Today’s Headlines
1. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman launched the National Monetisation Pipeline.
2. National Motenisation Pipeline talks about brownfield assets where investment is already being made and where there are assets either languishing or not fully monetized or under-utilized.
3. The Finance Minister said, by bringing in private participation, Govt is going to monetize assets better and with whatever resource obtained by monetization, Government will be able to put in for further investment into infrastructure building.
4. The National Investigation Agency has alleged that the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case recruited students from well-known institutes like Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for commission of terrorist activity.
5. The Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is coming up with several competitions to engage young minds in the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav activities. Under the spirit of Jan Bhagidari (public participation), these online events aim to connect the participants with the freedom struggle and making of New India. The winning entries will be awarded suitably by the Publications Division. To participate in the competition, log on to: https://www. mygov.in/task/
6. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday set September 15 as the deadline for the Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to set right the glitches faced by taxpayers in accessing the new income tax portal
7. An expert panel, set up by an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has predicted a third wave of Covid-19 hitting the country anytime between September and October and suggested significantly ramping up vaccination pace
8. Apurva Chandra takes charge as Secretary in Ministry of Information & Broadcasting .
9. TRS president & Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is all set to restructure the party at all levels with an eye on the December 2023 Assembly polls. CM has convened an emergency meeting of the party’s state committee at Telangana Bhavan at 2 pm on 24 Aug (Tuesday).
10. All educational institutions will be reopened in Telangana from 01 September.
11. AP CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy directed housing officials to start construction of houses under ‘Pedalandiriki Illu’ scheme for the poor from October 25.
12. Former UP CM Kalyan Singh was cremated with full state honours on 23 Aug (Monday) at Bansi Ghat in Bulandshahr’s Narora town.
13. Delegation of 11 parties, led by Bihar CM meets PM Modi over issue of caste-based census.
14. Railways cancels 68 trains in view of farmers’ agitation in Punjab
Agitating sugarcane farmers in Punjab have blocked highway, and railway tracks in Jalandhar since August 19, demanding clearance of their dues.
15. The Army on 23 Aug appealed to the local youth who have joined militant ranks to surrender, saying the force believes in giving a second chance and the ultras will be welcomed back with open arms if they accept their mistake.
16. The Army has created a makeshift floating platform in the Ranjit Sagar Reservoir for conducting diving operations to search for the body of one of the pilots who was onboard the Rudra helicopter that had crashed into the reservoir on August 3. Various agencies like National Disaster Relief Force, civilians experts and dam authorities have also been incorporated in the search operations.
17. A selection board of the Indian Army has cleared the way for promotion of five women officers to the rank of Colonel (Time Scale) after completion of 26 years of service
18. This is the first time that women officers serving with the Corps of Signals, Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Corps of Engineers have been approved to the rank of Colonel. Previously, promotion to the rank of Colonel was only applicable to women officers in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), Judge Advocate General (JAG) and the Army Education Corps (AEC). The first woman officer to get promoted to the rank of Colonel belongs to JAG.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. India on 22 Aug (Sunday) brought back home at least 392 people, including two Afghan legislators and several Afghan Hindus and Sikhs, on three different flights as part of its mission to evacuate Indians and its Afghan partners from Kabul amid the increasing Taliban hostility.
2. India brings back 146 of its evacuated nationals from Doha. Out of the second batch of Indians who returned home from Doha, 104 people were brought back in a Vistara flight, 30 by a Qatar Airways flight and 11 of them returned by an Indigo flight.
3. Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India in collaboration with BRICS countries is implementing SARS-CoV-2 NGS-BRICS consortium and multi centric programme to study the impact of severe COVID-19 conditions on TB patients.
4. Indian Navy with INS Ranvijay & INS Kora carries out Maritime Partnership Exercise with Philippine Navy.
5. Defence Ministry said, India and the Philippines share a very robust defence and security partnership built over several years and spanning across all domains.
MORE WORLD NEWS
1. Hundreds’ of Taliban fighters heading to Panjshir Valley to counter resistance.
2. China has asked Pakistan to upgrade its safety measures after a motorcade carrying Chinese workers was attacked this weekend in Gwadar, a coastal town in Balochistan in Southwest Pakistan.
3. On 20 Aug , A suicide bomber attacked a motorcade of the Gwadar East Bay expressway project heading to the Gwadar port which is a part of multi billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.The attack killed two Pakistanis and injured three including a Chinese national.
4. Responsibility for the suicide attack was claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Balochistan is Pakistan’s most undeveloped and most neglected region, and Gwadar is not connected to the national grid.
5. Meanwhile, protests have also erupted in Gwadar city against a severe shortage of water and electricity and threats to livelihoods, part of a growing backlash against China’s multibillion-dollar belt and road projects in the country.
6. The UK PM Boris Johnson is expected to ask US President Joe Biden to keep American forces in Afghanistan beyond 31 August in order to allow evacuation flights to continue.
7. New York City mandates COVID-19 vaccine for teachers in schools. New York City joins Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington state in introducing vaccine mandates for teachers and school staff.
SPORTS
1. Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar ,PV Sindhu, Manpreet Singh, among others, sent their best wishes the Indian contingent for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics, beginning today (24 Aug)
2. India will be represented at the Tokyo Paralympics by its biggest ever contingent. India are expected to win in excess of 10 medals at Tokyo Paralympics
Mariyappan Thangavelu will be India’s flagbearer at Tokyo Paralympics.
3. Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia will not compete in the upcoming wrestling World Championships after being advised six-week rehabilitation to treat the ligament tear he suffered in his right knee in run up to the Tokyo Games.
4. Till now India has won 12 medals, including four gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals in the Summer Paralympics since its debut at the 1968 Games.
5. The World Championships will be held in Oslo, Norway, from October 2-10 and Bajrang will not be able to begin his mat training until the rehabilitation programme is compete.
(Source: Newspapers)