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Monday, August 22, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 21st August 2022

19:50

 


1)  World Senior Citizen Day 2022 celebrates on 21st August

•World Senior Citizens’ Day is celebrated on August 21 every year. It is also known as National Senior Citizens’ Day in the United States (US). The day is observed with the intent to highlight the contributions of elderly people in human society and honour them. The day is also celebrated to bring attention to various issues that affect the elderly, such as health issues and abuse by younger people, whether family or outsiders.


2)  International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

•International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, observed on August 22. On this day, the international community honours the survivors and victims of religious-based violence. The day aims to remember the victims and survivors of evil acts on the basis of or in the name of religion or belief.


3)  17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2023 to be held at Indore

•According to External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, the 17th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2023 will be held at Indore in January next year. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated every year on the 9th of January to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India. It also commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India on 9th January 1915.


•Since 2015, its format has been revised to celebrate the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas(PBD) once every two years and to hold theme-based Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Conferences during the intervening period with participation from overseas diaspora experts, policymakers, and stakeholders. The 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held during 21–23 January 2019 at Varanasi, India. The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, was the guest of honour.


4)  International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism

•International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism is observed on August 21 each year in memory of the victims of terrorism. The day is observed to show the victims of terrorism that they are not forgotten and they are respected and recognised across the world.


5)  Rajnath Singh inaugurates national seminar “Introspection: Armed Forces Tribunal”

•Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Shri Rajnath Singh will open a national seminar entitled “Introspection: Armed Forces Tribunal” that the Armed Forces Tribunal (Principal Bench) Bar Association is hosting in New Delhi. In addition to serving members of the armed forces, the Introspection: Armed Forces Tribunal seminar is being held to evaluate how the Armed Forces Tribunal, which was formed to assure prompt and affordable justice for veterans, their families, and war widows, operates.


6)  NASA’s Artemis III mission: Moon landing locations

•The 13 prospective landing locations for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which would bring the first woman and person of colour to the Moon, have been revealed, as promised. The following 13 areas have been chosen by NASA as potential landing sites for the NASA’s Artemis III mission: Peak Near Shackleton, Connecting Ridge, Connecting Ridge Extension, Haworth, Malapert Massif, Leibnitz Beta Plateau, Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2, and Amundsen Rim are some of the features that make up the Faustini Rim A.


7)  Geothermal energy to be used to supply energy to Ladakh

•At 14,000 feet in Ladakh, ONGC is getting ready to pump geothermal energy. State-run explorer ONGC has set out on a mission to harness the steam streaming from the earth’s core at Puga, a lonely valley off the road to Chumar on the de facto boundary with China, at a height of more than 14,000 feet. In India, geothermal energy is nothing new. The Indian government first provided a report on the nation’s geothermal hotspots in 1973. This occurred after shallow drilling exploration by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) revealed prospective hot spring and geothermal areas. According to estimates, India has the ability to produce 10 gigawatts of geothermal energy.


8)  NPCI International Signs MoU with PayXpert as UK’s first acquirer for UPI and RuPay

•National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which is the world’s largest real-time payment solution, the Unified Payments Interface, and the RuPay card scheme has signed an MoU through their subsidiary corporation NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), with the PayXpert, the payment solutions to establish and internationalize the acceptance of its payment solutions in the UK.


•The collaboration between NIPL and PayXpert will promote Indian payment solutions on the PayXpert in the UK. The payment method will be available on PayXpert’s Android point-of-sale (POS) devices for in-store payments, along with the availability of UPI-based QR code payments and RuPay card payments.


9)  Indian Army Set to Possess Quantum Communication Technology

•India is all set to join the elite global club, and the Indian Army will soon possess indigenous and more advanced quantum communication technology with equipped troops and a high-end secured defense system. With the support of Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX), Defence Innovation Organisation, the QNu Labs which is a Bengaluru-based deep tech startup has innovated advanced secured communication through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The Defence Ministry has initiated the procurement process of QNu Labs developed QKD systems by issuing a commercial Request for Proposal (REF) after the successful trials.


•The leading countries in the QKD systems are China, the US, Canada, and other European countries. A QKD system allows the creation of a quantum secure secret pair of symmetric keys between two points that are separated by a certain distance in terrestrial optical fiber infrastructure. Indian Defence officials also considered this Innovation as a milestone in the Azadi ka Amrit Kaal. The Ministry of Defence explained that QKD helps to create a non-hackable quantum channel for creating un-hackable encryption keys, which are used to encrypt critical data.


10)  Mandla becomes India’s first fully ‘functionally literate’ district

•Madhya Pradesh’s tribal-dominated Mandla region has become the first fully “functionally literate” district in the country. Another report of 2020 highlights that, more than 2.25 lakh people in this district were not literate, most of them were tribals from forest areas. Tribals frequently complained to the authorities about money being taken from their bank accounts by fraudsters and the root cause of this was that they were not functionally literate.


11)  GoI grants GI Tag to Bihar’s Mithila Makhana

•The Central government has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Mithila Makhana. With this move, growers will get the maximum price for their premium produce. Over five lakh farmers of the Mithila region of Bihar will be benefitted from this decision. Makhana registered with GI Tag, farmers will get profit and it will be easier to earn.
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Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs July 2022 PDF

15:41

Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs July 2022 PDF

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The HINDU Notes – 21st August 2022

15:33

 


📰 Delhi Police’s use of facial recognition technology

When was FRT first introduced in Delhi? What are the concerns with using the technology on a mass scale?

•RTI responses received by the Internet Freedom Foundation reveal that the Delhi Police treats matches of above 80% similarity generated by its facial recognition technology system as positive results. Facial recognition is an algorithm based technology which creates a digital map of the face by identifying and mapping an individual’s facial features, which it then matches against the database to which it has access.

•The Delhi Police first obtained FRT for the purpose of tracing and identifying missing children as per the direction of the Delhi High Court in Sadhan Haldar vs NCT of Delhi. 

•Extensive research into FRT has revealed that its accuracy rates fall starkly based on race and gender. This can result in a false positive, where a person is misidentified as someone else, or a false negative where a person is not verified as themselves. The technology can also be used as a tool to facilitate state sponsored mass surveillance.

•The story so far: Right to Information (RTI) responses received by the Internet Freedom Foundation, a New-Delhi based digital rights organisation, reveal that the Delhi Police treats matches of above 80% similarity generated by its facial recognition technology (FRT) system as positive results.

Why is the Delhi Police using facial recognition technology?

•The Delhi Police first obtained FRT for the purpose of tracing and identifying missing children. According to RTI responses received from the Delhi Police, the procurement was authorised as per a 2018 direction of the Delhi High Court in Sadhan Haldar vs NCT of Delhi. However, in 2018 itself, the Delhi Police submitted in the Delhi High Court that the accuracy of the technology procured by them was only 2% and “not good”.

•Things took a turn after multiple reports came out that the Delhi Police was using FRT to surveil the anti-CAA protests in 2019. In 2020, the Delhi Police stated in an RTI response that, though they obtained FRT as per the Sadhan Haldar direction which related specifically to finding missing children, they were using FRT for police investigations. The widening of the purpose for FRT use clearly demonstrates an instance of ‘function creep’ wherein a technology or system gradually widens its scope from its original purpose to encompass and fulfil wider functions. As per available information, the Delhi Police has consequently used FRT for investigation purposes and also specifically during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, the 2021 Red Fort violence, and the 2022 Jahangirpuri riots.

What is facial recognition?

•Facial recognition is an algorithm-based technology which creates a digital map of the face by identifying and mapping an individual’s facial features, which it then matches against the database to which it has access. It can be used for two purposes: firstly, 1:1 verification of identity wherein the facial map is obtained for the purpose of matching it against the person’s photograph on a database to authenticate their identity. For example, 1:1 verification is used to unlock phones. However, increasingly it is being used to provide access to any benefits or government schemes. Secondly, there is the 1:n identification of identity wherein the facial map is obtained from a photograph or video and then matched against the entire database to identify the person in the photograph or video. Law enforcement agencies such as the Delhi Police usually procure FRT for 1:n identification.

•For 1:n identification, FRT generates a probability or a match score between the suspect who is to be identified and the available database of identified criminals. A list of possible matches are generated on the basis of their likelihood to be the correct match with corresponding match scores. However, ultimately it is a human analyst who selects the final probable match from the list of matches generated by FRT. According to Internet Freedom Foundation’s Project Panoptic, which tracks the spread of FRT in India, there are at least 124 government authorised FRT projects in the country.

Why is the use of FRT harmful?

•India has seen the rapid deployment of FRT in recent years, both by the Union and State governments, without putting in place any law to regulate their use. The use of FRT presents two issues: issues related to misidentification due to inaccuracy of the technology and issues related to mass surveillance due to misuse of the technology. Extensive research into the technology has revealed that its accuracy rates fall starkly based on race and gender. This can result in a false positive, where a person is misidentified as someone else, or a false negative where a person is not verified as themselves. Cases of a false positive result can lead to bias against the individual who has been misidentified. In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that Amazon’s facial recognition technology, Rekognition, incorrectly identified 28 Members of Congress as people who have been arrested for a crime. Of the 28, a disproportionate number were people of colour. Also in 2018, researchers Joy Buolamwini and Timnit Gebru found that facial recognition systems had higher error rates while identifying women and people of colour, with the error rate being the highest while identifying women of colour. The use of this technology by law enforcement authorities has already led to three people in the U.S. being wrongfully arrested. On the other hand, cases of false negative results can lead to exclusion of the individual from accessing essential schemes which may use FRT as means of providing access. One example of such exclusion is the failure of the biometric based authentication under Aadhaar which has led to many people being excluded from receiving essential government services which in turn has led to starvation deaths.

•However, even if accurate, this technology can result in irreversible harm as it can be used as a tool to facilitate state sponsored mass surveillance. At present, India does not have a data protection law or a FRT specific regulation to protect against misuse. In such a legal vacuum, there are no safeguards to ensure that authorities use FRT only for the purposes that they have been authorised to, as is the case with the Delhi Police. FRT can enable the constant surveillance of an individual resulting in the violation of their fundamental right to privacy.

What did the 2022 RTI responses by Delhi Police reveal?

•The RTI responses dated July 25, 2022 were shared by the Delhi Police after Internet Freedom Foundation filed an appeal before the Central Information Commission for obtaining the information after being denied multiple times by the Delhi Police. In their response, the Delhi Police has revealed that matches above 80% similarity are treated as positive results while matches below 80% similarity are treated as false positive results which require additional “corroborative evidence”. It is unclear why 80% has been chosen as the threshold between positive and false positive. There is no justification provided to support the Delhi Police’s assertion that an above 80% match is sufficient to assume the results are correct. Secondly, the categorisation of below 80% results as false positive instead of negative shows that the Delhi Police may still further investigate below 80% results. Thus, people who share familial facial features, such as in extended families or communities, could end up being targeted. This could result in targeting of communities who have been historically overpoliced and have faced discrimination at the hands of law enforcement authorities.

•The responses also mention that the Delhi Police is matching the photographs/videos against photographs collected under Section three and four of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, which has now been replaced by the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022. This Act allows for wider categories of data to be collected from a wider section of people, i.e., “convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation of criminal matters”. It is feared that the Act will lead to overbroad collection of personal data in violation of internationally recognised best practices for the collection and processing of data. This revelation raises multiple concerns as the use of facial recognition can lead to wrongful arrests and mass surveillance resulting in privacy violations. Delhi is not the only city where such surveillance is ongoing. Multiple cities, including Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow are rolling out “Safe City” programmes which implement surveillance infrastructures to reduce gender-based violence, in the absence of any regulatory legal frameworks which would act as safeguards.

📰 Making bail impossible

In upholding the constitutionality of the PMLA, the court has resurrected the ghost of ADM Jabalpur

•While upholding the right to privacy in 2017, the Supreme Court overruled the decision in ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976). However, the recent decision in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, upholding the constitutionality of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is proof that the ghost of ADM Jabalpur has been resurrected. The old maxim of bail being the norm and jail the exception has been judicially cremated with this decision. Bail is now not even an exception; it is impossible.

Draconian preconditions for bail

•First, consider the draconian preconditions for the grant of bail in Section 45 of the PMLA. To be eligible for bail, the arrested person must persuade the court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of the money laundering offences brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The onus is on the accused to prove that an event did not transpire. If he cannot do this, he will continue to languish in jail.

•To justify this high bar, the court overturned its decision in Nikesh Tarachand Shah v. Union of India (2017) that had directed treating the offence of ‘money laundering’ as less heinous and therefore differently a crime from ‘terrorism’ under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). The court stated that the offence of money laundering was as heinous as a terrorist act and as great a danger to the sovereignty and integrity of our country. In doing so, it ignored the fact that under the PMLA, money laundering also covers monies associated with offences relating to infringement of copyrights and trademarks, arts and antiquities, securities, information technology, companies, and air and water pollution.

•The court also declared that the ED does not need to share the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) with the accused. This is bizarre because the same notion of secrecy is not applicable to equivalent documents (FIRs) for agencies like the police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The ECIR contains the rationale for the ED to register the offence. However, the court chose not to equate the ECIR with an FIR.

•According to the court, the fundamental fights of the accused are satisfied if he is informed of the grounds of arrest at the time of arrest. However, there is no definition of what qualifies as grounds for arrest and how detailed such grounds need to be. Typically, criminal arrest memos will only inform the accused of the Section(s) under which the alleged offence is committed. Now, with the ED informing the accused that the arrest is on account of an offence under one or more Sections of the PMLA, the court seems to have judged that the fundamental rights of the accused have been upheld.

Rendering bail impossible

•Put together, this means that once a person has been arrested under the PMLA, in order to get bail, he will have to show that he has not committed the offence that he stands accused of and he will also be unaware of the specifics of the offence he is alleged to have committed. He is oblivious of the transactions being investigated or the assets being labelled proceeds of crime. This renders bail impossible.

•No judge can ever take the view that an accused has prima facie shown that he has not done what the ECIR alleges because no accused will ever be able to prove this if he does not even know what the ECIR contains. The result is that no accused will ever be able to obtain bail under the PMLA once the ED decides that he has committed an offence. To add to it, the accused can be ‘persuaded’ to sign confessional statements while in custody. Since the judgment considers the confessional statement to be admissible evidence, such evidence can be presented to the judge at a bail hearing as well.

•The problem is compounded by the decision in NIA v. Zahoor Watali (2019), in which the court was considering the bail standard under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It held that at the stage of bail, the court cannot enter into an appreciation of evidence, but only has to see whether a prima facie case against the accused is made out. But it also effectively held that in considering the prima facie case, the prosecution’s version is sufficient, and that if the case diary or the charge sheet makes out sufficient grounds to deny bail (which it will, being a document created by the prosecution), it is reasonable to deny bail. Notwithstanding this, the UAPA accused is provided with a copy of the FIR, unlike the PMLA accused.

•This means that when someone is arrested for an offence under the PMLA, he will be placed in prolonged incarceration without being told the specifics of why this is so. And no court will ever be able to reasonably conclude that the person is entitled to bail under the law as it now stands. ADM Jabalpur is dead. Long live ADM Jabalpur.

📰 What next on data protection?

There are two issues – the form that a new law will take, and the nature of protections it will offer

•The withdrawal of the Personal Data Protection Bill from Parliament came as a surprise, particularly after so much effort was put into it over the last five years. Between August 2017 and July 2018, a 10-member committee chaired by a former Supreme Court judge drafted the Bill. The committee included four senior government officials. The Bill was then revised by the government, approved by the Cabinet, and tabled in Parliament in December 2019. Subsequently, a joint parliamentary committee, or JPC, comprising a majority of BJP members, reviewed the bill and submitted its report in December 2021. The withdrawal does not reflect well on the government, the entire process having been played out under its regime. This also increases uncertainty about the future of privacy regulation in India.

•One way to understand this decision is to go back to the genesis of this law, which arose out of the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India case where the court held that the right to privacy had both a positive and negative aspect. The former implies the need for the state to actively take measures to protect an individual’s privacy. Thus, the government was more or less forced to initiate the drafting of a data protection law. This experience also tells us something about the limits of judicial inducement for regulation, for which active effort of the other two branches of the state is needed. The options of delay and dilution are always available.

The scope of the law

•The growing importance of the digital economy and the broad scope of the proposed law also contributed to contestations between stakeholders as the law was being deliberated. Shaped by different interests and incentives, the state, industry, and advocacy groups all have very different expectations of what a data protection law should look like. For instance, for domestic industry such a law represents a compliance hurdle which could put it at a disadvantage. However, a law can also promote regulatory certainty, thereby opening up the possibility of increased data flows and the growth of data processing business. For the state, a law could limit intrusive data processing by state agencies, but it could also promote geopolitical, strategic or regulatory interests. Similarly, individuals could benefit by the restrictions on harmful data processing, but on the other hand, a poorly drafted law could legitimise certain intrusive practices.

•Each version of the law — the 2018 Bill of the Srikrishna Committee, the 2019 Bill introduced in Parliament, and the version of the JPC in 2021 — faced different types of critique from different stakeholders. For instance, law enforcement interests were seen as being obstructed by the 2018 draft, leading to broad exemptions being provided in the 2019 Bill.

•However, what appears striking is the consistent dilution of the focus on data privacy from the 2018 version onwards. From being the centerpiece of the legislation, privacy protection was increasingly being seen as one of several objectives being pursued. This was seen most clearly in the JPC’s recommendations, which sought to significantly revise the scope of the law. The JPC recommended moving away from a personal data protection law towards a law to govern the entire data ecosystem. It further suggested putting in place a number of broader restrictions on social media and other entities. This attempt to solve multiple problems in the digital ecosystem saw an already broad law being turned into an omnibus Bill. This made one question the ability to properly implement it. In addition, the provisions relating to many issues were lacking in detail. For example, the provisions related to processing of data by the state, governance of non-personal data and the regulation of social media could all have been fleshed out with greater substantive and procedural detail, which is required to balance the complex competing interests at hand.

The way forward

•Looking forward, there are two critical issues – the form that a new law will take, and the nature of protections it will offer.

•On the first issue, the government has suggested that it will introduce multiple legislation comprising a new comprehensive legal framework. This is the right approach, as trying to fit all objectives related to the digital ecosystem or even data governance into one Bill would be a mistake. It is healthy to maintain some polycentricity in the governance of a complex digital economy, and different laws and agencies should co-exist. It would be ideal if each bill addressed a single coherent set of objectives: For instance, one personal data protection bill should not be burdened with other objectives. Similarly, separate laws could deal with issues concerning state surveillance, or issues in the data economy such as dealing with competition-related concerns arising out of the monopolisation of data by certain entities. Over time, such a system may lead to more balanced and beneficial results. In the short term, however, the government would do well to put in place a specific personal data protection law – given the effort already dedicated to this (and the significant areas of agreement amongst stakeholders).

•The second issue is the nature of privacy protection any new law will provide to individuals. The 2018 law, on which future drafts were based, borrowed heavily from the rights-based European General Data Protection Regulation. This framework was however criticised by some due to its perceived unviability in the Indian context. For instance, creating a cross-sectoral data protection entity with the power to take significant coercive action is seen as problematic given the rule of law, capacity and regulatory constraints in India. Some of these issues could be addressed in creating a new data privacy law.

•First, it should build in a risk-based approach to data protection, so that the regulatory focus is directed towards addressing sources of potential harm. Second, based on risk assessments, the law could enable co-regulation and self-regulation (with the regulator acting as a backstop). These could reduce compliance burdens on entities without significantly affecting rights protection. Third, the current version of the law was weak on accountability measures for the data protection regulator. The new Bill should include more provisions to ensure that the regulator uses its powers well. These include provisions relating to appointments, consultations, reporting, and so on. Fourth, even while the law is being drafted, the government should invest in building some administrative capacity to implement it, so that when the law is eventually passed, implementation can begin soon after. This has been previously done with SEBI and PFRDA. Finally, it is vital that any new law is framed based on transparent and meaningful consultations with all stakeholders.

📰 ‘Forcible’ Aadhaar-voter ID linking

While the govt. says the process is voluntary, reports of coercion emerge

•Despite clarifications from various government authorities that the linking of Aadhaar with the voter identity card is “voluntary”, there have been instances of people being warned by booth-level officers that their voter ID would be cancelled if the linking is not done.

•In a tweet about one such case, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), which advocates digital rights and privacy, alleged that a booth-level officer called one of its staff members seeking the Aadhaar number, threatening that “or else they’ll be deleted from the electoral roll”.

•The contentious Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which allows for the linking of electoral data with the Aadhaar number, was passed by Parliament in December 2021, amid strong protests by the Opposition.

•At the time, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Parliament that linking would be voluntary.

•Responding to the tweet thread by the IFF, the Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana reiterated the same.

•“Submission of Aadhaar number in Form 6B is voluntary. No entry in electoral roll shall be deleted on the ground of non-submission of Aadhaar number. Purpose of obtaining Aadhaar number is for authentication of electors’ entries in electoral roll & extending better electoral services,” the CEO said in a tweet.

•Replying to a similar tweet on the issue by a different account, the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi said that the matter had been “noted to seek more details”.

•“Linking of Voter id with AADHAAR is voluntary…” the tweet added.

New form

•However, the IFF pointed out that the Union Law and Justice Ministry recently amended Form 6, and introduced Form 6B to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. “These forms make it compulsory for those who have Aadhaar to provide their Aadhaar numbers in order to vote,” it noted.

•The Election Commission of India started a campaign on August 1 for the “voluntary” linking of Aadhaar details with the voter ID. As part of the campaign, the commission has set up camps and begun door-to-door collection of data. It has collected over 2.5 crore Aadhaar details till August 11.

•Mr Rijiju told Parliament in August that the reasons for linking voter IDs with Aadhaar numbers were to streamline electoral rolls and the process of registration of migrated voters without duplication in the rolls and to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places.

•The move, however, has drawn flak from sections of society citing violations to an individual’s right to privacy. Many have also flagged concerns that the linkage would help in creating voter profiles which may be used to influence the voting process.
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Vision IAS Weekly Focus Web 3.0 A Revolution in the Making PDF

09:05

Vision IAS Weekly Focus Web 3.0 A Revolution in the Making PDF

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Vision IAS Social Issues Mains 365 Hindi 2022 PDF

09:01

Vision IAS Social Issues Mains 365 Hindi 2022 PDF

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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 22.08.2022

08:34
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Sunday, August 21, 2022

PSIR Optional 2023 Notes In English PDF

09:03

PSIR Optional 2023 By Dr Piyush Chaubey PDF

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Saturday, August 20, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 20th August 2022

19:11

 


1)  Sadbhavna Diwas 2022: Birth Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi

•India celebrates Sadbhavna Diwas in memory of Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Sadbhavna Diwas 2022 commemorates the 78th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi on 20th August 2022. Sadbhavna Diwas was instituted after the death of Rajiv Gandhi in 1992, by Congress. Sadbhavna Diwas promotes peace, harmony, empathy, and unity among all citizens of India. On this several cultural events and contests are organized across the country.


2)  Akshay Urja Diwas 2022: India Observes Renewable Energy Day

•Every year on the 20th of August India observers Akshay Urja Diwas or Renewable Energy Day. Akshay Urja Diwas 2022 or Renewable Energy Day aims to spread awareness about the development and adoption of renewable energy in India. Akshay Urja Diwas 2022, marks its importance by promoting and lining up the alarming rate of depletion of Natural resources. This day makes people aware of the use of natural resources like wind energy, solar energy, and hydropower.


•Akshay Urja Diwas was first established in 2004 to support renewable energy development programs in India and promote the usage of natural resources. In 2004, the first event was facilitated by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, where he released a stamp with 12000 children forming a human chain to promote the use of green energy sources. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy Source (MNRE) planned to arrange the first informative campaign or event along with the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.


3)  India’s First Portal On Arrested Narco Offenders ‘NIDAAN’

•A first-of-its kind database of arrested narcotics offenders has been made operational for use by various central and state prosecution agencies tasked to enforce anti-drugs laws in the country. The portal–NIDAAN or the National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-offenders–has been developed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). It is part of the narcotics coordination mechanism (NCORD) portal that was launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on July 30 in Chandigarh during the national conference on ‘Drug trafficking and national security’.


4)  Shipping Ministry Proposes Amendment To 110 Year-Old Indian Ports Act

•The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has released a draft to amend the Indian Ports Act, 1908, which aims to bring in sweeping reforms in the sector by bringing non-major ports into the national fold, creating a new mechanism for resolution of disputes, and empowering maritime state development council (MSDC).  The Indian Ports Act, 1908 is more than 110 years old.


•It has become imperative that the Act is revamped to reflect the present-day frameworks, incorporate India’s international obligations, address emerging environmental concerns, and aid the consultative development of the ports sector in the national interest. However, sector experts say the bill could face the same fate as the Major Ports Authority Act amendment, which was introduced last year and faced criticism over the possibility of higher concentration of power in the hands of the central government, which controls 12 major ports of India.


5)  India to buy Six Tu-160 long-range bombers from Russia

•India intends to purchase Tu-160 bomber from Russia, in order to boost its strategic force. America objected to its initial flight because of how hazardous this bomber is in nature. Tupolev Tu-160 bomber can reach a peak speed of 2220 kmph. The maximum weight that this aircraft can carry while flying is 110,000 kg. It has a 56-meter wingspan. Russia produces the tactical bomber known as the Tu-160 bomber. As a result, the bomber may carry out an attack at a distance of thousands of kilometres from its base.


6)  ISRO received a Crew Module Fairing from HAL for Gaganyaan mission

•Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed two pieces of space equipment to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for use in the Gaganyaan mission. This is the second crew module fairing (CMF) that India’s top space agency has purchased from HAL for the mission. Even though both of these CMFs will be used in some capacity, the first experiment will use the CMF that ISRO obtained from HAL.


7)  HDFC Bank opened the first all-women branch in north Kerala

•HDFC Bank inaugurated an all-women branch in Kozhikode, north Kerala. Mayor of the city Corporation Beena Philip opened the branch of HDFC Bank. As of March 31, 2022, women made up 21.7% (21,486) of the workforce, according to the bank. By 2025, the private lender wants to raise it to 25%. Deals beyond a certain threshold require regulator approval, which keeps an eye on unethical business practises in the marketplace.


8)  HAL to establish its first marketing office abroad in Malaysia

•The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish its first international marketing and sales office in Kuala Lumpur in anticipation of a potential agreement for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Malaysia. The change has taken place because Tejas is being considered by Malaysia as a Fighter Lead-in Trainer (FLIT) aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
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