National
1. India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 59 crore 47 lakh mark.
2. India’s first mRNA-based (messenger ribonucleic acid is a single-stranded molecule of RNA) COVID-19 vaccine has received a nod from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to move into Phase-2 and Phase-3 trial. Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd which is the Pune-based biotechnology company is working on the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine- HGCO19.
3. National Telemedicine Service e-Sanjeevani has conducted more than one crore tele-consultations across India. It has shown astounding growth of over 1000 percent in last 10 months.
4. Govt to launch e-Shram portal – National Database on Unorganized Workers on 26th Aug. It help take welfare schemes to their doorstep. Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav said.
5. The First edition of the North Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goal Index Report and Dashboard (NERDSD) 2021-22 will be launched on the 26th of Auh by NITI Aayog & Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
6. Union Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, who is on a two day visit to Mumbai, met with the officers of Income Tax, Customs and Indirect Taxes in Mumbai, she will also launch EASE 4.0 (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence). EASE is a common reform agenda for Public Sector Banks aimed at institutionalizing clean and smart banking. Its first edition EASE 1.0 was launched in January 2018.
7. What is MONETISATION PIPELINE?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on 23 Aug, launched the National Monetisation Pipeline, which is an asset monetisation mechanism of Central public sector entities. The Centre wants to generate ₹6-lakh crore between 2021-22 and 2024-25 and create new assets. The scheme was announced in this year’s Budget.
National Monetization Pipeline is about those brownfield assets where investment is already being made, but have assets that are either languishing or not fully monetized or under-utilized.
These assets will be monetized and the amount received will be used for further infrastructure building.
( *Brownfield assets* : a tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, polluted, and then abandoned)
The Ministry added,”Ministries of Roads, Transport & Highways, Railways, Power, Pipeline & Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Shipping Ports & Waterways, Telecommunications, Food & Public Distribution, Mining, Coal & Housing & Urban Affairs are included in National Monetisation Pipeline.
8. The construction work on the Noida international airport project started on 25 Aug (Monday) in Gautam Budh Nagar’s Jewar area. The airport is proposed to come up on 1,334 hectares over the next four years under phase 1 of the project.
9. External affairs minister S Jaishankar will brief floor leaders of political parties in Parliament on the prevailing situation in Afghanistan on August 26.
10. An earthquake in the Bay of Bengal measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale has created panic among the people of Andhra Pradesh on 24 Aug (Tuesday). Earthquake occurred at 12.36 pm on 23 Aug at 10km depth in the sea, near 296kms from the Kakinada coast (AP). It was also close to the Nellore coast(AP).
11. Union minister Narayan Rane was arrested on Tuesday after sparking off a row over his remarks about slapping Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for what he claimed as the latter’s ignorance of the year of India’s independence.
12. All educational institutions will be reopened in Telangana from September 1 at one go. Students from KG to PG have to attend physical classes from the beginning of next month.
13. Andhra CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy directed housing officials to start construction of houses under ‘Pedalandiriki Illu’ scheme for the poor from October 25.
14. Two members of the banned CPI (Maoist) surrendered before the police in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana. Both the Maoists hailing from Chhattisgarh state and members of Cherla LOS.
15. Former Meghalaya MLA Julius Dorphang gets 25 Years in Jail for Raping Minor in 2017 when he was still an MLA. A POCSO court in Meghalaya on 24 Aug (Tuesday) sentenced former Mawhati legislator and Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), Julius Dorphang to 25 years in imprisonment.
16. Sugarcane farmers withdrew their blockade after the Punjab govt hiked the state-advised price of sugarcane by Rs 35 a quintal to Rs 360
17. Air India Express has requested its passengers travelling to the UAE from India to be at the airport six hours before the departure time of flights for a mandatory Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for coronavirus before flying.
18. The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is participating in the International Military-Technical Forum ‘ARMY-2021’ at Kubinka, Moscow, from August 22 to 28, 2021.
19. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handovered a consignment of Made in India multimode grenades to the Indian Army in Nagpur on 24 Aug (Tuesday).
INTERNATIONAL
1. PM Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on recent developments in Afghanistan. Both the leaders had a detailed and useful exchange of views on Afghanistan’s situation. They also agreed to continue consultations on important issues.
2. A total of 626 people including 228 Indian citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan till now. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
3. Compulsory 14-day Covid-19 Quarantine for Afghan Evacuees at ITBP Camp in Delhi.
4. UAE have temporarily suspended the visa-on-arrival facility for passengers who are arriving from or have been in India in the past 14 days,
5. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval hosted the 11th Meeting of the BRICS High Representatives Responsible for National Security through video conferencing on 24 Aug. India holds the Chairship of BRICS this year which coincides with the 15th anniversary of the BRICS grouping.
6. One of 2 under-construction frigates of India(A warship with a mixed armament) to be delivered till 2023 by Russia’s United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). Work for the two advanced Talwar class frigates was delayed due to Covid-19.
7. The deputy CEO of the air and space defense concern Almaz-Antey, Vyacheslav Dzirkaln on Monday said Russia will begin to deliver surface-to-air missile defence system (SAM) S-400 by end of the year 2021.
8. Indian Army to buy AK-203 off the shelf from Russia With the production of 7.62×39 mm Russian weapons yet to start at the Korwa Ordnance Factory in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Indian Army has decided to buy off the shelf 70,000 AK-203 assault rifles from Russia.
MORE WORLD NEWS
1. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations will help Afghanistan build a peaceful and prosperous state, according to a statement released by the SCO Secretariat.
2. The UK prime minister 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.
3. The United States said, a total of 10,900 people were evacuated from Kabul in war-torn Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.
4. U.S. President Joe Biden sent the head of the CIA to meet the Taliban’s leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on 23 Aug in the highest level diplomatic encounter since the militant group took over the Afghan capital.
5. Pakistan on 24 Aug received $2.75 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a Special Drawing Rights (SDR) programme to support low-income countries hit by the coronavirus. Pakistan has reported more than 1.1 million coronavirus cases and more than 25,000 pandemic-related deaths.
6. The prolonged closure of educational institutions during the COVID 19 pandemic has affected over 40 million students from the pre-primary to the higher education level in Bangladesh: UNICEF report.
7. At least 22 people have been killed and dozens more are missing following flash floods in the US state of Tennessee. Rescue crews are searching for more than 50 people in rural Humphreys County, which is west of Nashville.