National News
Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019
- A penalty of Rs 500 would be imposed for traffic violations in place of Rs 100 earlier.
- Rs 2000 in place of Rs 500 (earlier) would be imposed on the disobedience of orders of authorities.
Meity tied up with Google to “Build for Digital India”
- The programme is launched to give a platform to the engineering students to develop technology-based solutions to solve social problems.
- Engineering Students would be called to apply and join the programme and they can take part in both online and offline learning.
KVIC Launches ‘Terracotta Grinder’
- The ‘Terracotta Grinder’ is the first-ever machine launched to grind the wasted pottery items for reusing them in pottery making.
- It requires mixing of only 20% of the terracotta powder with the clay to make a saving of Rs 520.
India announced $22 million to GFTAM
- This is the 6th replenishment cycle (2020-22) of the GFTAM, and India has increased its contribution by 10% over its 5th cycle contribution.
- The Global Fund has allocated $500 million to India in the current funding cycle (2018-21).
“Eat Right India Movement”
- The ‘Eat Right India Movement’ of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was launched with a new logo and tagline ‘Sahi Bhojan, Behtar Jeevan’.
- To avoid the harmful effects of reused cooking oil, FSSAI has prescribed a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) at 25% in cooking oil.
Govt urged CPSEs to boost Capital Expenditure
- Finance Ministry has urged Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to boost their capital expenditure during the current FY 2019-20.
- The Centre has budgeted Rs 3.38-lakh crore for capital expenditure for the FY 2019-20.
Annual Kaushalacharya Awards launched by MSDE
- The “Kaushalacharya award” is launched under the Skill India Mission, would be given to 53 trainers from various fields including trainers from National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS), WorldSkills Competition winners etc.
- The award will recognize the trainer’s contribution and make them join a training career as it is estimated that by 2022 India will need about 2.5 lakh trainers across the skilling ecosystem.
Banking
Fintech Committee Final Report
- The committee was constituted as per the announcement made by Arun Jaitley, then Finance Minister in his Budget speech 2018-19.
- The committee gave some recommendations on Fintech space globally and in India.
Capital infusion by Government in IDBI Bank
- The IDBI bank has reduced its net NPA from peak of 18.8% in June 2018 to 8% in June 2019.
- The government continues to be a promoter and holds 46.46% stakes of the IDBI Bank and LIC acquired 51% stakes.
RBI mandated to link Retail Loans to External Benchmark
- The directive is applicable to all Public Sector Banks voluntarily, while the private banks are yet to.
- Recently, some state-run banks have introduced home and auto loans having repo-linked products but the RBI wants them to add loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to an external benchmark.
Index and Ranking
India 9th on Happiness Index
- Australia and Canada occupied the top spot in the Index and Argentina, Spain and Russia emerged at the Bottom.
- The “Global happiness index” revealed that Indians consider good financial conditions and physical well-being as a priority criterion to remain joyous.
Appointments
| Name of the Person | Designation |
| Bhagat Singh Koshyariwas | Governor of Maharashtra |
| Tamilisai Soundararajan | Governor of Telangana |
| Arif Mohammed Khan | Governor of Kerala |
| Bandaru Dattatreya | Governor of Himachal Pradesh |
| Kalraj Mishra | Governor of Rajasthan |
| Sunil Arora | Chairmanship of Association of World Election Bodies (AWEB) |
MOU's Signed
6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue
- India will host the 3-day Economic Dialogue which will discuss various issues, including infrastructure, energy and pharmaceuticals and others.
- The dialogue would be held between the NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar (Indian Side) and the Chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission (Chinese side).
Government Schemes
'Rashtriya Poshan Maah'
- The 'Rashtriya Poshan Maah' would begin from 1st September and the theme for the year is “Complementary Feeding”.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan is a Scheme for Holistic Nourishment with a vision to address malnutrition by 2022.
Science and Technology
Chandrayaan 2 has gone Incommunicado
- The communication from the Vikram Lander to the ground was lost at a distance of just 2.1km from the moon.
- Chandrayaan-2 arrived near the moon after 30 days in earth orbit from its launch on 15th July 2019 from Sriharikota.
Defence
IAF inducted 8 AH-64E Apache
- India is the 16th nation to add Apache and the AH-64E is the most advanced variant, Boeing.
- Contracts for a total of 22 Apache helicopters were made from the U.S. government and Boeing in September 2015 and the entire package will be given to the IAF by 2022.
Indo-US Yudh Abhyas 2019
- The Exercise of Yudh Abhyas is the largest joint exercise for defence cooperation between the militaries of the USA and India and will focus on anti-terror operations, counter-insurgency etc.
- The exercise is hosted alternately between the two countries and will be the 15th edition of the exercise that is going to be conducted from 5th September 2019.
1st US-ASEAN maritime drills
- The Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) nations will undergo exercise activities such as boarding of target vessels to simulate search and seizure, drilling etc.
- The drill has been conducted after a Chinese survey vessel had extended its activities to an area closer to Vietnam’s coastline.
India to take part in TSENTR 2019
- TSENTR 2019 is a part of the annual series of exercises that forms a part of the Russian Armed Forces' annual training cycle.
- The exercise is held every year at one of the four Russia’s military Commands namely, Kavkas (South), Zapad (West), Vostok (East) and TSENTR (Centre).
Indo-Lanka Maritime Fleet Exercise-SLINEX 2019
- SLINEX 2019 is an annual joint Indo-Lanka maritime fleet exercise that will be held from 7th September to 13th September 2019.
- Both countries will work on improving their capabilities and operational effectiveness to maintain maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.
28th edition of CORPAT
- The exercise is held between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Royal Thai Navy (RTN).
- Since 2003, the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and the Andaman and Nicobar Command have been participating in the exercise.
Summits and Conferences
India will host COP14 of UNCCD
- ‘Reversing land degradation and its outcomes’ is the main agenda of the COP14, as it is estimated that about one-third of the world’s land is degraded and India accounts for 29%.
- UNCCD was established in 1994 and works towards sustainable land management for linking issues of environmental & development to land agenda.
72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia
- The committee works for discussing experts opinions to deliberate on public health issues and achieve the elimination of diseases faced by the countries in the South-East region.
- The Regional Committee is the highest decision making and governing body of the WHO in the South-East region.
20th India-Russia Summit
- Russia proposed to set up more than 20 nuclear power units in India over the next 20 years in the meeting.
- Moscow has decided to confer PM Modi with the highest civilian award of the country- the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First.
5th EEF 2019 in Russia
- The EEF is aimed to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and to develop the Russian economy far east.
- India will have its own pavilion called the India Lounge with the support of the Roscongress Foundation at the 5th Eastern Economic Forum.
