• Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi is set to be appointed the 14th Attorney General for India again after KK Venugopal vacates the post. This will be Rohatgi’s second time as AG, after his first stint between June 2014 and June 2017.
• At the end of June this year, AG Venugopal’s tenure was extended for a period of three months or “until further orders”. This extension is set to expire on September 30. Rohtagi will take the seat of the country’s top law officer from 1st October.
• The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. AG is the highest law officer in the country.
• Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.
• AG represent the GoI in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (Power of the President to consult the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.

• Uttar Pradesh becomes the first state in India to construct 8,642 Amrit Sarovar (Lakes) in India. Amrit Sarovar is an ambitious mission initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aims to conserve water for the future.
• Madhya Pradesh is in the second position, Jammu and Kashmir in third, Rajasthan in fourth, and Tamil Nadu ranked in the fifth position. Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, secured the first position within the state by constructing 256 Amrit Sarovar.
• Gorakhpur secured the second position by constructing 245 lakes, and Pratapgarh secured the third position by constructing 231 lakes.
• 15,497 Amrit Sarovar was identified in different villages panchayats of which 8,462 Amrit Sarovar have been already developed.
• Amrit Sarovar Mission was launched on 24th April 2022 with a view to conserve water for the future.The Mission is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) has been engaged as technical partner for the Mission.

• National digital currency using Ethereum: Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank, made a significant advancement in its efforts to develop a digital currency by publishing the open source code for the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) sandbox based on Ethereum technology. This development was made possible by the ongoing mainstream adoption of cryptographic technology.
• CBDCs are a type of electronic fiat money backed by the central bank. Although they are not required to be, CBDCs can be built on blockchain networks. However, the CBDC in Norway is built on Ethereum.
• The sandbox is made to provide a way to communicate with the test network.
• Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. Ethereum was conceived in 2013 by programmer Vitalik Buterin.
• Russia is considering allowing cryptocurrency to be used for international payments. Allowing crypto as a means of settlement for international trade would help counter the impact of Western sanctions, which has seen Russia’s access to traditional cross-border payment mechanisms “limited.

• China has successfully tested its first fully solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which can fly for months and can function even as a satellite if required. The maiden flight of Qimingxing-50 has been achieved, making it the first large-sized UAV powered only by solar energy, a Chinese government official informed in a tweet.
• The Qimingxing-50, with a wingspan of 50 m, is a high-altitude long-endurance drone that is capable of high altitude aerial reconnaissance, assessing forest fire and can also be used for communications. This technology will bolster Chinese defences in space and at sea.
• China recently launched the 23-tonne Wentian (“Quest for the heavens”) laboratory module of its Tiangong space station to orbit. The new module has a massive pair of “solar wings” that rotates as the space station orbits our planet.
• China, as a part of its ambitions project, is eyeing to come up with a solar power plant in space by 2028. The target year for launching a solar power plant in space is two years ahead of its scheduled time.

• Punjab minister Dr Baljit Kaur told, Punjab govt. was continuously working to provide hassle-free services and timely social welfare schemes benefits to the elderly, widows and destitute women, dependent children and disabled.
• She said that under these initiatives, the government would utilise the PFMS for prompt payment of pension.
• The state government is providing financial assistance to the beneficiaries in the form of a pension of Rs 1,500 per month.
• At present, 30.25 lakh beneficiaries were getting the benefit of pension under these schemes in the state.

• The birthday of Sir M. Visvesvaraya observes as Engineers Day.
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted engineers on Engineers Day.
• Shri Modi has also remembered the pathbreaking contribution of Sir M. Visvesvaraya on Engineers Day.

About Sir M. Visvesvaraya

• Visvesvaraya – The father of Indian engineering
• He received India’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire (KCIE) by King George V for his contributions to the public good.
• His birthday, 15th September, is celebrated as Engineers’ Day in India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania in his memory.
• He is credited and known for inventing the Block System, i.e., automated doors that close in the conditions of overflow.
• He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore as well as the chief designer of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.

• This decision taken in the meeting of the Union Cabinet has been announced by the Minister of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Affairs Arjun Munda during a press conference in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.
• It will benefit the1,60,000 people from the Hati community of Sirmaur would be benefitted by the cabinet’s decision.

• Pramod Sharma, Senior Scientist, Department of Fruit Science, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, has bagged the ‘Outstanding Young Researcher Award in Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)’ for sustainable agriculture at the 7th Asian International Conference for Sustainable Agriculture held at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia recently.
• The conference was organised by the Asian PGPR Society and the Malaysian PGPR Society.
• The award was given in recognition of his service, scientific innovations and accomplishments. Pramod was additionally awarded ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ for oral presentation on a research paper.

• He will visit Uzbekistan on September 15-16 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit where leaders are expected to review the grouping’s activities
• The summit will be attended by leaders of SCO member states, observer states, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests
• External Affairs Ministry said the SCO Summit will be attended by leaders of SCO Member States, Observer States, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, President of Turkmenistan, and other invited guests.

About SCO

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. In terms of geographic scope and population, it is the world’s largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP

Important facts of the report

• There are 49.6 million people are trapped in modern slavery on any given day.
• They are either forced to work against their will or are in a marriage that they have been forced into..
• Forced labour accounted for 27.6 million of those in modern slavery and forced marriage for 22 million.
• The new estimates showed that forced labour and forced marriage had increased significantly in the last five years.

ILO

• The ILO is a UN agency involved in the promotion of social and economic justice by setting up international labour standards. It was founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, the predecessor of the UN.