Arunachal CM launches statewide tree plantation programme

NATIONAL NEWS

Arunachal CM launches statewide tree plantation programme

• Chief Minister Pema Khandu launched the statewide tree plantation programme ‘Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019’ in Itanagar.
• The campaign under the State Forest department will plant 1-lakh tree saplings in the next 24 hours. On the occasion, the campaign is being held as part of Van Mahotsav celebration and has set the target of planting 1 Crore tree within the next five years.
• Arunachal is known globally for its huge forest cover and is considered one of the eighteen 'biodiversity hotspots' in the world.

FACTS

Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh- Pema Khandu

Governor of Arunachal Pradesh – B.D. Mishra.

CM Naveen Patnaik launches revamped Odisha Tourism website

• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the revamped website of Odisha Tourism, odishatourism.gov.in. The website has the potential to empower lakhs of people operating in the tourism and hospitality sector and showcase Odisha to the world.
• It has been our constant endeavour to showcase Odisha to the world. Tourism is amongst the most sustainable routes to maximising employment opportunities for our youth and ensuing shared prosperity through community participation.

FACTS

Chief Minister of Odisha-Naveen Patnaik

Governor of Odisha-Ganeshi Lal.

Gujarat tops in rooftop solar installation across the country

• Gujarat ranks on top in the installation of rooftop solar projects with an installed capacity of 261.97 megawatts.
• Total rooftop solar installation in India currently stands at 1,700.54 MW. Gujarat is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 198.52 MW and 151.62 MW respectively.

FACTS

Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy and Power - R K Singh

Chief Minister of Gujarat- Vijay Rupani

Governor of Gujarat- Acharya Dev Vrat

Capital of Gujarat- Gandhinagar.

Kargil veteran Lt Col Dr Samir Rawat first officer invited to International Congress of Psychology in Prague in 2020

• A renowned military psychologist, Lieutenant colonel Dr Samir Rawat is a combat veteran who still holds the tricolour aloft with pride and is an ardent contributor in the military psychology space and travels all over the military world which recognises his exclusive and unique competencies as a combat soldier and a military psychologist.
• The 'icing on the Kargil cake' is that Dr Rawat has just been invited as an eminent keynote speaker at the 32nd International Congress of Psychology 2020 (ICP) in Prague which is the most prestigious and biggest international event in the psychological world with over 8000 delegates participating in ICP.

Khelo India Youth Games to be held in Guwahati next year

• Union Minister of Sports Kiren Rijiju announced that 3rd edition of Khelo India Youth Games will be held in Guwahati, Assam between 18-30 January 2020. Khelo India programme’s inaugural edition was held in New Delhi in 2018, while Pune hosted 2nd edition in 2019.
• 2020 Games will be conducted in partnership with Indian Olympic Association (IOA), School Games Federation of India (SGFI) & Assam as host State. The event will see a participation of over 10,000 athletes and officials from all over country and it will be held.

5th Dharma-Dhamma conference being held in Rajgir, Bihar

• 5th International Dharma-Dhamma conference is being held Rajgir International Convention Centre in Rajgir, Bihar from 27-28 July 2019. The conference was inaugurated Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju who is also the Chief Guest of Conference.
•  It is being hosted by Rajgir for 2nd time.
• To address people about terror, violence and global warming prevalent in world. The 2-day conference also addresses subjects of Sat-Chit-Ananda and Nirvana Dharma-Dhamma Tradition which are pivotal topics of Buddhism.

FACTS

Chief Minister of Bihar- Nitish Kumar

Governor of Bihar- Phagu Chuhan.

APPOINTMENT

Kapil Dev led CAC to pick Team India's next head coach

• A Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) led by World Cup-winning former captain Kapil Dev entrusted with the responsibility of selecting India's new coach.
• Apart from Kapil, the panel, which picked the women's coach in December last year, comprises former women's captain Shantha Rangaswamy and former men's coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
• India's incumbent coach Ravi Shastri has been handed an extension till the end of the tour of West Indies from 3rd of next month to 3rd September.

RAW officer appointed as new BSF Director General

• IPS officer V.K. Johri has been appointed as the next Director General (DG) of the country’s largest border guarding force.
• Mr. Johri, a 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is presently serving as the Special Secretary in the external intelligence agency RAW, under the Cabinet Secretariat.
• He will take charge of the Border Security Force from Rajni Kanti Mishra, who retires on August 31.
• The order also stated that Mr. Johri has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Union Home Ministry with “immediate effect.” He will retire in September 2020.

Pune MP Girish Bapat appointed chairman of estimates committee

• Girish Bapat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Pune member of Parliament, has been appointed chairman of the estimates committee.
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla made the appointment. Birla also named chairpersons of other parliamentary panels, including the public accounts committee, committee on public undertakings and committee on welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
• Estimates committee is one of the three financial standing committees of the parliament apart from the public accounts committee and committee on public undertakings.

OBITUARY

Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Donkupar Roy passes away

• Meghalaya Assembly Speaker and former chief minister Donkupar Roy passed away.
• Roy, a PhD in economics, who represented Shella constituency in East Khasi Hills district from 1988.

Former Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy passes away at 77

• Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy passed away on Sunday at around 1.30 a.m. in Hyderabad. He was 77.

SPORTS

Chandigarh finally gets BCCI affiliation

• After nearly four decades, Chandigarh has finally received affiliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, thus providing an opportunity for the city cricketers to play in BCCI tournament.
• The BCCI had earlier this month told Chandigarh Cricket Association (Punjab) and Chandigarh Cricket Association (Haryana) to merge into the Union Territory Cricket Association (UTCA) and form a unified body to represent Chandigarh.

Max Verstappen wins German Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton crashes

• Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his second win of the year in a chaotic and incident-strewn German Grand Prix held in intermittent rain.
• The Dutchman led a topsy-turvy result in which Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took second from last on the grid and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was third.
• Lewis Hamilton had a day to forget, finishing 11th after two mistakes.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Hepatitis Day 2019

• World Hepatitis Day 2019 is on 28th July 2019, with the aim of raising awareness around viral hepatitis and the impact it has worldwide.
• The theme for World Hepatitis Day 2019 is “Find the Missing Millions”, with a focus on finding people living with hepatitis who are undiagnosed and linking them to care.