The Daily Brief – 19th August 2019

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will arrive in Dhaka on a three-day visit to Bangladesh. He will hold a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Dr. A K Abdul Momen on 20^th He is also scheduled to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Both the leaders are expected to discuss issues of mutual importance during the visit of the External Affairs Minister to Bangladesh.

The National Green Tribunal bench headed by its Chairperson, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, formed a committee to examine the allegations of illegal sand mining in Yamuna River by Delhi Jal Board CEO Anil Kumar Singh. The committee will be required to submit a report to the green panel within a month.

World Photography Day is celebrated every year on 19^th august to create awareness, share ideas and encourage individuals in this field. The day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic process in 1837. On January 9, 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announced about the Daguerreotype. On August 19, the French government purchased the patent and announced the invention as a gift free to the world (without copyright).

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on his second visit to Bhutan (first since his re-election), discussed wide-ranging steps to strengthen the relationship with Bhutan and signed ten MoUs in Power, IT, Education, Space research and Aviation sectors. Modi launched India’s RuPay card in Bhutan by purchasing at Simtokha Dzong that functions as a monastic and administrative centre. Bhutan is the second country after Singapore where RuPay card was launched.

The World Humanitarian Day is observed on 19^th August annually to pay tribute to the humanitarian aid workers, who endanger their lives for humanitarian service as well as to rally support for the people affected by crisis across the world. The theme for this year is ‘Women Humanitarians’. The day commemorates a terrorist attack in 2003 at the UN headquarters in Baghdad led to the killing of UN’s top representative to Iraq, Sérgio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues.

Selection Committee for Sports Awards 2019 nominated Deepa Malik and wrestler Bajrang Punia for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2019 and 19 other payers for the prestigious Arjuna Award. Deepa Malik will be the first female para-athlete to win the highest sporting honour. Named after the former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award was instituted in 1991-92. Arjuna Award, India’s second-highest sporting award, was instituted in 1961.

The 5^th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will be held in Kathmandu on 21^st& 22^nd The Minister for External Affairs of Dr S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will co-chair the meeting and lead their respective delegations. India-Nepal Joint Commission was established in June 1987 and its meetings are held alternately in Nepal and India.