1. PM announced the creation of CDS post

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the creation of post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on 15 August. The rank of CDS will be a first among equals. It will be a fourth four-star officer who will be senior to the three other service chiefs. It is the most significat reform in the defence.
• The creation of the post aims to make the Indian defence forces even more effective. It will also ensure the better coordination between the three defence services.
• Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will act as the single-point advisor to the Government. The CDS officer will be advising the Army, Navy and Airforce on matters related to all the three services. The officer concerned will make the Country's armed forces integrated.

2. ISRO chairman K.Sivan conferred with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam award

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan awarded the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award by the Tamil Nadu government.Kailasavadivoo Sivan, who led ISRO's successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 mission receive the award in person receive it from Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
• The award is given in recognition of his stellar work in promotion of science and technology.The Kalam award is to honour those who work for promoting scientific growth, humanities and students' welfare.The award carries 8 gm gold medal, Rs. five lakh in cash and a citation.Mr Sivan's leadership led to the historical achievement of most successful GSLV flight with indigenous cryogenic stage.
• Mr Sivan to receive the award at the Independence Day celebrations at Fort St George in Chennai.The Kalam's birthday (October 15) will be observed as "Youth Renaissance Day."The first Kalam award was presented by Jayalalithaa in 2015 to ISRO scientist N Valarmathi and it is given on Independence Day every year.

Foot Notes:
About ISRO

1. Director: Kailasa Vadivoo Sivan Trending
2. Headquarters: Bengaluru
3. Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
4. Founded: 15 August 1969

3. RBI clarifies rules on ‘free ATM transactions’

• The Reserve Bank of India has clarified rules on ‘free ATM transactions’ provided by banks to its customers. Banks provide certain number of free transactions at ATMs to their customers and beyond that impose charges.
• According to the Reserve Bank of India, the following transactions should not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer as the ‘free ATM transactions’: Transactions failed at ATMs due to technical reasons like hardware and software issues.Use of ATMs for non-cash withdrawal transactions such as balance enquiry, cheque book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer.

Foot Notes:
About RBI

1. Governor of RBI: Shaktikant Das
2. Headquarters: Mumbai
3. Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

4. Veteran actor Vidya Sinha passes away

• Veteran Bollywood actress Vidya Sinha passed away. She was renowned for her role in Basu Chatterjee's film "Rajnigandha".
• She was a major figure in Bollywood in the 1970s-1980s. Her list of notable films includes Mera Jeevana, Chhoti Si Baat, Safed Jhooth and many others.

5. Air India is the first Indian Airline to fly over Zero Degree North Pole

• Celebrating probably its last Independence day as a national carrier, Air India hoisted its Boeing 777 aircraft over the North pole to become the first Indian airline to operate commercial flights overflying the polar region.
• Its Delhi-San Francisco flight, which usually overflies the Atlantic or the Pacific ocean, cut across latitudes instead on Thursday to fly over zero degree north in a feat that would probably be Air India's last hurrah before it is thrown into the throes of privatisation.

6. Harshad Pandurang Thakur designated as the Director of NIHFW

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Government of India(GoI) has made Harshad Pandurang Thakur as the Director of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare(NIHFW)  for a period of 5 years.
• He replaces Shri. Sudhansh Pant.Prior to this appointment, Thakur was a professor at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
• He was also worked as a chairperson for the Centre for Health Policy, Planning & Management (CHPPM) from July 2008 to June 2010, and the chairperson for the Centre for Public Health (CPH) from June 2010 to March 2015.

Foot Notes:
About NIHFW

• Headquarter: New Delhi
• Formation: 9th March 1977
• It is an autonomous organization formed by the merger of two national level institutions, i.e. the National Institute of Health Administration and Education (NIHAE) and the National Institute of Family Planning (NIFP).

7. Book on the History of Jammu & Kashmir from 1889 to 2019 titled ‘Kashmir’s untoldstory:Declassified’ to be released

• Book titled ‘Kashmir’s untold story: Declassification’ by Bloomsbury publishers was announced.The book portrays the time of political and geographical consolidations of Jammu & Kashmir(J&K), beginning from the era of Maharaja Gulab Singh till the present day.
• The book is authored by Delhi- based filmmaker Iqbal Chand Malhotra and defence analyst Maroof Raza.The book will be released on September 18, 2019.
• It shares the history of J&K when it first imposed central rule and dispossessed the rule of the then Maharaja Gulab Singh.

Foot Notes:
About Contents:

1. Some of the contents in the book deals with scrapping of Article 370 and 35A of J&K, formation of two new Territories J&k and Ladakh.
2. Other pressing issues like China’s interest in J&K, Islamic Jihad and indus water treaty (IWS) – water distribution between India and Pakistan will be dealt.

8. TamilNadu trifurcates Vellore district to form new districts

• After taking a consensus from the ministers, MLAs (Member of the Legislative Assembly) and the general public, the chief minister of TamilNadu Shri Edappadi K Palaniswami made announcement on trifurcation of Vellore district. Ranipet and Tirupattur will be the new districts carved out of Vellore. After the trifurcation, TamilNadu now has 37 districts.
• The announcement was made on August 15 2019 independence day celebration at Fort St George in Chennai, TamilNadu.He also announced that K V Kuppam of Vellore district would be upgraded to a new taluka.
• The year 2019 has the la rgest no. Of districts created with a total of 5 by the Edappadi K Palaniswami govt in TamilNadu.

Foot Notes:
About TamilNadu

1. Capital- Chennai.
2. Governor- Banwarilal Purohit.(21st governor)
3. Rivers- Kaveri, Thamirabarani, Palar, Vaigai, Bhavani, Noyyal, Cheyyar, Cellar, Then Pennai.
4. State butterfly- Tamil Yeoman(Cirrochroa Thais); also known as Tamil maravan which means warrior.

9. Japanese defense ship JS Sazanami visits Kochi

• JS Sazanami, the fourth vessel of the Takanami class destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The defence force is commanded by Commander Shoji Ishkawa. It is a 2-day goodwill visit from August 13 to19,2019.
• The activities such as the visit of Indian Navy personnel onboard JS Sazanami and professional interaction between the two navies were conducted during the visit. The visiting team provided with a conducted tour of the Anti-Submarine Warfare School and the Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel, INS (Indian Navy Ship ) Sunayna.
• Shoji Ishkawa accompanied by Koichiro Maeda , Coast Guard Superintendent, Commanding Officer of the Somalia Dispatch Team of the Japanese Coast Guard, and Captain Taiko Eda, Resident Defence Attaché of Japan at New Delhi.JS Sazanami have about 25 officers, 156 sailors and 8 Japanese Coast Guard personnel (3 officers and 5 sailors) onboard depart for Bahrain from Kochi.

Foot Notes:
About Indian Navy

1. Founded:1612
2. Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind

10. Online revenue payment system launched by CM of Odisha

• Chief minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik, launched online revenue payment system providing people, an easier way to make their land revenue payments-online, on 73rd Independence Day on August 15,2019 at Bhubaneswar.
• This online payment system was developed at National Informatics Centre- Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• This is the first of its kind initiative of State revenue department of  Odisha under the “5-T mantra”. The 5T mantras are Technology, Transparency, Team work, Time and Transformation which the CM urged all to follow,especially to the newly recruited civil service officers for better governance of the state.
• Gandhi talisman: Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman (an object,idol typically an inscribed ring or stone that is thought to have magical powers and to bring good luck) was dedicated as part of his 150th birth anniversary. The talisman is inscribed on a brass plate in both English and Odia language with a neat sketch of the Father of the Nation.

Foot Notes:
About Odisha

1. Chief minister of Odisha- Shri Naveen Patnaik is currently the longest serving chief minister of India as of 2019.
2. Capital- Bhubaneswar.
3. Governor- Ganeshi Lal.
4. Dance forms of odisha- Odissi,Chhau, Medha Nacha, Dalkhai, Ghumura.