Current Affairs in English – August 9 2022

National Events:

” Vajra Prahar 2022 “:

The 13th Edition of the Indo – US Joint Special Forces exercise ” Vajra Prahar 2022 ” commenced in Himachal Pradesh’s Bakloh on 8 August 2022 . This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India and the US .
The 12th edition was conducted in Washington ( USA ) in October 2021 . This exercise aims to improve interoperability between the special forces of India & US .

Central Universities Act:

Parliament has passed the Central Universities ( Amendment ) Bill 2022 . The Bill seeks to amend the Central Universities Act , 2009 , which provides for establishing central universities in various states .
It also seeks to convert the National Rail and Transportation Institute at Vadodara into the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya which will be a central university .

Drone Federation of India:

The Army Design Bureau on behalf of the Indian Army has signed a MoU with the Drone Federation of India .
It has been signed to collaboratively work towards promoting R & D , testing and manufacturing of drones , and associated technologies that can assist the army in its operations .
The Army Design Bureau is the nodal agency of the Indian Army to be the facilitator for the R & D efforts .

Microsoft:

Microsoft has become the first big tech company to join Open Network for Digital Commerce ( ONDC ) . ONDC an Indian government – backed platform created to provide a level playing field to all e – commerce companies .
Through ONDC it intends to introduce social e – commerce in the Indian market . It will also launch a shopping app in India , which will be available on the ONDC network .

‘ Samudrayaan ‘:

The Centre will soon begin a mega ocean mission , called ‘ Samudrayaan ‘ to explore the deep sea waters .
Samudrayaan Mission is aimed to develop a self – propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 m in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration .
It has an endurance of 12 hours of operational period .

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited:

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited has appointed Pramod Kumar as chief financial officer ( CFO ) of the company . Before his appointment to the new position , Kumar served as Executive Director ( Finance ) of Power Grid Corporation .
Power Grid was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Gurgaon . It is engaged mainly in transmission of bulk power across different states of India .

Electricity Act:

A bill to amend the Electricity Act to allow non – discriminatory open access to distribution networks of power suppliers was introduced in Lok Sabha in August 2022 .
The Electricity ( Amendment ) Bill 2022 was introduced by Power Minister R K Singh . It seeks to amend section 42 of the Electricity Act to facilitate non – discriminatory open access to the distribution network of a distribution licensee .

‘ dPal rNgam Duston’:

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has been honoured with the ‘ dPal rNgam Duston ‘ award – the highest civilian honour of Ladakh . He has been honoured for his immense contribution to humanity .
The award was conferred by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council ( LAHDC ) , Leh . This award marks the celebration of the remarkable contribution and achievement of the heroes of Ladakh .

Him Drone – a – thon ‘:

The Indian Army in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India launched the ‘ Him Drone – a – thon ‘ programme on 08 August 2022 .
It is aimed at providing opportunities to the Indian drone ecosystem to develop path – breaking drone capabilities for meeting the requirements of frontline troops .
In the 1st phase , drones will be developed for use in Army operations in the Himalayas .

RBI Act , 1934:

Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) has imposed a monetary penalty of 2.33 crore on Hyderabad based Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd for its failure to adhere to pricing of credit guidelines for Non – Banking Financial Company – Micro Finance Institutions ( NBFC – MFIS ) .
The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act , 1934 .

DefExpo 2022:

The 12th edition of DefExpo will be held in Gandhinagar , Gujarat between October 18-22 , 2022 .DefExpo is Asia’s largest exhibition on land , naval and homeland security systems . The theme of DefExpo 2022 is ‘ Path to Pride ‘.
DefExpo was traditionally held in Delhi until 2014 after which it was organised in new venues – Goa ( 2016 ) , Chennai ( 2018 ) and Lucknow ( 2020 ) .

International Events:

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples : 9 August:

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on 9 August each year to raise awareness and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population . It was first pronounced by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1994 .
Theme 2022 : ” The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge “.

Sports Events:

2022 Commonwealth Games:

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham concluded on 8 August 2022 . India finished fourth in the medals tally with 61 medals comprising 22 gold , 16 silver and 23 bronze in the event .
India bagged a total of 12 medals in wrestling . Australia topped the medals tally with a total of 178 medals .