Violence hit South Sudan, 30 civilians killed

TOP NEWS IN NUTSHELLS (19 August 2021)

*NATIONAL NEWS*

• PEGASUS ROW: The Supreme Court on Wednesday has refused to stay West Bengal Govt. notification constituting judicial commission. The top court issued notice on the writ petition and sought the response from all the respondents including the Centre and West Bengal Govt.
• REVIVAL PACKAGE FOR NERAMAC: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a revival package of Rs 77.45 crore for revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC). It is a central Public Section Enterprises under the administrative control of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Regional.
• CLEAN CHIT TO SHASHI THROOR IN SUNANDA’S DEATH CASE: The Delhi court on Wednesday cleared Congress leader Shashi Tharoor of charges in connection with the case involving the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
• TELANGANA HC  ON DALIT BANDHU SCHEME: Telangana High Court  disposed of  a PIL filed by an NGO ‘Watch Voice’, challenging the implementation of the ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme to selective people and selective areas.
• COVID VACCINE FOR CHILDREN: Covid vaccines for children in India will be available by next month, ICMR-NIV Director said. Bharat Biotech’s managing director Krishna Ella said that the trial phase of the clinical studies in volunteers in the 2-18 age group has been completed.
• UP UNLOCK: Schools for Classes 6 to 8 in Noida and Ghaziabad will reopen from August 23 while classes for standard 1-5 will start from  1 September. Entry into Himachal Pradesh is now only through registration on e-covid software. All movement into the state will be monitored through registration on the Covid e-registration software.
• REVISED GUIDELINES FOR LOCKER: RBI  has issued revised guidelines for locker and safe custody facility.  The new guidelines will be effective from 1st January 2022 and be applicable to new as well as existing lockers.
• COOKING GAS PRICE HIKED: Domestic cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was increased by Rs 25 per cylinder. This is the second straight month of increase in rates. Subsidised LPG now costs Rs 859 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi.
• TRAINING CENTRE FOR UP ATS: UP government has decided to set up a training centre for Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) commandos in Saharanpur's Deoband, known for its Islamic seminary Darul Uloo.
• SAFETY OF AFGHAN CADETS: 80 Foreign Gentleman cadets of Afghanistan   at Indian Military Academy Dehradun are kept under strict vigil for their safety. They are undergoing training at the IMA.
• WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY DAY: Thursday is World Photography Day. On this occasion a biopic of acclaimed photographer-photo journalist, Raghu Rai will be streamed by Films Division on its website and YouTube channels.

**INTERNATIONAL NEWS**

• AFGHANISTAN POLITICAL CRISIS: Taliban leaders meet Ex-President Hamid Karzai amid impasse over govt formation. Afghanistan may be governed by a ruling council now that the Taliban has taken over, while the Islamist terrorist movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, would likely remain in overall charge, a senior member of the group told Reuters.
• ASHRAF GHANI SEEN IN UAE: Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is in the UAE.  UAE confirmed this and said that the country is hosting Ghani on "humanitarian grounds". Ghani fled Afghanistan amid a Taliban takeover.
• RESCUE OF FRENCH NATIONALS:  French Military aircraft lands in Kabul with special forces to pick up stranded French nationals in Afghanistan. Meanwhile Bangladesh has turned down a request from the US to provide temporary shelter to some people from Afghanistan in the wake of the political developments there.
• VIOLENCE HIT SOUTH SUDAN: More than 30 civilians killed following two days of inter-communal violence in central South Sudan.
• SNAP LOCKDOWN IN NZ: New Zealand has announced a snap lockdown after a man tested positive for Covid, the first case in six months. The case was detected in Auckland, which will be in lockdown for a week, while the rest of the country will be in lockdown for three days.

***SPORTS***

• World Athletics U-20 Championships: India win bronze medal in 4x400 metre mixed relay team event held in Nairobi with its seaons best time of 3:20.60. The 2021 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships will conclude on 22 August at the Nyayo Sports Complex.
• FRESH APPLICATIONS FOR NCA: Current National Cricket Academy (NCA) Head Rahul Dravid has re-applied for the position after the BCCI invited fresh applications for the position. The former India skipper had been appointed on July 8, 2019.
• CRICKET: England announced their squad for the Leeds Test. Openers Dom Sibley, Jack Crawley and Jack Leach have been dropped from the team. At the same time, number 1 T20 batsman David Malan has got a place again in the Test team. Right-arm fast bowler Saqib Mahmood has also been included in the team.
• JUNIOR WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP: Indian wrestler Ravinder had to settle for a silver medal after losing to an Iranian wrestler in the final, while Bipasha advanced to the final of the women’s 76kg event on Wednesday, keeping India’s hopes of a gold medal at the Junior World Wrestling Championship at Ufa in Russia.