The Daily Brief – 24th August 2018

Rahi Sarnobat became first Indian woman to win shooting gold medal at Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games in 25m pistol event. She shot score of 34 in final to tie with Thailand’s Naphaswan Yangpaiboon who won silver medal and Kim Minjung of South Korea won bronze with score of 29. Rahi Sarnobat was first Indian pistol shooter to win gold medal in Shooting World Cup (25m pistol event in the ISSF World cup in Changwon, China). She had won her first gold medal at 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.

Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Mumbai city-based Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) by the Maharashtra Government. As brand ambassador, she will help state forest department to create awareness about its various initiatives, like 50 crore tree plantation drive, eco -tourism in SGNP and conservation of leopards in SGNP, among others. SGNP which is a part of western biodiversity was formerly known as Borivali National Park (renamed to present name in 1996).

India won four bronze medals in Wushu sporting event (all in Sanda style) at Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games held in Indonesia. It was India’s best performance so far in Wushu in Asian Games as in Incheon games in 2014 India had won just two bronze medals. Four bronze medals winners are Roshibina Devi (60kg category), Santosh Kumar (56kg category), Surya Bhanu Partap Singh (60kg category) and Narender Grewal (65kg category. He had earlier won bronze in Sanda 60kg in 2014 Asian Games).

India Banking Conclave (IBC) 2018 was held in New Delhi from 23-24, Aug 2018. It was organised by Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) along with NITI Aayog with an aim of making India’s banking sector more adaptable to face multiple future challenges in the coming years. IBC 2018 aimed to serve as effective platform for varied stakeholders connected to India’s banking and financial sectors. CEPR founded in 1983, is network of over 1100 researchers who are based mainly in universities throughout Europe and collaborate in research and its dissemination.

University Grants Commission (UGC) issued circular directing all varsities and higher education institutions to ban sale of junk food on their campuses. This ban will help will set new standards for healthy food, making students live better, learn better and reduce obesity levels. It will also help to prevent lifestyle diseases which have direct link with excessive weight. The directive was released following report by Ministry of Women and Child Development (MCB) on consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) and promotion of healthy snacks in schools. UGC which functions under HRD is statutory body set up in accordance to UGC Act 1956.

India’s ace Shuttler and Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu (23) was ranked seventh on Forbes list of highest-earning women sportspersons in the world (earnings between June 2017 and June 2018). The list was topped by tennis legend Serena Williams. Eight of the 10 top highest-earning women sportspersons were tennis players, remaining two were badminton player and professional racing driver.

International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) the global monument conservation body launched Kerala Heritage Rescue Initiative to assess damage to rich cultural and built heritage sites in flood-devastated Kerala. The initiative aims at setting up platform for emergency response to cultural heritage damaged by the floods in Kerala. ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw (Poland) as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964. It is headquartered in Paris, France.

According to recent report by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), maximum number of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites is from China, US and Russia. The report was forwarded to National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and other security agencies. It had analysed cyber-attacks from April-June 2018. China continues to intrude Indian cyberspace in significant way as cyber-attacks originating from China account for largest 35% of total number of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites followed by US (17%), Russia (15%), Pakistan (9%), Canada (7%) and Germany (5%).