PM Modi announces optical fibre link connecting Lakshadweep, mainland India

1.Bangladesh observes ‘National Mourning Day’ to mark assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Bangladesh is observing the National Mourning Day marking the 45th anniversary of the brutal assasination of its founder President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15th August 1975.Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with 16 members of his family was brutally assassinated on this day in 1975 by a group of people from the armed forces at his Dhanmondi residence in Dhaka.Among the close family members, only his daughter and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and her sister survived as they were not in the country when the incident took place.

2.Turkish and Greek warships collide in eastern Mediterranean

Greek and a Turkish warship were involved in a mini-collision during a standoff in the eastern Mediterranean sea.Tensions have risen this week after Turkey sent a survey vessel to the region, escorted by warships, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling.Greece and Turkey are allies in NATO but their relations have long been fraught with tension.Disputes have ranged from boundaries of offshore continental shelves and airspace to the ethnically split island of Cyprus.In 1996 they almost went to war over ownership of uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea.

3.Vietnam health ministry to buy Russian COVID-19 vaccine

Vietnam’s health ministry has registered to buy a Russian COVID-19 vaccine.The Southeast Asian country fights a new outbreak of the coronavirus following months of no local cases.Vietnam has reported a total of 911 infections, with 21 deaths.Vietnam has signed up for 50-150 million doses of the vaccineRussia said the first batch of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine would be rolled out within two weeks, rejecting as “groundless” the safety concerns aired by some experts over Moscow’s rapid approval of the drug.

4.Custom-made Boeing 777 as ‘Air India One’ for PM Modi, President Kovind, top dignitaries soon

Soon Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and other VVIP dignitaries will fly in Boeing 777-300ERs that India is set to receive from Boeing in the United States.Two Boeing 777-300ERs will arrive in India from the US for which officials have already left to receive the aircraft.VVIP aircraft ‘Air India One’ or The Special Extra Section Flight (SESF) are custom made Boeing 777 that will arrive in India in September.To fly these planes, Indian Air Force pilots will be given the responsibility and not Air India.The planes will have state-of-art missile defence systems.The missile system will be called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).

5.PM Modi, Amit Shah pay respects to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on second death anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his second death anniversary as he remembered the former prime minister’s “outstanding service” to the nation.Born on December 25, 1924 in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, Vajpayee was the first-ever person from the BJP to become the Prime Minister.He served as Prime Minister thrice, briefly in 1996, from 1998 to 1999 and then for a full five-year term between 1999 and 2004.Apart from politics, Vajpayee was a prominent writer and penned a number of poems.The veteran BJP leader passed away on August 16, 2018, at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi after a prolonged illness.

6.Government to reconsider minimum age of marriage for girls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the Centre will decide on the recommendations of a committee set up to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women.The minimum age of marriage, especially for women, has been a contentious issue.The law evolved in the face of much resistance from religious and social conservatives. Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years and 18 years for men and women respectively.On June 2, the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.The task force will examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and neonate, infant or child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter.It will also look at key parameters like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) and Child Sex Ratio (CSR), and will examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years.

7.PM Modi announces optical fibre link connecting Lakshadweep, mainland India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an undersea optical fibre cable link to connect Lakshadweep with mainland India.Modi set a target of completing the Lakshadweep undersea project in 1,000 days to boost mobile and broadband communication between mainland India and the group of islands situated on the Laccadive Sea, off the southwestern coast of India.On 10 August, Modi inaugurated the Chennai-Port Blair project, whose foundation was laid in December 2018.The 2,312-kilometre long cable project, implemented at a cost of ₹1,224 crore, will connect not only Port Blair but also other islands such as Swaraj Dweep, Long Island, Rangat, Little Andaman, Kamorta, Car Nicobar, and Greater Nicobar.

8.India sends 58 tonnes of emergency aid to Lebanon

India sent 58 tonnes of emergency humanitarian aid to Lebanon in an air force plane to assist the people affected by the explosions in Beirut on August 4.The emergency humanitarian aid was dispatched in a C-17 heavy lift aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in response to an assessment of requirements by Lebanese authorities.The aid sent by India includes emergency medical supplies, wheat flour, sugar, pulses, and relief materials such as blankets, dignity kits and sleeping mats, which are required by the large number of people left homeless by the explosion.Nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut’s port blew up on August 4, virtually wiping out the city’s commercial hub and damaging many parts of the Lebanese capital.The total damage has been estimated at $10 billion to $15 billion.

9.Indian Navy to urgently buy 10 ship-based drones

Aiming to boost surveillance capabilities against enemy warships operating in the Indian Ocean region, the Indian Navy has moved a proposal to urgently acquire 10 shipborne drones.A proposal has been moved in fast track mode by the Indian Navy before the Defence Ministry under which it plans to buy 10 Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial Systems for over ₹1,240 crores,The drones would be deployed on big size warships of the force and would help them in the detection of activities of the Chinese as well as other adversaries in and around Indian territorial waters.As per plans, the Navy is likely to acquire these drones through an open bid and then deploy them on its warships for surveillance and reconnaissance activities.The Indian Navy is working separately on a project to acquire Sea Guardian drones from the United States for expanding its surveillance in the country’s areas of interest from Madagascar to Malacca Straits and beyond.

10.Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan govt wins trust vote in assembly

A month after rebellion from 19 dissident legislators of his party threatened the survival of his government, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot won the trust vote in the state assembly.The vote took place a day after Sachin Pilot attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting at CM Gehlot’s house and declared that he is determined to act in the “interest of the people of Rajasthan and in accordance with the promises made”.The confidence motion was brought in the assembly after the reunification of the Gehlot and Sachin Pilot factions of the Rajasthan Congress party.