NATIONAL NEWS 

IFFCO Nano Urea Spraying Scheme 

• Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) Nano Urea Spraying Scheme statewide from Isanpur Mota village of Gandhinagar district through drone technology. 

• The scheme is a 100 per cent state-funded scheme for promoting the use of drones in the agricultural sector and is supposed to cut down the agricultural cost and increase the income of the farmers. 

• The provision of 35 crore rupees has been made for the scheme in the current financial year 2022-2023. 

• This scheme will help to save water and spraying of urea with 25 litres of water in one hectare of land can be completed within 20 minutes through the use of drone technology. 

ISS India Partners with DSEU 

• The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) has signed agreement with ISS Facility Services India. 

• The agreement has been signed in order to train students enrolled in the BBA (Facilities and Hygiene Management) programme. 

• The company will assist DSEU with curriculum advisory, faculty and staff development workshops, internships and placement support along with six scholarships to high-performing and needy students. 

Machhal Women's Cricket League 

• In north Kashmir, Indian Army alongwith local authorities organised the first ever Machhal Women's Cricket League.  

• The girls from Machhal, Pushwari and Dudi villages participated. 

• The Indian Army organized this league to engage the youth of border districts residing along the Line of Control (LOC), in sport activities. 

Indian Navy with ISRO's Space Applications Centre 

• The Indian Navy has signed an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. 

• This MoU is on data sharing and cooperation on satellite-based naval applications in oceanology and meteorology. 

• With this initiative, both organisations will have a common platform of mutual cooperation, where the scientific advancements by SAC would be synergised into the Indian Naval efforts. 

• It is to keep the nation's defence in step with rapid development in the field of satellite data retrieval and applications.  

• This MoU is an extension of the previous MoU signed in 2017 and will further the collaboration between the two organisations. 

Pashmina Wool Development Scheme 

• The Ministry of Textiles has approved Pashmina Wool Development Scheme under Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) with a budget allocation of Rs.29.25 Crore for implementation during FY from 2021-22 to 2025-26. 

• A provision has been made under the HRD component of IWDP regarding awareness and training to wool growers including UT of Jammu & Kashmir as well as pashmina Nomads of UT of Ladakh region 

• A project to set up a Dehairing plant along with ancillary machines at Leh, UT of Ladakh with the project cost of Rs.19.75 Cr. has been sanctioned and out of it Rs.12.92 Cr. has been released. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

UNSC Meeting on Counterterrorism 

• India will chair the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee for 2022. 

• The meeting will be focussed particularly on challenges such as terrorism financing, cyberthreats and the use of drones. 

• India will welcome diplomats from the 15-nation Security Council, including the US, China, and Russia, for the special meeting of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in October. 

• India will serve as the committee’s chair until 2022. 

• According to information on the Committee’s website, the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) has decided to hold a special meeting on this topic in India on October 29, 2022, with the assistance of its Executive Directorate. 

UNESCO Heritage List 

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added a 106-year-old astronomical observatory at Langat Singh College in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur to its list of important endangered heritage observatories of the world. 

• The observatory was built in 1916 in the 123-year-old college, now affiliated with Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University. 

• In 1946, the college also installed a planetarium, the first in India. 

• The observatory and planetarium functioned satisfactorily up to 1970 but started declining gradually with time. 

BANKING 

SEBI Constitutes 15-Member Committee 

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted an expert group of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to boost overseas flows into the country.  

• The FPI Advisory Committee (FAC) will be chaired by former Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian. 

• It consists of 14 other members representing foreign banks, stock exchanges depositories and RBI. 

• The FAC has been tasked with advising on issues related to investments and operations of FPIs in the financial markets, including measures to facilitate ease of doing business by FPIs in India.  

• The committee will review investment avenues available for FPIs and to advise on the feasibility of new investment avenues.  

• It will also suggest measures required to encourage FPI participation in the bond market. 

1st to List Payment Gateway on New Tax Platform 

• Kerala based, Federal Bank is the first bank to get listed its Payment Gateway platform on “TIN 2.0 platform” of the Income Tax Department.  

• TIN 2.0 platform was started on 01 July 2022. 

• With this platform, taxpayers can make their payments with ease, through this platform. 

• They can use modes like Credit or Debit Card, NEFT or RTGS, UPI and Internet Banking to make payments. 

• TIN is an initiative of Income Tax Department of India (ITD).  

• It was started to modernize the current system to collect, process, monitor and take account of the direct taxes through information technology.  

• It is a repository of nationwide Tax related information. TIN was set up by Protean eGov Technologies Limited. 

SPORTS 

Tamim Iqbal to Score 8000 Runs in ODI 

• Bangladeshi ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal became the first batter in the country to score 8000 runs in the ODI during the first ODI being played against Zimbabwe in Harare. 

• Tamim has now joined the list of great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle, Adam Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly among a total of 33 batters who have scored over 8000 runs in ODIs. 

• He accomplished this achievement after playing 239 matches with a career average of 37.20. He has also scored 14 ODI centuries.  

• Tamim is followed by Bangladeshi players Shakib Al Hasan with 6755 runs and Mushfiqur Rahim with 6697 runs.   

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS 

Vice President of India 

• National Democratic Alliance candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected as the 14th vice president of India. 

• Dhankhar, a former governor of West Bengal, secured 528 votes against Alva’s 182. His victory margin was the highest since 1997. 

• He will succeed M Venkaiah Naidu. 

• He will take the oath of office on 11 August 2022. 

Cabinet Secretary to Get One-Year Extension 

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved extension in service to Gauba as Cabinet Secretary for a further period of one-year. 

• This is his second extension on the post. 

• He, former Union Secretary was appointed as cabinet secretary for two years in 2019. 

• He is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre. 

IMPORTANT DAYS 

National Handloom Day 

• National Handloom Day is celebrated annually on 07 August. 

• This day is observed annually to create awareness among the public about the handloom industry and the role played by it in India's socio-economic development. 

• In July 2015, the Union government decided to celebrate 7 August as National Handloom Day.  

• The day is commemorated to make the people aware about the importance of the handloom industry. 

• The day also c0mmemorates the Swadeshi movement that began in 1905. 

OBITUTARY 

Assam Eminent Sattriya Danseuse Garima Hazarika 

• Eminent exponent of Assam’s classical Sattriya dance Garima Hazarika passed away at the age of 83. 

• She was conferred with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 20006. 

• She was also proficient in Odissi and Kathak dance forms.