The Daily Brief – 21st August, 2016

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• Urjit Patel has been appointed as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He will be the 24th Governor, and previously served as the Deputy Governor. The announcement was made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Dr. Patel will have a three year term starting September 4th, when Raghuram Rajan‘s term expires.
• The newly drafted Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act (MPISA) has proposed the setting up of Special Security Zones (SSZ) where movement of arms, explosives and inflow of unaccounted funds will be prohibited. With this, Maharashtra becomes the first state in the country with its own internal security law.
• The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has given conditional clearance to the Rs.4,500-crore 1,000 mw Turga Pump Storage Hydel Power Project in West Bengal’s Purulia district.
• Scientists have discovered a new species of eel, a marine snake-like fish, from the northern Bay of Bengal along the West Bengal coast.
• The annual Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award has been conferred on santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. The award is given by the Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana to recognise the contribution of Indian classical music and dance stalwarts towards enriching the art forms. In 2015, the honour was conferred upon Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj.
• The monogrammed suit donned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in New Delhi last year entered the Guinness World Records as “the most expensive suit sold at auction.” The suit was auctioned in February last year and bought for Rs. 4.31 crore by Surat diamond trader Lalji Patel.
• Brazil has won its first Olympic gold medal in soccer. The winning goal was by Brazilian football player, Neymar.
• Germany defeated Sweden to win their first ever Olympic gold medal in women’s football. Germany is now one of only three women’s teams to win both the Olympics and the World Cup.
• Usain Bolt has won the gold medal for the 100m relay at the Rio Olympics. This is his ninth gold medal at the Olympics.
• Indian-Canadian Sikh MP Bardish Chagger has been named as the new Leader of the government in Canada’s House of Commons, becoming the first woman to hold the post in the country’s history. 

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