NATIONAL NEWS

Village Defence Guard Scheme

• The Village Defence Guard Scheme – 2022 came into effect in Jammu and Kashmir from 15 August 2022.
• Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned approval to creation of Village Defence Guard Scheme – 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The aim of this scheme is to organize a small group of volunteer armed civilians in the identified villages to instill self-protection and ensure securityof villages.
• Earlier, this scheme was known as Village Defence Committe in which volunteers from villages were trained by Indian Army and Police.
• Under this scheme, rifles were provided to VDC’s and they protected their villages from terrorist attacks and terror-related activities specially the vulnerable villages in mountainous areas of Jammu region.
• VDC members had helped Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in the fight against Terrorism.

India’s First Intranasal Vaccine

• Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has completed clinical development for phase III trials and booster doses for BBV154 of COVID-19 intranasal vaccine.

• It has proven to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic in subjects in controlled clinical trials phase III.
• BBV154 was developed in partnership with Washington University St Louis, which had designed and developed and evaluated them in preclinical studies for efficacy.
• The vaccine is the first of its kind Covid-19 vaccine to undergo human trials in India.

India Aims to Become Developed Nation

• Addressing the 76th Independence Day on 15 August 2022, PM Narendra Modi announced that India aims to become developed nation in next 25 years.
• The Prime Minister also said that as India celebrates 75 years of Independence, there is a need to now move with a renewed focus and resolve for the next 25 years.  
• There is a need to focus on Five Resolves. These are Developed India, removing every ounce of Slave Mentality, Pride for glorious heritage, Unity and Fulfilling Citizen's Duties.

Fifth Elephant Reserve at Agasthiyamalai

• Tamil Nadu Government has notified its 5th Elephant Reserve in the state at Agathiyamalai in Tirunelveli district.
• The Agasthiyamalai Elephant Reserve will be spread across 1,197.48 sq.km of land and will cover Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli areas.
• The Central Government gave its consent for creation of the 5th Elephant Reserve of Tamil Nadu on 13th July 2022.
• As per 2010 Census, a total of 1800 Asian elephants are likely to be located within the Periyar-Agasthyamalai landscape.
• This reserve will be the 32^nd elephant reserve in the country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sri Lankan Navy to Receive First-Ever Dornier Surveillance

• India handed over a Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to the Sri Lankan navy on 15 August 2022 in a ceremony attended by Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe.
• It is the first Dornier aircraft to be inducted into the Sri Lankan fleet after the Sri Lankan government requested India's assistance in obtaining two Dornier aircrafts during Defence Dialogue held in 2018.
• Dornier 228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft is a Short Take-off and Landing (STOL), multirole light transport aircraft used by the Indian Navy for electronic warfare missions and has been in production since 1981.
• Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay and Naval Vice Admiral Ghormade will hand over the Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft aircraft to Sri Lankan Navy.

BANKING

SBI Launched Utsav Fixed Deposit Scheme

• On the occasion of the nation’s Independence Day, celebrated as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the largest lender in the nation- State Bank of India (SBI), introduced a unique term deposit programme called "Utsav Deposit."

• This fixed deposit scheme has higher interest rates and is only available for a limited time.
• On Utsav Fixed Deposit Scheme, SBI is offering an interest rate of 6.10% per annum on fixed deposits with a tenure of 1000 days.
• Senior citizens will be eligible to get an additional interest rate of 0.50% over and above the regular rate.
• These rates are effective as of 15 August 2022 and the scheme is valid for a period of 75 days.

SPORTS

Football Tournament - Durand Cup

• The 131st edition of Asia's oldest football tournament - Durand Cup will begin on 16 August 2022.

• The opening match will be played between FC Goa and Mohammedan SC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

• Of the 20 teams, 11 teams will be the clubs that play Indian Super League, five teams will be from I-League and four teams from the Armed forces.
• For the first time, the tournament is being held in multiple cities.
• West Bengal, Assam and Manipur are hosting the Durand Cup 2022. The matches will be played in Salt Lake Stadium (Kolkata, West Bengal), Naihati Stadium (Naihati, West Bengal), Kishore Bharati Stadium (Kolkata, West Bengal), Khuman Lampak Stadium (Imphal, Manipur) and Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium (Guwahati, Assam).

AWARDS & PRIZES

Police Medals in 2022

• A total of 1082 Police personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the occasion of Independence Day, 2022.
• 347 personnel were awarded the Police Medal for Gallantry, 87 with President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service and 648 personnel were awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.
• 109 CRPF personnel and 108 Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel have been awarded Police Medal for Gallantry.
• Seven personnel have been awarded President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service and 38 personnel have been given the Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service.
• CRPF’s Charu Sinha bagged 40 gallantry medals, highest in the country among all forces.
• The maximum gallantry medals have been received by the CRPF followed by the Jammu and Kashmir police.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Four Independent Directors on RBI Central Board

• The central government has re-nominated Satish Kashinath Marathe, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Revathy Iyer and Sachin Chaturvedi as part-time, non-official directors on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India.
• Marathe and Gurumurthy have been re-nominated for a further period of four years with effect from 11 August 2022 or until further orders.
• For Iyer and Chaturvedi, re-nominations are for a period of four years after completion of their present tenure on 18 September 2022.
• Also, Iyer and Chaturvedi have been re-appointed as a Member of the Northern Local Board and on the Eastern Local Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a further period of four years after completion of their present tenure on 18 September 2022.
• The role of board members is to advise the central Board on local matters and represent the territorial and economic interests of local cooperative and indigenous banks and also to perform such other functions as delegated by the central board from time to time.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Independence Day

• Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August in India commemorating the nation's independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947.

• In 2022, the nation is marking 75 years of the country’s independence from British rule.

• The Indian Independence movement began during World War I and it was led by Mahatma Gandhi.

OBITUTARY

Ace Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

• The ‘Big Bull of Dalal Street’ and Ace Investor Mr Jhunjhunwala passed away due to multiple health complications. He was at the age of 62.
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was born on 05 July 1960 and grew up in a Rajasthani Family based in Bombay.
• Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was a Chartered Accountant (CA) by qualification.
• As per Forbes' Real-time Billionaires Index, Jhunjhunwala is ranked among the top 500 richest billionaires, having a net worth of $5.8 billion (Rs 46,000 crore) as of July 2022.
• This also made him the 36th richest man in India.
• He was the chairman of Hungama Media and Aptech Limited.