NATIONAL NEWS

'Meet the Champion’ Initiative

• Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry organised- ‘Meet the Champion’ initiative in 26 schools across the country on the occasion of National Sports Day which was celebrated on 29 August 2022.
• The prominent athletes who will be the part of this initiative are Commonwealth Games and World Championships Gold Medalist Nikhat Zareen, Paralympics and CWG medalist Bhavina Patel, Tokyo Olympics and CWG medalist Manpreet Singh among others.
• Sports Authority of India will also be celebrating this year's National Sports Day, as part of the FIT INDIA campaign, with the theme of ‘Sports as an enabler for an inclusive and fit society’.
• During the school visit, the champion athlete shares their experiences, life lessons and tips on how to eat right and also give an overall inspirational boost to school children.

Atal Tinkering Labs in Jammu and Kashmir

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog will establish more than 500 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in Jammu and Kashmir to nurture an innovative mind-set among high school students.

• The objectives of the AIM are to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country through interventions at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels.

• The programmes of AIM cover 34 states and Union Territories with the goal of leveraging India’s demographic dividend by inspiring greater participation in the innovation ecosystem.
• NITI Aayog will replicate the J&K model of Atal Tinkering Lab to the rest of India on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis.
• An MoU signed between AIM and J&K UT will provide rupees 10 lakh each to establish ATLs in UT.

PMJDY to Complete Eight Years

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has completed 8 years and has achieved its major goals during this period.

• PM Jan Dhan Yojana is a flagship financial inclusion program that was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was launched on 28th August 2014.

• In eight years, PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has touched the mark of 462.5 million, as of 10th August 2022, the deposits in these accounts are to be approximately 1.73 trillion.

• PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a National Mission financial inclusion program that aims to bring comprehensive financial inclusion to all households in India.
• The PMJDY aims to provide universal access to banking facilities which includes at least one basic banking account for every household, financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and Pension facility.

BANKING

ICICI Bank Partners with NPCI

• ICICI Bank partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a range of credit cards on RuPay, the indigenous payments network.

• To begin with, the ICICI Bank RuPay Credit Card is available in the Coral variant of the Bank’s Gemstone series, which will be followed by Rubyx and Sapphiro variants.

• ICICI Bank Coral RuPay Credit Card’, the contactless card offers a host of privileges and benefits including reward points on daily purchases like shopping and restaurants, paying utility bills, among others.
• The card also offers exclusive benefits of the RuPay network such as accident insurance coverage to the cardholder and dedicated personal concierge services.

SPORTS

BWF World Championship Title

• World number one shuttler Viktor Axelsen clinched his second BWF World Championships title after beating Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in Tokyo.
• It is his third major title in a year, he won the Tokyo Olympics crown and followed it up with the All-England title.
• The women's singles title has been retained by Japan's reigning champion Akane Yamaguchi.
• Yamaguchi defeated China's Olympic champion Chen Yufei 21-12, 10-21, 21-14 in the final.
• This is her second title of the year, after lifting the trophy at the All England Open in March.

Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games

• In Rajasthan, Rajiv Gandhi Rural Olympic Games have started in more than 11,000 panchayats on 29 August 2022.
• Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the games at the state-level function organised at Pal Panchayat of Luni block in Jodhpur district.
• About 2 lakh 25 thousand teams are participating in these games.
• Under the Rural Olympics, 6 sports-Kabaddi, Shooting Ball, Volleyball, Hockey, Kho-Kho and Tennis Ball Cricket are being played.
• The state government claims that the Rural Olympics is one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

Lausanne Diamond League Meet Title in Javelin Throw

• Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra has won the javelin throw competition at the Lausanne Diamond League with a best throw of 89.08 metre.

• With his, Neeraj became the first Indian to clinch the prestigious Diamond League Meet title.

• Neeraj has thus qualified for the Diamond League Finals, which will take place in Zurich, Switzerland from 07September- 08 September, 2022.
• He has also now qualified for the 2023 World Championships.

Belgian F1 Grand Prix

• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

• Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished at second and third positions respectively.

• Verstappen has now won nine of this season’s 14 races.

• It was his 71st podium finish and he collected 26 points from this race.

Abu Dhabi Masters

• The 28th Dhabi Masters Chess Tournament was won by Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi with 7.5 points.
• Arjun Erigaisi defeated David Anton Guijarro, a player from Spain in the ninth and final round of the 28th Abu Dhabi Masters Chess Tournament.
• After the most recent Chess Olympiad in India, Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi moved up an incredible 35 Elo rating points to take third place in the live rating list.
• Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi competed in the 28th Dhabi Masters Chess Tournament, winning six matches and drawing three others.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Debit and Credit Card Market

• SBI tops the chart in debit card market with 30% market share as of June 2022.

• Bank of Baroda secured 2nd place with 8% market share.

• Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank and PNB came 3rd with 5% each.

• HDFC Bank topped the charts in the Credit card segment with a market share of 22%, followed by SBI with 18%.
• ICICI bank secured 3rd with 17%.
• According to the data collected by PGA Labs, public sector banks dominate the market share of debit cards as compared to private bank.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

President of IOA

• Athletics Federation of India (AFI) chief Adille Sumariwala declared as the new president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
• The erstwhile President of IOA Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, resigned from the post in July 2022, which led to a vacancy for the post.
• Adille Sumariwalla is an Indian athlete and entrepreneur, popular for representing India at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Whole-Time Member of SEBI

• Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan, an associate professor at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) was appointed a whole-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• With this appointment, Ananth Narayan becomes the fourth whole-time member of SEBI, which had been operating with a vacancy for the position since November 2021.
• The other three whole-time members are S K Mohanty, Ananta Barua and Ashwani Bhatia.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Sports Day

• National Sports Day is celebrated every year on 29 August.

• The inaugural National Sports Day was observed on 29 August 2012, the birthday of India’s renowned hockey player Major Dhyan Chand.

• The day is utilized as a platform to introduce several sports initiatives as well as to plan several sporting events and seminars to raise awareness of the value of physical activity and sports in everyday life.
• In various regions of India, National Sports Day is also known as Rashtriya Khel Divas.

International Day Against Nuclear Tests

• International Day Against Nuclear Tests is observed every year on 29 August.

• It is to raise awareness about the devastating effects of testing nuclear weapons.

• This year marks the thirteenth anniversary of the event.

• On this day, the United Nations organises an event that creates public awareness regarding the effects of nuclear weapons tests, and detonations and further highlights the requirement for cessation of such nuclear tests.