National Current Affairs
Nine new judges administered oath of office by CJI
- Nine new judges, including three women, were on Tuesday administered oath of office as judges of the Supreme Court, taking its strength to 33.
- With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.
- The nine new judges are : Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B. V. Nagarathna, Justice C. T. Ravikumar, Justice M. M. Sundresh, Justice Bela M. Trivedi and Justice P. S. Narasimha.
- Justice Nagarathna, the daughter of former CJI E. S. Venkataramiah, is in line to become the first woman CJI in September 2027.
Other Important NEWS
- Union AYUSH Ministry launched a Y-Break App. The Ayush Ministry has developed a yoga protocol that can integrate seamlessly with work routine and help professionals de-stress and refocus. The five-minute protocol encompassing asanas, Pranayama and Dhyana will be available through an app, which will be launched by Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
- National Small Industry Day celebrated on August 30.
- Drought-hit farmers in Chhattisgarh to get Rs 9,000 per acre aid under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana (RGKNY).
- India, the US, Australia and Japan has carried out Malabar naval exercise off the coast of Guam (an island territory of the US in the Western Pacific) from August 26 to 29.
- World Sanskrit Day celebrated on August 22. (Celebrated every year on Poornima of Shravana month).
- IBA (Indian Banks’ Association) moves RBI seeking licence to set up Rs 6,000-cr NARCL (National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd).
- Country’s highest altitude herbal park at a height of 11,000 feet inaugurated at Mana village near Indo-China border in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district.
- To ensure seamless transfer of personal vehicles across states, the Road Transport Ministry has come up with a new registration mark for new vehicles — Bharat Series (BH-series).
- The Union Labour and Employment Ministry launched e-Shram portal to generate an e-Shram card with universal account numbers (UANs) to help in the implementation of social security schemes.
- Bollywood actor Sonu Sood will be the brand ambassador for the Delhi government’s “Desh ke Mentor” programme.
International Current Affairs
- Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that its Ambassador to Qatar Deepak Mittal met with the head of the Taliban’s political office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai.
- Beijing banned written exams for six-and seven-year-olds, as part of sweeping education reforms aimed at relieving pressure on pupils and parents in China’s hyper-competitive school system.
- Indian naval ship Shakti carrying 100 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) reached Sri Lanka to help the island nation in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Environment/Science Current Affairs
- India has added 557 new species to its fauna, which includes 407 new species and 150 new records, reveals Animal Discoveries 2020, a document published recently by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
- DRDO’s latest advanced chaff technology to safeguard IAF’s fighter jets provides passive jamming against infra-red and radar threats.
- According to UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the use of leaded petrol has been eradicated from the globe, a milestone that will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths and save world economies over $2.4 trillion annually. Algeria — the last country to use the fuel — exhausted its supplies last month.
- Brazilian researchers have found that a molecule in the venom of a type of snake inhibited coronavirus reproduction in monkey cells, a possible first step toward a drug to combat the virus causing COVID-19.
Business Current Affairs
- India’s fastest growing Insurtech company, PhonePe, announced it has got an Insurance Broking license issued from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and it will now serve as Direct Insurance Broker.
- India’s economic growth surged to 20.1 % in the April-June quarter of 2021-22. The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by 24.4 % in the corresponding April-June quarter of 2020-21, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
- The Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at ₹3.21 lakh crore or 21.3% of the budget estimates at the end of July, as per data released by the Controller General of Accounts.
- India’s data centre industry is expected to double in capacity by 2023, driven by digitalisation and rising cloud adoption, according to property consultant JLL. Data centres are a large network of computer servers that are used by organisations across various industries to store, process and distribute large amounts of data. Data capacity is measured in megawatt (MW) and gigawatt (GW) and indicate how much data the network of servers is capable of consuming.
- India Post, Mumbai Region has rolled out a campaign “Dial an Insurance” . Through this initiative, an insurance policy can be procured without the hassles of visiting the post office and the insurance will be processed online and payment effected online.
- The ‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’ has been set up by Exim Bank and SIDBI. The fund is expected to identify Indian enterprises with potential advantages by way of technology, products or processes along with export potential, but which are currently underperforming or unable to tap their latent potential to grow.
Sports Current Affairs
Tokyo Paralympic Games:
- Shooter Avani Lekhara has won gold in R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1. She became first Indian woman to win gold at Paralympics.
- Sumit Antil has won gold in men’s javelin throw F64 category.
- Bhavina Patel won the country’s first medal at the ongoing edition of the games, taking a silver in the Women’s singles Table Tennis C4 event.
- Devendra Jhajharia has won silver in men’s javelin throw F46.
- Sundar Singh Gurjar has won bronze.
- Yogesh Kathuniya has won silver medal in men’s discus throw F56.
- Indian shooter Singhraj Adana has won bronze medal in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event of the Paralympics.
- Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar loses F52 category bronze medal after being found ineligible in disability classification assessment.
- Nishad Kumar has won silver in High Jump T47.
- Defending champion Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won a silver and bronze respectively in the men’s high jump T42 event.
Other Important Sports NEWS
- P. Iniyan wins Noisiel International Open 2021 chess tournament in Paris.
- Badminton: India’s Meiraba Luwang Maisam wins men’s singles at Latvia International tournament.
- India’s Shaili Singh wins silver in women’s long jump at World Athletics under-20 championships in Nairobi.
- India’s Amit Khatri wins silver in 10,000m race walk at World U-20 Athletics in Nairobi.
- Stadium in premises of Army Sports Institute in Pune to be named after Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra.
- South African fast bowling great Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
- Pardeep Narwal smashed an all-time record by becoming the highest-ever bought kabaddi player in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), after being bought by the ‘U.P. Yoddha’ for ₹1.65 crore.
Person/Places in News
- Parasaram Pattabhi Kesava Ramacharyulu is the new Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Ajay Kumar as Executive Director (ED). He will look after the departments of currency management, foreign exchange and premises department.
- Bank of Baroda ED Shanti Lal Jain appointed as Indian Bank MD & CEO.
- A Bangladeshi vaccine scientist and a microfinance pioneer from Pakistan were among the five recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award — regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize. Dr. Firdausi Qadri from Bangladesh, Muhammad Amjad Saqib from Pakistan, Filipino fisher and community environmentalist Roberto Ballon, American Steven Muncy for humanitarian work and refugee assistance and Indonesian torch bearer for investigative journalism, Watchdoc.
- IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing retailer, after opening a large-format store in Navi Mumbai last year, will open a city store in Worli(Mumbai). The IKEA City Store in Worli will be the first-of-its-kind in India, following cities such as Paris, Moscow and Shanghai.
Also refer:
- Download the pdf of top 50 Science Questions From Previous Year UPSC Prelims
- Free General Studies Notes
