1. India, Israel to sign MoU on waste management

(i) Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Tel Aviv in October 2015, the two countries are to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the fields of water conservation, water use efficiency, waste water treatment and river rejuvenation.

(ii) Experts from Israel are in India not only to promote Watec 2015, world’s biggest Conference on Water Technologies and Environmental Control that will be held in October 2015 at Tel Aviv but also to promote investment of Indian companies in Israel.

2. Guinness Book of World Records acknowledges PAHAL scheme

(i) The PAHAL scheme or Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh scheme launched by the Government of India, has been acknowledged by the Guinness World Records for being the largest cash transfer programme.

(ii) PAHAL scheme was launched in 54 districts of the country on 15 November, 2014 and in the remaining districts on 1st January, 2015. As on 13 August, 2015, 13.9 crore LPG consumers have joined this scheme and will get the LPG cylinders at market price and receive LPG subsidy (as per their entitlement) directly into their bank accounts.

3. Dahihandi is now an adventure sport

(i)Every year, the birth of Lord Krishna is celebrated with great zeal across Maharashtra. The highlight of this festival is the dahihandi celebration that wherein human pyramid are formed at public locations to break an earthen pot with curd hanging mid-air. On August 12, the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra issued a Government Resolution (GR) making dahihandi an adventure sport.

(ii) Maharashtra State Minister of Education, Sports and Culture Vinod Tawde Dahihandi will no longer be limited to Janmashtami and will be played as per rules to be developed by a state-level association.

(iii) Dahihandi is one of the most celebrated celebrations in Maharashtra wherein participation is not limited to locals. A special team from Spain where a similar festival is held visited Thane in 2014 to participate.

4. O P Rawat is the new election commissioner

(i) President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Om Prakash Rawat as the new election commissioner on Thursday. He will join Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioner A K Joti in the three-member poll-panel.

(ii) O P Rawat is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS), of the 1997 batch from Madhya Pradesh. He will hold the post till December 2018.

(iii)A Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner has a tenure of six years or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

5. Researchers discover evidence of ancient lakes on Mars

(i) Researchers from the University of Colorado have discovered evidence of lakes on planet Mars.

(ii) The scientists examined an 18-square-mile chloride salt deposit in the planet’s Meridiani region near the Mars Opportunity rover’s landing site. Large scale salt deposits are considered to be evidence of evaporated water bodies.

(iii) These findings were published in the science journal, Geology, on 5th August 2015.

6. India defeat Spain 4 – 2 in European Hockey Tour

(i) India out performed Spain 4-2 in the third and last match of the European Hockey Tour to win the three game series 2-1.

(ii) India’s Forward player Ramandeep Singh got two remarkable goals within a minute’s gap (50th and 51st min) to clinch the match. Further, drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh (24th min) and Akashdeep Singh (45th minute) were others who scored for the Indian team.        

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