Daily Current Affairs  – 23 August 2021

Pakistan has decided to allow fully vaccinated Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur with strict COVID-19 protocols. Kartarpur Corridor It connects the Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal district of Pakistan with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab province. The corridor was built to commemorate 550th birth anniversary celebrations […]

The Ministry of Home Affairs (Freedom Fighters Division) is the implementing agency. It is a Central Scheme for the grant of pension to freedom fighters and their families from the Central Revenues. The Scheme provides for the grant of pension to living freedom fighters and their families – if they are no longer alive, and […]

Kashmir’s famed hand-knotted carpet, with its intricate and colourful floral patterns, adorned a special cover of the Indian Postal Service this week.  The inclusion of Kashmir’s hand-knotted carpet as a postal cover will help educate people about Geographical Indication (GI)tagging and reach a wide audience, upscale the dwindling trade, and restore its lost glory. Image […]

Recently, two women from West Bengalhave been given the National Handicraft Award in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the development of Madur floor mats that are unique to West Bengal.  Madur is a mat made by weaving Madur Kathi. About Madurkathi Madurkathi is a rhizome-based plant (Cyperus tegetum or Cyperus pangorei) found abundantly in […]

In News  Recently, the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs announced the launch of the National Monetisation Pipeline.  The National Monetisation Pipeline book will also be released. The book has been prepared by Crisil Infrastructure Advisory, an arm of Crisil Objectives and Need The global pandemic led to the economic crisis in the country […]

In News The Quad countries are going to conduct Malabar naval exercises off the coast of Guam in the face of China’s growing military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific. About  It is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners. It began as a bilateral naval exercise between India and […]

In News Variyam Kunnath Kunhamed Haji, Ali Musaliar and 387 Moplah martyrs will be removed from the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle as per the recommendations made by a three-member panel. About the Issue The fifth volume of the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle was brought out by the Indian Council […]

In News  The Union Finance Minister recently repeated a refrain that the Centre had been unduly burdened by the cost of having to service ‘oil bonds’ issued by the previous government. Due to this, the government is unable to reduce excise duty and other Central levies on petroleum products so as to lessen the burden […]

In News Recently, the draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been sent to the Cabinet Secretary for further consideration. Need for Amendments Inefficient Discoms: For years, electricity distribution has remained the sorepoint in the country’s power network. Although States unbundled the vertically integrated State Electricity Boards into generation companies and distribution companies (discoms) to promote […]

In News Recently, Moderna, the Massachusetts-based American biotechnology company, indicated to begin human trials for a vaccine for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in September. About The study will enrol 56 participants uninfected with HIV. They will be divided into four groups to test the combinations of two versions of the vaccine, called eOD-GT8 60mer mRNA […]