1 Shaktikanta Das became the top central banker globally for the second consecutive year
US magazine Global Finance on August 20 ranked RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das as the top central banker globally for the second consecutive year . Das has been given an ‘ A+ ‘ rating this year as well. The only three central bank governors to get an “A+” rating are RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Denmark’s Christian Ketel Thomsen and Switzerland’s Thomas Jordan. . The others who got an “A” rating were Roberto Campos Neto of Brazil, Rosanna Costa of Chile, Harvesh Kumar Seegolam of Mauritius, Abdellatif Jauhari of Morocco, Lesetja Kganyago of South Africa, Nandalal Weerasinghe of Sri Lanka and Nguyen Thi Hong of Vietnam. Chea Serey of Cambodia, Tiff Macklem of Canada, Roger Madrigal Lopez of Costa Rica, Hector Valdez Albizu of Dominican, Christine Lagarde of the European Union, Alvaro Gonzalez Ricci of Guatemala, Perry Warjiyo of Indonesia, Richard Biles of Jamaica, Adel Al-Sharkass of Jordan, Bayadran Lakhgvassuren of Mongolia, Ida Wolden Bache of Norway, Julio Velarde Flores of Peru, Eli Remolona of the Philippines, Erik Theden of Sweden and Jerome Hayden of the USA. Powell has received an A- rating. Global Finance Magazine gives ratings based on success in inflation rate control, economic growth target, currency stability and interest rate management. On these basis, the magazine gives rankings from A+ to AF grades.
2 PM Modi reached Poland on a two-day visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Poland on Wednesday (20, August) in the first leg of his two-nation visit . This is the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Poland in the last 45 years . Earlier, Morarji Desai had visited there in 1979. After reaching Poland, PM Modi paid floral tribute at the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar memorial in Warsaw. He visited the Monte Cassino memorial of World War II . PM Modi has paid tribute at the Monte Cassino memorial and the memorial of the Kolhapur family in Warsaw , which are located next to each other. This memorial is dedicated to Jam Saheb Digvijay Singh Ji Ranjit Singh Ji , the former Maharaja of Nawanagar (now Jamnagar) . In 1942, the Maharaja established the Polish Children’s Camp in Jamnagar for refugee Polish children brought from the USSR during World War II . The Battle of Monte Cassino was fought in World War II from May 11 to May 18, 1944. The Polish army suffered heavy losses, due to which 923 Polish soldiers were killed. Tributes were also paid at the Kolhapur Memorial in Warsaw . The Prime Minister said in a post on X that this memorial is a tribute to the great royal family of Kolhapur. This royal family was at the forefront of sheltering Polish women and children displaced due to the horrors of World War II . Poland is an economic partner of Central Europe. PM Modi will be on a visit to Poland from 21-22 August. After this he will leave for Ukraine by train. Trade between India and Poland has been $ 5.72 billion (about Rs 48 thousand crores) in 2023. Trade between the two countries has increased by 192% from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, India had exports of $ 3.95 billion and imports of $ 1.76 billion with Poland. India has an investment of more than $ 3 billion in Poland. Indian IT companies employ about 10 thousand people in Poland. At the same time, Poland has an investment of $ 685 million in India.
3 ISRO plans to launch 70 satellites in the next 5 years
ISRO chief Dr. S. Somnath said on Tuesday, August 20 that ISRO plans to launch 70 satellites in the next 5 years . He gave this information during a program organized by All India Council for Technical Education and Indian Space Association. These 70 satellites include four for Navik Regional Navigation System (NAVIC) to provide positioning, navigation and timing services, INSAT 4D weather satellite , Resourcesat series of satellites, Cartosat satellite for remote sensing and high resolution imaging. Apart from this, after the success of Chandrayaan-3 , ISRO is now planning to launch Chandrayaan 4 and 5. ISRO has prepared the design for the next phase of Moon mission. The process of getting approval from the government is going on for this.
4 Six new parliamentary committees formed
The formation of six new Parliamentary Committees by the Lok Sabha Speaker recently is a strategic move in the management of government affairs. These committees include the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) (managing government expenditure), the Estimates Committee (scrutinising government expenditure and ensuring efficiency), the Public Enterprises Committee (focusing on the performance of public sector enterprises) and committees focused on the welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The newly constituted committees have a tenure of one year and include members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Unlike previous Lok Sabhas, where the formation of committees often involved elections, the formation of committees in the 18th Lok Sabha has been largely by consensus. Parliamentary committees in India, which are derived from the British Parliament, are empowered under Article 105 (Powers and Privileges) and Article 118 (Regulation for the Transaction of Business) of the Indian Constitution . There are two types of Parliamentary Committees in India: Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees. Standing committees are those constituted by Parliament to deal with specific areas of public policy or administration. Ad hoc committees are temporary committees formed to perform specific tasks or review particular bills. They are dissolved after fulfilling their objectives.
5 Future: Promoting digital empowerment and ease of living for pensioners
In order to address the problems of delays and clerical errors in settlement of pension cases as well as to protect pensioners from financial loss and harassment, DOPPW has introduced a unique innovative centralized pension processing software called ‘ Bhavishya ‘ for all Ministries/Departments of the Central Government. “Bhavishya” has become mandatory for all Central Ministries and currently 99 Ministries/Departments are covered under it. Bhavishya has been approved under National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA), 2021 Providing features like automatic registration of retirees with basic data, self-registration for stakeholders and automatic calculation of retirement benefits. Under this, strict timelines have been enforced for pension. Along with transparency and accountability in the pension process, this system makes it very easy to identify the points of delay and fix responsibility. It provides real time updates through email/SMS alerts; It is integrated with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) for electronic PPO, making the process paperless. It is integrated with banks for post-retirement services; Bhavishya automatically sends the ePPO to the retiree’s DigiLocker account so that it can be accessed anywhere/anytime without logging in. Bhavishya also facilitates the issuance of pensioner’s identity cards.
6 India’s first Gross Environmental Product launched
Recently, Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to assign monetary value to its natural resources including air, water, forest and soil and named it (Gross Environment Product- GEP) . It is a component of Green GDP. It is considered as the value of products and services contributing to the ecosystem. It makes provision for sustainable human well-being, economic and social development, including regulation and cultural ecosystem services. Green GDP is an indicator of economic growth, which takes into account environmental aspects such as biodiversity loss and climate change costs along with standard GDP. The GEP index excludes man-made gross environmental product conservation (e.g., Amrit Sarovar) from natural processes such as rainfall. The GEP index reflects comparative data for 2020-2022 and shows a 0.9% increase in built environmental products.
7 Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to formalize digital summons and warrant rules
Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to formalise digital summons and warrant rules. Madhya Pradesh has allowed the issuance of summons and warrants digitally under new laws. This move allows the use of electronic methods such as email, messaging apps like WhatsApp and text messages in judicial processes.
8 Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar launched ‘Online Monitoring Portal of Thermal Projects’ (PROMPT)
Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr Manohar Lal launched the ‘ Online Monitoring Portal of Thermal Projects ‘ ( PROPT ) in New Delhi . On this occasion, Union Minister Mr Manohar Lal said that electricity is the main factor for the economic activities taking place in the country. Due to this, the demand for electricity is also increasing and it is very important to complete the ongoing schemes and thermal projects in a timely manner. The launch of the PROMPT portal will make transparent, coordinated and effective functioning possible in the power sector in the country.
9 Khelo India Asmita Yogasana League will start in Patna, Bihar
Khelo India Asmita Yogasana League (Eastern Zone) will start at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna, Bihar . The three-day Eastern Zone League will end on August 24. Bihar Yogasana Sports Federation is hosting this league for the first time. Five hundred women players from twelve states of the Eastern region will participate in this league. These twelve states are – Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, West Bengal and Odisha. Players in the age group of 12 to 18 and 18 to 55 will participate in five main competitions. This league will be broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of Khelo India Women’s League.
10 India’s Raunak Dahiya won bronze medal at the ongoing Under-17 World Wrestling Championship in Amman, Jordan
In wrestling , India’s Raunak Dahiya won a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 110kg category at the ongoing Under-17 World Wrestling Championships in Amman , Jordan . Raunak, the current world number 2, defeated Turkiye’s Emrullah Capcan 6-1 in the bronze medal bout. Earlier, Raunak lost the semifinal bout 0-2 to Hungary’s Zoltan Czako .
11 Pune’s Diana won the National Car Racing Championship 2024 in the Saloon category
Diana Pundal has surprised everyone by winning the Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 in the MRF Saloon category on 19 August . She is from Pune . Diana is a mother of two children as well as a distinguished athlete. Diana’s victory has set a new standard for women in racing competition. Diana Pundal’s success in the MRF Saloon category is not her first victory. She has won races in the mixed gender category on several occasions. Diana has previously competed at the Autodrome in Dubai, the F1 Circuit D Spa in Belgium as well as many other world class recognized Formula 1 circuits in Europe and the UAE.
12 Leonard Hayflick, who discovered why no one lives forever, dies at 96
The recent death of Leonard Hayflick, a leading biomedical researcher, has brought renewed attention to his groundbreaking discovery, known as the Hayflick limit . This discovery radically changed the study of aging by refuting the earlier notion that aging is influenced only by external factors such as disease and environmental conditions . Leonard Hayflick discovered in the 1960s that somatic (non-reproductive) cells can divide only 40-60 (approximately) times before they stop dividing, a phenomenon known as cellular senescence. This cessation of cell division, resulting in the accumulation of senescent cells, is thought to be a major factor in aging. As cells stop dividing, the body begins to age and experience decay. The Hayflick limit states that organisms, including humans, have a built-in cellular clock that sets a maximum lifespan. For humans, this limit is estimated to be about 125 years, after which no external factors or genetic modifications can extend lifespan further.