1) International Day against Nuclear Tests: 29 August
•The International Day against Nuclear Tests is observed globally on 29th August. The day aims to increase awareness about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
2) National Sports Day: 29 August
•Every year, 29th August has been observed as National Sports Day in India. The first National Sports Day was celebrated on 29th August 2012, on the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand who was the star of hockey team of India. The day is used as a platform to launch various sports schemes as well as organise various sporting events and seminars to spread awareness about the importance of physical activities and sports in life.
3) National Small Industry Day: 30 August
•In India, the National Small Industry Day is celebrated on 30 August every year, to support and promote small Industries for their overall growth potential and opportunities received for their development in the year. The industry day is a medium to provide balanced growth to existing small, medium and large scale enterprises and render assistance for setting up new industries to boost the state’s financial health.
4) International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
•United Nations observes International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances globally on the 30th of August every year. The day is being observed to express deep concern about the rise in enforced or involuntary disappearances in different regions of the world including the incidents of arrest, detention and abduction.
•All of the above incidents result in an increasing number of reports pertaining to harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared. UN General Assembly declared the 30th of August as International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances and the day was observed for the first time in the year 2011.
5) Rajnath Singh names Army Sports Institute, Pune as “Neeraj Chopra Stadium”
•Raksha Mantri, Rajnath Singh visited the Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune and named the Army Sports Institute stadium as “Neeraj Chopra Stadium”. The focus of the Indian Army (in the field of sports) is to identify and train promising sportspersons in 11 disciplines. The Indian Army’s “Mission Olympics” programme was launched in 2001 with the intent to deliver medal-winning performances in the Olympics and other international events.
6) World’s Highest Altitude Movie Theatre open in Ladakh
•The world’s highest movie theatre has recently been inaugurated in Ladakh, which got its first-ever mobile digital movie theatre in the Paldan area of Leh, at an altitude of 11,562 feet. The inflatable theatre can operate in -28 degrees Celcius. The initiative aims to bring cinema watching experience to most remotest areas of India. It must be noted that four such theatres will be established in Leh in the coming period.
7) Govt introduces “Bharat series (BH-series)” registration
•Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles i.e. “Bharat series (BH-series)”. The vehicles bearing the BH-series mark will not have to require the assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
•Earlier, under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, if a person moves from one state to another, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered, but a new registration with the new state- registering authority has to be made within the stipulated time of 12 months.
8) World’s Highest Altitude Movie Theatre open in Ladakh
•The world’s highest movie theatre has recently been inaugurated in Ladakh, which got its first-ever mobile digital movie theatre in the Paldan area of Leh, at an altitude of 11,562 feet. The inflatable theatre can operate in -28 degrees Celcius. The initiative aims to bring cinema watching experience to most remotest areas of India. It must be noted that four such theatres will be established in Leh in the coming period.
9) Paralympics 2020: Avani Lekhara wins gold in Shooting
•Shooter Avani Lekhara has scripted history as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event. The 19-year-old from Jaipur, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, finished with a world record-equalling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record.
•Avani is only the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold after swimmer Murlikant Petkar (1972), javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016) and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu (2016).
10) Paralympics 2020: Bhavinaben Patel wins silver in table tennis
•In table tennis, Indian paddler Bhavinaben Patel has claimed the historic silver medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games at Tokyo, in the women’s singles summit clash. The 34-year-old Patel lost to Chinese paddler Ying Zhou, 0-3, in her maiden Paralympic Games. This is the first medal for India at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympic Games.
•Patel is the only second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics, after Deepa Malik, who claimed silver in shotput at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
11) Paralympics 2020: Nishad Kumar wins silver in men’s high jump
•India’s Nishad Kumar has clinched a silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 event at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. This is the second medal for India at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The 23-year-old Nishad made a jump of 2.06m, and in doing so created an Asian record. He also equalled his jump with USA’s Dallas Wise, who also took home silver.
•Another American, Roderick Townsend, won the gold with a world record jump of 2.15m. T47 class is meant for athletes with a unilateral upper limb impairment resulting in some loss of function at the shoulder, elbow and wrist.
