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FULL CA – AUG 2020

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468 FLASH CA – AUGUST 2020 (FOR FLASH CA AND CARD PDFs & MORE = JOIN BANKERSHALA ON TELEGRAM/QUORA/INSTAGRAM/YOUTUBE) 1. July 30 - World day against trafficking in persons 2. July 30 - International Day of Friendship 3. July 31 - World Ranger Day 2020 (30 FRIENDS TRAFFICKED BY A RANGER ON 31TH JULY) 4. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 - replaced NEP, 1986 5. Tripartite MoU - CSIR, UBA-IIT Delhi and VIBHA = Adopt CSIR Technologies 6. Narendra Modi & Pravind Jugnauth virtually inaugurated Supreme Court building in maldives 7. BOB Financial Solutions Limited = Fiserv, Inc for Digital Transformation 8. Praj - MoU - ARAI = to Jointly Develop Advanced Biofuels Application technology 9. DIAT Developed ‘Aashray’ - the Medical Bed Isolation System to Combat COVID-19 (DIA ne AASHRAY DIA)

10. Vinay M Tonse - MD & CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd = Replaced Ashwani Bhatia (VINAY HAS TONse OF FUND IN SBI) 11. Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) to Acquire 51% Stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management for 2,200 Crore (USD 300 million) 12. Veteran Assamese Folk Singer Archana Mahanta Passed Away at the age of 72 in Guwahati (MAHAN(mahanta) FOLK SINGER always start the song with AA(A = Archana and A = assam)) 13. Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Arunachalam Lakshmanan Passed Away at the age of 78 (ARUN will JUDGE LAKSHMAN) 14. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Inaugurated State’s First Marine Ambulance ‘Pratheeksha’ in Kochi (PRATHEEKSHA karo, MARINE AMBULANCE is coming) 15. Iran Launched the Underground Ballistic Missiles 16. Indian GM P. Harikrishna Finishes – 2nd in Grandmaster Triathlon Tournament 17. England Won the Final Wisden Trophy against West Indies by 2-1

18. 1st five of 36 French Rafale fighter jets landed at Haryana’s Ambala Airbase 19. eBook titled “Standard Treatment Guidelines for the Management of Substance Use Disorders and Behavioural Addictions” released by Dr. Harsh Vardhan 20. India + Indonesia - to expand the military ties (IND+IND = expand) 21. India - MoU – Zimbabwe = on Traditional System of Medicine and Homeopathy (ZIM sounds like GYM – GONE TO GYM, INJURED AND HAVE TO TAKE MEDICINE NOW) 22. UNICEF Published “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential” (ENVIRONMENT WORD IS IN UNICEF) 23. Varun Sridhar = New CEO of Paytm Money (VARUN IS MONEY CONCIOUS) 24. TATA Capital Growth Fund invested 30 Million USD for 0.85% Stake in Biocon Biologics 25. NASA’s Mars rover ‘Perseverance’ launched to seek signs of ancient life 26. Folk musician and Padma Shri awardee = Sonam Tshering Lepcha died at 92 27. Former Malayalam Actor = Anil Murali passed away at the age of 51

28. AIM launched + Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation + Wadhwani Foundation - ‘AIM- iCREST’(WADHWANI KA AIM HAI BILL GATES SE UPAR JANA) 29. Piyush Goyal Inaugurated CII National Digital Conference on “Easing of Doing Business for Atmanirbhar Bharat” 30. 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting - represented by Prakash Javadekar 31. SIDBI + TransUnion CIBIL - ”MSMESaksham” for MSMEs (SIDBI AUR CIBIL SAKSHAM HAI) 32. Kotak Mahindra Bank Launched a Two-Month Campaign, ‘Kona Kona Umeed’ (KK – KODAK KONA KONA ME UMMED DEGA) 33. MobiKwik Launched mpay.me = Personalized UPI Payment Link 34. Reliance Power + JERA - loan agreement for new power plant in Bangladesh 35. Ivory Coast’s Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko Appointed as new PM 36. Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd Appointed Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel as Additional & Independent Director (URJIT WENT FROM WEST(rbi HQ) to EAST)

37. Aug 1-7 = World Breastfeeding Week 2020 38. AP Governor cleared three State-capital Bills and CRDA Repeal Bills 2020 39. Jitendra Singh Laid Foundation Stones Various Construction Works under PMGSY-II 40. Madhya Pradesh launched “Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi” public awareness campaign (MADHYA ME REHKR EK MASK SE ANEK ZINDGI BACHA SAKTE HAI) 41. Maharashtra Govt. Approved MagNet project worth Around Rs 1,000 crore 42. Haryana used drone for aerial seeding to increase green cover in Aravallis 43. Pawan Hans launched Helicopter service in UttaraKhand under UDAN scheme 44. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi bridge in Bihar 45. Narendra Singh Tomar Released Booklet on ‘Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme’ 46. MoMSME launched programme under “Gramodyog Vikas Yojana” (GRAMUDYOG KA VIKSA MSME KAREGI)

47. Hardeep Singh Puri launched ARHCs Knowledge Pack and CREDAI app 48. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Launched India Report – Digital Education June 2020 49. India & UK = tied up for new 8 Million Pounds Medicinal Research 50. 66th SKOCH Summit Awards - Ministry of Tribal Affairs received SKOCH Gold Award 51. India + Israel = to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds 52. German Footballer Benedikt Howedes retired at 32 53. Sa. Kandasamy - Sahitya Akademi Awardee passed away at 81 in Chennai 54. ‘Greenlights’ the debut book - by Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey 55. August 3 = World Sanskrit Day 2020 56. August 1 = First Muslim Women Rights Day 57. Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy launched - ‘E-Raksha Bandhan’ 58. Government of Rajasthan Approved 5% Reservation in Judicial Service for MBC 59. Rajesh Kumar - Manipur Chief Secretary

60. India withdrawn from Women’s World Team Squash Championship 2020 61. Nitin Gadkari Approved the Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanribhar Mission Proposed by KVIC 62. Harsh Vardhan - Completion of Pan-India 1000 Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 63. Smart India Hackathon (Software) 2020 Launched by Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ 64. Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21’ (VIGYAN - HARSH) 65. IFSCA Set Up Expert Committee headed by Pradip Shah to Suggest Ways to Develop of International Retail Businesses 66. Mohamed Irfaan Ali - the President of Guyana (GUY NAME ALI IS A PRESIDENT) 67. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport got additional Thermal screening system 68. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton Won British Grand Prix 7th Time 69. Kamal Rani Varun - Minister of Technical Education of U.P, died at 62 (BJP – KAMAL - UP) 70. Former AP Minister & BJP Minister P Manikyala Rao died at 59 due to COVID-19 (BJP HAD MANI)

71. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Released a Book Titled “Siyasat Mein Sadasyata” (BIHAR CM ASKED BJP FOR SIYASAT ME SADASYATA) 72. Book - “Vishesh: Code to Win” authored by Nirupama Yadav 73. A COVID prevention kiosk - “UV Baggage Bath” inaugurated at Bengaluru station (BAGGEGE BATH BENGALURU) 74. Nobel Peace Prize Winner John Hume Passed Away at 83 (HUME WAS NOBEL GUY) 75. Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor Ram D Pradhan passes away (PRADHAN OF ARUNACHAL) 76. Government of AP - MoU - Hindustan Unilever Ltd, P&G and ITC = to Support Economic Empowerment of Women 77. Two-day international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-Reliant India’ 78. Axis Bank unveils AXAA ,an AI powered conversational banking IVR 79. MoD releases draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020

80. IIT Kanpur + DAR & PG + MoD - agreement for using AI, ML to address grievances 81. IIT Madras + Helyxon - First Remote Patient Monitoring Solution for COVID-19 82. Listed entities got 3 years to meet criteria of minimum 25% public shareholding 83. 1st time, India Railways uses NTC machine for track construction 84. Canara Bank + 3 insurers = to Provide Individual Short-Term Corona Kavach Policy 85. National Bank of Bahrain - Infosys Finacle = to Digitally Transform its Transaction Banking Business (INFOSYS BEH GAYA) 86. Sunil ydv SS received the Karmaveer Chakra of United Nations and iCONGO 87. Sashidhar Jagdishan = Next MD & CEO of HDFC Bank - Succeed Aditya Puri 88. August 1 - World Lung Cancer Day 2020 89. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar launched Parivar Pehchan Patras 90. Haryana Minister Anil Vij Launched “Works Management System” Web Portal (HARYANA KNOWS HOW TO MANAGE THE WORK)

91. AP Government signed an MoU with ISB = to drive economic growth of the state 92. A device named “AJO-Neo” developed by SNBNCBS 93. KVIC – MoU - ITBP = to supply mustard oil (KISANO KO ITBP MUSTARD OIL DEGA) 94. Prahlad Singh Patel - inaugurated 1st golf course of Mizoram, “Thenzawl Golf Resort” 95. Uttarakhand = India’s first snow leopard conservation centre in Uttarkashi district 96. First-ever Vyapar Mala express train for small traders ran by Northern Railway 97. India contributed USD 15.46 mn to India-UN Development Partnership Fund of UNOSS 98. Airtel + Multi Year Strategic Collaboration + Amazon = to Tap Startups and SMB (A = AIRTEL, A= AMAZON) 99. US conducted test flight of LGM-30G Minuteman III, an intercontinental ballistic missile 100. CPCB Developed COVID19BWM App = to Track Biomedical Waste 101. World cup captain Spanish Footballer Iker Casillas announced retirement at 39 102. Former Maharashtra CM, Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar passed away at 88

103. Ebrahim Alkazi - Father of Modern Indian theatre & Padma Awardee Passed Away at 94 104. William English - co-creator of computer mouse = passed away aged 91 105. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat & Smriti Irani Launched the book ‘Swachh Bharat Kranti’ (Shekhwat ji ne IRAN me bhi SWACH BHARAT KRANTI ki) 106. Oman India Joint Investment Fund II Acquired 1.63% stake in DCB Bank for 41.52 CR 107. Indian Railways introduced OHE Inspection app for real-time monitoring 108. Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction novelist Shirley Ann Grau died at 91 109. Book ‘RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations’ by Yatish Yadav 110. Haryana - Mahila Evam Kishori Samman Yojana & Mukhya Mantri Doodh Uphar Yojana 111. Chhattisgarh - Shaheed Mahendra Karma Tendupatta Sangrahak Samajik Suraksha Yojana 112. Punjab govt + YuWaah for youth development = launched ‘Pride of Punjab’ 113. India’s first mobile RT-PCR COVID lab was inaugurated in Karnataka 114. Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel launched by Narendra Singh Tomar

115. India extended US$18 mn LOC to Maldives for expansion of fishing facilities 116. Airtel Payments Bank + Bharti AXA General Insurance = “Smart Plan Shop Package Policy” 117. FutureBrand Index 2020 = Reliance Industries Ranked 2nd after Apple 118. Prem Bhatia award 2020 - Dipankar Ghose and PARI, a Non-Profit Journalism Website 119. 20th edition of New York Indian Film Festival = ‘Moothon’ and ‘Son Rise’ wins 120. Manoj Sinha = Lt Governor of J&K - Succeeds Girish Chandra Murmu 121. Ajay Tyagi, Chairman of SEBI got Another 18 Months Extension 122. Win Trade Fantasy Sports (WTF) brand ambassadors - Suresh Raina, Harmanpreet Kaur 123. Veteran Sports Journalist Gopal krishan (GK) Menon Passed Away at 93 124. August 12 - UN International Youth Day 2020 125. August 12 - World Elephant Day 2020 126. Goa - MoU - NSDC = for setting up World-Class Skill Development Institute 127. Delhi Gov - MoU - IIT-Bombay and Tata Projects Limited = for 20 m Smog Tower

128. August 13 = World Organ Donation Day 2020 129. August 13 = International Left handers Day 2020 130. Punjab CM Launched ‘Punjab Smart Connect Scheme’ to Provide Free Smartphones 131. Odisha - Approved 20 Proposals including 4 Mega Drinking Water Projects 132. Tripartite MoU – Goa govt - GIZ India - Siemens Limited = to Provide German Vocational Training in ITIs 133. WB Launched ‘Karma Sathi Prakalpa’ scheme to Provide Soft Loans, Subsidies to Youth 134. Telangana + C4IR & WEF, India - launched AI for Agricultural Innovation Program 135. Odisha Enhanced Punishment for Non-Compliance of Covid-19 regulations 136. Nitin Gadkari unveiled Microwave device ‘Atulya’ to disintegrate novel Coronavirus 137. 24 “Atma Nirbhar App Innovation Challenge” winners announced by Govt 138. PM Launched “Transparent Taxation – Honoring the Honest” platform 139. India Extended USD 1 Million to Antigua and Barbuda’s COVID-19 Response

140. Katra-Delhi Express Road Corridor to be completed by 2023 141. Goa’s Khaje, Moira bananas, Harmal Chillies = gets GI tag 142. Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince - USD 25mn to Expand UCS to 6 countries 143. RBI Mandated System-based Asset Classification for UCBs 144. Federal Bank + Fiserv, Inc = to Support Launch of ‘Federal Bank Credit Card’ 145. Israel successfully tested its Arrow-2 Ballistic Missile Interceptor 146. Israel shared AI-based technology, high-end equipment with AIIMS 147. European Union = 1.65 million euros - to Support Victims of South Asia Floods 148. RBI Tightened Norms for Core Investment Companies 149. HDFC Bank - Launched ‘Shaurya KGC Card’ for Indian Armed Forces 150. Subhash Sheoratan Mundra - Non-Executive Chairman of Indiabulls Housing Finance 151. Harbhajan Singh - Brand Ambassador of amritser based eBikeGO 152. Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel “Sarthak” launched

153. IIT Ropar + Momentum India Private Limited = Developed “UVSAFE” 154. IIT Delhi Found WHO listed Priority Pathogens in the River Yamuna 155. Veteran Malayalam Poet, lyrist and Drama Writer Chunakkara Ramankutty Passed Away 156. Assam Government - to Launch ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme to provide Financial Assistance 157. Delhi Govt - MoU - Bloomberg Philanthropies = to Enhance Road Safety 158. TERI launcheed Early Warning System for Guwahati after Mumbai and Chennai 159. Rajnath Singh Launched 15 Products Developed by Defence PSUs and OFB 160. Rajnath Singh Launched Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation 161. NHA Approved to Integrate Health Schemes of Central Ministries with Ayushman Bharat Scheme 162. India - MoU - Nigeria = on Space Cooperation 163. India Granted USD 500 mn Aid for Maldives Connectivity Project 164. India = aims to Achieve Zero Road Fatalities by 2030

165. Odisha - topped in Implementation of AMRUT Scheme 166. As per WHO & UNICEF Report - 818 million Children Across the World Lack Basic Hand Washing Facilities at their Schools 167. Rajnath Singh Launched portal SRIJAN as a part of “opportunities for Make in India in Defence” 168. AIM + NASSCOM - launched Atal Tinkering Lab(ATL) AI Step-up module 169. EU launched Nirmanshree For Odisha and Maharashtra Women 170. RBI’s approved a dividend of Rs 57,128 crore to Central Govt 171. Playback Singer Shahzan Mujeeb - First National Brand Ambassador of Aligarh Municipal Corporation 172. ISRO’s Chandryaan-2 Captured Images of the Moon - one of the Craters Named ‘Sarabhai Crater’

173. IISc and ISRO developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures named “Space Bricks” on the surface of the moon 174. NSE’s Investor Protection Fund Trust (NSE IPFT) + IIMB - to offer Platform for Investor Education 175. “A Bend in Time: Writings by Children on the Covid-19 pandemic” = Authored by Bijal Vachharajani 176. August 15 - Celebration of India’s 74th Independence Day 2020 177. Chhattisgarh Govt Launched ‘Padhai Tuhar Para’ scheme for school students 178. Nagaland CM launched ‘Yellow Chain’ e-commerce platform on Independence day 2020 179. Meghalaya CM Launched Restart Meghalaya Mission Worth Rs. 14,515 Crore to Revive Activities 180. Kiren Rijiju - launched a country-wide event “Fit India Freedom Run” from August 15 (74th Independence Day) to October 2 (151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi)

181. AYUSH Ministry launched three-month campaign on “Ayush for Immunity” 182. PM Announced Launch of New Projects incl national digital health mission 183. Gwalior Chambal Expressway - renamed Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Chambal Progressway 184. Indian Railways Constructing World’s Tallest Pier Bridge Across River Ijai in Manipur 185. Union Minister of SJE Thaawarchand Gehlot Launched ‘Nasha-Mukt Bharat’ Campaign 186. Nitin Gadkari laid foundation stone for 13 highway projects in Manipur 187. UK Launched £1.5 million Fund for India to Tackle Covid-19 Challenges & Climate Change 188. Piyush Goyal Inaugurated 4th edition of NPPC 2020: Digital Exhibitions and Conferences 189. PNB Launched ‘DIGITAL APNAYEN’, a Campaign to Promote Digital Banking 190. Google + CWC = for Flood Forecasting Initiatives on android phones 191. AIFF + SAI = Launched “E-pathshala” a Web Platform to Promote Football 192. Lewis Hamilton Claimed Record 156th Podium Finish with 88th Win at Spanish GP

193. Ex-Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam Authored = “Full Spectrum: India’s Wars, 1972- 2020″ 194. Prashant Joshi = Appointed DBS Bank India Ltd MD and Head of National Distribution 195. Cricketer Rohit Sharma = Appointed - Oakley’s Brand Ambassador in India for two years 196. Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda inaugurated Tribal Health & Nutrition Portal – “Swasthya” 197. Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) launched VedKrishi.com 198. England Cricketer Laura Marsh announced her retirement 199. British tennis player and two-time Grand Slam Doubles champion Angela Buxton died at 85 200. Inventor of Pixel & Computer Scientist, Russell A. Kirsch passed away at 91 201. Andhra CM Launched UPI-based Payment facilities in 15004 village and ward secretariats through VC

202. Gujarat Chief Secretary - Anil Mukim = got 6 Month Extension from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 203. Two Flyover of Ahmedabad will be named After Late Arun Jaitley & Sushma Swaraj 204. Govt extended Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0 by 3 months till Nov 11, 2020 205. Ministry of Home Affairs approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh as ‘Banaras’. 206. India ranked 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming 207. Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed CII two-day long Public Health Conference 208. UAE-Israel peace agreement named “Abraham Accord” 209. Flipkart - MoU - IIT Patna = for Industry Focused applied research 210. Forbes’ list of highest paid actors for the year 2020 - Akshay Kumar Ranked 6th 211. Satya Pal Malik = Appointed as Governor of Meghalaya - replaced Tathagata Roy

212. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari given Additional Charge of Goa 213. 13th Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation held virtually 214. Rakesh Asthana IPS = appointed as the Director General of the Border Security Force along with the Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) 215. Draupadi Murmu, governor of Jharkhand and Hemant Soren Chief Minister of Jharkhand introduced the New State emblem at the Aryabhatta Auditorium, Ranchi 216. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation(WHO) has received Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s(CM’s) special award 217. Venkaiah Naidu Virtually Announced ARIIA 2020 Results – IIT Madras Topped 218. August 19 - World Humanitarian Day 2020 219. August 19 - World Photography Day 2020 220. Punjab - First Rank in Health, Welfare Centre Operationalisation

221. Biodegradable Mask “Pavitrapati” & Anti-microbial Body Suit “Aushada Tara” developed by DIAT 222. Ravi Shankar Prasad Launched “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge 223. MoTA - MoU - MoRD = to Take convergence endeavour ahead 224. 41 Lakh Youths Lost Their Jobs of India Due to COVID-19 as per ILO-ADB Report 225. ADB - USD 1 billion loan for Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System 226. RBI Released Framework for Authorisation of Pan-India Umbrella Entity for Retail Payments 227. Bharti AXA Life Insurance - Bancassurance - SBM Bank India 228. Fino Payments Bank Ltd Launched ‘Jan BachatKhata’, AEPS Based Digital Savings Account 229. Universal Sompo General Insurance + BSE EBIX = to sell General Insurance products 230. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance + Element AI = for AI Transformation 231. YES Bank + KFin Technologies Launched ‘Loan against Securities’

232. St Christopher School in Nagaland won Pallikkutam National Award for Innovation in Education 233. Ganesh Vilas Lengare Awarded Star 2020 Certificate by World Book of Records, London 234. 54th President of Dominican Republic - Luis Rodolfo Abinader sworn 235. Ashok Lavasa Resigns to take charge as the Vice President of Asian Development Bank 236. Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Resigned after Military Mutiny 237. Reliance Acquired 60% stake in Vitalic Health Pvt Ltd & 100% direct ownership of Netmeds 238. Central Railway’s Mumbai Division Introduced Drone Based Surveillance System for Railway Security 239. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) – MoU - Delhi Police = for extending ayurvedic mode of preventive and promotive health services 240. Filmmaker-actor Nishikant Kamat Passed Away at the Age of 50

241. Michael Cohen’s Book “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” is Set to Publish on 8 sept 2020 242. LIC acquired 4.23% Stake of YES Bank 243. SAI + CISCE + CBSE launched Khelo India mobile app Online Training Programme 244. Writer and activist Sadia Dehlvi died aged 63 245. CPM leader and former West Bengal Transport Minister Shyamal Chakraborty died at 76 246. Padma Shri awardee and prominent cultural historian Mukund Lath died at 82 247. “Amazing Ayodhya” – A new book to tell the history of Ayodhya 248. August 7, 2020 = 6th edition of National Handloom Day 249. India’s first ‘Kisan Rail’ flagged off from Devlali Railway Station of Maharashtra 250. PM Modi Addressed Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education 251. IBBI amended IBBI (Liquidation Process) Regulations 2016 252. NHAI - MoU - IIT Delhi = Strengthen data-driven decision making

253. UNESCO Recognises Two Coastal Villages of Odisha as Tsunami Ready 254. Simplilearn + NSDC = to Upskill Professionals in Digital Skills 255. SL Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa registers landslide victory 256. Exim Bank extended USD 250 million line of credit to Mozambique 257. ADB - USD 200 mn financing deal with Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited 258. Former J&K Governor GC Murmu appointed as 14th CAG = Replaces Rajiv Mehrishi 259. Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi = UPSC chairman 260. PNB Housing Finance New MD and CEO - Hardayal Prasad, Former SBI Card Head 261. Maharashtra = First State to Partner with Google India to Provide Learning Tools for Schools 262. CSIR - MoU - FSSAI = for Collaborative Research and Information Dissemination 263. Ramesh Pokhriyal Inaugurated Two Day Global Conference on Reimagining and Transforming the University Organised by O.P. Jindal Global University

264. SEBI revised IFSC guidelines, 2015’ 265. Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Awards 2020 - IIT-Kharagpur Researchers 266. Panel Under RoDTEP Scheme for Exporters to be Headed by G K Pillai 267. Smriti Irani launched Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme 268. Delhi Airport develops ‘Air Suvidha’ portal for all international arriving passengers 269. IIT Guwahati + Imperial College London = developed nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’ 270. SII + Gavi + Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation = to accelerate the manufacture & Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines for India 271. Former MP Nandi Yellaiah died due to COVID-19 at 85 272. August 08, 2020 = 78th Anniversary of Quit India Movement – 273. Meghalaya Cabinet Approved Policy on Reservation of 50% Seats for Women 274. Flipkart - MoU - U.P. Government under ODOP scheme 275. Gujarat Announced New Industrial Policy 2020

276. DIAT, Pune won first prize in Smart India Hackathon 2020 277. August 9 - International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2020 278. August 9 - Nagasaki Day 2020 279. August 10 - World Biofuel Day 2020: 280. Chhattisgarh CM Announced the Launch of “Indira Van Mitan Yojana” 281. Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur - First Municipal Corporation to Provide Forest Land Right Certificates to Urban People 282. Bihar State Pollution Control Board - MoA - IIT, Delhi = for air quality management 283. Andhra Pradesh - MoU - Boston Group = to Setup Centre at Visakhapatnam 284. Haryana CM launched Anti Bullying Campaign of Faridabad Police 285. PM Launched Submarine Cable Connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands (CANI) 286. PM Launched Financing Facility of Rs.1Lakh crore Under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund 287. IFC to Invest Rs.75 Crore in Endiya Partners Fund II

288. SBM Bank India + InstaReM = to Enhance Outbound Remittance Experience from India 289. NPCI - Launched = Omni-Channel Loyalty Platform, ‘nth Rewards’ 290. Walter Roger Martos Ruiz - New Prime Minister of Peru = Succeeds Pedro Cateriano 291. Mohamed Ould Bilal - Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Mauritania 292. Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi Dedicated the Railway Museum at Hubballi to Nation 293. Rajnath Singh Restricted Import of 101 defence items 294. PM inaugurated Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra & Launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’ 295. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala = Capital India Finance Executive Chairman 296. IIT Kanpur + Agnys Waste Management Pvt. Ltd - Developed Seed Balls, ‘BEEG’ 297. Max Verstappen won F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020 298. Former Indian Football defender Laishram Manitombi Singh Died at 39 299. Books - ‘Corona Kavithakal’ ‘Republic Day 2020’ & ‘Thus Speaks the Governor’ Released 300. IC-IMPACTS 2020 Research Conference held Virtually

301. Bangladesh - to Construct a Monument for the Indian Soldiers martyred in 1971 302. Paytm Launched India’s 1st - ‘Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS’ 303. South Indian Bank to Set up Non-Financial Subsidiary 304. Asian College of Journalism Award 2019 - Journalists Nitin Sethi and Shiv Sahay Singh 305. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab Government resigned 306. Finance Minister Launched Online Dashboard for Information on NIP 307. Scientists Identified 77 New Species of Butterflies in Matheran, Maharashtra 308. Plant Species “Ardisia ramaswamii” Named After M S Ramaswami 309. Former Minister Penmatsa Sambasiva Raju Passed Away at 85 310. “Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World” – A Book by Dalai Lama 311. August 10, 2020 - World Lion Day observed virtually 312. Gujarat Launched Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana Replacing PMFBY for FY21 313. Dadar, Mumbai - first city in India to have female icons on traffic signals

314. Govt Abolished Cotton Advisory Board 315. “India@75 Summit – Mission 2022” Organised by CII – Addressed by Nitin Gadkari 316. NTPC Group achieved 100 Billion Units power generation mark this year 317. PFC - MoA - UP = to Construct 2 Modular Operation Theatre Rooms 318. Assam approved - “Assam Non-Government Education Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Rules 2020” 319. Prakash Javadekar Launched - Booklet on Best practices of Human-Elephant Conflict Management in India & Beta Version of “Surakhsya” 320. DAC Approved - Approx Rs 8,722.38 cr for Armed Forces under Atmanirbhar Bharat 321. Narendra Singh Tomar Launched Krishi Megh, KVC ALUNET & Online Accreditation System for Agricultural Institutions 322. MCA Secretary Released Report of the Committee on Business Responsibility Reporting 323. AIM + Dell Technologies = launched 2nd Edition of Student Entrepreneurship Program

324. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Launched the Swachh Bharat Mission Academy 325. Russia - 1st Country to Register COVID-19 Vaccine, ‘Sputnik V’ 326. Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko won sixth term with 80% of votes 327. Reliance Foundation + USAID = to Launch the W-GDP WomenConnect Challenge 328. Bloomberg Index - Mukesh Ambani, 4th richest man in world = Jeff Bezos Topped 329. Pramod Bhasin - new Chairperson of ICRIER, Isher Judge Ahluwalia Resigned 330. World's Lightest Attack Helicopters - Deployed by HAL at Leh, Ladakh 331. Skyroot Aerospace - to Test Fire Upper Stage Rocket Engine Named “Raman” 332. Setting up of National Recruitment Agency for Group B and C of SSC, RRBs and IBPS 333. Leasing out three airports – Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram of AAI through PPP to Adani Enterprises Ltd for fifty years. 334. Cabinet approved FRP of sugarcane payable by sugar mills at 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10%

335. National Seeds Corporation (NSC) – MoU - Jute Corporation of India (JCI) = for Supply of Certified Jute Seeds to Farmers in 2021-22 336. NPCI Launched - Subsidiary Firm, ‘NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) 337. Unitus Ventures Received Rs 75 Crore (USD 10 million) from SIDBI’s Fund of Funds for Start-ups initiative 338. Keith Christopher Rowley Becomes Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago for a 2nd Consecutive Term 339. Francisco Asue is reappointed as the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea 340. Pinaka rockets fully manufactured by the private sector company “Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL)” - test fired 341. Presence of briny liquid water found on Dwarf Planet Ceres 342. Iran Unveiled Locally Made Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile - Martyr Qassem Soleimani & Cruise Missile - Martyr Abu Mahdi

343. Former India Footballer (Goalkeeper) turned Coach, Bhaskar Maity passed away at the age of 67 344. Former Cricketer Gopalaswamy Kasturirangan died of heart attack at 89 345. “India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders” - authored by Pradeep Chhibber & Harsh Shah 346. August 20 - Sadbhavan Diwas 2020 347. August 20 - World Mosquito Day 2020 348. INOX Group to sponsor Team India for Tokyo Olympics 349. National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru released - Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020 350. L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering - MoU - NTPC Ltd = to build a CO2 to methanol demonstration plant in NTPC Power Station

351. National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) - partnered - the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) = to establish an innovation cum incubation centre to promote the startup in the field of aerospace technologies. 352. “Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020” by online privacy solutions provider SurfShark 353. India - Cultural Agreement - Israel = to Strengthen Bilateral Relations to Promote People to People Exchange for 3 years 354. “Youth and COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being” = Published by International Labour Organization (ILO) 355. August 21 - World Senior Citizen’s Day 2020 356. August 21 - International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism 2020 357. MP Chhatarpur Police’s ‘Ek Sankalp – Bujurgo ke naam’ campaign proved to be boon for senior citizens

358. AP Govt - MoU - Reliance Retail, Jio and Allana Group = to empower Women SHGs Market Their Products 359. Google launches Kormo for job seekers in India 360. Proposal to expand National Cadet Corps (NCC) in 173 borders, coastal districts approved by Defence minister 361. Ministry of Shipping - MoU - MSDE for skilling, re-skilling and upskilling of manpower in Port, Maritime sectors 362. Arjun Munda Virtually Launched Trifood Project of TRIFED in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh 363. IIM Kozhikode - MoU - Switzerland based HELP Logistics to engage in a collaborative partnership to provide consulting services and logistics training 364. Om Birla Attended Inaugural Ceremony of 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament 365. RBI Released revised National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) 2020-2025

366. IBM + National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) = to offer a free digital education platform on emerging technologies and professional skill development 367. 100% Acquisition of Indian Operations of C&S Electric Limited (C&S) by Siemens Limited 368. L&T Built 27-meter-long Interceptor Boat(IB) ‘ICGS C-454’ of Indian Coast Guard Launched at Surat 369. English Professional Snooker Player Ronnie O’Sullivan won Sixth World Snooker Championship 2020 at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England 370. Book - ‘One Arranged Murder’ will be released on September 28, 2020 371. Harsh Vardhan Launched FSSAI’s ‘Eat Right India’ Handbook and a website “eatrightindia.gov.in” to support the stakeholders to scale up ‘Eat Right India’ initiatives across India

372. Atal Innovation Mission and India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre signed a virtual Statement of Intent (SoI) to promote the innovative potential of Indian Entrepreneurs and to boost the dynamic startup ecosystem across India. 373. HSBC India Becomes 1st Foreign Bank in India to launch a ‘Green Deposit Programme’ for Corporate Clients to finance green initiatives and eco-friendly projects 374. Nitin Jairam Gadkari launched Mobile App ‘Harit Path’ 375. Ashwani Bhatia - Managing Director of SBI upto May 31, 2022 = Succeeds PK Gupta 376. Union Minister for Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan Launched Online Registration and Renewal of Gold Hallmarking Centres 377. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh releases book on cancer – “Gastric Cancer” edited by noted Oncologist Dr Ashok Vaid 378. August 22 – UN International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief 2020

379. August 22 - Earth Overshoot Day 2020 380. Religare Health Insurance renamed Care Health Insurance 381. Ministry Of Tourism - MoU - Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) & FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) to organise training, impart digital awareness 382. Report “Population projections for India and States 2011- 2036” by National Commission on Population 383. WHO- invited countries to join its Covid Vaccine Global Access facility by August 31, 2020 384. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank – MoU - SBI General Insurance Co Ltd = to Sell Insurance 385. RBL Bank - Partnered - Accenture = to transform and enhance the future readiness of the bank’s Information Technology (IT) systems 386. SBI - Partnered - AddaCorner = to Launch ‘Online Home Carnival’ 387. Tata Capital Ltd Launched a New Service, ‘Swift Insta Personal Loans’ on Whatsapp 388. 2020 Leadership Awards from USISPF -Anand Mahindra and Shantanu Narayen

389. Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar - Election Commissioner = succeeds Ashok Lavasa 390. ICICI Lombard & Bharti AXA Signed Agreement to Merge their Insurance Businesses 391. The Naval Commanders’ Conference 2020 =19th – 21st August 2020 held in New Delhi 392. Google Launched ‘The Anywhere School’ initiative in more than 250 countries 393. Jacques Kallis, Lisa Caprini Sthalekar(Australia) and Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani (Pakistan) inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame 394. Wabag Won 2020 Global Water Award for Tertiary Treatment Reverse Osmosis (TTRO) plant at Koyambedu in Chennai 395. China Launched - Optical Remote-Sensing Satellite “Gaofen-9 05” 396. Indian Coast Guard Ship C-449 Commissioned in Chennai by Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam. 397. India’s First 30 members National Council for Transgender Persons - Chaired by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E), Thaawar Chand Gehlot

398. Odisha, Chhattisgarh Celebrated Agricultural Festival ‘2020 Nuakhai Juhar’ on August 23 399. The Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) + United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) = to set up a help desk for MSMEs 400. India’s Longest Guwahati Passenger Ropeway Project Inaugurated connecting the Northern and Southern banks of the Brahmaputra River 401. Kerala State Dragonfly Festival 2020 aka “Thumbimahotsavam 2020” Launched 402. The book “Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story”authored by Monika Arora, advocate, Sonali Chitalkar (political Science) and Prerna Malhotra(English) 403. August 23 = UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition 2020 404. Odisha Govt launched a scheme ‘Promotion of Intensive Aquaculture through Introduction of Bio-flocTechnology during the year 2020-21’

405. Delhi Government Launched Niraman Mazdoor Registration Abhiyan for Construction Workers to register and utilise around 18 assistance schemes 406. SBI General Insurance Launched - ‘Shagun – Gift an Insurance’ Policy for Personal Accident 407. ReNew Power + United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) = to promote increased access to renewable energy and improved energy efficiency. 408. Himachal Pradesh government - MoU - Micro Tek New Technologies Private Ltd = to set up Electronics Manufacturing Unit at Baddi, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh 409. August 24 - World Gujarati day 2020 410. Ahmedabad Railway Division Introduced Baggage Sanitization and Wrapping Machine 411. ‘Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life’ 412. India’s multi- wavelength satellite observatory, ASTROSAT Detected Extreme UV light from AUDFs01 Galaxy which is 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth. 413. Axis Bank to Acquire 17% in Max Life Insurance

414. Twenty-Year old Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash bagged 1st ever Gold Medal for India in Mental Calculations World Cup (MCWC) 415. MCX Launched India’s 1st Tradeable Real-Time Bullion Index, ‘MCX iCOMDEX Bullion’ 416. G Satheesh Reddy gets Two-Year Extension as Chairman of DRDO 417. Tech Mahindra + NITI Aayog’s WEP = to Support Women Entrepreneurs in India 418. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) - MoUs - AFC India Ltd and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) = for Cooperation in Interest of Agriculture & Allied Sectors 419. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 45 highway projects in MP 420. Niti Aayog Task Force “Sugarcane and Sugar Industry” headed by Ramesh Chand Recommends Linking of Sugarcane Prices to Sugar Rate 421. Indian Govt + Gov of Maharashtra + MRVC - $500 Mn Loan Agreement - AIIB Inked = to Improve Quality & Safety of Mumbai’s Suburban Railway Project-III

422. NABARD Introduced a Debt and Credit Guarantee Product, ‘Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to ensure uninterrupted flow of credit to NBFC-MFIs’ 423. MasterCard – Partnered - Goals101.ai = to create Targeted and Personalised Offers for Bank Cardholders 424. ICICI Bank - 1st Bank in India Uses Satellite Data to Assess Credit Worthiness of Farmers 425. Innoviti – Partnered - Visa = to develop installments platform for face-to-face transactions (VISA IS INNOVETOR) 426. Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) - MoU - Football Coaches Australia(FCA) = for the development of Football in India and Australia 427. HDFC Bank + Adobe = to Enhance Digital Customer Experiences (AD OF HDFC) 428. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Launched 1st of its Kind ‘Smart Assist’, a Real-time Assistance Service (BAJAJ IS SMART ASSISTANT)

429. Mahindra - MoU - Israeli startup – REE Automotive = to Develop Electric Commercial Vehicles (MAHINDRA GOT ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM ISRAEL)Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - Youngest Author at the age of 29 to Win International Booker Prize 2020 for the Book ‘The Discomfort of Evening’ 430. Ericsson & UNICEF Partnered to map internet connectivity landscape for schools in 35 countries by the end of 2023 to provide digital learning access to the children 431. IIT Alumni Council - Partnered - Russoft & Moscow State University = to Build World’s Largest & Fastest Hybrid Quantum Computer in India 432. Shri Rajnath Singh launched mobile App, ‘Directorate General National Cadet Corps (DGNCC) for NCC Training 433. RBI - Purchase & Sale of Govt Securities under OMO worth Rs 20,000 crore in two equal tranches of Rs 10,000 crore

434. Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane Released a Book Titled “National Security Challenges: Young Scholars’ Perspective” Authored by University students 435. Arnold Meyer Spielberg, who Co-designed GE-225 Mainframe Computer Passed Away 436. Delhi Government Launched - ‘Healthy Body, Healthy Mind’ Fitness Campaign for Students Confined in Homes 437. Australian Cricketer Cameron White announced Retirement from Professional Cricket 438. National e-Governance Division (NeGD) – MoU - CSC (Common Service Center) E- Governance Services India Ltd = to Facilitate UMANG app services at CSCs 439. POWERGRID - MoU - TATA Memorial Centre (TMC) Advanced Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC) 440. 5th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting Held Through VC 441. HSBC India Launched Omni Collect = to offer multiple payment options on a single platform for businesses.

442. Women of Tamil Nadu - Topped the List of MUDRA Loan Scheme Beneficiaries by availing Rs 58,227 crore loan. 443. Greenko Energies, Hyderabad - MoU - NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam(NVVN) = to explore renewable energy power supply solution and energy storage 444. UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Ltd - MoU - National Health Authority (NHA) = to Provide Print Services of E-Cards for AB-PMJAY Beneficiaries 445. Indian Table Tennis player Poulomi Ghatak retired at 37 446. Karnataka CM addressed virtual Indo-Japan business forum organised by ICC 447. 17th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Held via VC 448. WHO declared Africa free of Wild Poliovirus 449. RBI Annual Report 2019-20 Released 450. ISRO - MoU - Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, Odisha = to Set up Innovation cum Incubation Centre

451. Haryana Govt - MoU - M3M Foundation = to facilitate students’ online preparation, training and mentoring for entrance examinations of government jobs 452. August 24 – 28, 2020 - World Water Week 2020 453. NLCIL (Neyveli Lignite Corporation) won Swachhta Hi Seva 2019 award 454. Indian Table Tennis player Poulomi Ghatak retired at 37 455. NHAI – Developed - ‘Vendor Performance Evaluation System’ = to establish a transparent and comprehensive performance rating system 456. NITI Aayog + Institute of Competitiveness - Released Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020 457. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired 41st GST Council Meeting to Discuss Compensation for Loss of Revenue to States 458. Vinay M Tonse - MD & CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd = Replaced Ashwani Bhatia (VINAY HAS TONse OF FUND IN SBI)

459. Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) to Acquire 51% Stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management for 2,200 Crore (USD 300 million) 460. Veteran Assamese Folk Singer Archana Mahanta Passed Away at the age of 72 in Guwahati (MAHAN(mahanta) FOLK SINGER always start the song with AA(A = Archana and A = assam)) 461. Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Arunachalam Lakshmanan Passed Away at the age of 78 (ARUN will JUDGE LAKSHMAN) 462. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Inaugurated State’s First Marine Ambulance ‘Pratheeksha’ in Kochi (PRATHEEKSHA karo, MARINE AMBULANCE is coming) 463. Integration of “ICAR-IIHR Seed Portal with SBI’s YONO Krishi Web Application launched by Narendra Singh Tomar 464. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan Resigned Due to Health Issues due to ulcerative colitis 465. Union Minister Piyush Goyal addressed ASEAN-India Business Council Meet 466. Dwayne Bravo - first bowler to take 500 wickets in T20s

467. Ayaka Takahashi, Japan’s 1st Olympic Gold medallist in Badminton Announced Retirement 468. ‘Iraada’ Campaign Launched in J&K to Cover Eligible remaining Beneficiaries under Social Welfare Schemes

SUMMIT/EVENTS/CONFRENCES ETC DELHI

FM Nirmala Sitharaman chaired 41st GST Council Meeting to Discuss Compensation for Loss of Revenue to States

13th Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation held virtually - Expanding economic partnership was the key agenda of the meeting. - meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates. - India and UAE discussed regional issues concerning their neighbourhood and level of their cooperation at United Nations and other International forums including Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). - UAE expressed its willingness to further strengthen the links in Energy and Food Security. - Both the sides agreed to hold the 14th Session of India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

- The India-UAE trade relation is around USD 60 Billion. UAE is the 10th biggest FDI investor in India.

Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed CII two-day long Public Health Conference - He inaugurated “India Healthcare Week” with the theme “Redefining Healthcare Ecosystem” from 17th – 21st August 2020 - 3 year-long CII TB free workplaces campaign to ensure TB free workplace, and CII Vision Document on ‘ Strengthening Public Health Delivery – Role of Multiple Stakeholders’ were also launched. Confederation of Indian Industry DG – Chandrajit Banerjee LS Speaker Om Birla Attended Inaugural Ceremony of 5th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

- organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva and the Parliament of Austria with the United Nations - Theme - ‘Parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet’. - The Second part will be held in physical mode at Vienna, Austria in 2021. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) President – Gabriela Cuevas Barron Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland

India’s First 30 members National Council for Transgender Persons - Chaired by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E), Thaawar Chand Gehlot - The tenure of the community members and experts shall be 3 years.

The Naval Commanders’ Conference 2020 =19th – 21st August 2020 held in New Delhi

- Rajnath Singh addressed the opening session

Karnataka CM addressed virtual Indo-Japan business forum organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) from Bengaluru - Chief Minister also signed a Japan-India Start-up Initiative to promote start-ups in the State. - Set up a 519 acres Japanese Industrial Township at Vasanthanarasapura near Tumakuru to enable more Japanese investments in the state. - 25 percent capital investment subsidy on land for industries to boost investments in the electronics manufacturing sector. - Odisha’s Industries minister D S Mishra participated in the event and announced that the state government offered 3.53 square kilometre industry ready land near Bhubaneswar. - The FDI from Japan in India has increased from $1.6 billion in 2017-18 to $3.2 billion in 2019- 20.

Karnataka Governor – Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala

Two-day international webinar on ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-Reliant India’ - Organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) on the 100th death anniversary of the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Amit Shah has inaugurated a two-day international webinar on the theme of ‘Lokmanya Tilak – Swaraj to Self-reliant India’ in New Delhi

Defence Minister Dialogue in New Delhi - Shri Rajnath Singh and the Defence Minister General of Indonesia Mr. Prabowo Subianto agree to expand the military ties - A defence cooperation agreement was signed by the two countries in the year 2018. Minister of State of Defence – Shripad Yesso Naik

CII National Digital Conference on “Easing Doing Business for Atmanirbhar Bharat” - Inaugurated by Piyush Goyal - Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) + Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) = to improve the business environment of India. - government is working on developing a single window system, a complete digital system which will provides for unified and integrated business - Exports in India are around 88% and imports are around 75% of the 2019’s level. CII President – Uday Kotak Headquarter – New Delhi

4th edition of Smart India Hackathon 2020 Launched by Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Virtually - Largest ever Online Hackathon in the World

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Grand Finale of 4th edition of Smart India Hackathon-SIH (Software) 2020 - Grand Finale was conducted online from 1st to 3rd August - Organized by the Ministry of Education, AICTE, Persistent Systems and i4C. - More than 10,000 participants participated - More than 4.5 lakh students participated in 1st round of SIH 2020 - Prize – Each Problem Statement carries a prize money of Rs. 1,00,000 and the student innovation theme will have three winners, 1st, 2nd and 3rd with prize money of Rs. 1,00, 000, Rs. 75,000 and 50,000 respectively. - The first edition of SIH was launched in 2017.

PM Modi Addressed Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy (NEP)

- Organised by the Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission (UGC) UGC Chairman – Prof. D. P. Singh

Two Day Global Conference on Reimagining and Transforming the University - Confluence of Ideas during and Beyond the COVID-19 Disruption” - Inaugurated by Ramesh Pokhriyal - Organised by O.P. Jindal Global University and International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building (IIHEd) - 20 themes were discussed across the sessions - The International Conference on Nano Science and Technology 2020 (ICONSAT) was held at Biswa Bangla Conventional Centre, Kolkata = supported by DST & organized by S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata.

- A 3-day long 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference -2020 based on the theme ‘Empowering Youth for Technology Led Farming’ was held in New Delhi = was inaugurated by Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar.

India@75 Summit – Mission 2022 - Addressed by Union Minister of MSME Nitin Gadkari - Organised by the confederation of Indian Industries(CII) - Focused on ‘reinventing technology in India’. - CII was asked to draft the proposal for insurance of roads which will eliminate the requirements of Bank Guarantee (BG). - Nitin Gadkari accepted the Punjab state government’s demand for including Amritsar in an expressway project that will connect Delhi and Katra

- The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways launched a dashboard link in its website which lists details of Dhabas and Truck Repair Shops available across the country CII President – Uday Kotak Headquarters – New Delhi

IC-IMPACTS (the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability) 2020 Annual Research Conference - held Virtually on Aug 6-7, 2020 to discuss the ways to elevate the inter-country cooperation to the next Level by strengthening existing international connections Piyush Goyal Inaugurated 4th edition of 2 day ‘National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC) 2020: Digital Exhibitions and Conferences’ - Theme “Technology enabled Govt Procurement - Towards efficiency, transparency, and Inclusiveness”

- organized by Government e Marketplace (GeM), in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Digital Exhibitions & conference will be held from August 9 – September 30, 2020. CII Headquarters - New Delhi, India President – Uday Kotak

INTERNATIONAL OTHER ASIA

17th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Held via VC - MoU = Cooperation between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS), New Delhi and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi.

- MoU between National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and Scientific Research Institute of Sea and Islands, Hanoi. Vietnam Capital – Hanoi Currency – Vietnamese dong

5th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting Held Through VC - Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash Represented India - They discussed the ways to enhance cooperation in areas like 5G, Artificial Intelligence(AI) & industrial Internet - UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) will collaborate with BRICS to establish a Center of Industrial Competences. - Recently, Russia postponed the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summits

Two-day long 6th Round Table of ASEAN-India network of think tanks (AINTT) - Organized by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand - Theme “ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era” - Inaugurated by Union External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar ASEAN 2020 Chairmanship – Vietnam Chairman – Nguyen Xuan Phuc

6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting - Prakash Javadekar represented India - India will assume the Presidency of BRICS in 2021.

BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Platform - BRICS Environment Ministers established BEST Platform

- To facilitate the exchange of information views and sharing of the best practices on BRICS countries including post COVID-19 environment/sustainable development recovery programmes. BRICS Presidency 2020 – Russia Theme for 2020 – “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.

STATE/NATIONAL NEWS Kerala

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Inaugurated State’s First Marine Ambulance ‘Pratheeksha’ in Kochi (PRATHEEKSHA karo, MARINE AMBULANCE is coming)

- Acquired by the Fisheries Department at Kochi for rescue operations at sea at a total cost of Rs.18.24 Crores. - The Other 2 ships are ‘Prathyasha’ and ‘Karunya’. Kerala Governor – Arif Mohammad Khan

Andhra Pradesh

AP Govt - MoU - Reliance Retail, Jio and Allana Group = to empower Women SHGs Market Their Products - Reliance Retail will support the micro-grocery women retailers through the ‘JioMart Kirana’ stores, which will be digitally equipped and act as online stores. The government had already entered into MoU with AMUL, HUL, ITC and P&G for supporting the YSR Cheyutha beneficiaries in the dairy and retail businesses

Andhra CM Launched UPI-based Payment facilities in 15004 village and ward secretariats through video conference - Tied-up with NPCI and Canara Bank for this digitalisation process. - Around 545 types of services will be available for payment under this digitalisation process. - One Volunteer is to be assigned for every 50 families and One Secretariat to be set up for every village or village having a population of 2,000. Andhra Pradesh Governor – Biswabhusan Harichandan.

Andhra Pradesh Government - MoU - Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) = to drive economic growth of the state

Andhra Pradesh CM = launched the ‘Jagananna Chedodu’ scheme to provide financial assistance to tailors, barbers and dhobis(washermen) - Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 per person was provided Andhra Pradesh Governor – Biswabhusan Harichandan

Andhra Pradesh - MoU - Boston Group = to set up a facility at Visakhapatnam dedicated to Research and Development (R&D) in the Information Technology sector with focus on learning platforms and also leveraging advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and cybersecurity

Government of AP - MoU - Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Procter and Gamble (P&G) and ITC = to Support Economic Empowerment of Women - two schemes YSR Cheyutha and YSR Asara to support the empowerment of women.

- Around Rs. 11,000 crores per year will be distributed under both the schemes which will be around Rs. 44,000 crores for 4 years which will benefit around 1 crore women. - YSR Cheyutha scheme = to support the women of the minority groups (SC, ST, BC) aged between 45 and 60 = Financial assistance of Rs. 18,750 per annum that is Rs. 75,000 for four years will be provided - Under this scheme around Rs. 4,500 crores will be distributed. - YSR Asara - will benefit around 90 lakh women of around 9 lakh self-help groups = around Rs. 6,700 crores will be distributed.

Andhra Pradesh CM launched a one-month long virtual cybercrime awareness programme ‘E- Raksha Bandhan’ - Organized by the Andhra Pradesh Police, CID, FM Radio, Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC), Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF) and other organizations.

- More than 1 lakh women and the general public would be trained under this programme up to August 31, 2020. - The Andhra Pradesh police and state CID publicised a slogan “Let us make August a month of e freedom and e-safety.” - The victims of the state were asked to complain through Disha APP and in Disha Police Stations on harassment and cybercrimes.

Governor of AP Biswa Bhusan Harichandan = cleared three State-capital Bills and Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Repeal Bills 2020

Telangana

UNICEF & ADB funds for Thermal screening at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

- thermal scanner - provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare + ADB funded by UNICEF

Telangana + Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) + World Economic Forum (WEF) – India = launched AI for Agricultural Innovation Program (AI4AI) - Expected to benefit both the farmers and the policymakers of the state - Telangana Government has announced 2020 as the year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the state. - Aims to establish Hyderabad amongst the top 25 Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Hubs. Telangana Governor – Tamilisai Soundararajan

Karnataka

India’s first mobile Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT- PCR) COVID lab - inaugurated by Karnataka’s Medical Education Minister Dr. K Sudhakar in Karnataka - Approved by ICMR - Developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bengaluru = handed over to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS)

Maharashtra

Mumbai’s Dadar has become the first city in India to have women symbols on traffic signals - Installed by BMC that display female icons sporting triangular frock, a shift from the default representation of men.

Maharashtra - First State to Partner with Google India to Provide Learning Tools for Schools - Aim of the partnership = To progress Maharashtra in education with effective use of online resources, platforms and technology and to bridge the gap in education - More than 1.5 Lakh teachers of Maharashtra have registered to use the digital medium. - Will support the education department to adopt the technology in more than 1.9 lakh schools for more than 22.3 million students.

Maharashtra Govt. Approved Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MagNet) project worth Around Rs 1,000 crore - 70% funded by ADB while the rest of 30% cost (300 crores) is funded by the state government - Project aims to help farmers across all districts in the state for the next 6 years. Maharashtra Governor – Bhagat Singh Koshyari ADB President - Masatsugu Asakawa Recent

Goa

Goa - MoU - NSDC = for setting up World-Class Skill Development Institute to provide Advanced Skills Training under “Skill India Mission” Goa Chief Minister – Pramod Sawant Governor – Satya Pal Malik NSDC CEO -Manish Kumar Headquarters – New Delhi

Tripartite MoU = Goa govt - GIZ India - Siemens Limited = to Provide world class German dual vocational education and training (VET) in Goa’s Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) - This Indo-German initiative will improve the employability of the ITI graduates.

- Government of Goa allotted land to a consortium of 49 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) units to set up India’s first Maritime Cluster - Goa + Innovaccer Inc, a United States (US)-based healthcare data analytics company = launched Test Yourself Goa, a self-assessment tool for COVID-19 to help people identify if they are infected by the virus without visiting a doctor or hospital. Siemens Limited India MD & CEO – Sunil Mathur Head Office – Mumbai

Gujarat

Ahmedabad Railway Division Introduced Baggage Sanitization and Wrapping Machine - Indian Railways’ Central Railway zone has installed an Automated Ticket Checking & Managing Access (ATMA) machine at Nagpur station.

Indian Railways Chairman – Vinod Kumar Yadav

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (DNHDD) Launched E-Gyan Mitra Mobile Application for Online Education Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu(DNHDD) Administrator– Praful Patel Capital– Daman

Gujarat Launched - Rs 1,800 crore Mukhya Mantri Kisan Sahay Yojana - Replacing “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)”, for FY20-21 only to Compensate Crop Loss of Farmers - Eligibility = Farmers who have sown crops for kharif (monsoon) 2020 season i.e. sown till July 2020, and tribal farmers registered under the Forest Rights Act are eligible for this scheme

- The compensation will be given only if the loss of crop is more than 33% due to above mentioned factors. - For crop loss between 33% and 66%, a farmer will get a compensation of Rs 20,000 per hectare for maximum four hectares. For crop loss above 66%, a farmer will get Rs 25,000 per hectare for maximum four hectares through direct benefit transfer (DBT). - Farmers are also eligible to get additional compensation under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)

Gujarat Announced New Industrial Policy 2020 - With an expected average annual outlay of up to Rs 8,000 crore, which is meant to provide incentives to the industries - Aims to provide an estimated Rs 40,000 crore as subsidies to industries in the next 5 years

- New policy is in line with the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – replaced the Gujarat Industrial Policy 2015. - Gujarat will become the 1st state to “delink incentives from State Goods and Service Tax(SGST) - new Industrial policy is divided in 15 thrust areas in core sectors and sunrise sectors - Irrespective of any sector, the thrust on 100% export oriented units will be given. - Will allow leasing out government land to industrialists on long term lease of up to 50 years at 6% of the market rate. - Provide incentives to private industrial parks and also provide ‘relocation incentives’ to the units who look to relocate in wake of Covid-19 pandemic, particularly from China. - The state govt will pay 50 paise more to every unit of solar power bought from MSMEs to encourage MSMEs to use rooftop solar power = The new purchase price stands at Rs 2.25 per unit against Rs 1.75.

- Increases the seed support from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for start-ups - subsidy of up to 7% up to Rs 35 lakh per annum for seven years to service sector MSMEs in the areas of financial services, healthcare, audio-visual, and environmental services - Gujarat Govt launched ‘Atmanirbhar Gujarat Sahay Yojna’ to provide loans to small businessmen. Gujarat Governor – Acharya Devvrat

Two Flyover of Ahmedabad will be named After Late Arun Jaitley & Sushma Swaraj - The flyover bridge at Income Tax circle will be named as Arun Jaitley Flyover. - The flyover at the Anjali cross road will be named Sushma Swaraj Bridge

Madhya pradesh

MP Chhatarpur Police’s ‘Ek Sankalp – Bujurgo ke naam’ campaign proved to be boon for senior citizens - Facilities like medicines, vegetables, milk, essential goods telephone, TV recharge, online application are being provided to the house of the elderly people Anna Hazare has praised this campaign

Madhya Pradesh launched “Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi” public awareness campaign from August 1-15 - Establishment of Mask Banks, where people can donate masks which in turn will be distributed free to poor people. - Citizens can also donate masks through NGOs in every district/urban body.

Rajasthan

Government of Rajasthan Approves 5% Reservation instead of 1% in Judicial Service for More Backward Classes(MBC) Rajasthan Governor – Kalraj Mishra

Haryana

Haryana Govt - MoU - M3M Foundation = to facilitate students’ online preparation, training and mentoring for entrance examinations of government jobs - MoU is in line with the vision of the Haryana government to link 1 lakh candidates to government jobs within and outside the state in the next 2 years. - The MoU is valid for 18 months.

Haryana’s Forest department used drone for aerial seeding to shower 50,000 seeds pallets covered with a mixture of clay and compost in Aravallis Haryana Governor – Satyadev Narayan Arya

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar launched Anti Bullying Campaign of Faridabad Police over Social Media with username @FBDpolice to report any form of bullying in the schools, colleges, neighbourhood, home and workplace - The campaign is a part of the ‘Teen Age Police’ programme of Faridabad Police Haryana Governor – Satyadeo Narain Arya

Haryana Govt launched 2 schemes - Mahila Evam Kishori Samman Yojana & Mukhya Mantri Doodh Uphar Yojana for state’s girls & women

- With a total outlay of Rs 256 crore - “Mahila Evam Kishori Samman Yojana” = focusing on adolescent girls and women between 10 to 45 years of age of about 11,24,871 BPL families will provide a 6 piece packet of free sanitary napkins every month for a year. This scheme will cover the state’s 22.50 lakh women and girls - “Mukhya Mantri Doodh Uphar Yojana” = Under the aegis of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), the haryana government has initiated this scheme in order to provide around 200 ml of fragrant skimmed milk per day for 6 days in a week to about 9.03 lakh children between 1 and 6 years of age and 2.95 lakh pregnant and lactating mothers visiting 25,962 anganwadi centres in the state - objective of the scheme is to address the problem of anaemia and malnutrition among state’s women and children.

CM of Haryana launched a unique identity card, the Parivar Pehchan Patras (PPP)

- An initiative of the state government - Developed by the team CMO = for effective and efficient delivery of central and state schemes - Under PPP each family will be considered as a single unit and will be allotted an 8 digit unique identification number. - The 8-digit number will enable seamless delivery of state government services. - Every city and village will have unique code. - From 27th – 30th August 2020 special camps at villages and ward level will be organized to collect and verify data - State Government of Haryana has decided to celebrate 2020 as Susashan Sanakap Varsh. - Also inaugurated a portal for the registration of unorganised workers through PPP. Haryana Governor– Satyadeo Narain Arya

Haryana’s Urban local bodies and Home Minister Anil Vij launched “Works Management System”

- a web-based, paperless and centralised web portal for the management and monitoring of the development works in the Urban Local Bodies(ULB) in Haryana - Portal will enable transparency and reduce corruption in the state.

Punjab

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh Launched ‘Punjab Smart Connect Scheme’ to Provide Free Smartphones for more than 1.74 Lakh Students of class 12 worth Rs. 92 crores - Punjab CM Amarinder Singh recently launched surveillance app ‘Ghar ghar nigrani’ app to detect COVID-19 - Punjab Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh recently launched “Cova Punjab” mobile application

Punjab -First Rank in Health, Welfare Centre Operationalisation released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India. Punjab Governor – Vijayender Pal Singh Badnore

Punjab Govt + YuWaah for youth development = launched ‘Pride of Punjab’ - Launched by Punjab CM Amarinder Singh - Aimed at enabling best opportunities for the Youth of Punjab. - U-Report is a social messaging tool and data collection system supported by YuWaah and UNICEF to improve citizen engagement. - YuWaah = aims to facilitate youth to gain relevant skills for productive lives and the future of work - supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund - It is targeted at young people aged 10-24 years

Delhi

Delhi Government Launched - ‘Healthy Body, Healthy Mind’ Fitness Campaign for Students Confined in Homes

Delhi Government Launched Niraman Mazdoor Registration Abhiyan for Construction Workers to register and utilise around 18 assistance schemes - Registration campaign for construction workers will be conducted from 24th August 2020 to 11th September 2020. - Workers aged between 18 and 60 years are eligible to register.

Delhi Govt - MoU - Bloomberg Philanthropies = to enhance road safety by eliminating road accidents and create safe mobility

- Delhi has joined 30 world cities & world’s leading organisations in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety

All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) – MoU - Delhi Police = for extending ayurvedic mode of preventive and promotive health services in the residential colonies of the Delhi Police through mobile units named ‘Dhanwantari Rath’. - AYURAKSHA = launched on April 30, 2020, joint venture of AIIA & Delhi Police for maintaining the health of Delhi Police personnel who serve as frontline warriors during COVID-19 through Ayurveda immunity boosting measures = The kits were distributed to around 80,000 Police Personnel over a period of two months.

Bihar

Nitin Gadkari inaugurated upstream carriageway of Mahatma Gandhi Bridge/Setu over river Ganga in Bihar - 1st Indian Bridge to use modern tech for renovation - Upstream lane recently completed and downstream which will be completed by December 2021. - Designing of the bridge has been done by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee - A new 5 km long, 4-lane Bridge over river Ganga in parallel to MG Setu - announced by Nitin Gadkari to facilitate movement of ships under it = With an outlay of Rs 2,926.42 crore, it will get completed by 2024. Bihar Governor – Phagu Chauhan

Jharkhand

Draupadi Murmu, governor of Jharkhand and Hemant Soren Chief Minister of Jharkhand introduced the New State emblem at the Aryabhatta Auditorium, Ranchi - The Logo came into effect from 15th August 2020. - The new circle shaped emblem incorporates and represents the progress of the state along with the traditions, cultural heritage and flora and fauna of the state.

Chattisgarh

Chhattisgarh Govt Launched ‘Padhai Tuhar Para’ scheme for school students - To enable school students to learn from their respective localities - Bluetooth-based programme ‘Bultu Ke Bol’, ‘Mukhyamantri Slum Swasthya Yojana’, ‘Radhabai Diagnostic Centre Scheme’ will also be introduced and committees will be set up for new appointments and promotions in the state.

- Bultu Ke Bol introduced to provide study materials to students in remote areas who do not have access to internet facilities. - Mukhyamantri Slum Swasthya Yojana - will be launched in urban areas under which door-to- door health facilities will be provided to people through 70 mobile medical units in all the 14 municipal corporations. - Radhabai Diagnostic Centre Scheme - it will be introduced to provide pathology and other testing facilities at concessional rates - State to create a dedicated fund for contribution from people towards ‘Ram Van Gaman Tourist Circuit’ project.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel launched a social security scheme - “Shaheed Mahendra Karma Tendupatta Sangrahak Samajik Suraksha Yojana”

- For tendu leaves collectors in the state covering over 12 lakh families, mostly tribals and forest dwellers. - Tendu leaves Used for making bidis (leaf-wrapped cigarettes) - Mahendra Karma - was popularly known as Bastar tiger for his tough stand against Naxals. He was among 29 people, including senior Congress leaders, who were killed in a Naxal attack in Jhiram valley of Bastar district on May 25, 2013. - Rs 2 lakh will be provided to the nominee in case of normal death of the family head - In case of death due to accident, additional financial aid Rs 2 lakh will be provided Chhattisgarh Governor – Anusuiya Uikey

“Indira Van Mitan Yojana” - Announced by Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel - An initiative to support the forest dwellers of Chhattisgarh

- A group of 10 to 15 youngsters will be formed in around 10,000 villages in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh, to manage the forest based economic activities. Chhattisgarh Governor – Anusuiya Uikey Capital – Raipur

Chhattisgarh’s Jagdalpur = First Municipal Corporation of India to Provide Forest Land Right Certificates to Urban People

Orissa

Odisha Govt launched a scheme ‘Promotion of Intensive Aquaculture through Introduction of Bio-flocTechnology during the year 2020-21’ - Aims to increase the fish productivity and make the state self-sufficient in fish production.

- 1080 Bio-floc tanks will be developed in all 30 districts of Odisha. - The total outlay of the programme is Rs.310.00 lakh. - The unit cost to install a Biofloc unit of 2 tanks is Rs 1.50 lakh, while a Biofloc unit of 6 tanks costs about Rs 4 lakh. - Provides a subsidy of 40% to General & 60% subsidy to SC & ST women beneficiaries for this scheme.

Odisha cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved four mega drinking water worth Rs 800.27 crore. - These projects will provide drinking water to 6.07 lakh additional population in 911 villages - The State Cabinet has approved the proposal to amend certain sections of the Factories Act 1948 to increase the threshold of workers in power generated industrial units from 10 to 20

- Extension of ‘Nirmal’ Scheme to strengthen ancillary services at public health facilities with an estimated budget of Rs 1998.15 CRs for a period of 5 years covering 1,864 health institutions. - A proposal for providing a government guarantee of Rs 1500 crore for the loans already availed by GRIDCO (Grid Corporation of Odisha) during financial year 2019-20. - Adani Power Ltd (APL) has signed an agreement to acquire the 49% of stake(a total of 89,30,237 equity shares) in Odisha Power Generation Corporation(OPGC) from the affiliates of the US-based global energy company, AES Corporation(AES) for USD 135 million (around Rs 1,019 crore) = remaining 51% stake in OPGC is held by the Government of Odisha. Odisha Governor– Prof Ganeshi Lal

Odisha approved penalty for violators of the COVID-19 regulations - will attract Imprisonment for a term, which may be extended to two years or with fine which can be extended upto Rupees One Lakh or with both.

- provision to levy punishments has been provided in the Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 Heritage Sites in Odisha – Bhitarkanika Conservation Area, Sun Temple (Konark), Chilika Lake, Ekamra Kshetra.

West Bengal Govt Launched ‘Karma Sathi Prakalpa’ scheme - 1 lakh unemployed youth will be provided soft loans and subsidies so as to make them self- reliant - WB Government launched ‘Matir Smristi’ scheme to utilise 50,000 acres of barren land in 6 districts for income-generating activities like horticulture

- West Bengal state Home Secretary, Alapan Bandopadhyay launched an “exit app” for people of other states who are stranded in the state due to the lockdown and want to return to their native place - Mamata Banerjee launched Karmo Bhumi, a job portal to help Information Technology (IT) professionals who have lost their jobs after the outbreak of COVID-19 and returned to the state West Bengal Governor – Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar

Assam

The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) launched Flood Early Warning System (FEWS), fully automated web-based tool for Guwahati, Assam

- Developed under TERI project supported by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). - Guwahati will be the third city after Chennai and Mumbai to have a Flood Warning system - Union Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), which has plans to set up similar systems in Kolkata and Bengaluru by 2021.

Assam Government to Launch ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme - The household income of the applicant must be less than Rs 2 Lakh per annum. - Women being the primary caretaker of the family are kept as beneficiaries of the scheme Will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 830 per month through DBT scheme to around 17 Lakh Families in the state

- Will be implemented from October 2, 2020 and will act as an umbrella scheme for all other government schemes for the next 5 years. - Scheme is applicable to eligible families to buy essential food items. Rs.400 has been allotted for the purchase of medicine, Rs.150 for vegetables, 50% off on 4 kgs of ration and 4kgs of sugar. - The Assam government will bear 210 crore rupees per month for the ‘Orunodoi’ scheme. - The amount will be transferred to the bank account of the nominated women member of the family.

Assam Council of Ministers approved “Assam Non-Government Education Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Rules 2020” to regulate the fees structure of the private educational institutes in the State of Assam. - ‘Bajali’ becomes 34th District of Assam

Assam Governor – Jagdish Mukhi

Meghalaya

Meghalaya CM Sangma Launched Restart Meghalaya Mission worth Rs. 14,515 Crore to revive the development activities which were stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. - Rs. 7,839 crore has been designated for 2020-2021. - 6 projects under the Restart Meghalaya mission, which includes agriculture and its allied sector, promoting livelihood in rural areas. - This mission will also involve the tourism sector which benefits around 50000 people. - The state government will adopt a high value low volume tourism model and plans to increase the number of high value rooms from 200 to at least 500 in the next two years.

- Government will make an investment of around Rs.200 crore to create high value accommodation. - Around 400 agri-entrepreneurs will be provided with power tillers with 50 per cent subsidy which costs around Rs.4 crore. - The government is working to double the number of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) holders from 86000 within the next one year. - The government decided to make an interest subvention of 2% on timely repayment of KCC loans. - Under the Chief Minister’s Support programme, one time grant support of upto Rs. 10000 for new small business loans of upto Rs.50000 for small business and entrepreneurs will be provided. - Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, around 47000 houses will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.611 crore.

Meghalaya Cabinet Approved Policy on Reservation of 50% seats for Women in Village Employment Councils Meghalaya Chief Minister – Conrad Kongkal Sangma Governor – Tathagata Roy

Nagaland

Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio launched ‘Yellow Chain’ e-commerce platform on Independence Day 2020 - To promote local business & entrepreneurship in the state. It is seen as a “new era in Naga marketing culture”

- Developed by Investment & Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN) to promote local business & entrepreneurship.

Jammu and Kashmir

Jitendra Singh - Union Minister of State-MoS (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space = laid foundation stones of various construction works undertaken under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-II in Jammu and Kashmir(J&K). - 28 roads under PMGSY-II to be constructed at a cost of around Rs 175 crore. PMGSY Launched – 25th December, 2000 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Phase I- It was launched in December, 2000. Phase II- It was approved in May, 2013.

Phase III- It was approved by the Cabinet during July 2019 = proposed to consolidate 1,25,000 Km road length - duration of the scheme is 2019-20 to 2024-25.

‘Iraada’ Campaign Launched in J&K to Cover Eligible remaining Beneficiaries under Social Welfare Schemes

Himachal Pradesh government - MoU - Micro Tek New Technologies Private Ltd = to set up Electronics Manufacturing Unit at Baddi, Solan District, Himachal Pradesh

Pawan Hans launched Helicopter service in UttaraKhand under UDAN scheme

GOVT SCHEMES

Women of Tamil Nadu - Topped the List of MUDRA Loan Scheme Beneficiaries by availing Rs 58,227 crore loan. - Followed by West Bengal (Rs 55,232 crore), Karnataka (Rs 47,714 crore) - PMMY - launched on April 8, 2015, for providing loans up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro-enterprises. - Shishu – Allowed loans up to Rs.50,000 - Kishore – Allowed loans up to Rs.5,00,000 - Tarun – Allowed loans up to Rs.10,00,000

Nitin Jairam Gadkari launched Mobile App ‘Harit Path’ - The application using geo tagging and web based GIS enabled monitoring tools to monitor the plantations. - Nitin Gadkari stated that the goal of 100% plantations along the highways will be achieved by March 2022. - National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has achieved the highest ever highway construction feat with an accomplishment of 3,979 km of national highways in the financial Year 2019-20. Minister of State of Road Transport, Highways(MoRTH) - Vijay Kumar Singh

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan Launched Online Registration and Renewal of Gold Hallmarking Centres

- The online system can be accessed through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) web portal – www.manakonline.in. - The hallmarking of gold which is voluntary at present will be made mandatory from 1st June, 2021. Minister of State (MoS) for Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution - Raosaheb Patil Danve

Arjun Munda Virtually Launched Trifood Project of TRIFED in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh - Carried by the MoTA in association with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and implemented by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). - To increase the income of the tribals through better utilisation and value addition of the Minor Forest Produce(MFP) that are collected by the tribal forest gatherers.

- To offer a comprehensive development package for tribals by promoting employment, incomes and entrepreneurship. - DST, Government of Rajasthan in association with TRIFED, under MoTA, organized a Webinar under Know Your Scheme-Lecture Series on “Van Dhan Yojana TRIFED Managing Director – Pravir Krishna Head Office – New Delhi

Harsh Vardhan Launched FSSAI’s ‘Eat Right India’ Handbook and a website “eatrightindia.gov.in” to support the stakeholders to scale up ‘Eat Right India’ initiatives across India Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) - Ashwini Kumar Choubey

Cabinet approved setting up of National Recruitment Agency to conduct CET for non-gazetted posts (Group B and C) of SSC, RRBs and IBPS

- Rs. 1517.57 cr sanctioned - Reduction in costs with expected savings of Rs 600 crore. - NRA will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. - The National Recruitment Agency (NRA) was first proposed by the government in the Union Budget 2020.

Cabinet approved proposal for leasing out three airports – Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram of AAI through PPP to Adani Enterprises Ltd. for Operation, Management and Development for a period of fifty years. - The decision on privatisation of six airports of Ahmadabad, Mangalore, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur has already been taken in the first phase. - Revenue received by AAI from PPP partners enables AAI to create infrastructure facilities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and also to upgrade their airports to international standards.

Adani Enterprises Ltd. Chairman – Gautam Adani Headquarter– Ahmedabad

Cabinet approved Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21 at Rs 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10% on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 45 highway projects in Madhya Pradesh - Rs.700 crore from the Central Road Fund (CRF) will be utilised for the road sector of Madhya Pradesh. - The aim is to complete projects worth Rs 50,000 crore out of Rs 1.25 lakh crore by 2023. - The current length of the National Highways in MP is 13,248 kilometers.

- Nitin Gadkari also Inaugurated Foundation Stones of 11 Highway Projects Worth Around Rs 20,000 crore in Haryana Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways – Vijay Kumar Singh

Ravi Shankar Prasad Launched “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” to provide a strong ecosystem of startups, innovation and research in India. - IIT Madras and Center for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC) - developed two microprocessors named SHAKTI (32 bit) and VEGA (64 bit) respectively using Open Source Architecture under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of Ministry of Electronics and IT. - The registration process of the challenge at https://innovate.mygov.in/ started on 18th August 2020

- At the various stages of the challenges financial support to the tune of Rs.4.30 crore will be offered for developing the hardware prototype and incubation of a startup. - Gold Certificate (Winners) – 10 teams will receive a total of Rs.2.30 Crore will be awarded as the seed Fund for incubating the startup. - Silver Certificate (Finalists) – 25 teams will receive a total of Rs.1 crore will be awarded as prototype development fund. - Bronze Certificate (Semi Finalists) – 100 teams will receive a total of Rs.1 crore as MCP/POC Development Fund and Free access to Swadeshi Processors and FPGA Board.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs - MoU - Ministry of Rural Development to take the convergence endeavor (efforts of both ministries) ahead and support rural poor including tribal communities. - Addressed by Narendra Singh Tomar

- Meeting was also addressed by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda and Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal. - Narendra Singh Tomar released a book “Farm Livelihood Interventions under DAY-NRLM (Strategy, Convergence Framework, Models)”. - An employment -cum- rural public works Campaign for 67 lakh migrant workers titled “Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA)” has been launched in june for 6 states viz. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, MP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha MoS for Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) - Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti MoS for Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) - Rameswar Teli MoS for Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)- Renuka Singh Saruta

Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda inaugurated Tribal Health & Nutrition Portal – “Swasthya”

- Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) also launched e-newsletter on health and nutrition ALEKH and opening of National Overseas Portal and National Tribal Fellowship Portal. - Arjun Munda also launched the initiative of MoTA with Facebook to empower the tribal youths to gain leadership skills, identify the social problems and to become a leading resource in their field of influence. - This initiative will be under the ‘Going Online as Leaders (GOAL)’ Programme, through which the ministry aims to provide mentors to around 5000 tribal youths across india. - The road map of the program including the mobile distribution and launch of the program will be on 5th September 2020, Teachers Day 2020.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) launched VedKrishi.com - An Online Farm to Fork Service

- The portal is promoted by the farmers for selling toxic free farm produce. - The platform was set up by the Nagpur based VedKrishi Farmer Producer Company - The online portal enables the company to directly connect the farmers with the consumers. - The company will offer advice on the day to day farming issues and paid visits to VedKrishi farms to provide more understanding about the VedKrishi. - The portal will provide the details of the farmers along with the products. - Targeting nearby 300 farmers as the initial target. - It is planned to scale up to Maharashtra and then across India. - To process and dry the farm produce to achieve zero wastage and through affordable means the company offers solar dryers to the farmers. Minister of State of MSME - Pratap Chandra Sarangi

Centre extended Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0 by 3 months till Nov 11, 2020

- PCGS 2.0 to provide Portfolio Guarantee for purchase of Bonds or CPs with a rating of AA and AA issued by NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to provide liquidity infusion of Rs 45,000 crore into the system. - The first 20% of the loss is provided to state-owned banks by the government for purchase of bonds or CPs of NBFCs, MFIs and HFCs having a credit rating of AA or below - Aimed at providing access to fresh liquidity support to non-bank lenders. - Centre had announced the PCGS in July 2019 - In May 2020 amid COVID 19 finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had extended the scheme to provide liquidity support to institutions with low credit ratings.

PM Narendra Modi Launched “Transparent Taxation – Honouring the Honest” platform of IT department via video conferencing - Provides faceless assessment and taxpayers’ charter, as a part of direct tax reforms.

- Faceless assessment and taxpayers’ charter would be implemented from August 13 but the faceless appeal system would be available from September 25, 2020 - With a view to provide for resolution of pending tax disputes the Direct Tax “Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020” was rolled out.

Govt has announced 24 winners in the eight categories of “AatmaNirbhar App Innovation Challenge” - Chingari emerged as a winner of ‘social’ category and Koo, MaymyIndiamove, Asksarkar, myitreturn are some of the other apps that won the challenge,

Nitin Jairam Gadkari announced India’s initiatives to achieve Zero Road Fatalities by 2030 while addressing the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Womennovator on Trade Investment

- The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have committed Rs. 7,000 crores each on initiatives to reduce road accidents. Minister of State (MoS) of Road Transport and Highways – General Vijay Kumar Singh

Odisha has retained Top Position in Implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme - According to rankings released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Odisha topped by securing a score of 85.67 percent, followed by Chandigarh (75.08) and Telangana (74.04). - Out of the total 191 projects started under the AMRUT scheme, 148 projects have been implemented and other projects are expected to be completed before the deadline in March, 2021.

- Under the AMRUT scheme, parks with well-conceived landscaping and rejuvenation facilities, open gyms and jogging trails have been developed. - AMRUT scheme was launched in June 2015 with a focus to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation by implementing urban revival projects - AMRUT Mission covers around 500 cities under AMRUT scheme.

Rajnath Singh Launched 15 Products to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan - Developed by Defence PSUs and OFB = four products each by OFB and BEML, two by BEL and one each by HAL, BDL, MDL, GRSE and GSL.

Rajnath Singh Launched Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation Virtually (NIIO)

- To enable users to interact with academia and industry towards fostering innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in Accordance with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. - ‘SWAVLAMBAN’, a compendium of Indian Navy’s Indigenisation perspective plans was also released during the occasion.

Governing board of National Health Authority (NHA) approved Integration of Health Schemes of Central Ministries with Ayushman Bharat Scheme - Centre also approved a Rs 50 lakh medical insurance scheme for healthcare workers who are dealing with coronavirus pandemic - Centre sanctions Rs 190 cr for augmentation of healthcare facilities in North Eastern States. CEO of AB-PMJAY and National Health Authority (NHA) – Indu Bhushan Headquarter of NHA – New Delhi

Rajnath Singh Launched portal SRIJAN as a part of “opportunities for Make in India in Defence” - on the final day of Atma Nirbhar Week celebration between August 7-14, 2020 to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India movement) - portal provides information about defence equipment and items which are being imported currently or are going to be imported by the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs)/Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)/ Service Headquarters (SHQs) - For 2019-20 the number of items displayed is 1557 with an import value of Rs 34035 million - Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC) under Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) = four MoUs between industry partners and Defence PSUs were signed = there were 14 winners from three challenges (one each from Army, Navy and Air Force), out of them, three winners from Army challenge and one winner from Air Force challenge have been cleared and signed the SPARK Grant Contract.

- idex = Launched in 2018 = aimed to foster innovation and technology development in Defence by engaging research and development (R&D) institutes, academia, industries, start- ups and individual innovators. - iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), a Section 8 company formed for this purpose, with Rs 50 crore support each from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

Atal Innovation Mission(AIM) + National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) - launched Atal Tinkering Lab(ATL) AI Step-up module through ‘ATL AI Modules’ for school students to empower youngest minds and drive innovations in the country to the next level. - AIM is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country

- Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), flagship initiative of NITI Aayog teamed with other Ministries and its partners = to organize the series of virtual COVID-19 Demo Days to find the potential startups with innovative solutions COVID-19 solutions NASSCOM President – Debjani Ghosh Headquarters – New Delhi

EU launched Nirmanshree For Odisha and Maharashtra Women in Housing Sector - Project will be implemented in Beed and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra and the Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts of Odisha - A NGO, Habitat for Humanity India joined EU for funding this project - The total cost of the project is EUR 9,49,694 (INR 7,40,85,628 or US$1,075,307). - 90 percent of funding by EU and remaining 10 percent will be issued by Habitat for Humanity India

- 3,000 women will be trained for technical and entrepreneurial skills in housing sector Habitat for Humanity India Headquarters – Mumbai MD – Rajan Samuel

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Kiren Rijiju - launched a country-wide event “Fit India Freedom Run” from August 15 (74th Independence Day) to October 2 (151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi) through an online programme.

AYUSH Ministry launched three-month campaign on “Ayush for Immunity” through webinar on Ayush Virtual Convention Centre (AVCC), which aims to increase awareness about affordable and easy practices to boost immunity.

PM announced launch of National Digital Health Mission - rolled out in 6 UTs Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep - Every Indian will get a health ID that will store the individual’s medical records - Will be implemented through National Health Authority (NHA), which is also responsible for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). - The finance ministry has approved a budget of Rs 470 crore for the proposal, but the final NHA proposal may not seek more than Rs 400 crore. - NDHM comprises of six key building blocks or digital systems- HealthID, DigiDoctor, Health Facility Registry, Personal Health Records, e-Pharmacy and Telemedicine. National Health Authority (NHA) CEO – Indu Bhushan Headquarter – New Delhi

PM Modi announced optical fibre link connecting Lakshadweep from mainland India - PM Narendra Modi set a target of 1,000 days to provide submarine optical fibre connectivity to connect Lakshadweep with mainland India. The Department of telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications will oversee the project. - Also, in the upcoming 1000 days nearly 6 lakh Indian villages will be connected with optical fibre. Bharatnet – - Modi government renamed the programme National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) programme as BharatNet in 2015 - World’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fiber being implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) – a special purpose vehicle under the Telecom Ministry

- envisages laying of about 8 lakh kilometre of incremental optical fibre cable (OFC) to all the 2,50,000-plus Gram Panchayats (GP) in the country at an estimated cost of Rs 42,068 crore ($6.2 billion) - Being implemented in three phases. - Phase 1 covered 1 lakh gram panchayats, Phase 2 targeting 1.5 lakh, and Phase 3 is supposed to focus on infrastructure up-gradation of the existing facility. - The phase 2 of the project was supposed to be deployed in March 2020 but missed the deadline and now it is shifted to August 2021. PM announced “Project Dolphin” for conservation of Gangetic Dolphins On the lines of “Project Tiger” and “Project Elephant” - Gangetic Dolphins declared National Aquatic Species in 2010. - 10-year-long project led by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Keshav Javadekar.

- There are around 3,700 Gangetic River Dolphins in India. PM announced Launch of Project Lion to conserve Asiatic Lion - Asiatic Lion Conservation Project was launched in 2018 for three years i.e. till 2021 with a budgetary contribution of Rs 97.85 Cr from Central Government. - Number of Asiatic lions in Gujarat’s Gir forest increased from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020

Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJE) Thaawarchand Gehlot addressed and Launched ‘Nasha-Mukt Bharat’ Campaign - State Governments and the 272 District Collectors launched a seven-month-long anti-drugs campaign namely “Nasha Mukt Bharat” - Will run till March 31, 2021 - Financial allocation of Rs. 43 crore in 2017 has been enhanced to Rs. 260 crore in 2020 to curb drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

- Thaawarchand Gehlot e-inaugurate new building of National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) in Dwarka, New Delhi Ministers of State (MoS) for Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E) = Krishan Pal Gurjar, Ram Das Athawale and Rattan Lal Kataria

Nitin Gadkari laid foundation stone for 13 highway projects in Manipur - The 13 highway projects involve a Road Length of 316 Kilometers with a total financial outlay of about Rs. 3000 crores. - In the future, four lane roads from Kohima to Imphal are to be taken up with the estimated cost of Rs. 2663 crore. - Manipur is the starting point of the trilateral highway which connects India, Myanmar and Thailand, and it also plays an important role as it shares the International Border with Myanmar.

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar Launched Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services), KVC ALUNET (Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Chhatr Alumni Network) & Online Accreditation System for Agricultural Institutions

Krishi Megh - Set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad under National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) - funded by the Government of India and World Bank - Krishi Megh is aimed at protecting the data of the government’s premier research body Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). KVC

- Designed & Implemented under NAHEP - is a “KVC Alumni Network” that acts as a medium for sharing of information or social networking among alumni of all the 74 Agricultural Universities - Developed by the Division of Computer Application team at ICAR-IASRI. - National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) = formulated by ICAR with an outlay of Rs 1100 crores for five years starting from 2017-18 on a 50:50 cost sharing basis between the World Bank and GoI - implemented at the Education Division, ICAR, New Delhi = aims to develop resources and mechanism for supporting infrastructure, faculty and student advancement, and to raise the standard of current agricultural education on par with the global agriculture education standards. Minister of State (MoS) for agriculture, cooperation & farmers’ welfare – Kailash Choudhary MoS for agriculture & farmers welfare – Parshottambhai Rupala

Atal Innovation Mission + Dell Technologies= launched the 2nd Edition of Student Entrepreneurship Program (SEP 2.0) - In January, 2019 under the SEP 1.0 top six innovations of the country from Atal Tinkering Labs were selected & went through a 10-month Student Entrepreneurship Programme with DELL to transform their innovative prototypes into fully functioning products which are ready to go to the market. - Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) has launched pan India “ATL App Development Module”, a free online course for school students and teachers “Plezmo” – #TinkerfromHome - Coal India Limited (CIL), has entered into the partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), to actively support the innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across India. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) Mission Director – Ramanan Ramanathan Headquarters – New Delhi

Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Launched the Swachh Bharat Mission Academy - An Interactive Voice Response (IVR) based free mobile online training course with modules on the Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus programme - Launched as part of ‘GandagiMukt Bharat’, the ongoing week-long behaviour change campaign. - SBM Academy’s functionalities and key roles are anticipated under Phase 2 of Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)-SBM(G) - The Phase 2 of the SBM (G) was launched in 2020 Union Minister of Jal Shakti (MoJS) - Gajendra Singh Minister of State – Rattan Lal Kataria (Constituency- Ambala)

Nirmala Sitharaman Launched Online Dashboard for Information on National Infrastructure Pipeline - NIP is a first-of-its-kind government effort to provide world-class infrastructure across India in five years i.e. 2020-2025 through an investment (both domestic & foreign) of Rs 111 Lakh crore over the next 5 years. - NIP also helps in achieving the target of a $5 trillion economy by FY 2025.

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment Forest &Climate Change(MoEFCC) Launched the Booklet on Best practices of Human-Elephant Conflict Management in India to strengthen coexistence of the human-elephant, along with the Beta Version of “Surakhsya” Minister of State of Ministry of Environment Forest &Climate Change(MoEFCC) – Babul Supriyo

Submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) Connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands (CANI)

- Launched by PM Narendra Modi - Connecting Chennai Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&NI) - Will enable delivery of faster mobile and landline telecom services to A&NI - Cost of about Rs 1224 Crore. - 2,312-kilometer - The submarine OFC link will deliver bandwidth of 2 x 200 Gigabits per second (Gbps) between Chennai and Port Blair, and 2 x 100 Gbps between Port Blair and the other islands. - Project funded by the Government of India through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) is under the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications. - BSNL executed this project while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) is the Technical Consultant - Airtel becomes first telecom to launch ‘Ultra-Fast 4G’ services in Andaman and Nicobar

Financing Facility of Rs.1 Lakh crore Under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund & Rs 17000 Cr as 6th Installment of PM-KISAN - Launched by PM - It is a Central Sector Scheme (CSS) - First sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies - Duration of the scheme is 10 years i.e. from FY2020 to FY2029. - A 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for loans up to Rs 2 Crore will be provided to the beneficiaries to increase the viability of these projects. - Rs. 17000 Crore transferred to nearly 8.5 Crore farmers under PM-KISAN as 6th installment - Also released the 6th instalment of funds of Rs. 17,000 crore to 8.5 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-KISAN) scheme.

PM inaugurated Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) and Launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’ – a Week Long Campaign (Aug 8-15, 2020) - RSK = balanced mix of digital and outdoor installations tracking India’s transformation from having over 50 crore people defecating in the open in 2014 to becoming open defecation free in 2019. - Railways to observe cleanliness week from August 10-15 to mark Independence Day

Central Government Extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to Large Firms & Self Employed Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme - Introduced in May 2020, as a part of the Atmanirbhar package - Corpus of Rs. 41,600 crores and with an additional guaranteed funding of up to Rs.3 lakh crore.

- Turnover limits to avail the loan under the scheme was increased to annual turnover of Rs.250 crore from Rs.100 crore and outstanding loans up to Rs.50 crores from Rs.25 crore. - The maximum loan amount under the scheme is also increased to Rs.10 crores from Rs.5 crores. - The collateral free loan provided under this scheme supports the small enterprises to pay salary, rent and restocking expenses.

Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry and Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal & Mines dedicated the Railway Museum at Hubballi, Karnataka to the Nation - Highlights of the Railway Museum include Galaxy of Rolling Stock, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha cottages, Theatre Coach, Suruchi Cafeteria, Toy Train, Memorabilia Shop, Ticket Printing Machine, Model train run, Children’s Activity Room.

Minister of State OF Ministry of Railways - Suresh Angadi Channabasappa

Narendra Singh Tomar - launched “Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel” - Initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) - Launched in Hindi and regional language of eighteen different states. Headquarter of NCDC = New Delhi.

Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (Independent charge) Prahlad Singh Patel - inaugurated = 1st golf course of Mizoram, “Thenzawl Golf Resort” under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism - Project was sanctioned under the “Integrated Development of New Eco Tourism” - Constructed by Edufice Infraservices Private Limited of New Delhi.

- Centre has sanctioned Rs.92.25 Crore for development of the North East Circuit at Thenzawl & South Zote, District Serchhip and Reiek, Mizoram out of which an amount of Rs.64.48 Crore was sanctioned for various components at Thenzawl including the Golf Course. Mizoram: Chief Minister (CM) – Zoramthanga Governor– P.S Sreedharan Pillai

Union Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development, Smriti Irani launched Mobile App & Backend Website for Handloom Mark Scheme for the weavers - On the occasion of 6th National Handloom Day held virtually - Organized by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India - App developed by the Textile Committee of Mumbai - App has 10 Indian languages and English language - App confirms the originality of the product through QR code (Quick response code)

- My Handloom = Various benefits under the handloom schemes like Block Level Clusters, Handloom Marketing Assistance and Awards can be applied through the portal - also provides status updates on applications under the National Handloom Development programme, and schemes like, Mudra Loan Scheme, Weavers’ Insurance, Yarn Supply, distribution of looms and accessories, number of training - “India Handloom” brand was launched by the Prime minister in 2015 on the occasion of the 1st National Handloom Day. - During the event a virtual fair and a social media campaign has been inaugurated: - Virtual Textile Fair 2020 = The Government is providing virtual fair shop called the Indian Textile Sourcing Fair 2020 through a step towards realizing “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” - More than 150 participants from different regions of the country will be participating in the programme.

- Social media Campaign - A two-week social media camping #Vocal4Handmade was planned for Handloom, Handloom Products, information about high-end handloom products of various regions of the country.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) publicized a draft ‘Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020 for public feedback by August 17, 2020 - Aims to achieve a manufacturing turnover of $25 bn or Rs 1,75,000 crore, including exports of $5 bn or Rs 35,000 Crore in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025. - Department of Defence Production (DDP) will be the nodal department for coordination on various components of the DPEPP 2020 - 5,000 items are proposed to be indigenized by 2025. - Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti = was launched to promote innovation and technology development and file greater number of patents in Defence PSUs (public sector undertakings)

and OFB (ordnance factory board) would be scaled up further to promote creation of IP Property in defence sector.

Harsh Vardhan launched ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan 2020-21’ - National level programme for popularizing science among school students of class sixth to Eleventh. - initiative of Vijnana Bharathi (VIBHA), Vigyan Prasar and NCERT - India’s largest Science talent search examination for New India using Digital Devices. - Vijnana Bharathi (VIBHA) is a national movement for propagation and popularization of Science & Technology among the students and masses. - Vigyan Prasar (VP) is a national institute for science and technology communication established in 1989 under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) + Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation + Wadhwani Foundation - launched ‘AIM-iCREST’ - AIM’s incubators will be provided requisite support to foster the incubation enterprise economy in order to enhance their performance. - Also training will be provided to entrepreneurs

Financial knowledge platform”MSMESaksham” for MSMEs - launched by SIDBI, TransUnion CIBIL - Will guide MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) seeking quick access to finance and will also support them in managing their credit obligations. - MSMESaksham leverages SIDBI’s extensive network of MSMEs as well as information and insights from TransUnion CIBIL to create an educational ecosystem to build structurally strong MSMEs.

SIDBI CMD – Mohammad Mustafa Headquarter– Lucknow TransUnion CIBIL Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra

EBook titled “Standard Treatment Guidelines for the Management of Substance Use Disorders and Behavioural Addictions” - Released by Dr. Harsh Vardhan in the presence of State Minister of (MoH & FW), Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 - HRD ministry renamed as Ministry of Education - Replaced 34 years old NPE, 1986 - Announced by Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Keshav Javadekar.

- From now onwards the education sector will get allocation of 6% of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - Emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups. - aligned to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-4 of 2030 Agenda is aimed at Universalization of Education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030 - Policy also aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy. - Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is to be raised to 50% by 2030 from 26.8% in 2018 with the addition of 3.5 crore seats. - Curriculum and pedagogy to be transformed by 2022 to promote skill based learning. - Policy premised on the 5 pillars = Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability School Education under NEP 2020

- Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) - consists of flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level, play- based, activity based and discovery-based learning. - National Curricular and Pedagogical Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education (NCPFECCE) for children up to the age of 8 = will be developed by NCERT in two parts = sub frame work for 0-3-year olds and a sub-framework for 3-8 years old 5+3+3+4 model - Foundational stage (5 years) - Preparatory Stage (3 years)– An experiential learning across sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities will be introduced in Grades 3-5 = Age covered: 8-11 - Middle Stage (3 years) – It will have subject-oriented teaching and curricular style for Grades 6-8 = Vocation education and internships from Class six onwards and activities involving coding will also be introduced at this stage. Students will also participate in a fun

project/activity on The Languages of India, under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative - Age covered: 11-14 - Secondary stage (4 years)- It will also consist of two parts i.e. Grade 9&10 + Grade 11&12 and will have greater depth curricular and student choice of subjects, and option to exit at grade 10 and re-enter at a later stage in grade 11. Several foreign languages will be offered at this level = Age covered: 14-18 Language skills - Medium of instruction up to Grade 5, can extend till Grade 8 will be the mother tongue/regional language. - The three-language formula will continue to be implemented. Other Important Changes - Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to make space for inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning

- Mathematics and computational thinking to be given increased emphasis throughout school years - Students will get 360 degree holistic report card, which will not only include their marks, but also their skills. - Bag less days will be encouraged in schools for enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes, sports, and vocational crafts - There will be Inclusion of specially-abled children in the schooling process - Indian Sign Language (ISL) will be standardized across India, and National and State curriculum materials developed for use by students with hearing impairment – NCERT and NCFTE will develop guidelines for the education of gifted children - Special emphasis will be given on socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) which include gender, socio-cultural, and geographical identities and disabilities - includes

setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund and also Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups - Every state/district will be encouraged to establish “Bal Bhavans” Higher Education - Will be integrated into one higher education system -including professional and vocational education. - Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country. - Students who have completed 4 years of bachelors’ programme with research could do one year master’s degree, then 5 year integrated bachelors’ / masters’ degree will also be available.

- Master’s degree or a 4-year Bachelor’s degree with Research would be eligible for pursuing Ph.D. The M. Phil programme would be discontinued. - Implementation of this Policy will be directed by the joint actions from various bodies including MoE, Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog (RSA), Union and State Governments, education- related Ministries, State Departments of Education, Boards, NTA(National Testing Agency), the regulatory bodies of

Tripartite MoU - CSIR, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan-IIT Delhi and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) - To provide access to CSIR rural technologies for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) and is expected to lay the foundation for cooperation and joint action in the area of UBA for rural development of India. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan =

- Flagship programme under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) with a vision for the transformational change in the process of rural development with the support of educational institutes to build the framework of an inclusive India. Vijnana Bharati = - Science body linked with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. CSIR President - Narendra Modi Vice President - Harsh Vardhan Director General – Shekhar C. Mande Headquarter - New Delhi

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj - released a booklet on ‘Best Practices in Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)’ - Prepared by Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development

- Computerization of Land Records has been completed (more than 90%) in 23 States/ Union Territories(UTs) and substantial progress has been achieved in 11 States/ UTs.

MSME launched programme under “Gramodyog Vikas Yojana” for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of Agarbatti and to develop village industry - Four Pilot Projects will be started, including one in the North Eastern part of the country - Each targeted cluster of artisans will be supported with about 50 Automatic Agarbatti making machines and 10 Mixing machines. - Total of 200 Automatic Agarbatti making machines and 40 Mixing machines will be provided to the artisans. - The program will immediately generate a minimum of about 500 additional jobs and will reduce imports of Agarbatti. Union Minister of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises – Nitin Gadkari

Minister of State (MoS) – Pratap Chandra Sarangi

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Hardeep Singh Puri released the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes Pack through Video Conferencing - also launched the mobile application of Credai – Awaas App and an E-Commerce Portal, “HousingforAll.com” of NAREDCO - To provide dignified and affordable rental accommodation to the urban poor and migrant workers. - Scheme aims to provide an affordable living space for people in need. - Government is also considering 100% FDI in the scheme.

OTHERS NATIONAL NEWS

NHAI – Developed - ‘Vendor Performance Evaluation System’ = to establish a transparent and comprehensive performance rating system for its consultants, contractors and concessionaires

The Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) + United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) = to set up a help desk for MSMEs for providing information on various government safety guidelines, regulatory norms, schemes and support measures during the Covid-19 related business challenges CMIA Headquarter – Aurangabad, Maharashtra UNDP Administrator– Achim Steiner Headquarter– New York

India’s Longest Guwahati Passenger Ropeway Project Inaugurated connecting the Northern and Southern banks of the Brahmaputra River - 1.8 Kilometres long, estimated cost of Rs 56 Crore - Project is set to become operational by August 24, 2021 Assam Capital – Dispur Chief Minister – Sarbananda Sonowal

Ministry of Home Affairs approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh as ‘Banaras’. - Manduadih - in Varanasi situated about 4 kilometres from Varanasi Cantonment Station. Minister of State of Home Affairs - Gangapuram Kishan Reddy, Nityanand Rai

Katra-Delhi Express Road Corridor to be completed by 2023

- Announced by Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (M-DoNER), Dr. Jitendra Singh - Total outlay of the project is Rs. 35,000 crores. - Express Corridor is being built under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, which is a centrally- sponsored and funded Road & Highways project of the Government of India. - National Highway between Pathankot and Jammu is set to be upgraded from 4-lane to 6-lane.

Geographical Indications (GI) tags - Goa’s Harmal Chillies = grown only in Harmal village and adjacent areas - Goa’s Moira bananas = unique banana grown in Moira village of Bardez taluka & Bicholim Taluka - Goa’s Khaje = the traditional state sweet.

Gwalior Chambal Expressway will be Named Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Chambal Progressway - A grand statue of Vajpayee ji will be set up in Bhopal - The Gwalior Chambal Expressway is a 6 lane expressway connecting Madhya Pradesh with Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, through the ravines of Chambal region.

Indian Railways Constructing World’s Tallest 141 m high and 703 meters long Pier Bridge across River Ijai in Manipur - Outlay of Rs 280 crore. - It will surpass the existing height record of 139 meters of the Mala – Rijeka Viaduct, Montenegro in Europe. - Located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal, Manipur. - Project will be completed by March 2022.

UK Launched £3 million Innovation Challenge Fund to Maharashtra (£1.5 million) & Karnataka (£1.5 million) to support scientists in academia and industry to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. - Tech innovators with connections to the AI-Data cluster in Karnataka and the future mobility cluster in Maharashtra will submit research and development proposals for tackling COVID-19 or which promote a greener planet till August 31, 2020.

India Railways used New Track Construction (NTC) machine for track construction for 1st time - Implemented by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL). - Currently, there are seven NTC machines that have been deployed along the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) alignment. Indian Railways Chairman – Vinod Kumar Yadav

First five of 36 Rafale fighter jets, from France were landed in Ambala in Haryana - Manufactured with 13 India Specific Enhancements (ISE), by Dassault Aviation - €7.87 billion deal for Rafale fighter jets - 2 twin seater & 3 single seater Indian Air Force (IAF) - New Delhi

Govt Abolished Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) = Notified Change in Status of all eight Textiles Research Associations - CAB is a representative body of government agencies, growers, industry and trade - it advises the government on matters pertaining to production, consumption and marketing of cotton.

India’s first ‘Kisan Rail’ flagged off from Devlali Railway Station of Maharashtra

- flagged off by Piyush Goyal - 1st ever multi commodity train of Indian Railways(IR) that carries fruits - Train will run on a weekly basis. - Launch of Kisan Rail is a step towards achieving the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. - The train will cover a distance of 1519 kilometres in around 32(31.45) hours on a single trip.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognises Venkatraipur and Noliasahi villages of Odisha as ‘Tsunami Ready’ for their overall preparedness - India became the 1st Country in the Indian Ocean region to achieve the honour - Odisha State Disaster Management Authority(OSDMA) was established following the 1999 super cyclone, implemented the Tsunami Ready Programme in Odisha.

- Odisha aims to make the 326 coastal villages and urban local bodies as “Tsunami Ready” over a year of time. - Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready Programme of IOC- UNESCO - to facilitate tsunami preparedness with the collaboration of the Community, leaders, national and local emergency management agencies. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Head Office – Paris Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) Head Office – Bhubaneswar

Simplilearn + National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) = to Upskill Professionals in Digital Skills - Simplilearn will host more than 1,000 hours of free learning in digital skills and technologies for learners across India under the categories of AI and Machine Learning, Big Data, Data

Science & Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Software Development, Project management, and Digital marketing. - This partnership is aligned to the Skill India Mission.

India’s first snow leopard conservation centre in Lanka, near Bhaironghati bridge, Uttarkashi district, UK - Dutch Conservation Architect Anne Feenstra shared the details of the conservation centre. - The conservation centre is expected to create awareness of the Big Cat among the people. Uttarakhand Capital – Garsain (Summer), Dehradun (Winter) Governor – Baby Rani Maurya

First-ever Vyapar Mala express train for small traders from Kishanganj in Delhi to Jirania in Tripura

- Run by Northern Railway - Will help small traders to move their cargo in short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation. - Railway board has earned more than ₹ 94 lakh from this Vyapar Mala Express train. Northern Railway Headquarter – New Delhi railway station

INTERNATIONAL

World Health Organisation (WHO) has invited countries to join its Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility by August 31, 2020 - Facility is led by the WHO, GAVI vaccine alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

- Aim is to deliver 2 billion doses of effective, approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. - The 75 countries, which would finance the vaccines from their own public finance budgets, partner with up to 90 lower-income countries that could be supported through voluntary donations to Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). - The vaccines will be delivered equally to participating countries proportional to their populations.

India - Cultural Agreement - Israel = to Strengthen Bilateral Relations to Promote People to People Exchange for 3 years - Ron Malka, Israel’s Ambassador to India signed an agreement with Uttar Pradesh to cooperate in the water utility on the Indo-Israel Bundelkhand water project.

UAE-Israel peace agreement named “Abraham Accord”

- UAE became the first Gulf Arab state and only the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to have active diplomatic ties to Israel.

Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Committed USD 25mn to Expand Unified Champion Schools (UCS) worldwide programme to 6 countries India, Argentina, Egypt, Pakistan, Romania and Rwanda with an aim to empower intellectually disabled children - The 4 year project will create 120 UCS across 12 states in India - UAE has also committed to bring UCS programming to all of its public schools in the coming years

Narendra Modi + Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the new Supreme Court building of Mauritius in Port Louis through VC

- Supreme Court building - constructed with Indian grant assistance of US$ 30 million and first India-assisted infrastructure project Mauritius Currency – Mauritian rupee High Commissioner of India to Mauritius – Tanmaya Lal

Russia - 1st Country to Register COVID-19 Vaccine, ‘Sputnik V’, after the world’s first satellite Sputnik - Developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Defence Ministry. - Available to the public on Jan 1, 2021. - India is among 20 countries which has expressed interest in obtaining the vaccine

Bangladesh Decided to Construct a Monument for the Indian Soldiers Martyred in the 1971

- Tripura was selected by the Bangladesh Government for its historic significance in the 1971 war

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Introduced New Platform “Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste” to support the global reduction of food loss and waste FAO Director-General - QU Dongyu Headquarters – Rome, Italy

India contributed USD 15.46 mn to India-UN Development Partnership Fund of United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

- Out of USD 15.46 mn, USD 6 million is contributed to the overall fund, in which all the developing countries are eligible for partnership, and USD 9.46 million dedicated to the Commonwealth countries. - India-UN Development Partnership Fund was Initiated in 2017 = dedicated facility within the UNOSSC, supported and led by the GoI, managed by the UNOSSC, and implemented in collaboration with the partner developing countries of UN system. United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation – Jorge Chediek Headquarter – New York, United States (US)

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMY RBI IN NEWS

RBI Annual Report 2019-20 Released - India’s Growth Projected at -4.5% - It will be (-) 3.7% in the single hit scenario and (-) 7.3% in the double hit scenario in FY2020- 21. - On the global front, the growth is projected at (-) 6.0% in the single hit scenario and (-) 7.6% in the double hit scenario in FY20-21. - RBI has decided to dissolve the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) which was set up in February 2006 as an independent and autonomous body for formulating codes of conduct to be adopted by banks - RBI will be implement the recommendations of an in-house committee for integrating three existing Ombudsman schemes – Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006, Ombudsman Scheme for NBFCs, 2018 and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019 into one scheme. - The RBI’s balance sheet increased by 30% to Rs 53,34,793 crore.

- The gross total income for the year 2019-20 declined by 29% to Rs 149,672 crore as compared to Rs 193,036 crore in 2018-19. - Its expenditure for the year 2019-20 is Rs 92,540 crore compared to an expenditure of Rs 17,045 crore in 2018-19. - The year ended with an overall surplus of Rs 57,128 crore which was transferred to the government. - Bank frauds of Rs 100,000 and above reported more than double in FY20 to Rs 1.85 trillion with the number cases increasing 28% in the same period. - PSBs accounted for 80% of the frauds in FY20 - Frauds in loans constituted 98% of the total frauds

RBI - Purchase & Sale of Govt Securities under OMO worth Rs 20,000 crore in two equal tranches of Rs 10,000 crore

- RBI bought longer-dated government securities maturing between 2024 to 2032 - The securities for the second tranche auction on September 03, 2020 will be announced separately. - The objective of simultaneous purchase and sale of G-secs is to raise short-term yields and lower long term yields. - On July 2, 2020, RBI conducted the simultaneous purchase of Government Securities (G-Secs), maturing between 2027 and 2033, and sale of 182 day and 364 day treasury bills (DTBs) under Open Market Operations (OMO) for Rs 10,000 crore each. This OMO was a part of “Operation Twist”

RBI Released revised National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) 2020-2025 - Released by Mahesh Kumar Jain, Deputy Governor

- NSFE 2020-2025 prepared by the National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with all Financial Sector Regulators - RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA along with Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other Ministries of Govt. of India under the aegis of the Technical Group on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy (TGFIFL) - TGFIFL was formed under the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. - Recommends adoption of a ‘5 C’ approach viz. Content, Capacity, Community, Communication and Collaboration. RBI Released “Framework for authorisation of pan-India Umbrella Entity for Retail Payments” - RBI has invited applications from eligible companies by February 26, 2021, the scrutiny of which will be undertaken by an External Advisory Committee (EAC).

- The Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS), will be the final authority to issue authorisation for setting up umbrella entity / entities for retail payments - All entities eligible to apply as promoters of the umbrella entity should be owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). - The minimum paid-up capital of the umbrella entity should be Rs 500 crore. - Any entity holding more than 25% of the paid-up capital but less than 40% of the umbrella entity will be deemed to be a Promoter. - Promoter should upfront (payment made in advance) minimum capital contribution of 10% i.e. Rs 50 crore at the time of making an application for setting up of the umbrella entity. - The Promoter shareholding can be diluted to a minimum of 25% after 5 years of the commencement of business of the umbrella entity.

- A minimum net-worth of Rs 300 crore shall be maintained at all times.

RBI Mandated Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) with assets of Rs 2,000 crore or above as on March 31, 2020 to implement system-based asset classification from 30 June 2021. - This decision has been taken to improve the efficiency, transparency and integrity of the asset classification process. - For UCBs having total assets of Rs 1000 crore or above but less than Rs 2000 crore as on March 31, 2020 and have self-assessed under Level III or Level IV on “Comprehensive Cyber Security Framework for Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks (UCBs) – A Graded Approach” are mandated to implement it from September 30, 2021.

RBI revised the guidelines applicable for Core Investment Companies (CICs) on the basis of the recommendations of the Working Group to Review the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Core Investment Companies - CICs = CICs are non-bank lenders holding not less than 90% of their net assets as investments in equity shares, preference shares, bonds, debentures, debt or loans in group companies - Working group was constituted under the Chairmanship of Tapan Ray, former Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) - Report by the WG was published by RBI on November 6, 2019. - CICs with assets of over Rs 5,000 crore will have to appoint a chief risk officer (CRO). - CIC in the group, or the CIC with the largest asset size, will have to form a group risk management committee (GRMC), comprising of at least five members, with two independent directors.

- It has been decided to limit the number of layers of CICs within a group, including the parent, to two in order to make group structures simpler.

RBI’s Central Board approved a dividend of Rs 57,128 crore to Central Govt for the accounting year 2019-20 - Board decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.5%. - In 2019, had transferred a record payment of Rs 1.76 lakh crore which included Rs 1.23 lakh crore as dividend and about Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF). - As per the Union Budget 2020-21, the govt has budgeted Rs 60,000 crore as dividends from RBI and state-run banks and financial institutions

- As on June 30, 2020 the fiscal deficit of the govt reached 83.2% of the full year budget target of Rs 7.96 trillion due to sharp fall in revenues due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to control COVID-19. - RBI has decided to extend the enhanced borrowing facility provided to the banks to meet their liquidity shortages till September 30 from till June 30, 2020. - RBI conducted the simultaneous purchase of Government Securities (G-Secs), maturing between 2027 and 2033, and sale of 182 day and 364 day treasury bills (DTBs) under Open Market Operations (OMO) for Rs 10,000 crore each = OMO is a part of “Operation Twist” to ease pressure evolving liquidity and market conditions.

RBI sets up panel under KV Kamath for one-time restructuring of loans - To set the parameters and benchmarks for this programme aimed at the resolution of stressed loans.

- Committee will also evaluate resolution plans where debt is more than Rs 1,500 crore. - Setting up of committee is a part of the Resolution Framework/window which is available for one-time only to the COVID-19 related stressed assets under the “Prudential Framework on Resolution of Stressed Assets” dated June 7, 2019” - The resolution plan may be invoked anytime till December 31, 2020 and shall have to be implemented within 180 days from the date of invocation - RBI announced additional special liquidity facility of Rs 5000 cr each for NHB & NABARD - NHB = additional standing liquidity facility (ASLF) of Rs 5,000 crore to National Housing Bank (NHB), over and above Rs10,000 crore already provided, for supporting housing finance companies (HFCs). The facility will be for a period of 1 year and will be charged at the RBI’s repo rate. - NABARD = ASLF of Rs 5,000 crore provided to NABARD for a period of 1 year at the RBI’s policy repo rate for refinancing Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) - Micro Finance

Institutions (MFIs) and other smaller NBFCs of asset size of Rs 500 crore and less to support agriculture and allied activities and the rural non-farm sector. - RBI introduced automated sweep-in and sweep-out (ASISO) facility to help banks manage liquidity in COVID-19 scenario - RBI enhanced loan to value ratio to 90% of value of gold pledged - RBI extended provisions of restructuring of MSME loans for borrowers with loan outstanding upto Rs 25 cr - RBI also extended the restructuring of MSME debt until March 31, 2021 from December 31, 2020, on the condition that the borrower’s account was classified as standard with the lender as on March 1, 2020. - RBI to bring start-ups under priority sector lending category - Sectors that are already under PSL are agriculture, MSMEs, education, housing, social infrastructure among others.

- RBI to set up ‘Innovation Hub’ to promote financial inclusion, efficient banking - Positive Pay mechanism for all cheques above Rs 50,000 = cheques will be processed for payment by the drawee bank based on information passed on by its customer at the time of issuance of cheque - The average value of a cheque cleared in CTS presently is Rs 82,000. - Scheme of Offline Retail Payments Using Cards and Mobile Devices = RBI permitted small value offline transactions through cards and mobile devices for single payments of up to Rs 200 on pilot basis till March 31, 2021 - RBI to introduce online dispute resolution mechanism for digital payments - Headline inflation may remain elevated in Q2:2020-21, but may moderate in H2:2020-21. Members of MPC = Dr. Chetan Ghate, Dr. Pami Dua, Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Dr. Mridul K. Saggar, Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra.

OTHER BANK NEWS

Integration of “ICAR-IIHR Seed Portal with SBI’s YONO Krishi Web Application - launched by Narendra Singh Tomar - To help the farmers in increasing the crop production along with the crop quality and income generation. - Farmers will also be able to purchase seeds certified by the research institute. - The Guest of Honor of this virtual launch event was Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI. - On the occasion of Independence Day of the Maldives on July 26, 2020, SBI provided liquidity support of USD 16.20 million as a COVID-relief for the Government of Maldives ICAR-IIHR Director - Dr. M.R. Dinesh Head Office– Bengaluru, Karanataka

Axis Bank unveils AXAA , an AI powered conversational banking IVR

HSBC India Launched Omni Collect = to offer multiple payment options on a single platform for businesses. HSBC India HeadQuarter – Mumbai CEO – Surendra Rosha

HSBC India Becomes 1st Foreign Bank in India to launch a ‘Green Deposit Programme’ for Corporate Clients to finance green initiatives and eco-friendly projects like renewable energy, clean transportation, and pollution prevention among others - ‘Green Deposit’ offers a stable principal, pre-agreed return and same levels of principal protection as a bank deposit.

- The bank will provide a quarterly report which contains portfolio-level information regarding the use of the deposited funds. - HSBC India has financed the green loan aligned with the Green Loan Principles to set up a 250 MW wind power project in Kutch, Gujarat

HDFC Bank Virtually Launched ‘Shaurya KGC(Kisan Gold Credit) Card’, a tri color themed card for Indian armed forces personnel, i.e, Army, Navy, Air force and Para military forces and their families - It will benefit over 45 lakh users - This launch is part of the HDFC Bank’s ‘Har Gaon Hamara’ initiative to provide banking facilities to customers in the rural and under-served areas of the country. - Life Cover – The Card comes with the life cover of Rs 10 lakh as against Rs 2 lakh for an average card

- It can also be availed through HDFC Bank e-Kisan Dhan app or by calling toll-free number 1800 120 9655.

HDFC Bank + Adobe = to Enhance Digital Customer Experiences (AD OF HDFC) - Hyundai + HDFC Bank = to offer 1st online auto retail financing on its end-to-end online automotive retail platform, ‘Click to Buy’ to the customers. - Jharkhand government – MoU - HDFC Bank = to provide digital payment solutions to the state’s transport department.

ICICI Bank - 1st Bank in India Uses Satellite Data to Assess Credit Worthiness of Farmers - ICICI bank has already conducted a pilot study in over 500 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat using satellite data. - It planned to expand the initiative to over 63,000 villages across the country soon.

ICICI Bank MD & CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi Tagline– Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka

MasterCard – Partnered - Goals101.ai = to create Targeted and Personalised Offers for Bank Cardholders - Goals101.ai will connect merchants and issuers using big data, AI and automation to create targeted and personalized offers for Bank cardholders. - Mastercard and Goals101.ai will launch a section within the platform called ‘For You’ which will unify all the bank channels and properties into one. - Recently Axis Bank Ltd, Mastercard India & Worldline India have partnered to launch a digital point-of-sale(POS) solution ‘Soft POS’ Mastercard Headquarters – New York Chief Executive Officer – Ajay Banga

Goals101.ai Headquarters - New Delhi Chairman & MD - Visham Sikand

RBL Bank - Partnered - Accenture = to transform and enhance the future readiness of the bank’s Information Technology (IT) systems and accelerate its digital transformation journey - Accenture will create a flexible and more responsive technological backbone for RBL Bank by utilizing its expertise in DevOps and Agile working methodology RBL Bank Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra MD & CEO – Vishwavir Ahuja Accenture Headquarter – Dublin, Ireland

SBI - Partnered - AddaCorner = to Launch ‘Online Home Carnival’ - Will help in boosting the Real Estate market in Bangalore.

- The Carnival will invite potential home-buyers to come together as a group and directly negotiate with empanelled real estate sellers on a real time basis

Fino Payments Bank Ltd Launched ‘Jan Bachat Khata’(JBK), an Aadhaar enabled payment system (AePS) Based Digital Savings Account Fino Payments Bank Limited MD & CEO – Rishi Gupta

YES Bank + KFin Technologies Launched ‘Loan against Securities’ to Provide Complete Digital loan Against Mutual Fund - Loan Upto 1 crore can avail against debt mutual funds and can set an instant credit limit against the securities held. Yes Bank Headquarter – Mumbai MD & CEO – Prashant Kumar

Tagline– Experience our Expertise KFin Technologies Headquarter – Hyderabad CEO – Sreekanth Nadella

PNB Launched ‘DIGITAL APNAYEN’, a Campaign to Promote Digital Banking - Launched by S S Mallikarjuna Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PNB - Campaign begins on 15th August 2020 and runs till 31st March 2021. - The bank under the campaign will contribute Rs 5 towards the PM CARES Fund on behalf of each customer who conduct the 1st financial transaction to activate the RuPay Debit card either on point of sale (PoS) or e-commerce platform, AePS account through fund transfer, AePS account through BHIM - Download and Registration for UPI facility will also be eligible for contribution. PNB Tagline – The name you can bank upon.

Federal Bank + Fiserv, Inc = to Support Launch of their 1st Independent Credit Card, ‘Federal Bank Credit Card’ - The Federal Bank will utilise Fiserv’s FirstVision, an end-to-end managed services solutions - BOB Financial Solutions Limited(BFSL) has also chosen Fiserv, Inc. to enable the digitization of their end-to-end card issuance Federal Bank Headquarters– Aluva, Kerala MD & CEO – Shyam Srinivasan Tagline – Your Perfect Banking Partner Fiserv, Inc. Headquarter – Brookfield, USA Executive Chairman – Jeffery W. Yabuki

SBM Bank India + InstaReM = to enhance the existing outbound remittance service offerings from India - InstaReM is the consumer and SME(Small & Medium Enterprises) brand under global fintech platform Nium SBM Bank India Headquarters – Mumbai MD and CEO – Sidharth Rath InstaReM Headquarters – Singapore Co-founder and CEO – Prajit Nanu

South Indian Bank (SIB) - obtained in-principle approval from RBI to set up a wholly owned non- financial subsidiary SIB Headquarters – Thrissur Tagline – Experience Next Generation Banking

MD & CEO– V.G. Mathew

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) amended Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016

Tagline – Together We Can

Kotak Mahindra Bank Launched = Two-Month Campaign, ‘Kona Kona Umeed’ with Offers, Discounts Kotak Mahindra Bank Headquarter – Mumbai Tagline– Lets make money simple

BOB Financial Solutions Limited(BFSL) - chosen Fiserv, Inc = to enable the digitization of their end-to-end card issuance and processing cycle and support the launch of several new and high- tech products

NABARD, SEBI, INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NEWS

NABARD Introduced a Debt and Credit Guarantee Product, ‘Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to ensure uninterrupted flow of credit to NBFC-MFIs’

Bharti AXA Life Insurance Entered - Bancassurance - SBM Bank India Recent bancassurance agreements - Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) + Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd - UCO Bank + SBI Life Insurance

SBM Bank India Headquarter – Mumbai MD & CEO – Sidharth Rath Bharti AXA Life Insurance MD & CEO – Parag Raja

Canara Bank Partnered with New India Assurance Company Ltd, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd and HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Co Ltd to offer individual short-term Corona Kavach policy Canara Bank Headquarters – Bangalore Chairman – T.N. Manoharan MD & CEO – L.V. Prabhakar

Airtel Payments Bank + Bharti AXA General Insurance = to offer “Smart Plan Shop Package Policy”

Airtel Payments Bank MD CEO – Anubrata Biswas Headquarter – New Delhi Bharti AXA General Insurance MD & CEO – Sanjeev Srinivasan Headquarter – Mumbai

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Launched 1st of its Kind ‘Smart Assist’, a Real-time Assistance Service (BAJAJ IS SMART ASSISTANT) - The service allows the customers to connect with the company to avail real-time assistance on completing the purchase anywhere. - Smart Assist co-browsing service enables personalised engagement with customers in a 100% secure environment, with end-to-end encryption. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited MD and CEO – Tarun Chugh HeadQuarter – Pune

Religare Health Insurance renamed Care Health Insurance and became effective from August 19, 2020

SBI General Insurance Launched - ‘Shagun – Gift an Insurance’ Policy for Personal Accident SBI General Insurance MD and CEO – Prakash Chandra Kandpal

Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Ltd + BSE EBIX Insurance Broking Private Limited (BSE EBIX) = to sell General Insurance products - Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Ltd = joint venture between Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investment Corp and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. - BSE EBIX = joint venture between BSE and EBIX Fincorp Exchange Pte Ltd Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Headquarter – Mumbai MD & CEO – Sharad Mathur

BSE EBIX Headquarter – Mumbai

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance + Element AI = to develop, design and implement a strategic AI roadmap for the new age insurer and prioritise their investments into AI. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Company Limited Headquarter – Mumbai Element AI Headquarter – Montreal,Canada.

SEBI amended the clause 4 (2) of international financial services centre (IFSC) guidelines, 2015’ = eligibility, shareholding limit for clearing corporation - any Indian recognised stock exchange or clearing, or, any recognised stock exchange or clearing corporation of a foreign jurisdiction, will form a subsidiary to provide the services of a clearing corporation in IFSC wherein at least 51% stake is held by such exchange or clearing corporation.

- Remaining share capital may be acquired or held by any other person. = will not at any time, acquire or hold more than 5% stake in a clearing corporation in IFSC, subject to applicable laws. - Any other stock exchange, depository, bank, insurance company of Indian or foreign jurisdiction have been allowed to acquire 15% stake - Public financial institutions may acquire or hold up to 15% of the paid up equity share capital of such clearing corporations with prior approval of the board.

Listed entities got 3 years to meet criteria of minimum 25% public shareholding - Changes made in the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957 in rule 19A, in sub-rule (1) - Central Board of Direct Taxes and SEBI signed a MOU for the data exchange between the two organizations on a regular basis.

ECONOMY ETC

Innoviti – Partnered - Visa = to develop installments platform for face-to-face transactions (VISA IS INNOVETOR) - IRCTC and SBI Card launched a co-branded contactless credit card, IRCTC -SBI Platinum Card on RuPay Platform - Yes Bank Limited + Delhi-based fintech startup Affordplan = to launch a co-branded healthcare card called ‘Swasth Card’ under Swasth program (CAN YOU AFFORD THIS - YES) Innoviti Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd Registered office – Bangalore, Karnataka Chief Executive Officer(CEO) – Rajeev Agrawal Visa Headquarters – California Chairman and CEO– Alfred F. Kelly, Jr.

Mahindra - MoU - Israeli startup – REE Automotive = to Develop Electric Commercial Vehicles (MAHINDRA GOT ELECTRIC SHOCK FROM ISRAEL) - This partnership aims to provide 2-2.5 lakh electric commercial vehicle units over years REE Co-founder & CEO – Daniel Barel Headquarters – Tel Aviv, Israel

NPCI Launched - Subsidiary Firm, ‘NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) - Appointed Ritesh Shukla as its CEO - As per the Regulatory records the NIPL was incorporated on April 03, 2020 - NPCI has launched blockchain technology based “Vajra Platform” to make payments fast & secure. NPCI Head Office – Mumbai

Unitus Ventures Received Rs 75 Crore (USD 10 million) from SIDBI’s Fund of Funds for Start-ups initiative = will Strengthen the Deployment of its second Rs 300 crore fund, which was launched in 2018. - Unitus Ventures has recently invested Rs 8.5 crore (USD 1.1 million) in Masai School, an ed- tech platform. - Unitus Ventures Fund II = It will invest in 15-20 start-ups in early and scale-up stages with ticket sizes(amount invested into a company) between USD 0.5 million to USD 1.5 million. - Start-ups like Milaap, Hippocampus, Caravan, iStar, and CueLearn have been funded by Unitus Ventures Fund II.

IBM + National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) = to offer a free digital education platform on emerging technologies and professional skill development

- IBM will manage an online course from Open P-Tech platform and will offer it to the users through eSkill India Portal of NSDC. - The platform is available in English which will be expanded to multiple Indian languages starting with Hindi and followed Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Urdu, Bengali. - Under this partnership IBM will catalogue more than 30 courses with 60 hours of learning as knowledge partners. - For the Learners between the age of 18 to 22 years, professional skills like design thinking will be provided for free. IBM CERO – Arvind Krishna Headquarters – Armonk, New York

Tata Capital Ltd Launched a New Service, ‘Swift Insta Personal Loans’ on Whatsapp

Existing customers can apply for loans (on a single platform) using TIA, a chatbot of Tata Capital on WhatsApp number (7506756060)

Tech Mahindra + NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) = to Support Women Entrepreneurs in India - WTI awards is an initiative of the WEP to recognise women leaders in entrepreneurship - Tech Mahindra’s research and development arm, Makers Lab, will support women entrepreneurs through joint research, building go-to-market strategies to drive their growth. Tech Mahindra MD and CEO – Chander Prakash Gurnani Headquarter – Pune

ReNew Power + United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) = to promote increased access to renewable energy and improved energy efficiency.

ReNew Power CMD – Sumant Sinha Headquarter – Gurugram UNEP Executive Director - Inger Andersen Headquarter – Nairobi, Kenya

Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) Launched India’s 1st Tradeable Real-Time Bullion Index, ‘MCX iCOMDEX Bullion’ - Currently, it carries around 70.52% weight for gold and 29.48% for silver. Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd Headquarters – Mumbai Chairman – Saurabh Chandra MD & CEO- P.S. Reddy

Reliance Foundation + US Agency for International Development (USAID) = to Launch the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Women Connect Challenge (WCC) across India in 2020 - To bridge the gender digital divide in India - W-GDP event hosted by Stephen Biegun, US Deputy Secretary of State along with Ivanka Trump,Advisor to the US President and Bonnie Glick, Deputy USAID Administrator.

Paytm Launched India’s 1st Pocket Android POS (Point of Sale) Device - ‘Paytm All-in-One Portable Android Smart POS’ - It comes with an introductory price of Rs 499 per month on a rental basis and is designed like a phone. - Paytm aims to issue over 2 lakh devices within the next few months

The International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group = to invest Rs 75 crore (about USD 10million) in Endiya Partners Fund II - IFC has also committed an additional USD 10 million for direct co-investments. - Endiya Partners Fund II is an India domiciled Category II Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) - It seeks to invest in 16-20 start-ups, from USD 500,000 to USD 1 million in Seed/Pre-series A rounds and a planned investment of upto USD 5 million per company - corpus target of USD 65 million (around Rs 500 crore) Endiya Partners Headquarters – Hyderabad MD – Ramesh Byrapaneni & Sateesh Andra IFC Headquarters – Washington, D.C. India Head– Jun Zhang

NPCI Launched Loyalty Platform, ‘nth Rewards’

- A business intelligence and analytics enabled omni-channel multi-branded loyalty platform. This platform enables users to earn ‘nth’ (denoting infinite possibilities) points through various bank transactions and redeem them instantly on various products, such as e-vouchers, donations, hotel and flight bookings. NPCI Head Office – Mumbai MD & CEO – Dilip Asbe

Bharti Airtel announced - multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) - To provide a comprehensive set of cloud solutions to the large enterprises and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) customers in India. Bharti Airtel Limited MD & CEO – Gopal Vittal Headquarters– New Delhi

National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) + Infosys Finacle = announced that the bank has decided to adopt the Finacle Cash Management Suite to digitally transform its transaction banking business. NBB Headquarters – Manama, Bahrain

Praj Industries (Praj) – MoU - Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) - will jointly develop advanced bio fuels application technology for the usage in industry and transportation

MobiKwik Launched - mpay.me = Personalized UPI Payment Link MobiKwik: Headquarter – Gurugram Founder CEO & Director – Bipin Preet Singh Co-Founder & Director– Upasana Taku

SOME SPECIFIC GROUPS/CHANNELS FOR SEBI, RBI, IBPS&RRB, FCI, RBI ASSISTANT AND QUIZ GROUP -

AWARDS, PERSONS IN NEWS Appointments

Vinay M Tonse - MD & CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd = Replaced Ashwani Bhatia (VINAY HAS TONse OF FUND IN SBI) - Ashwani Bhatia started his career in 1985 as a PO in SBI.

G Satheesh Reddy gets Two-Year Extension as Chairman of DRDO

Retired IAS officer & Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar Appointed as New Election Commissioner = succeeds Ashok Lavasa

Keith Christopher Rowley Becomes Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago for a 2nd Consecutive Term Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Capital – Port of Spain Currency – Trinidad and Tobago dollar

Francisco Asue is reappointed as the Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea Republic of Equatorial Guinea President – Teodoro Obiang

Capital – Malabo Currency – Central African CFA franc

54th President of Dominican Republic - Luis Rodolfo Abinader - succeeds Danilo Medina Dominican Republic Capital – Santo Domingo Currency – Dominican Peso

Ashok Lavasa Resigns to take charge as the Vice President of Asian Development Bank (ADB) next month - Ashok Lavasa is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Haryana Cadre (Batch 1980)

Republic of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Resigned after Military Mutiny

- Was re-elected in 2018 as the President. Mali Capital – Bamako Currency – West African CFA franc

Satya Pal Malik = Appointed as Governor of Meghalaya - replaced Tathagata Roy

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari given Additional Charge of Goa

Rakesh Asthana IPS = appointed as the Director General of the Border Security Force along with the Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) - Gujarat cadre IPS officer of 1984 batch - VSK Kaumudi, Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer of 1986 batch = appointed as the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs

- Jawed Akhtar, Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer of 1986 batch = appointed as the DG of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard

Gujarat Chief Secretary - Anil Mukim = got 6 Month Extension from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 Pramod Bhasin – New Chairperson of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) - Isher Judge Ahluwalia resigned

Belarus - Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has won his sixth consecutive presidential term (1994-present) by taking over 80% of the votes Belarus: Capital – Minsk Prime Minister – Roman Golovchenko

Asian College of Journalism Award 2019 - Bagged by Journalists Nitin Sethi and Shiv Sahay Singh - Awards were presented in a virtual ceremony by Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organisation(WHO) - Nitin Sethi = journalist in the Huffington post - Shiv Sahay Singh = journalist in The Hindu. ACJ Headquarter – Chennai Chairman – Sashi Kumar

SL Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa won Parliamentary elections Sri Lanka Capital – Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative) Colombo (executive & judicial) President – Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Former J&K Governor GC Murmu appointed as 14th CAG = Replaces Rajiv Mehrishi - GC Murmu will take oath on August 8, 2020 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. - He will have tenure up to November 20, 2024.

Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi appointed - UPSC chairman = Succeeds Arvind Saxena

Manoj Sinha appointed = Lt Governor of J&K - Succeeds Girish Chandra Murmu - Former union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Uttar Pradesh (UP) J&K Capital – Srinagar (summer), Jammu (winter)

Ajay Tyagi, Chairman of SEBI got another 18 Months Extension w.e.f 01.09.2020 up to 28.02.2022 - He took charge from his predecessor, U K Sinha, on March 1, 2017.

New Prime Minister of Peru - Walter Roger Martos Ruiz = Succeeds Pedro Cateriano Peru Capital – Lima Currency- Peruvian Sol(PEN)

Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Mauritania = Mohamed Ould Bilal Mauritania Capital – Nouakchott Currency – Ouguiya

Capital India Finance Executive Chairman - Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Ex-NABARD Chief Capital India Finance Limited MD & CEO – Vineet Saxena. HeadOffice – Mumbai

Mohamed Irfaan Ali became President of Guyana = succeeds David Arthur(A.) Granger Guyana Capital – Georgetown Currency - Guyanese Dollar (GYD)

Rajesh Kumar, IAS appointed as Manipur Chief Secretary Manipur Chief Minister – N. Biren Singh Capital – Imphal Governor – Najma Heptulla

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has appointed Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko as Prime Minister (PM) Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) Capital– Yamoussoukro Currency – West African CFA franc

Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd - new Additional & Independent Director for 5 years = Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND CEO, MD ETC

Ashwani Bhatia - Managing Director of SBI upto May 31, 2022 = Succeeds PK Gupta

Former RBI Deputy Governor Subhash Sheoratan Mundra Appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd Indiabulls Group Headquarters – Gurugram

Harbhajan Singh - Brand Ambassador of Amritsar based e-mobility start-up eBikeGO

Indian Idol Season11 Finalist and Oscar Nominated Playback Singer Shahzan Mujeeb - First National Brand Ambassador of Aligarh Municipal Corporation

Prashant Joshi = Appointed DBS Bank India Ltd MD and Head of National Distribution DBS Bank India Limited Headquarter – Mumbai MD and CEO – Surojit Shome

Cricketer Rohit Sharma = Appointed - Oakley’s Brand Ambassador in India for two years

PNB Housing Finance New MD and CEO = Hardayal Prasad, Former SBI Card Head - will take over from Neeraj Vyas PNB Housing Finance Head Office – New Delhi

Tag Line – Ghar Ki Baat

Win Trade Fantasy Sports (WTF) global brand ambassadors = Suresh Raina, Harmanpreet Kaur

Sashidhar Jagdishan = Next MD & CEO of HDFC Bank for a period of 3 years - Succeeds Aditya Puri - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capped the maximum age at 70 years for a managing director, chief executive officer or whole time director in a private bank, while the minimum age is above 21 years. - Aditya Puri is the longest-running CEO of any bank in India. HDFC Bank Headquarter – Mumbai Chairman – Deepak S. Parekh Tagline– We understand your world

Varun Sridhar = New CEO of Paytm Money - Subsidiary of One97 Communication Ltd Paytm Money Headquarter – Bengaluru, Karnataka

AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS

NLCIL (Neyveli Lignite Corporation) won Swachhta Hi Seva 2019 award

Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - Youngest Author at the age of 29 to Win International Booker Prize 2020 for the Book ‘The Discomfort of Evening’ - The Book was first published in Dutch in 2018 and eventually translated into English by Michele Hutchison. 223 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

- The author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld was born in April, 1991 at Nieuwendijk, Netherlands. - The Dutch edition of the book was a best-seller and grabbed the prestigious ANV Debut Prize. - The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.

Twenty-Year old Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash bagged 1st ever Gold Medal for India in Mental Calculations (MC) World Cup (MCWC) - Named ‘World’s Fastest Human Calculator’ title - Bhanu Prakash had secured the gold medal with a score of 167, Lebanese contender Mohammed El Mir secured the Silver Medal with a score 102 and Asmita Pal from the UAE bagged the Bronze medal with a score of 100 points - He has created a new All Time Record and has beaten the records of Math Maestros like Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg

- India’s Aryan Shukla finished fourth with a score of 96 - He held 4 World Records and 50 Limca records for being the fastest human calculator in the world

Wabag Won 2020 Global Water Award for Tertiary Treatment Reverse Osmosis (TTRO) plant at Koyambedu in Chennai - Chennai = first Indian city to reuse more than 20% of its treated wastewater freeing up more than 16 million metrics of fresh water each year. - Global Water Awards were established in 2006 by Global Water Intelligence to reward initiatives in the water, wastewater and desalination sectors

2020 Leadership Awards from USISPF - Anand Mahindra and Shantanu Narayen will Receive the award

St Christopher School in Chessore Village, Nagaland won the Gold Award along with cash prize of Rs.1 Lakh from the first ever Pallikkutam National Award for Innovation in Education instituted by Rajagiri Media. - The rural school provided a balanced online and offline activities for the students over the whatsapp. - The award was sponsored under the CSR initiative of the Federal Bank Ltd. - Silver Award (Rs.50,000) was presented to DAV Public School, Haryana for using simple and innovative approaches - Bronze Award(Rs.25,000) was presented to CMI Christ School, Iritty, Kerala for their focus on physical activities

Solapur based activist Ganesh Vilas Lengare has been awarded Star 2020 E-citation Certification by World Book of Records, London - Awarded for his efforts to help the poor people during the lockdown caused by Coronavirus. - World Book of Records was founded in 2017 and honors personalities for their contribution towards humanity and universal peace.

Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation (WHO) has received Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s(CM’s) special award

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) Pune won first prize of rupees 1 Lakh in Smart India Hackathon 2020

Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Awards 2020 for Clean Energy Research

- IIT-Kharagpur Researchers bagged it for developing a mechanism for generating electricity from wet clothes left under sunlight to dry. - The work has been published in Nano Letters, a high-impact journal - GYTI Awards was instituted by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institution (SRISTI), a voluntary organization IIT Kharagpur Director – Virendra Kumar Tewari

Prem Bhatia award 2020 - Indian Express Journalist Dipankar Ghose and PARI, a Non-Profit Journalism Website Bagged the award - Prem Bhatia awards The Prem Bhatia Awards were instituted in 1995 by the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust

20th edition of New York Indian Film Festival - Malayalam film ‘Moothon’ and National Award winning documentary ‘Son Rise’ won awards - Garggi Ananthan won the Best Actress Award for the film “Run Kalyani”.

Sunil ydv SS, the founder and CEO of SS motivation channel on Telegram received the Karmaveer Chakra Award of United Nations and iCONGO - At ReX ConcLIVE hosted at IIT-D. - His channel achieved around 127 million views in 2019, the highest global record obtained by a telegram channel that provides solutions to social issues - He was enlisted in the Bravo International Book of World Records for having the most number of subscribers on his telegram channel.

66th SKOCH Summit Awards at New Delhi

- Ministry of Tribal Affairs received SKOCH Gold Award for “Empowerment of Tribals through IT enabled Scholarship Schemes” - West Bengal receives top Award of SKOCH - The Government of Telangana won the SKOCH Gold Award for its Blockchain-based property registration project SKOCH Chairman – Sameer Kochhar Head Office – Gurgaon Minister of State of Tribal Affairs - Renuka Singh Saruta

MISC

Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan Resigned Due to Health Issues due to ulcerative colitis. - The elected new party leader will hold the post for the remaining 1-year term of Abe.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab Stepped Down due to public outrage and the pressure from within his own Cabinet as his government was blamed for the August 4 explosion in Beirut’s port Lebanon Currency – Lebanese Pound

ACQUISITIONS/MERGERS

Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) to Acquire 51% Stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management for 2,200 Crore (USD 300 million) - PAG to invest USD 1 billion in the next two to three years in India. - EWM is the 2nd largest non-bank wealth management business in India. Edelweiss Group Headquarter – Mumbai

Chairman & CEO – Rashesh Shah

Axis Bank to Acquire 17% in Max Life Insurance - The total ownership of Axis bank in Max Life will be 18%. Axis Bank Ltd Headquarter – Mumbai MD & CEO – Amitabh Chaudhry Taglin e– Badhti Ka naam Zindagi Max Life Insurance Company Headquarter – New Delhi MD & CEO – Prashant Tripathy

ICICI Lombard & Bharti AXA Signed Agreement to Merge their Insurance Businesses - Combined entity will have a market share of 8.7% - Deal values Bharti AXA at around Rs 2,700 crore. Bharti AXA General Insurance MD and CEO – Sanjeev Srinivasan

ICICI Lombard General Insurance MD & CEO – Bhargav Dasgupta

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has acquired 60% equity stake in Vitalic Health Pvt Ltd(Vitalic) & 100% direct ownership of Netmeds for a cash consideration of around Rs 620 crore(USD 83.08 million) Netmeds Headquarter – Chennai Founder & CEO – Pradeep Dadha

TATA Capital Growth Fund invests 30 Million USD around Rs.225 crore for 0.85% Stake in Biocon Biologics

LIC acquired 4.23% Stake (105.98 crore shares) of YES Bank - Hold of LIC in YES Bank has increased from 0.75% (19 crore shares) to 4.98%(125 crore shares).

YES Bank Tagline – Experience our Expertise LIC Chairman – M.R.Kumar

Oman India Joint Investment Fund II Acquired 5.07 million (50,69,903) shares or 1.63 % stake in DCB Bank - The stake is valued at Rs 41.52 crore

MOUs

NBFC Power Finance Corporation - MoA - District Administration of Siddharthnagar, UP = to Construct 2 Modular Operation Theatre Rooms - PFC will provide financial assistance of about Rs 94 Lakhs for the implementation of the project under CSR

- PFC is a Schedule - A Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises(CPSEs) under Ministry of Power Head Office – New Delhi CMD – Shri Ravinder Singh Dhillon

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) – MoU = to supply mustard oil KVIC Chairman – Vinai Kumar Saxena Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra

India – MoU - Zimbabwe = on Traditional System of Medicine and Homeopathy Zimbabwe Currency – US Dollar President– Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa

India + UK - tied up for 5 new 8 Million Pounds Medicinal Research - to tackle the anti-microbial resistance to support the combat against antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes - 50:50 contribution - UK is the second biggest research partner of India and by 2021 the joint research is estimated to be worth 400 million pounds.

Flipkart - MoU - U.P. Government under One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme - Scheme will be brought into the ‘Flipkart Samarth’ initiative. - Will enable the under-served communities to showcase their specialised products and crafts in the e-commerce platform. - ‘Flipkart Samarth’ - to bring India’s artisans, weavers and handicraft producers onto e- commerce = associated closely with government bodies, NGOs and livelihood missions

- ‘One District One Product’ = to encourage indigenous, specialized products and crafts of Uttar Pradesh - scheme is an initiative under Department of MSME & Export Promotion, Uttar Pradesh.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - MoU – FSSAI = for collaborative research and information dissemination in the area of food and nutrition - Will contribute in fulfilling the vision of New Food System 2050. - FSSAI received “Food Systems Vision Prize” for its ‘Eat Right India’ movement - During a ceremony which was presided Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. - ‘Eat Right India’ vision is about creating a culture of safe, healthy and sustainable food involving all stakeholders and leveraging technology in food production, processing, distribution, quality and traceability and to empower consumers to adopt right eating practices.

- 2nd State Food Safety Index (SFSI) for 2019-20 of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been topped by Gujarat = was announced during a webinar conducted on the occasion of “World Food Safety Day” on June 7, 2020 on the theme “Food Safety is everyone’s business”. FSSAI Chairperson – Ms Rita Teaotia CEO – Arun Singhal Chatbot– Food Funda Headquarter – New Delhi CSIR Director Genera l– Dr. Shekhar C. Mande Headquarter – New Delhi

India - MoU – Nigeria = on Space Cooperation

- Both sides also agreed to sign a subsidiary MOU between New Space India Limited (NSIL), under ISRO and Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), under the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria, on cooperation in use of Geospatial Technologies. - India is the largest trade partner of Nigeria with a trade volume of around 13.8 billion USD. - Nigeria provides around 10% of the energy requirements of India. Nigeria President – Muhammadu Buhari Capital– Abuja Currency– Nigerian naira Minister of State of External Affairs - V. Muraleedharan

IIM Kozhikode - MoU - Switzerland based HELP Logistics to engage in a collaborative partnership to provide consulting services and logistics training for the humanitarian community in South Asia.

- MoU will be valid for a period of one year - The MoU includes financial support and aims to increase the regional knowledge and awareness on humanitarian logistic matters among humanitarian agencies.

Ministry of Shipping - MoU - MSDE for skilling, re-skilling and upskilling of manpower in Port, Maritime sectors - MSDE will use its existing infrastructure such as Industrial Training Institute (ITI), National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) centers to train manpower as per the skill gaps of the Coastal districts. - The Shipping Ministry will support the funding and implementation of skilling initiatives under the Sagarmala Mission, wherever it is feasible.

- Skill Development of coastal communities is an important objective of Sagarmala Programme and a budget of Rs. 100 Crore has been allocated for development activities in the coastal communities.

Atal Innovation Mission and India Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre signed a virtual Statement of Intent (SoI) to promote the innovative potential of Indian Entrepreneurs and to boost the dynamic startup ecosystem across India. Sweden Prime Minister – Stefan Löfven Capital- Stockholm Currency– Swedish krona

100% Acquisition of Indian Operations of C&S Electric Limited (C&S) by Siemens Limited (Siemens India)

National Seeds Corporation (NSC) – MoU - Jute Corporation of India (JCI) = for Supply of Certified Jute Seeds to Farmers in 2021-22 to improve the production and productivity of raw Jute in the country. - JCI will purchase the certified seeds from NSC and distribute it commercially to the farmers. This is the first ever commercial distribution operation. - MoU is expected to benefit around 5-6 Lakh farmer families and will also increase the revenue of JCI.

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering - MoU - NTPC Ltd = for CO2 to build a CO2 to methanol demonstration plant in NTPC Power Station

- The plant will comprise 3 subunits namely, carbon dioxide capture from flue gas, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water and catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide, and hydrogen to methanol. - Establishing CO2 to methanol plants is an important step towards India’s commitment to combat climate change NTPC Headquarter – New Delhi CMD – Gurdeep Singh

National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) - partnered - the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) = to establish an innovation cum incubation center to promote the startup in the field of aerospace technologies.

- CSIR-NAL also developed Personal Protective Cover all suit to fight against COVID-19 and a cost effective, easy to use, compact, non-invasive Bi level Positive Airway Pressure(BiPAP) ventilator ‘Swasth Vayu’ NRDC CMD – Dr. H. Purushotham HQ – New Delhi NAL Director – Dr. Jitendra J. Jadhav HQ – Bengaluru

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) - MoUs - AFC India Ltd and National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) = for Cooperation in Interest of Agriculture & Allied Sectors

Ministry Of Tourism - MoU - Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) & FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) to organise training, impart digital awareness and develop skills among women - Including those in rural and remote areas, in order to encourage their participation in the development of tourism which include the areas of homestays, tourist facilitators, catering business and more - TAAI and FICCI Encourage travel to at least 15 destinations within the country under the DekhoApnaDesh initiative. - Create awareness about the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) Certification Programme. FICCI Ladies Organisation President – Jahnabi Phookan Headquarter – New Delhi TAAI President – Jyoti Mayal

Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank – MoU - SBI General Insurance Co Ltd = to Sell General Insurance Products Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank Headquarter – Dharwad, Karnataka Chairman – P Gopi Krishna SBI General Insurance Co Ltd Headquarter – Mumbai

Greenko Energies, Hyderabad - MoU - NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam(NVVN) = to explore renewable energy power supply solution and energy storage. - NTPC is exploring the opportunity to acquire 1000 megaWatt(MW) of operational solar power projects, as a part of its aim to achieve a 32 GW clean energy portfolio by 2032. Greenko Energies Founder, CEO & MD – Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty

UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Ltd - MoU - National Health Authority (NHA) = to Provide Print Services of E-Cards for AB-PMJAY Beneficiaries - AB-PMJAY aims to target over 10.74 crore poor, deprived rural families and occupational category of urban workers” families UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited Registered Office – Navi Mumbai MD & CEO – Vijay Kumar Jain

POWERGRID - MoU - TATA Memorial Centre (TMC) Advanced Centre for Treatment Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC) = for Construction of Operation Theater Complex in Navi Mumbai Power Grid Corporation CMD – K Sreekant Headquarter – Gurgaon

ISRO - MoU - Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, Odisha = to Set up Innovation cum Incubation Centre - VSSUT Space Innovation Centre (VSSSIC) to Promote Space Research - ISRO will offer technical consultancy support and financial assistance of Rs.50 lakhs for the development of infrastructure of VSSUT. - VSSSIC will explore the latest global trends in space technology - ISRO will ease the limited utilisation of rocket launching facilities like Thumba, Sriharikota or Balasore for VSSSIC - ISRO - MoU - Aryabhatta Research institute of Observational Science (ARIES), Nainital = for the cooperation in the Field of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Astrophysic. - ISRO - a pact - Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) = to establish an Optical telescope under ‘Project NETRA’ (NEtwork for space object TRacking and Analysis) for tracking space objects. VSSUT Vice Chancellor – Atal Chaudhuri

Location– Sambalpur, Odisha

National e-Governance Division (NeGD) – MoU - CSC (Common Service Center) E-Governance Services India Ltd = to Facilitate UMANG app services at CSCs - This will benefit those citizens who either do not have access to smartphones or are not comfortable accessing app based e services on their own. - UMANG app = Developed by NeGD and dedicated to the Nation on November 23, 2017. Minister of State of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) = Sanjay Dhotre National e-Governance Division (NeGD) President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Abhishek Singh

Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) - MoU - Football Coaches Australia(FCA) = for the development of Football in India and Australia

Ericsson & UNICEF Partnered to map internet connectivity landscape for schools in 35 countries by the end of 2023 to provide digital learning access to the children Ericsson Headquarter – Stockholm, Sweden

SPORTS NEWS

Australian Cricketer Cameron White announced Retirement from Professional Cricket

Indian Table Tennis player Poulomi Ghatak retired at 37 - Won the bronze medal at Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 and Silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in New Delhi.

Dwayne Bravo - first bowler to take 500 wickets in T20s

Ayaka Takahashi, Japan’s 1st Olympic Gold medallist in Badminton Announced Retirement

Jacques Kallis, Lisa Caprini Sthalekar(Australia) and Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani (Pakistan) inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

English Professional Snooker Player Ronnie O’Sullivan won Sixth World Snooker Championship 2020 at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England

INOX Group to sponsor Team India for Tokyo Olympics

England Cricketer Laura Marsh announced her retirement

All India Football Federation (AIFF) + the Sports Authority of India (SAI) - launched = the E- Pathshala, a web platform to recognise creativity of the children and to develop their interest in football. AIFF President – Praful Patel Headquarters – New Delhi Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General – Sandip Pradhan Head Office – Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi

Lewis Hamilton Claims Record 156th Podium Finish with Win at Circuit de barcelona-Catalunya, Spain - The British driver Lewis Hamilton also claimed his 88th Formula One career victory

Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) has withdrawn from Women’s World Team Squash Championship 2020 - Due to lack of preparation, time and match-readiness of athletes, which is scheduled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from December 15 to 20, 2020 SRFI President – Debendranath Sarangi Headquarter – Chennai,Tamil Nadu.

Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton Won British Grand Prix 2020 - Created Record by winning the British Grand Prix title for 7th Time - Held at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom

Max Verstappen Won F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020

- Lewis Hamilton won 2020 British Grand Prix.

Spain’s World Cup-winning Captain and Goalkeeper Iker Casillas announced his retirement at 39

German Footballer Benedikt Howedes retired at 32

Indian Grandmaster P. Harikrishna – 2nd in the Grandmaster Triathlon Tournament at 53rd Biel International Chess Festival - Took place in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. - Poland’s Radoslaw Watjaszek finished first

England Won the Final Wisden Trophy against West Indies by 2-1

OBITUARIES ENTERTAINMENT

Filmmaker-actor Nishikant Kamat Passes Away at the Age of 50

Inventor of Pixel & Computer Scientist, Russell A. Kirsch passed away at 91 - He scanned the world’s first digital photograph.

Father of Modern Indian theatre & Padma Awardee - Ebrahim Alkazi Passed Away at 94 in Escorts Hospital, New Delhi due to a massive heart attack - Won the Padma Vibhushan in 2010, Padma Bhushan in 1991, Padma Shri in 1966.

Folk musician and Padma Shri awardee = Sonam Tshering Lepcha died at 92 due to old age ailments - born on 3rd January, 1928 at Bong Busty, Kalimpong, West Bengal - Played major role in reviving and promoting the Lepcha Culture which is one of the indegenious culture of Sikkim.

Malayalam Actor = Anil Murali - passed away at the age of 51 due to liver ailments

The famous writer and documentary Filmmaker Sa. Kandasamy passed away at the age 81, in Chennai - Won the Sahitya Akademi award for his Novel ‘Visaranai Commission.’

Veteran Assamese Folk Singer Archana Mahanta Passed Away at the age of 72 in Guwahati (MAHAN(mahanta) FOLK SINGER start the song with AA(A = Archana and A = assam))

POLITICS/POSITIONS ETC Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Arunachalam Lakshmanan Passed Away at the age of 78 (ARUN will JUDGE LAKSHMAN)

Former Maharashtra CM, Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar passed away at 88 in Pune - Served as the 10th Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a year between 3rd June 1985 and 6th March 1986.

Former Minister & Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Penmatsa Sambasiva Raju Passed Away at 85

Veteran CPM leader and former West Bengal Transport Minister Shyamal Chakraborty passed away at 76

Padma Shri awardee and prominent cultural historian Mukund Lath passed away at 82

Padma Bhushan Awardee & Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor Ram D Pradhan passed away at the age of 92 in Mumbai.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and prominent Northern Ireland politician John Hume passed away at 83

- He is the only person to receive the three major peace awards(Gandhi Peace Prize, Nobel Peace Prize & Martin Luther King Award) = for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Minister of Technical Education of U.P = Kamal Rani Varun died at 62

Former Andhra Pradesh (AP) Minister and BJP leader Pydikondala(P) Manikyala Rao passed away at 59 due to COVID-19 infection

Somendra Nath Mitra - President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee & Lok Sabha MP = passed away at 78

POET/ARTIST/JOURNALIST ETC

Chunakkara Ramankutty - Veteran Malayalam Poet, lyricist and drama writer Passed Away at 84 - Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi in 2015 honoured him with “Guru Shreshta Award”.

Former MP & Senior Congress Leader = Nandi Yellaiah died due to COVID at 78 - born in Hyderabad

Veteran Sports Journalist - Gopal Krishna (GK) Menon Passed Away at 93 in Mumbai - worked with the Indian Express and The Times of India

Writer and activist Sadia Dehlvi died of cancer at 63

Fiction writer and Pulitzer Prize-winner novelist Shirley Ann Grau from USA died at 91

William English - co-creator of computer mouse, passes away at 91

Arnold Meyer Spielberg, who Co-designed GE-225 Mainframe Computer Passed Away

SPORTS

Former Indian Football Defender and former Mohun Bagan club captain Laishram Manitombi Singh Died at 39

British tennis player and two-time Grand Slam Doubles champion and Equal Rights Pioneer Angela Buxton died at 85

Former India Footballer (Goalkeeper) turned Coach, Bhaskar Maity passed away at the age of 67 - Maity represented India against Iraq at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.

Former Cricketer Gopalaswamy Kasturirangan died of heart attack at 89

IMPORTANT DAYS

July 30 = World day against trafficking in persons - Theme as per United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) = “Committed to the Cause: Working on the Frontline to End Human Trafficking” United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Director General/Executive Director – Ghada Fathi Waly

Headquarter – Vienna, Austria

July 30 - International Day of Friendship UN General Assembly in 2011 proclaimed July 30 as the official International Day of Friendship.

July 31 - World Ranger Day 2020 - Promoted by the 54-member association of the International Ranger Federation (IRF) - Honours those who have died in the course of their duties - A Ranger is a person who will preserve and protect parklands and natural protected areas.

Aug 1-7 - World Breastfeeding Week 2020 - celebrated annually in the first week of August (from 1st of August to 7th of August) around 120 countries in the World

- Theme = “Support Breast feeding for a healthier planet” - The day was commenced after signing the Innocenti Declaration in August 1990. UNICEF Executive Director – Henrietta H. Fore

August 3 - World Sanskrit Day 2020 - celebrated all over the world on the Shravana Poornima, Aim: - University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked its affiliated universities and colleges to celebrate the World Sanskrit Day. - The Consortium of Sanskrit Universities organised ‘Samskrita Week Celebration’ from July 31 to August 6, 2020 to celebrate the 2020 World Sanskrit Day. - All India Radio(AIR) broadcast its first ever special program titled, ‘Bahujan Bhasha-Sanskrit Bhasha’ on 3rd August 2020

First Muslim Women Rights Day Observed on August 1 2020 - With the 1st anniversary of the passage of Muslim Women Act (Protetion on Rights on Marriage Act) 2019 - Egypt was the first Muslim country to abolish triple talaq in 1929 followed by Sudan, Pakistan in 1956, Bangladesh in 1972, Iraq in 1959, Syria in 1953, Malaysia in 1969 Union Minister of Minority Affairs - Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Minister of State – Kiren Rijiju

August 1 - World Lung Cancer Day 2020 - To raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and its global impact, creating an educational movement to understand the risks of lung cancer and early treatment around the world. - World Lung Cancer Day campaign was initiated in 2012

- According to the World Health Organization (WHO) lung cancer is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 cancer deaths. - The most frequently diagnosed cancer is lung cancer (11.6%), followed by female breast (11.6%) and colorectal cancers (10.2%) - Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer at 1.74 million (18.4%), followed by colorectal (9.2%) and stomach cancers (8.2%).

August 7, 2020 - 6th edition of National Handloom Day = to create awareness about the Handloom Industry amongst the public at large

August 08, 2020 = 78th Anniversary of Quit India Movement - Gandhiji began the Quit India Movement

August 9 - Nagasaki Day 2020

August 10 - World Biofuel Day 2020 - day honours the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel(inventor of the diesel engine) who ran an engine with peanut oil in 1893 - Day has been celebrated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas since 2015. - Highlights various efforts made by the Government in the Biofuel sector - Webinar with theme = “Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”

August 9 = UN International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2020 - To promote the rights of the indigenous population around the world. - Also known as World Tribal Day. - First celebrated on 9th August 1995.

- Theme – “COVID-19 and indigenous peoples’ resilience”. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President – Tijjani Muhammad-Bande President Elect– Volkan Bozkir Headquarters– New York

August 10, 2020 - World Lion Day - The population of lions in India has increased substantially from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020. - Asiatic Lion is enlisted as an endangered species in the IUCN Red list.

August 12 = United Nations (UN) International Youth Day 2020 - Theme = “Youth Engagement for Global Action”

- In December 1999, The United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth & declared the 12th of August as International Youth Day. - The United Nations launched #31DaysOfYouth, a social media campaign to celebrate the youths from all over the world throughout the month of august. - The United Nations Women celebrates and recognises the contribution of the youth amid COVID-19 pandemic. - Virtual Event – ‘Enough! I am Generation Equality. My vision now.’ Organised by United Nations Women with Gender Equality and hosted by Zozibini Tunzi or “Zozi”, Miss Universe 2019

August 13 - World Organ Donation Day 2020

- The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of India launched the 6th World and 1st ever Indian Organ Donation Day and Organ Donation Congress in 2010 in New Delhi. - Organ Donation Week in Maharashtra = Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asked all universities in the state to observe Organ Donation Week from August 13 to August 20, 2020 - India’s current organ donation rate is 0.86 per million, which is very poor when compared to other countries - As per the data of Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC) there is a 70% decline in organ donation between March and July as compared to the same period last year (2019).

August 13 - International Left handers Day 2020 - First observed in 1976 by Dean R. Campbell who was founder of the Lefthanders International Inc

August 15 - Celebration of India’s 74th Independence Day 2020 - Due to the current covid-19 situation the around 4000 guests of the 74th Independence day at Red Fort - The Guard of honour inspected by the Prime Minister Modi, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Gaurav S Yewalkar consists of one officer and 24 men from Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. - Patriotic film festival - The National Film Development Corporation organised the first of its kind online patriotic film festival which began on 7th August 2020 and runs till 21st August 2020. - The film festival showcases the high quality independence day themed patriotic films on the website: www.cinemasofindia.com

- The movie Gandhi by Sir Richard Attenborough is made accessible for the people with vision and hearing impairment. - “Ek India Team India” Campaign - IOA (Indian Olympic Association) launched the digital campaign as a part of the adaptation of the new identity and logo of IOA, marking its 100 years of participation in Olympic Games. - Awards & Decorations to Armed force personnels at 74th Independence Day = President Ram Nath Kovind approved 84 gallantry awards include Kirti Chakra(1), Shaurya Chakras(9), Sena Medals(60), Bar to Sena Medals(5), Nao Sena Medals(4) and Vayu Sena Medals(5) and decorations to the personnels of Armed Forces and members of Paramilitary Forces. - 35 Delhi Police personnel, including 4 women, received the Police Medal for their services, 16 personnel received the Police Medal for Gallantry. - 3 personals received the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 16 were awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

August 19 - World Humanitarian Day 2020 - The First WHD was observed on 19th August 2009. - To pay tribute to honour all humanitarian workers and United Nations and associated personnel who dedicated their lives to help the people in extreme circumstances around the world and lost their lives in the cause of duty. - 19th August was chosen in memory of the 19th August 2003 bombing in Canal Hotel, Baghdad, Iraq which killed 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, Chief Humanitarian in Iraq. - #RealLifeHeroes Campaign is a global campaign to celebrate the humanitarians who have committed their lives to help the people in need.

August 19 - World Photography Day 2020

The first official World Photo Day was marked on 19th August 2010 when the first global online gallery was hosted with around 270 photographers who shared their photographs.

August 20 - Sadbhavan Diwas 2020 - Also known as Communal Harmony Day, to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

August 20 - World Mosquito Day 2020

August 21 - International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism 2020 - The event of 2020 is organized by UN Counter Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) in collaboration with the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism.

- United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres will participate in the online high- level event entitled “Not Forgotten: Stories of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism”. The UN Counter Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), is the main capacity-building arm of UNOCT. Executive Director - Vladimir Voronkov (Under Secretary General for Counter-Terrorism)

August 21 - World Senior Citizen’s Day 2020 - The day was officially founded by Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States of America, in 1988. - On December 14, 1990, The United Nations General Assembly issued a proclamation to celebrate the day on August 21 every year. - The day was 1st celebrated in 1991.

August 22 – UN International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief 2020 - The first observed on 22nd August 2019.

August 22 - Earth Overshoot Day 2020 - The first Global Earth Overshoot Day campaign was launched in 2006. - Compared to 2019, The 2020 Earth Overshoot Day was postponed by three weeks to August 22 - 2019 Earth Overshoot Day which was on 31st July marked the earliest Earth Overshoot Day ever recorded by the Global Footprint Network.

August 23 = UN International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition 2020

- The first International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition was celebrated on 23rd August 1998 - The National Maritime Museum(NMM), Greenwich hosted the annual emancipation ceremony from the National Maritime Museum to the River Thames UNESCO Director General – Audrey Azoulay

August 24 - World Gujarati day 2020 - To commemorate the birth anniversary of the famous Gujarati poet and social reformer, Narmadashankar Dave popularly known as Veer Narmad. - On the occasion of World Gujarati day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes to all the gujarati’s around the world.

August 24 – 28, 2020 - World Water Week 2020

- Organised by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) since 1991. - Theme = ‘Water and Climate change: Accelerating Action’. - World Water Week of the year 2019 was observed from 25th August 2019 to 30th August 2019. - SIWI has decided to cancel the annual conference which was scheduled to take place from 23 to 28th August 2020 in Stockholm

COMMITTEES/ REPORTS/MEETINGS

Niti Aayog Task Force “Sugarcane and Sugar Industry” headed by Ramesh Chand Recommends Linking of Sugarcane Prices to Sugar Rate

- Currently around 3 lakh hectares are under sugarcane cultivation that produces around 20 lakh tonnes of sugarcane. - An incentive of Rs.6000 per hectare will be provided to the farmers to adopt alternate cultivation patterns with less water intensive crops. - Revenue Sharing Formula (RSF) with Price Stabilisation Fund to protect the farmers with fair and remunerative price (FRP). - The minimum support price of the sugar will be reviewed after 6 months from notification. - Report recommends a onetime increase in the minimum sugar price to Rs.33 per kilogram. - also recommends to levy less on sugar at Rs.50 per quintal for 3 years, while around Rs. 4500 crore would be added to the fund which will support the banks providing soft loans to the mills to clear dues and update technology.

“Youth and COVID-19: Impacts on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Well-being”

- Published by UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) - 50% of young people across the world are possibly subject to anxiety or depression and around 17% of them are already affected by it - 38% of youths do not have a clear idea about the career or future - Around 12000 responses from 112 countries were received with a major contribution from the educated youths. - The mental wellbeing of the younger youths and young women aged between 18 to 24 years are at the lowest. - 1 in 6 youths have stopped their work since the outbreak of the pandemic ILO Director-General – Guy Ryder Headquarter – Geneva

National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru released a new Report of National Cancer Registry Programme 2020 - Cancer in India may rise from 13.9 Lakh in 2020 to 15.7 lakh in 2025 - Tobacco related cancers are estimated to constitute around 27% of all cancers. - According to World Health Organization(WHO)’s Global Nutrition Report 2020, India is one among 88 countries to miss global nutrition targets by 2025 Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Secretary & Director General – Dr. Balram Bhargava

Report “Population projections for India and States 2011- 2036” by National Commission on Population - The report projected that the India’s sex ratio of the total population (females per 1000 males) is expected to be more feminine in 2036 compared to the population as of 2011. - The report estimates the sex ratio to increase from 943 in 2011 to 957 in 2036.

- Compared to 2011, the sex ratio in 18 states except Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat are expected to increase by 2036. - The lowest sex ratio of 899 is expected to be in NCT of Delhi, followed by 900 in Gujarat and 908 in Haryana. - India’s Infant Mortality Rate is reported to be 46 in 2010 which is expected to reduce to 30 by the end of 2031-2035. - Kerala is expected to have the lowest IMR at 9 - Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is expected to decline from 2.34 during 2011-2015 to 1.73 during 2031- 35. - The report projects that India will overtake China and become the most populated county around 2031. - For men the life expectancy is expected to increase from 66 to 69 and for women it is expected to increase from 71 to 74.

Report titled “Tackling the Covid-19 youth employment crisis in Asia and the Pacific” - Released by The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) - 41 Lakh Youths Lost Their Jobs in India Due to COVID-19 - Around 220 million young workers (15 to 24 years) in the region are vulnerable due to their short tenure on the job. - Around 1 crore to 1.5 crore youth jobs may be lost in the 13 countries in the Asia and pacific region in 2020. ADB President – Masatsugu Asakawa Motto – Committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable Asia & the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. International Labor Organization (ILO) Director-General – Guy Ryder

Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland

Report, ‘Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools Special focus on COVID- 19’ - released by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) - Around 818 million Children across the World Lack Basic Hand Washing Facilities at their Schools which makes them prone to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other transmittable diseases. - Of the 818 million children, 355 million went to schools which had facilities with water but no soap, and 462 million to schools which had no facilities or water available for handwashing. - More than one third of these children (295 million) are from sub-Saharan Africa. - 7 out of 10 schools lacked basic hand washing facilities and half of schools lacked basic sanitation and water services in the least developed countries.

- 1 in 3 schools worldwide had either limited drinking water service or no drinking water service at all. - Around the world, 43% of schools lacked access to basic handwashing with soap and water in 2019

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Set Up Expert Committee - Headed by Pradip Shah, Chairman of Indasia Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd. - To suggest ways to enhance International Retail Business in International Financial Services Centres (IFSC). - Three months to submit its recommendations to the IFSCA. - The objective of the IFSCA is to make India a global hub for international financial service in par with London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

- IFSCA makes the IFSC at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT city) as a gateway for the India IFSCA Chairman – Injeti Srinivas Headquarters – Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ - launched = compilation India Report – Digital Education June 2020 - Prepared by the Digital Education Division of MHRD in consultation with Education Departments of States and UTs. - Report highlights the methods adopted by the MHRD and the Education Department of States and Union Territories(UT) to ensure the accessibility to education for the children at home. Remote learning Initiatives of State Governments = - Rajasthan – SMILE (Social Media Interface for Learning Engagement)

- Telangana – online certificate programs for teachers on ‘Management of mental well-being during COVID’ - Uttarakhand – uses Sampark Baithak App to provide videos, puzzles, worksheet for primary level students. - Gujarat initiated Vanchan Abhiyan - a reading campaign and Parivar no maalo-salamat ane humfaalo (family’s nest-safe and warm) to provide socio psychological support for children. - West Bengal also started a toll-free helpline number to clarify the students’ doubts. - Karnataka launched Pariksha Vani, an exam preparation program through Doordarshan - Chhattisgarh – Padhai Tunhar duvaar - Goa + Embibe, AI - powered online platform = to support the entrance exam preparation of the students. - Jammu – Project Home Classes - Kerala – educational TV channel (Hi-Tech school programme)

- Lakshadweep – distributed tablets with e-content for students. - Meghalaya – E-scholar portal as well as free online courses for teachers - Delhi – Mission Buniyaad

Report titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential” - Published by UNICEF - 1 in every 3 that is around 800 million children across the world has the blood lead level above or at 5 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL), the amount at which action is required and Almost 50% of these children live in South Africa. UNICEF Executive Director – Henrietta Holsman Fore

Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Rajesh Verma released Report of the Committee on Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR) - recommended a new reporting framework - ”Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR)” as the demand for non-financial reporting is growing due to increase trends of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing. - 8-member committee, chaired by Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, MCA was formulated by Injeti Srinivas, former Secretary, MCA Union Minister of Corporate Affairs - Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of State - Anurag Singh Thakur

Ministry of finance, Department of Revenue Forms Panel under Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme for Exporters - Headed by G K Pillai

- Committee in its final report will recommend a ceiling rate of Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) after taking into account the Direct Taxes & Indirect Taxes levied on the exported products. - Will determine the methodology, decide modalities of holding meetings, conduct field visits and study specific production processes - Committee will submit its main report within three months from identification and prioritisation of sectors/items by the government. - Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products is a new reimbursement scheme which will replace the existing Merchandise Export from India Scheme(MEIS) scheme - Aims to reimburse the taxes and duties incurred by exporters - Previous Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) is being phased out as it was found to violate the World Trade Organization rules.

INDEX

NITI Aayog + Institute of Competitiveness - Released Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020 - Gujarat Topped the Overall Rankings - EPI has 4 pillars = Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance and 11 sub pillars (BEEP = Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem and Export Performance, Policy )

“Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020” - by online privacy solutions provider SurfShark - India Ranked 57th out of 85 with 0.5 index points, Denmark topped with 0.79 points - India ranked lowest in the world in terms of e-infrastructure by occupying 79th rank.

- Scandinavia has the most active internet users’ i.e 95% while Southern Asia is the least active region globally with only 35% of users. - 3 hours 48 minutes is a global average of working time needed to afford the cheapest broadband internet SurfShark Headquarter – British Virgin Islands, United Kingdom

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu Virtually Announced Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 from New Delhi - The rankings were announced in six categories - The rankings are premised on 9 parameters = Budget, Facilities, Awareness, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Commercialization, Learning Methods, Governance, and Angel and Venture Capital Funding/Investor Linkage. - IIT Madras Topped among Institutes of National Importance

- Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre were the Guest of Honour. - Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Odisha topped the category of Private or Self-Financed Universities. - ARIIA = It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education and implemented by the Ministry’s Innovation Cell and AICTE

Forbes’ list of highest paid actors for the year 2020 - Akshay Kumar Ranked 6th with his estimated earnings of USD 48.5 million - Dwayne Johnson topped consecutive second time, with an estimated net worth of USD 87.5 million

India ranked 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming

- Sikkim - first state in the world to become completely organic and other states including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set targets to be on the same line. - Under One District One Produce concept government is trying to develop more clusters of organic produce - Jaivik Kheti Portal was launched for farmers to sell all of their organic produce promoting organic farming globally. - Webinars are conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on Organic Farming. Minister of State of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) - Parshottambhai Rupala

FutureBrand Index 2020 - Reliance Industries Ranked 2nd Biggest Brand - Apple Topped

Festivals

Odisha, Chhattisgarh Celebrated Agricultural Festival ‘2020 Nuakhai Juhar’ on August 23

Kerala State Dragonfly Festival 2020 aka “Thumbimahotsavam 2020” Launched - launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India State unit + Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) + Thumbipuranam - Mascot is “Pantalu” - The festival will culminate with the State dragonfly summit, most probably in January 2021. - Kerala government recently announced a scheme - “Chief Minister’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme” to address the issues of shortage of working capital and

availability of credit faced by startups and small entrepreneurs = will be implemented through the Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC). World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India President – Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej Secretariat – New Delhi

DEFENCE/EXERCISES

Israel Successfully tested advanced missile defence system, Arrow-2 Ballistic Missile Interceptor with the support of the United States of America. - Missile test was conducted in the test site in Central Israel over the Mediterranean Sea. - Arrow system which includes Arrow, Arrow-2, Arrow-3 interceptor missiles were designed to take down the ballistic and cruise missiles

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) Approved Procurement of Approx Rs 8,722.38 cr for Armed Forces under Atmanirbhar Bharat

World's Lightest Attack Helicopter - Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)’s Two Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) have been deployed for operations at high altitude (Ladakh sector) to support Indian Air Force (IAF) missions HAL CMD – R Madhavan Headquarter – Bengaluru, Karnataka

US conducted test flight of unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) - From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US to a target in the Pacific Ocean.

Rajnath Singh Restricted Import of 101 defence items - Planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 and 2024 - Defence Industry will receive contracts worth almost Rs 4 lakh crore within the next five to seven years = items worth almost Rs 1,30,000 crore each are anticipated for the Army and the Air Force, while items worth almost Rs 1,40,000 crore are anticipated by the Navy over the same period - Focus behind this decision is to adopt the technologies designed and developed by DRDO to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years. - Import restrictions on 69 items will come into force from December 2020, while the embargo on another 11 items will be applicable from December 2021. A separate list of four items has been identified for import restrictions from December 2022, while the ban on two separate sets of eight items will be applicable from December 2023 and December 2024.

- MoD has set a goal of a turnover of USD 25 billion (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) in defence manufacturing in the next 5 years that included an export target of USD 5 billion (Rs 35,000 crore) worth of military hardware. - Indian armed forces are projected to spend around $130 billion in capital procurement in the next five years. Minister of State of Ministry of Defence (MoD) - Shripad Yesso Naik

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) Developed ‘Aashray’, the Medical Bed Isolation System to Combat COVID-19 - Low cost, reusable solution - Manufactured by M/s Cleancore Solutions Pvt Ltd. Bhosari, Pune. DIAT Headquarter – Pune

Iran Launched - Underground Ballistic Missiles

Iran Unveiled Locally Made Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile - Martyr Qassem Soleimani & Cruise Missile - Martyr Abu Mahdi - Ballistic Missile Martyr Qassem Soleimani = has a range of 1,400 kilometres-km (870-mile) - Cruise missile, called Martyr Abu Mahdi which has a range of over 1000 km (620-mile).

L&T Built 27-meter-long Interceptor Boat(IB) ‘ICGS C-454’ of Indian Coast Guard Launched at Surat

Proposal to expand National Cadet Corps (NCC) in 173 borders, coastal districts approved by Defence minister - announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Indian Coast Guard Ship C-449 Commissioned in Chennai by Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam. - Designed by M/s Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Hazira (Surat) - Will be commanded by Assistant Commandant Ashish Sharma - The ship is 27.80 long with a displacement of 105 tonnes and can reach maximum speeds of upto 45 knots (85 kmph)

BOOKS

Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane Released a Book Titled “National Security Challenges: Young Scholars’ Perspective” Authored by University students

- Published by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), the Army think-tank. - The book is a tribute to Field Marshal Manek shaw, the strategist of 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, that resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh.

Running Toward Mystery: The Adventure of an Unconventional Life’ - Authored by Tenzin Priyadarshi and Zara Houshmand - Provides an account of how the Dalai Lama traced his Spiritual Teacher Khunu Lama in India.

The book “Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story”authored by Monika Arora, advocate, Sonali Chitalkar (political Science) and Prerna Malhotra(English) teachers at Delhi University - Set to be published by Garuda Prakashan . - The book was released by Bhupendra Yadav, member of parliament and national general secretary

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh releases book on cancer – “Gastric Cancer” edited by noted Oncologist Dr Ashok Vaid

Book - ‘One Arranged Murder’ will be released on September 28, 2020 - Authored by Chetan Bhagat It is the author’s 9th novel and 11th book overall

“India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders” - authored by Pradeep Chhibber & Harsh Shah - Snapshot of contemporary Indian politics through interviews with 20 of the country’s most prominent next-generation politicians - The book includes interviews of Politicians below the age of 50 years only

‘RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations’ - Authored by Yatish Yadav - Narrates the heroic operations carried out by the Indian external spy agency, RAW - Published by Westland Publications RAW - founded by the spymaster Rameshwar Nath Kao, which was established in 1968

“Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World” – A Book by Dalai Lama, co-written by German environmental Journalist Franz Alt - to release in November

“Amazing Ayodhya” - Neena Rai Authored the book - Will shed light on the history of Ayodhya

Swachh Bharat Kranti’ - Launched by Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat & Smriti Irani - ‘Swachh Bharat Revolution’ which was released in October 2019 has been translated into Hindi and published as “Swachh Bharat Kranti”. - Book contains 4 key sections which are considered as the pillars of Swachh Bharat Mission’s success = Political Leadership, Public Financing, Partnerships, People’s Participation

Books Titled ‘Corona Kavithakal’, ‘Republic Day 2020’ and ‘Thus Speaks the Governor’ - Authored by Mizoram Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai - ‘Corona Kavithakal’ was released by Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga - ‘Republic Day 2020’ and ‘Thus Speaks the Governor’ were released by Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ajai Lamba

Book Titled “Siyasat Mein Sadasyata” - Authored by State Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary - Released by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar - Published by Bihar Assembly Secretariat.

“Vishesh: Code to Win” - Biography of India’s youngest Basketball captain, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi - authored by Nirupama Yadav to be released

‘Greenlights’ the debut book - authored by Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey - Published by Crown Publishing Group

SCIENCE/TECH

Shri Rajnath Singh launched mobile App, ‘Directorate General National Cadet Corps (DGNCC) for NCC Training

WHO declared Africa free of Wild Poliovirus - The Poliovirus is now found only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. - The last case of wild poliovirus in Africa was detected in 2016 in Nigeria’s Northeastern Borno state.

- Developed by Aerospace Dongfanghong Satellite Co.Ltd, part of China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)

Pinaka rockets fully manufactured by the private sector company “Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL)” - successfully test fired by the army at a firing range in Pokhran, Rajasthan - EEL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Industries headed by Satyanarayan Nuwal. Headquarter – Nagpur, Maharashtra

Presence of briny liquid water found on Dwarf Planet Ceres - Ceres is now an ‘Ocean World’, announced by NASA - Studies suggest the presence of briny liquid water (saline) underneath Ceres’s surface. - Ceres was first spotted by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, and was assumed as the missing planet between Mars and Jupiter.

- Dawn mission was launched by NASA in 2007 to study two massive bodies in the main asteroid belt, Vesta is rocky whereas Ceres is icy. - Dwarf Planets - There are five official dwarf planets in the solar system. They are Pluto, Eris, Makemake, Haumea and Ceres (in order of size).

India’s multi- wavelength satellite observatory, ASTROSAT Detected Extreme UV light from AUDFs01 Galaxy which is 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth. - The galaxy is located in the Hubble Extreme Deep field (XDF) - The study is published in “Nature Astronomy”. - ASTROSAT Launched in 2015 - first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously. - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has initiated a 10,000 crore project- Gaganyaan to send humans to space by 2022

Biodegradable Face Mask “Pavitrapati” & Anti-microbial Body Suit “Aushada Tara” developed by Defence Institute of Advanced Technology(DIAT), Pune

Central Railway’s Mumbai Division Introduced Drone Based Surveillance System for Railway Security - procured 2 Ninja Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAV) to increase the security and surveillance in the Railway premises like the station, tracks, yards and workshops. - The Railway Protection Force (RPF) procured 9 drones at a cost of Rs 31.87 lakhs - RPF has proposed to procure an additional 17 drones at a cost of Rs 97.52 lakhs.

Nitin Gadkari - unveiled = a microwave device named ‘Atulya’ that can disinfect any premises in just 30 seconds

- Developed by the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune

Ambassador of Israel to India Dr Ron Malka handed over AI-based technology, high-end equipment with AIIMS to help combat COVID-19

Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Indian Coast Guard “Sarthak“ launched during a ceremony held at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) - Manufactured by Goa Shipyard Limited Indian Coast Guard Director General – Krishnaswamy Natarajan Motto -“Vayam Rakshamah” Headquarter– New Delhi

ISRO’s Chandryaan-2 Captured Images of the Moon - one of the Craters Named ‘Sarabhai Crater’

- Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai = regarded as the Father of Indian Space program - Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai’s 100th birth century was observed on 12th of August, 2020. - The Sarabhai Crater was captured in the north east quadrant of the Moon. - In October 2020 the public release of scientific data from Chandrayaan-2 for global use will begin. ISRO Headquarters – Bangalore

Mumbai Division of Central Railway (CR) designed a health assistant robot “Rakshak” that communicates between doctor and patient remotely - Robot was handed over to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Hospital. - The Robot can measure health parameters like temperature, pulse, oxygen percentage and dispenser sanitizer automatic, infrared sensors

- It can also deliver medicines and food and can make 2-way video communication between the doctors and the patients. Central Railway (CR) Headquarter – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai

A COVID prevention kiosk = “UV Baggage Bath” inaugurated at Bengaluru railway station, South Western Railway - To disinfect the baggage to stop the indirect mode of COVID – 19 transmissions from the outer surfaces of travel bags to the human beings. - The proposal was implemented at KSR (Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna) Bengaluru and Yesvantpur Railway stations by M/s Optimurz Bio and IT Solutions.

Dr Harsh Vardhan announced the completion of 1st Pan-India 1000 Genome Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2

- launched by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT) in May 2020 - Also launched the largest network of five dedicated COVID-19 Biorepositories by the DBT at THSTI Faridabad, ILS Bhubaneshwar, ILBS New Delhi, NCCS Pune, InStem Bangalore. Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare – Ashwini Kumar Choubey

NASA’s Mars rover ‘Perseverance’ launched to seek signs of ancient life - Lifted off by United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 541 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United States - Will be retrieved during future missions in 2031. NASA Administrator – James Frederick Bridenstine Headquarter – Washington, D.C

India + Israel - to develop rapid testing for COVID-19 in under 30 seconds

- Started to conduct trials at a special testing site at Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya (RML) Hospital - developed jointly in cooperation with the Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D) of the Israeli Ministry of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Principal Scientific Advisor(PSA), India and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Israel and India. Israel President – Reuven Rivlin

Serum Institute of India (SII) + Gavi + Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - to accelerate the manufacture & Delivery of up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for India and other low and middle income countries (LMICs) by 2021 - The vaccines will be made available to the 92 countries included in Gavi’s COVAX AMC - Ceiling price of USD 3 per dose.

- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through its strategic investment fund, will provide at- risk funding of USD 150 million to GAVI. - Funding will be used to support the SII to manufacture potential vaccine candidates from AstraZeneca and Novavax. - deal is based on a MoU between AstraZeneca and Gavi, announced in June - Hindustan Unilever + UNICEF - launched ‘BreakTheChain’ campaign against coronavirus SII Headquarter – Pune,Maharashtra CMD – Cyrus S. Poonawalla CEO– Adar C. Poonawalla Gavi Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland & Washington D.C Chair – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Skyroot Aerospace, India’s 1st Private Aerospace Company successfully test fired an upper stage rocket engine “Raman” - India’s first 100% 3D printed bi-propellant liquid rocket engine injector named after the nobel laureate Sir CV Raman - Raman can hurl a satellite of 250 to 700 kilograms into the lower orbits. - 3D printing has reduced the overall mass by 50% and the total number of components and lead time by 80%. - Skyroot Aerospace - start-up was founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, former ISRO scientists and backed by founders of Curefit – Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori and Solar Industries. - The first launch Vehicle “Vikram-I” which hosts an Orbit Adjustment Module (OAM), which enables the insertion of multiple satellites into space, is targeted to launch in December 2021.

- Frost & Sullivan, Research firm expects to globally launch more than 10000 small satellites in the upcoming 10 years. - NASA astronauts fly SpaceX spacecraft ‘Dragon’ - Israel Successfully Launches New Spy Satellite ‘Ofek 16’ into Space Using Shavit Rocket. Skyroot Aerospace Headquarters – Hyderabad

Scientists Identified 77 New Species of Butterflies in Matheran Near Mumbai - Identified around 140 rare species of butterflies including 77 new species.

Plant Species “Ardisia ramaswamii” of Genus Ardisia Identified by Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode, Named After 20th Century Botanist M S Ramaswami

NTPC Group achieved 100 Billion Units (BU) power generation mark in the ongoing fiscal year NTPC CMD – Gurdeep Singh Headquarters – New Delhi.

Indian Railways introduces Overhead Equipment (OHE) Inspection app for real-time monitoring - Will help in minimizing the train delays and long waits due to technical snags.

No-touch & Painless device - “AJO-Neo” = for non-invasive screening of bilirubin level in new- borns - Developed by S.N. Bose National Centre For Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata,.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Developed COVID19BWM App to Track Biomedical Waste = Recommended by SC

- Ensures that the waste is collected, transported and sent to a registered common biomedical waste treatment facility.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) + Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) + CBSE launched = Khelo India mobile app Online Training Programme - to train the Physical Education (PE) teachers and head of the institutions from CISCE schools Sports Authority of India (SAI) Head Office – Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) developed AIR SUVIDHA = portal allowing international arriving passengers to fill a mandatory self-declaration form and eligible passengers to apply for exemption from compulsory institutional quarantine for coronavirus.

GOOGLE/FB/MICROSOFT/APPLE/IBM IN NEWS

Google Launched ‘The Anywhere School’ initiative in more than 150 countries to Boost Online Learning - Google will roll out over 50 new features across products like Google Meet, Classroom, G Suite and other products. - Google will launch custom and blurred backgrounds in Google Meet to provide ‘extra privacy’ to the users. - Google Classroom will be available in 10 additional languages - Globally the platform will provide support for over 54 languages

Google launches Kormo for job seekers in India - Aims to provide entry-level jobs and helps job seekers find and apply for positions across India.

- It was launched in Bangladesh in 2018 and subsequently in Indonesia.

Google + Central Water Commission (CWC) = for Flood Forecasting Initiatives - Initiative enables the users with Android Smartphones with location service to receive the alerts and notification on the real time water level measurements. - Union Minister of Earth Sciences recently launched the mobile app “Mausam”, to provide weather forecasts, nowcast and warning for various cities and locations. - Karnataka recently launched “Meghasandesha ” App for real time information & ‘Varunamitra’ portal for real-time information on weather. CWC Chairman – Rajendra Kumar Jain Headquarters – Sewa Bhawan, New Delhi

IITs in news

IIT Alumni Council - Partnered - Russoft & Moscow State University = to Build World’s Largest & Fastest Hybrid Quantum Computer in India - The objective of the agreement is to use technology in the areas of healthcare, agriculture, transport and logistics, pollution and weather forecast to achieve the mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. - About IIT Alumni Council is the largest global body of alumni, students and faculty, spread across all the 23 IITs and partnering Technical Institutes of Excellence (TieNet).

IIT Kanpur + DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms & Public grievances) + MoD = Agreement for Using AI, Machine Learning (ML) to Address Public Grievances - DARPG will provide data related to Public Grievances of MoD to IIT Kanpur for their analysis. IIT Kanpur Director – Abhay Karandikar.

Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre(HTIC) of IIT Madras + Helyxon = Developed First of Its Kind Remote Patient Monitoring Solution for COVID-19 - To provide a low cost, simple and easy to use device to monitor the patients from anywhere at the hospital or home. - Based on the configuration of the device the cost ranges from Rs.2500 to 10,000. - Device was aimed to reduce the close contact with the patients by the healthcare workers like doctors and nurses and savings in PPE.

IIT Guwahati + Imperial College London = developed nanoparticle ‘meta-grid’ that makes the LED brighter, energy-efficient and durable - Jointly developed by Dr. Debabrata Sikdar, assistant professor at IIT Guwahati and Prof. Sir John B. Pendry and Prof. Alexei A. Kornyshev from Imperial College London

IIT Guwahati Director – T.G Sitharam

IIT Kanpur + Agnys Waste Management Pvt. Ltd - Developed Seed Balls = ‘BEEG’(Biocompost Enriched Eco Friendly Globule) for Farmers - Will help to safeguard people and farmers in plantations during the COVID-19 times - Initiative is guided by Prof. J. Ramkumar.

Delhi Gov - MoU - IIT-Bombay and Tata Projects Limited = for 20 metre high smog tower in Connaught Place, New Delhi following the orders of Supreme Court (SC) - Smog tower to be completed in 10 months - Project is expected to cost around Rs 19 crore.

Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) - Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) - IIT, Delhi = to set up a Geographical Information System (GIS) based platform for air quality management in Bihar - The Agreement which comes at a cost of Rs. 10 Lakh will provide for exchange of technical expertise between IIT Delhi & BSPCB. - MoA has been signed on the backdrop of Government of India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). - Project will help in identifying the local hot spot of PM 2.5 in Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur. - National Clean Air Programme was launched in January 2019 by Dr. Harsh Vardhan to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter PM 10) and fine particles (PM 2.5) by 20% in the next five years.

NHAI - MoU - IIT Delhi = to set up Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Advance Data Management System for Highways

IIT Ropar + Momentum India Private Limited = Developed “UVSAFE”, UVGI Based Room Disinfection Device - Device was tested by FICCI Research and Analysis Centre(FRAC)(NABL Accredited Laboratory, New Delhi) - Designed by Khushboo Rakha, Assistant Professor, Division of Metallurgical and Supplies Engineering and Naresh Rakha, Senior Scientific Officer of IIT- R - The device takes 6 minutes to achieve 99.9% disinfection in an area of 14 square foot.

The research team of IIT Delhi Found WHO listed Priority Pathogens in the Waters of River Yamuna

- Research paper on the study was published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. - Dr.Manisha Lamba was the first author of the research paper.

Flipkart - MoU - IIT Patna = for Industry Focused applied research in the fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML). - To create industry focused applied research to support the reach of e-commerce to more consumers and sellers. - Flipkart - MoU - Karnataka State Mango Department = to support mango farmers. - Flipkart - MoU - Government of Karnataka = to Promote Local Arts, Crafts And Handlooms Flipkart CEO – Kalyan Krishnamurthy

IISc and ISRO developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures named “Space Bricks” on the surface of the moon - The cost of transporting one pound of construction material from earth to moon takes around Rs.7.5 lakhs. - Since the transportation of bricks from earth is not viable the space bricks are developed.

NSE’s Investor Protection Fund Trust (NSE IPFT) + IIMB - to offer Platform for Investor Education - Launched in a virtual meet attended by Mr. Nagendraa Parakh, Executive Director of SEBI, Mr. Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO of NSE and Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director of IIM Bangalore. - NSE IPFT was set up under section 370 of the Companies Act, with the objective of creating and managing a fund to be used for promoting investor education, awareness and undertaking research activities related to securities market.

LOANS ISSUED BY BANKS

Indian Govt + Gov of Maharashtra + Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) - $500 Mn Loan Agreement - AIIB Inked = to Improve Quality & Safety of Mumbai’s Suburban Railway Project-III - The total estimated cost of the project is $997 million, of which $500 million will be financed by the AIIB, $310 million by the Gov of Maharashtra and $187 million by the Ministry of Railways. - The loan has a 5-year grace period and a maturity of 30 years. - AIIB recently released USD 50 million in the first tranche of assistance to L&T Infrastructure Finance Ltd (LTIF), to fund renewable Energy Projects in the country Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Headquarters – Beijing

President – Jin Liqun

Reliance Power and Japanese energy major JERA = loan agreement with banks totalling $642 million (approx Rs 4,798 crore) - Will develop a new 745 MW natural gas combined-cycle power project in Meghnaghat in Bangladesh. - Reliance Power hold 51% stake while JERA will hold 49% stake in the joint venture company. Reliance Power Chairman – Anil Dhirubhi Ambani Headquarter – Mumbai, Maharashtra

Exim Bank extends USD 250 million line of credit to Mozambique to improve the power supply quality EXIM Bank MD & CEO – David Rasquinha

Mozambique Capital – Maputo Currency – Mozambican metical President – Filipe Nyusi Prime Minister – Carlos Agostinho do Rosário

ADB - USD 200 mn financing deal with Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited for 718 mw power plant in Meghnaghat, Narayanganj District near Dhaka - ADB will provide USD 100 million and will also manage the other part worth USD 100 million from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP). - LEAP was established in 2016 with USD 1.5 billion capital commitment for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

India extended US$18 mn Line of Credit to Maldives for expansion of fishing facilities at Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) - part of US$800 million LoC offered by India through Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) carrying an interest rate of 1.75% with repayment tenor of 20 years and a 5-year moratorium - credit line agreement was signed by India’s Export-Import Bank (EXIM)’s Chief General Manager Sudhattaa Mandal and Maldivian Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer. - To develop a 50 tonne ice plant and 100 tonne ice storage facility in Gemanafushi, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Maldives President – Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

ADB - USD 1 billion loan for Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) - NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will execute the project.

- The project will be implemented in phases between the cities and is expected to be open by March 2025. - RRTS will use advanced, high tech(technology) signalling systems based on latest standards and will have multimodal hubs to ensure smooth interchange with other modes of transport. - Besides ADB, the Government of India will provide USD 1.89 billion and the co-financiers are expected to provide USD 1 billion of the total project cost of USD 3.94 billion

European Union to provide 1.65 million euros in Humanitarian Aid Funding to Support Victims of South Asia Floods - The funding is part of the EU’s Acute Large Emergency Response Tool (ALERT). - 500,000 euros will be used in India, - 1 million euros will be dedicated to Bangladesh - 150,000 euros will be used in Nepal

EU Headquarters – Brussels European Parliament president – David-Maria Sassoli Members– 27 countries

India Granted USD 500 mn Aid for Maldives Connectivity Project & USD 250 mn as Budgetary Support for the 6.7 Km Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) - India has also decided to start air travel bubble with Maldives to facilitate movement of people from both sides for employment, tourism, medical emergencies. - India also decided to renew quotas for supply of essential commodities to Maldives for the year 2020-21 which include food items like potatoes, onions, rice, wheat, flour, sugar, dal and eggs as well as river sand and stone aggregates. - On 1 November 2020, the Maldives and India will celebrate 55 years since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.

- The growing relationship between both nations is premised upon the ‘India First’ policy of Maldives and ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy of India.

India extended an assistance of 1 million USD to Antigua and Barbuda for COVID-19 Response - The funding from India will be used to procure medical supplies and equipment like ventilators, PPE equipment, etc. also provided around 10,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to the government of Antigua and Barbuda free of cost. - This will be implemented by the UNDP in partnership with National Institute of Antigua and Barbuda. - India also provided 1 million USD assistance to each country of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a group of 20 developing countries in the Caribbean. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister – Gaston Browne Capital – Saint John’s

Currency– East Caribbean dollar

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