16 August Current Affairs

1.      India celebrated its 76th Independence Day on 15 August 2022. The Prime Minister led the Independence Day celebration from Red Fort. Anganwadi workers, street vendors, mudra scheme borrowers, mortuary workers had been specially invited on this occasion.

2.      37 New High Court Judges have been appointed by the Government. With the notification of the appointments of another 11 High Court Judges in the Punjab & Haryana High Court by the government this year, so far 138 appointments in various High Courts of the country has been made thus surpassing its earlier record of 126 High Court appointments in 2016.

3.      The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India (North), Institute of Hotel Management Srinagar and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling in a joint effort displayed a 7500 Sq. Ft Indian Tricolour at the bank of Dal Lake, Srinagar. This was as part of celebrating 75 years of Independence and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

4.      16th August, 2022 is celebrated as Navroz or the Parsi New Year. It is the most widely celebrated festival of the Parsi community. This is seen as a harbinger of peace and prosperity. In Mumbai and its suburbs, which host a considerable population of Parsi community, the festival is celebrated with grand lunch and dinner with the best and finest variety of Parsi cuisine.

5.      Veteran stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away in Mumbai on 14th August 2022. He was 62.  Known as India's Warren Buffett, Jhunjhunwala's wealth was pegged at 5.8 billion dollars. Mr. Jhunjhunwala ran a privately-owned stock trading firm called RARE Enterprises.

6.      India adds 11 more wetlands to the list of Ramsar sites to make total 75 Ramsar sites covering an area of 13,26,677 ha in the country in the 75th year of Independence.  Tamil Nadu has maximum no. of Ramsar sites (14 nos.), followed by UP which has 10 nos. of Ramsar sites. 

7.      Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh unveiled India’s first Saline Water Lantern which uses the sea water to power the specially designed LED lamps. The saline Water Lantern will bring “Ease of Living” to the fishing community living along the 7500 Kilometers long coastal line of India.

8.      India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Government of Japan, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced a new initiative to accelerate climate action in 10 states and Union Territories across the country. Under the initiative, areas of focus are Deploying clean energy infrastructure and low-emission technologies, demonstrating resilient climate planning, Promote green entrepreneurship and related jobs.

9.    Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is planning to submit a written proposal to the UN to create a commission, which should include Pope Francis, the UN Secretary-General; Antonio Guterres, and Indian PM Narendra Modi, to promote a world truce for a period of five years.

10.  The Tata Steel Chess India 2022 tournament’s fourth edition will introduce a women’s edition, with equal total prize money for both the open & women’s editions. The event, to be held from November 29 to December 4 in Kolkata, is set to feature top India men and women players.