General Knowledge & Current Affairs
August 2022 - 8th to 14th
- ISRO launches small rocket from Sriharikota carrying Earth Observation Satellite & AzaadiSAT satellite
- 8th National handloom observed on August 7
- PM chairs 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre, New Delhi
- All-Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) blocks movement on Imphal-Dimapur highway (NH-2) and Imphal-Jiribam highway (NH-39); demands more autonomy for hill districts
- Nallathamby Kalaiselvi becomes first woman director general of CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)
- Both houses of Parliament adjourned sine die concluding the Monsoon Session
- Parliament passes Central Universities (Amendment) Bill 2022; seeks to convert the National Rail and Transportation Institute at Vadodara into the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya which will be a central university
- Indian Army launches Him Drone-a-thon programme in collaboration with DFI (Drone Federation of India) to develop drone capabilities for meeting requirements of frontline troops
- Nitish Kumar ends alliance with BJP, quits as Bihar CM
- Marathi actor Pradeep Patwardhan passes away at 52
- Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “Ex Vajra Prahar 2022” starts at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh
- Bihar: JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar takes oath as CM, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav appointed Deputy CM
- Justice Uday Umesh Lalit appointed 49th CJI, to take oath on Aug 27; will have a term till November 8
- J&K: 3 soldiers martyred & 2 terrorist gunned down in terror attack on army camp in Rajouri
- Gaganyaan project: ISRO successfully carries out test-firing of Low Altitude Escape Motor (LEM) of Crew Escape System, from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
- Indian, Oman Army exercise ‘Al Najah’ concludes in Bikaner
- India, Malaysia air force exercise ‘Udarashakti’ being conducted in Malaysia
- India ‘opposes unilateral change to Taiwan status quo’
- Initiative ‘SMILE’ (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) launched to make cities, towns and municipal areas begging-free
- India adds 11 more wetlands to the list of Ramsar sites to make total 75 Ramsar sites
- 4 in Tamil Nadu, 3 in Odisha, 2 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1 each in MP and Maharashtra
- Tamil Nadu: Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex, Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary, Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary
- Odisha: Tampara Lake, Hirakud Reservoir, Ansupa Lake
- J&K: Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve, Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve
- MP: Yashwant Sagar
- Maharashtra: Thane Creek
- J&K: Golden joint of world’s highest Chenab railway bridge inaugurated
- Centre reinstates J&K IAS Officer Shah Faesal as Deputy Secretary in Tourism Ministry
- China to run new drills in Yellow and Bohai seas
- Cease-fire between Palestinians, Israel takes effect in Gaza after 3 days
- International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples celebrated on August 9
- Afghan Taliban’s security forces and Pakistani military clash on Durand Line in Dangam district of eastern Kuanr province
- Pakistan: 4 army personnel killed in suicide blast at military convoy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district
- US returns 30 stolen works of art and antiquities to Cambodia
- China says exercises near Taiwan, conducted post Nancy Pelosi visit, have ended
- WHO decries increasing attacks on monkeys over fears of spread of monkeypox in Brazil
- World Lion Day celebrated on August 10
- China and Nepal agree on building Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network
- China shields Pakistan based global terrorist – Abdul Rauf Azhar from UN sanctions
- Indian-American journalist, Fox News host Uma Pemmaraju dies at 64
- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador proposes 3 men commission for world peace including PM Modi, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Pope Francis
- International Youth Day celebrated on August 12; theme: ‘Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages’
- World Elephant Day celebrated on August 12
- Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum becomes first south Asian to win Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award
- US, Indonesia, Australia hold Super Garuda Shield exercises on Sumatra Island
- Martian equator contains little or no ice, says seismic data from NASA’s Mars InSight mission
- Sri Lanka allows docking of Chinese research ship at Hambantota port from August 16-22
- WHO announces new names for variants of monkeypox virus in circulation; Clade I, Clade II
- World Organ Donation Day observed on August 13
- First commercial flight of Akasa Air launched on Ahmedabad-Mumbai route
- Lok Sabha passes Bill to rename the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre as the India International Arbitration Centre
- Lok Sabha passes Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022
- Lok Sabha recommends Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to Parliamentary Standing Committee for further examination
- NIXI offers domain names for Rs 75 under ‘Har Ghar Digital, Har Jeevan Digital’ campaign
- 12th edition of Defence Expo to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in Oct; theme: is ‘Path to Pride’
- Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar lays foundation stone of Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for Vegetables in Chandauli, UP
- RBI releases regulatory framework for digital lending; lending business can be carried out only by entities regulated by the central bank
- Centre releases 2 instalments of tax devolution to state govts amounting to Rs 1.16 lakh crore
- World Biofuel Day celebrated on August 10; PM inaugurates second generation (2G) ethanol plant in Panipat, Haryana
- Centre decides to remove fare cap on air tickets from August 31
- LIC consolidates its leadership position with 68.57% market share
- Union Cabinet approves continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) – Housing for All Mission up to 31st December 2024
- Income tax payers barred from enrolling in Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from October 1
- Subscribers of APY get a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month after attaining 60 years of age depending on their contributions
- India’s foreign exchange reserves decline by $897 million to $572.978 billion in the week ended August 5
- RBI asks banks, regulated entities to prevent harassment by recovery agents; no phone calls before 8 am and after 7 pm
- National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks organized by the Ministry of Cooperation & National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) in New Delhi
- Consumer Price Index-based inflation (retail) eases to 6.71% in July from 7.01% in June
- IIP (Index of Industrial Production) growth decelerates to 12.3 percent YoY in June
- DST StartUp Utsav organised at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi
- Department of Consumer Affairs asks all states, UTs to enforce stock disclosure by stockholders of Tur pulse
- Over 7% Indians owned cryptocurrency in 2021: UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
- Saline Water Lantern using sea water to power specially designed LED lamps launched by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh
- UNITED STATES
The FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, apparently looking for documents he took from the White House. Biden’s Democrats were torn between applauding the investigation and fretting that it might make Trump look, to his fans, like a martyr. - UKRAINE
Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s war with Russia could not end until Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, is liberated. The Ukrainian president was speaking after explosions rocked a Russian air base in Crimea, destroying several military planes. - RUSSIA
The flow of Russian energy to Europe was disrupted once again. This time shipments of oil through the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia were halted, ostensibly because of a row over payment. - IRELAND
A British ultramarathon runner ran the width of Ireland, the first person to do so in under 24 hours. Robert Pope, 44, started his 211-km run in Galway and finished it in capital Dublin. - ISRAEL
For three days the Israeli air force hit members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, killing two of its commanders and, according to Palestinian sources, leaving at least 42 other people dead. Israel suffered no losses. Hamas, the Islamist group that controls
Gaza, kept out of the fray. Egypt helped secure a ceasefire. - JAPAN
The fallout from the assassination of Abe Shinzo, a former prime minister, continued to rock Japanese politics. Kishida Fumio, the current prime minister, drew flak for his party’s dealings with the Unification Church, a religious group that raises money energetically from its adherents. (Abe was murdered by a man with a grudge against the church.) - CUBA
Firefighters took five days to control a blaze at Cuba’s largest oil storage terminal in Matanzas, on the country’s coast. The fire, triggered by lightning, destroyed four tanks. 1 died and 15 were reported missing. - COLOMBIA
Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M19 guerrilla group, took office as Colombia’s first left-wing president. His vice-president, Francia Márquez, is the first black person to hold the job. - PAPUA NEW GUINEA
James Marape won re-election as prime minister of Papua New Guinea after an election marred by violence and widespread
fraud. Marape has an 18-month grace period before he can face a no-confidence vote. - SIERRA LEONE
A nationwide curfew was imposed in Sierra Leone, after demonstrations in Freetown, the capital, against high food and fuel prices turned violent and morphed into wider anti-government protests.
- INDIA AT BIRMINGHAM COMMONWEALTH GAMES
– Eldhose Paul (17.03m) wins gold in men’s triple jump
– Vinesh Phogat wins gold in women’s 53kg freestyle wrestling
– Ravi Dahiya wins gold in men’s 57kg boxing
– Amit Panghal wins gold in men’s 51kg boxing
– Nitu Ghanghas wins gold in women’s 48 kg boxing
– Nikhat Zareen wins gold in women’s 50kg boxing
– Naveen wins gold in men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling - India beat West Indies by 88 runs in fifth and final T20 International at Lauderhill in Florida (US) to win five-match series 4-1
- Chess: 15-year-old V. Pranav becomes India’s 75th Grandmaster
- INDIA AT BIRMINGHAM COMMONWEALTH GAMES
– India (22 Gold, 16 Silver, and 23 Bronze) finish 4th in medals tally behind Australia, England and Canada
– PV Sindhu wins gold in women’s singles badminton
– Lakshya Sen wins gold in men’s singles badminton
– Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win gold in men’s doubles badminton
– Achanta Sharath Kamal wins gold men’s singles Table Tennis
– Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula wins gold in mixed doubles Table Tennis
– Australia beat India by nine runs to win gold medal in the women’s cricket
– Australia win gold in men’s hockey by beating India 7-0 in the final. - 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai: Uzbekistan win gold in open section, Ukraine in women’s; India win bronze in both
- Former South African cricket umpire Rudi Koertzen dies at 73; umpired in 128 Tests, 250 ODIs. 19 T20Is
- Former Indian bowler Manoj Prabhakar takes over as Nepal cricket team coach
- India’s CA Bhavani Devi wins gold in Commonwealth Fencing Championship 2022 in London
- Serena Williams announces retirement from professional tennis; won 23 grand slam titles starting from US Open in 1999
- Football: Real Madrid lift Super Cup by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 at Helsinki
