1) Bhubaneswar becomes first Indian city to vaccinate 100% against COVID-19
•Bhubaneswar has become the first Indian city to achieve 100 per cent COVID-19 vaccination. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had launched a massive vaccination drive against Covid-19. This milestone is credited to the BMC running 55 centres at all times for vaccines.
•BMC has a record of around nine lakh people who are above 18 years of age in the city. Which includes around 31 thousand healthcare workers, 33 thousand front-line workers. 5 lakh 17 thousand people are in the age group of 18 to 44 years. Three lakh twenty-five thousand people are above 45 years of age.
2) ISRO-NASA joint mission NISAR Satellite to be launched in 2023
•The ISRO-NASA joint mission NISER (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, aimed at making global measurement of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging, is proposed to be launched in early 2023. It is a dual-band (L-band and S-band) radar imaging mission with the capability of full polarimetric and interferometric modes of operation to observe minor changes in land, vegetation and cryosphere.
•NASA is developing L-band SAR and associated systems while ISRO is developing S-band SAR, spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle and associated launch services. The major scientific objectives of the mission are to improve understanding of the impact of climate change on Earth’s changing ecosystems, land and coastal processes, land deformations and cryosphere. NISER is one of the crucial collaborations of the ISRO and NASA. India and the U.S. had agreed upon this mission during then-President Barack Obama’s visit to India in 2015.
3) Myanmar Military Chief appointed as interim Prime Minister
•The Chief of the Myanmar military, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has taken over as the interim prime minister of the country. He is also the Chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) which has been performing the duties of the government in Myanmar, after the February 01, 2021 coup, which overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party.
•This SAC has been reformed as the caretaker government of Myanmar in order to perform the country’s duties fast, easily and effectively. Min Aung Hlaing is also been the commander-in-chief of Defence Services of Myanmar since March 2011. Hlaing has pledged to hold elections by 2023.
4) Union Minister of Science & Technology releases “Biotech-PRIDE”
•The Union Ministry for Science & Technology has released “Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines”. The Biotech-PRIDE Guidelines have been developed by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). The guidelines are aimed at providing a well-defined framework and guiding principle to facilitate and enable sharing and exchange of biological knowledge, information and data.
•The guidelines will be implemented through the Indian Biological Data Centre (IBDC). The exchange of information will help in promoting research and innovation in different research groups across the country. These guidelines do not deal with the generation of biological data but are an enabling mechanism to share and exchange information and knowledge generated as per the existing laws, rules, regulations and guidelines of the country.
5) Nikol Pashinyan Re-appointed as PM of Armenia
•Nikol Pashinyan has been re-appointed as the prime minister of Armenia by President Armen Sarkissian on August 02, 2021. Pashinyan, the leader of the Civil Contract Party, won the majority of seats in parliamentary elections in June 2021. The 46-year-old Pashinyan was first appointed as the prime minister in 2018.
6) Operation Blue Freedom: Team Of Special Forces Veterans
•The government of India has accorded sanctions to Team CLAW to lead a team of people with disabilities to scale Siachen Glacier. It will be a new world record for the largest team of people with disabilities. This expedition is being undertaken as part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom’. It aims to shatter the common perception of pity, charity, and inability associated with people with disabilities and recreate it to one of dignity, freedom, and ability.
7) RBI imposes penalty of Rs 50.35 lakh on Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank
•Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 50.35 lakh on Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank, Nashik for non-compliance with certain regulatory requirements. The penalty on Janalaxmi Co-operative Bank has been imposed for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’ and ‘Membership of Credit Information Companies (CICs)’.
•A statutory inspection conducted by RBI with reference to the bank’s financial position as on March 31, 2019, and the inspection report pertaining thereto, and examination of all related correspondence revealed non-compliance with the directions.
8) Bvlgari appoints Priyanka Chopra as its global brand ambassador
•Italian luxury brand Bvlgari has appointed actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas as global brand ambassador. She will support the Roman high jewellery house in amplifying the brand around the world, with a particular focus on themes of women empowerment, diversity and inclusion. Bvlgari is known for its gemstone jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories and leather goods.
•Priyanka Chopra Jonas is also a global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and recipient of the prestigious Danny Kaye Humanitarian award, serving as a symbol of power and strength for millions of young women.
•In 2020, the company partnered with perfume and taste company Firmenich on a sustainable flower farming project called “Flower Gems of India.” The goal was to create a new jasmine farming model involving 100 family-owned farms in Tamil Nadu, offering local communities an alternative approach to jasmine production to increase their profits and enhance the quality of their flowers.
9) Italy’s Marcell Jacobs wins men’s 100m gold at Tokyo Olympics 2020
•Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs outshone a field of unusual suspects to claim a shock Olympic gold in the men’s 100 metres, breaking retired Jamaican star Usain Bolt’s 13-year hold on the blue-riband event. American Fred Kerley took silver in a personal best of 9.84 with Canada’s Andre de Grasse repeating his bronze of 2016 in 9.89, also a new best.
10) Alexander Zverev wins gold in men’s singles tennis at Tokyo Olympics 2020
•Germany’s Alexander Zverev beats Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-1 to win the men’s singles gold at the Tokyo Olympics. He became the first German man to win singles Olympic gold.
•The 24-year-old, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title, was in stunning form in the one-hour and 19-minute express contest to become the first German man to win a single Olympic gold. Zverev became only the second German to win Olympic singles gold, matching Steffi Graff’s achievement at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
