- Article 370 was scrapped by the Parliament on August 5, 2019, after Union Home Minister tabled the historic amendment in the Parliament. All the clauses of Article 370 were revoked, except Clause 1 which states that J&K is a part of India.
- With the revocation of Article 370, Article 35A gets revoked as well. Article 35A defines “permanent residents” of Jammu & Kashmir and grants special rights to them.
- The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, 2019 was presented by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2019. The Bill calls for forming two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir with Legislature and Ladakh without Legislature.
- The Lok Sabha on August 5, 2019, passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 that seeks to uplift transgenders socially, economically and culturally in the society. The Bill was passed by a voice vote.
- The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) on August 4, 2019, successfully conducted the test-flight of Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles (QRSAM) from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur.
- As per the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a rural settlement had thrived at Bharati Huda in Jalalpur village in Odisha’s Cuttack district, about 3600 years ago. This is based on the ancient arte facts and grain discovered by the ASI from the mentioned site in the year 2018.
- India is planning to launch its first Human Genome Mapping Project. The project involves scanning of 20,000 Indian genomes (in the next five years) to develop diagnostic tests and effective therapies for treating diseases such as cancer.
- As per the information released by University Grants Commission (UGC), all universities in India will get a final subscription to access the Swedish anti-plagiarism software ‘Urkund’ from September 1, 2019. As a part of this process, in the coming years, the software will be available free of cost to all 900 universities, including teachers, students and researchers.
- Union Government has approved Rs 4,900 crore Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar. This is the second major river interlinking project in the country to be approved by Central Government after the Ken-Betwa project in Madhya Pradesh.
- In the Maldives, former vice president Ahmed Adeeb was taken to Dhoonidhoo detention centre today after being returned to the country. Adeeb was arrested after fleeing to India to avoid questioning over the alleged embezzlement of state funds.
