1. RBI approves Sashidhar Jagdishan as CEO and MD of HDFC Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as the Managing Director (MD) and CEO of HDFC Bank. Mr.Jagdishan will take charge of the outgoing MD AdityaPuri on October 27, 2020 and will remain on the position for three years.

HDFC Bank mentioned that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank will be held in due course to approve the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as the new MD and CEO of the bank.

Along with Sashidhar Jagdishan, HDFC Bank had also submitted the names of Sunil Garg, Global CEO of Citi Commercial Bank, and Kaizad Bharucha (ED at HDFC Bank) for the RBI’s consideration.

2. Ramarchan puja begins ahead of Ram temple ‘Bhoomipujan’ in Ayodhya

Ramarchan puja has begun at Ram Janmabhoomi site ahead of the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The puja is a prayer to invite all major gods and goddesses ahead of Lord Ram’s arrival.

The puja is being conducted at the temporary seat of Ramlalla. It will be conducted in four phases. In the third phase, father of Lord Ram Dashrath with his wives will be worshipped and then all three brothers of Lord Ram – Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan with their wives.

Lord Hanuman will also be worshipped. In the fourth phase of the puja, Lord Ram will be worshipped.

Security has been heightened in Ayodhya ahead of the foundation laying ceremony. Temples across the city have been decorated with lights, diyas and flowers ahead of the grand event.

Ram Janmabhoomi Temple is a Hindu temple that is being built at the sacred pilgrimage site of Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya of Uttar Pradesh, India.

Ram Janmabhoomi is believed to be the birthplace of Rama by Hindus. The temple construction will be undertaken by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra. The temple has been designed by the Sompura family of Gujarat.

3. IIT Madras in joint collaboration with HELYXON developed a device called OXY2

A health startup at IIT Madras in joint collaboration with HELYXON has developed a device called OXY2.

This newly designed device can easily take vitals of an individual such as heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation and respiration rate clinically accurate.

The device is made commercially available now and has already been deployed to monitor 2000 patients a day in hospitals.

The core technology of OXY2 was validated after doing a year-long multi-centric study at various Chennai-based medical institutions for accuracy and performance with reference to current standards.

After the successful trial medical institutions found the device to be of great help during the pandemic when the medical staff have to come in close with the patients to take their vitals.

4. UK to issue coin in honour of Mahatma Gandhi

Amid growing interest in recognizing the contributions of people from the BAME community (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) Britain is considering minting a coin to remember Mahatma Gandhi.

Rishi Sunak Britain’s current Finance Minister issued an order in a letter to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC) to pursue recognition of individuals from the BAME community.

Taking a step ahead in following the order RMAC will mint a coin to commemorate Gandhi. While remembering Mahatma Gandhi the officials from the department said in a statement, “Often referred to as “Father of the Nation” Mahatma Gandhi, was born in the year 1869.

5. Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) moves towards 2nd phase, ODF-Plus

The Swachh Bharat mission has focused on rural and urban areas separately and played a crucial role in ensuring sanitation in the country.
Since the launch of the mission in 2014, more than 10 crore individual toilets have been constructed across the country and as a result, rural areas in all the States have declared themselves Open Defecation Free ODF on 2nd October, 2019.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) has moved towards its second phase which is also called ODF-Plus.
This phase will continue till 2024-25.More than 66 lakh individual household toilets and over 6 lakh community and public toilets have also been constructed or are under construction.

6. Trump Suspends H-1B and other Visas that Allow Foreigners to Work in the U.S.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that bans federal agencies from hiring foreign workers especially those on H-1B visa on contracting or subcontracting.

The unprecedented move is followed by a month old announcement by the Trump government on June 23 where the administration announced that the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas will remain suspended until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election. This new restriction took effect from June 24.

Also recently a federally owned corporation in the US called Tennessee Valley Authority in a press release announced that the company will outsource 20 per cent of its technology jobs to companies based in foreign countries.

Through this new announcement, the US was going to witness another 200 American workers losing their jobs over the next five year.

7. UK’s Envoy To India Philip Barton Promoted As UK’s Foreign Office Minister

British high commissioner to India Philip Barton on Monday got appointed as the permanent under-secretary to head the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

This new appointment of Sir Philip Barton as the Permanent Under-Secretary of the new ministry came just after the approval of United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has earlier announced to the parliament that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID) will merge to form the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

This new ministry called FCDO will be established in 2020 and it will be led by the Foreign Secretary. The function of the new ministry will involve a combined function of DFID and FCO.

8. Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh British Grand Prix 2020 despite puncture on last lap

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula One British Grand Prix 2020 held at the Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom.

Max Verstappen (Red bull) ended up second in this F1 race while Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) came third. This is the third win for Hamilton in this season of F1 races.

9. Biography of India’s youngest Basketball captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi to hit stands soon

A book titled, “Vishesh: Code to Win” written by the sportswoman-turned-author Nirupama Yadav is expected to be put out for the public view on August 29, 2020, the National Sports day.

The book is the biography of India’s Youngest Basketball Captain, VisheshBhriguvanshi and will be published by the Bluerose publishers.

The Book narrates the journey of a young Indian basketball captain, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, becoming the captain of the team in a cricket-dominated nation.

The objective of the book is to encourage the sports industry to focus more on developing games in India like cricket so that the players get their due recognition.

10. Govt. approved “Khadi Agarbatti AtmaNirbhar Mission” to make India self-reliant in agarbatti production

MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved a unique employment generation program proposed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, KVIC to make India AtmaNirbhar in Agarbatti production.

The program named as Khadi Agarbatti AtmaNirbhar Mission aims at creating employment for unemployed and migrant workers in different parts of the country.
Under the scheme, KVIC will provide

Automatic Agarbatti making machines and powder mixing machines to the artisans through the successful private Agarbatti manufacturers who will sign the agreement as business partners.

KVIC will provide a 25 per cent subsidy on the cost of the machines and will recover the remaining 75 per cent of the cost from the artisans in easy installments every month.