Important Dates & Festivities - Current Affairs for August, 2016

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of Malaysia on the eve of their National Day (August 31, 2016).
Almu’tasimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Tuanku Alhaj Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, The Yang di-Pertuan Agong XIV is its current president

• The President also extended greetings to people of Kyrgyzstan for their independence day on 31st August.
• His Excellency Mr. Almazbek Atambaev is the current the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
• People of Trinidad and Tobago also celebrated their National Day
• Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona is the president of this nation.

International Day Against Nuclear Tests was celebrated across the world on 29th August 2016 with an aim to raise people awareness on the need to prevent nuclear catastrophes to prevent adverse effects on humankind, the planet and the environment.

• Day was first celebrated in 2010 and since then, has been observed by coordinating activities across the world such as seminars, symposia, instruction and media broadcasts
• UNGA declared 29th August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests by adopting resolution 64/35 on December 2, 2009
• The resolution was initiated by Kazakhstan with large number of sponsors and cosponsors to ensure closure of the Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991.
• Day is meant to inform and educate people against banning nuclear weapon tests.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Republic of Moldova on the eve of their Independence Day (August 27, 2016).

• Mr. Nicolae Timofti is the current President of the Republic of Moldova
• This year also marks 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Moldova.
• In a demonstration of India’s commitment to its ties with Seychelles and maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, Indian Naval Ships Kolkata, Trikand and Aditya under the Command of the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh,NM have arrived at Port Victoria on a two day visit.
• INS Kolkata is commanded by Captain Rahul Vilas Gokhale, INS Trikand is commanded by Captain Arjun Dev Nair
• INS Aditya is commanded by Captain Vidyanshu Srivastava.
• The ships are part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet based at Mumbai under the Western Naval Command and are on a two month long deployment in the Western Indian Ocean.
• During the visit, the IN ships would engage with the Seychelles People Defence Force on professional issues.
• The deployment adds another positive to the warm bilateral defence ties between the two nations

BRICS film festival is to explore cooperation in cinema, culture and cuisine

• India will host the 1st BRICS Film Festival
• Malayalam movie Veeram will be the opening film for the festival
• The Film festival will act as a platform for those in film industry of BRICS nations to explore areas of cooperation in cinema, culture and cuisine
• Festival will also reward film makers, actors, producers and directors
• India’s BRICS Chairmanship is also scheduled to commence in Goa on 15-16 October, where a five-pronged approach had been adopted keeping in view the theme of the summit which is “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions”.

• Mr. T S Nagabharana (India) - Chairperson: A Kannada director, writer, actor, pioneers of the Parallel Cinema, served as the Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy and founder of a theatre organization called “Benaka”. Winner of 9 national awards and 14 state awards
• Mr. Francis Vogner do Reis (Brazil) - A journalist, producer and curator of film shows, professor of theory, history and film criticism, he co-founded electronic magazine Cine Imperfect.
• Mr. Kirill Razlogov (Russia) - A graduate from the Moscow State University Lomonossov, Historical Faculty, Arts History, holds Ph.D. in arts and cultural studies. He served as a special adviser for 11 years on film history and international affairs.
• Mr. Hou Keming (China) - A professor of the direction department of Beijing Film Academy. He is also the chairperson of the China Children’s Film Association and the president of China International Children’s Film Festival.
• Ms. Xoliswa Sithole (South Africa) - Founder and director, of Nayanaya Pictures, she is also a member of the BAFTA and is the founding member of Filmmakers against Racism.
• The Closing film would be the Chinese movie, Skiptrace, starring Jackie Chan directed by Renny Harlin.
• The BRICS Film Festival will be held at the Sirifort Auditorium Complex, New Delhi, from September 2nd to September 6th, 2016.
• In the course of 5 days of the event, 20 movies will be screened in the competition section, 4 from each of the countries.

Before this, Hinduism was the only major world religion for which a postage stamp had not been issued by the USPS

• US Postal Service on 22nd August announced that it will issue the Diwali postage stamp.
• This marks a long pending demand of the Indo-American community in the United States.
• Diwali stamp is being issued as a “Forever” stamp according to the official statement by USPS.
• Stamp design as shown by the USPS is a photograph featuring a traditional die oil map lit against a sparkling gold background
• Issue ceremony will be held at NYC Indian consulate
• New York based Ranju Batra chairing Diwali Stamp project had led the campaign to send 1000s of letters to USPS regarding this in the past.
• He had also campaigned before the US Congress.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on the eve of their National Day (August 25, 2016).

• The President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is Tabara Vazquez.
• India and Uruguay enjoy friendly relations and warm bilateral ties
• Uruguay is located in the SE region of S. America, bordering Argentina to the west and Brazil to the north and east
• The Atlantic Ocean is to its southeast and Uruguay is home to 3.42 million of which 1.8 million are in largest city Montevideo which is also its capital.
• Uruguay has an area of 176,000 square kilometres and is geographically the second smallest nation in South America
• The smallest nation in South America is Suriname
• Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, corruption free governance
• It is ranked second in the region on economic freedom, income equality, per capital income and inflows of FDI
• Trade turnover was US$ 119 million for 2013 between India and Uruguay and during the first ten months of 2014 (January-October) stands atUSD 129 million.
• Indian exports to Uruguay account for USD 114 while Indian imports account for USD 15 million.
• Uruguay is one of the more stable and transparent markets in Latin America with investor friendly policy environment.

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of Ukraine on the eve of their Independence Day (August 24, 2016).

• Petro Poroshenko is currently the President of Ukraine.
• India and Germany are deepening their collaboration in the area of skill development. An implementation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and (German International Cooperation (GIZ), to initiate a new project focused on adapting elements of the German dual system in select industrial clusters in India.
• The project will be implemented in three selected clusters, which include the Automobile cluster in Maharashtra and Electronics cluster in Bangalore.
• German technical assistance will be used to enhance industry institute partnerships between Indian and German organisations, build capacity of local training institutions and foster industry linkages which will help adapt elements of the German dual system, into the Indian context.
• This new project will also play an important role in supporting MSDE’s existing programmes to scale up apprenticeship training.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation, State Government of Maharashtra and Airports Authority of India today signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), thereby kicking off the collaborative process of the three agencies coming together for successful launch of the Regional Connectivity Scheme.
• With this development, the State Government of Maharashtra has formally agreed to provide the concessions required from the State Governments in the Regional Connectivity Scheme, thereby becoming the first state in the country to do so.
• India’s premier container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai, has signed an agreement with State Bank of India and Development Bank of Singapore for External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) to the tune of USD 400 Million at a “very competitive” interest rate to improve the infrastructure required for “doubling” its existing capacity to 9.85 Million TEUs annually.
• JNPT has US Dollar denominated foreign currency earnings which can be leveraged for a low cost foreign currency borrowing.
• The ECB of USD 400 Million (USD300 Million from the SBI & USD100 Million from DBS) will be primarily utilised by JNPT for expanding the network of roads that connect to its port projects.
• The existing road network for evacuation of traffic is currently operated at a capacity utilisation of 100%, and the expansion is needed for quicker and more efficient evacuation of traffic.

World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19th August 2016 with the theme One Humanity.

• Theme explains how shared human experiences bind us across divides and create a common sense of responsibility to demand action for the most vulnerable and those at risk of being left behind.
• Digital campaign for World Humanitarian Day last year was The World You’d Rather.
• Day is dedicated to humanitarian personnel and those losing their lives working for humanitarian causes
• It also celebrated the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the globe.
• World Humanitarian Day was designed by the UNGA as part of a Swedish sponsored resolution on Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United Nations.
• Day was designed by the General Assembly to coincide with the anniversary of the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Then Special representative Sergio Viera de Mello and 21 of his colleagues were killed in the attack.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the eve of their Independence Day (August 19, 2016).

• Currently the President of Afghanistan is Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and traditional ties of friendship between India and this nation have contributed to peace, stability and progress in SE Asia.
• PM Shri Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan in June 2016. He was conferred with Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour Amir Amanullah Khan Award.
• He was bestowed the honour by President Ghani after the inauguration of the landmark Afghan—India friendship dam in Herat.
• The award was named after national Afghan hero Amanullah Khan (Ghazi) who championed the cause of the nation’s freedom.
• Award was instituted by Afghanistan government in 2006 and previous recipients include US President George Bush, Kazakh’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO General James Jones, former Afghan President spiritual leader Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, and Afghan Chief Justice (CJ) Abdul Salam Azimi
• Indian Afghanistan Friendship Dam will irrigate the fields of 640 villages in the following regions Chiste, Obe, Pashtun Zarghun, Karokh, Gozara, Injil, Zindjan, Kohsan and Ghoryan . It would also bring light to over two hundred and fifty thousand homes in this area.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings and felicitations to Government and people of the Republic of Indonesia on the 71st anniversary of their independence day i.e August 17, 2016.

• The current president of the Republic of Indonesia is Joko Widodo
• The two nations believe in “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in Diversity) and share warm and friendly relations.
• The partnership is bolstered by robust strategic engagement, defence and security cooperation, comprehensive economic partnership, cultural and people to people linkages and cooperation in response to common challenges.
• This is known as the 5 pronged approach.
• Apart from this, August 17 was also the National Day of the Republic of Gabon whose current president is Ali Bongo Ondimba.
• Cooperative bilateral relations are shared between India and Gabon.

International Youth Day was celebrated across the world on 12th August 2016.

• Theme of the 2016 International Youth Day is The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.
• This year’s day is about attaining the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
• The day focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and attaining development that is sustainable through sustained consumption and production.
• UNGA endorsed the recommendation by World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth in 1999 that August 12 be declared International Youth Day.

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings and felicitations to the Government and People of the Republics of Korea, Congo and Liechtenstein on their National Day’s eve (August 15, 2016).

• President of the Republic of Congo is Denis Sassou N’Guesso
• President of the Republic of Korea is Park Guen-hye.
• Prince Alois of Liechtenstein is the current president of this nation

After unfurling the tricolour at the RedFort, PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation on its 70th Independence Day on August 15, 2016.

• He stressed that India adopted the strategy of Reform, Perform and Transform and avoided populism.
• Onus is on 125 crore people of India to convert Swaraj into Surjya. From Parliament to panchayats, gram pardon to the PM, the dream of surajya will come true if people do their duty.
• Country will not stop combating terrorism and extremism; youth should shun violence and return to the mainstream.
• PM Modi also spoke of the need to promote Karya Sanskriti of the government.
• Inflation rate has been brought down below 6 percent.
• The PM also spoke of the need to fight social evils and support social justice.
• He also said transparency was very important to Surajya.

World Biofuel day was observed across the world on 10th August 2016. This date is observed each year to create awareness about non fossil fuels (green fuels).

• On 10th August 1893, Sir Rudolph Diesel successfully ran a mechanical engine with peanut oil.
• Diesel was also the inventor of the diesel engine
• His research predicted that vegetable oil would eventually replace fossil fuels to fuel different mechanical engines.
• On this day in 2016, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a national level conference in capital city Delhi
• The ministry estimated that biofuel industry would grow from the current INR 6500 crore to INR 1 lakh crore rupees in the coming decade.

Sri MV Naidu, Minister for Information and broadcasting launched the theme song of the Tiranga Yatra based on independence day celebrations and the Festival of Independence being celebrated across the nation.

• Tiranga yatra captures the fervour of patriotism and showcases the nation’s diversity.
• Collection of patriotic songs will be played on DD and other channels and national radio stations.
• Biographies of composers of patriotic songs like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore will be broadcast before the songs.

Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the Bharat Parv at Rajpath Laws, India Gate

• It is being organised in India as part of the Independence Day celebrations in 2016
• The objective of the event is to create awareness about the cultural diversity of the country and generate a patriotic mood
• Ministry of Tourism is the nodal ministry for this event which has multi cuisine food courses, crafts mela, performances and a photo exhibition titled “Azadi 70 Saal- Yaad Karo Qurbani.”
• Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu and Dadra – Nagar Haveli, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are participating in the event.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to people and government of Chad on their national day August 11, 2016

• His Excellency Mr. Idriss Deby Itno, is currently the President of the Republic of Chad,

National Deworming Day is a flagship initiative of the GoI’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

• It was conducted across 27 states and UTs on August 10, 2016
• National Deworming is a nationwide school based deworming programme for preschool and school based interventions for children between 1-19 years
• On this day, deworming tablets were administered to children in anganwadis, government, government aided and private schools as well as out of school or unregistered children
• Parents were also encouraged to take their children to schools and collect the tablet

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to the government and people of republic of Ecuador on the eve of their national day (August 10, 2016)

• The current president of this country is Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado

World Tribal Day or International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was observed on August 9, 2016

• The theme was Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Education
• Sori also marched to unfurl the tricolour at the Gompad village in Sukma, a worst hit Maoist area
• Day for Indigenous Peoples was founded by UNGA on 23rd December 1994 with adoption of resolution 49/214 proclaiming that World’s Indigenous People Day shall be observed annually on 9th August
• Date marks the day of the first meeting in 1982 of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub Commission on Protection and Promotion of Human Rights
• UNGA also established two International Decades of the World’s Indigenous Peoples - 1995-2004 and 2005-2014 with the theme A Decade for Action and Dignity

WCD Ministry launched a social media campaign to mark the Daughter’s Day on August 11, 2016

• Coming week will be celebrated as Daughter’s Week as part of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme
• Users across the country will use social media to post photos using hashtag #BBBPDaughtersWeek, of daughters, daughter in laws and grand daughters.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings for the government and people of the Republic of Singapore on the eve of their national day which is August 9, 2016

• The current president of the republic is Dr. Tony Yam
• Bilateral relations between India and Singapore are close with ties between the two elevated to Strategic Partnership in 2015

PM Narendra Modi spoke of how the day will give impetus handloom sector and usage of more handloom products in daily lives

• A large percentage of women are associated with the handloom sector making it the way forward for women empowerment.
• Handloom sector is diverse, eco friendly and employment source for weavers.
• According to a Ministry of Textiles, 2015 note, India is home to around 43 lakh weavers that India Handloom census estimated. However, this figure was a staggering low as against the 65 lakh weavers counted in the 1995-1996 census.
• The textiles ministry’s interpersonal campaign #Iwearhandloom was started on August 1 as an effort to resuscitate and promote hand-woven creations.

As part of the Independence Day celebrations, Indian army will be conducting “Know Your Army Mela” based on the theme Indian Army: Know Our Might

• The mela will be held from 12-13 August 2016 at Central Vehicle Depot, Delhi Cantonment from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening.
• General public will be able to see military equipment, demonstrations and screening of motivational movies.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and people of Republic of Cote d’Ivoire on their national day.

• Their national day is held on August 8, 2016.
• The current president of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire was Alassane Ouattara.
• President Mukherjee visited the nation on a State visit in 2016.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations government and people of Plurinational Republic of Bolivia on the eve of their National Day (August 6, 2016)

• The current president of the Republic of Bolivia is Juan Evo Morales Ayma.
• The two countries share warm bilateral ties.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and people of the Republic of Macedonia on the eve of their national day (August 2, 2016).

• The current president of the country is Gjorge Ivanov.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings to the government and people of Swiss Confederation and Benin for their National Day on August 1, 2016.

• The current president of the Swiss federation is JN. Schneider-Anmann.
• The Swiss PM visited India recently.
• President of the Republic of Benin is Mr. Patrice Talon.

4th edition of the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival was inaugurated at ITA Machkhowa, Guwahati , K V Eapen, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning and Development, was the Guest of Honour for the programme this year. Renowned filmmaker Prakash Jha and sound designer Amrit Pritam were also present as Special Guests.

• This film festival is dedicated to NE films and is a three day event.
• It first started in 2013 and has completed three editions
• This is an initiative for offering a platform to NE filmmakers.

UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) celebrated International Tiger’s Day on 29th July 2016.

• Of 100000 tigers roaming the nation a century ago only 3200 are left behind, according to a WWF 2014 report.
• Between 2000 and 2014, authorities across Asia seized parts of as many as 1590 tigers killed for traditional medicine, according to wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.
• WWF has warned that poaching and habitat loss could bring extinction for the Asian big cats.
• India is home to 50 percent of the world’s tiger population with 1706 tigers.
• Of 9 species, 3 are extinct while 6 exist in the world today. The tigers that are not extinct include Siberian Tigers, Bengal tigers, Indochinese tigers, Malayan and Sumatran tigers and South China tigers.
• 3 extinct species are Bali, Caspian and Java tigers.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended greetings and felicitations to Government and people of the Republic of Vanuatu on the eve of their Independence Day (July 30, 2016).

• The President of the Republic of Vanuatu is currently Baldwin Lonsdale.
• India and Pacific Islands countries have straightened through the successful 2nd Summit of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation held in August 2015.
• The Prime Minister of Vanuatu is currently HE Meltek Sato Kilman Livtuvnu.
• India and Vanuatu have worked in areas of renewable energy and information technology.

President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to people and King of Morocco on the eve of the anniversary of HMS King Mohammed VI’s accession to the throne (July 30, 2016).

• India appreciated the participation of the Moroccan ruler at the Third Africa Forum Summit in 2015. Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment participated in the Fourth India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference held in New Delhi in January 2016.
• Vice President of India Shri Hamid Ansari has made an official visit to Morocco and held extensive discussions with esteemed leaders of Morocco on enhancement of bilateral cooperation.