- ISRO is seeking proposals from scientists for analyzing data collected by India's Chandrayaan-2 orbiter spacecraft. The orbiter's data was released to the public in December 2020 and July 2021. - The Indian Army has received its first batch of 100,000 modern hand grenades manufactured in India by a private company. This marks the first time ammunition has been manufactured for the armed forces by a private Indian industry. - India tops the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 points table after winning a test match against England.

1. CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 AUGUST 2021
Dr.A.PRABAHARAN
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2. Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter: ISRO seeks proposals for scientific
analysis of data of Orbiter
 The 'Announcement of Opportunity' (AO) has been issued
by the Indian Space Organization (ISRO) to seek proposals
towards scientific analysis and utilization of payloads data
from all experiments of the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.
 The payloads data from the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter were
released to the public for scientific analysis on December
24, 2020. The next sets of payloads data were released in
July 2021.
 These data sets are available in the public domain on the
PRADAN portal of the Indian Space Science Data Centre
(ISSDC) of ISRO.
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3. Indian Army receives multi-mode grenades made by private
sector, replaces World War I-era ones
 The first batch of one lakh privately ‘made in India’ modern hand
grenades were handed over to the Indian Army by Economic
Explosives Ltd. (EEL), a Nagpur based private company. The Union
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was also present.
 According to a Defence release, the consignment of multi-mode
hand grenades (MMHG) was handed over to the Indian Army at a
function in Nagpur. This is also the first instance of ammunition
being manufactured by the private industry in India.
 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over a scale replica of
MMGH by Chairman of EEL SN Nuwal in order to mark the first
delivery of ammunition from the private sector to the armed forces
of India.
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4. ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 Points Table: India tops
WTC Points Table, Pakistan & WI tied for second place
 The Indian men's cricket team has taken the top spot in the
latest rankings of the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23
Points Table.
 India tops the World Test Championship standings with 14
points after its huge 151-run victory over England in the
second test of the ongoing five-test series.
 India began its campaign in the World Test Championship
with its test series against England. The Indian team's total
percentage of points (PCT) is 58.33 after winning one match
and drawing another.
 England is at the fourth spot with two points, which they
accumulated through the drawn Trent Bridge Test.
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5. FDA approves first COVID-19 vaccine
 Comirnaty is the new brand name of Pfizer-BioNTech’s
COVID-19 vaccine. It is the first COVID-19 vaccine that
has received FDA approval to be administered against
COVID-19 infection.
 Comirnaty contains messenger RNA (mRNA), which is
a genetic material that instructs human cells to clone
one of the spike proteins of the COVID-19 virus.
 This helps the human body to build an immune
response when exposed to the actual coronavirus.
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6. All Afghan nationals travelling to India must travel
only on e-visa: Ministry of Home Affairs
 The Ministry of Home Affairs, India, has said that owing to the
prevailing security situation in Afghanistan and streamlining of the
visa process by introduction of the e-Emergency X-Misc Visa, it has
been decided that all the Afghan Nationals henceforth must travel
to India only on e-Visa.
 The Ministry in an official release said that keeping in view some
reports that certain passports of Afghan nationals have been
misplaced, previously issued visas to all the Afghans, who are
presently not in India, stand invalidated with an immediate effect.
 Owing to prevailing security situation in Afghanistan all Afghan
nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-Visa
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7. India may be entering endemic stage of
COVID, says WHO Chief Scientist
 The Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO)
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan has said that COVID-19 in India
may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where
there is a low or moderate level of transmission going on.
 While talking about the clearance to India’s homegrown
COVID-19 vaccine ‘COVAXIN’, she said that she is confident
that the technical team of WHO will be satisfied to give
COVAXIN clearance to be one of its authorized vaccines
and that can happen by mid-September.
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8. e-Sharm Portal: Centre to launch National Database for
Unorganised Workers on August 26
 Union Labour Ministry will launch e-Sharm Portal-National
Database for Unorganised Workers on August 26, 2021. The portal
will be launched for the overall welfare of crores of unorganized
workers of the country after seven decades of independence.
 The e-Sharm Portal aims to be a single-point reference that will
help authorities to reach out and track the unorganised workers
and offer welfare in times of crisis.
 Union Minister of Labour and Employment, Bhupender
Yadav, unveiled the logo of e-SHRAM Portal–National Database of
Unorganized Workers on August 24, 2021.
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9. Narayan Rane Arrest:
Can a Union Minister be arrested?
 Narayan Rane Arrest: Union Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Narayan
Rane was arrested on August 25, 2021, over his remarks against Maharashtra Chief
Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Rane during his speech at Raigad had said that he would
slap Thackeray over his ignorance of the year of India’s independence.
 Rane was arrested by the Ratnagiri police at Golwali in Ratnagiri district during his ‘Jan
Ashirwad Yatra’ and held at Sangameshwar police station. Later, he was taken to Mahad
in Raigad district to be produced before the court.
 Three FIRs were lodged against the Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member Rane
under IPC sections 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 504 (intentional insult to
provoke breach of public peace), and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief).
 The Mahad police insisted on 7-day custody of Rane, however, the Union Minister was
granted bail by the court.
 Narayan Rane’s arrest sparked a political row with BJP supporters resorting to slogans
shouting in support of Rane while Shiv Sena, BJP workers clashing during protests.
 BJP Chief Nadda termed the arrest of Union Minister Rane as a violation of constitutional
values. Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil called the arrest of the Union
Minister against protocol.
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10. How to book slot for COVID-19 vaccine on
WhatsApp?
 The Ministry of Health and MyGov announced on August 24, 2021,
that the MyGov Corona Helpdesk on WhatsApp now allows users to
locate their nearest COVID-19 vaccination centers and book vaccine
appointments.
 Earlier on August 5, WhatsApp and MyGov had introduced the
ability for the users to download their vaccine certificates from the
chatbot. So far, over 32 lakh COVID-19 vaccine certificates have been
downloaded by users all over the country.
 The Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet said,
“Paving a new era of citizen convenience. Now, book COVID-19
vaccine slots easily on your phone within minutes.”
 He further wrote, “Send ‘Book Slot’ to MyGovIndia Corona Helpdesk
on WhatsApp. Verify OTP
. Follow the steps.”.
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11. Operation Devi Shakti: India evacuates over 800 people from
Afghanistan under Devi Shakti operation
An Air India flight 1956
carrying 78 passengers,
including 25 Indian citizens
arrived in New Delhi on
August 24 from Tajikistan's
Dushanbe under Operation
Devi Shakti. The evacuees
were flown in from Kabul on
an IAF aircraft.
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12. PM Modi, Russia’s President Putin discuss Afghanistan
situation, agrees to form channel for consultations
 Prime Minister Modi and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, amid
mounting global concerns over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan,
on August 24, 2021, in a phone call discussed the situation in Afghanistan
and its implications for the region and the world.
 The Prime Minister’s Office said that the leaders were of the view that it was
significant for the two strategic partners to work together and they also
instructed their senior officials to stay in touch.
 After the telephonic conversation between the two leaders, both the
countries agreed to set up a ‘permanent bilateral channel’ for
consultations on the issues arising out of Afghanistan.
 Prime Minister Modi in a tweet said, “Had a detailed and useful exchange
of views with my friend President Putin on recent developments in
Afghanistan. We also discussed issues on the bilateral agenda, including
India-Russia Cooperation against COVID-19. We agreed to continue close
consultations on important issues.”
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