South Korea has recently conducted 2-day drill exercise to practise defending disputed islands off its east coast against an unlikely attack from Japan. The annual drills come just days after Seoul terminated a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo. The exercise will involve warships and aircraft. The drill — re-named “East Sea territory defence training” — will solidify the military’s resolve to defend the Dokdo islands and the area surrounding the Sea of Japan. The delayed exercise comes as tensions with neighbouring Japan continue. Seoul has controlled the rocky islets in the Sea of Japan since 1945 when Tokyo’s 35-year colonial rule over the Korean peninsula ended. Tokyo also claims the islands and accuses South Korea of occupying them illegally. The two nations are both market economies, democracies and US allies, and both are threatened by nuclear-armed North Korea

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has recently released “The Diary of Manu Gandhi” in New Delhi. This book has been prepared by the National Archives of India and in collaboration with Oxford University Press. This book has written about Gandhiji’s routine between 1943 and 1944.

On Aug 24, 2019, The Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information and Broadcasting Minister inaugurated the National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural Sciences ((SACON) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

On August 23, 2019, United States Coast Guard (USCG) ship Stratton on the maiden visit to India arrived at Chennai port as a part of a goodwill visit. Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Dewan, TM Commander Coast Guard along with officials from Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and USCG graced the occasion.

The CEO of Bandhan Bank is Chandra Shekhar Ghosh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the Maldives’ highest honour “Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen” on 8 June 1029 during his two-day state visit to the country. The prestigious award was presented to Modi by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during a ceremony.

International dialogue on South-South and Triangular Cooperation addressed by Shri Piyush Goyal.

The first-ever World Youth Conference for Kindness has been inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. It organized by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP). The theme of the conference was ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’. The conference was in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi. Its purpose is to provide youth with creative, effective methods of engaging and in realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It sought inspiration from Gandhi’s championing of non-violence. The conference hosted 60 international delegates from over 27 countries, each of whom work in the field of positive social change.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan launched heritage postal stamp of Bandra station on the completion of 150 years of the railway station.

Constable Monali Jadhav from Maharashtra was representing the Indian Police Force (IPF) at the recently concluded 2019 World Police and Fire Games International Championship held in Chengdu, China. She bagged the gold in target and field archery while settled for a bronze in the ‘3D Archery’ in the tournament. She also made a new record with a score of 716 out of 720 points in the game. Jadhav is attached to the Jalamb police station in Buldhana district of Maharashtra.

Shri Narendra Modi launches RuPay card in UAE.

Prominent economist Abdalla Hamdok has taken charge as the new Prime Minister of Sudan and vowed to work towards ending the country’s economic crisis and establishing peace. In his new role, Hamdok will be tasked to deal with Sudan’s mounting economic problems viz. high inflation and unemployment after decades of poor governance. His biggest challenge would be integrating his country into the international economy after 20 years of crippling United States trade sanctions.

On august 21,2019 the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, was appointed as the new cabinet secretary (the most powerful position in the country’s civil service), replacing PK Sinha. He is appointed for a period of two years from august 30,2019, approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

On 21 August 2019, RK Singh, the Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship has launched the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index 2019 (SARAL) at the Review Planning and Monitoring (RPM) Meeting with States and State Power Utilities in New Delhi. i. SARAL Index: As per the Index, Karnataka got the top spot with SARAL score of 78.8 as the best state for setting up a rooftop solar project followed by Telangana(72.2), Gujarat(67.9) and Andra Pradesh(66.1). Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) has been ranked last with a score of 14.4.

As a boost to the chemical industry in the country, Gujarat is to get the country’s first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (CICET). The CICET would be built either at Vatva, Ahmedabad or Surat.Apart from CICET, a plastic Waste Management Centre in Ahmedabad is to be set up to find out solutions to systematic segregation and recycling of plastic waste. A skill development centre will also start functioning at Bhavnagar, Gujarat from October 2019.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DIPP), Government of India(GoI) has granted Geographical Indication (GI) tag for 3 new products from two states. Tawlhlohpuan(a woven fabric) and Mizo Puanchei(a colourful Mizo shawl) from the State of Mizoram. Tirur betel vine from Kerala are the latest addition in the GI list.

FATF Asia Pacific Group (APG) placed Pakistan on its Blacklist for failure to meet global standards and doing terror funding. The Blacklist is also known as Expedited Follow Up List. Pakistan turned out to be non-compliant in 32 of the 40 Compliance Parameters on Money Laundering.

BookMyForex join hands with YES Bank for foreign exchange travel card

Odisha state announces Rs. 500 crore to develop Puri as World Heritage City