Important Current Affairs 25th August 2021

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NATIONAL

NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute India Jointly Launch ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India

• NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India, jointly launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India. NITI Aayog is the implementing partner for India. The aim of the project is to bring down the peak level of GHG emissions (transport sector) in Asia (in line with a well below 2-degree pathway), resulting in problems like congestion and air pollution.

• The Forum has been launched under the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project. The NDC Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA 2020-2023) is a joint programme of seven organizations that will engage China, India, and Vietnam in promoting a comprehensive approach to decarbonizing transport in their respective countries.

India's Afghanistan evacuation mission termed 'Operation Devi Shakti'

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has given a name to India’s complex mission of evacuating its citizens from war-torn Afghanistan, as ‘Operation Devi Shakti’. The name of the operation was known when External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar mentioned it in a tweet on August 24 while referring to the arrival of a fresh batch of 78 evacuees in Delhi.

• India began the complex evacuation mission by airlifting 40 Indians from Kabul to Delhi on August 16, a day after the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital city. So far, India has evacuated over 800 people amid a deteriorating security situation in Kabul and scramble by various nations to rescue their citizens.

Festival Wanchuwa celebrated in Assam 2021

• Tiwa tribesmen perform their traditional dnac eas they take part in Wanchuwa Festival in Assam. This festival is celebrated by Tiwa tribesmen to mark their good harvest. It comes with songs, dances, a bunch of rituals and people clad in their native attires.

• Tiwa is also known as Lalung is an indigenous community inhabiting the states of Assam and Meghalaya and are also found in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. They are recognized as a Scheduled tribe within the state of Assam. They practice Jhum or shifting cultivation.

SPORTS

Shaili Singh bags Long Jump silver in WAU20 Championships

• Shaili Singh claimed the women’s Long Jump silver medal in the World Athletics U20 Championships. Her slight wind-aided effort of 6.59m was only 1cm short of the gold medal jump by Sweden’s Maja Askag but her silver medal ensured that Indian athletics continues to showcase the progress it has been making.

• Shaili Singh’s was India’s third medal in the World Athletics U20 Championships, coming after the bronze won by the Mixed Team in the 4x400m Relay and the silver by Amit Khatri in the men’s 10,000m Race Walk. India finished 21st on the medal table, aware that a gold would have lifted it to the top 15.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGNATION

A K Singh appointed as the joint secretary in Ministry of Cooperation

• Abhay Kumar Singh has been appointed as joint secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation. This ministry was recently formed with an aim to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country. The appointment of Abhay Kumar Singh has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by PM Modi.

• Singh, a 2004-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry for a combined tenure of seven years against the newly created post.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2021

• The World Economic Forum’s annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit will take place on September 20-23, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland. This year’s event will focus strongly on inclusively revitalizing economies. The United Nations General Assembly, the summit convenes under the theme “Shaping an Equitable, Inclusive and Sustainable Recovery”. It will welcome almost all leaders from government, business and civil society who will work together to drive action and build momentum for a more sustainable and inclusive future.

• The meeting will examine four interdependent areas and bring together communities of purpose to advance ongoing project work.

BOOKS & AUTHOR

Book “Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest” authored by Boria Majumdar & Kushan Sarkar

• A new book titled “Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest” authored by Boria Majumdar & Kushan Sarkar. The Book Published by Simon & Schuster Publisher India Private Limited.

• The Book talks about the short story of several Indian cricketers life events such as Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, R. Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara.

Book titled ‘Battlefield’ authored by Vishram Bedekar

• A book titled ‘Battlefield’ has been authored by Vishram Bedekar, translated from the Marathi original Ranaangan by Jerry Pinto.

• The book is the story of a shipboard romance between an Indian man and a German-Jewish woman, both fleeing Europe before the Second World War.

Book ‘Address Book: A Publishing Memoir in the time of COVID’ by Ritu Menon

• A book titled has ‘Address Book: A Publishing Memoir in the time of COVID’ by Ritu Menon. Menon, who co-founded Kali for Women, India’s first feminist press in 1983, is founder-director of Women Unlimited, an associate of KfW.

• Weeks after the March 2020 lockdown began, Menon started to write a diary.

RANKING

Safe Cities Index 2021

• Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, has been named as the world’s safest city from among 60 global cities, in Safe Cities Index 2021, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Copenhagen scored 82.4 points out of 100, to top the fourth edition of the EIU’s biennial index, which measures the level of urban safety. Yangon is at the bottom of the index, as least safe city, with a score of 39.5.

• New Delhi and Mumbai have found a place in the index. New Delhi is placed at 48th position with a score of 56.1, while Mumbai is at 50th place with a score of 54.4.

World’s top 5 Safest cities

• Copenhagen

• Toronto

• Singapore

• Sydney

• Tokyo