The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of the former Chief Economic Advisor (CEC) Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramaniam to the post of Executive Director (India) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has been appointed to the post for the period of three years from November 1, 2022.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the 2022 Peace Prize “in recognition of her efforts to welcome refugees,” according to UNESCO.

SEBI auctioned the properties of Sumangal Industries and GSHP Realtech. On 25 August, SEBI auctioned the properties of Sumangal Industries and GSHP Realtech worth a total of Rs 9.8 crores to recover money that was illegally raised from investors

Veteran Scientist Dr. Samir V Kamat has been appointed as the new Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
He succeeds Dr. G Satheesh Reddy who will take charge as Scientific Advisor to the Union Defence Minister. Earlier, Dr. Samir V Kamat was the Director General of Naval Systems & Materials at DRDO since 2017.

The Central government has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Mithila Makhana. With this move, growers will get the maximum price for their premium produce. Over five lakh farmers of the Mithila region of Bihar will be benefitted from this decision. Makhana registered with GI Tag, farmers will get profit and it will be easier to earn.

Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully flight tested Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on August 23, 2022.

The Anang Tal Lake in South Delhi has been declared a monument of national importance by the Ministry of Culture.
As per the website of National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities, Anang Tal dates back to 1,060 AD.

In a first, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to build an education township in the state. As per the Yogi Adityanath government, the education township will be developed on the idea of ‘Single Entry, Multiple Exit’. The government said the move will provide high-quality education to the youth and equip them with a variety of professional skills in a single place. Besides, it will provide accommodation and many other facilities to both students and teachers.

India’s GDP growth is projected to spike to a four-quarter high 13 per cent in Q1 (April-June) FY23 due to low base of Covid 2.0 and robust recovery in contact-intensive services, according to ICRA.

The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur launched the Azadi Quest App. It is a series of online games on the heroes and the milestones of the Indian freedom movement. The minister urged to download the app as it will prove to be a very effective tool in spreading awareness on India’s freedom fighters.

World Water Week 2022 will take place from August 23 to September 1.

Since 1991, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has hosted World Water Week to address global water issues and related international development concerns.

Nepal’s Parliament passed the country’s first Citizenship Amendment Bill, which was under discussion for more than two years as it could not forge a consensus among political parties.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has said that the country’s Bioeconomy will grow from 70 Billion to 150 Billion US dollars by 2025.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund is scheduled to launch India’s first scheme that offers exposure to gold and silver. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for silver were introduced to the Indian market by MF companies with permission from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The new strategy from Edelweiss aims for equal exposure to the two metals and will periodically adjust. The scheme would invest in shares of gold and silver ETFs managed by other fund houses or Edelweiss since the AMC lacks a single gold or silver fund.

Bangladesh-born Fahmida Azim who works for the Insider Online Magazine of the US has won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in the category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. She is among the four journalists including Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams, and Walt Hickey of Insider. They are selected for their work on the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs.

Adani Group to acquire 29.18% stake in NDTV, launches open offer to buy additional 26%

Rajasthan’s Autonomous Government Minister Shanti Dhariwal inaugurated the state’s first well-organized motor market in Kota and gave a big gift to motor businessmen.

Vikram K. Doraiswami was appointed India’s new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, considered an important posting in view of growing strategic ties between the two countries.

SEBI came out with new guidelines for Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Venture Capital Funds (VCFs) for investing abroad, under which overseas investee firms won’t need to have an Indian connection.

Under the rules, AIFs can invest in securities of companies incorporated outside India. Besides, VCFs are allowed to make investments in off-shore venture capital undertaking, subject to certain conditions. It will have to furnish the divestment details of the overseas investments to the capital markets regulator in a specified format within three working days for updating the overall limit available for overseas investment by these entities.

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairperson: Madhabi Puri Buch

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 23rd meeting of the Central Zonal Council in Bhopal. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the meeting, while Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath and Chief Minister of  Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel attended the meeting through virtual medium due to bad weather.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission India’s first indigenously-built aircraft carrier (IAC) Vikrant on September 2, 2022. The Prime Minister will officially induct the vessel to the Indian Navy at a specially arranged venue inside the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) which is manufactured over Rs. 20,000 crore warship.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the Rajiv Gandhi Centre of Advance Technology (R-CAT).
R-CAT will conduct training programmes on advanced and emerging Information technologies for graduates. The centre will give industry standard certificates to successful candidates.

HDFC has opened its first all-women branch with four women bankers in the north Kerala region in Kozhikode.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Indian government on Monday entered into a $96.3 million loan agreement to provide safe drinking water and to improve water supply and sanitation in Himachal Pradesh, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The Government of India has nominated the dance form Garba to be inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. As per the Director of UNESCO, Eric Falt, after the inclusion of Durga Puja on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage representative in 2021, India has now nominated Garba for 2022. India was elected by UNESCO to serve on the distinguished Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in July.

Chandigarh airport to be named after Bhagat Singh

The Punjab and Haryana governments have agreed to name the Chandigarh International Airport in Mohali after Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann & Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala.

The Rs 485-crore airport project is a joint venture of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the governments of Punjab and Haryana.

The Punjab government in 2017 had demanded that the airport should be named as “Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Mohali”.

In 2016, the Haryana Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to name Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh.

The Punjab government has already declared a state holiday on March 23, the martyrdom day of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

About Punjab

• Capital –Chandigarh

Chief Minister – Bhagwant Mann

Governor – Banwarilal Purohit

List of some important renamed

• Agartala Airport-Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport
• Airport in Ayodhya– Maryada Purshottam Shriram Airport.
• Habibganj railway station, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh- Rani Kamalapati railway station
• Faizabad Junction Railway Station, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh –Ayodhya Cantt.
• Rajasthan’s ‘Miyan ka Bada’ Railway Station– ‘Mahesh Nagar Halt’
• Allahabad Junction, Uttar Pradesh– Prayagraj Junction
• Mughalsarai Railway Junction, Uttar Pradesh –Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Railway Station
• Jhansi Railway Station, Uttar Pradesh– Veerangana Lakshmibai Railway Station
• Manduadih Station, Uttar Pradesh– Banaras Station
• Hubli Railway Station, Karnataka- Siddharoodha Swamiji Railway Station
• Naugarh Railway Station, Uttar Pradesh– Siddharthnagar railway station

Dahi Handi, an event associated with the Hindu festival Janmashtami has now been accorded the status of an adventure sport in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister of the state Eknath Shinde announced to recognize of the formation of human towers as part of Dahi Handi celebrations as an adventure sport. Dahi Handi is celebrated on the occasion of Janmashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna.

Kerala’s first tribal novelist and short story writer Narayan has passed away at the age of 82 in Kochi.

The US government recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, 2022, joining forces with its central bank in the fight to reduce inflation.
The US Federal Reserve has increased policy rates by an unprecedented 225 basis points over the last four monetary policy meetings. The act aims to boost government revenues by around USD 737 billion, and spend USD 437 billion during 2022-31. The savings is expected to translate into lower deficits.