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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
World Day for International Justice – Observed on July 17
- World Day for International Justice, also referred to as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day, is an international day celebrated throughout the world on July 17 as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice.
- This year’s theme for the Day of International Criminal Justice is “social justice in the digital economy“, a timely topic for a modern age where criminals are increasingly relying on advanced internet-based means instead of traditional criminal tactics.
- Also known as the Day of International Criminal Justice, it marks the importance of fighting against impunity and bringing justice for the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
- The World Day for International Justice is celebrated to commemorate the historic adoption of the Rome Statute and establishment of the new system of international criminal justice in the year 1998.
- The establishment of International Criminal Court (ICC) is viewed as a historic moment for peace and the rule of law.
World Emoji Day – Observed on July 17
- World Emoji Day is an annual unofficial holiday occurring on 17 July, intended to celebrate emoji; in the years since the earliest observance, it has become a popular date to make product or other announcements and releases relating to emoji.
- Every year on July 17, people across the globe celebrate World Emoji Day.
- The main objective of the day is to promote the usage of emojis in our conversations.
- Unicode consortium has a set of members who vote and submit their opinion on the emojis that come for approval.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
PM Modi addressed 6th anniversary of Skill India Mission
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the youth of the nation on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day and 6th anniversary of Skill India Mission.
- Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar will also address during the virtual event.
- The 6 years of the Skill India Mission have been worthwhile and seen a large number of achievements, including expansion of skill development infrastructure and facilities, and inculcation and support of entrepreneurial spirit.
- The efforts of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and other Central Government Department Ministries involved in skilling saw more than one crore youth joining the Skill India Mission every year, to meet demand of Skilled Workforce.
About Skill India Mission:
- Skill India or the National Skills Development Mission of India is a campaign launched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on 15 July 2015 to train over 40 crore people in India in different skills by 2022.
- It is managed by the National Skills Development Corporation of India.
- As far as institutional mechanisms are concerned, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the scheme – Prime Minister Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) have achieved considerable results, but not achieved the expected outcomes.
- The study argues the essential requirement of skill development to achieve technology adoption and women empowerment in the country.
Government launches Kisan Sarathi digital platform
- Government launched the digital platform Kisan Sarathi to facilitate farmers to get the right information at the right time in their desired language.
- The platform Kisan Sarathi was jointly launched by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw through video conference on the occasion of 93rd ICAR Foundation Day.
- Speaking on the occasion, Ashwini Vaishnaw stated, farmers can avail personalized advisories on agriculture and allied areas directly from scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra through the digital platform.
- He mentioned, this initiative of Kisan Sarathi will empower farmers with technological interventions and reach farmers in remote areas.
Bihar had maximum deaths due to lightning strikes since 2019
- As per the report, Since 2019, Bihar has reported most deaths because of lightning.
- In between April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 about 401 deaths were reported
- Bihar witnessed 168% increase in lightning strikes.
- On July 11, 2021 lightning strikes killed about 70 people in different parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
- India’s second annual Lightning Report was recently published. According to it, lightning in India has become the biggest cause of death by forces of nature.
- There has been a 34% increase in Lightning strikes in the country.
- It has increased from 1.38 crore strikes in 2019-2020 to 1.85 crore strikes in 2020-2021. Punjab reported a 331% rise in thunderbolt strikes. It is followed by Haryana (164%), Pondicherry (117%), Himachal Pradesh (105%), and West Bengal (100%).
- Bihar is followed by Uttar Pradesh where 238 deaths were reported in the same period.
- UP is followed by Madhya Pradesh with 228, Odisha with 156 deaths and Jharkhand with 132 deaths.
- While, other states reported less than 100 deaths in the same period.
About Lightning:
- Lightning is an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves.
- Most lightning occurs within the clouds.
Peace in border areas essential’: EAM S. Jaishankar tells Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Dushanbe
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar concluded the one-hour-long bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe, where he conveyed that that unilateral change of status quo of the border area is not acceptable to India.
- Jaishankar stated that both sides agreed on convening an early meeting of the senior military commanders.
- The meeting took place on the sidelines of a foreign ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
- Recalling their last meeting in Moscow in September 2020, Jaishankar stressed the need to follow through on the agreement reached then and complete the disengagement, resolving the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh at the earliest.
About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):
- Founded: 15 June 2001
- Secretary General: Vladimir Norov
- Deputy Secretaries General: Sabyr Imandosov; Sherali Jononov; Wang Kaiwen; Aziz Nosirov; Vladimir Potapenko
- Headquarters: Beijing, China
- Official language: Chinese and Russian
- Founders: China, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Don’t register cases under repealed Section 66A of IT Act related to posting online comments: Centre to states
- The Centre asked the states to direct their police not to register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 related to posting online comments.
- The Supreme Court in 2015 had struck down the controversial Section 66A of the IT Act that made posting “offensive” comments online a crime punishable by jail, after a long campaign by defenders of free speech.
- The Supreme Court in its judgment on March 24, 2015 in the matter of Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India had struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- This made Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 null and void with effect from the date of the order and hence no action could be taken under this section.
- The section of the law provides police power to arrest a person for posting “offensive” content online and provides for a three-year jail term.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Ethiopia: PM Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity party wins parliamentary election
- Ethiopia’s governing Prosperity Party has won the most seats in the country’s parliamentary election.
- PM Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party wins 410 out of the 436 contested seats in Ethiopia’s federal parliament.
- The Prosperity Party was formed after the dismantling of Ethiopia’s former ruling coalition, which had been dominated by Tigray politicians.
- Disagreements over that decision signalled the first tensions between Abiy and Tigray leaders that eventually led to the conflict in the region in November.
- Tegbaru Yared, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies, wrote this week that there remained “deep political cleavages” in Ethiopia.
- The Prosperity Party “should focus on stabilising the country, stopping intercommunal conflicts, managing inflation, engaging the opposition and initiating an all-inclusive national dialogue”, Tegbaru wrote.
About PM Abiy:
- The election was the first test of voter support for Abiy, who promised political and economic reforms when he was appointed prime minister by the governing coalition in 2018.
- He is the first Ethiopian and the first Oromo to be awarded a Nobel Prize, winning the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the 20-year post-war territorial stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Biden extends USA’s Child Tax Credit programme
- American President Joe Biden extended the “Child Tax Credit Programme” because this programme has potential to reduce child poverty in America.
- Some 35 million American families have received their first monthly payout from the U.S. government in an expanded income-support program.
- The Child Tax Credit has been likened to a universal basic income for children, within income limits, helpingfamilies meet expenses from rent to food and daycare.
- The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University estimates the expansion can reduce the U.S. child poverty rate by up to 45%.
- Under the Child Tax Credit program that was broadened under Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus, eligible families collect an initial monthly payment of up to $300 for each child under six years old and up to $250 for each older child.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
Maharashtra state govt launches new EV Policy 2021
- The new EV policy introduced in Maharashtra is a revision of the 2018 policy.
- It is introduced with an aim to make Maharashtra the “topmost producer of battery-powered electric vehicles in India.”
- It also aims for electric vehicles (EVs) to make up 10 percent of all new vehicle registrations, by 2025.
- For this ambitious mission, the state government has rolled out a Rs. 930 crore policy, valid up to 31st March, 2025.
- To make this success, EVs will be exempted from road tax and registration charges.
- For the smooth implementation of Maharashtra’s new EV Policy, the state government is instituting a Mechanism Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary & other concerned principal secretaries.
- The Chief Secretary & other secretaries will evaluate policy effectiveness to amend it, according to the EV ecosystem and environment.
- A Climate Change Department (CCD) will drive the ‘EV Monitoring Cell.’
About Maharashtra:
- Maharashtra is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau.
- Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India as well as the third-most populous country subdivision in the world.
- Capital: Mumbai
- Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
- Chief minister: Uddhav Thackeray
- National Parks: ChandoliNational Park, Gugamal National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Pench (Jawaharlal Nehru) National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivali) National Park, Tadoba National Park
Karnataka CM unveiled the event to mark World Youth Skills Day
- Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa has stated that skilling and livelihood assurance to the unemployed youth goes hand in hand to reap the advantages of demographic dividend in the country.
- The Chief Minister informed that an MOU was signed with Tata Technologies to upgrade 150 Government ITIs.
- He also mentioned that the Karnataka Skill and Entrepreneurship Task Force will submit its report on a road map to create 10 million jobs in the next five years in the state.
- The Chief Minister stated that skillconnect.kaushalkar.com web portal offers information on jobs available in various industries for the skilled manpower.
- On World Youth Skills Day the State Government signed various MOUs with private partners to take up skills training.
- An MOU was signed with Toyota motors to impart training to youth in Automotive skills.
About Karnataka:
- Karnataka is a state in southwest India with Arabian Sea coastlines.
- The capital, Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), is a high-tech hub known for its shopping and nightlife.
- To the southwest, Mysore is home to lavish temples including Mysore Palace, former seat of the region’s maharajas.
- Hampi, once the medieval Vijayanagara empire’s capital, contains ruins of Hindu temples, elephant stables and a stone chariot.
- Capital: Bengaluru
- Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot
- Chief minister: S. Yediyurappa
- National Parks: Bannerghatta National Park, Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Kudremukh National Park, Anshi National Park.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING NEWS
Given nod to set up small finance bank to take over scam-hit PMC (Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative) Bank: RBI to HC
- Given nod to set up small finance bank to take over PMC Bank tells RBI to HC
- The RBI said this will ease the trouble faced by the bank’s customers who are unable to withdraw their money
- The PMC Bank has been put under restrictions, including limiting withdrawals, by the RBI, following the unearthing of Rs 4,355-crore scam.
- The RBI, submitted that it has given in-principle approval to Centrum Finance Services Ltd to set up a small finance bank which will take over Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank very soon as the process in near completion
- This will ease the trouble faced by the bank’s customers who are unable to withdraw their money.
About RBI:
- Governor: Shaktikanta Das
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata
RBI to allow retail investors to open gilt accounts with the central bank under Retail Direct Scheme
- The Reserve Bank of India has announced the ‘RBI Retail Direct’ scheme that will give investors the facility of investing in government securities in one place.
- There will be no charge on account opening and its management.
- The central bank said that retail investors can open a Retail Direct Gilt Account (RDG Account) with it.
- To increase retail partnership in government securities, the government had also announced ‘The RBI Retail Direct Facility’.
- Registered investors will have to pay a charge for its payment gateway.
- Significantly, the objective of this plan is to improve the accessibility of government securities.
- The online reach of retail investors will also be expanded.
- This includes both primary and secondary markets.
Wholesale inflation eases to 12.07% in June despite spike in fuel price
- India’s wholesale price inflation eased in June to 12.07% from a record 12.94% a month ago as food and fuel prices fell while those of manufactured items accelerated.
- Data released by the industry department showed food inflation in June decelerated to 3.1% from 4.3% a month ago while fuel inflation eased to 32.8% from 37.6% despite the recent increase in prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
- Manufactured products saw a marginal increase in inflation to 10.9% from 10.8% in May due to rising price pressure in textiles, apparel, leather, wood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, basic metals and fabricated metal products.
- Core inflation excluding food and fuel items hardened further to 10.4% in June from 10% a month ago
- WPI inflation tends to reflect global inflation pressures more fully as it gives a higher weight to fuel and other commodities while CPI gives a higher weight to food and services, both of which are driven more by domestic dynamics.
- Hence, inflation pressures were first visible in WPI (since March 2021), while upward pressure on CPI became more visible from May 2021 onwards. The elevated WPI inflation implies that cost push pressures will gradually seep into CPI inflation as capacity utilization improves.
- The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee (MPC) aims to achieve a retail inflation target of 4%, plus or minus 2%. Even though elevated inflation will put pressure on RBI, it is expected to maintain policy rates unchanged at the next monetary policy review in August to protect the nascent economic recovery from the devastating impact of the pandemic.
- With the encouraging progress of the southwest monsoon, supply-side interventions in the pulses and edible oils market, and gradual unlocking of states with declining caseload would mitigate cost pressures going forward. However, rising global commodity prices, especially of crude and logistics costs, pose upside risks to the inflation outlook.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS
TCG Group appointed B Anand as head polymer projects business
- TCG Group, knowledge based industrial collective of global repute and their flagship company Haldia Petrochemicals Limited along with Lummus Technology and TCG Digital, a global leader in developing and implementing process technologies and cutting edge digitalization and AI.
- Anand to head the business of developing and implementing large scale polymer projects with sustainability focus including Oil to Polymer Complex (OToP) across India and globally.
- Anand will be responsible for building and driving TCG Group’s portfolio of OToP projects which will include development along with design and licensing technology globally with their bespoke ‘Design One and Build Many’ business model.
Pidilite appointed Sudhanshu Vats as deputy managing director
- Pidilite Industries has announced that Sudhanshu Vatswill join the company as deputy managing director, effective September 1, 2021.
- Vats has a career of 30 years spanning diverse organizations like Unilever, Castrol, Viacom18 and more recently, EPL (formerly known as Essel Propack).
- Vats started his career with Hindustan Unileverand spent about 20 years in various sales and marketing and general management roles across categories.
About Pidilite Industries:
- Pidilite Industries Limitedis an Indian adhesives manufacturing
- It manufactures products which can be segmented into consumer products: art materials and stationary; food and fabric care; car products and adhesives and sealants; and specialty industrial products: industrial adhesives; industrial pigments; industrial and textile resins, leather chemicals, construction chemicals and other industrial chemicals.
Isobar India appointed Pragati Rana as senior vice president, strategy
- Isobar, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu India, has named Pragati Rana as its Senior Vice President (SVP)- Strategy.
- As per the latest mandate, Pragati will head strategy for Isobar India and build an integrated planning team under her.
- Prior to this, Pragati was General Manager- Strategy & Operations at dentsu mcgarrybowen (dentsuMB) India.
- Armed with more than 10 years of experience, Pragati has won over 50 industry accolades for her work, which includes Vice Media’s 8-bit Journo, Sony Pictures’ Angry Islands, MIB Agent Incognito, Thappad’s The Most Reported Trailer, Early Salaries Month End Collection, Big FM’s Pride from Home campaigns, to name a few.
- In her previous stints, she has worked across categories such as food, haircare, entertainment, technology, start-ups, automobile and finance.
About Isobar India:
- Isobar India is one of the most prolific agencies in the network.
- Opened in 2008, the team has expanded its digital, commerce, design, consultancy and UX teams to deliver business transformation for brands.
- Joined in 2016 by Fractal Ink Design Studio Linked by Isobar, the team now boasts over 600 people across four cities servicing over 100 clients including Adidas, Reebok, Ceat Tyres, Visa India, Oneplus, Oppo, Bira91, Kia Motors, National Geographic and many more.
Dentsu appointed Jean Lin as new executive officer
- Dentsu Grouphas announced that its board of directors has appointed Jean Lin, global chief executive officer of creative services line of dentsu International, as a new executive officer of the company, effective on August 1.
- Lin will advise and guide the development of dentsu Sustainable Business Solutions(dSBS) which will be at the core of the sustainable client solutions provided across dentsu Japan network and dentsu International.
About Dentsu:
- Dentsu International is a multinational media and digital marketing communications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese advertising and public relations firm Dentsu.
- Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS
Bank of Maharashtra signed MoU with NABARD
- Financial institution of Maharashtra (BoM) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nationwide Financial institution for Agriculture & Rural Improvement (NABARD) to spice up ongoing developmental initiatives linked to precedence sector lending in Maharashtra.
- The MoU envisages joint initiatives for the advantage of farmers, farmer producer organizations, joint legal responsibility teams, self assist teams, rural artisans, weavers, agri-preneurs, agri start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises within the State, BoM mentioned in an announcement.
About Bank of Maharashtra:
- Bank of Maharashtra is a major Indian government owned bank under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance.
- The bank had 15 million customers across the country with 1,900 branches as of 25 March 2021.
- It has the largest network of branches of any public sector bank in the state of Maharashtra.
- Headquarters: Pune
- CEO: A. S. Rajeev
- Tagline: Ek Parivaar, Ek Bank (One Family One Bank)
About NABARD:
- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is an apex regulatory body for overall regulation and licensing of regional rural banks and apex cooperative banks in India.
- It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
- Headquarters: Mumbai
Web Werks signs Rs.750-cr MoU with Karnataka
- Web Werks plans to build a Rs.750 crore ($100m) data center in Bengaluru, India.
- The regional data center provider signed a memorandum of understanding with the local government of Karnataka, which will help ease the planning permission and regulatory approval process.
- “Web Werks’ Bengaluru data center will cater to the increasing demand from hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and enterprises.
MeitY unveils map services in UMANG App through MoU with MapmyIndia
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken various initiatives in the recent past to ease the lives of citizens by facilitating online delivery of Government services.
- To further enhance the initiatives of Digital India Programme, the Ministry has enabled map services in UMANG App ‘through Memorandum of Understanding with MapmyIndia.
- As a result of integration of UMANG with MapmyIndia, citizens will be able to find government facilities nearest to their location, such as mandis, blood banks and much more, at the click of a button.
- The UMANG mobile app launched in 2017, is a Government of India single, unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-service mobile app, providing access to high impact services of various organizations.
- UMANG brings major government services on a single mobile app on the mobile phones of citizens.
About UMANG App:
- Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance, is a mobile app, a Digital India initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, by the Government of India for access to central and state government services.
- The app supports 13 Indian languages and is available for Android, iOS and Windows.
- UMANG(Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance) is one of the key initiatives under the Digital India program to develop a common, unified platform and mobile app to facilitate a single point of access to all government services.
NCW signed MoU with Bureau of Police Research & Development for gender sensitisation of police personnel
- The National Commission for Women has signed an MoU with the Bureau of Police Research and Development for gender sensitization of police personnel across the country.
- The objective of the programme is to ensure gender sensitization of police personnel with respect to legislation and policies concerning women.
- Bringing attitudinal and behavioural changes in police officers while dealing with crimes against women is also among the objectives.
- The Commission has been regularly organizing gender sensitization programs for police officers to achieve the objective of building trust of women complainants in police.
About Bureau of Police Research:
- The Bureau of Police Research and Development was set up on 28 August 1970 in furtherance of the objective of the Government of India for the modernization of police forces.
- It has evolved as a multifaceted, consultancy organization.
- Headquarters: New Delhi, India
CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS
US Navy hands over first two MH-60R helicopters to Indian Navy
- On July 16, 2021, To strengthen India-US defence relationship, the Indian Navy received the first two MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from the United States Navy at Naval Air Station in North Island, San Diego.
- It will mark the beginning of a new era of defence collaboration and partnership between the US and India.
- The MH-60R helicopter is an all-weather maritime helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state-of-the-art avionics.
- The induction of these helicopters would further enhance the Indian Navy’s three dimensional capabilities.
Additional Information :
- Under foreign military sales from the US government,in February 2020, the Indian Navy and the US Navy had signed a Rs 15,157 crore ($2.13 billion) deal to buy 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
About US Navy :
- Founded: 13 October 1775, United States
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C, United States
- Founders: John Paul Jones, John Barry
- Commander in Chief : Joe Biden
- Secretary of Defence : Lloyd Austin
- Secretary of the Navy : Thomas Harker
- Chief of the Naval Operations : Michael M. Gilday
- Vice Chief of the Naval Operations : William K. Lescher
About Indian Navy :
- Founded: 26 January 1950
- Headquarters : New Delhi
- Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS): Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar
- Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS): Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh
- Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): Admiral Karambir Singh
- Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPS & SERVICES
Defence Minister launches AI-powered grievance management application- CPGRAMS
- On July 15, 2021, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application CPGRAMS ( Centralized Public Grievance Redress & Monitoring System ) in New Delhi developed by the Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur.
- Previously, a tripartite MoU was signed between IIT Kanpur, MoD (Department of Defence) and Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAR&PG)
Keypeople :
- Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar; Additional Secretary, DARPG Shri V Srinivas, Additional Secretary MoD Smt Nivedita Shukla Verma, Director, IIT Kanpur Prof Abhay Karandikar also present the event.
About AI-powered application :
- This is the first AI based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government.
- The AI-powered application will automatically handle and analyse the complaints of the people and would reduce human intervention, save time and bring more transparency in their disposal.
- The AI-based tool can understand the content of the complaint based on the contents therein & it can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically.
- Based on the meaning of the complaint, it can categorise complaints of different categories even when key words normally used for such search are not present in the complaint.
- It enables geographical analysis of complaints in a category including analysis of whether the complaint was adequately addressed or not by the concerned office.
About Ministry of Defence :
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Founded: 15 August 1947
- Minister of Defence : Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State : Shripad Naik
About DAR&PG :
- The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances is the nodal agency of the Government of India for administrative reforms as well as redressal of public grievances relating to the states in general and those pertaining to Central Government agencies in particular.
- Headquarters : Kerala
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
IISc-Mynvax’s heat-tolerant Covid vaccine
- A heat-tolerant COVID-19 vaccine formulation developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has proven effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, according to a study in animals.
- The research, published in the ACS Infectious Diseases journal, showed the vaccine formulations by IISc-incubated biotech start-up Mynvax triggered a strong immune response in mice.
- Vaccine also remained stable for up to a month at 37 degrees Celsius while at 100 degrees Celsius it remained stable for up to 90 minutes.
- The IISc-My Nvax vaccine was developed using a part of viral spike protein called receptor-binding domain (RBD).
- It allows the virus to connect with the host cell to infect it. It differs from other vaccines because it only uses a specific part of the RBD (string of 200 amino acids) instead of the entire spike protein.
- Development of a heat-tolerant vaccine or thermostable or warm vaccine is significant for remote or resource-limited locations having extremely hot climates that lack reliable cold storage supply chains.
About IISc:
- It was granted status of Institute of Eminence in 2018.
- The Indian Institute of Science is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management.
- It is located in Bangalore.
- It is founded in 1909.It is also called as TATA Institute
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
AFC Women’s Club Championship 2020-21 Gokulam Kerala FC to represent India
- In AFC Women’s Club Championship 2020-21, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has nominated the women’s team of ‘Gokulam Kerala FC’ to represent India.
- Kozhikode-based club will be the first Indian club to have both their men’s and women’s teams playing in the AFC tournament.
- The winners of the Indian Women’s League compete in the tournament, but since the fifth edition of the tournament was not held, the AIFF has nominated the GKFC, the champions of the fourth edition.
- The 5th edition was originally supposed to be held in Bhubaneswar by Odisha Sports in close coordination with AIFF, but it had to be postponed owing to the second wave of the pandemic which hit hard.
About AIFF :
- President: Praful Patel
- Vice-President: Subrata Dutta
- Headquarters : New Delhi
- Founded: 23 June 1937
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Danish Siddiqui – Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photojournalist Passes away
- On July 16, 2021, Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, Passed away.
- He was 38 years old.
- While covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban forces near a border crossing with Pakistan he was killed by Taliban militants.
About Danish Siddiqui :
- Danish Siddiqui joined the international news agency Reuters as an intern in 2010.
Achievements :
- As part of the Reuters team, in 2018, Danish Siddiqui and his colleague Adnan Abidi, had won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis.
About Pulitzer Prize :
- The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature and musical composition within the United States.
- It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer.
- The winner in the public service category is awarded a gold medal
Daily CA On July 16 :
- World Snake Day is observed on July 16 every year to increase awareness about the different species of snakes all around the world.
- The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the National AYUSH Mission as a Centrally-sponsored Scheme from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2026 with financial implication of nearly four thousand 607 crore rupees.
- The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a hike in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for central government employees and pensioners & the Dearness allowance and dearness relief rates have been hiked from the existing 17 per cent to 28 per cent.
- Addressing the conference of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on “Atma Nirbhar Bharat – Self Reliance for Renewable Energy Manufacturing”, the Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shri RK Singh stated that India had emerged as world leader in the Energy Transition.
- The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, the parent ministry of DPE, will now be called the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
- Cabinet approves scheme to promote India-owned ships with subsidy support
- Department of Biotechnology SIGNS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) With Ministry of Earth Sciences To Set up DBT MOES Polar Research Centre.
- The Union Cabinet approved the extension of the Rebate of State and central taxes and levies(RoSCTL) for garments.
- China National Nuclear Corporation has announced that it has started building a multi-purpose small modular reactor demonstration project at Changjiang nuclear plant in South China’s Hainan Province & this project is the world’s first commercial onshore small modular reactor (SMR) to start construction.
- Britain unveiled plans to decarbonize its transport systems, phasing out the sale of all polluting road vehicles by 2040 and committing the aviation sector to a 2050 net zero emissions target.
- UN-FAO present State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 Report, it will also focus on complementary food system solutions that address the key drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition, i.e. conflict, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and COVID-19, and that ensure access to affordable healthy diets for all.
- Singapore unveiled one of the world’s biggest floating solar power farms, covering an area the size of 45 football pitches, as part of the city-state’s push to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
- The Haryana government has set up India’s first ‘Grain ATM’ as a pilot project in Gurugram.
- The Manduadih railway station has been finally renamed as Banaras by the North eastern railways (NER).
- Prime Minister Narendra Modiinaugurated the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention centre in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.
- India’s first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will come upon the bank of the Ganges in the premises of Patna University.
- An MoU was signed between Jamnagar based Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) under Ministry of Ayush and the Government of Gujarat in the presence of the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Nitinbhai Patel and Secretary, Ministry of AyushVaidya Rajesh Kotecha on 15th July 2021.
- Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has decided to waive loans worth Rs 590 crore under the farm debt relief scheme for farm labourers and the landless farming community.
- MSME Minister Narayan Rane launched two new Khadi Products- Khadi Babywear and Unique Handmade Paper Use and Throw Slippers in New Delhi.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) onto its card network from July 22, citing non-compliance of storage of data in India.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mentioned it has cancelled the licence of Dr Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, Nilanga, Latur, as it does not have adequate capital and earning prospects.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the timeline for implementation of cassette swap in all ATMs till March 31, 2022.
- The Ladakh administration has signed a MoU with Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency (SOCCA) to turn the Union Territory into an organic entity.
- The Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE), under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH), has signed an Agreement with University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia for setting up a Centre for Advanced Transportation Technology and Systems (CATTS) at IAHE, Noida.
- The University of Rashtryaraksha (RRU) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat has an agreement with the Cambodian Police Academy (PAC) to support police training and capacity building.
- The Union Cabinet approved a pact between India and Russia regarding cooperation on coking coal, a key steel making raw material, for which domestic players remain dependent on imports from a select group of countries.
- The Indian Government will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh to export 10 lakh bales of cotton every year.
- The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) has signed a MoU to train and place students in Japan.
- Andhra Pradesh government signs MoUs with 14 more companies with an objective to ensure women empowerment and livelihood to six lakh women on a permanent basis through the YSR Cheyutha scheme.
- On July 14, 2021, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test on the liquid propellant Vikas engine that would launch the ambitious Gaganyaan programme.
- Malaria and dengue predicted to affect billions more people if global warming continues uncurbed
- On July 13, 2021, Pakistan captain and star batsman Babar Azam became the fastest batsman to complete 14 ODI centuries
- On July 13, 2021, Tennis Hall of Famer & Grand Slam winner Shirley Fry Irvin Passed away.
- On July 14, 2021, Former president of Pakistan & Muslim League-Nawaz’s central leader Mamnoon Hussain passed away.
- On July 16, 2021, Veteran actress Surekha Sikri passed away.
Daily CA On July 17 :
- World Day for International Justice, also referred to as Day of International Criminal Justice or International Justice Day, is an international day celebrated throughout the world on July 17 as part of an effort to recognize the emerging system of international criminal justice with the theme of “social justice in the digital economy“
- World Emoji Day is an annual unofficial holiday occurring on 17 July, intended to celebrate emoji; in the years since the earliest observance, it has become a popular date to make product or other announcements and releases relating to emoji.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the youth of the nation on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day and 6th anniversary of Skill India Mission.
- Government launched the digital platform Kisan Sarathi to facilitate farmers to get the right information at the right time in their desired language, it was jointly launched by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw through video conference on the occasion of 93rd ICAR Foundation Day.
- As per the report, Since 2019, Bihar has reported most deaths because of lightning.
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar concluded the one-hour-long bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe, where he conveyed that that unilateral change of status quo of the border area is not acceptable to India.
- The Centre asked the states to direct their police not to register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 related to posting online comments.
- Ethiopia’s governing Prosperity Party has won the most seats in the country’s parliamentary election, PM Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party wins 410 out of the 436 contested seats in Ethiopia’s federal parliament.
- American President Joe Biden extended the “Child Tax Credit Programme” because this programme has potential to reduce child poverty in America.
- The new EV policy introduced in Maharashtra is a revision of the 2018 policy and it is introduced with an aim to make Maharashtra the “topmost producer of battery-powered electric vehicles in India.”
- Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa unveiled the event to mark World Youth Skills Day
- Given nod to set up small finance bank to take over scam-hit PMC (Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative) Bank: RBI to HC
- The Reserve Bank of India has announced the ‘RBI Retail Direct’ scheme that will give investors the facility of investing in government securities in one place.
- India’s wholesale price inflation eased in June to 12.07% from a record 12.94% a month ago as food and fuel prices fell while those of manufactured items accelerated.
- New York-based multibillion-dollar TCG group has appointed B Anand as the head of business for developing and implementing large scale polymer projects with sustainability focus
- Pidilite Industries has announced that Sudhanshu Vatswill join the company as deputy managing director, effective September 1, 2021.
- Isobar, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu India, has named Pragati Rana as its Senior Vice President (SVP)- Strategy.
- Dentsu Grouphas announced that its board of directors has appointed Jean Lin, global chief executive officer of creative services line of dentsu International, as a new executive officer of the company, effective on August 1.
- Financial institution of Maharashtra (BoM) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nationwide Financial institution for Agriculture & Rural Improvement (NABARD) to spice up ongoing developmental initiatives linked to precedence sector lending in Maharashtra.
- Web Werks plans to build a 750 crore ($100m) data center in Bengaluru, India.
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken various initiatives in the recent past to ease the lives of citizens by facilitating online delivery of Government services it is for enhance the initiatives of Digital India Programme, the Ministry has enabled map services in UMANG App ‘through Memorandum of Understanding with MapmyIndia.
- The National Commission for Women has signed an MoU with the Bureau of Police Research and Development for gender sensitization of police personnel across the country.
- On July 16, 2021, To strengthen India-US defence relationship, the Indian Navy received the first two MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from the United States Navy at Naval Air Station in North Island, San Diego.
- On July 15, 2021, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered grievance management application CPGRAMS ( Centralized Public Grievance Redress & Monitoring System ) in New Delhi developed by the Ministry of Defence with the help of IIT-Kanpur.
- A heat-tolerant COVID-19 vaccine formulation developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has proven effective against all current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, according to a study in animals.
- In AFC Women’s Club Championship 2020-21, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has nominated the women’s team of ‘Gokulam Kerala FC’ to represent India.
- On July 16, 2021, Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, Passed away.
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