International Youth Day observed on 12 August
The International Youth Day is observed on August 12 annually to draw the attention of governments and others towards youth issues worldwide. This day is celebrated to recognize the efforts put in by the youth for the betterment of society. The Day aims to promote the ways to engage the youth and make them more actively involved in their communities through positive contributions.
The theme of International Youth Day:
The theme of International Youth Day 2021, “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”. The theme highlights the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.
History of International Youth Day:
In 1999, the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day. This day is the first time observed on August 12, 2000, the day marks an awareness day and draws attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.
DRDO Successfully Test-Fires Nirbhay Missile
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired medium-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, off Odisha coast. Nirbhay is India’s first Indigenous Technology Cruise Missile (ITCM).
About the Missile:
- ITCM Nirbhay was successfully test-launched with a Made-in-India Manik turbofan engine.
- This was the first successful test-firing of the missile with the indigenous booster engine. It can use both conventional and nuclear weapons of 200 to 300 kilograms.
- The missile can be launched from multiple platforms. ITCM Nirbhay can travel at a speed of 0.7 to 0.9 Mach, or 4 to 7 times faster than the speed of sound.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
- DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.
- DRDO Established: 1958.
Quad Navies to undertake Ex-Malabar 2021
The Quad country navies including, India, the US, Japan and Australia, will be conducting the annual Malabar naval exercises, from August 21, off the coast of Guam, in the Indo-Pacific. The harbour phase of the Malabar naval exercises will take place from August 21 to 24, 2021. The sea phase of the exercise will be held on August 25 to 29, 2021.
About the exercise:
Indian Navy will be represented by two surface combatants led by Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvijay and Frigate INS Shivalik along with maritime reconnaissance aircraft P-8I, ASW helicopters and Special Forces (Marine Commandos-MARCOS). The objective of the Malabar series of Exercises is to increase the interoperability of naval powers of the four QUAD countries.
ISRO chief K Sivan inaugurates Health Quest study
ISRO chief, Dr K Sivan has formally inaugurated the Health QUEST study (Health Quality Upgradation Enabled by Space Technology of ISRO) which will be undertaken by 20 private hospitals across India. The event was co-organised by the Association of Health Care Providers India (AHPI) and the Society for Emergency Medicine in India (SEMI).
Objective:
The objective of the study is to strive towards reducing human errors and achieve zero defect and quality service in the emergency and intensive care units of the hospital. The study aims to upgrade healthcare standards in line with ISRO quality standards and best practices. The quality assurance mechanism in vogue in ISRO will be shared with the study team to establish the parameters for healthcare quality standards.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan.
- ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- ISRO established: 15 August 1969.
RBL Bank selects AWS as preferred cloud provider
RBL Bank has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, as its preferred cloud provider. AWS helps RBL bank to strengthen its AI-powered banking solutions and drive digital transformation at the Bank, adding significant value to the Bank’s innovative offerings, saving costs, and tightening risk controls.
About this facility:
- The Bank is building on its analytics practice and investing in AI capabilities to implement various use cases across multiple segments, including Risk, Customer Service, Human Resources, and Operations.
- The Banks AI Center of Excellence worked with AWS to create a templatized framework to roll out use cases using Amazon SageMaker to quickly and easily build, train, and deploy machine learning (ML) models as part of the Banks larger AI roadmap.
- RBL Bank will leverage Amazon Textract, a machine learning service that automatically extracts text, handwriting, and data from scanned documents, across the Banks Risk and Operations divisions to analyze documents such as financial statements, stock statements, and stock audit reports to predict default risk.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- RBL Bank Founded: August 1943;
- RBL Bank Headquarters: Mumbai;
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RBL Bank MD & CEO: Vishwavir Ahuja.
28th ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting
The Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh led India’s delegation to the 28th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers Meeting. The Meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Brunei Darussalam. The ARF member countries exchanged views on international and regional issues, as well as the future direction of the ARF. Dr Singh presented India’s perspectives on the Indo-Pacific, the threat of terrorism, the importance of UNCLOS in the maritime domain and cybersecurity.
About the meeting:
- The ARF Ministers adopted a Joint Statement on Promoting the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) Agenda. India engages actively in ARF activities and initiatives on Maritime Security; Counter-Terrorism; Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs); Disaster Relief etc.
- In 2021, India co-chaired an ARF workshop on Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). During 2021-22, India will co-chair the ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Maritime Security and conduct a workshop on International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code).
Cashify appoints Rajkummar Rao as first brand ambassador
Cashify, a re-commerce marketplace announced that it has appointed Rajkummar Rao as its first brand ambassador. The actor has signed a multi-year contract with the company and he will promote the products across digital media platforms through campaigns and promotional activities exclusively for the smartphone buyback category.
About the partnership:
- The partnership is expected to give a strong face to the brand’s philosophy as Rao personifies the brand ethos, which is reliability, responsiveness, approachability, and dynamic personality.
- The association with the actor comes at a time when the company is on a business expansion spree from online to offline, after having recently raised $15 million from Olympus Capital and has acquired UniShop to diversify its Omni category services to users.
Kakori Train Conspiracy now renamed to Kakori Train Action
The Uttar Pradesh government has renamed a landmark freedom movement event as Kakori Train Action while paying tributes to the revolutionaries who were hanged for robbing a train at Kakori to buy weapons in 1925. The new name was used in official communications to refer to the event, usually described as the ‘Kakori train robbery’ or the ‘Kakori train conspiracy’.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel attended a programme held on the anniversary of the event at Kakori-based Kakori Shaheed Smarak on the outskirts of Lucknow. Family members of the freedom fighters were honoured on this occasion, and an art exhibition was also held. A government official stated it was derogatory to describe the robbery that was a part of the freedom movement as “conspiracy”.
India & Saudi Arabia set to conduct “AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021” exercise
India and Saudi Arabia are all set to conduct their first-ever naval exercise Al-Mohed Al-Hindi 2021. To participate in the exercise, India’s guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi reached Saudi Arabia. The joint naval exercise will showcase the reflection of growing defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia.
About the exercise:
- The exercise is taking place amid rising tension in the Gulf region after a drone attack on a merchant tanker off Oman killed a British national and a Romanian citizen.
- The UK and the US pointed fingers at Iran for the attack on MV Mercer Street, operated by an Israeli-owned firm.
- In December 2020, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia in a first-ever visit ahead of the Indian Army to the two important Gulf countries.
IAF builds one of the world’s highest mobile ATC towers in Ladakh
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has built one of the world’s highest mobile air traffic control (ATC) towers at the Advanced Landing Ground in Ladakh. The ATC controls operations of the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the eastern Ladakh region. Meanwhile, India has been considering multiple options of developing airfields in eastern Ladakh including Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), Fukche and Nyoma which are at a distance of few minutes from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
The Air Force also has deployed the Igla man-portable air defence missiles to tackle any aerial incursion by any adversary aircraft. The Indian Air Force has been regularly deploying fighter aircraft including the Rafale and MiG-29s to carry out operations in eastern Ladakh where there has been disengagement of troops at two locations including Pangong Tso and Gogra heights but both sides have not de-escalated.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Air Chief Marshal: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria;
- Indian Airforce founded: 8 October 1932;
- Indian Airforce Headquarters: New Delhi.
ICC to push for cricket’s inclusion in Olympics 2028
The International Cricket Council has confirmed it will campaign for the inclusion of the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The ICC’s bid to end what will by then have been an absence from Olympic schedules will include multiple demonstrations of cricket’s suitability for multisport events. Cricket, till now, has made just one appearance in the Olympics, way back in 1900 in Paris when only two teams competed at the event Great Britain and hosts France meaning the sport’s inclusion in 2028 would mark the end of a 128-year absence.
The sport will feature in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next year, which shapes as a perfect showcase for what the sport can bring to the Olympics, as well as being a momentous occasion on its own.
Chhattisgarh becomes 1st state to recognise Forest Resource Rights in Urban Region
Chhattisgarh became the first state to recognise Community Forest Resource Rights in an urban area, with the state government recognising the rights of residents of Dhamtari district over 4,127 hectares of forests. Community resource rights over 5,544 hectares of forest within the core area of the tiger reserve area were also recognised.
Under Forest Rights Act, 2006, Community Forest Resource Right gives gram sabhas the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any forest resources used by the entire community, or village.
Baghel also unveiled an “atlas” of tribal communities living in Chhattisgarh, and a special five-part teaching module on the all-around development of tribal areas to be used to train public representatives and members of the Panchayati Raj system. Tribals account for more than 31 per cent of Chhattisgarh’s population.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- CM of Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel; Governor of Chhattisgarh: Anusuiya Uikey.
Kamlesh Kumar Pant appointed new NPPA chairman
Kamlesh Kumar Pant, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet. The pharmaceutical pricing agency was currently headed by IAS officer Shubhra Singh, who was appointed to the post in 2018. Singh has been repatriated to her cadre state Rajasthan, according to an order of the personnel ministry.
Pant, formerly the Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the government of Himachal Pradesh and also the Financial Commissioner (Appeals) at Himachal Pradesh and the head of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board, has taken charge of NPPA with immediate effect.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority Founded: 29 August 1997;
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority Headquarters: New Delhi.
