National
Rajasthan unveils e-stamping facility:
i. The Rajasthan High Court has unveiled the barcode e-stamp facility in its Jodhpur and Jaipur benches simultaneously.
ii. e-stamp facility is completely secure and reliable and there is no possibility of any forgery or tampering.
iii. This facility is already available in these three states: Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Assam got world class library in NIT Silchar:
i. Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal has inaugurated a new world class library, ‘Bharat Ratn Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Learning Resource Centre in National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar.
ii. The library is established with the help of university of Illinois, USA.
iii. The library is one of kind in the entire north-eastern region equipped with modern technology and infrastructure.
5 September: National Teachers Day:
i. Every year 5th September is being observed as National Teachers Day in India.
ii. Significance of Day: Observance of this day commemorates the birthday of India’s first Vice President and second President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan since 1962.
iii. Today President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday interacted with students of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at President’s Estate on the occasion of Teachers Day.
About Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan:
a) Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in Thiruttani in then Madras Presidency of British India.
b) He was an Indian philosopher and statesman and one the best known scholars in the field of comparative religion and philosophy in India in the 20th century.
c) Important Posts held: He was the first Vice President of India (in office from 1952–1962), Second President of India (in office from 1962 to 1967).
Awards: He was honoured with Bharat Ratna (1954), British Royal Order of Merit (1963) etc.
Note: He was first recipient Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award along with politician C. Rajagopalachari, scientist C. V. Raman.
Union Government approves use of chilli-based PAVA shells in place of pellet guns:
i. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) shells as an alternative to pellet guns for crowd controlling in Jammu and Kashmir.
ii. PAVA sheels also called Nonivamide are chilli-filled grenades. They are less lethal compared to pellet guns and immobilises the target temporarily rather than causing physical injury.
iii. The PAVA shells contain Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide, an organic compound (also known as Nonivamide) found in chilli pepper. It derives its name from the compound.
iv. The approval for use of PAVA shells was based on recommendation of seven-member Expert Committee headed by TVSN Prasad, Joint Secretary of MHA.
Appointments & Resignations
Sakshi Malik appointed Wrestling Director of Rohtak University:
i. Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik (freestyle wrestler-58 kg) has been appointed as Wrestling Director at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, Haryana.
ii. She is a part of the JSW Sports Excellence Program, along with fellow female wrester Vinesh Phogat, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari.
C Vidyasagar Rao sworn in as acting Governor of Tamil Nadu:
i. Governor of Maharashtra Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao, was sworn in as the acting Governor of Tamil Nadu.
ii. He was administered oath of office by the Madras High Court’s Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul as per provisions of Article 159 of Constitution at the Raj Bhavan, Chennai.
iii. President Pranab Mukherjee had given additional charge of Tamil Nadu to C Vidyasagar Rao as per Article 153 of Constitution as the tenure of K. Rosaiah ended on 31 August 2016.
About C Vidyasagar Rao:
a) Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao is incumbent Governor of Maharashtra. He had entered into the office in August 2014.
b) He was elected to 12th and 13th Lok Sabha as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Karimnagar in Telangana.
Kiran M Shaw appointed Knight of Legion of Honor by France:
i. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon Limited was appointed Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour (Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur).
ii. Shaw was bestowed with this prestigious award for her contribution to biosciences and research. She will be presented with this award on behalf of the French President later in 2016.
About Kiran Mazumdar Shaw:
a) Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is Indian entrepreneur and current chairperson of IIM-Bangalore
b) She is Chairman and MD of Biocon Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bengaluru.
c) Forbes magazine had listed her 85th most powerful woman in the world. She was also listed on the Financial Times’ top 50 women in business list.
Chevalier l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur: It is the highest civilian award of the French Government for outstanding contribution in diverse fields.
Awards & Honors
Indian conservationist gets IUCN ‘Heritage Hero’ award:
i. Assam-based conservationist Bibhuti Lahkar on Sunday became the first Asian to be conferred with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s ‘Heritage Hero’ award.
ii. He was recognised for his contribution towards Manas National Park, in helping remove the World Heritage Site’s “in danger” tag
iii. The status had been downgraded due to the destruction caused by armed militants in western Assam.
Sports
Serena Williams sets women’s record of 307 victories in grand slams:
i. World number one Tennis player Serena Williams has created history by setting a record of most number of Grand Slam matches wins by a woman in the Open era.
ii. In the US Open,she defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden. and surpass Martina Navratilova’s record of 306 wins.
iii. Serena is standing equal with Roger Federer who holds the record for men.
iv. Serena Williams is currently equal with Steffi Graf with 22 major Singles titles.
Sikki and Pranaav won Brazil Open Grand Prix title:
i. Indian mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra won their maiden Grand Prix title in the Brazil Open Grand Prix.
II. They defeated Canadian combo of Toby Ng and Rachel Honderich 21-15, 21-16 in straight games at Costa Cavalcante.
Short News
I. German Formula One driver for Mercedes Nico Rosberg has won the 2016 Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy. It is Rosberg’s 7th victory of the 2016 Formula One season.
II. India A has clinched the Quadrangular one-day cricket series, thrashing Australia by 57 runs in the final clash in Mackay, Australia.
III. India’s lone individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra (shooting) has officially announced his retirement from shooting. Bindra is a World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event.
IV. Haryana Government has decided to develop 340 villages as Horticulture Villages at a cost of 93 crore rupees during the Golden Jubilee year of the State. An MoU has signed with the Apio Inc. for processing and packaging of horticultural products in New Delhi.
V. Former union minister Arif Beg (81-year)passed away in Bhopal. He was the minister of state (1977-79) in the Morarji Desai-led Janta Party government at the centre.
VI. Air India Express (International subsidiary of Air India) has turned profitable for the first time since it started operations in 2005 with the net profit of 361.68 crore rupees in the fiscal year 2015-16.
VII. Agra’s 12-year-old Shahan Ali Mohsin, on Sunday, became the first Indian to win the Asian karting championship.
VIII. To clean up the examination system after the toppers scam, the Bihar School Examination Board has decided to link Aadhaar card number of the students with their examination forms to avoid duplication. This initiative is the first by any state board in the country.
IX. Dr Urjit R Patel has assumed charge as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) effective September 4, 2016, an official release stated today. The 52-year old, who served as the Deputy Governor since January 2013, will be succeeding Raghuram Rajan.
X. Gumthala Garhu Village near Pehowa in Kurukshetra district in Haryana became the first Wifi hotspot village in Haryana circle. The service was inaugurated by Chief Minister Manohar Lal from Chandigarh under the bulk plan of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to provide internet services to rural areas.
XI. India is the second most ‘unequal’ country after Russia in terms of wealth and its distribution among masses, with 54% of the wealth being held by millionaires, a report by a wealth research firm said. India is among the 10 richest countries.
XII. India on Saturday said it cannot ratify the Paris climate change agreement this year, despite pressure from the US and China who ratified it on Saturday. The Paris agreement requires member nations to regulate their greenhouse emissions to limit global temperature rise below 2°C. Notably, India is the fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter, accounting for about 5.8% of the emissions.