Launched new geospatial planning portal ‘Yuktdhara’, launched by Giriraj Singh

1. Launched new geospatial planning portal ‘Yuktdhara’, launched by Giriraj Singh

• The government has launched a new geospatial planning portal ‘ Yuktadhara‘ under Bhuvan . This portal will help in facilitating new MGNREGA properties using remote sensing and Geographic Information System-based data . Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singhlaunched this portal. Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space said on the occasion that this portal would act as a repository of geotags. Apart from this, Mahatma Gandhi will also help in various national rural development programs like Employment Guarantee Act-MGNREGA, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Per Drop More Crop and Field Photo with Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Dr. Singh said that the given name is very apt, as this initiative is the culmination of the tireless joint efforts of Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO and Ministry of Rural Development , which is going from Government to Government-G2G for rural planning for decentralized decision making.This is a step towards realizing the service. Geoportal ‘Bhuvan’ is a rich information base of ISRO. It provides satellite images and analytical capabilities. Thus it has become a de facto geospatial platform for many developmental planning activities across India.

2. Assam signs MoU for implementation of Micro Finance Incentive and Relief Scheme

• Loan amount unable to return poor girl Udaymionto help Assam government has Microfinance incentives and relief scheme 2021 for the implementation of micro-finance institutions signed a memorandum of understanding with. Altogether 38 MFIs under this. And the banks signed MoU with the state government. This agreement will remain in force till March 31, 2023. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma said that he has fulfilled his election promise of providing assistance to poor women. The Chief Minister said that in the new scheme, there is a provision for a total loan of Rs 12 thousand crore, out of which the State Government will have to spend about seven thousand two hundred crore rupees.

3. Drugs Controller General approves Phase II and III trials of country’s first mRNA based anti-Covid vaccine

• India’s first mRNA-based anti-Covid vaccine has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India for Phase II and III trials . Pune- based Biotechnology Company – Genova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. , mRNA Based COVID-19 Vaccine HGCO-19is working on. It has submitted the interim clinical data of the Phase I study to the National Regulatory Authority of the Government of India – the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. The Ministry of Science and Technology has said that the Vaccine Subject Expert Committee has reviewed the interim data of Phase I and found the HGCO-19 vaccine to be satisfactory, safe and immune. It will be developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology – Biotechnology Industry Research Support Organization under Mission COVID Suraksha.

4. Vice President launches ‘Vaccinate India Program’

• The Vice President of India,  Venkaiah Naidu launched the “ Vaccinate India Programme ” on August 24, 2021 . On the occasion, he appealed to the people to strictly follow the COVID-19 norms. The event was organized by Give India Foundation and Sustainable Goals Coordination Center in Bengaluru. It was launched under CSR in collaboration with the Planning Department, Government of Karnataka. The program was organized at Raj Bhavan, Bangalore.

5. RBI has issued N.S. Viswanathan committee report released

• The Reserve Bank of India( RBI ) on 15 February 2021, Shri N. s. Viswanathan , former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India , had announced the formation of an Expert Committee on Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks . The Expert Committee was required to examine the issues and provide a framework to strengthen this sector, taking advantage of the recent amendments made in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (As Applicable to Co-operative Societies). The Committee has submitted its report, a copy of which is being placed on the website of the Reserve Bank of India for the comments of the stakeholders and the public. According to this committee, Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) can be divided into four categories

1. Tier-1: With deposits up to Rs.100 crore
2. Tier-2: With deposits between Rs.100-1000 crores
3. Tier-3: Deposits between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 10000
4. Tier-4: Deposits above Rs 10000 crore.

6. India-Philippines Maritime Partnership Exercise

• Recently the Indian Navy conducted a maritime partnership exercise with the Navy of the Philippines in the Western Philippine Sea . The first English Channel in India-UK naval exercise ‘ Konkan 2021 was held. The exercise will strengthen bilateral cooperation in the maritime domain towards the collective objective of ensuring a stable, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. It is one of a series of exercises being conducted by India in collaboration with countries that share their maritime borders with China. quad country (India, the US, Australia and Japan) will conduct the next edition of the Malabar naval exercise off the coast of Guam in response to China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific .

7. North-Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goals Index Report and Dashboard to be launched on August 26

• The North-Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goal Index Report and Dashboard 2021-22will be launched on 26th of this month by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region . This will be the first regional district level Sustainable Development Goals Index of its kind in the country . One hundred and twenty districts of the eight states of the North-Eastern region of the country, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura will come under its ambit. The index will play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting local enterprise in these areas.

8. Government said slot for Kovid vaccine can be booked through social media platform WhatsApp

• The government said that the Kovid vaccine slots can now be booked through the social media platform WhatsApp . Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said in a tweet that slots can be booked through mobile number 9013151515 . He said that after entering the six-digit OTP, people can choose the preferred date, location, pin code and vaccine.

9. NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute, India jointly launch ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport in India’

• NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India jointly organized the ‘ Forum for Decarbonizing Transport in India’ under the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project on 23 August.’ started. The event was organized through video conferencing and the forum was inaugurated by Mr. Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITI Aayog. The event included Mobility (Awaazhi) along with various Ministries and NDC-TIA project partners. and dignitaries including energy sector stakeholders were present. The project aims to bring down peak levels of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions (the transportation sector) in Asia (corresponding to a path below two degrees). Greenhouse gas emissions cause problems like congestion and air pollution. India has a vast and diverse transportation sector, which is the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide. International Energy Agency (IEA), 2020; Data from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 2018 shows that the road transport involved in the transport sector, Contributes to more than 90% of total carbon dioxide emissions. Through various policy measures and initiatives, the Government of India is continuously working towards reducing the carbon dioxide emissions (decarbonisation) of road transport with the main focus on the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the country. NITI Aayog is playing a leading role in promoting EVs and sustainable mobility through the National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage.

10. NCL becomes first public sector enterprise to vaccinate all employees against COVID-19

• CIL subsidiary Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) to their country and their family members vaccinated against Kovid -19 bidder undertaking the first public sector has become. The company has about fifty thousand employees, including more than thirteen thousand full-time employees, sixteen thousand contract employees and twenty thousand members of their families who live around the company. NCL, a Singrauli based Miniratna Company of the Government of India, is operating with 10 highly mechanized opencast coal mines and contributes 15 per cent to the total coal production of the country. The company produced over 115 million tonnes of coal during the last financial year.

11. First batch of multi-mode hand grenades handed over to Indian Army in presence of Defense Minister Shri Rajnath Singh in Nagpur

• The first batch of Multi-Mode Hand Grenades ( MMHG)made by Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) after technology transfer from the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) at Nagpur, Maharashtra on August 24, 2021 Defense Minister  Handed over to the Indian Army in the presence of Rajnath Singh. Shri SN Nuwal, Chairman, EELhanded over a scale replica of the MMHG to the Defense Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, on the occasion of the first delivery of the weapon from the private sector. The grenade is not only more lethal but also safer to use. It has a unique design that works in both defensive (fragmentation) and offensive (stun) modes. It has accurate delay time, high reliability in use and is safe to carry. The new grenade will replace the World War I distinctive Zion grenade No. 36 which is still in service. EL had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Defense on October 01, 2020 for the supply of one million modern hand grenades for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

12. Israel launches COVID antibody test for children aged 3

• Israel has three children ages antibody test developed initially in order to get the exact number of young people who put those vaccinated who antibodies against Koronovayrs. These tests were started in the backdrop of the opening of schools. Despite the increase in daily infections due to the highly contagious Delta variant, the Israeli government wants to avoid the difficulties and developmental setbacks caused by school closures. Israel has already started immunizing children 12 years of age and older. Israel’s National Serological Survey focuses on pupils aged 3 to 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Their number is about 1.5 million. This largest serological operation in Israel was done by a free trial of 15 minutes.

13. PayPal begins buying and selling cryptocurrencies in the UK

• PayPal Holdings Inc. has launched cryptocurrency buying and selling in the United Kingdom . PayPal will now allow customers in the UK to buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This Roll-Out America Marks the first international expansion of PayPal’s cryptocurrency services outside the U.S. The move will prompt the adoption of the new asset class in the mainstream. PayPal has over 403 million active accounts worldwide and is the largest mainstream financial company that provides consumers with access to cryptocurrencies. It introduced buying and selling of cryptocurrencies in the US in the year 2021 and subsequently enabled its customers to use their digital coin holdings to make purchases at millions of merchants on its network. PayPal hopes that the addition of the new asset class will boost the global use of virtual coins.

14. USAID, DFC and Kotak Bank sign agreement for women and MSMEs in India

• USAID( United States Agency for International Development ) and USDFC ( US International Development Finance Corporation ) are sponsoring a $50 million loan portfolio guarantee to Kotak Mahindra Bank . In India, women borrowers with with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)The agreement was signed to support access to finance for This agreement will help MSMEs to rebuild and scale their business which have been affected by COVID-19. Under this loan programme, Kotak Mahindra Bank will provide loans to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) that are operating in the MSME and microfinance sector. This will help in providing credit to the end borrowers which in turn will lead to a sustainable and inclusive economic growth. It will also play an important role on women’s economic empowerment as about 50% of the loan will be given to women-led or women-managed MSMEs or those MSMEs which employ a certain percentage of women. The program is expected to benefit over 30,000 individual women borrowers and 7,500 MSME firms.

15. India displayed indigenous fighter aircraft ‘Tejas’ at ‘ARMY-2021’ in Moscow

• India’s indigenously built aircraft by Moscow in the International Military-Technical Forum ‘ ARMY- 202l DRDO Advanced Defense Technologies and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) , Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Ordnance Factories at India PavilionAs the Indian defense industries displayed their inventions. Anti-Tank Guided Missile, LCA Tejas and Arjun Main Battle Tank, etc. were showcased in ‘ARMY- 2021’. Other equipment includes 8x-gun with longest range of 48 km, Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C), Arjun Tank Mark 1A, surveillance radars Rohini, Helina and Nag, fire control radar, Akash missile and carbine JVPC. According to officials, DRDO’s efforts in defense exports from India have huge potential to go ahead. DRDO is the developer of most of the indigenous systems.

16. India’s first indigenous motorized wheelchair NeoBolt

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has developed India’s first indigenous motorized wheelchair vehicle named NeoBolt . NeoBolt can be used on roads as well as in uneven terrain. It has a maximum speed of 25 kmph and can travel up to 25 km per charge . These wheelchairs are a convenient, safe and low cost mode of transport as compared to cars, auto rickshaws and scooters. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery. The NeoBolt is a motor-powered attachment that turns a wheelchair into a safe, road-worthy vehicle.

17. Asteroid ‘2016 AJ193’ passes Earth

• The world’s tallest building ‘ Burj Khalifa‘, even a giant asteroid has recently passed close to the Earth. The asteroid was described by scientists as ‘ Potentially Hazardous Asteroids ‘ (PHAs) due to its enormous size and its orbit close to Earth . The distance of this asteroid from Earth was the closest of any asteroid passing by Earth in the last 65 years. This asteroid was officially named ‘ 2016 AJ193 ‘ by the US space agency ‘ National Aeronautical Space Administration ‘ ( NASA ).’ The name was given. According to NASA, this celestial body was traveling at a speed of 94,208 kilometers per hour, which is much higher than any other celestial body of its type. Scientists from various space agencies around the world, including NASA, are constantly tracking the motion of the asteroid. Asteroids are small rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Asteroids revolve around the Sun in the same way as the planets, but their size is much smaller than the planets. ‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroids’ (PHAs) indicate the likelihood of an asteroid coming close to Earth.

18. Grand Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo

• The Paralympic Games 2020 was inaugurated with a colorful program in Tokyo , the capital of Japan . Tokyo is hosting the Paralympic Games for the second time after 57 years. This year’s theme is ‘We have wings’. The opening ceremony began with a video showing the power of para players. International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons and Emperor Naruhito of Japan were welcomed at the stadium. Tek Chand was the flag bearer from India in the opening ceremony of this Maha Kumbh of the Games. The Paralympics will be held without spectators.