribusiness incubators in the area of agro-processing, food technology and value addition.
              • He stated, the funds will be provided under the Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development Programme launched under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agri-business incubation centres spread across the country.
              • The Minister stated that the government is promoting start-ups in the field of agriculture for enhancing income of farmers and providing employment opportunities to youth. He stated, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that start-ups and agri-entrepreneurs need to be promoted to ensure innovation and use of technology in agriculture and allied sectors.

              About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:

              • Narendra Singh Tomar, (Cabinet Minister)
              • Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

              UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy

              • As the Barakah Nuclear Plant’s 1st Unit got operational, UAE became the first country in the Arab World to produce nuclear energy.
              • The new plant is part of the UAE’s graph  to become less reliant on oil and gas, the current source of the vast majority of its energy. UAE is among the world’s biggest fossil fuels producers.
              • Barakah plant situated  in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation stated. The plant, powered by South Korean technology , hopes to produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs, the corporation stated.

              About UAE:

              • Capital: Abu Dhabi
              • Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
              • President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

              ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping

              • In a major development and push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
              • After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
              • The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
              • It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.

              About International Solar Alliance:

              • Headquarters: Gurugram
              • Founded: 30 November 2015
              • Leader: Upendra Tripathy

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

              AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme

              • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is in discussion with the Indian government for financing a USD 8-billion scheme for improving health infrastructure at the district level to make the country better prepared for the future healthcare challenges.
              • The Beijing-based multilateral funding agency had earlier approved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
              • The first loan of USD 500 million sanctioned in May was towards building a resilient health system that can effectively treat COVID-19 patients and prevent its spread.
              • A USD 750 million loan was approved in June to help the government strengthen its battle against the adverse impact of COVID-19 on poor and vulnerable households.
              • For AIIB, India is the largest borrower, which accounts for 25 per cent of the total lending by it so far. As of July 16, 2020, AIIB has approved up to USD 19.6 billion for 87 projects in 24 economies. Since its inception in 2016, AIIB has approved loans to the tune ofUSD 4.3 billion across 17 projects in India.

              About AIIB

              • Headquarters: Beijing, China
              • President: Jin Liqun

              Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market

              • Regulator Sebi is planning to set up a virtual museum of securities market to highlight achievements and milestones in the Indian capital market.
              • Sebi has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from agencies to develop the virtual museum.
              • The museum is intended to be a visual online organised collection of history of evolution, achievements and milestones in the
              • Indian securities market over the decades in terms of market infrastructure, regulation and enforcement, among others
              • The achievements will be told through photos, videos, articles, media clippings, interactive display like quiz, paintings, drawings, diagrams, graphs, newspaper articles, transcripts of interviews and numerical databases, among others.
              • It will have its own digital platform and website for online visitors in order to provide them maximum possible experience and interest like in physical museum.
              • The virtual museum will engage the audience with creative content through various means like video, audio, chat bot, voice assistants, virtual reality, analytics, interactive and animated elements.
              • Latest technologies — analytics, virtual reality or augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine to machine communication — would be used to provide best possible showcase and experience.
              • Apart from English, the online platform should be able to develop and deliver content in Hindi and other Indian languages.
              • Interested agencies are required to send their applications to the capital markets watchdog by August 24.

              About SEBI

              • Headquarters: Mumbai
              • Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

              Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People

              • The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved $202 million in additional financing for the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project to increase the storage capacity of Bangladesh’s national strategic grain reserves by 535,500 tons for 4.5 million households.
              • The project is helping Bangladesh address food insecurity in challenging times, such as frequent climate-induced disasters or crisis situations like the current COVID-19 pandemic.
              • It is supporting the construction of eight public modern grain storage steel silo complexes for rice and wheat in eight different districts.
              • On top of current construction work taking place in Ashuganj, Madhupur and Mymensingh, the additional financing will support the construction of rice silos in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Barishal, and wheat silos will be built in Chattogram and Maheshwarpasha.
              • The additional financing will increase the grain reserve available to households to meet their post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management through an online Food Stock and Market Monitoring System (FSMMS). The project will also create new job opportunities, especially for women, in the operation and management of silos.
              • The project will reduce grain storage and handing losses in public storage facilities by at least 50 percent and extend the nutritional value of grain for up to 2 years, instead of the current 6 months.
              • The credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing, has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

              About World Bank

              • Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
              • President: David Malpass

              Paisabazaar.com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions

              • com, India’s largest digital marketplace for lending products, announced the launch ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – a Stack of capabilities that would make loan disbursals and credit card issuance completely digital.
              • The Stack, through integrations with bank and NBFC partners, would enable consumers on the Paisabazaar platform to access credit products through presence-less and contactless processes.
              • Under the Digitization Stack, Paisabazaar.com has built completely digital solutions for KYC verification, income and employment validation, repayment set-up and consent on loan agreement.
              • com is currently partnering with IndusInd Bank to offer customers on its platform a completely digital process for credit cards, using Paisabazaar Stack.
              • com has built a Digital KYC Module in its Digital Stack which includes Offline KYC verification or O-KYC (automated XML Parsing) and the subsequent Video KYC enablement, which comprises video chat, liveliness check and face match with a bank official and location tagging.

              About Paisabazaar.com:

              • Naveen Kukreja: CEO & Co-founder
              • Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

              Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites

              • Amazon has received approval from the S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a planned constellation of 3,236 internet satellites.
              • Amazon’s Project Kuiper, an initiative to create a satellite-based broadband internet service designed to provide high-speed, low-latency connections to U.S.-based households that currently don’t have great access to a high-speed connection.
              • Amazon also announced that it would be committing over $10 billion in Kuiper, it will generate U.S. jobs and involve not only building and testing satellites for the constellation, but also building out key ground network infrastructure that’s required in order to actually make the connectivity available to consumers.

              About Amazon:

              • Founder: Jeff Bezos
              • Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

              Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent

              • Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020.
              • The state law department promptly issued gazette notifications giving effect to the new acts but the government will have to clear legal hurdles before it could finally make its three capitals plan a reality.
              • The Jagan Mohan Reddy government brought in the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, to give shape to its plan of having three capitals for the state, with the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, Legislative capital in Amaravati and judicial capital in Kurnool.
              • It also provides for dividing the state into various zones and establishing zonal planning and development boards.
              • The other legislation is intended to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014.
              • The CRDA Act was enacted on December 22, 2014 for the development of the state capital post-bifurcation with a specific area demarcated as the capital region.
              • The government now intends to constitute a new Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Area under the provisions of AP Metropolitan Region and Urban Development Authorities Act, 2016.

              About Andhra Pradesh:

              • Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
              • Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
              • Chief Minister: Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

              Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers

              • The Telangana government has rolled out mobile covid-19 testing centers in containment zones and low income group residential areas across the state.
              • In the first set, 20 mobile testing facilities were pressed into service in the GHMC area. Equipped with advanced technology, each bus has 10 sample collection counters and antigen test results will be notified to the individuals within a few minutes.
              • Those having symptoms, but test negative will again be tested in RT-PCR method. The mobile center comes with facilities to collect samples for further tests, which will be done at a government approved testing center.
              • The details of testing and results will be integrated with the universal data on a real-time basis. Private healthcare firm VeraSmart is providing the technical and staff support.
              • The buses are built with ‘Intelligent Monitoring Analysis Services Quarantine’ (iMASQ) technology by Hyderabad-based Vera Smart Healthcare. Each mobile center has two sample collection teams and 10 sample collection counters. The mobile centers will visit the pre-designated containment areas from 8am to 5pm so that local people can avail the services.
              • Besides sample collection counters, each bus is equipped with a ventilator, four ICU beds supported with oxygen, essential medicines and an isolation cubicle.
              • The government provides PPE kits, N95 masks, gloves and other instruments and designates each bus to a particular zone on a daily basis.

              About Telangana:

              • Capital: Hyderabad
              • Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
              • Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

              Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command

              • Air Marshal R. Chaudhari took over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Commandof Indian Air Force.
              • The Air Marshal took over command from Air Marshal B Suresh.
              • Air Marshal V. R. Chaudhari was commissioned into fighter stream of the IAF in 1982 as a Fighter Pilot.
              • During his career, he has flown wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft. He has a flying experience of MiG-21, MiG-23 MF, MiG 29 and Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONORS

              11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award

              • Eleven women entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for cash awards amounting to Rs 25 lakh under ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment’ initiative supported by the Department of Science and Technology.
              • Among the winners are Priyanka Prabhakar who has created STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and clocked a sale of Rs 40 lakh.
              • Another winner, Meghna Gandhi, worked with underprivileged women in Vadodara during the same period and created natural textiles and COVID-19 related accessories, touching a sale of Rs 25 lakh for her venture.
              • Similarly, Snehal Verma, worked with fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and helped them improve their yield during the pandemic outbreak.
              • Kalpana Arora, who has done a Doctorate in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, has been awarded for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. She is a social entrepreneur and works for tribal women and farmers in the hilly region of Uttarakhand through Self Help Groups.
              • The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent applied wound healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi).
              • The bronze award winners were Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. MomySaikia working in field of domestic waste management, Ms. Abhishree Arora (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.
              • Two promising star awards were also given to Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.
              • The Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) cohort initiative aims at helping women ranging from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable and fulfilling career option.
              • It is the country’s first-of-its kind initiative to strengthen women’s ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, supported and sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology.
              • The cash awards, in the form of a grant totalling Rs 25 lakh, will be presented to the 11 women entrepreneurs.

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

              Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board

              • Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare presided over a meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Board as Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), The Bureau also includes the Vice Chairs of the Executive Board and the Director General of WHO.
              • The agenda of the meet included finalization of dates of 32nd session of Program, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and resumed sessions of 73rdWorld Health Assembly (WHA 73) and 147th Executive Board 147 (EB 147).
              • Recollecting the global crisis COVID 19 has unleashed, he stated; “It is about four months ago that the WHO declared the COVID-19 as pandemic. About 17 million people have been infected by COVID-19 and more than 662 thousand precious lives have been lost world wide due to this pandemic.

              About WHO:

              • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
              • Tedros Adhanom: Director-General

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

              Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix

              • Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh British Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion, crossing the line on three wheels after a puncture in the final lap.
              • Max Verstappen finished Second.
              • Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari with Daniel Ricciardo fourth for improving Renault and British driver Lando Norris fifth for McLaren.

              Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards

              • Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and hockey stalwart Sardar Singh were included in a 12-member committee constituted by the sports ministry to select this year’s National Sports Awards winners.
              • Just like last year, the ministry opted for a single selection committee to pick the awardees among both athletes and coaches and it will be headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice, Mukundakam Sharma.
              • Also there in the panel is Paralympic silver-medallist Deepa Malik.
              • The other members of the committee include former table tennis player Monalisa Baruah Mehta, boxer Venkatesan Devarajan as well as sports commentator Manish Batavia and journalists Alok Sinha and Neeru Bhatia.
              • The national sports awards are given away every year on August 29, the birth anniversary of hockey icon Dhyan Chand.
              • The panel will also have representation from the Sports Ministry, including Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Joint Secretary (Sports Development) L S Singh and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Rajesh Rajagopalan.
              • Two additional members who have been Dronacharya Awardees may be invited by the Chairperson while considering the nomination for Dronacharya Award, a sports ministry release stated.

              CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

              Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away

              • Tamil writer and documentary filmmakerSa Kandasamy has passed away. He was 81.
              • He was a prolific Tamil writer and literary critic. Kandasamy’s “Vicharanai Commission” won the Sahitya Akademi award for best Tamil novel in 1998.
              • A documentary titledKaval Deivangal, based on Kandasamy’s study of South Indian terracotta, won the first prize at the Angina Festival in Cyprus in 1989.

              Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shet passes away

              • Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shethas passed away. He was 59.
              • He was speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 to March 14, 2017.
              • He represented the Mayem Assembly constituency in North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

              Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus

              • Uttar Pradesh’s Technical Education Minister Kamal Rani Varun, has passed away due to novel coronavirus.
              • The 62-year-old, the only woman in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet, is the first minister in Uttar Pradesh to succumb to Covid.
              • An MLA from Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar, she was also a member of the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha.

              DAILY CA 1st AUG

              • Muslim Women Rights Day-31st jul
              • World Ranger Day- 31st jul
              • National Mountain Climbing Day-1st aug
              • World Breastfeeding Week-1-7th aug
              • Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-iCREST’, in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wadhwani Foundation
              • ADB signs Dollar 200 million financing deal with Reliance for power plant in Bangladesh
              • SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL launch financial knowledge platform for MSMEs
              • Canara Bank ties up with three insurers to provide Corona Kavach policies
              • Kotak Mahindra Bank launches two-month campaign with offers, discounts
              • ICICI Pru MF launches ETF on Nifty Alpha Low Volatility index
              • Tata Capital Growth Fund to invest USD 30 mn in Biocon Biologics
              • Odisha CM Launches Online Portal To Issue Fire Safety Certificates
              • Madhya Pradesh to begin ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ public awareness campaign
              • J&K govt orders fast tracking of Environment Clearance Process in minor minerals mining operations
              • Tech major HP appoints Ketan Patel as Greater India Managing Director
              • Great Eastern Shipping appoints Urjit Patel as additional director
              • Ivory Coast defence minister Hamed Bakayoko nominated as new prime minister
              • Motilal Oswal AMC appoints Navin Agarwal as MD
              • SN Rajeswari appointed chairman of Oriental Insurance
              • Wrestler Babita Phogat, kabaddi player Kavita are Haryana sports deputy directors
              • Grievance System At West Bengal CMO Gets Award
              • Apple tops Saudi Aramco as most valuable publicly listed co
              • Central Railway designs robot ‘Rakshak’ for health assistant
              • Scientists discover active volcanoes on Venus
              • Real Madrid and Barcelona Named World Most Valuable Brands in Football
              • Germany’s World Cup winner Benedikt Howedes announces retirement
              • Former Saurashtra coach Hasmukhbhai Joshi passes away
              • Former Taiwan president dubbed ‘Mr Democracy’ Lee Teng-hui passes away at 97
              • Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor RD Pradhan passes away

              DAILY CA 2nd & 3rd AUG

              • World Lung Cancer Day-1st aug
              • World Sanskrit Day – 3rd aug
              • Housing minister Hardeep Puri launches digital platforms to market residential properties
              • Narendra Singh Tomar releases booklet on Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme
              • Nitin Gadkari inaugurates upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge over river Ganga in Bihar
              • Government launches programme for artisans involved in manufacturing of agarbatti
              • Amit Shah inaugurates international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ organized by ICCR
              • Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus
              • Dr Harsh Vardhan launches ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21
              • Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
              • Central Government to fund 112 startups to promote Agri Firms
              • UAE becomes first country in Arab World to produce nuclear energy
              • ISA amends framework agreement to enable UN member states to join grouping
              • AIIB in talks with India for financing $8 billion health infrastructure scheme
              • Sebi to set up virtual museum of securities market
              • Bangladesh Receives $202 million from World Bank to Increase Food Security for 4.5 Million People
              • com launches ‘Paisabazaar Stack’ – to offer completely digital lending solutions
              • Amazon’s Project Kuiper gets FCC approval for over 3,200 internet satellites
              • Andhra Pradesh’s three-capital bills get Governor’s assent
              • Telangana launches iMASQ mobile covid-19 testing centers
              • Air Marshal V R Chaudhari takes over as chief of IAF’s Western Air Command
              • 11 women entrepreneurs chosen for Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment award
              • Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs Session Of Bureau Of WHO Executive Board
              • Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix
              • Sehwag, Sardar in 12-member selection panel for National Sports Awards
              • Tamil writer, filmmaker Sa Kandasamy passes away
              • Former Goa Assembly Speaker Anant Shetpasses away
              • Uttar Pradesh minister Kamal Rani Varun passes away due to coronavirus