Good morning
2021 Aug 11,2021
Today’s top Newspaper Headlines
1. More than 51 crore 45 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses administered so far; Recovery Rate stands at 97.4%.
2. The Lok Sabha on 10 Aug (Tuesday) passed the Constitution 127th Amendment Bill, 2021 with unanimous support from the House and not a single vote against.
3. The Constitution 127th Amendment Bill, 2021 seeks to restore the power of State governments to identify Other Backward Classes that are socially and economically backward after a Supreme Court order in May 2021. The bill should be considered as the 105th Constitution Amendment bill after being renumbered.
4. The 127th Amendment Bill proposes to insert three new articles in the Constitution:-
*Article 342A* – deals with the Central List of the socially and educationally backward classes. The Bill proposes to authorise the States to have their own list of socially and educationally backward class (SEBC) [342A(3).
*Article 366(26C)–* defines the socially & educationally backward classes as such backward. classes as are so deemed under article 342A for the purposes of the Central Government or the State or Union territory.
*Article 338B – has constituted the National Commission for Backward Classes. The Bill adds a provison to the article, proposing that this clause shall not be applicable to Article 342A(3) i.e., States/ Union Territories power to make their own list.
5. The Bill seeks to empower the State Government and Union territories to prepare and maintain their own State List/ Union territory List of socially and educationally backward class (SEBC)s and with a view to maintain the federal structure of this country.
6. Ujjwala 2.0 Gas connection scheme launched by PM Modi, he said scheme is to provide maximum benefit to lakhs of migrant labour families.
7. Govt to organise Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 throughout country as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
8. The state governments cannot withdraw pending criminal cases against MPs and MLAs without the approval of the high courts, the Supreme Court said.
9. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has ordered the disclosure of the total number of EVMs and VVPATs that showed defects and errors during testing and evaluation of their firmware by the Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate.
10. The RBI will start imposing penalty on banks in case the ATMs remain out-of-cash for a total period of 10 hours in a month from October 1, 2021, onwards.
11. 99.9% students passed Class 10 SSLC exams in Karnataka, says state Education Minister BC Nagesh.
12. Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has called for a full-fledged survey of Wakf lands across the state and to protect them besides establishing a Wakf tribunal in Kurnool. He also said that there was an urgent need to construct new cemeteries for minority sections in the current fiscal. He urged officials to ensure payment of honorarium to imams, mouzans and pastors promptly.
13. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, speaking at a book launch event, said Triple Talaq Cases Dropped By 80% After Enactment Of Law.
14. Punjab Police on 10 Aug (Tuesday) seized 13.72 kg heroin from a village near the India-Pakistan border.
15. Haryana Extends Lockdown Till August 23; Lifts Curbs On Malls, Shops.
16. Mumbai Local Trains Open From August 15 To Fully Vaccinated People. People can take passes either from app or from offices.
17. The Education Department of Delhi has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the reopening of schools in the state for the students of 10 to 12 classes.
18. Supply of essential commodities is gradually returning to normalcy in Mizoram as trucks carrying goods are entering the state from neighbouring Assam through National Highway-306.
19. Army given allocation of Rs 2.84 trn between 2017-18 and 2021-22: The Indian Army has been given a budgetary allocation of Rs 2.84 lakh crore between 2017-18 and 2021-22 as against Rs 2.22 lakh crore in the previous five-year period, the govt said in the Rajya Sabha.
20. India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant on Sunday successfully completed a five-day maiden sea voyage as the performance of the key systems of the 40,000-tonne warship was found to be satisfactory, The aircraft carrier, built at a cost of around Rs 23,000 crore, set sail on Wednesday for the crucial sea trials ahead of its planned induction into the Indian Navy by August next year.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. India & Israel on 09 Aug (Monday) held a fruitful discussion to deepen their defence and industrial ties, reviewing the ongoing cooperation.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said.
2. Russia willing to offer localized manufacturing partnership to India in civilian aircraft: Rostec (Russian Industrial major) CEO said.
3. In pursuance of India’s ‘Act East’ Policy, Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt arrived at Muara, Brunei on Sunday to participate in various bilateral professional interactions and to conduct bilateral exercises with Royal Brunei Navy.
4. A free trade agreement between India & Australia would be an important sign of the “democratic world’s tilt away from China”, Australian special trade envoy Tony Abbott said. Actually Australia and India launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in May 2011.
5. What is FTA?
A Free trade Agreement (FTA) is an agreement between two or more countries where the countries agree on certain obligations that affect trade in goods and services, and protections for investors and intellectual property rights, among other topics. FTAs are treaties between two or more countries designed to reduce or eliminate certain barriers to trade and investment, and to facilitate stronger trade and commercial ties between participating countries.
6. More than 8000 Myanmar nationals crossed into India since the country saw a coup in February,* the Defence Ministry in a statement in Parliament said today. Of the more than 8000, more than 5,500 have been “pushed back” while over 2500 are still in India.
7. No cases of infiltration have been reported at the Indo-China border during 2021, the Ministry of Defence told .
8. Canada extended the ban on direct flights from India till September 21 due to risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
MORE WORLD NEWS
1. Afghan govt forces were fighting the Taliban for a string of southern cities, after the insurgents took control of five provincial capitals in a 72-hour weekend blitz.
2. Greece, wildfires are continuing to rip through the Evia Island, prompting residents to flee to safety by sea. More than 2,000 people have been evacuated. Greece and neighbouring Turkey have been battling devastating blazes for nearly two weeks as the region suffers its worst heatwave in decades.
3. China has recalled its ambassador to Lithuania in protest over Lithuania’s recent decision that it will allow the Taiwan government to set up “representative offices” in the name of “Taiwan.” It would be the self-ruled island’s first such de facto embassy in Europe to bear the name “Taiwan”, which Beijing sees as a violation of its one-China policy. Normally only “Taipei” is used.
4. Chinese researchers found that people infected with Delta carry 1,260 times more viruses in their noses compared with the original version of the coronavirus.
5. New York Lt Gov Kathy Hochul Set to Become State’s First Woman Governor After Cuomo Resigns
SPORTS
1. India signed off the Tokyo Games with seven medals –
1 in athletics,
2 in wrestling,
1 in weightlifting,
1 in hockey,
1 in boxing, and
1 in badminton. With this, India also went past the mark of 6 medals, which was the country’s best ever medal haul at a single edition of the Games before this (London, 2012) to register their most successful Olympic outing of all time.
2. *Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra* won India’s first-ever track-and-field Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, while *PV Sindhu* won bronze in badminton, boxer *Lovlina Borgohain* won a bronze medal in boxing, the Indian *men’s hockey team* broke a 41 year jinx by winning a bronze, *Mirabai Chanu* won silver in weightlifting, and wrestlers *Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia* clinched silver and bronze respectively.
3. Former Australian Fast bowler Shaun Tait has been appointed Afghanistan National team’s bowling coach and new batting coach from Sri Lanka for their forthcoming series against Pakistan.
4. PM Modi on 10 Aug (Tuesday) said the renaming of the “Khel Ratna” award in the honour of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand will inspire “crores of youngsters”. The award was originally named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
5. Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General M M Naravane on Tuesday met Neeraj Chopra and complimented him on winning the gold medal in javelin throw at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.
6. Hockey Women: The Haryana government will also honour the nine women’s hockey players of the state with a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each while an equal amount would be given to each sportsperson of the state who stood at the fourth position in any event in the Olympics