1) Onam, Harvest Festival of Kerala
•Onam is the most revered and celebrated festival of Kerala, is celebrated every year by the Malayali community across the world. The 10-day long festival marks the beginning of harvest season as well as the appearance of the Vaman avatar of Lord Vishnu along with the homecoming of King Mahabali.
•The festival begins from Atham (Hasta) nakshatram, and ends on Thiruvonam (Shravana) nakshatram. This year, the harvest festival began on August 12 and will conclude on August 23. The 10 days of the festival are named on the names of astrological stars as per the Malayalam calendar.
2) India’s largest Floating Solar PV Project commissioned in Andhra Pradesh
•NTPC has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project in India of 25MW power on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This is also the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme. This scheme was notified by the Government of India in 2018. NTPC is also planning to set up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri.
3) India’s highest herbal park inaugurated in Uttarakhand
•India’s highest altitude herbal park has been inaugurated at Mana village in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The herbal park is situated at a height of 11,000 feet was and is close to the Indo-China border. Mana is the last Indian village in Chamoli bordering China and is adjacent to Badrinath temple. The herbal park has around 40 species found in high altitude alpine areas in the Himalayan region.
4) Ismail Sabri Yaakob appointed as new Prime Minister of Malaysia
•Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Malaysia. Before this, he was the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. He will succeed Muhyiddin Yassin as the PM, who resigned from the post after losing majority support in the lower house of parliament. The appointment of Yaakob was done by Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
5) Hisar Airport renamed as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport
•Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced to rename the Hisar Airport as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport. The Hisar Airport is a domestic airport and the first DGCA licensed Public Aerodrome of the State. This airport is presently under up-gradation to be transformed as an international airport by 30 March 2024.
6) CVC re-appoints T M Bhasin as Chairman of Advisory Board
•The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has announced the re-appointment of T M Bhasin as chairman of the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF). The panel was constituted to examine bank frauds of over Rs 50 crore and recommend action. The former vigilance commissioner, CVC, Mr Bhasin will now continue to head the board for a further period of two years, with effect from August 21, 2021.
7) World Bank Opens New Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund
•The World Bank has launched a new ‘Cybersecurity Multi-Donor Trust Fund’, to better roll out cybersecurity development agenda in a systematic manner. The new fund has been developed as an associated trust fund under the broader Digital Development Partnership (DDP) umbrella program.
•World Bank has partnered with four countries, namely Estonia, Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands, to launch the fund. The main aim of this new fund is to enhance cyber and digital security capability and capacity in World Bank member countries, with the development of global knowledge, country assessments, technical assistance, capacity building and training, along with necessary investments in infrastructure and technology.
8) Nakul Chopra appointed as Chief Executive Officer of BARC India
•Television monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) has announced the appointment of Nakul Chopra as its chief executive officer (CEO) effective 25 August 2021. Former CEO Sunil Lulla has resigned to pursue his ambition as an entrepreneur. This announcement comes as Sunil Lulla has decided to resign from the position of CEO to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
•Chopra had joined the BARC India Board in 2016 and had been elected as the Chairman during 2018-19. In January 2020, he was appointed as a member of BARC’s Oversight Committee. The media and advertising industry veteran had earlier served as the CEO, India and South Asia of Publicis Worldwide for over a decade.
