CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day for People of African Descent – observed on Aug 31
- The International Day for People of African Descent will be celebrated for the first time on 31 August 2021.
- Through this Observance the United Nations aims to promote the extraordinary contributions of the African diaspora around the world and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people of African descent.
- International days reflect the values that society shares.
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well-being of their societies.
- Any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust, and dangerous and must be rejected, together with theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
PFRDA enhances the entry age in National Pension System (NPS) to 70 years
- Making the National Pension System (NPS) more attractive for subscribers joining it after 65 years of age, the PFRDA has permitted them to allocate up to 50 per cent of the funds in equity, besides easing the exit norms.
- The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has revised the guidelines on entry and exit following an increase in the maximum age for joining the NPS from 65 year to 70 years of age.
- The entry age for NPS has been revised to 18-70 years from 18-65 years.
- Any Indian citizen and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in the age group of 65-70 years can also join NPS and continue up to the age of 75 years, according to a PFRDA circular on the revised guidelines.
- It added that those subscribers who have closed their NPS accounts have also been permitted to open a new account as per increased age eligibility norms.
- The maximum equity exposure, however, will be only 15 per cent if subscribers joining NPS beyond the age of 65 years decide to invest under the default ‘Auto Choice’.
About National Pension System:
- National Pension System Trust is a specialised division of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority which is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance of the Government of India.
- The National Pension System is a voluntary defined contribution pension system in India.
Benefits of NPS:
- It is voluntary – A Subscriber can contribute at any point of time in a Financial Year and also change the amount he wants to set aside and save every year.
- It is simple – Subscriber is required to open an account with any one of the POPs (Point of Presence) or through eNPS (https://enps.nsdl.com/eNPS/).
- It is flexible – Subscribers can choose their own investment options and pension fund and see their money grow.
- It is portable – Subscribers can operate their account from anywhere, even if they change the city and/or employment.
- It is regulated – NPS is regulated by PFRDA, with transparent investment norms and regular monitoring and performance review of fund managers by NPS Trust.
VP M Venkaiah Naidu to initiate digital quiz contest ‘Amrit Mahotsav With Khadi’
- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will launch digital quiz contest called Amrit Mahotsav With Khadi in New Delhi.
- The Quiz has been designed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- The Quiz Contest seeks to connect the public with the Indian Freedom Struggle, the sacrifices of freedom fighters and the legacy of Khadi since the Pre-Independence era.
- The Quiz contest will run for 15 days, with 5 questions to be placed across all digital platforms of KVIC every day.
- To participate in the quiz, one needs to visit the website kviconline.gov.in.
- The participants will be required to answer all five questions within 100 seconds.
- The quiz will start at 11 AM every day and will be accessible for the next 12 hours.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
Amazon India introduces Karigar Mela in partnership with Tribes India
- Amazon India introduced the launch of Karigar Mela in partnership with Tribes India, whereby the e-commerce platform will characteristic a devoted storefront for conventional tribal and native Indian handicrafts.
- As a part of the initiative, prospects will be capable to entry and store from a number of over 1.2 lakh distinctive conventional tribal and native Indian handicrafts and handloom choices.
- Among the distinctive artwork types that might be out there in merchandise listed for buy as a part of Karigar Mela embrace Bidri, Dhokra, Ikkat, Patachitra, blue artwork pottery, and so on.
- As a part of the Karigar Mela initiative, Karigar sellers will even profit from a 100% Promoting on Amazon (SoA) charge waiver for 2 weeks from August 30-September 12.
- The long-term partnership of Tribal Cooperative Advertising and marketing Improvement Federation of India (TRIFED) and Amazon helps improve visibility for native merchandise by bringing the choices to the forefront.
About Amazon.com:
- com, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
- It is one of the Big Five companies in the U.S. information technology industry, along with Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.
- CEO: Andy Jassy
- Founder: Jeff Bezos
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS
RuPay introduced #FollowPaymentDistancing campaign to promote and encourage contactless payments
- RuPay has launched a strategic campaign to promote contactless payments, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- The campaign titled #FollowPaymentDistancing asks consumers to start ‘payment distancing’ and switch to contactless digital payments with RuPay Contactless Cards.
- While it emphasises ‘payment distancing’ is a key measure, the campaign also captures all safety norms for social distancing.
- RuPay Contactless cards show the synergy between technology and innovation with multiple unique features.
- The campaign tries to persuade people to pay safely and timely from a distance.
- #FollowPaymentDistancing is running on social media platforms and digital channels.
- The campaign features multiple digital films that revolve around the idea of payment distancing with RuPay Contactless, portrayed in different everyday situations.
- It wants to communicate to the audience, both merchants.
About RuPay:
- RuPay is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system, conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India on 26 March 2012.
- It was created to fulfil the Reserve Bank of India’s vision of establishing a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments.
PhonePe bags direct broking licence from IRDAI
- Leading digital payments and financial services fintech PhonePe received an insurance broking license from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
- Last year, PhonePe entered the insurtech sector with a limited insurance ‘corporate agent’
- This confined the fintech company to partner with only three insurance companies per categorye. health, life and general.
- This ‘direct broking’ license that PhonePe received will allow it to distribute insurance products from all insurance companies across India.
- It can now offer personalised product recommendations to its customer base as well.
- The company stated that it can now offer a diverse portfolio of insurance products for Indian consumers.
About PhonePe:
- PhonePe is an Indian digital payments and financial services company headquartered in Bangalore, India.
- PhonePe was founded in December 2015, by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer.
- The PhonePe app, based on the Unified Payments Interface, went live in August 2016.
- PhonePe is 100% safe and secure.
- It is powered by Yes Bank.
- All payments happen over secure banking networks and the app does not store any user data or passwords.
- All you need to do for every transaction is enter your MPIN.
- Parent organization: Flipkart
- CEO: Sameer Nigam
- Headquarters: Bengaluru
IDBI Bank now to divest its entire 19.18% stake in ARCIL
- IDBI Bank stated its board has okayed a proposal to divest its entire stake of over 19 per cent in ARCIL.
- The decision was taken at a meeting of the board of directors.
- The board has approved the proposal for sale of IDBI Bank’s entire holding of 6,23,23,800 fully paid-up equity shares constituting 19.18 per cent of the total equity share capital of Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL).
- In June this year, IDBI Bank had invited bids from interested parties for the takeover of its stake in the asset reconstruction company.
- Incorporated in 2002, ARCIL is owned by SBI, IDBI, ICICI and PNB, besides strategic foreign investors such as Avenue Indian Resurgence Pte Ltd.
- Since its inception, ARCIL has resolved over Rs 78,000 crore worth of non-performing assets acquired from domestic banks and financial institutions.
About IDBI Bank:
- Industrial Development Bank of India was established in 1964 by an act to provide credit and other financial facilities for the development of the fledgling Indian industry.
- It is a development finance institution and a wholly owned subsidiary of Life Insurance Corporation.
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- CEO: Rakesh Sharma
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS
9 new Supreme Court judges takes oath
- Nine new judges, including three women, would be administered oath of office as judges of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana.
- It is for the first time in the history of the top court when nine judges would be taking oath of office at one go and the swearing-in ceremony would be held in the auditorium of the Supreme Court’s additional building complex.
- With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court would rise to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.
- The nine new judges who would be administered oath of office as top court judges includes — Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka (who was the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court), Justice Vikram Nath (who was the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court), Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari (who was the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court), Justice Hima Kohli (who was the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court) and Justice B V Nagarathna (who was a judge of the Karnataka High Court).
- Besides them, Justice C T Ravikumar (who was a judge of the Kerala High Court), Justice M M Sundresh (who was a judge of the Madras High Court), Justice Bela M Trivedi (who was a judge of the Gujarat High Court) and Justice P S Narasimha (who was a senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General) would also be administered oath of office by the CJI.
- Justice Nagarathna is in line to become the first woman CJI in September 2027.
- Three out of these nine new judges — Justices Nath and Nagarathna and Narasimha — are in line to become the CJI.
Govt sets up panel to develop technological platform for streamlining revenue litigation; appointed Head as – Ashish Shiradhonkar
- The Centre informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a committee which will be headed by Ashish Shiradhonkar, who is heading the e-courts project in National Informatics Centre, to develop a technological platform streamlining the appeal filing process related to direct and indirect taxation matters.
- A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and M R Shah was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the committee will complete its work in three months and will have members from revenue department, CBDT and CBIT.
- The bench termed it is a good step and stated Shiradhonkar is the backbone of the e-court project and hopefully this will streamline the Centre’s litigation in taxation matters.
- “Shiradhonkar will be number one in the committee and hopefully we will see this platform soon”.
- The bench informed that now it can say that things are moving in the right direction and listed the matter after three months.
Former SBI Chief Rajnish Kumar named as independent director of HSBC Asia
- Banking giant HSBC has appointed former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar as a non-executive director for its Hong Kong-headquartered Asia unit.
About Rajnish:
- Kumar, who retired from the country’s largest lender after four decades of service in October last year, was previously appointed as senior advisor by Baring Private Equity Asia and an advisor to Kotak Investment Advisors.
- His experience across India’s financial sector will be an invaluable addition to the board of the HSBC Group’s Asian entity as it directs focus on the region, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s chairman Peter Wong mentioned.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SUMMITS & CONFERENCES
ECI organizes 2 day SVEEP Consultation Workshop
- The Election Commission of India organized a two-day SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) Consultation Workshop on August 25-26, 2021.
Objective :
- To review State SVEEP Plans & conduct extensive deliberations on the important aspects of SVEEP for a comprehensive strategy for the forthcoming elections.
About SVEEP Programme :
- Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation program is the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education & awareness, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India..
- To build an inclusive & participative democracy by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make an informed decision & ethical choice.
- To reach out to new voters through a personalized letter from the Commission when sending out their Voter ID Cards.
- The package would include a Voter Guide for new voters along with a congratulatory letter and a pledge for ethical voting.
About ECI :
- Formed: 25 January 1950
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chief Election Commissioner of India : Sushil Chandra
- First executive: Sukumar Sen
- Current executive: Sunil Arora
CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS
MDS bags Indian Navy contract worth Rs 1,349.95 cr
- On Aug 27, 2021, Mahindra Defence Systems Limited (MDS) had bagged a contract worth ₹1,349.95 crore for manufacturing of Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) for modern warships of the Indian Navy.
- Mahindra Defence would be supplying 14 IADS Systems for the Indian Navy warships.
- The system will enhance the anti-submarine warfare capability of the Indian Navy.
About IADS :
- IADS is a high-end underwater equipment that uses the latest technology.
- It is designed to detect and protect warships from underwater threats.
- It is a versatile system capable of operations from all sizes of warships – small, medium, and
- The complex array of sensors in water undertakes surveillance and provides inputs for signal processing and analysis.
- The warship then employs methods to neutralise the underwater threats
About MDS :
- Founded: 2012
- CEO : Rajiv Gupta
- CFO : Johnmon Xavier
- Head : Nick Mabe
About Indian Navy :
- Founded: 26 January 1950
- Headquarters : New Delhi
- Commander in Chief : President Ram Nath Kovind
- Chief of Defence Staff : General Bipin Rawat
- Chief of the Naval Staff : Admiral Karambir Singh
- Vice Chief of the Naval Staff : Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade
- Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff : Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh
CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX
2021 Global DeFi Adoption Index : US Tops, India ranks 6th Position
- In the 2021 Global DeFi Adoption Index, India was ranked sixth in terms of DeFi adoption, with an index score of 59 by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.
- The US showed the highest DeFi adoption topped the ranking with an index score of 1 , followed by Vietnam, Thailand, China and the UK out of 154 countries.
- According to the Chainalysis data, grassroots cryptocurrency adoption generally is highest in emerging markets.
- The DeFi Adoption Index is made up of three component metrics: On-chain cryptocurrency value received by DeFi platforms weighted by PPP per capita; total retail value received by DeFi platforms; and individual deposits to DeFi platforms.
Rabobank 2021 Global Dairy Top 20 Report : Top- Lactalis, Amul ranks 18th
- In Rabobank’s 2021 Global Top 20 Dairy Companies list, French-based dairy company Lactalis has topped as the world’s largest dairy company with a turnover of US $23.0 billion.
- Meanwhile, India’s Amul, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has ranked 18th in the list.
- In 2020, Amul was placed at 16th spot.
About the Report :
- Rabobank’s Global Dairy Top 20 Report is released annually to rank the dairy industry upon their sales data and financial statements.
About Amul :
- It is a cooperative brand managed by a cooperative body, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.
- Founded : 1946
- Founder : Tribhuvandas Patel
- Headquarters : Anand, Gujarat
- MD : Rupinder Singh Sodhi
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
Indian cricketer Stuart Binny announces retirement from all forms of cricket
- On Aug 30, 2021, Indian cricketer Stuart Binny announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
- The all-rounder had represented the Men in Blue in six Tests, 14 ODIs and three T20Is.
- He scored a total of 459 runs and had picked up 24 wickets.
- Stuart Binny was born in Bangalore
- He played for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League.
- Binny is the current Indian record holder for best bowling spell in an ODI, as he claimed 6 wickets for 4 runs against Bangladesh in 2014.
Tokyo Paralympics : India’s Sumit Antil wins gold medal in Javelin throw
- On Aug 30, 2021, India’s Sumit Antil won gold medal with a World Record throw of 55m in javelin throw F64 at 2020 Summer Paralympics.
- Michal Burian of Australia won the silver medal (66.29m), & Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku won the bronze
- This is the second gold medal for India at the ongoing Tokyo Games and now the total medal tally of India has reached 7.
- Earlier, Shooter Avani Lekhara, won a gold medal in women’s 10m Air Rifle SH1 with a world record score of 249.6 at the Paralympic Games.
About Sumit Antil :
- Sumit hails from Sonepat in Haryana.
- In 2019, at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy, he broke the world record in the F64 category enroute to winning the Silver medal in the Combined Event.
- He won a silver in the F64 javelin throw at the 2019 World Championships in Dubai.
Tokyo Paralympics: Devendra Jhajharia wins silver, in men’s javelin throw event
- On Aug 30, 2021, India’s Devendra Jhajharia won Silver medal in the men’s javelin throw – F46 final event with a new World record throw of 55m.
- This is Jhajharia’s third Paralympic medal having won gold at Athens 2004 and Rio 2016.
- Meanwhile, Sundar Singh Gurjar won the bronze medal, with a season-best throw of 58.
- Currently, India’s total medal tally at the Paralympics 2020 Games is seven.
Note :
- Devendra Jhajharia is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics.
About Devendra Jhajharia :
- Devendra Jhajharia was born in 1981 and hails from the Churu District in Rajasthan.
- He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.
- In 2016, he won a gold medal at the 2016 IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championship in Dubai.
- At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F46 event, with a world-record throw of 63.97 metres.
About Sundar Singh Gurjar :
- Sundar Singh Gurjar born in 1996, Karauli, Rajasthan.
- In 9th FAZZA IPC Athletics Grand Prix, Sundar Singh Gurjar won 3 Gold Medals in 3 Events -Javelin Throw, Shot Put and Discus Throw.
- He won silver medal in javelin throw and bronze medal in discus throw in Asian Para Games 2018.
- He is also a recipient of the Arjun Award for Para-athletics.
Tokyo Paralympics 2020: India’s Yogesh Kathuniya Wins Silver in Discus Throw F56
- 24 year old, Indian discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya clinched the silver medal with a throw of 38m in the Men’s Discus Throw Final (F56) at the Tokyo Paralympics.
- Batista dos Santos from Brazil took gold with a throw of 59m and L. Diaz Aldana from Cuba bagged silver with 43.36m.
- With this Yogesh Kathuniya’s medal is also India’s 4th confirmed medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.
About Yogesh Kathuniya :
- Yogesh Kathuniya, hails from New Delhi.
- He sets a World rank 3 in Men’s Discus Throw F56 Category.
- He won a Bronze medal in the World Para Athletics Championship, Dubai 2019.
- He won 2 Gold medals in 2019 Handisport Open, Pari & he won Gold medal in Indian Grand Prix, Bangalore 2019.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Well Known Bengali Writer Buddhadeb Guha passes away
- On Aug 29, 2021, Noted Bengali writer Buddhadeb Guha, passed away.
- He was 85.
About Buddhadeb Guha :
- Born on June 29, 1936 in Kolkata.
- Guha was the author of many notable works such as “Madhukari” (Honey Gatherer), “Koeler Kachhe” (Near the Koel bird) and “Sobinoy Nibedon” (Humble Offering).
- He was a noted classical singer and proficient illustrator & also he was a popular children’s writer.
Awards & Honours :
- Buddhadeb Guha received many awards including the Ananda Puraskar in1976, the Shiromani Puraskar and the Sharat Puraskar.
Legendary & Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner passes away
- On Aug 29, 2021, US television actor & winner of a record seven Emmy awards Ed Asner Passed away.
- He was 91.
About Ed Asner :
- Eddie Asner was born on November 15, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri.
- In 2009 his animated movie “Up,” was nominated for the Oscar for best picture.
- He also served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
- He is the most honored male performer in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Daily CA On Aug 29 & 30 :
- National Sports Day Observed on Aug 29, every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of legendary hockey player Major Dhyan Chand.
- The International Day against Nuclear Tests is observed on August 29.
- The National Small Industry Day is celebrated on 30 August every year, to support and promote small Industries for their overall growth potential and opportunities received for their development in the year.
- The International Day of the Disappeared, on August 30 of each year, is a day created to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or legal representatives.
- President of India Ram Nath Kovind stated that the values of Indian tradition and culture are contained in holy Ramayana and the human values implied in Ramayana will always be relevant for the world.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune and renamed the Army Sports Institute stadium as “Neeraj Chopra Stadium” to honour Neeraj Chopra for winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
- The government extended by a month the deadline for making payments under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme Vivad Se Vishwas till September 30.
- Govt launches “Bharat series (BH-series)” registration mark to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has officially recognised the News Broadcasters Federation”s (NBF) self-regulatory body.
- The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) completed seven years and the Union Ministry of Finance stated that over 430 million accounts have been opened under the scheme as on August 18, 2021.
- Union minister of information and broadcasting, and youth affairs and sports, Anurag Thakur along with Union minister of tourism G Kishan Reddy inaugurated the e-Photo exhibition namely ‘Making of the Constitution” and Virtual Film Poster Exhibition ‘Chitranjali@75’.
- As the Jallianwala Bagh massacre marked 102 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated a renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh Smarak to the nation through video conferencing.
- A newly launched mobile digital movie theatre in Ladakh has made history as the highest theatre in the world.
- The Maharashtra government has launched a special mission for women from poor families who have lost their husbands to coronavirus infection which aims to provide a bunch of services under one roof.
- The first commercial batch of Covaxin was released from the new plant of Bharat Biotech at Ankleshwar in Gujarat’s Bharuch district by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
- The Reserve Bank hiked the ceiling on remittances per transaction from India to Nepal to 2 lakh from Rs.50, 000, a move that will help facilitate retirement and pension-related payments to ex-servicemen settled in the neighbouring country.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased incentives for banks for the distribution of coins to the general public to Rs 65 per bag with effect from September 1.
- Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has introduced a new mobile application, ANANDA for its agents and intermediaries to facilitate the on boarding of prospective customers.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), appointed Pramod Kumar Meherda, a 1997-batch IAS officer, Odisha cadre, as Managing Director (MD) in National Food Security Mission (NFSM) which comes underneath the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare division.
- Iran’s newly elected hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi chose Mohammad Eslami, a 64-year-old civil engineer who previously oversaw the country’s road network, to lead Iran’s civilian nuclear program and serve as one of several vice presidents.
- National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ramagundam, has bagged the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Energy Leader Award-2021.
- The third edition of the week-long annual exercise called ‘Gandiv’ launched by the National Security Guard (NSG) from August 22 to August 28.
- On Aug 28, 2021, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the L&T built Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ICGS Vigraha into the Indian coast guard.
- On Aug 26, 2021, Navies of India and Germany conducted a joint exercise in the Gulf of Aden.
- Indian paralympic shooter Avani Lekhara won country’s first gold medal in shooting at the Tokyo Paralympics in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.
- On Aug 29, 2021, In table tennis, 34-year-old Indian paddler Bhavinaben Patel clinched the silver medal at 2020 Paralympic Games at Tokyo in the women’s singles summit clash.
- On Aug 29, 2021, 23-year-old High jumper Nishad Kumar clinched a silver medal in the men’s high jump T46/47 event at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.
- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen emerged as the winner of Belgian Grand Prix.
- On Aug 29, 2021,On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Fit India Movement, the Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur launched the Fit India Mobile Application at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
Daily CA On Aug 31 :
- The International Day for People of African Descent will be celebrated for the first time on 31 August 2021.
- Making the National Pension System (NPS) more attractive for subscribers joining it after 65 years of age, the PFRDA has permitted them to allocate up to 50 per cent of the funds in equity, besides easing the exit norms.
- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will launch digital quiz contest called Amrit Mahotsav With Khadi in New Delhi.
- Amazon India introduced the launch of Karigar Mela in partnership with Tribes India, whereby the e-commerce platform will characteristic a devoted storefront for conventional tribal and native Indian handicrafts.
- RuPay has launched a strategic campaign titled #FollowPaymentDistancing to promote contactless payments, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- Leading digital payments and financial services fintech PhonePe received an insurance broking license from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
- IDBI Bank stated its board has okayed a proposal to divest its entire stake of over 19 per cent in ARCIL.
- Nine new judges, including three women, would be administered oath of office as judges of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana.
- The Centre informed the Supreme Court that it has constituted a committee which will be headed by Ashish Shiradhonkar, who is heading the e-courts project in National Informatics Centre, to develop a technological platform streamlining the appeal filing process related to direct and indirect taxation matters.
- Banking giant HSBC has appointed former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar as a non-executive director for its Hong Kong-headquartered Asia unit.
- The Election Commission of India organized a two-day SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) Consultation Workshop on August 25-26, 2021.
- On Aug 27, 2021, Mahindra Defence Systems Limited (MDS) had bagged a contract worth ₹1,349.95 crore for manufacturing of Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) for modern warships of the Indian Navy.
- In the 2021 Global DeFi Adoption Index, India was ranked sixth in terms of DeFi adoption, with an index score of 59 by blockchain data platform Chainalysis.
- In Rabobank’s 2021 Global Top 20 Dairy Companies list, French-based dairy company Lactalis has topped as the world’s largest dairy company with a turnover of US $23.0 billion, Meanwhile, India’s Amul, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has ranked 18th in the list.
- On Aug 30, 2021, Indian cricketer Stuart Binny announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
- On Aug 30, 2021, India’s Sumit Antil won gold medal with a World Record throw of 68.55m in javelin throw F64 at 2020 Summer Paralympics.
- On Aug 30, 2021, India’s Devendra Jhajharia won Silver medal in the men’s javelin throw – F46 final event with a new World record throw of 68.55m.
- 24 year old, Indian discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya clinched the silver medal with a throw of 44.38m in the Men’s Discus Throw Final (F56) at the Tokyo Paralympics.
- On Aug 29, 2021, Noted Bengali writer Buddhadeb Guha, passed away.
- On Aug 29, 2021, US television actor & winner of a record seven Emmy awards Ed Asner Passed away.
