This booklet is a brief of Important Events that occurred during the Month of August Current Affairs August 2019 Siddhant Menon 1 August 2019 IAF launches 3D mobile video game – Indian Air their subsidized rice and other food grains from any Fair Force: A cut above the rest Price Shop in state. Now under One Nation One Ration Card scheme which has come into force in Telangana Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched 3D air-borne and Andhra Pradesh same facility can be utilized combat based mobile video game called ‘Indian Air anywhere in two states now through Point of State (PoS) Force: A cut above’. It was launched by Air Chief machines. Marshal B. S. Dhanoa at National Bal Bhawan, New Delhi. It is second such video game launched by IAF, Early Trial Run: In last week of July Telangana Civil earlier it had Guardians of the Skies’ in 2014 and has got Supplies Corporation conducted a trial run of project last over a million downloads. It is similar to older Guardians week with consumers from Andhra Pradesh drawing of Skies game including controls and graphics, but has their commodities from fair price shop in Hyderabad new storyline along with some gameplay changes. (Capital of Telangana). As per officials, 2.82 crore consumers had benefited with ration portability About the game: introduced in Telangana in 2018. • It is aimed at making youth aware about IAF and Way Ahead: More than 56 lakh beneficiaries covered encourage them to join the armed forces. It will under National Food Security Act (NFSA) in also provide gamers virtual experience of Telangana will be benefited from facility. Same will be airborne combats. case with consumers in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat which are identified for implementation of • It is available on both Android and iOS platforms pilot project. (phones) and will engage audience above the age Centre is intended to extend programme to all states by of 14. August 2020 so that portability of food security card • Its various missions, include, airstrikes, air-to-air implemented. refuelling, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). • It also features character sporting gunslinger Supreme Court Judges to be increased moustache similar to that of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman`s, who was captured and Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later released by Pakistan after his aircraft was shot has approved increasing the number of judges in down in aerial dogfight which broke out in aftermath Supreme Court from the present 31 to 34 (i.e. by 10%), of February 2019 Balakot airstrikes. including Chief Justice of India (CJI). In this regard it has approved bill to amend Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. At present, the full sanctioned One Nation One Ration Card strength of SC is 31 (including CJI). Once this bill gets parliamentary nod, the number of judges would go up to In a major boost to national food security Government of 34, including the CJI. India launched One Nation-One Ration Card scheme on The strength of Supreme Court is fixed by law made by pilot basis in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Parliament as per Article 124 (1) of Constitution of Maharastra and Gujarat. The pilot project is effective India. Therefore, the strength can be increased by way of from 1 August 2019. One Nation One Ration Card’ parliamentary legislation. In pursuance of this scheme seeks to allow portability of food security Parliament has enacted Supreme Court (Number of benefits. Judges) Act, 1956, which originally provided for One Nation-One Ration Card scheme maximum of 10 judges (excluding the CJI). The law was last amended in 2009 to increase judges’ strength from Families who have food security cards can buy 25 to 30 (excluding the CJI). subsidized rice and wheat from any ration shop in these states but their ration cards should be linked with Aadhar Number to avail this service. Implementation in Telangana & Andhra Pradesh: White Ration Card holders in Telangana have been getting portability facility which enables them to buy 2 UN Convention on mediation Maharashtra 1st state to adopt digital fingerprinting and iris scanning system The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the United Nations Maharashtra became first state in the country to adopt an Convention on International Settlement Agreements Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification (UNISA) resulting from mediation by the Republic of System (AMBIS) i.e. digital fingerprint and iris scanning India scheduled to be held at Singapore on 7th August, system to help police investigations. This system will 2019, or at United Nations Headquarters. soon be replicated by police forces of other states in the country. Benefit: Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification Signing of the Convention will boost the confidence of System (AMBIS) the investors and shall provide a positive signal to foreign investors about India's commitment to adhere to Composition: AMBIS unit comprises computer international practice on Alternative Dispute Resolution terminal, camera, and iris, fingerprint, and palm (ADR). scanners. It also includes portable system to dust off and capture fingerprints from crime scenes. Initiatives to promote ADR Mechanisms: It can be integrated with facial recognition from CCTV In order to encourage international commercial cameras that enables police to cross-reference and apart arbitration in India, to evolve a comprehensive from solving fresh crimes it can even put faces to ecosystem of arbitration the Government is establishing criminals whose fingerprints have been captured on the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) paper for more than decades. as a statutory body. The Commercial Courts Act, 2015, has been further amended and legislative exercise to AMBIS is updated version of Automated Fingerprint further amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Identification System (AFIS), which has been used by 1996, is currently underway. These initiatives are being Indian law enforcement agencies to search finger and taken with a view to encourage the settlement of palm prints. It will replace AFIS which has limited commercial disputes, domestic and international, in utility, providing only one-to-one fingerprint matches as India through ADR Mechanism of Arbitration, compared multimodal matches possible with AMBIS. Conciliation and Mediation. A new Chapter (IIIA) has been inserted in the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, for It also matches standard requirements set by United mandatory pre-institution mediation and settlement in States National Institute of Standards and Technology. certain category of cases. Therefore, the provisions of the Implementation: Before its formal launch, system was 'Convention' are in line with the domestic laws and the introduced at selected Mumbai based police stations that efforts made to strengthen Alternative Dispute have upgraded tech infrastructure like Crime and Resolution Mechanisms. Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS). Background: Now it will be rolled out in the 1,160 police stations, 7 police ranges, 10 central jails, 12 police training centres, The United Nations General Assembly adopted the and 4 fingerprint bureaus in Maharashtra. United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation ("the Way forward: AMBIS adopted by Maharashtra Police Convention") on 20th December 2018. The General will soon be replicated across country. State government Assembly authorized that the Convention will open for is working with National Crime Records Bureau to signature at a signing ceremony to be held on 7thAugust create standards to be used by other state police forces. 2019 in Singapore and will be known as the "Singapore Convention on Mediation" (the Convention). KABIL Yojana The Convention provides a uniform and efficient framework for the enforcement of international A joint venture company namely Khanij Bidesh India settlement agreements resulting from mediation and for Ltd. (KABIL) is to be set up with the participation of allowing parties to invoke such agreements, akin to the three Central Public Sector Enterprises namely, National framework that the Convention onthe Recognition and Aluminium Company Ltd.(NALCO), Hindustan Copper Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, Ltd.(HCL) and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd. 1958) (the "New York Convention") provides for arbitral (MECL). The Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary awards. The Convention defines two additional grounds Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi said that the objective of upon which a court may, on its own motion, refuse to constituting KABIL is to ensure a consistent supply of grant relief. Those grounds relate to the fact that a dispute critical and strategic minerals to Indian domestic market. would not be capable of settlement by mediation or While KABIL would ensure mineral security of the would be contrary to public policy. Nation, it would also help in realizing the overall objective of import substitution, he said. 3 The sustained source of mineral and metal commodities This will be first large preventive TB vaccine trial in the is imperative for the transportation and manufacturing country involving more than 12,000 healthy household segment. Recalling the commitment at the UN Climate contacts of newly diagnosed TB patients from across six Change Conference, Pairs, 2015, where India has states of India. These six states including Delhi, pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and opting Maharashtra,