National Current Affairs
Pardoning power of Governor
- The Supreme Court held that the Governor of a State can pardon prisoners, including those on death row, even before they have served a minimum 14 years of prison sentence.
- In fact, the Governor’s power to pardon overrides a provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure — Section 433A — which mandates that a prisoner’s sentence can be remitted only after 14 years of jail.
- The court noted that the sovereign power of a Governor to pardon a prisoner under Article 161 is actually exercised by the State government and not the Governor on his own.
- The action of commutation and release can thus be pursuant to a governmental decision and the order may be issued even without the Governor’s approval.
- However, under the Rules of Business and as a matter of constitutional courtesy, it may seek approval of the Governor, if such release is under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Linking the electoral roll with the Aadhaar
- The proposal of the Election Commission of India to link the electoral roll with the Aadhaar ecosystem in order to check multiple enrolment of the same person is under consideration of the government, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed the Lok Sabha
- The Election Commission of India has proposed to link the electoral roll with the Aadhaar ecosystem with a view to curbing the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person at difference places.
World’s highest motorable road
- The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed and completed black topping the world’s highest motorable road at Umling La in Eastern Ladakh located at an altitude of 19,300 ft
- The strategic road built under ‘Project Himank’ passes through the Umling La Top and connects Chisumle and Demchok villages. The road is close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and will allow quick movement of troops and equipment.
Flex fuel vehicles
- Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari urged automakers to roll-out flex fuel vehicles capable of running on 100% ethanol into the Indian market within a year’s time.
- Flexible fuel vehicles are designed to run on petrol or petrol -ethanol blends with upto 83% ethanol. India plans to achieve 20% ethanol blending by 2025.
- The CAFE-2 (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency Phase -2) norms are set to come into effect in 2022 and BS-VI stage II (second stage of Bharat Stage VI) norms are set to come into force beginning April 2023.
Electronic voucher based digital payment system “e-RUPI”
- e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless digital payments medium, which will be delivered to mobile phones of beneficiaries in form of an SMS-string or a QR code.
- This will essentially be like a prepaid gift-voucher that will be redeemable at specific accepting centres without any credit or debit card, a mobile app or internet banking.
- e-RUPI will connect the sponsors of the services with the beneficiaries and service providers in a digital manner without any physical interface.
- The platform, which has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Health Authority, will be a person-specific and purpose-specific payments system.
Other National NEWS
- The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill
- The bill, which was passed after a short debate, seeks to decriminalise 12 offences under the law and help to improve the ease of doing business by amending the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008.
- Almost 63% of the undergraduate dropouts at the top seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) over the last five years are from the reserved categories, according to Education Ministry data given in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. Almost 40% were from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities.
International Current Affairs
‘Exercise Talisman Sabre’
- Australia is keen that India join its biggest war games ‘Exercise Talisman Sabre’ in 2023
- According to the Australian Defence Ministry, Talisman Sabre 2021, which just concluded, was the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the U.S. military and saw the participation of approximately 17,000 military personnel from seven nations on land, air and sea. The other countries include Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and U.K.
- Meanwhile, the Quad group of countries comprising India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. are set to hold the annual Malabar naval exercise 2021 off the coast of Guam end August. Australia was included in the Malabar 2020.
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have agreed to work on “four pillars” of security cooperation, covering areas of marine security, human trafficking, counter-terrorism, and cyber security, in a recent virtual meeting of top security officials of the three countries.
Business Current Affairs
RBI keeps key repo rate unchanged at 4%
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged for the seventh time in a row at 4 per cent, citing the need to support the ongoing growth recovery amid continued uncertainty and global financial market volatility.
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI also kept the reverse repo rate unchanged at 3.35 per cent.
- The RBI retained the real GDP growth projection at 9.5 per cent for 2021-22 as domestic economic activity has started normalising with the ebbing of the second wave of the coronavirus and the phased reopening of the economy.
IBC better than earlier debt recovery methods
- Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said recoveries under the IBC process had been ‘far greater’ than via other debt resolution mechanisms.
- The total recovery in the Lok Adalat regime was about 5%.
- Under the Debt Recovery Tribunal framework it was 6%.
- Under the SARFAESI Act, recovery was 20%.
- Under the IBC, it is 39-40%. Till the onset of the pandemic, the recovery was 45%. It is only during the pandemic year that the recovery has slightly come down.
Health Current Affairs
- Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine was given approval for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in India, making it the 5th COVID vaccine to get the clearance in the country.
- Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had allowed the emergency use of Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V and Moderna vaccines.
Sports Current Affairs
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Medal Winners For India
| Name | Sports Event | Medal |
| Bajrang Punia | Wrestling : Men’s freestyle 65kg | Bronze |
| Lovlina Borgohain | Boxing: Women’s Welterweight | Bronze |
| Men’s Hockey Team | Hockey | Bronze |
| Mirabai Chanu | Weightlifting: Women’s 49kg | Silver |
| Neeraj Chopra | Men’s Javelin Throw | Gold |
| PV Sindhu | Badminton: Women’s singles | Bronze |
| Ravi Kumar Dahiya | Wrestling: Men’s 57kg freestyle | Silver |
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Medal Table
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 China | 38 | 31 | 18 | 87 |
| 2 United States | 36 | 39 | 33 | 108 |
| 3 Japan | 27 | 12 | 17 | 56 |
| 4 Great Britain | 21 | 21 | 22 | 64 |
| 47 India | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
Khel Ratna named after Dhyan Chand
- The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna renamed as the “Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna”.
- Dhyan Chand, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, is considered India’s greatest hockey player. His birthday, on August 29, marks the National Sports Day, when the National Sports Awards are presented each year.
Person/Places in NEWS
- Abdul Qayyum Niazi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party was on Wednesday elected as the new premier of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
- Noted author and Padma Shri awardee Padma Sachdev, the first modern woman poet of Dogri language, passed away.
- Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has been given one year extension, will continue till August 30, 2022.
- Dhriti Banerjee : First woman Director of the Zoological Survey of India .
Also refer :
- Download the pdf of Important MCQs From the History Of Ancient India
- List Of Important Inscriptions In India
