1. Hiroshima Day observed world over
i) On the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing, special vigils and peace marches were organised across the world to commemorate the day on August 6.
(ii) On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing around 80,000 people, nearly 90% of the city’s population.
(iii) What is worse, thousands of people still continue to suffer with aftereffects of the nuclear radiation, a result of the bombing.
2. Kyrgyzstan joins Russia-backed economic bloc
(i)
Kyrgyzstan on August 6 became the fifth
member of the Moscow-backed economic bloc – Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
(ii)
Though the Central Asian nation had signed the accession
papers for the EEU in December 2014, it had to wait for ratification by four
other members, namely Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia .
(iii) This move links Central
Asian economies with Russia reducing the influence of China in
the region.
3. Cabinet approves release of
wages directly into bank accounts
(i)
On August 5, Union Cabinet approved direct
release of wages to workers’ accounts under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employee Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
(ii)
This move is believed to improve
efficiency and benefit all stakeholders of the scheme.
(iii) As per the recent developments, workers would
get their wages on the second day of the pay order generation
and the gram panchayats would be empowered to take up work according to their labour budget
without struggling for release of funds.
4. Airtel launches 4G services in 296 towns across India
(i)
India’s No. 1 telecom service
provider Bharti Airtel commercially launched high-speed 4G services in 296
towns across India on August 5, post the successful trial and positive feedback from
its users.
(ii) Competitors like
Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Reliance Communications have also announced
plans of launching 4G services later this year or next year.
(iii) Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel (India
and South Asia) said, “With the help of the feedback received
from the beta launches, we have now built India’s first commercial 4G network
that will make high-speed mobile broadband a reality. The national roll-out
today is another small step in our journey to be the most innovative and
customer-focused brand.”
5. Punjab gets first-of-its-kind mechanised cleanliness system
(i) Punjab’s
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal inaugurated a first-of-its-kind mechanised
cleanliness project in the state and announced that it will be
replicated in less than two months in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Patiala.
(ii) Inaugurated at Mohali, this is a step to make
Punjab the most clean and litter-free state.
(iii) Badal added that the cleanliness project will also be
gradually be replicated at the tehsil level.
6. Forbes releases World‘s Highest-Paid Actors 2015 list
(i)
On August 4, Forbes released the World’s Highest-Paid Actors list, which includes names of 34 actors from across the globe. Robert Downey
Jr. topped the list with an earning of $80 million.
(ii)
Jackie Chan was second on the list
with $50 million and Vin Diesel stood third with an
earning of $47 million.
(iii) Amitabh
Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were the some of the Indian actors who figured
on this list.
7. Special Olympic
World Summer Games 2015 – Indians win 173 medals
(i)
The 275-member Indian contingent made the nation proud at the Special Olympic World Summer
Games 2015 by winning 173 medals.
(ii)
The athletes competed under the banner Special Olympic Bharat and won 47 gold medals, 54 silver and 72 bronze across 14 disciplines during the nine-day event held at Los
Angeles.
(iii)
It was an improvement from previous year’s
performance at Athens, Greece wherein the Indian contingent brought home 156 medals
in total.
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