1. Hiroshima Day: August 6th
August 6th marks the 71st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—an event which is commemorated in the U.S. as “Hiroshima Day.”
- On August 6, 1945, during WWII, an American B-29 bomber piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets deployed the world’s first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
- Three days later, on August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 more civilians.
2. Paul Kagame wins presidential poll by a landslide
Rwanda's incumbent leader Paul Kagame has sealed a landslide victory in presidential elections, granting him a third term in office and extending his 17 years in power.
- With 80 percent of votes accounted for, the 59-year-old former guerrilla leader secured 98.66 percent.
- Kagame has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery in the east African nation since the 1994 genocide.
3. Green Airports in Andhra Pradesh
The Government of India encourages development of green airports. In order to develop airports in Andhra Pradesh as green airports, AAI has commenced installation of 1MWp solar power plant at Tirupathi and Vijaywada Airports. AAI has completed installation of solar power plants at 29 airports/locations with a total capacity of 12.84 MWp.
- Earlier, the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) became the first airport in the world, to be completely powered by solar energy.
4. Venkaiah Naidu became 13th Vice-President of India
Venkaiah Naidu became the 13th Vice-President of India by defeating opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
- Naidu has secured 516 votes while Gandhi got only 244 votes. 771 parliamentarians has casted their vote on Saturday, which turned out as a record of 98 percent voting in the vice-presidential election.
- However, 11 votes were found to be invalid, Polling officials said this was the highest turnout in the vice-presidential election.
5. Payback announces Gautam Kaushik as new CEO
Payback India has appointed Gautam Kaushik as the new Chief Executive Officer.
- Gautam Kaushik will spearhead the India operations and lead all the critical business areas including Strategic Business Planning and Development, Partner Management & Acquisitions and Customer Engagement.
- Prior to joining PAYBACK, Gautam was working with American Express (AMEX) as Vice President (VP) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), wherein he drove several potential acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
6. Akshay Kumar appointed brand ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission in UP
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today announced the appointment of Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state.
- The national award winning actor promised to proactively work towards making UP the open defecation free (ODF) state, a cause in line with the theme of his upcoming movie “Toilet Ek Prem Katha”.
- The Chief Minister also announced to make the film tax-free in the state.
7. L&T signs Rs.1, 050 crores EPC contract with railways
For the first time, the Railways Ministry has signed nine EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contracts for electrification of railway lines at a cost of Rs.2,800 crores.
- This is part of a strategy to speed up the electrification of railway lines(only 42% of the lines are currently electrified).
8. L&T bags Rs. 3,375-crore Mauritius metro project
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro announced a Rs 3,375 crore-worth metro order from the Mauritius government.
- L&T has won the order from Metro Express Limited which is owned by the Government of Mauritius to design and build an Integrated Rail-based Urban Transit System in the African island nation.
- The projects will be fully funded through a grant by Government of India and line of credit. The metro project comprises of a 26-km route which will connect Curepipe to Immigration Square in Port Louis and will feature 19 stations, 2 of which will be state-of-the-art elevated stations.
9. Joshna and Dipika get bronze at World Doubles Squash Championship
Indian doubles pair of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik settled for a bronze medal after losing to English duo of Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters in the semifinals of the WSF World doubles squash championship.- The second seeded Indian combo squandered an advantage to suffer a 11-6, 6-11, 8-11 loss to Jenny and Alison.
