Bazooka Monthly Current Affairs August 2023 Compressed

Monthly Current Affairs August 2023
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Contents
NATIONAL AFFAIRS ........................................................................................................ 2
STATES AFFAIRS .......................................................................................................... 32
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS .............................................................................................. 46
REPORTS & INDICES ..................................................................................................... 52
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES & PROGRAMMES ........................................................................ 57
BUSINESS & ECONOMY ................................................................................................. 66
BANKING & FINANCE .................................................................................................... 78
RBI IN NEWS ............................................................................................................... 96
AWARDS & RECOGNITION ........................................................................................... 100
BOOKS & AUTHORS .................................................................................................... 106
PERSON IN NEWS ....................................................................................................... 107
OBITUARIES .............................................................................................................. 112
SPORTS .................................................................................................................... 115
IMPORTANT DAYS ....................................................................................................... 124
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
1. Indian Army has inducted the lighter and more compact version of the indigenously
developed Weapon Locating Radar (WLR-M) called “Swathi Mountains.”
Swathi Mk II Radar or Swati Mountains:

• Swati Mountains is an indigenously developed Weapon Locating Radar (WLR).
• It is an advanced electronically scanned phased array radar.
• It is specifically designed for operations in mountainous and high-altitude areas.
• It has been developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru.
Weapon Locating Radar (WLR):

WLR is a crucial tool for modern armies. It uses advanced signal processing techniques to
autonomously detect and track hostile artillery, mortars, and rocket launchers. It even tracks
friendly fire trajectories, enabling precise calculations for more accurate artillery strikes. The
radar is impressive because it can spot small flying objects in different conditions and predict
where they will land.

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2. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has inaugurated the 9th India Region Conference of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
A total of 46 delegates including 17 Speakers of legislative assemblies, Deputy Speakers,

chairmen of Legislative Councils have participated in the conference.
The theme of the two-day Conference is “Strengthening Democracy and Good Governance in
Digital Age”.
Rajasthan has got the opportunity to host this conference for the first time.
3. Indian Navy has successfully undertaken the maiden test drop of an indigenous Search and
Rescue Kit (SARK) from the Boeing P-8I long-range patrol aircraft. The test flight has been
conducted by the Indian Navy's INS Hansa-based INAS 316 squadron on Independence Day
(15 August 2023).
• SARK is an indigenous kit that can be dropped from aircraft with the help of parachutes to
carry out rescue missions in the deep sea.
• It has been developed by Agra-based Defence Research and Development Organisation's
laboratory — Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE).
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the point on the moon where
Chandrayaan-3 landed will be known as “Shivshakti” point. The Shakti in the name ‘Shiv
Shakti’ comes from the hard work, inspiration, and empowerment of the women scientists in
the mission.
The name “Shivshakti” is a reference to the Hindu deity Shiva, which is associated with power
and strength.
India has become the first country to land on moon’s South Pole with the successful
landing of the Vikram (Valour) Lander Module (LM) of the Indian Space Research
Organisation’s (ISRO)’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on 23rd August 2023.
He has also announced that the point on the moon where Chandrayaan-2 crash landed in
2019 will be called as ‘Tiranga’ point. The name ‘Tiranga’ refers to the Indian flag, which is a
symbol of national pride.
5. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has launched the world's first
prototype of the BS 6 Stage II ‘Electrified Flex Fuel Vehicle’, developed by Toyota Kirloskar
Motor.
This is India’s first flex-fuel electrified vehicle that can run in either electric mode or 100%
ethanol.
The vehicle will run on a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol, along with a battery to run it
in electric mode.
6. The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal
Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India has received a grant of USD 25 million from the

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G20 Pandemic Fund, established under Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, to strengthen animal
health system of India.
This grant is specifically earmarked for “Animal Health Security Strengthening in India for
Pandemic Preparedness and Response.”
The fund focuses on providing critical financial support to reinforce pandemic prevention,
preparedness, and response capacities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
7. The 4th and the final meeting of the G20 (Group of Twenty) Digital Economy Working Group
(DEWG), organized by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as a part of
the India's G20 Presidency, has been held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The first, second and third meetings of the DEWG were organised at Lucknow, Hyderabad
and Pune in February 2023, April 2023, and June 2023 respectively.
Over 100 delegates from G20 members, 9 invited countries and 5 International Organizations
namely OECD, ITU, UNDP, World Bank and UNESCO have attended the meeting.
G20 DEWG has identified three priority areas:
• Digital Public Infrastructure
• Security in the Digital Economy
• Digital Skilling
Chair of G20 DEWG: Alkesh Kumar Sharma

Also, the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (DIA) Summit has been held in Bengaluru,
Karnataka under the focal theme of ‘Driving Digital Innovation for World Economies.’
8. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a government engineering firm, has successfully
produced the first indigenous Selective Catalytic Reactor (SCR) to control nitrogen oxides
(NOx) emissions from thermal power plants.
SCR Catalysts are earlier imported in line with the 'Make in India' initiative.
The initial batch of indigenous SCR Catalyst is manufactured for 5x800 MW Yadadri Thermal
Power Station in Telangana.
Burning coal converts its nitrogen content into nitrogen oxides (NOx), a major air pollutant
that includes substances such as NO, NO2, and N2O.
9. India’s first hydrogen fuel cell bus service is starting in Leh (Ladakh) with the first-of-its
kind commercial trial of the futuristic technology on public roads in the high-altitude cold
desert.
The project is being implemented by India’s largest power producer NTPC, which is supplying
five hydrogen fuel cell buses to the Leh administration for intra-city movement.
The company has set up a fueling station and a 1.7 MW captive solar plant to generate green
hydrogen, which will be used to power buses.
Ashok Leyland is the supplier of the buses, each costing around Rs.2.5 crore.

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10. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) which operates under the Ministry of
Environment, Forest, & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved the Karauli-Sarmathura-
Dholpur sanctuary in Rajasthan as the 54th Tiger Reserve of India under Project Tiger.
With this, the Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve has become the 5th Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan
and 54th iger Reserve of India.
The forest covers an area of 1,058 square kilometres and currently has 9 tigers.
Other Tiger Reserves in Rajasthan: Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve; Mukandra Hills Tiger
Reserve; Sariska Tiger Reserve; and Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
11. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has
accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth
approximately Rs.7,800 crore, to strengthen the operational capabilities of the Indian Armed
Forces.
• The DAC has granted AoN for procurement and installation of Electronic Warfare (EW)
Suite on Mi-17 V5 Helicopters under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category which will enhance
better survivability of Helicopters. The EW Suite will be procured from Bharat Electronics
Limited (BEL).
• The DAC has also accorded AoN for procurement of Ground-Based Autonomous System
for mechanised infantry and armoured regiments.
• The proposals for procurement of 7.62x51 mm Light Machine Gun (LMG) and Bridge
Laying Tank (BLT) have also been approved by the DAC.
• The AoN for procurement of Ruggedised Laptops and Tablets for the Indian Army under
Project Shakti has also been accorded.
12. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce

and Industry, has represented India in the 20th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers’ meeting
held in Semarang, Indonesia and co-chaired the meeting with Dr. Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of
Trade, Indonesia.
Participants:

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• The Economic Ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries viz.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam have participated in the meeting.
• Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has also joined the Meeting as an observer.
The main agenda of this year’s meeting is the timely review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods
Agreement (AITIGA) which was signed in 2009.
Key highlights:
• The Ministers reviewed the bilateral trade and investment relations between India and
ASEAN.
• The Ministers also interacted with the ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) and took
note of the activities undertaken by AIBC in 2023, including the 5th ASEAN-India
Business Summit held on 6th March 2023 in Kuala Lumpur.
• The Ministers recognized the business concerns about Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs).
• Both sides identified resilient supply chains, food security, energy security, health and
financial stability as priority areas of cooperation.
Note: India and ASEAN registered a bilateral trade of USD 131.5 billion in 2022-23. The trade
with ASEAN accounted for 11.3% of India’s global trade in 2022-23.
13. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has initiated a wedding tourism campaign to harness the
vast potential of India’s wedding industry. The campaign is aligned with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s vision of “Developing Tourism in Mission Mode”.
• The campaign has been unveiled by G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Culture and
Tourism.
• The campaign seeks to expand India's wedding industry, by enticing couples from around
the world to embark on a remarkable journey to celebrate their special day in India.
• The thematic focus spans diverse wedding themes, from beach and nature weddings to
royal and Himalayan weddings, allowing the couple to customise their dream celebration
in captivating settings.
14. Tejas, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) LSP-7 aircraft has successfully test fired the ASTRA
indigenous state-of-the-art Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile (AAM) off the coast of
Goa.
The missile release has been successfully carried out from the aircraft at an altitude of about
20,000 ft.
ASTRA:

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• It is designed to be mounted on a fighter aircraft and engages and destroys highly
manoeuvring supersonic aerial targets.
• It is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL),
Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and other laboratories of DRDO.
15. India has become the first country to land on moon’s South Pole with the successful
landing of the Vikram (Valour) Lander Module (LM) of the Indian Space Research
Organisation’s (ISRO)’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on 23rd August 2023.
With this, India has become the fourth country after the erstwhile USSR, the U.S. and China
to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.
• Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14th July 2023 by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).
• It consists of indigenous LM Vikram, Propulsion Module (PM), and Rover named
Pragyaan (Wisdom).
• As Vikram settles on the moon, Pragyaan rover comes out from the LM and rolls onto the
lunar surface to start analysing lunar soil and rocks with its two payloads.
• Both the lander and the rover, with a total mass of 1,752 kg, have a mission life of one
lunar day or 14 earth days.
Note: ISRO is preparing for one more lunar mission, this one in collaboration with Japanese
space agency, JAXA. This mission, called LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, is slated for 2024-
25.
16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed the B20 (Business 20) Summit India 2023, an
official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community, in New Delhi.
The B20 India Communique includes 54 recommendations and 172 policy actions for
submission to G20.
The theme of B20 India 2023 is “R.A.I.S.E” (Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable
and Equitable Businesses)
During the summit, the chair of B20 India N Chandrasekaran has handed over the B20
Presidency to Brazil.
The summit has been attended by over 1,500 delegates from about 55 countries.
Business 20 (B20):
B20 is the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community. It was established
in 2010. It is among the most prominent Engagement Groups in G20, with companies and
business organisations as participants. The B20 works to deliver concrete actionable policy
recommendations to spur economic growth and development.

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17. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has set up a 9-member committee of experts to review and
redefine the role of the Department of Defence (R&D) and DRDO (Defence Research and
Development Organisation).
The committee will be headed by Prof K Vijay Raghavan, former Principal Scientific Advisor
to the Government of India and one of the key architects of the National Research
Foundation (NRF).
The committee will submit its report within three months.
Members: Lt Gen (Retd) Subrata Saha, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff; Vice Admiral S N
Ghormade, former Vice Chief of Navy Staff; Air Marshal B R Krishna, former Chief of
Integrated Staff; Sujan R Chinoy, DG of MP-IDSA; Prof Manindra Agarwal of IIT Kanpur; S.P.
Shukla, President SIDM; J D Patil of Larsen and Toubro Defence; Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair,
Distinguished Scientist, ISRO; and Rasika Chaube, Financial Advisor, Ministry of Defence.
Terms of reference of the committee are:
• Restructuring and redefining the role of the Department of Defence (R &D) and DRDO, as
well as their relationship with each other and with academia and industry.
• Maximise academia, MSME, and start-up participation in the development of cutting-edge
technologies.
• Attract and retain high-quality manpower, including a system of project-based manpower
by a proper system of incentives and disincentives, with strict performance accountability,
and weed out the non-performers.
• Utilize the expertise of NRIs/foreign consultants, inter-country collaborations for
development of cutting edge and disruptive defence technologies.
• Modernize administrative, personnel and financial systems to achieve speedier
implementation of projects.
• Rationalisation of laboratory structures and their performance evaluation process.
18. The National Health Authority (NHA) has launched India’s first Ayushman Bharat Digital
Mission (ABDM) microsite in Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram. Under this, all healthcare
facilities including the private clinics, small hospitals and labs in the region shall be made
ABDM-enabled and will offer digital health services to the patients.
With this, Mizoram has become the first state in India to operationalize an ABDM Microsite.
ABDM microsites:
The ABDM microsites are geographical regions where efforts are made to onboard small and
medium-scale private healthcare providers. State mission directors of the ABDM implement
these microsites.

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All the patients can link their health records generated at these facilities with their Ayushman
Bharat health accounts (ABHAs).
Note: On 28th July 2023, the National Health Authority (NHA) launched the 100 microsites
project under ABDM to promote digital health adoption and enhance healthcare accessibility
for all.
19. The Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the All-India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has launched the 6th edition of the Smart India
Hackathon (SIH) 2023.
• SIH-2023 is supported by the participation of 26 Central Ministries, 6 State Ministries, and
4 Industry partners.
• Theme: Agriculture, food, and rural development, blockchain and cybersecurity, clean and
green technology, disaster management, fitness and sports, heritage and culture, med-
tech, biotech, health-tech, renewable, sustainable energy, robotics and drones, smart
automation, smart education, smart vehicles, transportation & logistics, travel & tourism,
and toy.
• SIH is a nationwide initiative to provide students with a platform to solve some of the
pressing problems, we face in our daily lives.
• SIH is set to be held in two categories: a) SIH Junior (6th-12th standards), b) SIH Senior
(Higher Education Institution (HEI) students).
Note: The first edition of SIH was held in 2017. For the Junior category, this is the 2nd edition
since it was started in 2022.
20. The G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting (TIMM) has been held under India’s
G20 Presidency at the Pink City of India i.e., Jaipur, Rajasthan.
• The meeting has been led by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry,
Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles.
• The meeting has been concluded with adoption of the G20 Trade and Investment
Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary.
Key points from document:

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• High-Level Principles on digitalization of trade documents has been adopted wherein
the G20 Ministers have enunciated 10 broad principles that comprehensively cover
various dimensions of an effective transition to paperless trade.
• G20 Ministers has also issued a Jaipur Call for Action for enhancing access to
information for MSMEs.
• The Ministers have also endorsed a G20 Generic Mapping Framework for GVCs (Global
Value Chains) which contained key building blocks of data, analysis, and representation of
GVC data.
• The Ministers have also adopted the voluntary sharing of best practices on Mutual
Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for professional services and supported the
development of a Presidency’s Compendium of best practices on MRAs for Professional
Services.
21. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has participated in the 15th edition of the BRICS Summit
(2023) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 22-24 August 2023.
• Chair of 15th BRICS Summit: Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
• Theme: "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable
Development and Inclusive Multilateralism".
• This is the first-in-person BRICS summit since 2019.
• Participants: PM Narendra Modi (India); President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil);
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrovi (Russia); President Xi Jinping (China); President Cyril
Ramaphosa (South Africa); and guest countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The Indian side called for a strengthened BRICS that will be:
B: Breaking barriers; R: Revitalising economies; I: Inspiring Innovation; C: Creating

opportunities; S: Shaping the future
• India has urged for the reform of the World Trade Organizations (WTO).
• India has suggested the formation of a BRICS Space Exploration Consortium.
• India has emphasized the need for clear timelines for UNSC (United Nations Security
Council).
• India has extended the offer of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (India stack) to BRICS
nations.

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• India has recommended the establishment of a repository for traditional medicine within
BRICS nations.
During the summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) and Trans-Caledon Tunnel
Authority (TCTA) have signed the Loan Agreement for the implementation of Phase II of the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). The NDB will provide a project loan of 3.2 billion
South African Rand to TCTA under the sovereign guarantee of South Africa.
Brazil's President has proposed the creation of a common currency for BRICS nations to
reduce vulnerability to dollar exchange rate fluctuations.
South Africa President’s has announced the expansion of BRICS with the inclusion of 6 new
members viz. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. This new
membership is set to take effect from January 1, 2024.
22. The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the premier Telecom R&D centre of
the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, has observed its 40th
Foundation Day celebration on 25 August 2023.
The event has been inaugurated by Devusinh Chauhan, Hon’ble Minister of State for
Communications, Government of India.
During the event, he has inaugurated C-DOT’s Enterprise Security Operation Centre (ESOC)
at C-DOT campus, New Delhi.
He has also inaugurated a technical conference and lecture series centered on “Artificial
Intelligence & Machine Learning.”
He has also launched an indigenously developed cyber threat detection and resolution
system ‘TRINETRA’, developed by C-DOT.
• TRINETRA is a combination of multiple Security systems like Security information and
Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration and Automated Response (SOAR), Data
Loss Prevention (DLP), User Entity and Behaviour Analytics (UEBA), Multi-Source Threat
Intelligence and others.
• The solution provides 24x7 near real-time actionable cyber-security status and detection
and resolution of cyber-threats (Virus, Malware, Ransomware, Spyware etc.).
• It also performs security evaluation of organization’s IT assets by protecting endpoints
including PC, Laptop, Servers and Virtual Machines.

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23. Exercise Zayed Talwar 2023, a bilateral naval maritime partnership exercise, has been held
between the Indian Navy (IN), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Navy from 8th to 11th
August 2023 in Dubai, UAE.
From the Indian side, INS Visakhapatnam, and INS Trikand have participated in the
exercise.
This exercise aims to boost the maritime partnership between the two navies and foster a
common understanding of the security challenges in the region.
24. Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated Rs.865
crore multi-level flyover built at Chandni Chowk in Pune, Maharashtra. This bridge with a
total length of 16.98 km will address traffic congestion in the city.
He has also unveiled a multi-purpose “One Pune Card” for metro travel in Maharashtra.
25. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister for Education and Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship, has launched the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in National
Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship (MoSDE), to strengthen apprenticeship ecosystem in India.
As part of the DBT launch, an amount of approx Rs.15 crores has been disbursed to one lakh
apprentices.
Under the NAPS, the Government of India (GoI) reimburses 25% of the prescribed stipend,
subject to a maximum of Rs.1500/- per month per apprentice, engaged by employers.
Key achievements of NAPS include:
In FY 2023-24, approximately 2.6 lakh apprentices have successfully completed their training.
Women apprentices have also increased from 22,427 in 2018-19 to 1.48 lakh in FY 2022-23,
registering a nearly 7 fold increase in last five years.
The number of active establishments has subsequently increased from 6,755 in 2018-19 to
40,655 in 2023-24.
States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and
Telangana have topped the apprenticeship engagement chart.
26. India’s Defence Ministry has recently (Aug 2023) decided to replace the Microsoft Operating
System (OS) with a new open-source OS called Maya, developed locally based on Ubuntu.
• The Maya OS aims to prevent malware attacks by cybercriminals who are increasingly
targeting critical infrastructure and government agencies.

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• Maya OS also comes with a feature called Chakravyuh, which is an end-point anti-
malware and antivirus software that creates a virtual layer between the user and the
internet, preventing hackers from accessing sensitive data.
• Maya OS is named after the ancient Indian concept of illusion, which refers to the
deceptive appearance of reality.
27. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a major space research centre of Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO), has successfully conducted a series of Drogue Parachute
Deployment Tests to qualify the drogue parachutes, affirming their preparedness for
integration into the Test Vehicle Demonstration (TV-D1) under the Gaganyaan Mission.
The tests has been held at the Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility of the Terminal Ballistics
Research Laboratory, Chandigarh.
• The Gaganyaan mission entails the safe transportation of astronauts to space and back.
• A crucial component of this mission is the deployment of drogue parachutes, which play a
pivotal role in stabilizing the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during
re-entry.
28. Air India has unveiled its new logo, branding, and plane livery at the rebranding event held
in New Delhi, Delhi. The new logo called ‘The Vista’ is inspired by the peak of the golden
window frame that signifies limitless possibilities, progressiveness, and Air India’s bold,
confident outlook for the future.
The new logo has replaced the old logo named ‘Wheel of Konark’.
The new logo will be seen to travellers starting in December 2023, when Air India's first
Airbus A350 enters the fleet with the new livery.
29. The Supreme Court of India (SC) has formed an all-women committee of 3 former High Court
judges led by former Chief Justice (CJ) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) High Court (HC) Gita Mittal
to oversee the relief rehabilitation and rebuilding measures in Manipur.
Other members: Justice Shalini Shashank P Joshi, former Judge of Bombay High Court, and
Justice Asha Menon, former judge of Delhi High Court.
This will be a broad-based committee that will supervise, intervene, and monitor relief and
rehabilitation, restoration of homesteads, religious places of worship, better relief work, and
others.
Violence in Manipur:
• On 3rd May 2023, ethnic violence erupted in Manipur between the Meitei people, a majority
that lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki tribal community from the surrounding hills.

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• According to a recent status report by Manipur government, more than 150 have died
between May and June 2023.
30. Farmers Fresh Zone (Farmers FZ), a start-up based in Kochi (Kerala), has been selected by
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) Agrifood accelerator programme.
Farmers FZ has been included on a list of 12 agri-food startups from around the world
chosen by the UN to develop their businesses.
For the first time, the UN hosted the SDG Agrifood accelerator programme and Farmer’s
Fresh Zone stood out for its unique module and practices which are scalable in any part of
the world.
31. The Indian navy warships, INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata, have participated in Exercise
Malabar 2023, hosted by the Royal Australian Navy from August 11 to 21, 2023.
Other than India, US Navy (USN), Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) and the Royal
Australian Navy (RAN) have participated in the exercise.
The year 2023 marks the 27th edition of Exercise Malabar.
Malabar 2023 has been conducted in two phases.
• The Harbour Phase involves wide-ranging activities such as cross-deck visits, professional
exchanges, sports fixtures and several interactions for planning and conduct of the Sea
Phase.
• The Sea Phase includes various complex and high-intensity exercises in all three domains
of warfare, encompassing anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine exercises including live
weapon firing drills.
Exercise Malabar:
The Malabar series of maritime exercises started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between
Indian Navy and US Navy and has grown in stature over the years to include four prominent
navies in the Indo-Pacific Region
32. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), an autonomous institute under the
Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India, have discovered a unique star
named HE 1005-1439 classified as a carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) star.
CEMP stars:
These stars are characterized by diverse heavy elements abundance patterns and are
primarily classified into four groups, based on which groups of heavy elements are more

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abundant. These are mostly dwarf stars, sub-giant stars, or giant stars, and stars that belong
to these evolutionary stages cannot produce elements heavier than iron.
33. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has established a 4-member committee
composed of senior officers to devise strategies and recommendations aimed at ensuring
gender equality in civil aviation sector.
Committee Members:
i. Survita Saxena, Director (Operations)
ii. R P Kashyap, Director (Training)
iii. Pavan Malviya, Deputy Director (Administration)
iv. Kavita Singh, Deputy Director (Aircraft Engineering Directorate)
The committee is tasked with formulating norms and guidelines that will facilitate gender
equality within the aviation sector.
The committee’s mandate includes submitting a comprehensive report containing
recommendations within six months from the date of its formation.
The initiative aligns with the commitment of the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), which aims to promote the active participation of women and strive for a gender ratio
of 50-50 (women-men) by the year 2030 across all professional and higher roles in the global
aviation domain.
34. The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) has officially been renamed as the Prime
Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society with effect from 14th August 2023. It is
located within the Teen Murti House complex at New Delhi.
This institution operates independently under the Ministry of Culture.
Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML):
It was established in the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). It was named after Nehru
almost six decades ago, after being turned into a memorial dedicated to him in 1964 by then
President S Radhakrishnan.
It has four major constituents, namely, a Memorial Museum, a library on modern India, a
Centre for Contemporary Studies and the Nehru Planetarium.
35. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying, has launched the
'A-HELP' (Accredited Agent for Health and Extension of Livestock Production)
programme, as well as infertility camps, in Gujarat.
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, is spearheading

these initiatives as part of the Pashudhan Jagrati Abhiyaan under Inclusive Development.

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• A-HELP is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying,
and the Ministry of Rural Development.
• It aims to empower women by engaging them as trained agents who contribute
significantly to disease control, artificial insemination under Rashtriya Gokul Mission
(RGM), animal tagging, and livestock insurance.
• Members of women self-help groups registered under the State Rural Livelihood Mission,
who are helping in the form of Pashu Sakhi, will be trained as ‘A-HELP’.
36. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar
Sharma has launched the ‘Graphene-Aurora program’ at a function in Maker Village Kochi,
Kerala.
• The program shall be implemented by Digital University Kerala with joint funding from
MeitY and Government of Kerala and Industry partners.
• The program aims to bridge the gap between graphene research and commercialization.
• The program has been allocated a total budget of Rs.94.85 crore, with significant
participation from industry partners, including Carborundum Pvt Limited.
• The establishment of the India Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre (I-GEIC)
in Kerala will play a pivotal role in this effort.
Graphene:
Graphene was discovered in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who received
the Nobel Prize in Physics for this in 2010. It is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a
hexagonal lattice, forming a two-dimensional structure. It is known for its remarkable
properties, including exceptional strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity.
37. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications and Electronics &
Information Technology, has inaugurated India’s first 3D printed post office at Cambridge
Layout near Ulsoor in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The building has been constructed by Larsen and Toubro, with technical guidance from IIT
Madras, at a cost of Rs.23 lakh.
The post office has been constructed by deploying a 3D-printing technology that built the
structure layer by layer using quick-setting materials.
38. Crisil, a prominent rating agency, has projected India's gross domestic product (GDP) to
grow at 6% in FY24, a decline from the 7.2% growth achieved in FY23.
This projection is lower than the 7% estimated by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO)
for the fiscal year 2023.
The report states that the monsoon will have a significant impact on industrial prospects
through effects on inflation and rural demand.

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The report states that the global economic slowdown is expected as a result of rising interest
rates and the exports may continue to be a drag on industrial output.
39. India has officially handed over a substitute Dornier-228 maritime surveillance aircraft to the
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) at the event in Katunayake SLAF Base, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
This marks the second Dornier aircraft provided to SLAF through a grant from the Indian
government.
Dornier-228:
• It is a twin- turbodrop utility aircraft of the STOL (Short-Take off and Landing) variety.
• It was designed by DASA Dornier, Fairchild – DOrnier.
• In 1983, a production licence was bought by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) who set
up a manufacturing unit of these aircrafts in Kanpur.
• It is a general aircraft with twin engines capable of carrying at least 19 passengers.
40. The Indian Armed Force (IAF) will host a mega multilateral military exercise, named Tarang
Shakti, in mid of 2024. This exercise aims to enhance military cooperation and collaboration
with air forces from 12 nations. It is projected to be the largest air exercise ever conducted in
India, involving the participation of various countries and their military assets. This will be the
first edition of this exercise.
41. The Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC), Kushvinder Vohra has launched the
mobile application, “FloodWatch” with the aim of using mobile phones to disseminate
information related to the flood situation and forecasts up to 7 days on a real-time basis to
the public.
Key features:
• The FloodWatch app has been developed by CWC.

• The in-house developed user-friendly app has readable and audio broadcast and all the
information is available in 2 languages, viz. English and Hindi.
• The app will provide State-wise/Basin-wise Flood Forecast (up to 24 hours) or Flood
Advisory (up to 7 days) which can be accessed by selecting specific stations, state wise or
basin wise from the dropdown menu.
• The users can access CWC Flood Forecast (up to 24 hours) or Flood Advisory (up to 7 days)
using an interactive map.
• The app utilizes advanced technologies such as satellite data analysis, mathematical
modelling, and real-time monitoring to deliver accurate and timely flood forecasts.
42. Indian Navy’s second Missile Cum Ammunition (MCA) Barge, Yard 76 (LSAM 8), has been
launched by Commodore G Ravi, Warship Production Superintendent in Visakhapatnam at

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Guttenadeevi, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, at the manufacturing site of M/s SECON
Engineering Projects Pvt Ltd.
This Barge is being built with a service life of 30 years.
This Barge is the proud flag bearer of the “Make in India” initiative of the Ministry of Defence.
The contract for construction of 08 x MCA Barge was concluded with M/s SECON
Engineering Projects Pvt Ltd, Visakhapatnam, a MSME, in consonance with “Aatmanirbhar
Bharat” initiatives of the Government of India.
43. India’s first long-range side swing revolver ‘Prabal’ with “twice the range of other revolvers”
has been launched at the Small Arms Factory (SFA) in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh for civilians and
arms dealers.
• ‘Prabal’ has been manufactured by the Advanced Weapons and Equipment India (AW&EIL)
based in Kanpur.
• The .32 bore revolver is capable of accurately hitting targets up to 50 metres away.
• The revolver weighs 675 grams (excluding cartridges).
• It has a chrome platted barrel length of 76 mm, and an overall length of 187.7 mm.
• The revolver uses an innovative side-swing mechanism for loading/unloading bullets.
44. The Union Government has approved a Rs.20,000 crore deal to manufacture five Fleet
Support Vessels (FSVs) which are urgently required by the Indian Navy (IN).
Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), a flagship enterprise under the Ministry of Defence, will
manufacture five of the 45,000-tonne warships.
These FSVs are required to support warships on long range patrol and can carry a variety of
equipment, such as fuel, ammunition and food supplies.
45. Shiprocket, an e-commerce enabler platform, has collaborated with Skye Air, the Indian
SaaS-based drone delivery provider, to provide e-commerce deliveries by the use of drones
for the customers of Shiprocket.
This collaboration enables faster order fulfilment within urban traffic congestion with the
help of Skye Air’s autonomous drone logistics solutions.
46. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has introduced the standards for
green hydrogen production in the country.
MNRE has defined green hydrogen as hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources,
either via electrolysis or biomass conversion. The definition also encompasses green energy
preserved in energy storage systems

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The government has stipulated that carbon emissions should not exceed 2 kilograms of
carbon dioxide equivalent for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.
The non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions arising from water treatment, electrolysis, gas
purification and drying and compression of hydrogen shall not be greater than 2 kilogram of
carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen (kg CO2 eq/kg Hydrogen), taken as an
average over the last 12-month period.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency will be the nodal authority for accreditation of agencies for
monitoring, verification and certification for green hydrogen production projects.
Earlier this year (Aug 2023), the Union cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen
Mission with an aim to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually and make India
a global green hydrogen hub.
47. The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) Innovation and
Incubation Centre (IIITD-IC), a section eight company promoted by the IIITD, has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with YES Bank.
This collaboration aims to enable IIITD-IC to strengthen its mentoring initiatives for startups,
gain access to experts across the industry, as well as identify newer investment and funding
opportunities that can benefit startups.
48. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma
has launched the indigenous Technology of Hybrid Green Energy Microgrid for Electrical
energy requirements of the Rural communities developed by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram,
as part of National Mission on Power Electronics Technology (NaMPET) Program, at Elephant
Rehabilitation Centre (ERC), Kottoor, Thiruvananthapuram.
49. Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW), has
inaugurated the 2nd phase of the Annual Nationwide Mass Drug Administration (MDA)
campaign for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) in New Delhi.
The 2nd phase will cover 81 districts in 9 endemic states: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.
50. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of a certain stake of
IBS Software Pte Limited by Pelipper HoldCo SARL.
The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of approximately 30% of the issued
share capital on a fully diluted basis of IBS Software Pte Limited (Target) from Techware
Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., a portfolio company of Blackstone Inc. (Seller) by Pelipper
HoldCo SARL (Acquirer).

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51. Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister for External Affairs
Dr S Jaishankar have jointly launched Study in India (SII) portal during an event in New
Delhi.
• SII portal is a one-stop platform that will simplify international students’ academic journey
in India.
• The portal will provide information about higher education institutions (HEIs) in India.
• It will showcase the academic programmes in the HEIs covering undergraduate,
postgraduate, doctoral programmes as well courses in Indian Knowledge System (IKS)
such as Yoga, Ayurveda, classical arts and more.
• The portal is guided by National Education Policy (NEP).
Study in India (SII) programme:

It is a flagship project launched by the Ministry of Education in 2018. It aims to increase the
number of international students in India and promote India as the preferred study
destination, providing affordable and quality education as per global standards.
The programme involves partnership with educational institutes fulfilling one of the following
criteria:
• National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking (<=100)
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation score (>=3.01)
• Institutes of National Importance (INI)
52. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has introduced the ‘SuSwagatam’ portal, an online
platform to facilitate the visitors to have a smooth and simple process of getting online e-
Pass required to visit the SCI for official/ case related purpose.
The portal has advanced features of eliminating all the cumbersome and tedious procedure
of making a request for visit.
It is a cloud based application software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC)
with an easy to use graphical interface and embedded with comprehensive security features.
It assists in maintaining all-relevant information about the visitor, which is automatically
saved in a database.
53. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has chosen Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to
modernize the national education technology platform, Digital Infrastructure for
Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA). The portal supports 1.48 million schools and is accessible in
36 Indian languages across India’s 35 states and union territories.
Under the seven-year collaboration pact, OCI will help the Ministry use DIKSHA to provide
educational resources to millions of additional students, teachers and collaborators across
India.

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DIKSHA:
It is a national platform for school education, an initiative of National Council for Education
Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Education. It was developed based on the core
principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing, choice and autonomy.
Using the open-source platform Sunbird, developed by the EkStep Foundation, DIKSHA helps
teacher’s support inclusive learning for underserved communities and disabled students
across India.
54. The NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, has transferred the
Indian Mini Satellite-1 (IMS-1) Bus Technology to Alpha Design Technologies Pvt. Ltd
(ADTL), a Bengaluru-based private company.
IMS-1 satellite bus:

It was developed by the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru and is a small satellite
platform designed to enable low-cost access to space. The bus can serve as a dedicated
vehicle for many different payloads, facilitating Earth imaging, ocean and atmospheric
studies, microwave remote sensing and space science missions. The IMS-1 bus weighs about
100 kilograms and can carry a 30-kilogram payload.
55. India has handed over a cheque of Rs.450 million in advance to Sri Lanka, for supporting the
Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL-UDI) project, which is expected to strengthen Sri
Lanka’s digital infrastructure and promote growth across various sectors.
The project aims to collect biographic and biometric information, including facial, iris, and
fingerprint data, which will be stored in a centralised system to issue identification cards as
per the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
56. The 81st anniversary of the August Kranti or Quit India Movement, which is considered as
one of the important milestones in the history of the freedom struggle of India, has been
observed on 8 August 2023.
Quit India Movement:

On 8th August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement at the Bombay
session of the All-India Congress Committee. He gave the call “Do or Die” in his speech
delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, now popularly known as August Kranti Maidan. Aruna
Asaf Ali hosted the Indian flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai during this movement.
The slogan ‘Quit India’ was coined by Yusuf Meherally.
Causes: The immediate cause of this movement was the failure of the Cripps Mission. Other
reasons were involvement of India in World War II without prior consultation with the
leaders, prevalence of anti-British sentiment, shortage of essential commodities, mass
movement, etc.
The Quit India Movement had three phases: (i) First Phase, urban revolt, marked by strikes,
boy-cott and picketing, which were quickly suppressed; (ii) Second phase, the focus shifted to

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the countryside, which witnessed a major peasant rebellion, marked by destruction of
communication sys-tems; (iii) Third phase witnessed the formation of national governments
or parallel governments in sheltered areas.
Failure: The Quit India Movement could not get full support from Hindu Mahasabha, India's
Communist Party, the Indian bureaucracy, and the Muslim League. It was supposed to be a
peaceful and non-violent movement. But it witnessed violence at some places.
57. The Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar has inaugurated a special art exhibition titled as
"Together We Art” in the Bihar Museum, Patna. This exhibition is dedicated to the G-20
member countries.
• The exhibition will run for two months starting from 7th August and will end on 7th
October 2023.
• The event is organised by the Union Ministry of Culture as part of India's chairmanship of
G-20 countries.
• A total of 29 countries including India are participating in the exhibition.
Along with this, a five-month long Bihar Museum Biennale 2023 has also started to mark the
foundation day of the Bihar Museum.
Group of Twenty (G20):

It was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia
and Southeast Asia in particular. It aims to secure global financial stability by involving
middle-income countries.
The G20 countries include 60% of the world’s population, 80% of global GDP, and 75% of
global trade.
Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia,
Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United
Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).
58. The Union Cabinet has recently approved a last-mile broadband connectivity plan for 6.4
lakh villages across the country under the BharatNet project with an outlay of Rs.1.39 lakh
crore.
The last-mile connectivity will be provided by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), an
arm of state-owned BSNL, in partnership with village level entrepreneur (VLE).
A VLE is a person responsible for managing and operating a Common Service Center (CSC)
under the CSC scheme.
At present, around 1.94 lakh villages have been connected under the BharatNet project.
The Bharat Net project completed a pilot project in eight months, covering 60,000 villages
across four districts.

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59. The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Chennai has participated in a Passage Exercise (Passex) with
Royal Saudi Naval Ship HMS Al Jubail. The exercise has been conducted off the coast (Red
Sea) of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia which included tactical manoeuvres, seamanship evolutions, and
communication drills that contributed to reinforcing mutual trust, cementing operational
understanding, and enhancing interoperability between the Indian and Saudi navies.
60. India has committed to support USD 700,000 from the India-UN Development Partnership
Fund for a water cistern project in Tuvalu, promoting hygiene and sustainable development.
• The project aims to construct a concrete water cistern, at Tuvalu’s only public school
called ‘Motufoua Secondary School’, a capacity of 760 metric cubes which will store and
provide clean water to students, teachers, and school staff, promoting hygiene and
reducing water-borne diseases.
• The financial commitment aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Sagar Amrut
Scholarship” scheme for the Pacific Island countries.
61. The Indian Army has secured a patent for an “Accident Prevention System based on
Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to enhance road safety and mitigate accidents.
It is developed within the Army's research and development (R&D) division and Kuldeep
Yadav has been credited as the inventor of this system.
The system's core function is to proactively prevent accidents by employing artificial
intelligence.
It primarily targets instances where drivers may be at risk of falling asleep while operating a
vehicle.
62. Justice Rohini Commission, set up to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward
Classes (OBCs), has submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu after receiving 13
extensions to its tenure.
Based on its findings, the commission was to suggest a breakdown of the over 2,600 caste
groups on the Central OBC list to ensure a more equitable redistribution of benefits.
The 4-member commission headed by Justice G Rohini, former chief justice, Delhi high court,
was appointed on October 2, 2017 under Article 340 of the Constitution with the approval of
the President of India.
Article 340 empowers the President of India to appoint a commission to investigate issues
concerning OBCs and make recommendations to improve their situation.
Note: The Centre had granted the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)
constitutional status by the 102nd Amendment Act, 2018.

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63. The World Economic Forum (WEF), Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bengaluru) and
Telangana Government, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, have launched an Agriculture Data
Exchange (ADeX) to boost agricultural production, putting to use enormous data that
stakeholders in the primary sector generate.
• The exchange will connect with stakeholders to build a digital public infrastructure (DPI),
which will facilitate start-ups and other stakeholders, to access data and develop solutions
for farmers.
• The ADeX and ADMF (Agriculture Data Management Framework), which governs how
the data should be managed, are formally launched by Telangana IT and Industries
Minister K T Rama Rao.
• In Phase-I of the project, the ADeX Platform has been deployed in Khammam district, and
over a period, will be expanded to the entire State.
• The exchange is an open source, open standard and interoperable public good,
democratising access to data and enabling the public and private sector to build
applications and deliver services to benefit society.
64. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presided over the 9th National Handloom Day (7th
August) celebrations at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, Delhi and launched the e-portal
‘Bhartiya Vastra evam Shilpa Kosh - A Repository of Textiles & Crafts’ developed by the
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
• The online repository will serve as a one-of-a-kind knowledge platform that will lay down a
framework to weave the past and present status of textile, clothing and related crafts with
a focus on futuristic developments.
• The digital portal will also provide access to vast database including research papers, case
studies, dissertations and doctoral theses on textiles, clothing and craft related areas.
65. President Droupadi Murmu has inaugurated the “Festival of Libraries 2023” at Pragati
Maidan in New Delhi. This festival has been organized by the Ministry of Culture with the
aim to promote development and digitization of Libraries and cultivate the culture of reading.
The festival is a part of the second phase of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’
66. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the Indian
Web Browser Development Challenge (IWBDC) during a Launch Programme organized at
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

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The IWBDC is spearheaded by MeitY, CCA and C-DAC Bangalore.
The IWBDC is an Open Challenge Competition that seeks to inspire and empower technology
enthusiasts, innovators, and developers from all corners of the country to create an
indigenous web browser with its own trust store with an inbuilt CCA India root certificate,
cutting edge functionalities and enhanced security & data privacy protection features.
The total prize money of the challenge is Rs.3.41 crore.
The winner will receive a prize of Rs.1 crore and ongoing support to further develop the
browser.
67. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched a special
initiative ‘Transforming Lives, Building Futures: Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in
North-East’ to create a robust skill-centric and industry ready ecosystem in North-Eastern
Region (NER).
As part of this initiative, 2.5 lakhs youth of the NER will be provided with industry relevant skill
training programmes.
The Government has allocated Rs.360 crore for this special initiative.
The initiative includes:
• 2 Lakh skill training under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
• 30,000 Apprenticeship Engagement under National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme
(NAPS)
• 20,000 to be skilled under Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS)
• Quality enhancement of ITIs under skill strengthening for industrial value enhancement
(STRIVE)
• Strengthening of Polytechnics
• Special projects will be taken up for the special needs of North-East region under
SANKALP.
• Skill India International Centre to be set up to promote overseas job opportunities.
68. The Government of India (GoI) has launched 'Neerakshi', an Autonomous Underwater
Vehicle (AUV) designed for mine detection.
• Named “Neerakshi” meaning “Eyes in the Water” is first of its kind in the country and is
expected to undergo user trials by the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, and Army before a
commercial launch.
• It is a collaboration of Kolkata-based warship maker Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
Engineers (GRSE) Ltd and MSME entity Aerospace Engineering Private Ltd (AEPL).
• It can be used for a variety of functions ranging from mine detection to mine disposal to
underwater survey,

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• It is a 2.1-metre long cylindrical unmanned vehicle about a foot in diameter and weighing
around 45 kg.
• It has an endurance of nearly 4 hours, and is capable of operating up to a depth of 300m.
69. India's indigenous Nag Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) and the variant of HELINA
(Helicopter-launched NAG) Weapon System called 'Dhruvastra' are set to be inducted into
the Indian army and Indian Air Force (IAF) after clearing all the trials.
Both the NAG ATGM and HELINA (Dhruvastra) missiles are developed by Defence Research
and Development Organization (DRDO) and manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited
(BDL).
NAG ATGM:
• The Nag missile is a fire-and-forget, third-generation ATGM. It is a surface-to-air missile.

• The operational range of the Nag is up to 4 km and it is equipped with a tandem high-
explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead.
• The missile has a length of 1.834 m, a diameter of 0.158 m, and a weight of 44 kg.
• The Nag ATGM has also been mounted to helicopters.
HELINA (Dhruvastra):
• It is an air-to-surface missile system launched from Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

• It has the operational range up to 7 km and length of 1.946m, and a diameter of 0.150m.
70. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recently received the air-launched Spike Non Line of Sight
(NLOS) Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from Israel which can hit targets upto 50 km
from a helicopter and 32 km from the ground.
The NLOS missiles will be integrated with the fleet of Russian-origin Mi-17V5 helicopters,
manufactured by Kazan Helicopters.
NLOS Missile:
• It is a fire-and-forget anti-tank and anti-personnel missile with a tandem-charge high-
explosive warhead.
• It is developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a defence technology company
based in Israel.
• It is available in man-portable, vehicle-launched, and helicopter-launched variants.

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• It uses an electro-optical seeker that enables the launch operator to clearly see targets,
unlike missiles reliant on radar or infrared guidance.
71. The Falcon Heavy Rocket of SpaceX has launched the Hughes JUPITER 3 mission (EchoStar
XXIV), the world’s largest commercial communications satellite, to the Geostationary
Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the
USA.
This mark’s Falcon Heavy’s 7th launch since its debut in 2018 and the 3rd launch and SpaceX’s
51st mission in 2023.
72. The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has recognized the Handball Association of
India (HAI) as the National Sports Federation (NSF) responsible for promoting and
regulating the sport within the country.
HAI has been tasked with overseeing the management of handball sports in the country.
Handball Association of India (HAI):

HAI was founded by Jagat Singh Lohan, a Jat from Rohtak (Haryana), on 15th June 1972. It is a
member of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) and the International Handball Federation
(IHF) since 1974. It is also a member of Commonwealth Handball Association and South Asian
Handball Federation.
• President: Digvijay Chautala
• Secretary-General: Jagan Mohan Rao
73. The National Health Authority (NHA) has launched the 100 Microsites Project under
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to promote digital health adoption and hence make
healthcare more accessible to all.
• This project will be implemented by State Mission Directors of ABDM, while NHA will
provide financial resources and overall guidance.
• A Microsite, within the context of ABDM, shall be a cluster of all small and medium scale
clinics, nursing homes, hospitals (preferably <10 bedded), labs, pharmacies and other
healthcare facilities that are ABDM-enabled and offer digital health services to the
patients.
• The Microsites aim to establish a small ecosystem within a particular geographic area
where there is complete ABDM adoption, and the entire patient journey is digitized.
74. India's permanent ambassador to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj has assumed the
chair of the 62nd Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD62). For the
first time since 1975, India has been elected as the chair of CSocD.

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The central theme for the 62nd session is "Fostering Social Development and Social Justice
through Social Policies to accelerate Progress on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and to achieve the overarching goal of poverty eradication.”
Commission for Social Development (CSocD):

It was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to advise the ECOSOC on
social issues that are not covered by specialised intergovernmental organizations. It consists
of 46 members elected for 4-year terms based on equitable geographical distribution.
75. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched its PSLV-C56
rocket carrying seven Singaporean satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
PSLV-C56 carrying seven satellites including the primary satellite DS-SAR and 6 co-passenger
satellites (VELOX-AM, ARCADE, SCOOB-II, NuLIoN, Galassia-2, ORB-12 STRIDER) have been
successfully placed in the right orbit.
DS-SAR:
It is a radar imaging earth observation satellite. It was developed under a partnership
between the Defence Science and Technology Agency (representing the government of
Singapore) and ST Engineering.
It carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload which allows it to provide all-weather day
and night coverage.
76. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has extended the deadline for self-
certification of Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) inverters (items 4-5) under the SPV, Systems,
Devices and Components Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2017.
This extension is from 30th June 2023 to 31st December 2023 or till further orders.
The extension aims to ensure a smooth implementation of the order for SPV invertors.
77. India will host the 5th World Coffee Conference (WCC) 2023 in Bengaluru, Karnataka
from September 25-28. WCC 2023 will be organised by the London-based International
Coffee Organisation (ICO) in collaboration with the Coffee Board, Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, Government of India and Government of Karnataka and the coffee industry.
This is the first time India and Asia will host the WCC.
Tennis player Rohan Bopanna is the brand ambassador for the WCC 2023.
The previous editions of the conference were held in England (2001), Brazil (2005), Guatemala
(2010), and Ethiopia (2016).
78. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched a chatbot in India called “Just
Ask!”, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) digital engagement platform for adolescents and young
adults, aimed to help them learn about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

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The chatbot has been launched in collaboration with the National Health Mission (NHM)
and the Department of Public Health and Family Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh.
The chatbot provides a secure, personalized and non-judgemental space for adolescents and
young adults in India (15-29 years) to explore information, become aware of their rights,
debunk myths, and seek services on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and
rights
79. The Government of India (GoI) has launched a portal to facilitate fast transfer of mortal
remains of Indian nationals who die abroad. The portal named ‘e-CARe’ (e-Clearance for
Afterlife Remains) has been introduced to avoid delay during the transportation of the
deceased human remains across international borders.
• Through this portal intimation will be sent through email, SMS, and WhatsApp to the
Central International Health Division, Nodal Officer, Consignees, and the Airlines.
• The designated nodal officer will scrutinise and get approval within 48 hours.
• The application status can be viewed in the e-CARe portal through the registration
number.
80. The Supreme Court of India has published new guidelines for the designation of senior
advocates practicing mainly in the SC. It has replaced the guidelines issued in 2018.
These guidelines come after the May 12, 2023 ruling delivered by a three-judge bench led by
Justice SK Kaul in a case seeking modification in the conferment of ‘senior advocate’
designation guidelines rendered in a 2017 SC ruling.
• The new guidelines prescribe the minimum age as 45 years to apply for the ‘senior
advocate’ designation and minimum of 10 years of standing (mainly in Supreme
Court).
• This age limit may, however, be relaxed by the Committee, the Chief Justice of India, or
a Supreme Court judge if they have recommended an advocate’s name.
• The guidelines has reduced the marks for “publication of academic articles” from 15
to 5.
• The weightage given to reported and unreported judgements (excluding orders that do
not lay down any principle of law) has increased from 40 to 50 points in the new
guidelines.
81. The Government of India (GoI) has merged the Project tiger division with Project Elephant to
rationalize funding for both conservation projects.

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The new division called 'Project Tiger and Elephant Division' has been established under
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
The new division aims to minimize overlap in conservation areas while maintaining separate
administrative setups.
Changes:
• The additional director general of forests (ADGF), Project Tiger (PT) has now been
designated as ADGF (PT&E).
• The staff and divisional heads of Project Elephant (PE) will now report to the ADGF
(PT&E)
• The Inspector General Forests and Project Director, Project Elephant, will be the
divisional head of the PT&E division and will be reporting to the ADGF (PT&E).
Project Tiger:
• It was launched in 1973 by the central government to conserve tiger and ensure the
preservation of their natural habitat. This year 2023 observed Project Tiger’s 50th
commemorative year. There are 53 tiger reserves in India.
Project Elephant:
• It was launched in the year 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The aim is to
protect elephants, their habitat & corridors; address issues of man-animal conflict; and
welfare of captive elephants. There are 33 elephant reserves in India, latest being Terai
Elephant Reserve in Uttar Pradesh.
82. The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has launched a settlement scheme
called 'Vivad se Vishwas II - (Contractual Disputes)' for resolving contractual disputes with
vendors or suppliers to the government and its undertakings.
• The scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2023-24.
• The scheme aims to streamline the process and promote ease of doing business.
• Under this scheme, disputes up to 30th September 2022 will be covered.
• The scheme is valid from 15th July to 31st October 2023.
• The scheme applies to all domestic contractual disputes where one of the parties is either
the Government of India or an organization under its control.

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• It offers a voluntary settlement process with standardized terms and provides graded
settlement terms based on the level of pendency of the disputes.
• The disputes with arbitral awards issued up to 31st January 2023 and court awards passed
up to 30th April 2023 are eligible for settlement.
• It will be implemented through Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
83. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced that the government has set a
deadline for mandatory implementation of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in
India pharmaceutical industries.
• Companies with a turnover of over Rs.250 crore will have to implement the revised GMP
within six months starting from 1st August 2023.
• Medium and small-scale enterprises with turnover of less than Rs.250 crore will have to
implement it within a year.
• Those who do not comply with the direction will face suspension of licence and/ or
penalty.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP):

GMP are a set of quality management and regulatory guidelines. The primary goal of GMP is
to minimize risks that can arise from errors, contamination, or deviations during the
manufacturing process. In India, GMP system was first incorporated in 1988 in Schedule M of
Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, and GMP were revised in 2018, bringing them on par with
World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.
Presently, only 2,000 of 10,500 manufacturing units in country were found to be compliant
with WHO-GMP standards.
Note:
• 100% FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in the Pharmaceutical sector is allowed under
the automatic route for Greenfield pharmaceuticals.
• 100% FDI in the pharmaceutical sector is allowed in brownfield pharmaceuticals;
wherein 74% is allowed under the automatic route and thereafter through the
government approval route.
84. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has recently (in Aug 2023) introduced a new category of
visa, called the Ayush (AY) visa for foreign nationals for treatment under Ayush
systems/Indian systems of medicine like therapeutic care, wellness and Yoga.
With this, a new chapter i.e. chapter 11A – Ayush Visa has been incorporated after Chapter
11 - Medical visa of the Visa Manual, which deals with treatment under the Indian systems of
medicine and accordingly necessary amendments has been made in various chapters of the
Visa Manual, 2019.

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It will boost Medical Value Travel in India.
This is part of India’s roadmap for the Heal in India initiative of the government, which is
intended at promoting India as a medical value travel destination.
Note: AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) based healthcare
& Wellness economy is estimated to grow to $70 billion by 2025.
STATES AFFAIRS
85. The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has launched the Kerala Solid Waste
Management Project (KSWMP) as part of the second phase of ‘Malinya Muktham
Navakeralam’ (garbage free) campaign.
The total outlay of the project is Rs.2400 crore.
The aim is to make the state’s 93 urban local bodies (87 municipalities and six corporations)
self-sufficient in collecting and treating garbage by March 2024.
The KSWMP is being implemented by the state government with funding aid from the World
Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
86. Ghaziabad Police has launched the ‘Savera Yojna’, an initiative of the Uttar Pradesh Police,
to provide security and quick police assistance to senior citizens in case of any emergency.
The elderly people will after registration of their names get police help at the earliest when
they call at 112 in any emergency.
87. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Jitendra Singh has
launched the ‘CSIR Prima ET11’, India’s first indigenous e-Tractor.
It has been developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute

(CMERI), Durgapur, West Bengal.
During the occasion, he has highlighted the mantra of ‘5 S’- showcasing, stakeholders,
startups, synergising and strategizing industry linkage, for the success of R&D conducted at
government-run scientific laboratories.
88. The Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann has launched a ‘mera bill’ app under the ‘bill
liao inaam pao’ (bring a bill, get reward) scheme.
• The scheme aims to enhance compliance under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and
thereby the revenue.
• The scheme is targeted at motivating consumers to get bills from dealers for their
purchases made within the state and thereby forcing the dealers to issue the bills for their
sales.

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• The consumers will be encouraged to upload bills of their purchases on the ‘mera bill’ app
to become eligible to participate in a lucky draw, which shall be held at 7th of each month.
• The reward will be equivalent to five times the taxable value of goods or services declared
in the bill with maximum capping of Rs.10,000 for each reward.
89. Former Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated India’s first Artificial
Intelligence (AI) School at Santhigiri Vidyabhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city
of Kerala.
The Al School is designed by the world's most advanced educational platforms iLearning
Engines (ILE) USA in collaboration with Vedhik eSchool, managed by a committee of veteran
professionals including former Chief Secretaries, DGPs and Vice Chancellors.
This AI School facility will be initially available to students from classes 8 to 12.
The content and pedagogy are prepared in accordance with the National School
Accreditation Standards based on the New National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
90. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, has released a postage stamp in memory of Dadi
Prakashmani, former chief of Brahma Kumaris at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre in
New Delhi.
This stamp has been released under the ‘My Stamp’ initiative of the Department of Posts,
Ministry of Communications to mark the 16th death anniversary of Dadi Prakashmani.
• Dadi Prakashmani, known as Dadi Kumarka, was born in 1922 in the north Indian
province of Hyderabad, Sindh (now in Pakistan).
• She served as the Administrative Head of Brahma Kumaris from 1969 until 2007.
• She passed away on 25th August 2007.
91. The Assam cabinet has launched a scheme named “MODI” (Most Outstanding District
Initiative) to reward the cleanest district in the state. The policy requires districts to meet
108 parameters to qualify for the cleanest tag.
The most outstanding district will be awarded Rs.100 crore towards infrastructure
development and the results will be declared by the first week of April 2024.
92. Delhi Environment and Forest Minister Gopal Rai has launched a portal to enhance public
awareness about the forest and wildlife sanctuary areas that need protection.
The portal, evanlekh.eforest.delhi.gov.in, introduces several features that empower

citizens and streamline information dissemination.
The portal utilises a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform to visualize data
effectively, aiming to enhance the ease of doing business and living in Delhi. Also, users can
generate KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files on the portal.

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93. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati (Assam) has
become the first airport in the northeast to get 'Digi Yatra' facility.
• The Digi Yatra service will be available in three major areas of the airport: first entrance,
check-in and boarding areas.
• Digi Yatra uses facial recognition technology to provide a seamless and hassle-free
experience to passengers at airports.
• The aim of Digi Yatra facility is to eliminate the need for verification of tickets and IDs at
various touch points.
94. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has launched the Manav Sampada portal to bring
transparency in the work of all the officers and employees of all 74 departments in the state.
• Section 5, a new division will be established within the Personnel department to oversee
the operations and manage the portal.
• The National Informatics Centre (NIC) will oversee the security of the portal to ensure
cyber safety.
95. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin has inaugurated the expansion of the state
governments free breakfast scheme to all state-run primary schools from classes 1 to 5.
With this, Tamil Nadu has become the first state in India to provide free breakfast to
students in all government schools.
The new expansion covers 31,000 government schools and has a budget of Rs.404 crore
(USD 54 million).
The Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme was first inaugurated on 15th September 2022.
96. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone and dedicated the nation, the
following development projects in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
· He has laid the foundation stone of Sant Shiromani Gurudev Shri Ravidas ji
Memorial that will be constructed at Badtuma village of Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh at
a cost of more than Rs 100 crores in an area of more than 11.25 acres.
· He has laid the foundation stone of two road projects at a cost of more than Rs.1580
crores. These include a four-laning road project connecting Morikori – Vidisha – Hinotiya and
a road project that will connect Hinotiya to Mehluwa.
· He has dedicated to the nation doubling of the Kota-Bina rail route. The project, which
has been built at an estimated cost of more than Rs 2475 crores, passes through Kota and
Baran districts in Rajasthan, and Guna, Ashoknagar and Sagar District in Madhya Pradesh.
97. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has introduced a bus-tracking
app, “TSRTC Gamyam”, to facilitate smooth and safe travel. This bus tracking app will help

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passengers to know the exact timings of buses at various stops across Telangana and nearby
states where the services are available.
The notable features of the 'Gamyam' app is the 'Flag a Bus' option, specifically designed for
women's safety during nighttime travel in areas lacking bus stops.
98. The Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma has launched the ‘Chief Minister’s Solar
Mission’ aimed at reducing power deficit in the state, with a budget of Rs.500 crore.
The amount will be invested by the government in the next 5 years.
99. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has performed the Bhumi Pujan and laid the foundation
stone of the IFFCO Nano DAP (Liquid) Plant at Gandhidham in Kutch district of Gujarat.
The plant will play a vital role to reduce imports of fertilizers and make India self-reliant in the
field of fertilizers.
The plant will be set up at a cost of about Rs.350 crore on 70 acres.
He has also laid the foundation stone of the Regional Hub of National Security Guard (NSG)
in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
100. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh has allotted 12 hydropower projects to three
Central Government PSUs by signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with them at State
Banquet Hall in Itanagar.
The total operational capacity of these 12 projects will be to the tune of 11,517 MW.
The projects will be implemented by three Central PSUs - NHPC Ltd., SJVN Ltd. and NEEPCO
Ltd.
101. The Government of Goa has launched its flagship scheme “Gramin Mitra” to provide
doorstep delivery of government services across the state and promote digital
empowerment in rural areas.
The programme aims to empower rural communities with access to information and
opportunities that can transform their lives and drive socio-economic growth.
Goa is the first state to offer doorstep delivery of government services through this scheme
or village level entrepreneurs.
102. The Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel has launched the Sinh Suchna Web
application on the occasion of World Lion Day celebrated on 10th August 2023. The purpose
of the mobile app is to help the state forest department track the movement of lions to
prevent incidents of human-animal conflict.

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He has also launched the ‘Lion Anthem Film’ which is produced by Ekta Janmay Chokshi and
directed by Rohan Trivedi.
He has also launched two books namely “The King of Jungle-Asiatic Lions of Gir”, written
by Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Sakkira Begum and ‘Hu Gir no Savaj’ by Arvind
Goswami.
103. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has launched the Mukhyamantri Nishulk
Annapurna Food Packet Scheme on the occasion of Independence Day (15th August 2023).
Under the scheme, families covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) will get the
Annapurna food packets every month from the fair price shops (FPS) for free.
Each packet will contain one kg each of gram pulses, sugar and iodized salt, one litre soybean
refined edible oil, 100 gram each of chili powder and coriander powder, and 50 grams
turmeric powder.
104. The Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant has inaugurated free In vitro fertilization (IVF)
therapy at the Goa Medical College (GMC) in Bambolim, Goa along with Assisted
Reproductive Technology (ART) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).
With this, Goa has become the first state in India to offer free artificial insemination
treatment.
105. The Government of Kerala has launched a user-friendly web portal to expedite the
registration for migrant workers in Kerala. The portal named ‘Athidhi Portal’ will establish a
unique identification system to streamline the registration process.
The portal will allow the government to address the grievances against sexual crimes
allegedly committed by migrant workers.
106. Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena has launched the Block Chain
Technology in the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) for the e-forensic
application of the Delhi Forensic Science Laboratory (DFSL) and Delhi Police at Raj Niwas.
This will enable the DFSL and Delhi Police to become the first in the country to collect data
and evidence with minimum human interference and also make the former, the first
institution of its kind to use blockchain technology for “transparent and tamper-proof”
digital recording of evidence.
107. The Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant, has unveiled India’s first village atlas,
centered on the village of Mayem in Goa. This atlas gives a socio-cultural history of Mayem
village that dates back to 12th century.
Mayem has become the first village in Goa to have a biodiversity atlas, a 250-page document
with maps detailing the floral and faunal found in the village.

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The Government of Goa has planned to come up with a biodiversity atlas of all 191
panchayats in the state.
108. The Government of Tamil Nadu has inaugurated India’s first-ever night street racing
circuit in Chennai. The state government has partnered with Racing Promotions Private
Limited (RRPL) for the project.
The newly launched track is set to host a couple of events - the F4 Indian Championship and
the Indian Racing League on 9 to 10 December, 2023.
RRPL is also the promoter of the Indian Racing League and F4 Indian Championship.
As for the track, it is a 3.5km layout, located around the Island Grounds that resides in
Chennai.
This will become the first-ever street circuit in India and South Asia that will be hosting a
night race.
The track would be stretched across the Island Grounds, Victory War Memorial and the
Napier Bridge with elevation changes, along with the view of the Marina Beach Road and the
Bay of Bengal.
It will also have 19 corners with multiple chicanes.
109. India's first common testing centre for Unmanned Aerial Systems (drones) will be
established in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs.45 crore.
This centre will be established over an area of about 2.3 acres at the SIPCOT Industrial Park,
Vallam Vadagal near Sriperumbudur.
The test centre will be established by the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation
(TIDCO), the nodal agency for the implementation of the Tamil Nadu defence industrial
corridor.
110. The Anduri Utsav, popularly known as Butter Festival, has been observed at Dayara
Bugyal near Raithal village of Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand. This festival is held on the
slopes of the alpine meadow every year (between 16-18 August) during the auspicious
occasion of Bhadon Sankranti.
This festival concluded with the villagers playing ‘Holi’ by applying each other with milk and
butter instead of Gulal.
The villagers of Raithal, who take their cattle to graze in the meadows of Dayara Bugyal,
believe that Lord Krishna and Bugyal Mata keep their watchful eyes over their cattle.
Earlier this festival was celebrated by throwing cow dung on each other. Now, in place of cow
dung, milk, butter, and buttermilk are used.

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111. The Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel has inaugurated India’s first medical
technology expo, ‘India MedTech Expo 2023’, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on the sidelines of
the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting held from 17th August to 19th August 2023.
The event has been organized by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, FICCI, and the
MedTech Industries Association of the Government of India.
MedTech Expo 2023 is inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of
making ‘Akhand Bharat’.
It is a unique, inclusive platform to showcase the capability and capacity of the Indian medical
device ecosystem.
The pharmaceutical industry in Gujarat ranks number one in India with a 33% share in drug
manufacturing and 28% share of drug exports.
Note: FDI up to 100% under the automatic route is permitted for the manufacturing of
medical devices.
112. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has
unveiled a new variety of "Lotus" flower that has 108 petals.
• The lotus named ‘NBRI Namoh 108’ is developed by the CSIR-National Botanical
Research Institute (NBRI), a premier plant-based, multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art
National R&D center based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• The Namoh 108 lotus variety flowers from March to December and is rich in nutrients.
• This is the first lotus variety whose genome is completely sequenced for its characteristics.
Other initiatives launched:
He has also released apparel made from lotus fibre and perfume ‘Frotus’, extracted from
lotus flowers and developed by the NBRI under the Lotus Research Programme in
collaboration with FFDC, Kannauj.
He has also launched the Lotus Mission, a project being undertaken in Mission mode like
the other priority schemes
He has also launched a new variety of Aloe vera named ‘NBRI-Nihar’, having approximately
2.5 times high gel yield in comparison to Aloe Vera.
113. Matti Banana of Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) has been granted the Geographical
Indication (GI) tag. GI Tag is issued by the GI Registry in Chennai under Geographical
Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. This GI tag is valid for 10 years
following which it can be renewed.

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• Matti Banana is popularly known as ‘Baby Banana’ and is known for its distinct fragrance
and honey-like taste
• Its low total soluble solids content (TSSC) recommends it as a baby food.
• Unlike typical banana bunches that grow straight, the Matti’s fingers exhibit a distinct
wind-blown appearance.
• Types of Matti Banana: Nal Matti, Kal Matti, Nei Matti, and Sundar Matti.
114. The Government of Maharashtra has launched the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Jodaraste
Scheme to connect all tribal villages in 17 districts of the state with main roads.
The project is estimated to cost Rs.5,000 crore and nearly 6,838 km of roads will be
constructed as part of the scheme.
There will be a separate committee of the tribal development department for these roads.
The Public Works Department will build these roads.
115. The Delhi Forest Department has launched a portal to facilitate rapid response to threats
and offences concerning trees, forests, and wildlife. The portal will serve as a centralised
platform for swift action on complaints received through the Green Helpline (1800-11-8600)
and will ensure timely intervention in critical situations.
116. Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (LEAF), an Ooty-based agri-technology company,

has tied up with Andhra Pradesh State Co-operative Bank Ltd (APCOB) to promote
sustainable livelihoods for marginalised farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
117. The Responsible Tourism Mission (RT Mission) of Kerala in collaboration with UN
Women has recently (Aug 2023) organized an orientation program called the ‘Trainer of
Trainers’ under the ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ initiative. The initiative aims to involve women
as entrepreneurs and professionals in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
The program has been held at Kumarakom Cultural Centre.

During the 2-day program, 85 women trainers were trained to further educate women
involved in tourism activities across the state.
118. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has launched the intensified Mission
Indradhanush (IMI) 5.0 to immunise pregnant women and children below 5 years against
life-threatening diseases.
The IMI 5.0 will be held in three phases: from August 7 -12, September 11 - 16 and October 9
- 14, with each camp lasting for six days.
Mission Indradhanush:

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Mission Indradhanush, a health mission of the Government of India, was launched by Union
Health Minister J. P. Nadda on 25 December 2014. It provides vaccination against 12 Vaccine-
Preventable Diseases (VPD) i.e. diphtheria, Whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis,
hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B infections, Japanese
encephalitis (JE), rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and measles-
rubella (MR).
119. Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has launched the
digital portal of the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) office in Pune,
Maharashtra.
This launch is on the lines with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahkar se
Samriddhi”.
Objectives of CRCS portal:
• To promote ease of doing business in the cooperative sector and streamline processes.
• To implement completely paperless applications.
• To enable digital communication.
• To improve analytics and management information system
120. New Amravati station has become the first station in Bhusaval Division and the third
station within the Central Railway to be designated a “Pink Station”, a station that is wholly
managed by women staff.
The station boasts a team of 12 proficient women employees, each playing a crucial role in
ensuring the seamless operation of the station. Among these accomplished individuals are 4
Deputy Station Superintendents, 4 Pointswomen, 3 Railway Protection Personnel, and 1
Station Ticket Booking Agent.
121. The Government of India (GoI) has approved the establishment of a new spaceport in
Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu, for carrying out the launches of the Small Satellite
Launch Vehicles (SSLV) developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Kulasekarapattinam will be used by private companies to launch small satellites into orbit.
Nearly 99 percent of the 2,000 acres has been transferred to ISRO by the Tamil Nadu
government.
It will take at least 2 years to become fully functional after the commencement of the
construction work.

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Space Industrial Park
The Tamil Nadu government has also planned to set up Space Industrial Park and Propellants
Park near Thoothukudi to take advantage of the Centre’s move to build the
Kulasekarapattinam spaceport.
122. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha of Jammu and Kashmir has commenced the 9th India
International MSME Expo and Summit 2023 in New Delhi. He has commended the MSME
Development Forum for its endeavours to bring together policymakers and entrepreneurs
for the promotion of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
He has also launched the One District One Product (ODOP) Box of Jammu & Kashmir Union
Territory.
123. The Disaster Management Division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has approved
funding of Rs.561 crore for an integrated urban flood management project in the Chennai
basin.
The project aims to address flood risks by re-establishing surplus canals for former minor
irrigation tanks in the city, restoring eight water bodies covering 484 acres, and implementing
remote-operated surplus regulators and water supply regulators for reservoirs during
emergencies.
124. Ghaziabad-based Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Academy has joined the
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Global Academy Network as its 10
member through a virtual signing ceremony organized between CBI and Interpol at Global
Complex for Innovation, Singapore for development and delivery of joint training program
and research projects.
125. The state of Odisha has extended its social security scheme named ‘Madhu Babu Pension
Yojna” for the elderly, widows and other vulnerable sections. The reach of the scheme has
been enhanced to 32.75 lakh beneficiaries from 28.61 lakh beneficiaries.
Under the scheme, beneficiaries including the elderly, widows, persons with disabilities,
unmarried women, AIDS patients, transgender persons and orphan children of COVID-
affected families receive Rs.500, Rs.700 and Rs.900 per month under different categories.
126. Srinagar district has been ranked as the top performing district under Jal Jeevan
Survekshan (JJS-2023) among 114 Har Ghar Jal Certified Villages across India in the
implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) during 1st October 2022 to 30th June 2023.
District Srinagar has secured the top spot in the ‘Front Runners’ category of the JJS-2023.
Jal Jeevan Survekhshan (JJS):

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JJS is an evaluation methodology introduced by Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Government of
India on October 02, 2022 to assess the Districts/ States on the basis of performance in
implementation of JJM and rank them accordingly at national level on a monthly basis.
127. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has launched the Indira Gandhi Smart
Phone Scheme in a program organized in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Under this scheme, free smart phones with 3 years of data facility will be distributed to 1.3
crore women of the state.
In the first phase, smartphones will be distributed to girl students studying in class 9 to class
12 in government schools, college students, single women and widows.
Women heads of households who worked 100 days under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and 50
days under Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, have also been selected in
the first phase.
128. Foxconn Industrial Internet, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese firm Foxconn, has signed a
Letter of Intent (LoI) with Tamil Nadu government to invest Rs.1,600 crore to establish a
manufacturing facility in Kancheepuram district.
Foxconn has also signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian
Institute of Technology Madras and Guidance, the nodal agency instrumental in attracting
investments to the state.
This MoU aims to enhance research and development capabilities in partnership with IIT-M,
fostering the development of a skilled talent pool in Tamil Nadu.
129. The 130-year-old Kuttikkanam Palace in Idukki (Kerala), once the summer residence of
the kings of erstwhile Travancore, is set to be declared a historical monument.
The State Archaeology department has verified the documents of the palace and it is found
that it is eligible to be declared a monument as per the Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
Kuttikkanam Palace:
• The palace was built around 1890 during Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma‘s reign.
• The palace was called ‘Ammachi Kottaram’ as wives of rulers were reverently addressed as
‘ammachi’.
• The palace is situated on 14 acres.
• The palace houses a special hall for administrative discussions and a stud farm
showcasing royal lifestyle.
130. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has laid the foundation stone for the ‘Iconic
Site Museum’ at the Adichanallur archaeological site in Tamil Nadu.
• The museum will be built as a tribute to the history of Iron Age culture in southern India,
in the context of Adichanallur.

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• It is one of the five sites selected as ‘Iconic sites’ in the Union Budget 2020-21 for
development.
• Other sites are Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Hastinapur (UP), Dholavira (Gujarat), and Shivsagar
(Assam).
Adichanallur:
It is an ancient Iron-age burial site located in the Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu, situated
along the banks of the Tamirabarani River. It holds significance in showcasing the megalithic
culture. Additionally, the ancient seaport of Korkai, mentioned in Sangam literature, is
nearby.
131. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has developed an
application called ‘MASI’ (Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection) for real-time
monitoring of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) across the country.
It aims to ensure effective and efficient inspection of CCIs as provided under the Juvenile
Justice Act, 2015 (amended in 2021).
The app is linked to the monitoring Portal where the automatic reports are generated.
It allows unified inspections by various authorities, including Child Welfare Committees
(CWCs), State Inspection Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), and State Commissions
for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs).
The Mission Vatsalya Scheme supports the infrastructure and financial needs of setting up
CWCs in each district to ensure their effective functioning.
132. The Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has formally launched the ‘Gruha Jyoti
Yojana’ in Kalaburagi, which will provide free electricity facility up to 200 units per month to
all eligible household consumers of the state.
There are 2.14 crore consumers eligible under Gruha Jyothi, and 1.42 crore households have
registered.
133. Chikri wood craft from Rajouri district and Mushqbudji rice of Anantnag district in
Jammu and Kashmir have received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• Chikri is a pale, honey colored, fine grained softwood found in hill ranges of Rajouri
district of Jammu province. The Chikri woodcraft of Rajouri is characterized by intricate
carving and detailing.

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• Mushqbudji Rice is a premium variety of short bold aromatic rice grown in higher reaches
of the Kashmir valley especially in Anantnag district. The cooked Mushqbudji Rice is
unique and possesses a harmonious blend of taste, aroma and rich organoleptic
properties.
Geographical Indications (GI) is a form of Intellectual Property right that identifies goods
originating from a specific geographical location and having distinct nature, quality and
characteristics linked to that location.
134. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has launched a mobile application-based elephant
movement tracking system on the occasion of the 74th Van Mahotsav in Ranchi to reduce
human-elephant conflicts in the state.
The app will help villagers and department to track elephant movements so that
precautionary measures could be taken in advance.
135. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has introduced the Chief Minister's
Command Center and launched the CM Dashboard at Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan in
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
The CM Command Centre aims to collect comprehensive data from various fields and ensure
its accuracy and fairness.
The Command Centre and Dashboard will be used for evaluating the performance of officials
working in the police service, municipal corporations, and development authorities through
monthly rankings and grades.
136. The Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched the Department of Forest
& Environment’s Amrit Brikshya Andolan web portal/mobile application and the Wood-
based Industry (WBI) registration web portal.
He has also launched a theme song for the Amrit Brikshya Andolan, an initiative aimed at
planting a total of 1 crore (10 million) commercially-viable saplings across the state by
individuals from various walks of life on 17th September 2023.
137. The Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann has launched a mobile application named
'Traffic Hawks' to bridge the gap between public and the uniformed force.
The app is developed by Ludhiana city police.

The app offers modules to redress grievances and complaints related to traffic and providing
information on fingertips.

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138. The Geographical Indications Registry has granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to
seven products from different regions of India, with four of them belonging to Rajasthan,
two of them belonging to Goa, and one belonging to Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh:
• Jalesar Dhatu Shilp:
It is a metal craft that originated in the Jalesar town of Etah district in Uttar Pradesh. It is a
unique form of brassware.
Goa:
• Mankurad Mango:
It is a variety of mango that is grown in Goa, especially in the Bardez taluka. It is also known
as Goa Mancurad or Goa Alphonso.
• Goan Bebinca:
It is a traditional dessert that is made in Goa. It is also known as Bibik or Bebinka. It is a

layered cake that consists of thin layers of flour, eggs, coconut milk, sugar and ghee (clarified
butter).
Rajasthan:
• Koftgari Metal Craft:
It is a metal craft that originated in Udaipur city of Rajasthan. It is also known as

Damascening or Inlaying. It is a technique of decorating metal objects with fine wires or strips
of gold or silver.
• Kashidakari Craft:
It is an embroidery craft that originated in Bikaner city of Rajasthan. It is a form of

embroidery that uses gold or silver threads to create elaborate designs on fabrics.
• Bandhej Craft:
It is a tie-dye craft that originated in Jodhpur city of Rajasthan. It is also known as Bandhani or
Bandhni.
• Usta Kala Craft:
It is a painting craft that originated in Bikaner city of Rajasthan. It is also known as Naqqashi
or Nakashi. It is a form of painting that uses gold or silver foil to create intricate designs on
various surfaces such as wood, metal, marble, ivory and leather.
139. The Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has launched ‘’LEAP Co-works’, a rebranded
version of the Kerala Startup Mission's (KSUM) which is aimed at adding a thrust to the
innovation ecosystem in the state.
• LEAP stands for Launch, Empower, Accelerate, Prosper.

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• The LEAP Coworks space will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure, well-designed
workspaces and meeting rooms, besides high-speed internet connectivity and other
essential amenities required for a productive work environment.
• Under this initiative, the new KSUM headquarters in Technopark will be rebranded as
LEAP Co-works space.
He has also inaugurated the refurbished headquarters of KSUM in Thiruvananthapuram.

He has also inaugurated the operations of first phase of the new India’s first Digital Science
Park.
140. President of India Droupadi Murmu has inaugurated ‘Unmesha’, an International

Literature Festival, and ‘Utkarsh’, a Festival of Folk and Tribal Performing Arts, in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh.
The Culture Department of Madhya Pradesh along with Sangeet Natak Akademi and Sahitya
Akademi of the Union Ministry of Culture has organized this event from 3rd to 5th August
2023.
Unmesha' is India's most inclusive and Asia's largest literature festival in terms of the number
of languages represented. 575 participants representing over 100 languages from 15
countries have participated in the event.
About 800 artists from 36 states and union territories have participated in Utkarsh festival.
141. Aadi Perukku, also known as Pathinettam Perukku, is an auspicious festival observed on
the 18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi. This festival is observed to show the gratitude to
the Mother Nature and monsoon god for providing uninterrupted supply of water.
All the lakes are worshipped in the state of Tamil Nadu.

During the festival, Goddess Parvathi is venerated on the banks of the River-Cauvery and
has been offered distinct rice foods and cuisines.
This day is also celebrated as Pathinettam Perukku, Padinattam or Pathinettam means
eighteen and Perukku means rising.
In 2023, the festival falls on 3rd August.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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142. The 2nd edition of Namaste Vietnam Festival (Hello Việt Nam Festival) has been held in
the 3 southern cities of Vietnam viz. Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, Da Lat city (Central Highlands
province) and Tuy Hoa city (south-central coastal province) from 12th to 20th August 2023.
Theme: “People unite, warm friendship”
The festival aims to enhance cultural understanding and people-to-people exchanges and
strengthening the bond between both countries.
It has been organised jointly by the Indian Embassy and Consulate General of India in
Vietnam under the aegis of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and Innovations
India.
The festival is curated by Internationally Acclaimed Festival Curator Captain Rahul Bali.
The festival has been opened by Bollywood-actor Anupam Kher & filmmaker-actor Rahul
Mittra.
During the festival, Memorandum of Understanding’s worth more than USD 1 billion have
been signed between business enterprises from both the nations in 03 major sectors:
Railways, Tourism & Cinema.
143. Education ministers from the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa,
have announced to launch a New University Ranking System.
The aim is to take a significant step toward bringing excellence in higher education,
encouraging cross-border academic collaborations, and advancing the collective educational
objectives of these nations.
BRICS:
The BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing
41% of the global population, 24% of the global GDP and 16% of the global trade.
British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC in 2001 to describe the 4 emerging
economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.The grouping was formalised during the first
meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers in 2006.
South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the
acronym BRICS.
144. The Islamic Republic of Iran has unveiled a new drone called ‘Mohajer-10’, resembling the
American MQ-9 Reaper drone, with enhanced capabilities.
• Mohajer-10 can fly for up to 24 hours at an altitude of 7,000 meters and can travel up to
2000 kilometres non-stop on a single charge.
• It can travel at speeds of up to 210 kilometres per hour and is equipped with updated
electronic and intelligence systems.

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It has a payload of up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of cargo, allowing it to carry all kinds of
bombs and ammunitions.
145. The Cabinet has approved the reduction of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) cost by Rs.200
per cylinder for all consumers with effect from 30th August 2023. This will also be applicable
to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY), which means, PMUY beneficiaries will now get a
total subsidy of Rs.400 per 14.2kg-LPG cylinder.
The Ministry of Textiles has approved the Startup Guidelines for Technical Textiles - Grant
for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles
(GREAT) providing grant-in-aid up to Rs.50 lakhs for upto a period of 18 months. The
incubators will get an additional 10% of total grant-in-aid.
146. 48 African countries have adopted the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration,
Environment, and Climate Change (KDMECC) to address the interconnection between
human mobility and climate change on the continent. The decision has been discussed at a
Conference of States co-hosted by Kenya and Uganda.
The initiative has been supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Kampala Declaration calls for enhanced cooperation to address five areas of concern:
• Progressive desertification and land degradation
• Unsustainable use of ecosystems
• Unplanned migration of people due to climate change and disasters
• Paucity of data and statistics on the impact of climate change
• Limitations of partnerships and financing to respond to the climate crisis.
147. The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has been ratified and launched during
the 7th Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) held in Vancouver, Canada.
The GEF Assembly gathered environmental leaders from 185 countries.

Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development of Canada, is the chair and co-host of
the 7th Assembly of GEF.
Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF):
• The new fund will attract funding from governments, non-profits, and the private sector.
• It aims to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s, adopted at
COP15 (2022), goals by 2030.

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• As much as 20 percent of the funds would support Indigenous-led initiatives to protect
and conserve biodiversity.
• It will also prioritize support for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed
Countries, which will receive more than a third of the fund’s resources.
• The initial contributions for the GBFF are set at USD 200 million from at least 3 donors by
December 2023.
• Canada and the United Kingdom have already donated 200 million Canadian dollars and
10 million pounds respectively to the GBFF.
148. The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) have jointly launched the international Crew-7 astronaut
mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The agency’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission is the
7th commercial crew rotation mission for NASA.
The mission has carried astronauts from four countries to the ISS, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA,
the European Space Agency’s Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
astronaut Satoshi Furakawa, and Konstantin Borisov, a Russian cosmonaut, lifted off atop
a brand-new SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the
USA.
The Crew-7 team will ride on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsule, named “Endurance”, which
is a trained spacecraft.
The journey from Earth to the ISS is estimated to take nearly 30 hours.
149. China has launched the disaster monitoring satellite ‘L-SAR4 01’, the world’s first high-orbit
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, on a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It has been
launched from the Xichang spaceport in Sichuan Province in south-western China.
· The L-SAR4 01 satellite has advantages of short high-orbit observation revisit period
and wide imaging width with microwave observation that are not limited by climate (all-
weather) and light (all-day).
· It will improve the identification accuracy and efficiency of disaster abnormal change
information, and enhance the comprehensive prevention and control capabilities of natural
disasters.

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150. Lima, capital of Peru, has been reinstated as the host city for 2024 Under-20 Athletics
World Championships, having initially withdrawn in April 2023 due to political instability,
social unrest and natural disasters in Peru at the time.
The championships will be held from Aug. 26-31, 2024.
151. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed an open-source
software which allows countries to effectively manage national data and processes for
trading carbon credits.
• The software, called the National Carbon Registry, has recently been accredited as a digital
public good (DPG).
• As a DPG, the registry uses open-source code, which allows countries to replicate and adapt
the information to fit their own needs and contexts.
• The registry follows national and international best practices based on inputs from countries
and is a result of ongoing work by the Digital4Climate (D4C) Working Group, which includes
UNDP, the World Bank, the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) among
others.
• It can be integrated with national measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems
and international digital systems such as UNDP’s voluntary cooperation platform and the
global platform Climate Action Data Trust (CAD Trust) launched by the World Bank.
152. The First World Health Organization (WHO) Traditional Medicine Global Summit was
held between 17th to 18th August 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat as part of the G20 Health
Minister’s Meeting.
The summit has also witnessed the first Joint Finance and Health Ministerial meeting under
the Indian presidency.
The summit has been inaugurated by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General,
World Health Organization (WHO).
The theme of the summit is “Towards Health & Well-being for All”.
The summit aims to bring together experts, policymakers, healthcare practitioners,

researchers, and stakeholders from the world to discuss and deliberate on various aspects of
traditional medicine.
During the summit, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, has
launched the ‘Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH), a WHO-managed network at
Mahatma Mandir convention centre, Gujarat. The initiative will support the implementation
of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025.

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Note: WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is headquartered in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
153. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) experts have
recommended that Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, and its lagoon be added
to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the city from the
impact of climate change and mass tourism.
Other sites recommended to be put on the danger list this year are the cities of Kyiv and Lviv
in Ukraine.
154. In a first, India, Nepal and Bangladesh have been working on a tripartite power trade deal
under which Nepal will supply up to 500 megawatts (MW) of hydropower to Bangladesh
using India’s transmission line. The deal aims to boost cross-border electricity trade in South
Asia.
This will also open ways to sell power to neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and
Myanmar.
At first, 50 MW will be provided to Bangladesh by Nepal using India’s Baharampur-Bheramara
cross-border transmission line.
Nepal and Bangladesh have identified two corridors for a dedicated transmission line.
First: Anarmari (Nepal)-Panchagarh (Bangladesh) corridor. It has a total length of 49 km, of
which 24 km will be in India.
Second: Anarmari (Nepal)-Thakurgaon (Bangladesh) corridor. It has a total length of 83 km,
of which 33 km shall be in India.
155. The Russian space agency, Roscomos, has launched the Luna-25 lander aboard a Soyuz
2.1b rocket that blasted off from the launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur
Oblast.
The country successfully launched its first lunar lander in 47 years, marking a significant
milestone in its space program.
The primary objective of Luna-25 is to collect samples of moon rock and dust. These samples
are crucial for understanding the lunar environment before any potential base construction.
Luna-25 is the first Russian Moon mission in nearly five decades. Russia launched its last
Moon mission in 1976.
156. Iraq has become the 18th country to be acknowledged by the World Health Organization
(WHO) for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.
• It is also the 5th country in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve this feat.

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• It is also recognized by WHO as the 50th country for eliminating at least one neglected
tropical disease globally.
WHO has set a target for global elimination of trachoma by 2030.
Note: India eliminated Trachoma in 2017.
Trachoma:
It is a disease of the eye caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. It is a
public health problem in 42 countries. Blindness from trachoma is irreversible.
It is a neglected tropical disease and the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. It
primarily affects the surface of the eye and the inside of the eyelid.
157. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has launched the Intelsat Galaxy 37/Horizons-4
communications satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The aim is to provide advanced television broadcasting
services over North America.
This launch marks the 251st total launch for SpaceX and the 51st mission of the year so far.
This marks the 6th launch for this particular Falcon 9 first-stage booster, which also flew the
Crew-5 astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
REPORTS & INDICES

158. Rating agency ICRA Limited has estimated India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
will accelerate to 8.5% in the 1st Quarter (April to June 2023) of FY24 from the 6.1% in the
4th Quarter (January to March 2023) of FY23.
ICRA has estimated that the real GDP growth of India will be maintained at 6% for FY24 which
is lower than the RBI estimates of 6.5%.
Q1FY24 Gross Value Added (GVA) growth is projected at 8.1% compared to 6.5% in Q4FY23.
This 8.5% estimate for Q1FY24 is higher than the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) forecast of 8.1%.
159. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has released the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan -
2023, an initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to
rank cities based on air quality.
The criteria for ranking of cities is based on the population of 2011 census.
Category-I: It covers 47 cities with a population of above 10 lakhs.

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1 Indore, Madhya Pradesh
2 Agra, Uttar Pradesh
3 Thane, Maharashtra
4 Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir

5 Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Category-II: It covers 44 cities with a population between 3 to 10 lakhs.

• Sagar, Madhya Pradesh has secured 10th place in the country with 188.02 points.
Category-III: It covers 40 cities with a population of below 3 lakhs.

• Dewas has secured 6th position in the country with a score of 180.
160. According to a report titled “State of India’s Birds 2023: Range, Trends, and
Conservation Status,” out of the 338 bird species studied in India, 60% of bird species have
declined over the past 30 years.
The 2023 is the 2nd iteration of the State of India’s Birds report.
The report has been published as a partnership between 13 institutions in India (six
government institutions including the Wildlife Institute of India and seven conservation
NGOs) and independent professionals.
Key highlights:
• The 2023 report has assessed a total of 942 species of Indian birds and long-term trends
could be determined for 338 species.
• 40% of 359 species declining; 142 species, including raptors and vultures, in rapid decline.
• The report suggests 17 species qualify for different IUCN threat status nationally, like
Indian Roller and Northern shoveler.
• Bird species endemic to the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot have
undergone rapid declines within India over the last few decades.
• Among the 942 species assessed, 178 species are categorized as High Priority for
conservation, 323 as Moderate Priority, and 441 as Low Priority.
• Threats: Forest degradation and urbanization; expansion of energy infrastructure;
Environmental pollutants; Climate change and avian diseases; Illegal hunting and trade
persist.
161. As per the government data, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India has declined
34 percent to USD 10.94 billion during April-June 2023-24.
FDI has dipped from countries including Mauritius, Singapore, the US and the UAE during
April-June 2023-24.

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Inflows dipped in segments including computer hardware and software, trading, automobile
and pharma.
FDI inflows stood at USD 16.59 billion during April-June 2022-23.
162. Fortune, a global media organization, has released the 69th edition of Fortune Global 500
list of 2023, an annual ranking of the largest 500 corporations across the world as measured
by total revenue for fiscal 2022 (FY2022-23).
• Walmart (USA) has topped the list for the 10th consecutive year with USD 611.3 billion,
followed by Saudi Aramco (UAE) and State Grid (China) in the 2nd and 3rd positions
respectively.
• The 2023 ranking featured 142 Chinese companies, 136 US companies, 41 Japanese
companies, and 30 German companies.
India’s performance:
• The list has featured 8 Indian companies in 2023.
• Reliance Industries has maintained its highest ranking among Indian corporates in the
latest Fortune Global 500 list, jumping 16 places to rank at number 88. It was ranked at
number 104 in the 2022 ranking.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) (107), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (158),
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (233), and State Bank of India (235) are the other state-
owned firms on the list.
163. As per the recent data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE),
India's overall unemployment rate has declined to 7.95% in July 2023 from 8.45% in June
2023. This decline is due to the increased demand for agricultural labour in rural areas, as
the monsoon season has begun.
• Data showed that the labour force in rural India has declined by 5 million. The labour
force participation rate in urban areas also fell, indicating a broader weakness in the
economy.
• Rural unemployment rate: 7.89% (July 2023)
• Urban unemployment rate: 8.06% (July 2023)

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164. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has released its annual flagship publication, the
World Trade Statistical Review (WTSR) for 2023 featuring key data on global trade in
merchandise and commercial services.
Exports:
• China, USA and Germany are the top 3 exporters in World Merchandise Trade 2022.
• India has been ranked 18th in merchandise exports and 7th in services exports.
Imports:
• USA, China, and Germany are the top 3 importers in World Merchandise Trade 2022.
• India has been ranked 9th in merchandise imports and 9th in services imports.
Global trade in goods and services amounted to USD 31 trillion in 2022, showing a 13% year-
on-year rise (Y-o-Y).
165. The United States-based S&P Global, a global data, research, and analytics firm, has
released a report titled ‘Look Forward: India’s Moment’. As per the report, India will grow at
an average rate of 6.7 percent per year from FY24 to FY31.
This will increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India to USD 6.7 trillion from USD 3.4
trillion in FY23.
The per capita GDP will rise to about USD 4500.
For FY24, India will be the fastest growing economy in the G20 and will grow by 6% amid
global slowdown and policy rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
India has showed a GDP growth of 7.2% in FY23.
166. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a report on ‘Global Tobacco Pandemic
Epidemic, 2023: Protect people from tobacco smoke’. The report tracks the progress made
by countries in tobacco control since 2008 and, marks 15 years since MPOWER measures
were introduced.
This is the ninth WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic.
MPOWER measures:
In line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), WHO had
introduced the MPOWER measures in 2008.
MPOWER are a set of six cost-effective and high impact measures that help countries reduce
demand for tobacco. These measures include:
• Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies
• Protecting people from tobacco smoke
• Offering help to quit tobacco use
• Warning about the dangers of tobacco
• Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship

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• Raising taxes on tobacco
Key findings:
• The number of countries implementing at least one MPOWER measure has increased
from 44 countries in 2008 to 151 in 2022.
• At least four countries, Brazil, Turkiye, Netherlands, and Mauritius, have implemented all
the measures.
• Mauritius has become the first African country to fully implement the entire MPOWER
measures.
• The report focuses on controlling second-hand smoking (being in the presence of
someone who is smoking).
• In the 15 years since the MPOWER measures were first introduced, 5.6 billion people in
the world or 71% of the entire population remain protected by at least one of the
measures.
• With 85% of cigarette packs carrying health warnings both on the front and back, India
figures among the top 10 countries in terms of the size of health warnings.
167. Based on the latest data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), India’s
fiscal deficit for the first quarter of the current financial year 2023-24 (FY24) stood at Rs.4.5
lakh crore or 25.3 percent of the Budget estimate as against Rs.3.5 lakh crore or 21.2% of
the Budget estimate in the corresponding period in FY23.
The higher deficit for April-June 2023 is due to a rise in capital expenditure and accelerated
tax devolution to states, which offset the sharp jump in non-tax revenue.
Key points:
• The total non-tax revenue for the first three months of this financial year was Rs.1,54,968
crore or 51.4 percent of the budget estimates against 23.1 percent for the same period
last year. Dividends and profits made up 105 percent of the non-tax revenue, adding up to
Rs.91,000 crore.
• The tax revenue for the April-June 2023 period was Rs.4,33,620 or 18.6 percent of the
budget estimates compared to 26.1 percent in the first quarter last year.
• Capex increased to Rs.2.8 trillion in June 2023 quarter. This marked a substantial rise
from Rs.1.75 trillion in the same period the previous year.

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• Total receipts during April-June 2023 stood at Rs.5.99 trillion, or 22.1% of annual
estimates, of which tax receipts stood at Rs.4.3 trillion, or 18.6% of annual estimates.
• Total expenditure grew notably to Rs.10.5 trillion in June 2023 quarter. This represents
23.3% of annual estimates, a significant rise from Rs.5.86 trillion in the previous year’s
period.
Note: Government’s aim to reduce the fiscal deficit to 5.9 percent of the gross domestic
product (GDP) in 2023-24.
Fiscal deficit is the difference between government’s expenditure and revenue.
168. The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) All Rice Price Index has
increased by 2.8 percent in July 2023 to 129.7 points as compared to 126.2 points in June
2023.
This is highest level in nearly 12 years as prices in key exporting countries raised on increased
demand and India’s move to curb the rice exports.
The FAO’s July 2023 rice index is almost 19.7% higher than 108.4 points in July 2022, and the
highest nominal value since September 2011.
Note: India is a big exporter of rice, sending 40% of the world’s rice exports, followed by
Thailand, and Vietnam.
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES & PROGRAMMES

169. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), has
launched the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (BNCAP) in New Delhi.
Aim: To enhance road safety by elevating vehicle safety standards for up to 3.5-tonne
vehicles in India.
The program is applicable to type approved motor vehicles of M1 category less than 3.5T
Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW).
This program will commence from 1st Oct 2023 and will be based on Automotive Industry
Standard (AIS) 197.
This program will be anchored by Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT).
It is modelled on the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP), a project of UK-
based Towards Zero Foundation.

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Note: M1 is motor vehicles used for carriage of passengers, comprising eight seats, in
addition to driver's seat.
170. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the National Mission for Financial
Inclusion, completed nine years of successful implementation on 28th August 2023. It was
launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28th August 2014.
Achievements under PMJDY:

As on 9th August 2023, the total number of PMJDY Accounts are 50.09 crore; 55.6% (27.82
crore) Jan-Dhan account holders are women, and 66.7% (33.45 crore) Jan Dhan accounts are
in rural and semi-urban areas.
PMJDY Accounts have grown three-fold (3.4) from 14.72 crore in March 2015 to 50.09 crore as
on 16th August 2023.
Total deposit balances under PMJDY Accounts stand at Rs.2,03,505 crore. Deposits have
increased about 13 times with increase in accounts 3.34 times (Aug’23 / Aug’15).
Total RuPay cards issued to PMJDY accountholders: 33.98 crore.
As of July 2023, a total of 6.01 lakh villages are mapped on the Jan Dhan Darshak App (JDD
App). Out of these, 5,99,468 (99.7%) of total mapped villages are covered with banking
outlets (Bank branch, Banking corner or Indian Post Payment Banks (IPPB) within 5 km
radius).
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):
It is the National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely,
Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable
manner.
Objectives:
• To ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
• Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach.
Basic tenets of the scheme: Banking the unbanked, Securing the unsecured, and funding the
unfunded.
Initial Features:
• Universal access to banking services.
• Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every eligible
adult
• Financial Literacy Programme to promote savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for
credit, availing insurance, and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking.
• Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund to provide banks some guarantee against defaults\
• Accident insurance covers up to Rs.1 lakh and life insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 on
account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015.
• Pension scheme for unorganized sector.
Key changes introduced from 2018:

• Focus shift from ‘Every Household’ to ‘Every Unbanked Adult’

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• RuPay Card Insurance: Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from
Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.
• Enhancement in overdraft (OD) facilities: OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs
10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions) and increase in upper age limit for
OD from 60 to 65 years.
171. The Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Department of Water Resources (WR), River Development,
and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD, & GR) has released the report on the 6th census on
Minor Irrigation (MI) schemes.
The 6th minor irrigation census with reference year 2017-18 was completed in 32 States/ UTs.
MI schemes are defined as those structures either in groundwater (GW) or in the surface
water (SW) category having culturable command areas up to 2,000 hectares. GW schemes
comprise dugwells, shallow tube wells, medium tube wells and deep tube wells. The SW
schemes comprise surface flow and surface lift schemes.
Key highlights:
• As per the report, 23.14 million minor irrigation (MI) schemes have been reported in
the country, out of which 21.93 million (94.8%) are Ground Water (GW) and 1.21 million
(5.2%) are Surface Water (SW) schemes.
• Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of MI schemes (17.2%) followed by Maharashtra
(15.4%), Madhya Pradesh (9.9%) and Tamil Nadu (9.1%).
• Leading States in GW schemes are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu and Telangana.
• In SW schemes Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand have the
highest share.
• There has been an increase of about 1.42 million in MI schemes during 6th MI census as
compared to 5th Census. At the national level, both GW and SW schemes have increased
by 6.9% and 1.2%, respectively.
• Dug-wells have the highest share in MI schemes followed by shallow tube-wells, medium
tube-wells and deep tube-wells.
• Maharashtra is the leading State in dug-wells, surface flow and surface lift schemes.
• Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Punjab are the leading States in shallow tube-wells,
medium tube-wells and deep tube-wells, respectively.
• Out of all the individually owned schemes, 18.1% are owned by women.

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172. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has
approved a new Central Sector Scheme “PM Vishwakarma” with a financial outlay of
Rs.13,000 crore for a period of 5 years (FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28).
This scheme aims to benefit individuals skilled in traditional craftsmanship, especially from
the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community.
Under this scheme, the artisans and craftspeople will be provided recognition through PM
Vishwakarma certificate and ID card, Credit Support upto Rs.1 lakh (First Tranche) and Rs.2
lakh (Second Tranche) with a concessional interest rate of 5%.
Eighteen traditional trades will be covered in the first instance under PM Vishwakarma.
These trades include (i) Carpenter (Suthar); (ii) Boat Maker; (iii) Armourer; (iv) Blacksmith
(Lohar); (v) Hammer and Tool Kit Maker; (vi) Locksmith; (vii) Goldsmith (Sonar); (viii) Potter
(Kumhaar); (ix) Sculptor (Moortikar, stone carver), Stone breaker; (x) Cobbler(Charmkar)/
Shoesmith/Footwear artisan; (xi) Mason (Rajmistri); (xii) Basket/Mat/Broom Maker/Coir
Weaver; (xiii) Doll & Toy Maker (Traditional); (xiv) Barber (Naai); (xv) Garland maker
(Malakaar); (xvi) Washerman (Dhobi); (xvii) Tailor (Darzi); and (xviii) Fishing Net Maker.
The scheme was announced in the Budget 2023-2024.
173. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the ‘PM-eBus
Sewa’ scheme for augmenting city bus operations. Under this scheme, 10,000 e-buses will be
deployed across cities in the country on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• The scheme will cover cities of 3 lakh and above population as per census 2011 including
all the Capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States.
• Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organized bus service.
• The scheme has been allocated a total funding of Rs.57,613 crore, out of which support
of Rs.20,000 crore will be provided by the Central government.
• The scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.
There are two segments of the scheme:
Augmenting the city bus services: (169 cities)
• Under this, the e-buses will operate under the PPP model and the government will help
develop associated infrastructure to provide support for development/upgradation of
depot infrastructure
• It will also help cities create behind-the-meter power infrastructure for the e-buses.
Green Urban Mobility initiatives: (181 cities)
• Bus rapid transport projects would be developed along with non-motorised infrastructure
like bike sharing, bicycle lanes.

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• Innovative projects like National Common Mobility Card, Intelligent Transit Management
System, Multimodal Interchange facilities would also be developed.
174. The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, has launched the “Vindhyagiri”, the sixth ship of
Project 17A of the Indian Navy at Garden Reach Shipbuilders Engineers Limited (GRSE)
facility on the banks of Hooghly River in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• INS ‘Vindhyagiri’ is an advanced stealth frigate, or warship.
• This is the sixth of seven ships built under ‘Project 17 Alpha’ for the Navy.
• These warships are follow-ons of the Project 17 Class Frigates (Shivalik Class), with
improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management
systems.
• It is named after a mountain range in Karnataka.
• It has been designed by Warship Design Bureau and developed by GRSE, Kolkata.
Under the Project 17A programme, four ships by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
Limited (MDL) and three by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) are
under construction.
President has also launched the ‘My Bengal, Addiction Free Bengal’ campaign under the
‘NashaMukt Bharat Abhiyan’ organised by Brahma Kumaris at the Raj Bhavan, Kolkata. The
aim is to address the drug abuse issue in society and India.
175. The Union Government has introduced a Rs.5000 crore scheme named Research-Linked-
Incentive (RLI) for pharmaceuticals and med-tech sector to strengthen the research infra
in the country and promote more industry-academia linkages for research and development
(R&D).
The total outlay of the scheme is Rs.5,000 crore over a period of five years from 2023-24 to
2027-28.
Scheme has two components:
• Strengthen the research infrastructure by setting up Centres of Excellence at National

Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPERs). This has an outlay of Rs.700
crore over a period of five years.
• Promotion of research in the pharma and med-tech sector in six priority areas.
The funding disbursed for the projects would be recovered through benefit sharing either
through royalty or equity.
The government can charge a 10% royalty on net sale of the product or technology till the
patent is effective, or it can take equity.

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176. One District One Product (ODOP) program, an initiative under the Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has
collaborated with SARAS Aajeevika, an initiative by Deendayal Antyodaya (DAY-NRLM),
Ministry of Rural Development, in New Delhi.
The ‘ODOP Wall’ signifies India’s remarkable heritage of craftsmanship, ready to enchant
international spectators and function as a dynamic platform that exhibits the nation’s
unparalleled artistic legacy on a global scale.
177. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508
Railway Stations as Amrit Bharat Stations across the country via video conferencing in
New Delhi.
• These stations will be redeveloped at a cost of more than Rs.24,470 crores (Rs.244.7
billion) under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS).
• These 508 stations are spread across 27 states and union territories, including 55 each in
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, 49 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra, 37 in West Bengal, 34 in
Madhya Pradesh, 32 in Assam, 25 in Odisha, 22 in Punjab, 21 each in Gujarat and
Telangana, 20 in Jharkhand, 18 each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 15 in Haryana, 13
in Karnataka among others.
• The redevelopment will provide modern passenger amenities along with ensuring well-
designed traffic circulation, inter-modal integration and signage for the guidance of
passengers.
• The design of the station buildings will be inspired by local culture, heritage and
architecture.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS):

• It was launched in February 2023. It aims to transform and revitalize 1,309 railway
stations across India by enhancing the overall passenger experience and making them
world-class travel hubs. Under the project, all the stations will be redeveloped as city
centres which will led to the overall urban development of the cities.
178. The Ministry of Tourism has identified ‘Prayagraj’ and ‘Naimisharanya’ in Uttar Pradesh
as destinations for development under ‘Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to
develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations.
There are 8 projects of identified thematic circuits in Uttar Pradesh.

‘Swadesh Darshan Scheme’ (SDS):

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The government launched ‘Swadesh Darshan Scheme’ (SDS) in the year 2014-15 for
integrated development of Theme-Based Tourist Circuits in the country. The scheme is 100%
centrally funded for the project components undertaken for public funding.
Under the scheme, the Ministry of Tourism provides financial assistance to State
governments for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.
179. The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme has successfully completed four
years on 9th August 2023. It was initiated as a pilot project on 9th August 2019 in four states.
• This scheme is being implemented by the Department of Food & Public Distribution,
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution under the National Food
Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
• It allows all NFSA beneficiaries, particularly migrant beneficiaries, to claim either full or
part foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country through existing ration card
with biometric/Aadhaar authentication in a seamless manner.
• The scheme is being implemented in all 36 states and Union Territories with Assam
being the latest state to join the initiative in June 2022.
• Since inception, about 1,13,31,89,756 intra state portable transactions have taken place
under the ONORC scheme.
Under the NFSA, the Central government is providing 5 kilograms of food grains per person
every month to nearly 80 crore eligible beneficiaries at a highly subsidised rate of Rs.2-3 per
kilogram.
180. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam
(ABSS) 2023 jointly organized by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship (MoSDE) in New Delhi.
• The PM has also released the 1st instalment of funds under the PM SHRI scheme.
• The event coincided with the 3rd anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020,
which was implemented on 29th July 2020.
• Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, has delivered valedictory address as
the chief guest. He has launched the logo, slogan-Jan Jan Sakshar and mobile application
of the “Understanding Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS): Nav Bharat Saksharta
Karyakram”.

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• During the event, a total of 106 significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have
been signed, encompassing various sectors such as higher education, school education,
and skilling.
181. The National Health Authority (NHA) has extended its Digital Health Incentives Scheme
(DHIS) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till 31st December 2023.
Under DHIS, incentives up to Rs.4 crores are provided to hospitals and diagnostic labs and to
the providers of digital health solutions such as Hospital/ Health Management Information
System (HMIS) and Laboratory Management Information System (LMIS) for adopting and
enabling transformative digitization under ABDM.
The DHIS was launched with effect from 1st January, 2023 as part of the Ayushman Bharat
Digital Mission.
182. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has set a new target of 63 lakh loans for its loan
scheme for street vendors (Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM
SVANidhi)) in less than six months till December 2023, after having disbursed 50 lakh loans
to 39 lakh beneficiaries in the three years since the scheme’s launch in 2020.
New Targets until December 2023:

• As per the new target, 60,99,000 first-term loans (up to Rs 10,000 each) will be granted to
beneficiaries in big states, 34,990 such loans will be granted in small states and UTs, and
1,66,200 loans will be granted in hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the
Northeast.
• The target for second-term loan is 22.63 lakh beneficiaries, which is up to Rs.20,000 loan
per person. It will be given to those who have paid off the first loans.
• The target for third-term loan is 2.93 lakh beneficiaries. Under this Rs.50000 will be given
to those who have paid the second-term loans.
Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi):

It was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The scheme provide street vendors
with small working capital loans of Rs 10,000 each. During its launch, the target was set at 50
lakh beneficiaries.
In April 2022, the Cabinet extended the lending period of the scheme until December 2024.
183. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved 7 projects for the
construction of Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) and other works to prevent pollution of the
River Ganga and its tributaries.
The total outlay of these projects is Rs.692 crore.

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• For sewage management in Uttar Pradesh, 3 projects worth Rs.661.74 crore have been
approved in the 50th meeting of the Executive Committee of NMCG.
• Two STPs (5 and 7 MLDs) at an estimated cost of Rs.74.64 crore for tapping of Pipra ghat
drain and Chhatiya ghat drain respectively along with I&D works have also been approved
in the 50th EC meeting for Raxaul town in Bihar. This project will abate pollution in Sirsiya
River that originates in Nepal and enters Bihar at Raxaul in East Champaran district.
• A project envisaging preparation of 60-70 Urban River Management Plans (URMPs) in two
phases has also been approved costing around Rs.20 crore.
• One project has been approved for initiation of M.Sc. Course in Freshwater Ecology and
Conservation at Ganga Aqualife Conservation Monitoring Centre, Wildlife Institute of
India, Dehradun at an estimated cost of Rs.6.86 crore for 10 years.
• One project for the construction of an electric crematorium at Barkola, Kharagpur in West
Bengal has also been approved.
184. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has collaborated with UK-
based Arm, the world’s leading semiconductor IP company, through the “Arm Flexible Access
for Startups” program to expand the support under the Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI)
and further enable the semiconductor market growth in India during the 2nd day of the
conference ‘SemiconIndia 2023’ at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The theme of ‘SemiconIndia 2023’ is ‘Catalysing India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem.”

Under this collaboration, CDAC and Arm intend to work towards the following broad
objectives:
• Startups selected under DLI will qualify for the Arm Flexible Access for Startups program.
• Arm will provide the startups with access to processor and system IPs, reference designs,
GPU, ISP, and AI accelerator IPs, and software development tools.
• Arm will provide access to thousands of Artisan physical IP products supporting multiple
foundries and process nodes for physical design and implementation.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has announced the exchange of signing of
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Centre for Nano Science and
Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and Lam Research
India at the ongoing SemiconIndia Conference 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The core objective of this collaboration is to jointly develop a customised course offering for
Indian universities, dedicated to teaching semiconductor fabrication technology.

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
185. The Government of Telangana has collaborated with the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to implement the UNESCO Recommendation
on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) after a Letter of Intent has been signed.
The collaboration focuses on promoting the ethical development and use of AI awareness
raising, capacity building, and contributions to UNESCO's Global Observatory on AI Ethics.
186. NHPC Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RITES Limited to
construct a railway siding at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh for NHPC's 2,880 MW Dibang
Multi-Purpose Project.
NHPC's total installed capacity is 7,097.2 MW of renewable power (including wind and solar)
through its 25 power stations, including 1,520 MW through its subsidiary.
187. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), a Mini Ratna (Category – I)
Government of India enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, has signed a performance-based Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
The MoU is in alignment with guidelines issued by Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry
of Finance.
As per the MoU, the Government of India has set a Revenue from Operations target for
IREDA, of Rs.4,350 crores for the financial year 2023-24 and Rs.5,220 crores for 2024-25.
Note: IREDA had achieved a Revenue from Operations figure of Rs.3,482 crores in the
preceding fiscal year, against a target of Rs.3,361 crores.
188. Meta, the technology company formerly known as Facebook, has launched an advanced
multilingual multimodal AI translation and transcription model named 'SeamlessM4T.'
• SeamlessM4T, which stands for Massively Multilingual and Multimodal Machine
Translation, is an advanced multilingual multimodal AI translation and transcription
model.
• This AI model can perform speech-to-text, text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, text-to-text
translation for nearly 100 languages.
• It also recognises gender bias in languages, and the model can quantify gender bias in
translations.
• It performs the entire translation task in one go, unlike other large translation models that
divide translation across different systems.

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It is considered as an improvement over “No Language Left Behind”, a text-to-text machine
translation AI model that supports over 200 languages.
189. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to enhance maritime cooperation.
The MoU aims to enhance the professional linkage between the two Coast Guards in the
domain of Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE), Maritime Search & Rescue (M-SAR) and Marine
Pollution Response (MPR).
Both the sides has also conducted their first bilateral meeting on a range of maritime issues.
190. Antler India, a Venture Capital firm, has launched India’s first Open Network for Digital
Commerce (ONDC)-Centric Venture Platform, Antler ONDC, to provide resources, an
expert network, community, and capital to start-up founders building on ONDC.
• Objective: To increase talent density and enable opportunities on ONDC and is also set to
democratise e-commerce in India.
• The new programme offers USD 300,000 pre-seed capital and a potential extra
investment of up to USD 200,000 from Antler network partners, including unicorn
founders, for prepared teams with ideas.
• The platform has been created in partnership with Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and
chairman of the Infosys Board; Foundation for Interoperability in Digital Economy (FIDE)
and ONDC.
191. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited
(NRL) in Guwahati, Assam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to utilize
National Waterways-2 (Brahmaputra) and Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR) for
exporting petroleum products to Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries.
Under this, NRL will export 200 thousand metric tonne of products per annum to Bangladesh
through Jogighopa jetty, after the commissioning of its expanded refinery and
petrochemicals plant.
NRL will establish a Petroleum, Oils, and Lubricants (POL) Oil Terminal at Jogighopa Logistics
Park, which will be linked by rail.
192. The Government of Maharashtra has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Germany's professional association football league, 'Bundesliga', to build a football team
for players under the age of 14.
This MoU will help young footballers to develop their skills and potentially compete at a high
level.

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193. The Government of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Government of New Zealand for an Open Sky Policy, allowing more flights between various
cities in the two countries.
This will cover the scheduling of new routes, codeshare services, traffic rights, and capacity
entitlement.
• As per the MoU, the designated airlines of New Zealand may operate any number of
services with any type of aircraft, with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to and from
six points in India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and
Kolkata.
• The designated airlines of India may operate any number of services with any type of
aircraft with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to and from Auckland, Wellington, and
Christchurch.
194. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a deal with the Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. (HSL)
to acquire five Fleet Support Ships (FSS) for the Indian Navy at an overall cost of nearly
Rs.19,000 crore.
• The Fleet Support Ships of 44,000 Tons will be the first-of-its kind to be built in India by an
Indian Shipyard.
• The FSS will be built with a length of 225 meters and a width of 32 meters.
• These ships can also be deployed for evacuation of people and human assistance and
disaster relief (HADR) operations.
• These ships will be successfully delivered in 8 years.
195. According to the latest study conducted by SBI Research economists, India's per capita
income is estimated to grow 7.5 times from Rs.2 lakh (USD 12,400) in FY23 to Rs.14.9 lakh
(USD 2,500) per annum by FY47.
This aligns with the government’s target of transforming India into a developed economy by
2047.
As per the study, the workforce with a taxable base is expected to increase to 565 million in
FY47 from 313 million in FY23, increasing its share from 59.1% in FY23 to 78% in FY47
Income-tax filers are expected to increase from 70 million in FY23 to 482 million in FY47,
increasing its share in the workforce with a taxable base from 22.4% in FY23 to 85.3% in FY47.
196. Indian warship builder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dempo Group of Goa to build commercial
vessels.
The MoU aims to build vessels at three shipyards of Dempo at Goa and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

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This marks GRSE’s first attempt to build commercial vessels.
197. The Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (MDoNER) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to enhance and accelerate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in north-eastern
regions of India.
198. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has partnered with HSBC to pursue
technological advancements towards making green hydrogen production more efficient,
cost-effective, and scalable.
This partnership will help boost the government’s National Green Hydrogen Mission focused
on providing policy support towards achieving global leadership in green hydrogen
transition.
199. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the following
proposals on 16th August 2023:
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Indian
Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of the
Republic of India and Ministry of Health, Government of the Republic of Suriname for
Recognition of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) in Suriname on cooperation in the field of health
and medicine.
• Cabinet has approved the signing and ratification of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement
(MRA) between the Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of
Revenue, Government of India and the Department of Home Affairs incorporating the
Australian Border Force, Australian Government to provide reciprocal benefits to
accredited and trusted exporters of both the signatories in the clearance of goods by the
Customs authorities of the importing country.
• An MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports of the Republic of
India and the Department of Health and Aged Care of the Government of Australia on
cooperation in sports.
• Cabinet has approved the expansion of the Digital India program with an outlay of
Rs.14,903 crore for five years, from 2021-22 and 2025-26.
• Cabinet has approved the Seven projects of the Ministry of Railways with estimated cost of
around Rs.32,500 Crore, with 100% funding from Central Government. These projects will
cover 35 Districts in 9 States i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. This will increase the existing
network of Indian Railways by 2339 kms.

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200. India & Trinidad and Tobago have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
sharing INDIA STACK, a collection of open APIs and digital public goods that aim to facilitate
identity, data, and payment services on a large scale.
Both sides have agreed to cooperate in the areas of digital transformation by means of
capacity building, training programmes, exchange of best practices, exchange of public
officials and experts, development of pilot or demo solutions, etc.
201. NHPC Limited, in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Universal Health Foundation. The MoU
aims to provide basic infrastructure facilities to Universal Health Foundation for setting up of
Gramin Gyan Jyoti Kendras by NHPC Limited in government schools located in nine villages
of Jodhpur district and one village in Nagore district, in Rajasthan.
202. The Technology Development Board (TDB), under the Government of India, has
partnered with Noccarc Robotics Private Limited, Maharashtra to commercialize digitally-
enabled advanced universal Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilators. The entire technology
has been indigenously developed by Noccarc, with several patents filed for each component
of the ventilator.
203. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for providing QR code-
based DMRC tickets through the IRCTC platform.
204. UK-based SME-focused digital banking services provider Tide has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with the North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development
Corporation (NEHHDC) to empower and digitise the handloom and handicrafts sector in the
Northeastern region.
The MoU aims to foster financial inclusion for nearly 2.1 million handloom weavers and 3.5
million handicraft artisans across 800 clusters in Northeast India and provide them with
greater market access.
205. The Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Artificial Intelligent (AI) based
technologies for robust shipbuilding and enhanced defence sectors.
The Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FDSID) of IISc Bengaluru will assist
GSL in streamlining the shipbuilding procedures, reducing the construction timelines and
uplifting the overall productivity.
206. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has signed a Memorandum of Understandings
(MoUs) with 35 prestigious institutions to foster collaboration in standardization and

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conformity assessment.The institutions included some prominent NITs, Government and
Private Engineering colleges from different states across the country.
207. The Mexican state of Nuevo Leon has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the Government of Uttar Pradesh for investment in several sectors, including tourism,
infrastructure, pharmaceutical and medical sectors.
With this MoU, strong industrial relations are being established between UP and Nuevo Leon.
208. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the merger of Tata Cleantech
Capital Limited (TCCL) and Tata Capital Financial Services Limited (TCFSL) into Tata
Capital Limited (TCL). The proposed combination is a merger of TCFSL and TCCL into TCL.
CCI has also approved the combination involving the acquisition of 90% of the shareholding
of HDFC Credila Financial Services Limited (HDFC Credila) by Kopvoorn B.V., Moss
Investments Limited, Infinity Partners and Defati Investments Holding B.V.
209. Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, a subsidiary of Coromandel International and a leading

Indian drone manufacturer, has bagged a contract worth Rs.165 crore to supply 200
medium altitude logistics drones, along with their accessories, to the Indian Army.
The entity has recently also bagged a 400-drone contract from agri inputs cooperative IFFCO
for supply of agri-spraying drones. These are planned to be delivered over the course of next
12 months.
210. Amazon India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and the Cottage and Rural
Industries Department, Government of Gujarat, to help drive e-commerce exports from
the state.
• Amazon will focus on bringing weavers, artisans and other micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) from Gujarat on Amazon Global Selling, the e-commerce exports
programme.
• The Cottage and Rural Industries Department will identify about 1,000 artisans in
handloom and handicrafts through its Hastkala Setu Yojana programme.
211. Paradip Port Authority has become the fastest major port to handle 50 million metric
ton Cargo in the current fiscal year (FY24). It has exhibited 6.5 percent growth over the
corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The port has handled a record 942 Vessels in comparison to 812 handled in the
corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

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212. Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog, in collaboration with Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and Navars Edutech, has launched the National Space Innovation
Challenge, NSIC 2023, for students of Classes 5 to 12.
The contest aims to foster innovation and curiosity among school students and provide them
with a platform to solve modern-day space technology problems.
The students can submit their entries on the link, navarsedutech.com, from 11th August to
20th September 2023.
The students will have to select one of the problems that falls under any one of the challenge
themes.
213. Apraava Energy, an energy solution providers, has inked a pact with REC Ltd and Power
Finance Corporation (PFC) to get finance of Rs.9,120 crore for funding its wind,
transmission, and advanced metering projects in India.
This collaboration strengthens the strategic roadmap of Apraava Energy for sustainable and
integrated growth in the future.
The pact has been signed during the Green Finance Summit hosted by REC in Goa.
214. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia and India's eGov
Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to tackle the critical
challenge of infectious medical waste management in Indonesia.
The MoU aims to leverage eGov Foundation’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) – DIGIT, to
implement a cohesive solution at speed and scale.
Under this MoU, Indonesia will adopt eGov Foundation’s open-source foundational system
DIGIT Sanitation platform, specifically designed to accommodate contextualisation and the
reuse of components across various waste streams and geographies.
215. Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures (TLMAL) has achieved a significant milestone by
delivering its 200th C-130J Super Hercules empennage, the tail structure located at the rear
of an aircraft for stabilisation.
TLMAL empennages are included in C-130Js operated by seven nations, including India.
These C-130Js support critical worldwide search and rescue, peacekeeping, combat delivery,
maritime patrol, special operations, aerial refueling, commercial cargo transport, medevac
and humanitarian response missions.
216. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and its green hydrogen joint venture partners viz. Indian Oil
Corporation and ReNew, will invest upto USD 4 billion (Rs 32,000 crore) in their green
hydrogen businesses over three-five years.
This is a part of the L&T’s plan to invest around USD 12 billion over the next 5 years.
The key part of this investment involves allocating approximately Rs.500 crore towards the
development of electrolysers.

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217. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Information and Communication
Technology (MICT) of Papua New Guinea to share INDIA STACK, a collection of open APIs
(Application Programming Interfaces) and digital public goods that aim to facilitate identity,
data, and payment services on a large scale.
India Stack is a set of digital infrastructure components that enable the delivery of various
digital services to Indian citizens by utilising Aadhar, eSign, Digilocker, and UPI.
218. The Government of Tamil Nadu has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
the United Kingdom (UK) government to set up a botanical garden in Chengalpattu in
partnership with the Kew Gardens, London.
The garden will conserve and propagate native plant species of Tamil Nadu, including rare,
threatened and endangered species
219. Tata Technologies, an engineering and product development digital services company, has
signed a 10-year Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Government of Chhattisgarh
to modernise 36 government-owned Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) into Industry 4.0 Tech
Hub.
The total cost of the project is Rs.1188.36 crore.
220. Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union Minister of Steel and Civil Aviation, has unveiled the new
logo of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), a public sector
undertaking under the Ministry of Steel, in New Delhi.
The new logo represents past achievements, present commitment and future aspirations of
NMDC.
The new logo, called NMDC 2.0, retains the blue cog symbolizing the mining cycle,
representing the company’s steadfastness and trust earned over the years.
The hand cradling the earth at the center represents NMDC’s commitment to sustainable and
responsible mining, as well as its global aspirations.
The vibrant green color symbolizes growth, renewal, and harmony with nature.
221. The Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has collaborated with Amazon Web Services
(AWS) India to upskill students in cloud computing, data annotation, artificial intelligence (AI),
and machine learning (ML),to boost their capabilities and employability.
This initiative will benefit students enrolled in the institutions under the DGT, an apex
organisation responsible for implementing long-term institutional skill training through an
extensive network of about 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 33 National Skill
Training Institutes (NSTIs), across India.

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222. Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center (ISLRTC) has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Open Schooling
(NIOS) to promote Indian Sign Language (ISL) and collaborate on standardisation and
development of quality learning resources. The MoU has been signed during the 3rd year of
National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 celebrations and 2nd Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sangam at
ITPO, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
223. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), a regulator of natural gas
distribution, has collaborated with World Bank to develop a roadmap for Hydrogen
transmission in Natural Gas (NG) pipelines and City Gas Distribution (CGD) Networks.
The study covers the following aspects:

• Analysis of hydrogen demand and supply.
• Technical assessment of the current pipeline network’s compatibility for hydrogen
blending.
• Evaluation of the commercial potential of the pipeline sector.
• Identification of policy and regulatory bottlenecks.
The study is scheduled to be completed within 16 weeks.

The study’s recommendations include proposing amendments to the regulatory frameworks
to align with the national objective of achieving a hydrogen consumption target of 5 million
metric tonnes per annum by 2030.
224. Google Doodle has observed the 116th birthday of American sculptor, filmmaker and
designer Altina 'Tina' Schinasi on 4th August 2023. She was born on 4th August 1907 in
Manhattan, New York, to immigrant parents.
She was best known for designing the "Harlequin eyeglass frame", popularly known as cat-
eye glasses.
She had patented many inventions throughout her career and produced documentaries too.
225. Amazon India has announced to open its first-ever floating store on Dal Lake in Srinagar,
Kashmir, as part of its last-mile delivery programme "I Have Space".
The store will be open on a houseboat and will provide deliveries to its customers every day
in Srinagar.
This will provide opportunities for small businesses across Srinagar and strengthen Amazon’s
delivery network.
"I Have Space":
This program was launched in 2015. The program has 28,000 local and Kirana partners
across approximately 420 towns and cities in India.

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226. The Ministry of Railways and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras)
have signed a Memorandum of Understanding ((MoU) to establish the India 5G testbed at
the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) in
Secunderabad, Telangana.
The MoU aims to accelerate the indigenisation efforts of Indian Railways in the field of
communications and create a testing facility for Indian Railways.
227. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has signed a term contract with
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the sale of crude oil from the Mumbai
region in Maharashtra.
This agreement marks the first-ever term contract under the Marketing Freedom system of
government.
228. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TMS), the Germany-based leading naval company, has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian defence PSU Mazagon Dock
Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) to jointly overhaul and modernize Indian Naval Ship (INS)
Shankush in order to extend its operational capability.
INS Shankush:
• It belongs to the Shishumar class of submraines and has a speed of 22 knots.
• It is a Sub-Surface Killer (SSK) Class diesel-electric submarine.
• These submarines are developed by the German yard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft
(HDW).
• The first two of these vessels (INS Shishumar and Shankush) were built by HDW at Kiel,
while the remainder (Shalki and Shankul) have been built at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL)
Mumbai.
• The ships were commissioned between 1986 and 1994.
• These submarines have a displacement capacity of 1660 tons when surfaced.
Background:
The Ministry of Defence had signed a Rs.2,725-crore contract with Mumbai-based MDL for
the Medium Refit with Life Certification (MRLC) of INS Shankush, a HDW-class submarine, to
extend its life. It will be delivered by 2026.
229. Five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed between India & Lao
People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) for the implementation of five Quick Impact
Projects (QIPs) in the fields of education, health, water facility and IT.

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The MoUs have been signed during the 3rd round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) held
between India and Lao PDR in Vientiane.
Both sides are led by Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs and H.E.
Phoxay Khaykhamphithoune, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lao PDR,
respectively.
Quick Impact Projects (QIPs):

QIPs were introduced by the Government of India during the 6th Mekong Ganga Cooperation
Ministerial Meeting held in New Delhi in 2012. It aims to benefit CLMV countries (Cambodia,
Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam).
Note: The next round of Foreign Office Consultations will be held in New Delhi.
230. India and eastern European country Moldova have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the agriculture sector through the exchange of
knowledge & technology. The MoU has been signed during a meeting between Minister of
State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje and Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Agriculture & Food Industries of Moldova, Vladimir Bolea held at Krishi Bhawan,
New Delhi.
231. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a Mini Ratna CPSE PSU refinery and
a subsidiary of ONGC, has become the single largest PSU-Refinery (single location) in India for
the year 2022-23.
MRPL achieved this feat by processing 17.14 Million Metric Tons of Crude oil during the past
financial year.
This is also the highest-ever throughput processed by any single-location PSU refinery in
India’s Petroleum refining history.
MRPL processes 10% of the total Crude oil refined by PSU petroleum refineries of the nation.
232. IUCN Species Survival Commission has partnered with Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to
set up the first-ever Center for Species Survival in South Asia (CSS). This partnership aims to
enhance conservation efforts by wildlife experts and specialist groups and safeguard the rich
biodiversity of India.
South Asia's first Centre for Species Survival (CSS) will be set up in India.
This will be the 10th Centre for Species Survival in the world and the first of its kind in South
Asia.
India has great variety of fauna, numbering 92,037 species, of which insects alone include
61,375 species.

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233. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Centre for Development of
Telematics (C-DoT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish
mechanism of technical and institutional cooperation in telecommunications.
Under this MoU, TRAI Centre of Studies and Research (TRAI CSR) and C-DoT have
collaborated to explore the potential of emerging technologies.
The MoU aims to promote cooperation for research on regulatory practices and bridge gaps
in understanding.
234. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with Brookfield Asset Management to manufacture renewable energy and decarbonization
equipment in Australia.
The MoU aims to both accelerate and de-risk Australia’s energy transition by enabling it to
locally produce clean energy equipment such as PV modules, long duration battery storage
and components for wind energy.
235. The Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has handed over the first Radio Frequency (RF)
Seeker of Akash, the Next Generation Weapon System produced at its newly commissioned
state-of-the-art Seeker Facility Centre (SFC), to the Defence Research and Development
Organization (DRDO).
• Seeker is a critical and technology intensive subsystem used in Surface-to-Air Missiles and
Air-to-Air Missiles for target tracking in the terminal phase.
• The RF Seeker has been designed by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat, and produced by
BDL at its state-of-the-art Seeker Facility Centre set up at BDL, Kanchanbagh Unit in
Hyderabad.
Note: Akash is the first indigenously developed Surface-to-Air Missile of India. It is designed
and developed by DRDO. It was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2014.
236. US-based International Battery Company (IBC) has inked a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka government to set up a recyclable lithium-ion
manufacturing unit with an investment of Rs.8000 crore.
The proposed unit will be set up on a 100-acre parcel of land in the Bengaluru rural district.
This will be the 2nd lithium-ion manufacturing facility in Karnataka.

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237. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi campus has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Renewable Energy Development
Agency Limited (IREDA) to initiate the technical assessment of the hospital campus for
converting it into one which is powered by solar energy.
AIIMS has installed a 9 Kilowatt Rooftop Solar plant at its New Delhi campus.
238. NHPC Limited and Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which NHPC will provide CSR support
for distribution of aids and assistive devices to around 1,000 Divyangjans (Persons with
Disabilities) in the vicinity of NHPC Projects located in North and North Eastern states.
239. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General
Administration of Nepal have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) to undertake
the four High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in Nepal under the
grant assistance of the Government of India.
Among the four projects, three will be in the education sector and one project in Water
Supply and Sanitation, at a total estimated cost of Rs.170 million.
The construction of these projects will provide better education facilities and water supply &
sanitation facilities for the local community and improve the quality of life for people in
Nepal.
240. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), under the Ministry of Finance, has upgraded
the status of 2 oil sector Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) namely Oil India Limited
(OIL) and ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL).
• Oil India Limited (OIL) has been upgraded to the status of a Maharatna CPSE. Earlier, it
was a ‘Navratna’ CPSE.
• ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has been upgraded to the status of a Navratna CPSE. Earlier, it
was a Category-I ‘Miniratna’ CPSE.
• With this, OIL will be the 13th Maharatna and OVL will be the 14th Navratna amongst
the CPSEs.
Both OIL & OVL are working under the control of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
(MoP&NG), Government of India.
BANKING & FINANCE

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241. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has acquired a 6.660 percent shareholding in Jio
Financial Services Ltd. (JFSL), formerly known as Reliance Strategic Investments Limited, the
demerged financial arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
The cost of the acquisition of shares is 4.68% of the pre-demerged cost of RIL as per the
notice of the company dated July 19, 2023 to the stock exchanges.
LIC holds a 6.49% stake in Reliance Industries as of June 30, 2023.
242. HDFC Bank has introduced the 'One Pune', a contactless pre-paid card in collaboration
with Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MAHA-Metro) for Pune Metro Rail Project.
The One Pune card will enable seamless digital payments through retail shopping and
transactions as part of the One Nation One Card programme by the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
243. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has reconstituted the Advisory Board on
Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF) that conducts the first level examination of bank
frauds before recommendations or references are made to investigative by agencies such as
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
• Chairperson: Suresh N Patel, former Central Vigilance Commissioner.
• Members: Ravikant, a retired IAS officer; Rajnikant Mishra, former Director General, BSF;
David Rasquinha, former MD of Exim Bank; and Partha Pratim Sengupta, former MD &
CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.
• The tenure of the Chairman/ Members will be for two years with effect from 21st August
2023.
Role of ABBFF:
• The ABBFF has been empowered to examine the role of officials/ wholetime directors
(including ex-officials/ ex-wholetime directors) in public sector banks, public sector
insurance companies; and public sector financial institutions in case of frauds amounting
to Rs.3 crore and above.
• ABBFF has also been empowered to periodically carry out frauds analysis in the financial
system and give input, if any, for policy formulation related to the frauds, to RBI and CVC.
Headquarters of ABBFF is in New Delhi.
244. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs.40 lakh on Axis
Bank for failing to notify the regulator about its acquisition of a stake in CSC e-Governance.

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The transaction under consideration comprised acquisition of a 9.91 percent stake in CSC e-
Governance by Axis Bank and was completed in November 2020.
CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd:
CSC e-Governance is a special-purpose vehicle set up by the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (MeitY) to oversee the implementation of the common services
centre scheme.
245. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has mandated additional disclosures
from Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) that have concentrated holding in a single company
or a group firm with effect from 1st November 2023.
Key points:
• FPIs holding more than 50 percent of their Indian equity assets under management
(AUM) in a single Indian corporate group get 10 days to reduce holdings, followed by
further ownership disclosures.
• FPIs with equity AUM exceeding Rs.25,000 crore have 90 days to reduce holdings.
• If investment remains high after deadlines, 30 days for disclosures, then FPI
registration invalid.
• Invalid registration leads to securities liquidation and market exit within 180 days from
invalidation.
246. HDFC Group has launched its life insurance and asset management services in Gujarat’s
GIFT City’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
Under the banner of HDFC International Life and Re, HDFC Life has established a new entity.
Additionally, HDFC Asset Management Company has brought forth HDFC AMC International
(IFSC) Ltd.
These entities are dedicated to serving Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and the widespread
Indian diaspora.
247. Axis Bank has announced the launch of two lending products powered by the Public Tech
Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC), introduced by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub
(RBIH).
The lender will offer Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and unsecured Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) loans to customers powered by the platform.
Both products will be offered in a completely digital manner and require no submission of
documents by customers.
As a pilot, KCC will be offered in Madhya Pradesh and will be available to customers for up to
Rs.1,60,000 to start with.
MSME loans will be available across the country and will offer loans up to Rs.10 lakh to
customers.

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248. IndusInd Bank has introduced a first-of-its-kind multi-branded credit card, ‘IndusInd Bank
Avios Visa Infinite Credit Card’, for all customers, in partnership with British Airways
Executive Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
This credit card aims to offer best-in-class rewards and benefits to customers, across travel,
wellness and lifestyle experiences.
249. The State Bank of India (SBI) has appointed four directors namely Ketan Shivji Vikamsey,
Mrugank Madhukar Paranjape, Rajesh Kumar Dubey and Dharmendra Singh
Shekhawat to the central board of the bank.
They have been appointed for a period of 3 years with effect from 26th June 2023 to 25th
June 2026.
• Ketan Shivji Vikamsey and Mrugank Madhukar Paranjape have been reappointed as the
director (elected under Section 19(c) of SBI Act 1955) at SBI’s Central board. They have
been holding this position since June 2020.
• Rajesh Kumar Dubey and Dharmendra Singh Shekhawat have replaced B Venugopal and
Ganesh Natarajan, whose tenure as Director ended on 25th June 2023.
250. The State Bank of India (SBI) Foundation has granted Rs.22.5 crore to establish a banking
data and analytics hub at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).
The hub will address the challenges faced by the Indian banking and financial services sector.
The hub is designed to encompass a laboratory area of 10,000 square feet.
251. Canara Bank has introduced its UPI Interoperable Digital Rupee mobile application,
called the “Canara Digital Rupee app”, as a part of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI’s) Central
Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project.
Canara Bank is the first Bank among public and private sector banks to introduce this
feature in Bank’s CBDC mobile app.
The app has been created in accordance with RBI guidelines and is powered by advanced
blockchain technology to ensure great efficiency and security.
252. Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. (MFL), the flagship company of Muthoot Pappachan Group
(Muthoot Blue), has launched “Muthoot FinCorp ONE”, an innovative all-in-one digital
financial platform.
The platform aims to address the diverse financial needs of consumers pan-India while
seamlessly providing a comprehensive suite of financial services, ensuring unmatched
convenience and accessibility.

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253. Airtel Payments Bank has launched an initiative “She Leads Bharat: Udyam” in
collaboration with Mastercard Center for Inclusive Grwoth and Frontier Markets, a Social
Commerce Platform.
• In the first phase, this initiative will enable 100,000 women-owned small businesses in
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to learn and earn via Frontier Markets’ proprietary, flexible
Meri-Saheli platform.
• 10,000 of these women small business owners will be further enabled to grow their
business by becoming Airtel Payments Bank Business Correspondents (BCs).
254. SBI Life Insurance has launched its dedicated 24X7 inbound contact centre to address
before and after purchase queries related to comprehensive insurance solutions provided by
the company.
With this, SBI Life Insurance has become the first to establish a 24X7 inbound contact centre.
This centre is made available to both existing and prospective consumers, 365 days a year.
255. Yes Bank has introduced its advanced mobile banking app called ‘Iris’. It is designed to
cater to both existing and new customers. The app offers access to over 100 features and
services in just a few clicks on a single platform.
It also ensures the safety of the customers’ financial data by incorporating best-in-class safety
features like biometric authentication, SIM binding as well as a two-factor verification.
256. Indian Bank has become the first public sector bank to extend the facility of execution of
online locker agreement through the Digital Document Execution (DDE) platform of
National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL).
Online locker agreement, which is available round the clock, will enhance customer
convenience and reduce the turn-around time of the agreement execution.
Digital Document Execution (DDE):

It is a fully automated contract execution platform with paperless e-stamp and electronic
signature (e-Sign) facility. The e-Sign facility includes Aadhaar-based (OTP/Biometric) and
dongle-based digital signature.
The platform offers individual and multiple signatories to execute documents in sequence,
which will facilitate joint account holders also to execute online locker agreements at their
ease.
257. The IIFL Home Finance Ltd (IIFL HFL), a subsidiary of IIFL Finance, has secured a debt-
funding of up to USD 100 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a
member of the World Bank Group.

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• The debt-funding will help IIFL HFL increase home finance to the economically weaker
sections (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG), including women borrowers.
• Under the loan agreement, 50 percent of funding is earmarked to promote housing
finance for women borrowers, and the remaining is dedicated to financing green housing
for buyers in this underserved segment.
258. Max Life Insurance has launched the ‘NIFTY Smallcap Quality Index Fund’ in the Unit
Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) segment to provide investors with an opportunity to capitalize
on the growth potential of Smallcap companies, aiming for long-term index-linked returns.
• This is the first Smallcap Index Fund of the Life Insurance industry.
• It is based on the NIFTY Smallcap 250 Quality 50 Index that has delivered a 22%
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for 10 years.
259. Bank of Baroda (BoB) has introduced 'Video Re-KYC' which will give individual resident
customers an alternative way to complete the periodic updation of their 'know your
customer' (KYC) documents without having to physically visit the branch.
To avail the Video KYC facility, customers must be Indian residents, above 18 years of age and
must have their Aadhaar number and original PAN Card.
BoB introduced video KYC in 2021 to open full-fledged digital savings accounts.
260. The Jharkhand police has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State
Bank of India (SBI) for police salary package under which the bank would provide different
number of compensations to police personnel in case of any mishap.
The lender will provide accidental insurance cover of Rs.50 lakh, air accidental cover of Rs.1
crore, Rs.50 lakh in case of permanent disability and Rs.30 lakh for partial disability.
261. DBS Bank India has collaborated with five Indian badminton players to enhance its
brand presence in the country and connect with its diverse audience.
The 5 Indian badminton players are: Lakshya Sen, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag
Shetty, Treesa Jolly, and Gayatri Gopichand.
The lender has also launched an outdoor campaign for the collaboration.
The collaboration took place via the sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures which
represents the badminton stars.
262. HDFC Bank has collaborated with Marriott Bonvoy, the acclaimed travel program by
Marriott International, to launch India’s first co-branded hotel credit card in the name of
'Marriott Bonvoy HDFC Bank Credit Card'.

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• The co-branded hotel credit card operates on the esteemed Diners Club platform, a part
of the Discover Global Network.
• The card aims to enhance the travel experience of cardholders by offering exclusive
benefits, rewards, and seamless access to Marriott International’s loyalty program
Marriott Bonvoy.
263. Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company (Kotak Life) has entered into a corporate
agency tie–up with ESAF Small Finance Bank (ESAF Bank) to offer life insurance to
customers.
This tie-up plans to benefit 68 lakh customers of ESAF Bank that will offer a wide range of
tailor-made life insurance products and solutions provided by Kotak Life.
264. Axis Bank has announced that it will raise its stake in Max Life Insurance to 16.2% from
9.99% by infusing Rs.16.12 billion ($194.6 million) through a preferential allotment of shares.
This capital infusion will help Max Life to support its growth ambitions, augment capital
position and improve solvency margins.
265. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) has constituted the Sectoral Committee to address
the unique regulatory landscape and challenges faced by 26 member banks operating within
the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The committee will act as a bridge between the banking industry and regulators.
266. Climate tech startup Chakr Innovation has raised Rs.18 crore (USD 2.2 million) funding
from the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank). The funds are sanctioned under EXIM
Bank’s Ubharte Sitare Programme (USP), for developing the environmental sustainability and
technology sector in India.
267. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in coordination with the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has introduced the option for National Pension
System (NPS) subscribers to view their pension fund corpus alongside their demat securities
and mutual fund holdings using a single Consolidated Account Statement (CAS).
Currently, CAS, which is provided by National Securities Depository Ltd and Central
Depository Services Ltd, offers a consolidated view of personal investments in the securities
market with updated mark-to-market values.
268. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the 3rd edition of the UPI
Safety Awareness Campaign named “UPI Chalega.”
The campaign aims to promote UPI as an easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.

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It also educates users about various features such as UPI LITE, which enables swift low-value
transactions; UPI AUTOPAY, which allows secure and convenient recurring payments using
any UPI application; and UPI Interoperability, which facilitates seamless money transfers
between all UPI-enabled applications.
The UPI Chalega campaign was first launched in 2020 under the guidance of the Financial
Literacy Advisory Committee (FLAC).
269. Broking firm Zerodha has received final approval from the Securities and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI) to launch an Asset Management Company (AMC)- Zerodha Asset Management
Private Limited called as “Zerodha Fund House.”
• Zerodha Fund House is the joint venture (JV) of Zerodha with Smallcase Technologies Private
Limited (smallcase), a fintech platform.
• Vishal Jain has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zerodha Fund House.
In August 2023, Singapore-based Helios Capital Management, which offers Portfolio

Management Services (PMS) has also been granted approval from SEBI to launch a Mutual
Fund Business.
270. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved the
appointment of Amit Jhingran as the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) for SBI Life Insurance Company Limited.
He will succeed Mahesh Kumar Sharma, the incumbent MD & CEO of SBI Life.
271. PayNearby, a fintech platform owned by Nearby Technologies Private Limited, has joined
hands with Protean eGov Technologies (Protean) to provide credit services on the Open
Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) network for last-mile borrowers and Micro, Small &
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Protean will aggregate Loan Service Providers (LSPs) onto a single platform.
Under this association, Protean will be an ONDC technology service provider through
PayNearby’s Distribution as a Service (DaaS) network through over 12 lakhs active PayNearby
outlets.
272. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX), the country's largest commodity
exchange, has selected Lex Carta Pvt as the primary Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) service
provider.
A complaint/dispute initiated through the ODR portal will be referred to an ODR Institution
empaneled by a Market Infrastructure Institution.
The ODR will provide an efficient mechanism for dispute resolution between investors/clients
and all the stakeholders in the securities market.

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273. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 40.5 million loan for integrated
Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Maternal Mental Health in Meghalaya. The
Government of Meghalaya is contributing USD 15.27 million to the project.
The project will strengthen home-based childcare (children 0–1.5 years) and center-based
childcare (1.5–6 years) through daycare (Anganwadi) centers in Meghalaya.
A USD 2 million technical assistance grant from the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient
Asia and the Pacific will help develop guidelines and training curricula for Anganwadi centers
(AWC) staff and ECD educators.
274. Canara Bank has introduced a special savings bank account named “Canara Jeevan
Dhara” for pensioners, and prospective pensioners including all the employees who retired
on a voluntary basis or normal retirements.
The bank offers two variants depending on the pension credit.
• Diamonds account is for up to Rs.50,000.
• Platinum account is for above Rs.50,000.
Interest rate on Jeevan Dhara savings account will be same as regular savings account
which ranges from 2.90% to 4% depending on the balance in the account.
Loan against deposit: Under this account, the bank will offer 0.75% above the deposit rate
for senior citizens.
For customers of this account, the bank will offer top up facility on pension loans.
Concession on medical expenses up to 25 percent for Canara Bank Jeevan Dhaara

customers.
275. Go Digit General Insurance, a digital full stack insurer, has collaborated with Vetina
Healthcare LLP, an animal healthcare solutions provider, to provide pet insurance coverage
for dogs.
• This collaboration will extend 4 distinct coverages like dog’s vet expenses, specific
illnesses, critical illnesses and any third-party liability to Vetina family members.
• The premium will start for as low as Rs.1,879 for a sum Insured of Rs.40,000.
• The policy will be extended to 847 different dog breeds, including pure, cross and indie
breeds.
• The sum insured will range from Rs.40,000 to Rs.1.5 lakh and will be available for pets
aged between 12 weeks to 10 years.

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276. Light Microfinance has joined hands with a fintech firm IppoPay to provide digital lending
to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in rural and semi-urban micro-markets of
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
Coinbase Ventures and Better Capital-backed startup Ippopay offers payments solutions to
about 400,000 merchants.
277. Indian Bank, a public sector undertaking (PSU), has established 10 startup cells across
various cities in India to mark its 117th foundation day (15th August 1907).
The startup cells have been set up in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Chennai, New
Delhi, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Mumbai.
These cells aim to cater to specialized banking needs and promote the growth of the startup
ecosystem in India.
278. IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company has launched a non-linked and non-participating
product named “Guarantee of Life Dreams (G.O.L.D.)” that offers policyholders regular
long-term income.
• The premium paying terms range between 6, 8, and 10 years for policy terms of 30 years
and 40 years.
• The starting premium is as low as Rs.4,176 per month and offers the choice to pay
annually or in instalments.
• The plan offers three income options: immediate, intermediate and deferred.
279. IndusInd Bank has tied up with Tiger FinTech Private Limited, a Bajaj Capital Group
company, to launch the IndusInd Bank Tiger Credit Card, a co-branded credit card powered
by Visa.
The card offers a ‘Magnificent Rewards Program’, where customers earn up-to 6X accelerated
rewards.
The cardholders will also be able to convert their rewards points to air miles and enjoy
discounted foreign currency mark-up of 1.5% on international spends.
280. Societe Generale, a financial services company, has bought shares of private lender
Bandhan Bank for Rs.382 crore through open market transactions.
As per the data, Societe Generale has purchased a total of 1.74 crore equity shares or 1.08
percent stake in Bandhan Bank of which 85.51 lakh shares are bought on the BSE and 89.23
lakh shares on the NSE.
281. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Association of Portfolio
Managers in India (APMI) will jointly set standards for performance audit of Portfolio
Management Services (PMS) players.

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• PMS players are required to conduct a performance audit annually and submit a report
within 60 days after the end of a financial year.
• This performance audit needs to consider all clients’ portfolios managed by the PMS.
• However, performance of advisory clients can be excluded only if it is not published in any
marketing material or website.
• The standard specified by APMI will be effective from 1st October 2023.
282. US-based payments major PayPal has announced the launch of a U.S. dollar-denominated
stablecoin named “PayPal USD” (PYUSD) which is backed by dollar deposits, US treasuries,
and cash equivalents. It will be issued by Paxos Trust Co to PayPal customers in the United
States.
Stablecoin:
It is a type of cryptocurrency that is designed to have a stable value, typically pegged to a
stable asset or reserve, such as a fiat currency like the US dollar or a commodity like gold.
283. Bajaj Finance has partnered with ICICI Lombard General Insurance along with other
partners to provide car and two-wheeler insurance plans on the platform Bajaj Finance
Insurance Mall.
The ICICI Lombard Car and Two-wheeler Insurance policies offer comprehensive damage
coverage, including third-party cover, personal accident cover, No Claim Bonus (NCB), and
various add-on benefits to vehicle owners.
284. Star Health and Allied Insurance (Star Health) has entered into a bancassurance tie-up
with UK-based Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) to enhance the accessibility of health
insurance products through the bank’s extensive distribution network.
Under this tie-up, SCB will offer Star Health’s insurance products through their extensive
branch network across India. SCB currently has 100 branches spread across 42 cities.
Bancassurance is an insurance distribution model where insurance companies partner with
banks to sell policies.
285. Reliance General Insurance Company Limited (RGICL) has signed a contract with the
Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya for the implementation
of the Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) and the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) Phase 6 in Meghalaya.
RGICL emerged as the successful bidder to implement a revised MHIS 6 scheme in

convergence with PMJAY, providing an insurance cover of Rs.5,30,000 for all eligible
beneficiaries on a family floater basis.

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286. Postal Life Insurance (PLI) has introduced a pilot program for “Direct Incentive
Disbursement” in Delhi and Uttarakhand circles to recognize the pivotal role of its sales
force.
This Direct Incentive Disbursement initiative is their agent incentive program under which
agents’ commissions from the previous month directly transferred to their Post Office
Savings Bank (POSB) Accounts resulting in swift and secure transactions.
287. Bandhan Bank has tied up with the Odisha Government to help them strengthen payment
solutions for Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) Ltd. The lender has
provided Point of Sale (PoS) machines to facilitate card payments by tourists.
288. Sashidhar Jagdishan, the MD & CEO of HDFC Bank, has become the highest-paid bank
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in FY23 with Rs.10.55 crore pay.
Among the bank CEOs, Axis Bank's Amitabh Chaudhry's received a payout of Rs.9.75 crore in
FY23 making it the second highest in terms of overall pay, followed by Sandeep Bakhshi of
ICICI Bank, who received a payout of Rs.9.60 crore for the fiscal year.
Kaizad Bharucha, the deputy managing director of HDFC Bank, drew Rs.10 crore for FY23 and
is likely to be the second-highest grossing banker in India.
289. PayU India has partnered with CSC Academy, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the
Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), to provide digital and financial
literacy to the weak and underprivileged segments of society.
Under this, mobile vans will be stationed in and around three districts in Delhi/Gurugram,
Mumbai, and Bengaluru for people between the ages of 15 and 60 to provide financial and
digital literacy instructions as well as other civic services.
The program runs from 1st July 2023 to 30th June 2024.
The Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) from CSC will play a pivotal role in administering this
campaign.
290. The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has launched its subsidiary “India Exim
Finserve IFSC Private Limited (Exim Finserve)” at the GIFT City in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The new entity will initially begin providing factoring services to Indian exporters. Factoring
service involves a business selling its accounts receivable (invoices) to a third party to meet its
short-term liquidity needs.
EXIM Finserve is the first finance company in GIFT City for export financing.
The subsidiary aims to empower exporters with a trio of services:
• Receivables financing
• Risk mitigation against non-payment
• Efficient accounts receivable management

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Note: The first announcement to establish a subsidiary of EXIM Bank for trade refinancing in
GIFT City was made in the Union Budget 2023.
291. AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB) has become the first bank in India to provide 24x7 for
365 days video banking facility to all the customers (including account holders under
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) for free of cost.
This service provides a virtual platform where customers can communicate with a video
banker in real time via video calls, like video conferencing.
292. The 12 public sector banks (PSBs) in India have recorded a cumulative net profit of
Rs.34,774 crore in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-24. In Q1 of FY23, all 12 state-
owned banks had recorded a total profit of Rs.15,306 crore.
Most banks has recorded net interest margin (NIM) of over 3 percent. Pune-based Bank of
Maharashtra has recorded the highest NIM of 3.86 percent, followed by Central Bank at 3.62
percent and Indian Bank at 3.61 percent during the quarter.
During the first quarter, four lenders logged a profit of over 100 percent.
The highest percentage growth has been recorded by Punjab National Bank, which earned
a profit of Rs 1,255 crore against Rs 308 crore in the same quarter of the previous year, a
growth of 307 percent.
It is followed by the State Bank of India (SBI), which recorded a 178 percent bottom line
growth at Rs 16,884 crore and the Bank of India with a 176 percent surge, earned Rs 1,551
crore profit.
293. Airtel Payments Bank has become the first Indian Bank to launch eco-friendly debit
card for its new and existing customers with a savings bank account.
The debit cards will be crafted from re-cycle-Poly Vinyl Chloride (r-PVC) material, a
certified eco-friendly material, against normal PVC cards.
Every batch of 50,000 cards produced would reduce carbon emissions by 350 kilograms.
The card comes in two variants (under Classic variant): Personalised Classic card & Insta
Classic card.
294. Altigreen, India’s top commercial electric vehicle maker, has collaborated with Axis Bank
to provide customized retail financing alternatives to its customers. This will streamline and
simplify the purchasing process and empower customers in their transition to electric
mobility.
295. Swiss impact investor responsAbility Investments AG signed a USD 15 million funding
deal with non-bank lender Electronica Finance to promote green financing in India in line
with its sustainability goal.

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Electronica Finance will use the funding for financing energy-efficient machines and
promoting rooftop solar installation.
296. Paytm Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has entered into an agreement to acquire 10.3
percent stake in Paytm from Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V.
This acquisition will be done via his 100 percent owned overseas entity, Resilient Asset
Management B.V. (Netherlands) and through an off-market transfer.
On the closing of this transaction, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s shareholding in Paytm (direct and
indirect) will increase to 19.42%, while Antfin’s shareholding will reduce to 13.5%.
297. Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has inaugurated the Corporate Debt
Market Development Fund (CDMDF) and initiated the muhurat trading on Limited Purpose
Clearing Corporation mechanism called AMC Repo Clearing Limited (ARCL), in Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
Both the initiatives intend to deepen the functioning of the corporate debt markets.
Corporate Debt Market Development Fund (CDMDF):

CDMDF was first mooted in the Union Budget 2021-22. It is Rs.33,000 crore backstop facility
for Mutual Funds to enhance secondary market liquidity in the Corporate Bond market
during stressed and normal times, thereby instilling confidence amongst participants in
corporate bond market.
It was approved by SEBI in March 2023.
State Bank of India Mutual Fund will be managing the fund.

CDMDF is notified as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) in the form of a Trust under SEBI
(AIF) Regulations.
298. Future Generali India Life Insurance has joined hands with JM Financial Services
Limited to elevate its insurance product offerings and extend its market presence across
India.
This will enable Future Generali to reach a larger customer base of 2.20 lakh and serves to
the various needs of individuals.
299. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has appointed Max
Life Insurance Company Ltd (Max Life) as the “Lead Insurer” for the States of Uttar
Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
The aim is to enhance financial awareness and insurance solutions.

Other Lead Insurer:
Liberty General Insurance has been appointed as the “Lead Insurer” for Delhi by the IRDAI
under State Insurance plan.

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300. As per the latest State Bank of India’s (SBI) Economic Research Report (Ecowrap), India will
become the third-largest economy in the world by FY28 based on actual Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) data as on March 2023.
India currently ranks 5th in the world’s largest economy, accounting for 3.4% of global GDP.
• As per the report, India will surpass both Japan and Germany in 2027 if it develops at the
present current rate of growth.
• India’s GDP is expected to grow by more than 8% in the first quarter of Financial Year
2024 (8.1 – 8.2%).
• India may surpass the 6.5% mark of overall growth in FY24.
301. RazorPay, a payment and banking company, has launched the “MoneySaver Export
Account” for Indian exporters. With this, Indian exporters will now open a smart account in
any country of their choice and receive payments locally via bank transfers on the Razorpay
platform.
This will be India’s first smart account to offer 50% savings on international bank transfers for
exporters, and help save them from high transfer costs, chargebacks and payment failures.
302. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched the ‘Jeevan Kiran’ plan, a new
non-linked, non-participating life insurance policy that ‘returns’ the premiums paid by
policyholders at maturity.
Key features of Jeevan Kiran:

• The policy can be purchased by individuals in the age group of 18-65 years.
• The minimum sum assured under the policy, which comes with tenures of 10-40 years, is
Rs.15 lakh.
• The minimum instalment will be Rs.3,000 under the regular premium option and
Rs.30,000 under the single premium variant.
• The premiums for smokers and non-smokers will vary.
• The minimum age on maturity is 28 years and maximum is 80 years.
303. A list of Coalition Greenwich’s, a division of CRISIL, Share and Quality Leaders, and
Greenwich Excellence Awards 2023 has been released in which HDFC Bank has overtaken
State Bank of India (SBI) as a top ranked bank in the 3 categories of Share and Quality
Leaders Award list.
• In the list of Greenwich Share Leader 2023 (Large Corporate), HDFC Bank has overtaken
SBI and topped the list of Indian Large Corporate Banking Market Penetration-Local
Banks.

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• ICICI Bank has topped the Indian Large Corporate Banking Quality-Local Banks and
emerged as the sole designation for Greenwich Quality Leader 2023 (Large Corporate).
• In the list of Greenwich Share Leader 2023 (Middle Market), HDFC Bank has again
topped the list of Indian Middle Market Banking Market Penetration (Local Banks).
• In the list of Greenwich Quality Leader 2023 (Middle Market), HDFC Bank has shared a
top spot with ICICI Bank in the category of ‘Indian Middle Market Banking Quality-Local
Banks.’
304. The Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a USD
200 million loan as additional financing for the ongoing Rajasthan Secondary Towns
Development Sector Project.
• The additional financing will help improve water supply systems in at least seven towns by
converting groundwater sources to surface water, replacing about 700 km of leaking
water pipes, installing 1,400 km of new water supply pipelines, and providing 77,000
households with water meter connections.
• The amount will also help establish three new water treatment plants.
305. Bengaluru-based CRED, a FinTech company, has launched RuPay credit card-based
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments for its members, in collaboration with the
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The launch of credit-on-UPI will empower CRED's members to utilise their RuPay credit cards
for making payments via UPI.
306. BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB) has elected Thuraiya Hamid Alhashmi, Director
of the International Financial Relations and Organisations Department at the UAE Ministry of
Finance, as a member of its Board of Directors and a Constituency Director.
• She has been appointed following an internal voting process during NDB’s eighth annual
meeting, held recently in Shanghai, China.
• She will become the first Emirati and Arab woman to assume a director’s position at the
New Development Bank, which was established in July 2015 by Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa (BRICS).
307. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (‘SEBI') has introduced a common Online
Dispute Resolution Portal (‘ODR Portal') which will harness online conciliation and online
arbitration for resolution of disputes arising in the Indian Securities Market.

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The provisions of this circular will be implemented in Phases:
First Phase:
• To be completed on or before 1st August 2023 which includes Development of Portal/
Empanelment of ODR Institutions by the Market Infrastructure Institutions (‘MIIs')/
Empanelment of Conciliators and Arbitrators by such ODR Institutions.
• Registration of Trading Members and Depository Participants on the ODR Portal by
15th August 2023.
• Commencement of registering of complaints/disputes against brokers and depository
participants and their resolution on and from 16th August 2023.
Second Phase:
• Registration of all other Market Participants on the ODR Portal by 15th September
2023.
• Commencement of registering of complaints/disputes against all other Market
Participants and their resolution on and from 16th September 2023.
• Implementation of related processes and requirements envisaged in this Circular will
be in effect by 16th September 2023.
308. Paytm, owned by One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), has launched two new cutting-edge
payment devices, the Paytm Pocket Sandbox and Paytm Music Sandbox. Both devices are
equipped with 4G capabilities, providing enhanced convenience for on-the-go merchants.
This is India's first Pocket & Music Soundbox.
309. India's services activity has increased to 62.3 in July 2023 from a Purchasing Managers'
Index (PMI) of 58.5 in June 2023. This is according to statistics issued by S&P Global in August
2023.
This is the highest index reading since June 2010.

• About 29% of survey participants reported higher intakes of new business.
• India’s service sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. It contributes more than
50% in India’s GDP.
• Manufacturing PMI has declined slightly from 57.8 in June 2023 to 57.7 in July 2023.
• Manufacturing has a share of around 18% in GVA.
310. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has joined hands with the
Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE.CO), IIM Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A)

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startup incubator and investor, to establish the SIDBI Accelerator Fund at IIMA’s CIIE.CO with
a total corpus of Rs.40 crore.
The aim is to extend seed investment to early-stage enterprises.

The development is part of SIDBI's "India of Tomorrow" initiative which intends to strengthen
India's developmental and funding ecosystem for early-stage startups.
The corpus will be equally contributed by the two entities.
311. Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank, in collaboration with National Payment
Corporation of India (NPCI), has tied up with Kiwi, a FinTech platform, to bolster 'Credit on
UPI' accessibility on RuPay credit cards.
This enables Kiwi users to seamlessly access the RuPay lifetime free virtual Axis Bank KWIK
credit card through the app.
312. The State Bank of India (SBI) has raised Rs.10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54 percent
through its third infrastructure bond issuance. The proceeds of bonds will be utilised in
enhancing long-term resources for funding infrastructure and the affordable housing
segment. The tenor of these bonds is 15 years.
This is the first issuance of a long-term bond by any bank for this tenor in the current
financial year.
The coupon rate of the bond issuance represents a spread of 13 basis points over the
corresponding FBIL G-Sec par curve.
313. Mastercard has introduced the Cardholder Verification Code (CVC)-less online
transactions for Indian debit and credit cardholders. The aim is to reduce the checkout time
and make CVC-free payment to enhance the payment security.
Note: CVC is the 3-digit number (in case of Visa, Mastercard, and Discover) printed on the
back of debit and credit cards.
314. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a
total amount of Rs.1,974.07 crore to the Rajasthan government under the Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for the financial year 2023-24.
Out of Rs.1,974.07 crore:

• Rs.930.44 crore has been sanctioned for three rural drinking water supply projects in
Ajmer, Jalore, and Kota districts.
• Rs.926.48 crore was sanctioned for the construction of 676 rural roads in the desert and
tribal areas of the state.

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• Rs.117.15 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of 104 veterinary hospitals and
431 sub-centres in all districts of the state.
315. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) Mutual Fund has completed the takeover
of schemes of IDBI Mutual Fund from IDBI Asset Management Limited following the
approval of Competition Commission of India (CCI) in March 2023.
With the completion of the merger, out of 20 schemes of IDBI MF, 10 will be merged with
similar schemes of LIC MF and the remaining 10 will be taken over by LIC MF on standalone
basis, which will take its total scheme count to 38.
The merger aims to offer schemes in the mid-cap, small-cap, gold-fund, and passive fund
segments.
316. Karnataka Bank has hosted the first edition of 'KBL - FinOne', a fintech partnership event,
in Bengaluru with the objective of forging collaborations to develop innovative business
models, providing seamless banking experience and offering a complete product suite.
RBI IN NEWS
317. The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of P. R. Seshadri as the
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of South Indian Bank.
The appointment will be for a period of three years with effect from 1st October 2023.
He will succeed Murali Ramakrishnan.
318. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a centralized web portal named ‘UDGAM’ to
help people track all their unclaimed deposits across different banks in one place.
UDGAM stands for Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access information.

Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology & Allied
Services (IFTAS) and participating banks have collaborated on developing the portal.
The portal will enable users to either claim the deposit amount or make their deposit
accounts operative at their respective banks.
The list of Banks available on Centralised Web Portal for Unclaimed Deposits are: State Bank
of India, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank,
DBS Bank India, and Citibank.
Unclaimed Deposits:
According to RBI, "Unclaimed Deposits" refers to funds held in savings or current accounts
that have remained inactive for duration of 10 years, or in the case of fixed deposits (FDs),
have not been withdrawn within 10 years from the maturity date.
319. In August 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties on
four co-operative banks for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.

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These banks are Ordnance Equipment Factory Prarambhik Sahkari Bank Ltd,
Vishwanathrao Patil Murgud Sahakari Bank Ltd, The Shibpur Co-operative Bank Ltd,
The Chiplun Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd.
• The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.3 lakh on Ordnance Equipment Factory
Prarambhik Sahkari Bank Ltd., Kanpur for non-compliance with specific directions issued
by RBI under Supervisory Action Framework (SAF)
• The Vishwanathrao Patil Murgud Sahakari Bank Ltd., Murgud, Maharashtra is penalised of
Rs.1 lakh for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Exposure Norms and
Statutory/Other Restrictions – UCBs’.
• The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.10,000 on The Shibpur Co-operative Bank
Ltd., West Bengal for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Exposure Norms
and Statutory/Other Restrictions – UCBs’.
• The RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.2 lakh on The Chiplun Urban Co-operative
Bank Ltd., Chiplun, Maharashtra for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on
‘Management of Advances’ and ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts’.
320. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the Scheme of Voluntary Amalgamation of
Hyderabad (Telangana)-based Twin Cities Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd with Hyderabad
(Telangana)-based Kranti Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd.
The scheme of amalgamation will come into force with effect from August 23, 2023.
The branch of Twin Cities Co-operative Urban Bank will function as a branch of Kranti Co-
operative Urban Bank with effect from August 23, 2023.
Note: RBI has the authority to approve the voluntary amalgamation of Urban Cooperative
Banks (UCBs) based on its discretion. This authority is granted under Sub-Section (4) of
Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949.
321. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the Scheme of Voluntary Amalgamation of
Akola (Maharashtra) based Akola Merchant Co-operative Bank Limited with Jalgaon
(Maharashtra) based The Jalgaon Peoples Cooperative Bank Limited. Both of the banks
are Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs).
322. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the upper limit for offline transactions to
Rs.500 from the existing Rs.200 to promote the use of UPI-Lite wallet in areas where internet
connectivity is weak or not available.

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This has been announced in the Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies dated
August 10, 2023.
The total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument, however, remains Rs.2,000.
UPI Lite:
The RBI launched a device wallet called UPI Lite in September 2022 to increase the speed of
small-value transactions on UPI, optimise processing resources for banks and reduce
transaction failures. It currently processes more than 10 million transactions a month.
323. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has chosen global consultancy firms McKinsey and
Company India LLP and Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd India to develop systems using
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for its supervisory functions.
The value of the contract is about Rs.91 crore.
324. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties on four co-operative
banks for deficiencies in regulatory compliance. These banks are Shri Vinayak Sahakari Bank,
Shreeji Bhatia Cooperative Bank, Mizoram Urban Cooperative Development Bank and Vita
Urban Co-operative Bank.
• RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.1.50 lakh on Vita Urban Co-operative Bank
Ltd., Vita, Maharashtra (the bank) for contravention of provisions of certain banking
norms and directions issued by the apex bank on ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts’.
• The Mizoram Urban Cooperative Development Bank Limited, Aizawl (the bank) has
been penalised of Rs.20,000 on for non-compliance with specific directions issued by the
apex bank under Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) and certain provision of ‘RBI’s KYC
directions.
• RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.1.00 lakh on Shreeji Bhatia Cooperative
Bank Ltd., Mumbai (the bank) for non-compliance with specific directions issued by RBI
under the Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) and RBI’s KYC directions.
• RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs.1.50 lakh on Shri Vinayak Sahakari Bank
Ltd, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) for contravention of direction issued by RBI on ‘Placement of
Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’.
325. The Reserve Bank of India's Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI), a measure of the extent
of digitisation of payments across the country, has increased to 395.57 in March 2023 from
377.46 in September 2022 and 349.30 in March 2022.
Digital Payments in India has grown by 13.24 percent in a year through March 2023.

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As per the data, digital payments in India have witnessed a consistent spike from 2018, the
base year for measurement.
Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI):

The RBI introduced the composite Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) in January 2021 with
March 2018 as the base, to capture digitisation of payments.
Parameters that are considered in the measurement of the index are:
• Payment enablers (weight 25 percent)
• Payment infrastructure demand-side factors (10 percent)
• Payment infrastructure supply-side factors (15 percent)
• Payment performance (45 percent)
• Consumer centricity (5 percent)
The index is published on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of four
months.
326. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation of The
Navanirman Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad (Telangana) with Rajadhani Co-
op. Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad (Telangana).
• The branch of The Navanirman Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd will function as a branch of
Rajadhani Co-op. Urban Bank Ltd with effect from August 03, 2023.
• The scheme has been sanctioned in exercise of the powers conferred under the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949.
327. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a report titled ‘Sectoral Deployment of Bank
Credit – June 2023’. As per the report, non-food bank credit has showcased a Year-on-Year
(Y-o-Y) growth of 16.3 percent in June 2023 as compared with 15% in June 2022.
This rise is due to the strong demand for credit from sectors such as services, retail, and
agriculture and allied activities.
• The Food bank credit has showed a decline of -25.4% in June 2023 as compared to a
decline of -55% in June 2022.
• The Total Bank credit has grown at 16.2% in June 2023 from 14.5% in June 2022.
The following highlight shows the non-food bank credit in different sectors in June 2023 as
compared to June 2022:
• Credit growth in the Agriculture and Allied activities sector showed significant
improvement, increasing to 19.7% in June 2023 from 12.9% in June 2022.
• Credit growth in the industry sector registered a positive trend, growing by 8.1% in June
2023, although slightly lower than the 9.5% recorded in June 2022.

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• Credit growth in the services sector has accelerated to 26.7% in June 2023 from 12.8% in
June 2022.
• Personal loans has registered a growth of 20.9% in June 2023 as compared to 18.1% in
June 2022.
328. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently (in Aug 2023) imposed Late Submission Fees
(LSF) of Rs.2,000 crore on four Indian companies for delayed reporting of their overseas
investments. This will impact the overseas work commitments of these firms.
4 Indian companies are ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, and
Oil India Ltd.
RBI has imposed a late submission fee of Rs.500 crore each on the four firms.
State Bank of India (SBI) is the authorized dealer (AD) bank for these public sector
undertakings’ (PSUs’) foreign transactions. It is the work of the AD bank to report and
reconcile their overseas direct investments (ODIs) within the requisite timelines.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION

329. Professor Andrea Rinaldo, the world-renowned hydrologist from Venice, Italy, has been
honoured with the Stockholm Water Prize 2023, considered as the Nobel Prize for Water,
for his ground-breaking research on river networks, demonstrating their significance in the
spread of solutes, aquatic species, and diseases.
Naomi Park from USA has been honoured with the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2023 for
her research on the removal of carbon dioxide and oil products from the ocean.
The awardees have been presented during a ceremony at World Water Week 2023 in
Stockholm.
The award has been awarded by The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
World Water Week:
World Water Week is annually observed across the globe during the last week of August with
an aim to examine the pivotal role of water in addressing several pressing global challenges
such as water crisis, global warming, biodiversity loss, and so on.
In 2023, the week falls on 20th to 24th August.
Theme 2023: “Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World”
330. Five Indian youths have been selected among the group of 17 teen environmental activists
from around the world to be honoured with the 2023 International Young Eco-Hero
Award.
The five young eco-warriors are Eiha Dixit from Meerut, Manya Harsha from Bengaluru,
Nirvaan Somany and Mannat Kaur from New Delhi and Karnav Rastogi from Mumbai.

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331. The winners of the 69th National Film Awards 2023 have been announced at the National
Media Center in New Delhi.
List of winners of the National Film Awards 2023 are:
National Film Awards 2023 Winners
Best Feature Film Rocketry

Best Director Nikhil Mahajan for the film Godavari
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome RRR
Entertainment
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on The Kashmir Files
National Integration
Best Actor Allu Arjun for Pushpa
Best Actress Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi
and Kriti Sanon for Mimi
Best Supporting Actor Pankaj Tripathi for Mimi
Best Supporting Actress Pallavi Joshi for The Kashmir Files
Best Child Artist Bhavin Rabari for Chhello Show
Best Screenplay (Original) Shahi Kabir for Nayattu
Best Screenplay (Adapted) Sanjay Leela Bhansali & Utkarshini
Vashishtha for Gangubai Kathiawadi
Best Dialogue Writer Utkarshini Vashishtha & Prakash
Kapadia for Gangubai Kathiawadi
Best Music Director (Songs) Devi Sri Prasad for Pushpa
Best Music Direction (Background Music) MM Keeravaani for RRR
Best Male Playback Singer Kaala Bhairava for RRR
Best Female Playback Singer Shreya Ghoshal, Iravin Nizhal
Best Lyrics Chandrabose, Konda Polam’s Dham
Dham Dham
Best Hindi Film Sardar Udham
Best Kannada Film 777 Charlie
Best Malayalam Film Home
Best Gujarati Film Chhello Show
Best Tamil Film Kadaisi Vivasayi
Best Telugu Film Uppena
Best Maithili Film Samanantar
Best Mishing Film Boomba Ride
Best Marathi Film Ekda Kaay Zala
Best Bengali Film Kalkokkho
Best Assamese Film Anur
Best Meiteilon Film Eikhoigi Yum
Best Odiya Film Pratikshya
Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Meppadiyan, Vishnu Mohan
Director
Best Film on Social Issues Anunaad – The Resonance
Best Film on Environment Aavasavyuham
Conservation/Preservation
Best Children’s Film Gandhi and Co
Best Audiography (Location Sound Recordist) Arun Asok & Sonu K P, Chavittu
Best Audiography (Sound Designer) Aneesh Basu, Jhilli

iia Best Audiography (Re-recordist of the final Sinoy Joseph, Sardar Udham
mixed track)
Best Choreography Prem Rakshith, RRR
Best Cinematography Avik Mukhopadhayay, Sardar Udham
Best Costume Designer Veera Kapur Ee, Sardar Udham
Best Special Effects Srinivas Mohan, RRR
Best Production Design Dmitrii Malich and Mansi Dhruv Mehta,
Sardar Udham
Best Editing Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gangubai
Kathiawadi
Best Make-up Preetisheel Singh, Gangubai
Kathiawadi
Best Stunt Choreography King Soloman, RRR
Special Jury Award Shershaah, Vishnuvardhan
Special Mention 1. Late Shri Nallandi, Kadaisi Vivasayi
2. Aranya Gupta & Bithan Biswas, Jhilli
3. Indrans, Home 4. Jahanara Begum,
Anur
Best Non-feature film Ek Tha Gaon
Best Direction (Non-feature film) Bakul Matiyani, Smile Please
332. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has visited Greece on 25th August 2023 at the
invitation of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, PM of Greece. This marks the first visit of an Indian PM to
Greece in 40 years.
• During his visit, he has been bestowed with the Greece's second-highest civilian honour,
the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour. He has become the first Indian PM to receive
the honours.
• He highlighted India & Greece’s plan to double the bilateral trade between India and
Greece by 2030 and announced an agreement in the field of agricultural production.
• Both sides acknowledged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the
field of agriculture, which involves the creation of a Hellenic-Indian Joint Sub-committee
on Agriculture.
Civilian Honours bestowed on Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Honour Year
Greece’s Grand Cross of the Order of Honour

France’s Grand Cross of the Legion
Egypt’s Order of the Nile 2023
Papua New Guinea’s Order of Logohu
Fiji’s Order of Fiji
Republic of Palau’s Ebakl Award
Bhutan’s Order of the Druk Gyalpo 2021

iia USA’s Legion of Merit 2020
Bahrain’s King Hamad Order of the Renaissance 2019
Maldives’s Order of the Distinguished Rule of
Nishan Izzuddin
Russia’s Order of St. Andrew award
UAE’s Order of Zayed Award
Palestine’s Grand Collar of the State of Palestine 2018
Award
Afghanistan’s State Order of Ghazi Amir 2016
Amanullah Khan
Saudi Arabia’s Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud
333. The film “Champaran Mutton”, directed by Ranjan Kumar of Film and Television Institute
of India, Pune, has successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the Student Academy Award
category of the Oscar award.
The movie stands along with a competition among 17 films, a remarkable feat considering
the rigorous selection process from an initial pool of 2400 films.
The award is given by Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
The story of the film revolves around a young man of rural Bihar who finds himself jobless
during the challenging period of the lockdown, when countless people have lost their jobs.
Despite facing personal difficulties, the protagonist embarks on a heartfelt journey to win
back the love of a woman he cares deeply for.
334. Myra Grover, author and secretary of the New Delhi Social Workers Association (NDSWA),
has been awarded with the prestigious ‘Empowered Women Icon Award’ by the House of
Lords, UK Parliament, for her contributions to the society in the domain of Mental Wellness.
Dr Gaurav Grover, Chairman of NDSWA, has been honoured with the Bharat Gaurav
Samman by the House of Lords, UK Parliament.
335. The “Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation” for the year 2023
have been awarded to 140 Police personnel, in recognition of their outstanding service in
the investigation.
Among the 140 personnel, 15 are from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), 12 from the
National Investigation Agency (NIA), 10 from Uttar Pradesh, 09 each from Kerala & Rajasthan,
08 from Tamil Nadu, 07 from Madhya Pradesh and 06 from Gujarat and the remaining from
the other States/UTs/Organizations. These include 22 Women Police Officers.
Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation:

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It is an annual medal, instituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the members of Central
Investigating Agencies and State/UT Police Investigating Agencies for excellence in
investigation.
This medal was constituted in 2018, with the objective to promote high professional
standards of investigation of crime and recognize such Excellence in Investigation.
It is announced on 12th of August every year.
336. President of India Draupadi Murmu has approved the 76 Gallantry awards to Armed
Forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel on the eve of Independence Day 2023.
• These include four Kirti Chakra (posthumous), 11 Shaurya Chakras, including five
posthumous, two Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 52 Sena Medals (Gallantry), three Nao Sena
Medal (Gallantry) and four Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).
• The Kirti Chakra awardees who received it posthumously are Dilip Kumar Das, Raj Kumar
Yadava, Bablu Rabha and Sambha Roy, all of the Central Reserve Police Force.
The President has also approved 30 Mention-in-Despatches to the Army, including to Army
dog Madhu (Posthumous), and one to Air Force personnel for their significant contributions
in different military operations.
President has also approved one President’s Tatrakshak Medal and five Tatrakshak
Medals to the Indian Coast Guard personnel for their act of conspicuous gallantry,
exceptional devotion to duty and distinguished service.
337. The National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) team of the
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has won the Gold Award under the Excellence in
Government Process Reengineering for Digital Transformation Category-1 of the Department
of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
NAFIS:
It is a pan-India searchable database of crime and criminal-related fingerprints. It is managed

by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) at the Central fingerprint bureau, based in
New Delhi. The main objective of the web-based application is to collect fingerprint data of all
the criminals from all the states and the Union Territories.
338. The ‘Kamar’ tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Dhamtari district of
Chhattisgarh, has been awarded habitat rights, which will help in the protection of their
culture and livelihood means and enable the government to work for their development.
• Kamar is the first PVTG in the state to get such status.
• Kamar tribe members mainly reside in Gariaband, Dhamtari, Mahasamund and Kanker
districts.
• Their population as per the 2011 census was 26,630.

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• Kamar tribe is divided into sub-habitats which are called as Pali and the sub-habitat
comprise multiple para/tola (settlements). Every para/tola has a traditional leader called
‘Mukhdihvar’ and every Pali has a traditional leader named ‘Mudadaar’.
339. Prem Prakash, a veteran journalist and Founder & Chairman of Asian News International
(ANI), has been honoured with the Global Education Mentor (GEM) Award 2023-Lifetime
Achievement Award in New Delhi.
He has been recognized for his significant contributions to the field of education and
journalism throughout his lifetime.
His notable works: “Reporting India: My Seventy-year Journey as a Journalist (2020)”;
“Afghanistan: The Quest of Peace”; and “The Path of Wars” (2023).
340. The Government of Maharashtra has decided to start the prestigious Udyog Ratna Award
from the year 2023. The first Udyog Ratna Award will be presented to Ratan Tata.
• Ratan Tata received the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Padma Bhushan in 2000.
• In 2023, he also received the Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.
341. Dr Mohamed Reza Mia, Indian-origin South African (SA) and Chairman and Founder of
Johannesburg (SA)-based Pegasus Universal Aerospace (PUA) Company, has won the
2022/2023 National Science and Technology (NSTF)-South32 Awards for outstanding
contributions to Science, Engineering, Technology (SET) and innovation in SA for the category
Innovation Award: Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprise (SMME).
He has been recognized for the design and development of a vertical take-off and landing
aircraft which it is envisaged should create between 7 000 and 11 000 new jobs and the
development of the necessary skills locally.
342. Godrej Security Solutions has won a project to provide an advanced Key Management
System to Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota Range (SDSC-SHAR), India's esteemed
Spaceport. The system will assist in compliance management by establishing a robust
framework for key generation and distribution, ensuring adherence to the highest security
standards.

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BOOKS & AUTHORS
343. The Governor of Goa PS Sreedharan Pillai has launched his recently authored three new
books namely ‘Heritage Trees of Goa’, ‘When Parallel Lines Meet’ and a collection of
poems titled ‘My Dear Poems’.
• West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has unveiled the book ‘Heritage Trees of Goa’.
• Goa state minister for tourism Rohan Khaunte and Jnanpith winner Damodar Mauzo have
released two other books – ‘When Parallel Lines Meet’ and ‘Ente Priya Kavitakal’ (My Dear
Poems).
'Heritage Trees of Goa' is a book that explores centuries-old heritage trees found in Goan
villages and various places of worship, adding to the experience of ‘Goa Sampurna Yatra’.
The second book, ‘When Parallel Lines Meet’, is a contemporary geopolitical book.
The third book named ‘Ente Priya Kavithakal’ represents one of the best depictions of nature,
art and literature.
344. Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan, and Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman have
jointly launched 2 books namely “Kuwi Primer” and “Desia Primer” in Kuwi and Desia
languages at an event held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, to simplify primary education for tribal
education in Odisha.
In this regard, NCERT, for the first time, in collaboration with the Central University of Odisha,
has prepared the 2 books for those children, who are speaking Kuwi and Desia tribal
languages in the undivided Koraput district of Odisha.
345. Indian poet diplomat Abhay Kumar, the Deputy Director General of Indian Council of
Cultural Relations (ICCR), has launched his new book titled as ‘Monsoon: A Poem of Love and
Longing’, a book-length poem running across 150 four-line stanzas, at Kathika Culture Centre
in Old Delhi, Delhi.
The book is published by Sahitya Akademi on the occasion of its 68th anniversary (13th March
2022).
The book narrates a poem that follows the monsoon which originates from Madagascar and
travels to the Srinagar in the Himalayas and back to Madagascar.
346. Union Minister Amit Shah has unveiled the book 'Memories Never Die,' a tribute to the life
and legacy of the late former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam during his two-day visit to the
Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
The book has been co-authored by Dr APJM Nasima Maraikayar and scientist Dr Y. S. Rajan.
This book is an English translation of the Tamil book 'Ninaivugalukku Maranamillai'.

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347. Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State (MoS), Ministry of Defence, has released the book and
illustrations titled “Kargil: Ek Yatri Ki Zubani” authored by Rishi Raj at the Constitution Club
of India, New Delhi. The book which pays tribute to the Martyrs of Kargil War has been
published by Prabhat Prakashan.
The book portrays the lives of all the 527 soldiers, who laid down their lives for our nation in
the Kargil War.
The book highlights the importance of the Kargil Vijay Diwas and giving rich tributes to the
brave soldiers.
PERSON IN NEWS
348. Justice Prakash Shrivastava, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, has been appointed as
the new chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Earlier (July 2023), the Centre had appointed Justice Sheo Kumar Singh as the acting chairperson on
the retirement of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
National Green Tribunal (NGT):
• NGT is established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
• NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals within 6 months of the filing of the
same.
• The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of
India (CJI). There are to be at least 10 and a maximum of 20 full-time Judicial members and Expert
Members in the tribunal.
• They shall hold office for a term of 5 years and are not eligible for reappointment.
• It has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals as a Court.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai
are the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.
349. Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist at Axis Bank and Head of Global Research at Axis Capital, has
been appointed as part-time chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
He will be the second non-bureaucrat after Nandan Nilekani to chair UIDAI.
Previously, J Satyanarayana has served as the part-time Chairman of UIDAI from 12th July 2016 to 15th
April 2019.
Note: The chairperson and the members appointed under the Aadhaar Act hold office for a term of 3
years or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
350. Srettha Thavisin of Pheu Thai Party (PTP) has been elected as the 30th Prime Minister of
Thailand after winning the joint vote of the bicameral parliament.

iia He has succeeded Prayut Chan-o-cha, the 29th PM of Thailand (2014 to 2023), who announced
retirement from politics in July 2023.
351. Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tata Group, has named Indian cricketer Shubman
Gill as its brand ambassador. The company has planned to launch a multi-media campaign featuring
him in the upcoming weeks.
Other brands endorsed by Shubman Gill are: BeatXP, Wings, ITC Engage, Fiama Men, and MuscleBlaze.
352. President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been re-elected to the post for the second
term of five years i.e. (2023-28) and final term. He belongs to the Zimbabwe African National Union-
Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) political party.
He is known as “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness.
He has secured 52.6 percent of the vote against his opponent Nelson Chamisa of political party
Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC) who secured 44 percent votes.
353. Pakistani President Arif Alvi has approved the appointment of Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq
Kakar as the caretaker Prime Minister of the country. He has replaced Shehbaz Sharif.
He has taken the oath as Pakistan's 8th interim Prime Minister, making him the country's
youngest individual to assume this role.
354. England fast bowler Steven Finn has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
He played 36 Tests, 69 One-Day Internationals and 21 T20 Internationals.
He grabbed 14 wickets during the 2010-11 Ashes series and 12 wickets in the 2015 Ashes
series, which England won.
He finished with 125 wickets in Tests, 102 in ODIs and 27 in T20Is.
355. Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has announced his retirement from Test
cricket. He made his Test debut against South Africa at Centurion in 2020, and played three
more Tests thereafter. His last Test was against Bangladesh in Pallekele in 2021.
He has 91 wickets from 58 T20Is and amassed 533 runs with a fifty.
356. Mahmood Ahmed, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH),
has been assigned with the additional charge of the post of Managing Director (MD) of the
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
He is an Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TA&FS) officer of 1993-batch.
He has succeeded Chanchal Kumar.
Other appointments:

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• Anuradha Thakur has been given additional charge as the Director of Serious Fraud
Investigation Office (SFIO) for a period of 6 months with effect from 31st July 2023.
• Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National
Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) on an additional charge basis for a period of 9 months
starting from 5th June 2023.
357. The Government of India (GoI) has appointed R Doraiswamy, Executive Director of LIC, as
the Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). He has been appointed
from the date of assumption of charge of office on or after September 1, 2023 and upto the
date of his superannuation (August 31, 2026) or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
He will replace Mini Ipe, one of the current MDs of LIC, who is set to retire at the end of
August 2023.
358. Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz has announced his retirement from international
cricket. He has played 27 Tests, 91 ODIs and 36 T20Is, picked 237 international wickets.
He last played for Pakistan in December 2020.
He is at 18th position among Pakistan’s top wicket-takers in international cricket, with Wasim
Akram (916 wickets), Waqar Younis (789 wickets) and Imran Khan (544 wickets) in the top
three.
359. Parminder Chopra has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of
Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC) by Govt. of India with effect from 14th August,
2023. With this, she has become the first woman to lead PFC, India’s largest NBFC and a
Maharatna company under the Ministry of Power.
360. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), an Indian Oil marketing company, has
announced cricketer and current Head Coach of the Indian cricket team Rahul Dravid as its
new brand ambassador.
He will endorse BPCL’s Pure for Sure initiative and range of MAK lubricants.
361. Abhijit Chakravorty has taken charge as the new Managing Director (MD) and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of SBI Card with effect from 12th August 2023. He has replaced Rama
Mohan Rao Amara.
SBI Card:
It was launched in 1998 by the State Bank of India and GE Capital. It was incorporated as SBI
Cards and Payment Services Private Limited (SBICPSL). It is headquartered in Gurgaon,
Haryana.

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362. The Government of India has appointed Sanjay Kumar Agarwal as the Chairman of the
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), a part of the Department of Revenue
under the Ministry of Finance.
He has succeeded Vivek Johri.
Other appointment:
Surjit Bhujbal has been appointed as the Member (Compliance Management) of CBIC board
succeeding Sanjay Kumar Agarwal.
363. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for re-employment on a contract basis of Shrikant
Madhav Vaidya, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for a period of one year
beyond the date of his superannuation i.e. with effect from 1st September 2023, till 31st
August 2024 or till the time of appointment of the regular incumbent to the post on contract
basis.
364. Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni has issued a royal decree appointing Hun Manet as
the new Prime Minister of Cambodia for a 5-year term. He will succeed Hun Sen, who has
ruled for about 38 years.
365. The Military Junta of the Republic of Niger has appointed Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine,
an economist and former Minister of Finance of Niger Republic, as a transitional Prime
Minister of Niger.
His appointment comes over a week after mutinous soldiers toppled the country's leadership
and President Mohamed Bazoum.
366. Indian ecologist, scientist, and Asian elephant expert Raman Sukumar has been elected as
Vice-Chair of working group II (WG II) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) bureau for the 7th Assessment Report (AR7) cycle.
Working Group II deals with impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability of climate change.
• Raman Sukumar is best known for his work on the behaviour of Asian elephants and how
their presence has affected both human and natural environments.
• He hails from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
367. Justice Subhash Talapatra, Judge of the Orissa High Court, has been sworn in as the 33rd
Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. The oath has been administered by Prof. Ganeshi Lal,
the Governor of Odisha.
He will retire on 3rd October 2023.

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He has succeeded Justice Dr S Muralidhar.
368. Professor Ganesan Kannabiran has been appointed as the new Director of the National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). He is a senior professor of Information
Systems at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli.
369. Shivendra Nath has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of
Engineering Projects (India) Ltd., a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Currently, he is serving as the senior general manager in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
(BSNL).
370. The Microfinance Industry Network (MFIN) has elected Udaya Kumar Hebbar, MD & CEO
of CreditAccess Grameen Ltd, as its new Chairperson and Manoj Kumar Nambiar, MD of
Arohan Financial Services Ltd, as the Vice Chairperson in its 14th Annual General Meeting
(AGM) in Delhi.
• Udaya Kumar Hebbar has replaced Devesh Sachdev, MD & CEO of Fusion Micro Finance
Ltd.
• Manoj Kumar Nambiar has replaced Vivek Tiwari, MD & CEO of Satya MicroCapital Ltd.
371. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, a renowned Scientist, has been appointed as the Chairman of the
Governing Board of Quantum Ecosystems Technology Council of India (QETCI),
headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• He is a member of NITI Aayog and Co-Chair for the PMSTIAC (Prime Minister’s Science
Technology and Innovation Advisory Committee).
• He served as the Secretary of the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO)
and the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Indian Minister of Defence.
• He has been awarded Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Bhushan in 2013.
372. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved a one-year extension for
Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Union Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs beyond 22nd August
2023, up to 22nd August 2024. This is his 4th extension in the post.
He is a senior IAS officer of 1984 batch, from Assam Meghalaya cadre. He hails from Bihar,
India.
373. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has granted a one-year extension to
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, by making him the longest-serving cabinet secretary in
India’s history. He has been granted an extension for the third time to the post.
He has been given extension for a further period of one year beyond 30th August 2023.

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He is a 1982 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.
He was first appointed as India’s Cabinet secretary in 2019.
OBITUARIES
374. Calayampudi Radhakrishna Rao (C.R. Rao), a prominent Indian American mathematician
and statistician, has recently passed away in New York, USA. He was born on 10th September
1920 in Huvanna Hadagali, Bellary district, Karnataka.
He founded fundamental statistical concepts such as: Cramer–Rao inequality and Rao–
Blackwellization theorem, information geometry, and Fisher–Rao metric.
Awards & Honours:
• International Prize in Statistics (April 2023)
• Padma Bhushan (1968)
• Padma Vibhushan (2001)
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1963)
• India Science Award (2009)
• National Medal of Science (2002)
375. Noted Indian English poet Jayanta Mahapatra has recently passed away in Cuttack,
Odisha. He was born on 22nd October 1928 in Cuttack, Odisha. He is the author of poems
such as "Indian Summer" and "Hunger", which are regarded as classics in modern Indian
English literature.
He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award in 1981 for English poetry.
He was awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009. He
returned the award in 2015 to protest rising intolerance in India.
He received the SAARC Literary Award for the year 2009.
376. American Indian scientist Manchanahalli Rangaswamy Satyanarayana Rao, popularly

known as MRS Rao, has passed away recently in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was born on 21st
January 1948 in Mysore, Karnataka.
He served as the President of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
(JNCASR) from 2003 to 2013.
He was awarded the Padma Shri for Science and Engineering in 2010.
377. Former Indian footballer Mohammed Habib has recently passed away at the age of 74 in
Hyderabad, Telangana. He was born on 17th July 1949 in Hyderabad in undivided Andhra
Pradesh.
He was popularly known as Bade Mia in the Indian football world.

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He won a bronze medal at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok on a team led by Syed
Nayeemuddin and managed by P. K. Banerjee. He scored 11 goals in 35 international match.
378. Renowned social activist Bindeshwar Pathak has passed away recently in New Delhi. He
was born on 2nd April 1943 in Hajipur, Bihar province. He was the founder of Sulabh
International (1970), an India-based social service organisation promoting human rights,
environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and
social reforms through education.
He is a pioneer of Public toilets in India who is known as the ‘Toilet Man of India’.
He was conferred the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in 1991.
He had also been conferred with the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2016 jointly with the Akshaya
Patra Foundation.
379. Indian scientist and the former Director General (DG) of Defence Research and
Development Organization (DRDO), V S Arunachalam, has recently passed away in
California, USA. He hails from Karnataka and was born on 10th November 1935.
He helmed DRDO and was the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister from 1982-92.
He became the first DRDO scientist to head the DRDO.
Awards:
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1980)

• Padma Bhushan (1985)
• Padma Vibhushan (1990)
• DRDO's Lifetime Achievement Award (2015)
380. Australian sprint freestyle swimmer, John Thomas Devitt, has recently passed away in
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was born on 4th February 1937 in Granville, New
South Wales, Australia.
He won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.
He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, in the 4×200-metre
freestyle relay.
Awards:
• He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in
1979 and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1986.

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• He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989, and received an Australian
Sports Medal in 2000.
381. John Warnock, who helped invent the Portable Document Format (PDF) and co-founded
Adobe Systems, has passed away recently at the age of 82. He was born on 6th October 1940
in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
He co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Dr. Charles Geschke after meeting as colleagues at Xerox.
Their first product was Adobe PostScript, groundbreaking technology that sparked the
desktop publishing revolution.
He served as CEO until 2000 & as chief technical officer until his retirement in 2001.
382. William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning American director of films like ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘The
French Connection’, has passed away in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was born on 29th
August 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
His 1971 film “The French Connection”, a crime thriller, won 5 Oscars.
His 1973 film “The Exorcist”, a horror film based on William Peter Blatty’s novel had won the
award for writing (screenplay-based on material from another medium) and for Sound at the
46th Oscars (1974).
His last film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” is set to premiere at the 80th Venice
International Film Festival, Venice, Italy in
September 2023.
383. Polali Jayarama Bhat, the former Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
of Karnataka Bank, has passed away in August 2023. He was born on 14th November 1951,
in Polali, a small town near Mangalore, Karnataka.
He served the Bank for over 48 years from April 1973 to November 2021.
Awards & Honours:
• Aryabhata International Award and the Outstanding Manager Award by Mangalore
Management Association and the A. Shama Rao Memorial Outstanding Achievement
Award.
• T. A. Pai Memorial Shrestha Banker award by Delhi Kannadiga.
• CEO with HR Orientation by Asia Pacific HRM Congress.
• New Year Award-2015 jointly by Manipal University, Academy of General Education and
Syndicate Bank.
384. Noted nuclear physicist Bikash Sinha, a former director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear
Physics (SINP) and the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), has recently passed away in
Kolkata, West Bengal. He was born on 16th June 1945 in Kandi, Murshidabad district, Bengal
province.

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He was conferred by the West Bengal government the state’s highest award
‘Bangabibhushan’ in 2022 and also the ‘Rabindra Smriti Puraskar’ in 2022.
He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhusan in 2010.
385. Indian politician Vakkom Purushothaman has recently passed away in

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was born on 12th April 1928 in Vakkom, Kingdom of
Travancore (Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala).
He served as the Governor of Mizoram from 2011 to 2014, Governor of Tripura (2014),
Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 1982-84 and 2001-2004, state minister and
Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1993-1996).
386. Noted Marathi poet and lyricist Namdeo Dhondo Mahanor, popularly known as Na Dho
Mahanor, has recently passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was born on 16th September
1942 in Palaskheda village, Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra.
He was best known for his poems and lyrics for Marathi movies.
He penned several popular poems and songs, including ‘Jagala Prem Arpave’, ‘Ganga Wahu
De Nirmal’ and ‘Divelaganichi Vel’, and also wrote songs for Marathi movies like ‘Ek Hota
Vidushak’, ‘Jait Re Jait’, ‘Sarja’ and others.
He was awarded Padma Shri in 1991.
SPORTS
387. Indian wrestlers have won 14 medals (4 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze) at the World Under-
20 Wrestling Championships 2023 held in Amman, Jordan, from August 14 to 20.
India has also claimed its first women’s team title at the World Under-20 Wrestling
Championships 2023 with 7 medals (3 Gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze).
Medal Athlete Event
Gold Mohit Kumar Men’s Freestyle 61Kg
Gold Priya Malik Women’s Freestyle 76Kg
Gold Antim Panghal Women’s Freestyle 53Kg
Gold Savita Women’s Freestyle 62Kg
Silver Sagar Jalan Men’s Freestyle 79Kg

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Silver Antim Women’s Freestyle 65Kg
Silver Sumit Men’s Greco Roman 60Kg
Bronze Jaideep Men’s Freestyle 74Kg
Bronze Deepak Chahal Men’s Freestyle 97Kg
Bronze Rajat Ruhal Men’s Freestyle 125Kg
Bronze Arju Women’s Freestyle 68Kg
Bronze Reena Women’s Freestyle 57Kg
Bronze Harshita Mor Women’s Freestyle 72Kg
Bronze Deepak Punia Men’s Greco Roman 77Kg
388. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been named the 'national icon' of the Election
Commission of India (ECI) to spread awareness of the need for greater voter participation in
the electoral process.
He has signed a three-year contract to encourage civic engagement and boost voter
turnout, especially among urban and youth populations.
389. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has inked a global partnership with Mastercard, a
global payment-processing corporation, for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 which is
scheduled to be held in India from October 5 to November 19, 2023.
The aim is to connect cardholders and cricket enthusiasts to priceless experiences

throughout the tournament.
Benefits to Mastercard holders: exclusive 24-hour pre-sale window, chance to meet cricket
players, getting up close to the Men’s Cricket World Cup trophy and a chance for the children
of cardholders (aged between 12-18 years) to be a part of the flagbearer programme.
390. The Indian Women’s Hockey team has won the inaugural Women's Hockey5s Asia Cup
2023 by defeating Thailand (7-2) in the final match held in Salalah, Oman from 25th to 28th
August 2023.
Player of the tournament: Annjai Natthakarn (Thailand), and Goalkeeper of the tournament:
Rumbiak Iryani (Indonesia).
With this, India has qualified for the FIH Women Hockey 5s World Cup Oman 2024, which is
to be held in Muscat, Oman from 24th to 27th January 2024, finishing first in the Elite Group.
391. Alex Hartley, the left-arm spinner who won the ODI World Cup with England in 2017, has
announced her retirement from the international cricket.

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She made her debut for England in 2016 against Pakistan and played 28 one-day
internationals and four T20s.
She was an integral part of England’s successful 2017 World Cup campaign, ending the
tournament as their second-highest wicket taker and claiming 2-58 as they beat India in the
final.
392. WR Chess team has won the 1st edition of World Chess Federation (FIDE) World Rapid
Team Championship 2023 held in Dusseldorf, Germany from 25th to 28th August 2023.
Team freedom has finished second, while the Indian squad of MGD1 has finished third.
The team Columbus Energy Kings of Chess Kraków (Poland) has won 12,500 Euros as the
best-performing team with a rating below 2400.
The special prize ‘Rainer Niermann Cup’ for the best game by a youngster has won by 12-year
old Christian Glockler of Germany for his victory over South African Grand Master (GM)
Kenny Solomon.
393. Neeraj Chopra, 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, has won the gold medal in the men’s
javelin with an 88.17 meter (m) throw in the 19th editions of the World Athletics
Championships (2023) held in Budapest, Hungary.
He is followed by Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan) with a throw of 87.82m and Jakub Vadlejch
(Czech Republic) with a throw of 86.67m.
• With this, Neeraj Chopra has become the first Indian to win gold at the World Athletics
Championships.
• This marks India’s third medal at the World Athletics Championships after Anju Bobby
George’s long jump bronze at Paris 2023 and Neeraj’s silver at Oregon 2022.
• India has finished 18th in the World Athletics Championships 2023.
394. Infosys Limited has announced a three-year partnership with Spanish tennis icon Rafael
Nadal, appointing him as the brand ambassador and the face of Infosys' Digital Innovation.
This marks his first collaboration with Infosys in the development of an AI-powered match
analysis tool.
The company has also entered into a multi-year partnership with women’s tennis World No. 1
Iga Świątek of Poland, appointing her as the ambassador to promote Digital Innovation and
inspire women worldwide.
395. The United World Wrestling Federation (UWW) has decided to suspend the
membership of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) indefinitely. The suspension lies
behind the postponement of elections to designations in WFI due to protests and legal
battles.

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Due to the suspension, the Indian wrestlers won't be able to compete with an Indian flag in
the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. They will have to participate as
‘neutral athletes.’
396. Norwegian Grandmaster (GM) and World No.1 player Magnus Carlsen has won his first
International Chess Federation (FIDE) World Cup title by defeating India’s GM R.
Praggnanandhaa in the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 finals.
With this, R. Praggnanandhaa (Tamil Nadu) has become the first youngest Indian to reach
the semi-final and final.
Fabiano Caruana of the United States of America (USA) has defeated Nijat Asabov of
Azerbaijan to secure the 3rd place.
The 10th edition of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2023 has been held from 29th July to 24th
August 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
397. Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand and An Se-young of South Korea have won the men’s
singles and women’s singles titles respectively in the Badminton World Federation (BWF)
World Championships 2023 held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
H.S. Pronoy of India has won the bronze medal in the men’s singles at the BWF World
Championships 2023.
Winners of BWF World Championships 2023
Men’s singles Kunlavut Vitidsarn

Women’s singles An Se-young
Men’s doubles Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae
Women’s doubles Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan
Mixed doubles Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jung
398. The 7th edition of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2023 has been held in the Mayor
Radhakrishnan Stadium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Indian Men’s Hockey Team has won the
title by defeating Malaysia in the final match.
Malaysia has secured the Silver Medal in the tournament and Japan has secured the Bronze
Medal by defeating South Korea.
This marks India’s 4th win in the tournament including 2011, 2016, 2018, & 2023.
Awards:
· Hero of the tournament: Mandeep Singh (India)
· Hero Top scorer: Harmanpreet Singh (India) 9 Goals
· Emerging Player of the Tournament: Abdul Shahid (Pakistan)
· Best Rising Goalkeeper of the tournament: Takumi Kitagawa (Japan)
· Best Goal Keeper of the tournament: Kim Jaehyeon (South Korea)

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· Maximum Team Goals Award: Team India (29 Goals)
· Fan Choice Award for Best Goal: Selvam Karthi (India)
399. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) chief Adille Sumariwalla has been elected as one of the
vice presidents of the World Athletics (WA) Executive Board. He has been elected during
the 54th world governing body congress held in Budapest, Hungary.
He will sit as one of the four vice presidents for a four-year term on the World Athletics
Executive Board, the highest decision-making body in the global organisation.
This board is composed of the president, four vice presidents, three appointed members and
a non-voting chief executive officer.
With this, he has become the first Indian to be elected to the executive board of the world
governing body in track and field.
400. Spain women’s national football team, also known as La Roja, has won the 2023 FIFA
Women's World Cup by defeating England in the final match held in Stadium Australia,
Sydney.
Spain has become only the second country, after Germany, to win both the Men’s and
Women’s World Cups.
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is the 9th edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup. It has
been hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 20th July to 20th August 2023.
Awards:
• Golden Ball: Aitana Bonmatí (Spain)
• Golden Boot: Hinata Miyazawa (Japan)
• Golden Glove: Mary Earps (England)
• FIFA Young Player Award: Salma Paralluelo (Spain)
• FIFA Fair Play Award: Japan
401. A 17-year-old Chess Grandmaster Gukesh D has surpassed Viswanathan Anand to become
India’s highestranked player in the FIDE rankings. He has defeated Mistradin Iskandarov in
the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, and scored a live rating of
2755.9, while Viswanathan Anand’s rating was at 2754.0.
With this, Gukesh D has moved to World No. 9 in the classic open category. He hails from
Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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402. The 2023 Australian Open, officially known as the Sathio Group Australian Open 2023, has
been held at the State Sports Centre in Sydney, Australia, from 1 to 6 August 2023.
Category Winner Runner up
Men’s Singles Wong Hongyang Prannoy H.S.

(China) (India)
Women’s Singles Beiwen Zhang Kim Ga Eun
(USA) (South Korea)
Men’s Doubles Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Takuro Hoki and Yugo
Seung-jae Kobayashi
(South Korea) (Japan)
Women’s Doubles Kim So-yeong and Kong Liu Shengshu and Tan
Hee-yong Ning
(South Korea) (China)
Mixed Doubles Feng Yanzhe and Huang Hiroki Midorikawa and
Dongping Natsu Saito
(China) (Japan)
403. The 2023 World Archery Championships has been held from 31 July to 6 August 2023 in
Berlin, Germany. The event served as a qualification event for the 2024 Summer Olympics in
Paris, France.
India has topped the medal tally with 4 medals (3 Gold & 1 Bronze). India has won the Gold
for the first time since its 1st edition that held in 1931.
South Korea has secured the 2nd position with 3 medals (2 Gold & 1 Bronze), followed by
Germany, Poland, and Turkiye in 3rd position each with 2 medals (1 Gold & 1 Silver).
Event Winner Medal
Women’s Individual compound Aditi Gopichand Swami Gold
Men’s Individual compound Ojas Pravin Deotale Gold
Women’s Compound Team Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Gold

Parneet Kaur, and Aditi
Gopichand Swami
Women’s Individual Compound Jyothi Surekha Vennam Bronze
404. The Indian weightlifting contingent has finished the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting
Championships 2023 with a total of 42 medals (15 in junior events and 27 in youth
events).
The event has been held at the Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida.
• Jyoshna Sabar from Uttar Pradesh has won the first medal for India for this tournament.
She won 3 bronze medals in the women’s youth 40 kg category (overall snatch, clean, and
jerk).

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• Siddhanta Gogoi has won India’s first gold medal in this tournament in the men’s junior
61kg category including 3 Gold medals in overall snatch, clean, and jerk.
405. Former Nepali national cricket team captain Gyanendra Malla has announced his
retirement from national as well as international cricket. He first played in Nepal’s jersey
against Namibia in Intercontinental Cup in 2006. He made his international debut in 2014
and has since played 37 ODIs and 45 T20Is.
406. The 31st edition of the FISU World University Games 2023 has been held in Chengdu, the
People’s Republic of China, from 28th July 2023 to 8th August 2023.
Hosts China has topped the FISU World University Games medals tally with 178 medals,
including 103 gold.
Japan has finished second with 21 gold medals from a tally of 93, followed by the Republic of
Korea with 17 gold medals from a tally of 58.
India has finished 7th with 26 medals (11 gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze).
Note: the 32nd edition of the World University Games will held in 2025 in Germany.
Indian winners:
Athlete Sport Event Medal
Manu Bhaker Shooting Women’s 10m air pistol Gold
Manu Bhaker, Abhidnya Ashok Shooting Women’s 10m air pistol Gold
Patil and Yashaswini Singh Deswal team
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar Shooting Men's 50m rifle 3P Gold
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar Shooting Men's 10m air rifle Gold
Arjun Babuta, Aishwary Pratap Shooting Men's 10m air rifle team Gold
Singh Tomar and Divyansh Singh
Panwar
Ashi Chouksey, Manini Kaushik Shooting Women’s 50m rifle 3P team Gold
and Sift Kaur Samra
Sift Kaur Samra Shooting Women’s 50m rifle 3P Gold

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Aman Saini and Pragati Archery Mixed compound team Gold
Avneet Kaur Archery Women's compound Gold
Sangampreet Singh Bisla Archery Men's compound Gold
Avneet Kaur, Purvasha and Pragati Archery Women's compound team Silver
Vijayveer Sidhu, Udhayveer Sidhu Shooting Men's 25m pistol rapid fire Silver
and Adarsh Singh team
Divyansh Singh Panwar Shooting Men's 10m air rifle Silver
Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Shooting Mixed 10m air rifle team Silver
Singh Panwar
Ashi Chouksey Shooting Women’s 50m rifle 3P Silver
Aman Saini , Rishab Yadav and Archery Men's compound team Bronze
Sangampreet Singh Bisla
Reeta Sawaiyan, Sangeeta and Archery Women's recurve team Bronze
Tanisha Verma
Aman Saini Archery Men's compound Bronze
Sartaj Singh Tiwana, Surya Pratap Shooting Men's 50m rifle 3P team Bronze
Singh and Aishwary Pratap Singh
Tomar
Varun Tomar, Arjun Singh Cheema Shooting Men’s 10m air pistol team Bronze
and Anmol Jain
Yamini Mourya Judo Women's 57kg Bronze
Bhavani Yadav Athletics Women's long jump Bronze
Jyothi Yarraji Athletics Women's 100m hurdles Bronze
Amlan Borgohain Athletics Men's 200m Bronze
Priyanka Goswami, Mansi Negi, Athletics Women's 20km race walk Bronze
Nikita Lamba and Pooja Kumawat team

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407. England’s Right-handed batsman Alexander Daniel Hales has announced his retirement
from international cricket. He scored an unbeaten 86 runs, which lead England to win over
India in the T20I World Cup 2022 semi-finals in Australia.
He made his debut in a T20I match against India in Manchester (UK) in August 2011.
He played 75 T20Is and scored 2074 runs with a century and 12 half-centuries.
408. The Indian Women’s hockey team, led by goal keeper Savita Punia, has defeated the host
Spain at the 3-nation Torneo del Centenario 2023 by winning the title in Terrassa,
Barcelona, Spain.
This is the first win of Indian’s women team at the 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey
Federation International Tournament 2023.
Indian Men’s hockey team has defeated the Netherlands by securing 3rd place and the
bronze medal in the 4-nation Torneo del Centenario 2023 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain.
409. Red-Bull’s racing driver Max Verstappen (Dutch-Belgium) has won the Formula 1 (F1) MSC
Crusies Belgian Grand Prix 2023 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium.
• This marks his 8th straight win and 10th win of the season 2023.
• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (Mexican) has finished 2nd and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (Monacan)
has finished 3rd.
410. The 2023 Japan Open, a badminton tournament, has been held at Yoyogi National
Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. This is the 4th edition of the tournament.
Prize money: USD 850,000
2023 Japan Open
Category Winners
Men’s singles Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)

Women’s singles An Se-young (South Korea)
Men’s doubles Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin
(Chinese Taipei)
Women’s doubles Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong
(South Korea)
Mixed doubles Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino
(Japan)
411. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has announced his retirement from football. He was
part of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup winning Italian

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team in 2006 in Germany. He retired from international football in 2018 after Italy failed to
qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
He is popularly known as ‘Gigi’ and ‘Superman’.

He was the first goalkeeper to win the Golden Foot Award in 2016.
He was awarded the FIFA’s best men’s Goalkeeper award in 2017.
412. England Cricketer Stuart Christopher John Broad has announced his retirement from all
forms of cricket during the midway of England v/s Australia’s 5th Ashes Test at The Oval
Stadium, London, United Kingdom (UK).
He played for England national team in 167 test matches with 604 wickets. He also played
121 ODI with 178 wickets and 56 T20I matches with 65 wickets.
Other retirements:
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has confirmed his test cricket retirement after the end of the
Ashes series and he will play in other formats of cricket.
413. Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has collaborated with All India
Football Federation (AIFF) to promote football at grass root level. As part of this MoU, from
this edition onwards, a Subroto XI team will be formed in Junior Boys (U-17) category. The
team will participate in AIFF Youth Competition from the 2023-24 season.
Subroto Cup:
SMSES conducts the prestigious Subroto Cup International Football Tournament annually
since 1960, under the aegis of Air Force Sports Control Board. This is a unique football
tournament wherein school teams from all states starting from grass-root level vie for top
honours in football in the country in three categories viz, Sub-junior Boys (U-14), Junior Boys
(U-17) and Junior Girls (U-17).
IMPORTANT DAYS
414. Muslim Women’s Rights Day is observed annually across India on 1st August to celebrate
the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 which
prohibits the practice of Triple Talaq in India. The year 2022 marks the observance of 3rd
Muslim Women’s Rights Day. The day was first observed in 2020.
415. World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is observed annually in the first week (1 to 7 August)
of August every year, supported by WHO (World Health Organization), United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners.
The WBW aims to raise awareness and galvanise action on themes related to breastfeeding.
Theme 2023 (as per WHO): “Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work!”
Theme 2023 (as per World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA): “Enabling
breastfeeding: making a difference for working parents”

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WBW was first observed in 1992.
416. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), has
inaugurated ‘Aviation Security Culture Week’ at its headquarters in New Delhi from 31st
July to 5th August 2023, for the first time in India.
The theme of the ‘Aviation Security Culture Week’ is “See it, Say it, Secure it”.
The idea behind this week is to make passengers aware about prohibited things they should
not carry while travelling.
417. World FinTech Day is observed annually on 1st August to recognize financial technology
and its transformative impact on the global financial industry. The day marks the death
anniversary of Cosima de’ Medici in 1464. He was a 15th century Italian politician and banker
who established the Medici Bank and influenced the present-day banking system.
418. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources
and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.
In 2023, the day falls on 2nd August.
419. Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) is observed annually on 3rd August to commemorate
the first successful deceased heart transplant in India in 1994 after the promulgation of The
Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.
The day was first observed in 2010 to spread awareness about brain stem death and organ
donation, dispel myths and misconceptions associated with organ donation.
Angdaan Mahotsav:
In 2023, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, an awareness campaign for organ donation
“Angdaan Mahotsav” has been observed all over the country reaching from city to village
level with involvement of Central Government Ministries, State/UT
Government/Hospitals/Institutions and medical Colleges, NGOs and other stakeholders.
As part of the campaign, the month of July 2023 was observed as the Organ Donation month.
13th Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD):

• Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare has addressed
the 13th Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) ceremony in New Delhi.
• The 13th IODD ceremony is held to felicitate deceased donor families for their brave
decision of donating organs of their loved ones, to spread awareness on deceased organ
donation and to recognize the contribution of medical professionals working in the field
of organ donation and transplantation by awarding them.

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420. National Bone & Joint Day is observed annually on 4th August across India to increase
awareness about the importance of bone & joint health and to educate people about
preventive measures and early detection of various musculoskeletal disorders and
conditions.
The day was first observed in 2012.

The Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) has launched the 2023 campaign under the theme
“Each One Train One Save One.”
421. National Handloom Day is observed annually on 7th August to honour the handloom
weaving community and highlight the contribution of this sector in the socio-economic
development of the country.
The year 2023 marks the 9th anniversary of National Handloom Day.
Theme 2023: “Handloom for Sustainable Fashion”
The Swadeshi Movement was also launched on the same date in the year 1905. The first
National Handloom Day was inaugurated on 7 August 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in Chennai.
422. National Javelin Day is observed annually by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on 7th
August to encourage javelin throw pan-India. The day also commemorate one of the greatest
moments in India’s sporting history, Neeraj Chopra's Olympic gold medal. On this day in
2021, Neeraj Chopra produced the 87.58m effort in Tokyo to secure India's first track and
field medal in the Olympic Games. The year 2023 marks the observance of the second
National Javelin Day.
423. ASEAN Day is observed annually on 8th August to commemorate the foundation of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional intergovernmental organisation
that fosters cooperation and integration among its ten member states in Southeast Asia.
The year 2023 marks the observance of the 56th ASEAN Day and the theme is “Promoting
Regional Sustainable Growth”.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):

It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation. It was
founded in August 1967 with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by
the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. Its chairmanship rotates annually.
It is a group of ten Southeast Asian states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN Secretariat is based in
Indonesia, Jakarta.
• Indonesia is the chair of ASEAN for 2023.
• ASEAN 2023 chairmanship theme: “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”.

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424. International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, also known as World Tribal Day, is
observed annually on 9th August to acknowledge the contributions and achievements of the
indigenous communities around the globe.
The United Nations General Assembly on 23rd December 1994 decided to observe
International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples annually on 9th of August. The day was
first observed in 1995.
Theme 2023: “Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination”

Globally, 47% of all indigenous peoples in employment have no education, compared to 17%
of their non-indigenous counterparts. This gap is even wider for women.
425. Nagasaki Day is observed annually on 9th August. On this day, US dropped an atomic
bomb on the Nagasaki city of Japan in 1945 during World War II. The first bomb was dropped
on the city of Hiroshima and the second was dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August which killed
around 74,000 people or more. Bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was known as “Fat
Man”. The year 2023 marks the 78th anniversary of this incident.
426. World Biofuel Day is observed annually on 10th August to raise awareness regarding the
significance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels. It is organized by
the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil and Gas. The day was first celebrated in the
year 2015.
The day is also celebrated in honour of Sir Rudolf Diesel. He was the inventor of the diesel
engine and was the first to predict the possibility of vegetable oil replacing fossil fuels in
1893.
427. World Lion Day is observed annually on August 10 to create awareness regarding the
conservation of lions. The day was first observed in 2013 by wildlife filmmakers Dereck and
Beverly Joubert, the co-founders of National Geographic and the Big Cats initiative.
The lion is divided into two subspecies: the African lion (Panthera leo leo) and the Asiatic lion
(Panthera leo persica).
Lion (Panthera Leo) is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ and Asiatic lion is classified as ‘Endangered’ on
IUCN Red list.
428. World Steelpan Day is observed annually on 11th August to spread awareness about the
cultural and historical significance of the steelpan as well as its link to sustainable
development.
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The year 2023 marks the observance of the 1st World Steelpan Day.
429. World Elephant Day is observed annually on 12 August to raise awareness about the
issues threatening elephants. The year 2023 marks the 12th anniversary of this day. It was
first observed in the year 2012. In the IUCN Red List of threatened species, African elephants
are listed as Vulnerable and Asian elephants as Endangered.
430. International Youth Day is observed annually on 12th August to recognise and bring
attention to the problems faced by the youth in the world. This day also emphasizes the need
for the youth to have opportunities for education, healthcare, jobs, and the importance of
their participation in public life. The day was first celebrated in the year 2000.
Theme 2023: “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World”
431. Partition Horrors Remembrance Day or Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas is observed
annually across India on 14th August to acknowledge the pain undergone by Indians due to
the partition of India in 1947. It is estimated that between one to two million people died
during the partition of the country.
The year 2023 marks the observance of the 2nd Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.
432. World Humanitarian Day is observed annually on 19th August to honour individuals who
indulge in humanitarian work. The day is also marked in memory of the Canal Hotel bomb
attack (19th August 2003) in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 22 people, including Sergio Vieira Mello,
Chief Humanitarian in Iraq.
The day is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(UNOCHA). The day was first observed in 2009.
The tagline of the campaign 2023 is “NoMatterWhat”.
433. Renewable Energy Day, also known as Akshay Urja Diwas, is observed annually across
India on 20th August to raise awareness about the development and adoption of renewable
energy in India. The day was initiated in 2004 by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The day also commemorates the birthday of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
434. Sadbhavna Diwas is observed annually on 20th August to commemorate the birth
anniversary of late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. This day is observed to
encourage national integration, peace, affection and communal harmony among Indian
people of all religions.

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The year 2023 marks the observance of the 79th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
The day was instituted in 1992 by Congress.
Rajiv Gandhi:
He was born on 20th August 1944 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was an Indian politician
representative of the Indian National Congress. He served as the 6th Prime Minister of India
from 1984 to 1989. He was the youngest Prime Minister of India. He was assassinated on 21
May 1991 in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. He was awarded Bharat Ratna (posthumously) in
1991.
435. International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism is

observed annually on 21st August to support and pay tribute to the victims and survivors of
terrorism. It also aims to promote and protect fundamental freedoms and human rights of
victims.
The year 2023 marks the observance of the 6th International Day of Remembrance and
Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.
Theme 2023: “Legacy: Finding Hope and Building a Peaceful Future.”
436. Internaut Day is observed annually on 23rd August to mark the day when the World Wide
Web (WWW) was opened to the public back in the year 1991 for the first time by WWW
inventor Tim Berners Lee as he allowed its access.
An “internaut” is a person who possesses a thorough knowledge of how to use the Internet
and its history.
Tim Berners Lee, an English computer scientist, had invented the World Wide Web in 1989,
while working at the CERN.
437. World Gujarati Language Day is observed annually on 24 August to commemorate the
birth anniversary of the great writer of Gujarat ‘Veer Narmad’. He has made Gujarati
literature international.
Veer Narmad:
He was born on 24th August 1833 in Surat, Gujarat. His full name was Narmadashankar
Lalshankar Dave. He is considered to be the founder of the Gujarati language. His poem Jai
Jai Garavi Gujarat is now the state anthem of Gujarat.
438. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that 23rd August of every year will be observed
as “National Space Day” across India to mark the soft landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the
moon.

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The announcement has been made while addressing the team of Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) Scientists at the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network
Mission Control Complex (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The day will celebrate the spirit the Science, Technology, and Innovation, and inspire younger
generations to get involved in the field of science, technology, and space.
Note: India has become the 1st country to reach near the Moon’s South Pole and the 4th to
land a spacecraft on the lunar surface.
439. National Sports Day is observed annually across India on August 29 to commemorate the
birth anniversary of Hockey Wizard Major Dhyan Chand. The day was first observed in 2012
as a tribute to Major Dhyan Chand. The day aims to spread awareness about the importance
of sports and the benefits of being physically active in life.
The President gives away sport-related awards such as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
Award (formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna), Arjuna Award and Dronacharya Award
on this day.
Major Dhyan Chand:

He was born on 29th August 1905, in Prayagraj (formerly known as Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh.
His original name was Dhyan Singh. He joined the British Indian Army as a sepoy at the age of
16. He exclusively played in army hockey tournaments between 1922 and 1926. He played his
first international match in 1948.
He played a key role in India's three consecutive Olympic triumphs in 1928, 1932 and 1936.
He is often referred to as ‘The Wizard’ for his incredible hockey skills, he scored over 400
goals in his career that lasted from 1926 to 1948. He was the Captain of the Indian hockey
team who won the gold medal at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. He was awarded India's third
highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1956.
440. National Small Industry Day is observed annually across India on 30th August to
encourage and shape government policies to enhance the efficiency of the small-scale sector.
Government Initiatives for Small Industries:

• Champions Portal
• UDYAM
• National SC-ST Hub
List of Important Days of August 2023:

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Important Day Date/Month Theme for 2023 Remark
World Lung Cancer 1st August Pearl or white is the colour of

Day the Lung Cancer Awareness
ribbon.
November is observed as Lung
Cancer Awareness Month.
Muslim Women’s 1st August

Rights Day
World Wide Web 1st August World Wide Web (WWW) was
Day introduced by Tim Berners Lee
on 1st August 1991.
World FinTech Day 1st August
World Breastfeeding 1st to 7th August Let’s make

Week breastfeeding and
work, work (as per
WHO) and
Enabling
breastfeeding:
making a
difference for
working parents
(as per WABA)
Earth Overshoot Day 2nd August
(2023)
Indian Organ 3rd August The day was first observed in
Donation Day 2010.
National Bone & 4th August
Joint Day
Hiroshima Day 6th August The year 2023 marks the 78th
anniversary of Hiroshima Day.
National Handloom 7th August Handloom for The day was first observed in
Day Sustainable 2015.
Fashion
National Javelin Day 7th August
ASEAN Day 8th August Stronger Together
Nagasaki Day 9th August
International Day of 9th August Indigenous youth

the World’s as agents of
Indigenous Peoples change for self-
determination
World Lion Day 10th August The day was first observed in
2013.
World Biofuel Day 10th August The day was first observed in
2015.
World Steelpan Day 11th August

iia World Elephant Day 12th August Ending the Illegal
Wildlife Trade
International Youth 12th August Intergenerational
Day Solidarity:
Creating a World
for All Ages
International 13th August The day was first observed in
Lefthanders Day 1976.
World Organ 13th August Step up to
Donation Day volunteer; need
more organ donors
to fill the lacunae
Partition Horrors 14th August
Remembrance Day
Independence Day 15th August
of India
World Photography 19th August Landscapes The day was first observed in
Day 2010.
World Humanitarian 19th August
Day
World Mosquito Day 20th August
Sadbhavna Diwas 20th August The year 2023 marks the

observance of the 79th birth
anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Renewable Energy 20th August The day was first observed in
Day 2004.
World Senior 21st August
Citizen’s Day
International Day of 21st August Legacy
Remembrance and
Tribute to the
Victims of Terrorism
International Day 22nd August
Commemorating the
Victims of Acts of
Violence Based on
Religion or Belief
Internaut Day 23rd August The day marks the invention of
the World Wide Web (WWW).
Tim Berners Lee invented the
WWW in 1989.
International Day for 23rd August
the Remembrance of
the Slave Trade and
its Abolition
World Water Week 20th August-24th Seeds of Change:
August 2023 Innovative
Solutions for a
Water-Wise World
th
World Gujarati 24 August The day commemorate the birth
Language Day anniversary of the great writer of
Gujarat ‘Veer Narmad’

iia International Dog 26th August
Day
Women’s Equality 26th August The day is observed annually
Day across the USA.
International Day 29th August The day was first observed in
against Nuclear 2010.
Tests
National Sports Day 29th August The day commemorate the birth
anniversary of Hockey Wizard
Major Dhyan Chand.
National Small 30th August
Industry Day
International Day of 30th August The day was first observed in
the Victims of 2011.
Enforced
Disappearances
International Whale 30th August
Shark Day
International Day for 31st August The day was first observed in
People of African 2021.
Descent
World Sanskrit Day 31st August The day is annually observed
2023 across India on the Poornima
Tithi of Shravana month in the
Hindu Calendar. The day was
first observed in 1969.

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Monthly Current Affairs August 2023

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Swathi Mk II Radar or Swati Mountains:

• It is an advanced electronically scanned phased array radar.

• It is specifically designed for operations in mountainous and high-altitude areas.

• It has been developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru.

Weapon Locating Radar (WLR):

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A total of 46 delegates including 17 Speakers of legislative assemblies, Deputy Speakers,

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Chair of G20 DEWG: Alkesh Kumar Sharma

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for mechanised infantry and armoured regiments.

Laying Tank (BLT) have also been approved by the DAC.

Project Shakti has also been accorded.

12. Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce

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Business Summit held on 6th March 2023 in Kuala Lumpur.

financial stability as priority areas of cooperation.

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• It consists of indigenous LM Vikram, Propulsion Module (PM), and Rover named

lunar day or 14 earth days.

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• Maximise academia, MSME, and start-up participation in the development of cutting-edge

• Attract and retain high-quality manpower, including a system of project-based manpower

by a proper system of incentives and disincentives, with strict performance accountability,

and weed out the non-performers.

• Utilize the expertise of NRIs/foreign consultants, inter-country collaborations for

development of cutting edge and disruptive defence technologies.

• Modernize administrative, personnel and financial systems to achieve speedier

• Rationalisation of laboratory structures and their performance evaluation process.

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pressing problems, we face in our daily lives.

(Higher Education Institution (HEI) students).

Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles.

Outcome Document and Chair’s Summary.

Key points from document:

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various dimensions of an effective transition to paperless trade.

information for MSMEs.

Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for professional services and supported the

development of a Presidency’s Compendium of best practices on MRAs for Professional

Development and Inclusive Multilateralism".

• This is the first-in-person BRICS summit since 2019.

B: Breaking barriers; R: Revitalising economies; I: Inspiring Innovation; C: Creating

• India has suggested the formation of a BRICS Space Exploration Consortium.

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• TRINETRA is a combination of multiple Security systems like Security information and

Intelligence and others.

and resolution of cyber-threats (Virus, Malware, Ransomware, Spyware etc.).

• It also performs security evaluation of organization’s IT assets by protecting endpoints

including PC, Laptop, Servers and Virtual Machines.

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Key achievements of NAPS include:

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The year 2023 marks the 27th edition of Exercise Malabar.

Malabar 2023 has been conducted in two phases.

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This institution operates independently under the Ministry of Culture.

Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML):

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, is spearheading

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