1) International Dog Day 2021
•International Dog Day is observed every year on August 26 to raise awareness about dog adoption and the importance of providing rescue dogs with a safe and loving environment. The day was started as National Dog Day in the US in 2004 by pet & family lifestyle expert, animal rescue advocate, conservationist and dog trainer Colleen Paige. August 26 was chosen as on this day, Paige’s family had adopted their first dog “Sheltie” from an animal shelter when she was just 10 years old.
2) Dubai sets up specialised court to combat money laundering
•Dubai Courts announced the establishment of a specialised court, focused on combating money laundering, within the Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal. This court ties into a string of initiatives aimed at reducing financial crimes and follows the recent establishment of the Executive Office of the Anti-Money Laundering & Countering the Financing of Terrorism.
•This move will enable our stakeholders to raise their efficiency in effectively implementing the National AML/CFT Strategy and National Action Plan and achieving its goals through an empowered and sustainable system.
3) Ministry of Electronics & IT launches SAMRIDH programme
•Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has launched the “Start-up Accelerators of MeitY for pRoduct Innovation, Development and growth (SAMRIDH)” programme. The programme was launched by Shri Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister MeitY. The objective of the SAMRIDH programme is to create a conducive platform to Indian Software Product start-ups to enhance their products and securing investments for scaling their business.
4) Ministry of Jal Shakti launches ‘SUJALAM’ Campaign
•Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched a ‘100 days campaign’ named SUJALAM to create more and more Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus villages by undertaking wastewater management at the village level. The Campaign would help in the management of the wastewater and in turn, would help to revive the water bodies through the creation of 1 million Soak-pits and also other Greywater management activities. The campaign started on August 25, 2021, is part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
5) Ohmium launches India’s first green hydrogen electrolyzer gigafactory
•US-based Ohmium International has started India’s first green hydrogen electrolyzer manufacturing unit at Bengaluru, Karnataka. The factory will manufacture India-made Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyzers. Green hydrogen is made from non-fossil sources as against blue hydrogen that is made from fossil sources. Making green hydrogen in India will give a cost advantage for manufacturers rather than going for imports.
6) UAE announces the world’s tallest observation wheel ‘Ain Dubai’
•The world’s largest and tallest observation wheel is set to be unveiled in Dubai, UAE on October 21, 2021. The observation wheel called as ‘Ain Dubai’, is 250 m (820 ft) in height, located at Bluewaters Island. The record-breaking wheel is 42.5 m (139 ft) taller than the current world’s tallest observation wheel, High Roller, in Las Vegas, measuring 167.6 m (550 ft).
7) Ajit Doval chairs 11th BRICS NSA Virtual Meeting
•The 11th Meeting of the BRICS High Representatives Responsible for National Security was held, via video conferencing. The National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval hosted the meeting since India is the chair for the 2021 BRICS summit. The 15th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held in September 2021. The BRICS meeting of the NSA provided a platform for the five countries to strengthen political-security cooperation.
•Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Gen Patrushev, Chinese Politburo Member Yang Jeichi, South African Deputy Minister of State Security Ncediso Goodenough Kodwa and Gen Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, Minister of State and Head of the Institutional Security Cabinet of the Presidency of Brazil attended the high-level meeting.
8) 5th India-Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise “KAZIND-21”
•The 5th edition of Indo- Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise, “KAZIND-21” will be held from August 30 to September 11, 2021, at Training Node, Aisha Bibi, Kazakhstan. The joint training exercise will boost the bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan Armies. The Exercise is also a platform for the Armed Forces of India & Kazakhstan to train for Counter Insurgency/ Counter-Terrorism operations in the mountainous, rural scenarios under UN mandate.
•The Indian Army contingent represented by a battalion of the Bihar Regiment consists of a total of 90 personnel led by a Contingent Commander. The Kazakhstan Army will be represented by a company group. The scope of Joint Exercise includes professional exchange, planning & execution of the operation in counterterrorism environment at sub-unit level and sharing expertise on skills at arms, combat shooting and experiences in Counter Insurgency/ Counter-Terrorism operations.
9) India’s First Agri Sectoral Index GUAREX launched by NCDEX
•India’s first sectoral index in the Agri commodities basket i.e. GUAREX was launched by the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX). GUAREX is a price based sectoral index that tracks the movement in the futures contracts of guar gum refined splits and guar seed on a real-time basis. This index product will offer a lot of opportunities to the value chain.
•The weightage of guarseed and guar gum refined splits in the index will be 63 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively. The index futures will be cash-settled. Initially, Guarex futures contracts expiring in September and October will be made available for trading.
•India is the world’s largest guar producer accounting for 80-85 per cent of the output, while Rajasthan is the country’s top producer with 80 per cent market share. Guar seed was sown on 1.81 million hectares so far this year, down from 2.25 million hectares logged in the same period last year.
