1. Rani Singh Nair, a 1979-batch IRS officer of the income-tax cadre, has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). She succeeded Atulesh Jindal and will be in office till October 31, 2016. Earlier, she was a member of legislation and computerization department in the CBDT.
2. The book "Tipu Sultan's Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain" has been authored by Kate Brittlebank. The book focuses upon the methods adopted by Tipu Sultan to establish his legitimacy as a parvenu ruler. It throws light on how Tipu perceived himself and why he acted in certain ways at certain times.
3. Skydiver Luke Aikins from United States has become the first person in the world to jump without a parachute and landed safely in a net in Simi Valley, southern California. He achieved this feat after successfully free falling from aeroplane from height of 25,000 feet (mid-tropospheric altitude) in 2-minutes into the 100x100ft net without a parachute or wing suit.
4. The Kerala Anti-corruption Index (KAI), the first of its kind in India, will be launched by the Kerala government under its "zero tolerance to corruption" policy. The initiative will have a set of proxy indicators to measure the graphs of corruption in all spheres of society. The programme will be implemented by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The purpose of the index is to develop a durable and sustainable mechanism to check corruption, which is possible only by sensitizing and empowering general public.
5. The Keibul Lamjao National Park is located in the Bishnupur district, Manipur. It is the only floating park in the world and an integral part of Loktak Lake.
6. Rajasthan has become the first Indian state to approve sewage and waste water policy. As per the policy, all district headquarters, heritage cities and cities in the state which have more than one lakh population will be included. In it, treated waste water will be used in irrigation and agricultural work. The requirement of next 30 years will be covered in this policy. It will be compulsory for every house in the state to connect with sewage system in those cities which have 100% sewage system in next 5 years.
7. The World Economic Forum (WEF) India Economic Summit will be held in New Delhi on October 6-7, 2016. The theme of the summit is "Fostering an Inclusive India through Digital Transformation" and it will be attended by over 500 business and political leaders.
8. Angela Ruggiero, the former Olympic ice hockey gold medalist from United States, has been elected as the new chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Athletes' Commission. She will succeed Claudia Bokel,whose 4-year term is expiring at the end of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Currently, Ruggiero is the Vice-Chair of the Commission. The IOC Athletes' Commission is a body maintained by the International Olympic Committee for the purpose of representing athletes.
9. India's first underground museum will be opened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on October 2, 2016. The museum showcases a collection of relics associated with each of the past presidents of India along with a range of vestiges reflecting upon the history of India's freedom struggle. Approx Rs. 80 crores were spent in creating this museum, which took almost two years to complete.
10. Indian Railways will build India's longest tunnel and world's tallest girder rail bridge on the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new broad gauge railway line in Manipur. The 111-km long line already has 37 tunnels on it. The new tunnel will be 11.55 km long, more than the famous Pir Panjal tunnel on the Banihal-Qazigund line. The rail bridge with height of 141m will surpass the existing tallest bridge in Europe which has a height of 139m.
11. Abhinav Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist, will be flag bearer from India in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics on August 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is his 5th appearance at the Olympic Games. Apart from this, Bindra is also one of the India's goodwill ambassadors for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Others are Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Salman Khan and music maestro AR Rahman.
12. Shubha Mudgal, the hindustani classical singer, will be honoured with the 23rd edition of Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award 2016 for her outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill. The award carries a citation and cash award of Rs. 10 lakh and would be presented to Mudgal on August 20, 2016,the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
13. Nita Ambani, founder chairperson of Reliance Foundation and owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket team franchise, has been elected as an individual member of International Olympic Committee. With this, she became the first Indian woman to join the prestigious body which governs Olympic sports in the world. Nita is the only current active individual member of the IOC from India and will serve the world body till the age of 70.
14. India's first tiger cell will set up at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) campus in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and WII. The cell will house a database of tigers as well as DNA and stripes samples of the big cats from over 50 tiger reserves and will aid conservation efforts by preventing poaching and providing an update on tiger numbers.
15. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has recently signed cyber security MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. The key highlights of the MoU includes cooperation for cyber security research in financial markets, developing and fostering an environment to deal with current & future cyber security challenges and develop tools to strengthen cyber security and advise BSE in its cyber related issues.
16. Takehiko Nakao has been re-elected for a 2nd term as the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is beginning from November 2016. With this, he will remain head of the ADB till 2021. Nakao was first elected to the role in 2013 to serve the remaining three and a half years of the term of his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda.
17. The Union Health Minister J P Nadda has recently launched a nation-wide programme "Mothers' Absolute Affection (MAA)" to promote breast-feeding. Madhuri Dixit Nene is the brand ambassador of this campaign, which is an intensified program for the promotion of breast-feeding along with UNICEF India.
18. Vijay Rupani is the newly appointed chief minister of Gujarat. Prior to this, he was the State BJP President of Gujarat.
19. China has successfully launched the first mobile telecom satellite "Tiantong-01" into orbit from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre with the help of Long March-3B carrier rocket. It will establish a mobile network with ground facilities, providing services for China, the Middle East, Africa and other areas.
20. Rajesh Mokashi has been appointed as the Managing Director & CEO of the Credit Analysis and Research Limited (CARE). The CARE Ratings provides credit rating that helps the corporate to raise capital for their various requirements. He will succeeded Dr Dogra , whose tenure will end on August 21, 2016. Presently, Mokashi, who has been with the credit rating agency since inception in 1993, is the Deputy Managing Director.
21. The theme of the 2016 Rio Olympics is "World peace and Environment". It is the 31st edition of Summer Olympic Games, which has recently started at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 and will be continue till August 21, 2016. The motto of the Rio 2016 is "A new world" and the official mascot is Vinicius. In it, 207 countries and the refugee teams are taking part.
22. The International Meeting on Counter Terrorism will be held at Bali, Indonesia on August 10, 2016. This is first of its kind meeting, which aims to strengthen the international cooperation network in addressing the growing threat of cross-border movement of terrorism from the aspects of actor, information and also financing. The theme of the multilateral meeting is "Countering Cross-Border movement of Terrorism". From India, the Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju will attend the meeting.
23. The book "Gulbadan: Portrait of a Rose Princess at the Mughal Court" has been authored by Margaret Rumer Godden. It is the story of Gulbadan Begum (or Princess Rosebody) , who was the last daughter of Babur and in her lifetime witnessed the rules of her father Babur, brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. The book portrays the vivid life story of Princess Rosebody and her life in the 16th century Mughal royal family in India.
24. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a 15-day programme titled " Azadi 70- Yaad Karo Kurbani (Freedom Fortnight) " on August 9, 2016 to commemorate freedom fighters on the 70th year of India's Independence and 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement from the birth place of freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azaz at Alirajpur district, Madhya Pradesh.
25. India's first repository on tigers will be set up by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) under its new Tiger Cell at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The cell will have a database of tigers from over 50 reserves around the country along with their DNA and stripes samples to keep a track on their numbers. If a tiger skin is recovered, the tiger cell will help in locating the area from where it came from. The purpose of the repository is to aid conservation efforts by keeping an update on tiger numbers as well as tracking poaching incidents throughout the country. The tiger cell will be funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment. It will also give clearance to development projects in areas with tiger population.
26. The book "What Lies Between Us" has been authored by Nayomi Munaweera. It is a novel that sets out to explain one such crime and the possible causes behind it. It is the confession of a woman, driven by the demons of her past to commit a single and possibly unforgivable crime.
27. The Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has recently launched a social media campaign to mark Daughters' Day on August 11, 2016. The entire week will be celebrated as Daughters' Week as part of government's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme to check female foeticide, improve sex ratio and educate girls across India. The ministry has also invited people to tweet their pictures with their daughters-in-law and grand-daughters with #BBP Daughters Week.
28. The Union government will constitute a committee to review e-commerce rules.It will be headed by the NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant. The committee will look at all the issues including Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI) norms pertaining to the fast-growing e-commerce industry in India. The committee would also suggest ways to further promote the growth of the sector.
29. The Mihir Shah committee, which was formed to restructure the water agencies, is recently in news because of its recommendations to set up new National Water Commission (NWC). As per the recommendations, NWC will be an autonomous body and will have a countrywide base and mandate and greater human-power. The committee has also warned against the perils of interlinking of rivers and dependence on large dam projects. Beside this, the committee has also suggested that there is no need to restructure water agencies viz. Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). The committee was set up by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which has submitted its report in July 2016.
30. The International Biodiesel Day is observed every year on August 10 to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels.
31. Assam has become the first Indian state to ratify the GST Constitution Amendment Bill, which is recently passed by the Parliament of India. The 122nd Constitution amendment bill needs to be ratified by 50% of the Indian states before it can be sent for Presidential assent.The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is India's most important indirect tax reform since Independence. Under it, a single rate of GST will replace various taxes to ensure seamless transfer of goods and services.
32. The 12-day long Krishna Pushkar festival has started in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The festival comes once in every 12 years. A daily 'harati' programme will be organised at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada, where the Godavari flows into Krishna. The Andhra Pradesh government has launched a website krishnapushkaram.ap.gov.in containing exhaustive information about the event. A GPS-based mobile application has also been launched for people to obtain information on ghats, the rush, bus services, etc.
33. Dipika Pallikal, India's top squash player, has won the PSA Australian Open by defeating Mayar Hany of Egypt in final by 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in Melbourne, Australia. It is her first title of 2016.
34. The Union Government has constituted a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) under the Chairmanship Pradeep Kumar Sinha, who is the Cabinet Secretary of India, to develop the pan-India road map for trade facilitation.The NCTF has been constituted in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) pact in April 2016 on Trade Facilitation Agreement (FTA), which India also ratified. The committee will facilitate domestic coordination and implementation of the TFA provisions. It will also synergise the various trade facilitation perspectives across the country and focus on an outreach programme for sensitization of stakeholders about it.
35. The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12 to create awareness of the urgent plight of African and Asian elephants, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants.
36. Andy Murray, a British professional tennis player, has won the gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic men's singles tennis tournament by defeating Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in final by 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. With this, Murray successfully retained his title as Olympic champion and became the first in the history of the sport to win the prize back to back.
37. Havildar Hangpan Dada has been posthumously honoured with the Ashok Chakra, India's highest award for gallantry during peace time, on the eve of 70th Independence Day 2016 by President Pranab Mukherjee. He belonged to the Assam Regiment/35th Battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles. Dada had shown exemplary courage, devotion and gallantry beyond the call of duty during an encounter with a group of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and died in Kupwara on May 27, 2016 after killing 3 terrorists. In all, 82 Gallantry Awards have been awarded this year to armed forces personnel and members of paramilitary forces. They include one Ashok Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, 63 Sena Medals (Gallantry), two Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) and two Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).
38. The theme of the 2016 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is "Women Empowerment". The excerpts of the 2016 IIFM awards are Sonam Kapoor won the best actress award for her performance in Neerja Bhanot's biopic "Neerja" and Nawazuddin Siddiqui bagged the best actor award for his role of psycho serial killer in "Raman Raghav 2.0", ShakunBatra (Best Director) and Thithi (Best Indie Film). Beside this, Rishi Kapoor was honoured with the lifetime achievement award for excellence in cinema. The IFFM is a Victorian Government initiative that aims to strengthen ties between the Indian film industry and Victoria.
39. India has been ranked 66th in the 2016 Global Innovation Index (GII), according to the latest released report by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden, the UK, the US, Finland and Singapore.
40. A.R. Rahman,the Oscar-winning music maestro, has been honoured by the New York-based Tamil Sangam with its Tamil Ratna Award. Rahman was bestowed with the award after his concert at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to honour M.S. Subbulakshmi's birth centenary. The concert was sponsored by the India's UN Mission and Sankara Nethralaya, a Chennai-based charity organisation.
41. The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge will open to visitors at Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, China. The 430 m long, 6 m wide bridge, concreted with 99 panes of three-layer transparent glasses and connects two mountain cliffs of Avatar Mountain and stands 300m above ground. A maximum of 8,000 visitors are allowed to cross the bridge every day and a reservation must be made one day prior to visiting. The bridge has set 10 world records for its design and construction.
42. Carolina Marin, a badminton player from Spain, has won women's badminton singles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics by defeating P V Sindhu in final by 19-21, 21-12 and 21-15. Though, P V Sindhu has created history by becoming first Indian female shuttler to grab Olympic silver in Women's Singles Badminton in 2016 Olympics. With this, Sindhu has also became the 2nd Indian female shuttler to win an Olympic medal after Saina Nehwal's Bronze medal at 2012 London Olympics.
43. The 2016 BRICS women Parliamentarian conference has started in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The 2-day conference has been inaugurated by Lok sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. In it, around 42 women parliamentarians from the BRICS countries are participating.
44. Sunita Jain, Hindi scholar and writer, has been conferred with the prestigious 25th edition of Vyas Samman 2015 for her poetry collection "Kshama" West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi. The award, instituted by the K K Birla Foundation, carries a cash prize of Rs 2.50 lakh and is given annually to outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen.
45. Urjit Patel, the well-known economist and banker, has been appointed as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He will succeed Dr. Raghuram Rajan on September 4, 2016. Currently, he is the deputy Governor of RBI.
46. Kamal Haasan, the well-known film actor, has been chosen for the coveted French honour of Chevalier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres (or The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters). The Order is part of France's premier award. He will be the 2nd Tamil actor after thespian Sivaji Ganesan to be honoured with the French award.
47. The World Mosquito Day is observed every year on August 20 to raise awareness about the causes of malaria and how it can be prevented and also to fundraise for research into the cure of malaria. The day also marks the historic discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross in 1897 that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans and that laid foundations for scientists across the world to better understand the deadly role of mosquitoes in disease transmission and come up with effective innovative interventions.
48. N Ramachandran, the President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has bestowed with the Olympic Order for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. It is awarded by Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement and is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport.
49. The book "Selection Day" has been authored by Aravind Adiga, the man booker prize-winning author. The novel is a moving, unsettling and absorbing story of aspiration and its discontents in contemporary urban India. The vehicle of the aspirations is cricket; more specifically, batting. It is one of the finest novels written about the game, combining astute judgments with accounts of individual innings marked by an unremarkable lyricism.
50. The novel "One Indian Girl" has been authored by Chetan Bhagat. The new novel of Chetan is about an Indian girl who is intelligent and successful, because of which she finds it difficult to get love.
51. Freestyle wrestler Sakshi Malik was the flag bearer from India in the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics on August 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won India's first medal at the Rio Olympic Games by clinching the bronze in the 58kg category and created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal.
52. The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from October 7 to 22. In it, 12 Kabaddi teams from around the world viz. India, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya will participate. Star Sports will be the official broadcaster of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and the matches will be aired exclusively on the Star Sports network and HotStar.
53. The 2016 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna will be conferred on 4 athletes viz. Olympic medallists P.V. Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai.This is for the first time the India's highest sporting award has been conferred on 4 athletes. The awards will be distributed by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29,2016.
54. The 2016 Dronacharya Award will be conferred on 6 coaches viz. Dipa Karmakar's coach, Bishweshwar Nandi (Gymnastics), India Test team captain Virat Kohli's mentor Raj Kumar Sharma (Cricket), Nagapuri Ramesh (Athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (Boxing), S. Pradeep Kumar (swimming) and Mahabir Singh (wrestling). Beside this, 15 sportspersons will be honoured with the Arjuna Award and 3 with the Dhyan Chand Award. The awards will be distributed by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29, 2016.
55. India has recently signed pact with Germany on vocational training, which aims to foster conditions to create and improve workplace-based vocational training in India's industrial clusters. As per the pact, German technical assistance will be used to increase industry institute partnerships between Indian and German organizations, build capacity of local training institutions and foster industry linkages which will help adapt elements of the German dual system into the Indian context.
56. China has recently launched its first Tibetan-language search engine 'Yongzin'. In the Tibetan language, Yongzin means "master" or "teacher". The search engine will serve as a unified portal for all major Tibetan-language websites in China. It has 8 sections for news, websites, images, videos, music, encyclopedia, literature and forums.
57. The world's largest indoor theme park will open in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to lure back some of the tourists and residents who often flee abroad during the scorching desert summer.
58. The first Asian Science and Technology (S&T) Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was held at Bangkok in Thailand on August 23-24, 2016. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the key issues, challenges, needs and opportunities in application of science in policy making and share good practices from the regionFrom India, Union Minister of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, a UN designated DRR Champion for the Asia Region, addressed the conference.
59. The first Children Court of South India has launched at the Nampally Criminal Courts Complex in Hyderabad to fast disposal of cases related to children. This court is a child-friendly court and 6th in India with features like separate waiting rooms for children and a video camera trial for the accused, mandated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act-2012.
60. President Pranab Mukherjee has recently launched Akashvani Maitree channel at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata, West Bengal for Bengali listeners. The channel is a unique venture of All India Radio (AIR) and is aimed to strengthen cultural, economic, political & emotional bonding ties between India and Bangladesh. It will be a common platform for blending content both from India and Bangladesh and preserving Bengali culture. The channel will be broadcast from a state-of-the-art brand new high power 1000Kw DRM transmitter with a capacity to reach the entire length and breadth of Bangladesh through medium wave and will be also available globally on its website and mobile app.
61. Abhinav Bindra has been named as the Chairman of a 5-member National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) review committee to probe the shooters' Rio Games debacle but has recused himself from questioning them as he was himself a part of the team. The committee will examine and the causes behind shooting not securing any medals at the Rio Olympics. The committee is also mandated to recommend concrete steps that NRAI must immediately undertake to ensure that this is not repeated in future Olympics.
62. The Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is located on western tip of the Island of Chorao along the Mandovi River in Goa. The sanctuary is an estuarine mangrove habitat and is named after Salim Ali, the famous Indian ornithologist. The sanctuary is host to little bittern, black bittern, red knot, jack snipe, pied avocet, striated heron, western reef heron, mudskippers, fiddler crabs, etc.
63. Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team, has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the year 2016. This is 2nd time he has won this award after 2014. In 2015, he had scored 35 goals for Real Madrid and 16 goals in Champions League competition. He scored 3 goals for Portugal national team at Euro 2016.
64. The 4th edition of Mother Teresa International Film Festival (MTIFF) 2016 has started in Kolkata, West Bengal on August 26. The 4-day-long movie carnival at the state-run Nandan multiplex is screening a selection of 23 best foreign and Indian films ever made on or inspired by Teresa. It is organized by the Archdiocese of Kolkata, Missionaries of Charity and SIGNIS India (Indian chapter of World Catholic Association for Communication). The Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa, who passed away in 1997 after serving the poor and sick on the streets of Kolkata for 45 years, will be declared a saint by Pope Francis in the Vatican City on September 2016.
65. Turkey has recently launched a major military operation "Euphrates Shield" against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to liberate the strategic Syrian city of Jarablus on the border with Turkey. The Euphrates Shield operation is considered to be the first Turkish ground intervention in Syria since the Syrian crisis started in 2011.
66. The 128th edition of Durand Football Cup Tournament 2016 will be started from August 28, 2016 and will continue till September 11, 2016. In the current edition, 8 teams from Indian League of All India Football Federation and four Services teams will participate. The cash prizes of Rs 45 lakh and Rs 20 lakh is instituted for the winners and runners up teams respectively and the teams reaching the semi-finals will also receive a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each. The Durand Cup is a prestigious football tournament of India and is the oldest tournament in Asia and 3rd oldest in the world after Football Association Cup of England and Scotland Football Association Cup.
67. India has been ranked 77th out of 171 countries on the World Risk Index 2016. The list is topped by Island state of Vanuatu. The index is part of the World Risk Report 2016, which is recently released by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Bundnis Entwicklung Hilft in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart in Germany. The index assessed the risk of disaster in 171 countries through the combined analysis of natural hazards and societal vulnerabilities.
68. Karnataka will host the 15th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBS) 2017 in Bengaluru for 3 days from January 7, 2017. The theme of 2017 PBS is "Redefined Engagement With Indian Diaspora". The PBS convention is held on January 9th each year to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in 1915. It is celebrated to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of the country.
69. The world's first self-driving taxi service has been launched by Singapore-based nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. The company has started this service with small 6 cars. During the trial, the cars – modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics – have a driver in front who is prepared to take back the wheel and a researcher in back who watches the car's computers. Each car is fitted with six sets of Lidar – a detection system that uses lasers to operate like radar – including one that constantly spins on the roof. There are also two cameras on the dashboard to scan for obstacles and detect changes in traffic lights.
70. The 19th edition of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit 2016 will be held in Islamabad Pakistan on November 9 and 10. The leaders of SAARC member states and 9 observers countries will attend the summit. To successfully hold the summit, a SAARC Summit Cell has recently constituted by the Pakistan government. The SAARC Summit Cell will closely work with all stakeholders and concerned authorities in Pakistan and is headed by Ambassador Amjad Sial, who is a senior diplomat and Pakistan's nominee for the next SAARC Secretary General.
71. The Union Finance Ministry has constituted a high-level committee to suggest steps to promote card payments through incentives like tax rebates and cash back schemes, with an aim to discourage cash transactions. The committee will be headed by Principle Adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog and former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal. The committee will review the payments system in India and will also study feasibility of creating a payments history of all card/digital payments and ensure that merchants/consumers can leverage the data to access instant, low cost micro-credit through digital means and create necessary linkage between the payment history and credit information. The committee will also study and recommend need for changes, if any, in the regulatory mechanism under various laws, relevant for the purpose of promotion of payments by digital modes.
72. Dr. Bibhuti Lahkar, an ecologist and conservation activist from India, has become the first Asian and the first individual from Assam to be nominated for the prestigious Heritage Heroes Award-2016 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The award is aimed to recognize the outstanding efforts of conservationists around the world in making a difference in the conservation of World Heritage sites in challenging situations. Dr. Lahkar has been working to save the grasslands, flora and fauna of Manas National Park area for the past two decades and is currently engaged as Manas Landscape Administrator for Aaranyak, an NGO working for biodiversity conservation in North East India. The recipient for the award will be selected through online voting through the website www.iucn.org.
73. The Subroto Cup Football Tournament is one of the famous inter-school football tournaments in India. It is in news because the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES), which organizes the football tournament, has been bestowed with National Sports Award 'Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar-2016' for 'Sports for Development' category by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. The Subroto Cup is conducted every year by the Indian Air Force, with support from Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
74. The National Sports Day is celebrated on August 29 in India to mark the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the hockey player who won gold medals for India in the years 1928,1932 and 1936.
75. India's first textile university will set-up at Surat, Gujarat to create a complete eco system for the textile industry in Gujarat and India. The objective of the university is to provide all kind of support including technology, research and development (R&D), skilled manpower, etc. The state government will fund about Rs 800-900 crore for the university, which is expected to get operational in the next one and a half years.
76. The Madhukar Gupta committee on border protection has submitted its report to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The committee was formed to strengthen border protection and to address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along Indo-Pakistan Border. The panel has made a detailed study on threat perception, field visits and made a detailed recommendations pertaining to strengthening of border protection on Indo-Pakistan Border.
77. The T V S N Prasad expert committee on alternatives to pellet guns has submitted its report to Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in New Delhi. The committee was formed in the backdrop of casualties and serious injuries caused by pellet guns during the ongoing unrest in Kashmir valley. It was set up to explore the possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons.
78. The well-known author Padma Sachdev has awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography 'Chitt-Chete' in Dogri language. She was felicitated by Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in New Delhi. The award is given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen, published during the last 10 years. The award carries a sum of Rs 15 lakh besides a citation and a plaque.
79. India's first military heritage website "coloursofglory.org" has recently launched by Glory Foundation. The foundation will conduct various awareness programs throughout major cities in India to educate the people about the Nation's military history and heritage. The programs will be in the nature of exhibitions, films, seminars and talks.
80. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India's largest paramilitary force, has appointed Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu as its brand ambassador and will bestow the honorary rank of Commandant on the ace badminton player. Sindhu will be honoured and presented the rank badges and camouflage combat fatigues of the CRPF at a ceremonial event. This is a symbolic representation, with no salary or fee being given to the sports star. A Commandant rank in the CRPF is equivalent to the position of a Superintendent of Police (SP) and such an officer commands a battalion of about 1,000 personnel, when posted in field operations.
81. Gujarat has become the first Indian state to distribute 2 crore LED bulbs under the Centre's Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme. The state has reached this milestone in just 96 days and over 42 lakh households have already benefited from the scheme. Alongside the savings, the state has also gained from daily CO2 emission reduction of 5,000 tonnes.
82. The book "The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job?" has been authored by Neena Gopal, the first Indian woman journalist to cover the Gulf War and the liberation of Kuwait. This book reveals about great conspiracies and intrigue happened within the Congress party and it has also attempted to explode the myth and seeks to find why Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister of India, was killed if he was not likely to return to power in the 1991 mid-term elections?
Click Here for more August 2016 current affairs and question papers.
ReplyDelete