Governing Council meeting was held at Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre in New Delhi on 7th August. It was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was the first in-person meeting of the council since July 2019.

Objective

• To achieve self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds & other agri-communities.
• Issues of crop diversification and National Education Policy were also discussed, besides the Urban Governance.
• States’ interventions were moderated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave presentation on India’s G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
• Discussions on ‘ongoing controversy related to freebies’ could not held.

The Uttar Pradesh government signed a memorandum of understanding with Deloitte India, appointing it as a consultant for achieving the target of bringing the state's economy to $1 trillion mark. The MoU between the consultancy agency and the government was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath .The Uttar Pradesh government has entrusted the big responsibility to Deloitte India for the prosperity of the country's largest populous state, it said.

• By 2027, state is going to become a benchmark of “sabka saath, sabka vikas” policy, with 1 trillion-dollar economy.
• Deloitte will present a future action plan with thorough deliberation, within next 90 days. Plan will be made after conducting a sector-wise study.
• Action plan will be also be examined by a high-level committee headed by chief secretary.

The Indian Army recently conducted “Skylight Mega-Exercise”, to enhance its space domain capabilities. It was first of its kind large-scale exercise. Skylight exercise was aimed at testing operational readiness of satellite communication assets and giving training to personnel manning these assets.

Highlights

• Skylight Mega-Exercise was pan-India exercise, covering Lakshadweep and Andaman Islands. It also covered high reaches of India’s northern borders where Indian Army had activated all satellite communication assets from July 25-29, 2022.
• During the exercise, several technical and operational scenarios in space domain were pointed up.
• The exercise witnessed the participation of ISRO and other agencies responsible for space & ground segments.
• More than 280 platforms were checked in field formations.

• The 80th anniversary of the August Kranti Din or Quit India Movement, which is considered as one of the important milestones in the history of the freedom struggle of our country, is being observed on 8 August 2022.
• Lok Sabha paid tributes to martyrs and freedom fighters of the Independence movement on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Quit India movement. As soon the House met for the day after the weekend break, Speaker Om Birla said on this day 80 years ago, Mahatma Gandhi had launched the Quit India movement that led to India attaining Independence on August 15, 1947.