Today's Current Affairs-9th August 2022

INTERNATIONAL

55th Foundation Day: ASEAN symbolizes the spirit of solidarity and peace

• External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar has congratulated ASEAN Member States and the Secretary General on their 55th anniversary. In a tweet, he said, we celebrate 2022 as the ASEAN-India Friendship Year, reaffirming the commitment to the partnership and to ASEAN’s centrality in the Indo-Pacific. The ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, organised a panel discussion to celebrate the 55th Anniversary of ASEAN on Monday.
• The theme of this year’s ASEAN Day is “Stronger Together” that invites and welcomes the forward-minded people of ASEAN to come in synchronization and work as a collective to face the challenges of 21st Century. ASEAN symbolizes the spirit of solidarity and peaceful, prosperous and socially responsible ASEAN Community.

About Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN):

Founded: 8 August 1967, Bangkok, Thailand 

Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia

Founders: Abdul Razak Hussein, Narciso Ramos, Adam Malik, S. Rajaratnam, Thanat Khoman

 NATIONAL

One Nation One Ration Card completed three years

• The scheme has now been implemented all over the country with Assam being the latest state to join the initiative in June 2022. The ONORC, which was launched as a pilot project on August 9, 2019 in four states, has completed three years.
• The technology-driven ONORC scheme is being implemented by the Centre for the nation-wide portability of ration cards under the NFSA(National Food Security Act,2013). This system allows all NFSA beneficiaries, particularly the migrant beneficiaries, to claim either full or part of their entitled food grains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) in the country through an existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar authentication in a seamless manner. The system also allows their family members back home, if any, to claim the balance food grains on the same ration card.
• At present, on an average about 3 crore portability transactions per month are being recorded under the scheme. Since inception in August 2019, about 77.88 crore portable transactions have taken place under the scheme. Under the NFSA, the Centre is providing 5 kilograms of food grains per person every month to nearly 80 crore eligible beneficiaries at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kilogram. To provide relief to poor, the Centre is also providing an additional 5 kilograms of food grains per person each month ‘free of cost’ to 80 crore people.

India, US commence joint exercise 'Ex Vajra Prahar 2022' in Himachal's Bakloh

• The 13th Edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “Ex Vajra Prahar 2022” commenced at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS) in Himchal Pradesh's Bakloh on August 8, Monday. The US contingent is represented by personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) and Special Tactics Squadron (STS) of US Special Forces and the Indian Army contingent is formed by drawing Special Forces personnel under the aegis of SFTS.
• The Vajra Prahar series of joint exercise aims to share best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics, and also to improve inter-operability between the special forces of both nations.
• This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India and the United States. The 12th edition was conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, Washington (USA) in October 2021.

About United States:

Attorney general: Merrick Garland 

Capital: Washington, D.C.

President: Joe Biden

Currency: United States Dollar

About Himachal Pradesh:

Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur

Governor: Sh. Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar

Official bird: Western tragopan

Capitals: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter)

12th DefExpo to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat in October 2022

• The Ministry of Defence on Monday announced that the 12th edition of the Defence Expo, India's flagship exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems, will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The event will be held between October 18 and 22, 2022. The theme for this edition is 'Path to Pride' invoking nationalistic pride and encouraging citizens to partake in nation-building through establishing a capable indigenous Defence industry.
• The five-day event will witness three business days followed by two public days. Live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill set of the Armed Forces, DPSUs and Industry will be held on all five days at Sabarmati River Front through active participation and synchronized efforts at all levels, informed the officials.

About Gujarat:

Capital: Gandhinagar

Governor: Acharya Devvrat

Chief Minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel

Google launches 'India ki Udaan to celebrate 75 Years of Independence

• Capturing the milestones India has achieved in its journey of 75 years since Independence, software giant Google on Friday unveiled a vibrant online project drawing from rich archives and featuring artistic illustrations to tell the story of the country.
• Named ‘India ki Udaan’, the project executed by Google Arts & Culture celebrates the country’s achievements and is”themed on the unwavering and undying spirit of India over these past 75 years”.
• The project was officially launched at a glittering event held at the Sunder Nursery here in the presence of Union Culture and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and senior officials of the Culture Ministry and Google.
• As part of the countrywide celebrations, Google also announced its collaboration with the Ministry of Culture focused”on reaching informative online content that showcases the contributions of Indians and the evolution of India since 1947 to support the Government’s year-long ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ programme”, the search giant said in a statement.

About Google:

CEO: Sundar Pichai (2 Oct 2015)

Founded: 4 September 1998, Menlo Park, California, United States

Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States

Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin

SPORTS

Satwik & Chirag win India's first gold medal in Men's Doubles Badminton

• India's men's doubles badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Monday won the gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games after defeating England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 21-15 and 21-13.
• Through their straight-sets victory in the gold-medal match, Satwik and Chirag added another Commonwealth Games medal to their kitty after the silver medal in the last Games in 2018 Gold Coast. They also became the first Indian pair to claim the gold medal in men's doubles category at the Commonwealth Games.
• The victory also meant that India has now won three gold medals and sixth overall in badminton at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

India, with 22 gold medals, rank 4th at Commonwealth Games 2022

• India contingent completed its Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign in Birmingham. India won 61 medals in the overall Commonwealth Games 2022 medal table. India finished its CWG 2022 campaign as the fourth-best country on the medals table. India won 22 gold medals, 16 silver and 23 bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. India’s Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign is its fifth-best in terms of the number of medals won. India’s best finish was at its home games in Delhi in 2010, where it won 101 medals.

Commonwealth Games 2022: Top 10 Countries

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	67	57	54	178
2	England	57	66	53	176
3	Canada	26	32	34	92
4	India	22	16	23	61
5	New Zealand	20	12	17	49
6	Scotland	13	11	27	51
7	Nigeria	12	9	14	35
8	Wales	8	6	14	28
9	South Africa	7	9	11	27
10	Malaysia	8	8	8	24

IMPORTANT DAYS

World observed Nagasaki Day 2022: 9th August

• Japan commemorates the 9th of August every year as Nagasaki day. On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. It was code-named “Fat Man” due to the design of the bomb as it had a wide, round shape. On August 9, 1945, a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the city, killing nearly 20,000 people. The year 2022 will mark the 77th anniversary of the incident and will pay tribute to all those who lost their lives in the attack or were left alive to die slowly in the horrible nuclear radiation.
• Nagasaki Day is also an important day to remember the survivors of the bombing. Because of the atomic bomb, many people were left with radiation sickness or cancer. Today, they continue to work to help others learn from the tragedy and prevent future deaths from nuclear weapons.
• Celebrating Nagasaki Day is an important way to show our respect for the victims and survivors of the bombing. It can help us learn from history and make sure that such a tragedy never happens again.
• Nagasaki Day marks the anniversary of the atomic bombings that took place in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. After Hiroshima, Nagasaki was the second Japanese city to be attacked by a nuclear weapon.

About Japan:

Capital: Tokyo

Prime Minister: Fumio Kishida

Currency: Japanese yen

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2022: 9^th August

• International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated on 9th August across the world. The celebration highlights the role of indigenous people and the importance of preserving their rights, communities and knowledge they gathered and passed down over centuries.
• The theme of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples this year is “The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge.”
• Indigenous and tribal cultures, and communities, allow us to look back at our roots. Taking cognisance of the knowledge acquired by indigenous people is vital culturally and also scientifically.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

RBI imposes monetary penalty on Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.33 crore on Hyderabad-based Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd for its failure to adhere to the pricing of credit guidelines for Non-Banking Financial Company – Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs).
• RBI had conducted statutory inspections of the company, a NBFC- MFI, with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020. Examination of the Risk Assessment Report, Inspection Reports, supervisory letters and all related correspondence revealed that the company’s failure to adhere to pricing of credit guidelines for NBFC-MFI, according to the central bank’s statement. The central bank observed that its action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers.
• RBI said the penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

Governor: Shaktikanta Das 

Ownership: Ministry of Finance, Government of India

Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

Founder: British Raj