Current Affairs Daily Digest – August 22 & 23 2021
Current Affairs Daily Digest – August 22 & 23 2021. Read and Download daily, monthly Current Affairs Daily Digest 2021 for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, IBPS, SBI etc,. Download month wise Current affairs 2020 PDF and Current affairs quiz PDF .
1. Finance Ministry launched ‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched an ambitious ‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’ -USF for export-oriented firms and startups in a program at Lucknow. The Fund aims at arranging funds for the promotion of micro, small and medium companies.
The fund has been set up by Exim Bank and SIDBI. This scheme will be successful in Uttar Pradesh as the state has the highest number of MSMEs.
2. India’s highest herbal park inaugurated in Uttarakhand
India’s highest altitude herbal park has been inaugurated at Mana village in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The herbal park is situated at a height of 11,000 feet was and is close to the Indo-China border.
Mana is the last Indian village in Chamoli bordering China and is adjacent to Badrinath temple. The herbal park has around 40 species found in high altitude alpine areas in the Himalayan region.
3. India’s largest Floating Solar PV Project commissioned in Andhra Pradesh
NTPC has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project in India of 25MW power on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This is also the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme.
This scheme was notified by the Government of India in 2018. NTPC is also planning to set up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri.
4. Hisar Airport renamed as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced to rename the Hisar Airport as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport. The Hisar Airport is a domestic airport and the first DGCA licensed Public Aerodrome of the State. This airport is presently under up-gradation to be transformed as an international airport by 30 March 2024.
5. World Sanskrit Day 2021: 22 August
World Sanskrit Day, (also known as Sanskrit Diwas), is celebrated every year on Shraavanapoornima, which is the Poornima day of the Shraavana month in the Hindu calendar, which is also marked as Raksha Bandhan. In 2021, this day is being observed on August 22, 2021.
6. International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
United Nations observes 23 August every year as “International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition”. The Day is observed to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples. It is a day to honour the memory of the men and women who, in Saint-Domingue in 1791, revolted and paved the way for the end of slavery and dehumanization.
7. International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is observed on August 22 every year since 2019. The day aims to remember the victims and survivors of evil acts on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.
8. Former UP CM Kalyan Singh passes away
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh passed away. He had served as the CM of Uttar Pradesh twice – June 1991 to December 1992 and September 1997 to November 1999 and was the CM of UP during the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He’s a two-time Member of Parliament and a former governor of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
9. Israel launched Covid antibody tests for children aged 3
Israel launched antibody testing for children aged as three in order to get the exact number of unvaccinated youths who have developed antibody against coronavirus.
These tests were launched in the backdrop of opening up of schools.
Despite increasing daily infections because of highly transmissible Delta variant, Government of Israel wants to avoid the hardships and developmental setbacks that are caused by school closures.
10. PayPal launched crypto buying and selling in UK
PayPal Holdings Inc has launched crypto buying and selling in the United Kingdom. PayPal will allow customers in the UK to buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies now.
This roll-out marks the first international expansion of cryptocurrencies services of PayPal outside of the United States. Should the scheme prove to be successful then more countries will be added to the expansion list. Until then, those outside the US and UK will still require exchanges using the best guide according to reddit for the majority of their crypto transactions.
Hopefully, the move will further inspire mainstream adoption of this asset class. Other payment providers like SWIFT could adopt cryptocurrency transactions in the future.
11. Exercise Konkan 2021
On August 21, 2021; Exercise Konkan 2021 was held in English Channel in between INS Tabar and HMS Westminster.
The naval exercise Konkan 18 is held in between the navies of India and United Kingdom. It is based on the long-term strategic relationship between them. This exercise provides a platform for the Navies to periodically conduct exercise at sea and in harbour in order to build interoperability and share best practices.
12. Delhi CM to inaugurate India’s First Smog Tower
Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, will inaugurate India’s first smog tower at Baba Kharak Singh Marg in Connaught Place (CP), Delhi.
It is over 20-metre-tall structure and was set up to improve air quality in a radius of around 1 km. The tower will operate at full capacity after the monsoon season. This smog-tower was built at the cost of Rs 20 crores.
13. India, Russia sign deal to procure 70,000 AK-203 Assault Rifles
India and Russia on August 19, 2021 signed a deal for the immediate procurement of 70,000 AK-200 series assault rifles.
The agreement was signed at a time when both countries are working on a bigger project to jointly manufacture 6 lakh AK-203 rifles in India. The deal for the same has been pending since 2018.
14. Renowned athletics coach Om Nambiar passes away
O.M. Nambiar, the man who transformed a village girl P.T. Usha into Asia’s Golden Girl, passed away. One of India’s most famous coaches, Nambiar spotted Usha at a very young age in 1976 and soon began coaching her at the Kannur Sports Division.
Under his guidance, Usha began winning medals at the Asian level but his best move was making the sprinter switch to the 400m hurdles before the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
15. Nakul Chopra appointed as Chief Executive Officer of BARC India
Television monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) has announced the appointment of Nakul Chopra as its chief executive officer (CEO) effective 25 August 2021. Former CEO Sunil Lulla has resigned to pursue his ambition as an entrepreneur. This announcement comes as Sunil Lulla has decided to resign from the position of CEO to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
