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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
Central Govt extends ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to 2025
- The Government of India has extended the duration of ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to the year 2025, MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment Sushri Pratima Bhoumik.
- This scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 5, 2016.
- The objective of the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ is to facilitate loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) of value between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one SC or ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up green field enterprise in manufacturing, service or trading sector.
- Finance Minister in the Budget Speech for Financial Year 2021-22, the margin money requirement for loans under the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ has been reduced from 25 per cent to up to 15 per cent.
- Activities allied to agriculture have been included in the scheme and apart from this, no other change is contemplated.
About Stand Up India Scheme:
- Stand-Up India was launched by the Government of India on 5 April 2016 to support entrepreneurship among women and SC & ST communities.
- It is similar to but distinct from Startup India.
- Stand-Up India Scheme facilitates bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 Crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a greenfield enterprise.
- This enterprise may be in manufacturing, services or the trading sector.
IITH develops affordable COVID-19 testing kit: COVIHOME
- The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 priced at Rs.50, which was developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) led by professor Harpal Singh.
- The kit was launched by minister of state for education Sanjay Dhotre, who stated the premier institute’s efforts have helped the country in becoming more“self-sufficient” in its fight against the deadly virus.
- IIT-Delhi first disrupted the RT-PCR market with a Rs.399 probe-free RT PCR kit, launched in July 2020.
- Over 8 million high-quality PPE kits were supplied so far, using the technology developed at IIT-Delhi.
- Now, the institute is launching a rapid diagnostic kit, costing Rs.50, for Covid-19.
About IIT-H:
- Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad is a public technical and Research University located in Sangareddy district, Telangana, India.
- IITH was founded in 2008, among the eight young Indian Institutes of Technology.
- It has 1,155 Undergraduate, 635 Masters and 1085 PhD students with 222 full-time faculties.
- It’s NIRF ranking is 8th ,QS Ranking is top 600. It is one of the best institute for placement in india.
- For Research work it is a premier institute of india.
Jurisdiction of Krishna & Godavari River boards notified in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
- The Ministry of Jal Shakti through Gazette Notification dated 15.07.2021 has notified the jurisdiction of Godavari River Management Board and Krishna River Management Board, which provide the required authority and power to the two Boards in terms of administration, regulation, operation and maintenance of listed projects in Godavari and Krishna rivers in the two States.
- This step is expected to ensure judicious utilization of water resources in the two states.
- The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 (APRA) contains provisions for the effective management of river waters in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- The Constitution of the Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards and the constitution of an Apex Council for the supervision of the functioning of these Boards, is laid down in this Act.
- The Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 85 of the APRA, 2014, constituted the two River Management Boards effective from 2nd June, 2014 for the administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of such projects on Godavari and Krishna rivers, as may be notified by the Central Government.
- This decision of the Union Government for notifying the jurisdiction of two Boards would go a long way in enabling the River Boards to discharge their responsibilities to the fullest as mandated in the APRA, 2014 and bring about efficiency in management of water resources in the two States.
- The Centre expects the wholehearted cooperation and assistance of both the State Governments in the smooth functioning of the two Boards, to ensure equitable benefit to the people of both the states.
About Andhra Pradesh:
- Andhra Pradesh is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India.
- It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of 162,975 km² and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants.
- It is the only state with three capitals.
- The largest city and commercial hub of the state, Visakhapatnam being the executive capital while Amaravati and Kurnool are legislative and judicial capitals, respectively.
- Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
- Chief minister: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
- National parks of the state: Sri Venkateshwara National Park, Papikondalu National Park.
About Telangana:
- Telangana is a state in southern India.
- In the capital of Hyderabad, the Charminar is a 16th-century mosque with 4 arches supporting 4 towering minarets.
- In the city of Warangal, the centuries-old Warangal Fort features carved stone towers and gateways.
- Capital: Hyderabad
- Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
- Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao
- National parks: Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park, Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park and Mrugavani National Park
Chief Justice of India N.V.Ramana launches ‘FASTER’ (Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records)
- Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana launched a new scheme called ‘FASTER’ or ‘Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records’.
- Under the scheme, the Supreme Court will instantly transmit bail and other orders to the jail authorities, district courts and the High Courts.
- This will be done in a secure way electronically.
- As per the present practice, hard copy of the bail order received by hand is mandated.
- The Supreme Court announced a plan to set up a system for swift and secure electronic transmission of its rulings to jail authorities so that prisoners who have been granted relief are not left waiting for a certified order copy in order to be released.
- A bench headed by him had taken suo motu cognizance of the delay in the release of 13 prisoners from Agra Central Jail despite the court granting them bail on July 8.
- The bench, also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and A S Bopanna, mentioned it is contemplating a system — ‘FASTER’ — to address the issue.
“Dayzero” Roadmap for Water Scarce Regions
- No specific expert / inter-ministerial committee / research study / policy / plan / strategy for studying, evaluating and preparing a “Day Zero” roadmap/policy for water scarce regions of the country has been conducted.
- The Central Water Commission has also carried out the study “Reassessment of Water Availability in India using Space Inputs” in 2019.
- However, the Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being periodically assessed jointly by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments.
- Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient management of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State Governments.
- In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Central Government provides technical and financial assistance to them through various schemes and programmes.
- Central Government has formulated National Water Policy (NWP), 2012 which inter-alia recommends conservation, promotion and protection of water
- It also advocates conservation of river, river bodies and infrastructure to be undertaken in a scientifically planned manner through community participation.
- Central Government has formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development which envisages transfer of water from water surplus basins to water deficit basins to improve availability of water.
- To promote recharge of ground water, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has formulated guidelines for the States to adopt measures suitable to local conditions.
- In compliance to the decision taken by the Committee of Secretaries, an ‘Inter Ministerial Committee’ under the Chairmanship of Secretary (WR, RD & GR) has been constituted to take forward the subject of ‘Push on Water Conservation Related Activities for Optimum Utilization of Monsoon Rainfall’.
Tertiary value addition centres being set up in tribal areas of Jagdalpur and Raigad under TRIFOOD
- Tertiary value addition centres being set up in tribal areas of Jagdalpur and Raigad under TRIFOOD
- Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has its own E-commerce portal www.tribesindia.com to market tribal products.
- It is also present on all major e-commerce portals like Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Paytm, and Gem.
- TRIFOOD Scheme is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED.
- Under this scheme, tertiary value addition centres are being set up by TRIFED at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh and Raigad in Maharashtra at a cost of approximately Rs.11 crore.
About TRIFED:
- The full form of TRIFED is The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India. It was established in 1987.
- It became operational from April 1988.
- The basic objective of the TRIFED is to provide good price of the ‘Minor Forest Produce (MFP) collected by the tribes of the country
About TRIFOOD Scheme:
- TRIFOOD aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the MFPs collected by the tribal forest gatherers.
- To achieve this, as a start, two Minor Forest Produce (MFP) processing units has been set up.
- The unit in Raigad, Maharashtra that will be used for value addition to mahua, amla, custard apple and jamun and will produce mahua drink, amla juice, candy, jamun juice and custard apple pulp.
- The multi-commodity processing centre in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh will be used for the processing of commodities like mahua, amla, honey, cashew, tamarind, ginger, garlic and other fruits and vegetables.
- These would be made into mahua drink, amla juice, candy, pure honey, ginger-garlic paste and fruit and vegetable pulp.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
APEC leaders agree to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines
- Leaders of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, including US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have pledged to work to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.
- The leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation stated that they would encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies on mutually agreed terms as the region prepared for future health shocks.
- After a virtual meeting chaired by New Zealand, the leaders noted in a joint statement, the pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our region’s people and economies.
- They mentioned they will only overcome this health emergency by accelerating equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines.
- The APEC leaders met virtually to discuss collective actions to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.
About APEC:
- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
- APEC ensures that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders.
- Members facilitate this trade through faster customs procedures at borders; more favorable business climates behind the border; and aligning regulations and standards across the region.
- For example, APEC’s initiatives to synchronize regulatory systems are a key step to integrating the Asia-Pacific economy.
- A product can be more easily exported with just one set of common standards across all economies.
- Headquarters: Singapore
- Founder: Bob Hawke
Lebanon’s PM-designate Saad Hariri stepped down
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down over what he called “key differences” with the president, deepening a political crisis that has left the Lebanese without a government for nine months even as they endure an unprecedented economic meltdown.
- With no clear candidate to replace Hariri, Lebanon is likely to slide deeper into chaos and uncertainty.
- Prospects for forming a government to undertake desperately needed reforms and talks for a recovery package with the International Monetary Fund are now even more remote.
About Lebanon:
- Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is an Arab country in the Middle-East, located in Western Asia.
- It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies just west of it across the Mediterranean Sea.
- Capital: Beirut
- President: Michel Aoun
- Currency: Lebanese pound
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
IOC to set up nation’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at Mathura
- India’s largest oil firm IOC will build the nation’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at its Mathura refinery, as it aims to prepare for a future catering to the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy.
- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya stated it has drawn a strategic growth path that aims to maintain focus on its core refining and fuel marketing businesses while making bigger inroads into petrochemicals, hydrogen and electric mobility over the next 10 years.
- The company will not set captive power plants at all its future refinery and petrochemical expansion projects and instead use the 250 MW of electricity it produces from renewable sources like solar power.
About IOC:
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited, IndianOil, is an Indian government-owned oil and gas corporation.
- It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India headquartered in New Delhi.
- Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
- Headquarters: Mumbai
Maharashtra to become first state to issue educational documents using blockchain technology
- Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to issue educational documents using blockchain technology.
- Maharashtra’s Skill Development Minister Nawab Malik stated, one million diploma certificates will be issued using this technology.
- Forgery of documents is a serious concern for various educational and other institutions.
- Many steps are being taken to avoid forgery along with verification of documents.
- Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development has decided to issue block chain based certificates to students.
- Around 10 lakh digital certificates will be issued to diploma holders of eight educational years.
- Mr. Malik stated that Singapore, Malta and Bahrain are the only countries using this technology.
- Maharashtra will be the 1st Indian state and world’s largest user of Blockchain for educational certificates.
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: Chandoli National Park, Gugamal National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Pench (Jawaharlal Nehru) National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivali) National Park, Tadoba National Park
SC bans on disc jockeys imposed by the Allahabad High Court in UP
- The Supreme Court lifted a blanket ban imposed on disc jockeys by the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh two years in the past.
- A Bench, led by Justice Vineet Sareen, mentioned disc jockeys might carry out at capabilities supplied they observe the foundations and procure essential licences.
- The High Court had handed a common order in August 2019 directing authorities to refuse permission to DJs underneath The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules of 2000 as they create noise at “unpleasant and obnoxious levels”.
- The High Court had famously argued that even minimal ranges of sound at which DJs function violate the foundations.
About Uttar Pradesh:
- Uttar Pradesh is a state in northern India.
- With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world.
- Governor: Anandiben Patel
- Capital: Lucknow
- Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath
- National Parks: Dudhwa National Park.
Gujarat: PM inaugurates redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station and a newly-build five-star hotel
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth over Rs 1,100 crore in Gujarat.
- These projects include three new attractions in a state-of-the-art science city, a five-star hotel atop a railway station and several railway projects.
- The PM first inaugurated a newly-built five-star hotel atop the redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station and later inaugurated three new attractions at the Science City in Ahmedabad through video-conferencing.
- During the virtual event, PM Modi would also flag off Gandhinagar-Varanasi weekly superfast train and Gandhinagar-Varetha train.
- Gandhinagar railway station has been developed after 35 years.
- Due to the Prime Minister’s vision, the Indian Railways have received international fame.
- Few such examples are Vande Bharata Express and ‘Oxygen Express’ trains.
About the Gandhinagar hotel:
- The luxury hotel has 318 rooms and is spread across 7,400 square meters.
- It has been built at a cost of Rs 790 crore.
- The hotel is 250 feet high and has been developed as an SPV (special purpose vehicle) set up by the Gujarat government and the Ministry of Railway.
- Officials involved in the project stated the hotel would host national and international guests who would come to attend seminars and conferences at Mahatma Mandir, a convention centre situated just opposite the high-end property.
About Gujarat:
- Gujarat is a state on the western coast of India with a coastline of 1,600 km – most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula – and a population of 60.4 million.
- It is the fifth-largest Indian state by area and the ninth-largest state by population.
- National parks in the state: Gir Forest National Park, Blackbuck National Park, Vansda National Park, Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch.
- Capital: Gandhinagar
- Governor: Acharya Devvrat
- Chief minister: Vijay Rupani
- National Parks: Gir National Park, Velavadar National Park, Marine National Park, Vansda National Park.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
ADB downgrades India’s economic growth forecast projected at 10% in FY22 and 7.5% in FY23
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 per cent, from 11 percent predicted earlier this year, mainly on account of the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
- India’s GDP growth recovered to 1.6 per cent in the last quarter of fiscal year ended March 2021, narrowing contraction in the whole fiscal year from 8 per cent estimated in April to a revised 7.3 per cent, the multilateral funding agency stated in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement.
- Then a second wave of the pandemic induced many state governments to impose strict containment measures.
- New COVID-19 cases daily peaked at more than 4,00,000 in early May, then fell to a little over 40,000 in early July.
About ADB:
- The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines.
- The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social and economic development in Asia.
- ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
- Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING NEWS
APEDA with Basmati Export Development Foundation organizes awareness creation programme for the basmati rice growers
- APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) with Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) organizes an awareness creation programme for the basmati rice growers.
- For boosting exports, both APEDA and BEDF has taken an innovative step to sensitize farmers involved in the cultivation of Basmati rice.
- As part of the nationwide celebration of 75 years of India’s independence or ‘AzadiKaAmrutMahotsav’, BEDF launched an awareness drive for farmers for judicious use of chemicals in basmati paddy cultivation.
- Through the awareness creation programme, farmers were informed that the Basmati rice cultivation is an Indian tradition and it is a collective responsibility to maintain this tradition as there is huge demand for Basmati rice in the global market.
- The farmers have been requested to get themselves registered on basmati.net through State Agriculture Department.
- Basmati.net is developed by APEDA and is aimed to provide a common platform to all stakeholders in the supply chain to enter details of activities undertaken by them as part of the Basmati value chain.
- India exported 4.63 million tons of Basmati rice valued at Rs 29,849 crore ($ US 4019 million) in 2020-21.
- APEDA has been promoting rice exports through collaborations with various stakeholders in the value chains.
- The government had set up the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF), under the aegis of the APEDA.
- REPF has representations from rice industry, exporters, officials from APEDA, ministry of commerce and directors of agriculture from major rice producing states including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
About APEDA:
- The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the Parliament in December, 1985
- Founded: 13 February 1986
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Chairman: Dr. M. Angamuthu (IAS)
- Parent organization: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
- Purpose: Export promotion of agricultural and processed food products
- Predecessor: Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC)
About Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF):
- Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) has been founded by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and is a society registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860.
- State Government of UP has provided about 10 acres of land at long-term lease for 70 years to APEDA to be used for activities of BEDF.
Bad Bank launched for stressed assets as a measure to clean up bank books
- The Government has launched a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals in place.
- The high level of provisioning by public sector banks of their stressed assets calls for measures to clean up the bank books.
- An Asset Reconstruction Company Limited and Asset Management Company would be set up to consolidate and take over the existing stressed debt and then manage and dispose of the assets to Alternate Investment Funds and other potential investors for eventual value realization.
- Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has apprised with regard to incorporation of the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) that NARCL has been registered with the Registrar of Companies on 7.7.2021.
- The Reserve Bank of India, being the regulator of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), has already prescribed a regulatory framework for the functioning of ARCs and there are well-laid norms for transfer of stressed assets by banks and non-banking finance companies to ARCs. Identification of non-performing assets by an ARC is an on-going process
Nearly 72% of financial transactions of PSBs done through digital channels
- Nearly 72% of financial transactions of PSBs done through digital channels
- Share of financial transactions undertaken through home and mobile channels increased from 29% in FY2018-19 to 76% in FY2020-21
- The Government has taken a number of steps to facilitate digital banking, doorstep banking services and digital lending platforms.
Some of the initiatives by government
- Initiation of digital lending has been made contactless through PSBloansin59minutes.com, using triangulation of credit bureau, income-tax and goods and services tax (GST) data, to provide online in principle approval for MSME loans.
- Online bill discounting for MSMEs has been enabled on a competitive basis through Public Sector Banks (PSBs) onboarding onto the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform and the proportion of online discounted bills has grown rapidly.
- Government’s ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ initiative for pensioners has enabled senior citizen pensioners the facility to update their annual life certificate online.
Some of the PSB Reforms
- Enhanced access to Mobile and Internet banking has been enabled through an increase in the average number of services offered , customer-friendly features and regional language customer-interface
- End-to-end automated digital lending has been introduced in larger PSBs for unsecured personal loans (in five PSBs), loans to micro-enterprises (“Shishu Mudra”, in five PSBs) and renewals of loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (in three PSBs)
- Digital retail loan request initiation through digital channels has been enabled in all the seven large PSBs, with retail disbursements from loan requests so initiated in the financial year (FY) 2020-21 amounting to Rs. 40,819 crore
- As a result, nearly 72% of financial transactions of PSBs are now done through digital channels, with doubling of customers active on digital channels from 3.4 crore in FY2019-20 to 7.6 crore in FY2020-21, and the share of financial transactions undertaken through home and mobile channels has increased from 29% in FY2018-19 to 76% in FY2020-21.
India emerges as 5th largest forex reserves holder in the world
- India emerges as 5th largest forex reserves holder in the world with $608.99 billion as on June 25, 2021
- India has emerged as the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia.
- India’s foreign exchange reserves position is comfortable in terms of import cover of more than 18 months and provides cushion against unforeseen external shocks.
- Government and RBI are closely monitoring the emerging external position calibrating policies or regulations to support robust macroeconomic growth.
- RBI takes regular steps for diversification of forex reserves by scaling up operations in forex swap and repo markets, acquisition of gold and exploring new markets/products, while adhering to safety and liquidity standards.
- Variation in India’s forex reserves is primarily the outcome of RBI’s intervention in the foreign exchange market to smoothen exchange rate volatility, valuation changes due to movement of US dollar against other international currencies in the reserve basket, movement in gold prices, interest earnings from deployment of foreign currency assets and inflow of aid receipts.
- Current account deficit, accompanied by increasing foreign exchange reserves, reflects a surplus on the balance of payments i.e., the magnitude of the net capital inflows exceeds the volume of the current account deficit.
- In 2020-21, India’s balance of payments recorded surplus in both current account and capital account which contributed to the increase in foreign exchange reserves during the year.
- Besides exports and imports of goods and services, the overall stability of the external sector depends on other components of balance of payments including remittances (transfers), income in the current account, the size of net capital flows and external debt.
Government sets up Dairy Investment Accelerator to promote or facilitate investments in the Dairy sector
- Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) offers financial support to entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME and Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs)
- The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India,with a view to provide dedicated focus towards promoting & facilitating investments in the Indian Dairy sector, has setup Dairy Investment Accelerator under its Investment Facilitation Cell.
- This Investment Accelerator is a cross functional team constituted to serve as the interface with investors.
- It shall provide support across the investment cycle:
- Offering specific inputs for evaluation of investment opportunities
- Addressing queries about application to govt. schemes
- Connecting with strategic partners
- Providing on-ground assistance with state departments & relevant authorities
- Further, the Dairy Investment Accelerator will work with DAHD to organize a series of events with global & local industry participants and one-on-one discussions with the investors to understand their perspectives.
- Dairy Investment Accelerator is also generating awareness among investors about Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF).
- AHIDF is one of the flagship schemes by DAHD, Government of India whereby Rs. 15,000 crore fund has been setup for offering financial support
- Eligible entities can avail the benefits of the scheme to set up new units or expand existing units in areas of dairy processing & related value addition infrastructure, meat processing & related value addition infrastructure and Animal Feed Plant.
- The benefits available are:
- 3% interest subvention on loans
- 2-year moratorium with 6-year repayment period
- INR 750 Cr credit guarantee
- The DAHD encourages all the private companies, individual entrepreneurs, and start-ups,who are interested in investing in Dairy sector, to reach out to the Dairy Investment Accelerator on [email protected].
About Diary Sector in India:
- India is the largest milk producer contributing 23% of global milk production.
- Annual milk production in the country has grown by 6.4% (CAGR) in the past 5 years.
- Dairy is a high priority sector for Government of India due to its socio-economic significance.
- It is the single largest agricultural commodity contributing 5% of the national economy and employing 80 Mn+ farmers directly.
- Further, the country boasts large domestic packaged dairy products of market worth Rs. 2.7-3.0 lakh crore witnessing a strong double-digit growth.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS
Odisha FC appointed Kiko Ramírez as head coach
- Odisha FC announced that it has appointed Kiko Ramírez as the head coach ahead of the upcoming eighth season of the Indian Super League.
- The 51-year-old Spaniard, who will replace Stuart Baxter, has signed for the Bhubaneswar-based franchise for a year, with an option to extend after the season.
- After his retirement from professional football as a player, Ramírez started his coaching career with Spanish club Gimnastic as its assistant coach in 2002 and then as its youth coach.
- He was the second coach at the club in the first division in Spain as well.
About Odisha FC:
- Odisha Football Club, commonly referred to as Odisha or OFC, is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football.
- President: Raj Athwal
Kerala govt appointed dowry prohibition officers in all districts
- In view of increasing cases of dowry harassment in the state, the Kerala government has amended its dowry Prohibition rules.
- According to the new amended norms, dowry prohibition officers will be appointed in all 14 districts in the state.
- State Health Minister Veena George stated the post of dowry prohibition officers had existed on a regional basis in 3 districts- Thiruvananthapuram, Emakula and Kozhikode and it has now been expanded to all districts.
- “The appointment of the dowry prohibition officers is part of the government’s efforts to crack down on dowry in view of increasing cases nowadays”.
About Kerala:
- Kerala, a state on India’s tropical Malabar Coast, has nearly 600km of Arabian Sea shoreline.
- It’s known for its palm-lined beaches and backwaters, a network of canals.
- Inland are the Western Ghats, mountains whose slopes support tea, coffee and spice plantations as well as wildlife.
- National parks like Eravikulam and Periyar, plus Wayanad and other sanctuaries, are home to elephants, langur monkeys and tigers.
- Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan
- Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
- Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
- National parks: Eravikulam National Park, Silent Valley National Park , Pampadum Shola National Park, Mathikettan Shola National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Nobel Peace Prize awardee Muhammed Yunus of Bangladesh to receive Olympic Laurel in Tokyo
- Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus will follow in the footsteps of legendary Kenyan Olympic champion Kip Keino when he receives the Olympic Laurel at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony here.
- Professor Yunus has been awarded the prize for “his extensive work in sport for development, including founding the Yunus Sports Hub, a global social business network”.
About the honour:
- The Olympic Laurel was introduced at Rio 2016, and is due to be awarded at the Opening Ceremony of each Summer Games.
- It is mentioned to link to the Ancient Olympics and the focus on human development through peace and sport, with its introduction recommended in Agenda 2020.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE
BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers Meeting held chaired under India’s Presidency
- Union Minister for Labour & Employment Shri Bhupender Yadav chaired the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting under India’s Presidency.
- Ministers of the member countries viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated in the meeting.
- India organized the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting to exchange views on the impact of Covid-19 on global labour market, enhance information sharing, discuss and agree upon specific areas of cooperation between BRICS Member countries.
- Discussion on four priority areas of cooperation took place namely, Promoting Social Security Agreements amongst BRICS Nations; Formalization of Labour Markets; Participation of Women in the Labour Force; and Gig and Platform Workers: Role in the Labour Market.
- The significant aspect of the meeting was the adoption of the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Declaration.
- The Ministerial Declaration recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the efforts made to address unemployment, decent work deficits and inequality.
- It also illustrates the strong determination of BRICS Member countries to recover with stronger national economies, inclusive labour markets and social protection systems.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS
OFT Hands Over 25 Remote Control guns to Indian Navy, Coast Guard
- Ordnance Factory of Tiruchirappalli (OFT) handed over the locally assembled 12.7mm stabilised remote control gun (SRCG) system to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard for enhanced surveillance and warfare.
- The first batch consisted of 25 weapons & it was assembled in the Trichy factory through the transfer of technology (ToT) initiative with the support of an Israel-based defence company.
- The SRCG system is fitted with a 12.7mm M2 NATO standard heavy machine gun, designed to suit marine warfare.
- The system is manufactured and supplied to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard through the transfer of technology from Elbit Systems, Israel in various phases.
About OFT :
- Founded: 1966, Tiruchirappalli
- Headquarters: Kolkata
- Chairman : C S Vishwakarma
- General Manager : Shirish Khare
- It is functioning under the Ordnance Factory Board of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
- OFT is the largest small arms manufacturing company of India.
About Indian Coast Guard :
- Headquarters: New Delhi
- Director General: Krishnaswamy Natarajan
- Additional Director General: V. D. Chafekar
- Founded: 1 February 1977
About Indian Navy :
- Founded: 26 January 1950
- 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
‘Exercise Shield’ maritime exercise held between India, Sri Lanka & Maldives
- Top defence officials from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives participated in a virtual trilateral tabletop exercise where they discussed best practices and procedures for countering common transnational maritime crime like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue.
- The two-day exercise, TTX-2021, from July 14 to July 15 aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and exchange of best practices procedures for countering common transnational crime was coordinated by the Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai, the Indian High Commission.
- The exercise focused on maritime crimes like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue in the region.
About Sri Lanka:
- Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia.
- Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
- Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
- President: Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Setting Up of a New Sainik School in Karnataka
- A reference was received from the State Government of Karnataka to the central government for setting up of a Sainik School in Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
- In response to the reference reply, the Central government informed that there is no plan under consideration to open more Sainik Schools other than the ones operational in the State of Karnataka, under the ambit of the existing scheme of things.
- Government is proposing to bring a new scheme for setting up Sainik Schools in the country in partnership with NGOs/Private Schools/State etc.
- The endeavour is to provide schooling opportunities in ‘CBSE Plus’ type of educational environment by involving desirous Government/Private Schools/NGOs to partner in establishing/aligning their system with Sainik Schools ethos, value system and national pride.
- It envisages enrolling existing/upcoming schools to be run to the line of Sainik Schools curriculum.
- The schools are proposed to be affiliated to Sainik Schools Society.
- Detailed guidelines and requisite approvals are at an advanced stage.
About Sainik School:
- The objective of the Sainik Schools is to prepare the students to lead as officers in the Defence Services of the country.
- The schools select smart and promising students through a national entrance examination and mold their personality in order for them to become leaders of the Nation.
Boosting Indigenous Capabilities in Defence Production
- The Government has taken several policy initiatives and brought in reforms to promote indigenisation and self-reliance in defence manufacturing, under AatmaNirbhar Bharat Mission in the defence sector
- Ministry of Defence has notified a ‘First Positive Indigenisation list’ of 101 items on 21st August, 2020 and ‘2nd Positive Indigenisation list’ of 108 items on 31st May, 2021 for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them. This is a big step to promote indigenisation in defence sector.
- This offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture these items using their own design and development capabilities to meet the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
- SRIJAN portal to promote indigenisation was launched on 14 August, 2020. As on date, 10,929 items, which were earlier imported, have been displayed on the portal for indigenisation.
- 1,776 components & spares have been indigenised in the year 2020-21 as a result of efforts of indigenisation by DPSUs, OFB & SHQs through their own process of indigenisation
- In order to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment ‘Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}’ category has been accorded top most priority for procurement of capital equipment.
- FDI: The Government of India has enhanced FDI in Defence Sector up to 74% through the Automatic Route for companies seeking new defence industrial license and up to 100% by Government Route.
- Department of Defence Production has notified 46 items under the latest Public Procurement Order 2017 notified by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), for which there is sufficient local capacity and competition and procurement of these items shall be done from local suppliers only irrespective of the purchase value.
- Defence Investor Cell (DIC) has been created in Feb-2018 the Ministry to provide all necessary information including addressing queries related to investment opportunities, procedures and regulatory requirements for investment in the sector.
- Technology Development Fund (TDF) has been created under DRDO to promote self reliance in Defence Technology through participation of Public/Private industries especially MSMEs and start-ups.
- For the year 2021-22, the allocation for domestic procurement has been enhanced compared to previous years and is about 64.09% i.e. Rs 71438.36 crore of the allocated amount for military modernisation.
Investment for Procurement of Indigenously Manufactured Defence Equipment
- In line with Government of India’s initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, it has been decided to earmark an amount of Rs 71,438.36 crore for domestic capital procurement out of the total allocation of Rs 1,11,463.21 crore for Capital Acquisition.
- Capital procurement of defence equipment are undertaken from various domestic as well as foreign vendors, based on threat perception, operational challenges and technological changes and to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness.
- During last three financial years i.e. 2018-19 to 2020-21, 102 contracts have been signed with Indian vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment such as aircrafts, missiles, tanks, bullet proof jackets, guns, navy vessels, radars, networks etc.
- In order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing as part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, two Positive Indigenization Lists have been promulgated.
- The lists intend to implement the ban in a staggered manner up to December 2025.
- The aim behind promulgation of the lists is to apprise the Indian Defence Industry about the anticipated requirements of the armed forces, so that they are better prepared to realize the goal of indigenization.
- It provides a great opportunity for the Indian Defence Industry to manufacture the items in the list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting those developed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), to meet the requirements of the armed forces in the coming years.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Russia victoriously test-fires Zircon hypersonic cruise missile
- The Russian defense ministry Successfully test fired the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile.
- The missile had been fired from the Admiral Gorshkov, a warship in the White Sea.
- It successfully hit a target more than 350 kilometers (about 217 miles) away.
About Zircon hypersonic cruise missile :
- Zircon meaning invincible.
- It could hit targets at sea and on land with a range of 1,000 kilometres and a speed of Mach 9.
- It plans to equip both warships and submarines with the Zircon.
About Russia :
- Capital : Moscow
- President : Vladimir Putin
- PM : Mikhail Mishustin
- Currency : Russian Ruble
A virtual platform – Kala Vishwa launched by ICCR for traditional and folk artists
- On July 18, 2021, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) launched a new campaign called ‘KALA VISHWA’, from its Mumbai Centre.
- It will help to present traditional folk arts of India to foreign students and also be of help to the neglected artists.
About Kala Vishwa :
- Kala Vishwas is a special campaign under the Horizon Series that will be held for a duration of six months.
Aim :
- To reach out to traditional folk artists, local artistes / artisans and those coming from rural areas and give them an opportunity and a platform to perform under this campaign, especially during the challenging time of COVID-19.
- It focus on traditional art forms of Maharashtra and Goa
Key People :
- Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President, ICCR and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children and Youth & Sports inaugurated the first programme under the “Kala Vishwa” campaign.
About ICCR :
- Founder: Abul Kalam Azad
- Founded: 9 April 1950, New Delhi
- President: Lokesh Chandra
- Headquarters : New Delhi
- It is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of External Affairs.
- It is a nodal body for the projection of India’s soft power abroad.
Russia’s S-500 missile system Successfully test fired
- On July 20, 2021, Russia successfully test-fired its new S-500 air defence missile systems, from a southern training range, Kapustin Yar & hit a high-speed ballistic target as planned.
About S-500 missile system :
- The S-500, also known as Prometey or 55R6M “Triumfator-M”.
- It is a Russian surface-to-air missile/anti-ballistic missile system which is the most advanced anti-missile system in the world and is capable of countering attacks from space.
- The S-500 missile system is under development by the Almaz-Antey Air Defence Concern.
- It has a maximum firing range of 600 kilometres.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
Viswanathan Anand wins Sparkassen Trophy
- On July 18, 2021, India’s GM Viswanathan Anand defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to win the Sparkassen Trophy in his fourth and final round held in Dortmund, Germany.
- It is a brand new format of four-game chess match.
- Playing white in a Tarrasch variation, Anand, a former world champion, settled for a draw in 40 moves, to win the match 2.5-1.5.
- The event was played as part of the “No-Castling” Chess devised by the Russian GM.
About Castling :
- Castling is a move in the game of chess involving a player’s king and either of the player’s original rooks.
- It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces in the same move
Recent News :
- In the 2021 Croatia Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz tournament, Viswanathan Anand finished 2nd held at Zagreb, Croatia.
About Viswanathan Anand :
- Viswanathan Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster and former world chess champion.
- He is a five-time world chess champion.
- He won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, the World Blitz Cup in 2000.
Achievements :
- Arjuna Award for Outstanding Indian sports person in Chess in 1985.
- Padma Shri – Fourth highest civilian award awarded by Government of India in 1987.
- The inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour in the years 1991–1992.
- Padma Bhushan – Third highest civilian award awarded by Government of India in 2000.
- Padma Vibhushan – Second highest civilian award awarded by Government of India in 2007 & he is the first sportsperson to receive the award.
Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland as new members of ICC
- On July 18,2021, The International Cricket Council (ICC) welcomed its newest member countries Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland at the ICC’s 78th Annual General Meeting held.
- With this, ICC now comprises a total 106 Members including 94 Associates.
- Mongolia & Tajikistan and Switzerland as the 22nd and 23rd & 35th members of the Asia region respectively.
About ICC :
- Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Founded: 15 June 1909
- Chairman :Greg Barclay
- Deputy Chairman : Imran Khwaja
- CEO : Geoff Allardice
About Mongolian Cricket Association :
- The Mongolia Cricket Association (MCA) was established in 2007 in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar by Battulga Gombo, and became the official national administrator of the sport in 2018.
About Mongolia :
- President: Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh
- Capital: Ulaanbaatar
- Currency: Mongolian tögrög
About Tajikistan :
- President: Emomali Rahmon
- Capital: Dushanbe
- Currency: Tajikistani somoni
About Switzerland :
- Currency: Swiss franc
- Capital : Bern
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Co-founder of NID Gira Sarabhai, passes away
- On July 15, 2021, Gira Sarabhai, co-founder of the renowned National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad passed away.
- She was 98.
About Gira Sarabhai :
- Gira Sarabhai was born in 1923.
- Gira Sarabhai was an Indian architect, designer, and a design pedagogue.
- She was the representative of the Sarabhai Foundation, a public charitable trust.
- She was the pioneer of design education in India.
- She played a crucial role in setting up several other institutions and contributed immensely in the field of art and architecture.
Daily CA On July 20 :
- The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation was founded, in 1924.
- Science Exploration Day Observed on July 20, Main Objective is to “tune them in to science”, so they will continue their studies in science and become part of the future in the mathematics, science, engineering, and medical fields.
- Government to set up a world-class ‘Indian Institute of Heritage’ at Noida to focus on conservation and research in India’s rich tangible heritage.
- 104startups from different sectors such as Food-Tech, Green energy, Defence, Ed-Tech, Health-Tech, etc are currently on board on the platform.
- With a view to turn the spotlight on the logistics sector, the Government announced the launch of National Logistics Excellence Awards.
- The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has announced a call for entries for Indian Panorama, 2021.
- Chief Labour Commissioner of India Shri DPS Negi reviewed the status of sensitization and implementation of labour laws in labour codes in various developmental projects in Srinagar.
- According to Nature Communications Study Lower stunting among children with mothers who had access to midday meal scheme
- On July 18, 2021, a successful trial of movement of trains was undertaken between Jaynagar in India and Kurtha in Nepal, and the length of the rail section is 34.50 and this is the first section of the rail line links between the two countries which connects Kurtha in the Mahottari district of Nepal to Jaynagar in the Madhubani district of Bihar
- Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala stated To encourage and promote small industries in the rural areas, the Haryana government will soon introduce the ‘One Block, One Product’ scheme.
- Meghalaya cabinet approved the Meghalaya Youth Policy 2021, a framework that envisages towards achieving the government’s vision to create pathways for Meghalaya’s youth in achieving their fullest potential and becoming engaged, skilled, creative, responsible and empowered members of the local and global community.
- The Assam Government has decided to provide jobs to National Games medalists.
- With this new region, Google Cloud customers operating in India will benefit from low latency and high performance of their cloud-based workloads and data & it announced expanding its footprint in India with its second ‘Cloud Region’ in the country.
- The government may hike foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the pension sector to 74 per cent and a Bill in this regard is expected to come in the next Parliament session, according to sources.
- With India’s forex reserves at $608.99 billion as on June 25, 2021 stood, India has emerged as the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia.
- The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India stated it has tied up with Bank of Maharashtra for offering inventory financing to its dealer partners.
- Jewellers will have to pay GST only on the profit earned on resale of second-hand gold jewellery, Karnataka AAR has ruled.
- Online business discovery and rewards platform Magicpin stated Zomato co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal has joined its board as an independent director.
- Shiv Nadar, the founder of HCL Technologies Ltd, and its chief strategy officer, has tendered his resignation as managing director , as well as a director, with effect from 19 July, on completing 76 years of age.
- Union minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was appointed as the deputy leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
- United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) mentioned Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited and Snehakunja Trust are among the 10 awardees of the prestigious Equator Prize for their work in the field of conservation and biodiversity.
- Director Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award for best documentary at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
- Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed between Prasar Bharati, India’s Public Service Broadcaster and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), a Center of Excellence for Media and Broadcasting Technologies will be established at IIT Kanpur.
- INS Tabar, on completion of port visit to Brest, France undertook maritime partnership exercise with FNS Aquitaine, a French naval Frigate in the Bay of Biscay on 15 and 16 Jul 21.
- Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of 23.5 percent stake in ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd by Summit India (Tripura).
- Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have developed a mathematical model called ‘NBDriver’ to identify cancer-causing alterations in cells.
- A new book titled The India Story Written by Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan.
- Former cabinet minister Khem Lata Wakhlu Authored a book titled ‘A Kashmiri Century – Portrait Of A Society In Flux.
- On July 16, 2021, National Award-winning writer, cartoonist, animation filmmaker Gautam Benegal passed away.
Daily CA On July 21 :
- The Government of India has extended the duration of ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to the year 2025, MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment Sushri Pratima Bhoumik.
- The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 priced at Rs.50, which was developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) led by professor Harpal Singh.
- The Ministry of Jal Shakti through Gazette Notification dated 15.07.2021 has notified the jurisdiction of Godavari River Management Board and Krishna River Management Board, which provide the required authority and power to the two Boards in terms of administration, regulation, operation and maintenance of listed projects in Godavari and Krishna rivers in the two States.
- Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana launched a new scheme called ‘FASTER’ or ‘Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records’.
- No specific expert / inter-ministerial committee / research study / policy / plan / strategy for studying, evaluating and preparing a “Day Zero” roadmap/policy for water scarce regions of the country has been conducted.
- Tertiary value addition centres being set up in tribal areas of Jagdalpur and Raigad under TRIFOOD
- Leaders of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, including US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have pledged to work to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down over what he called “key differences” with the president, deepening a political crisis that has left the Lebanese without a government for nine months even as they endure an unprecedented economic meltdown.
- India’s largest oil firm IOC will build the nation’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at its Mathura refinery, as it aims to prepare for a future catering to the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy.
- Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to issue educational documents using blockchain technology.
- The Supreme Court lifted a blanket ban imposed on disc jockeys by the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh two years in the past.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth over Rs 1,100 crore in Gujarat, these projects include three new attractions in a state-of-the-art science city, a five-star hotel atop a railway station and several railway projects.
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 per cent, from 11 percent predicted earlier this year, mainly on account of the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
- APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) with Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) organizes an awareness creation programme for the basmati rice growers.
- The Government has launched a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals in place.
- Nearly 72% of financial transactions of PSBs done through digital channels
- India emerges as 5th largest forex reserves holder in the world with $608.99 billion as on June 25, 2021
- Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) offers financial support to entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME and Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs)
- Odisha FC announced that it has appointed Kiko Ramírez as the head coach ahead of the upcoming eighth season of the Indian Super League.
- In view of increasing cases of dowry harassment in the state, the Kerala government has amended its dowry Prohibition rules, according to the new amended norms, dowry prohibition officers will be appointed in all 14 districts in the state.
- Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus will follow in the footsteps of legendary Kenyan Olympic champion Kip Keino when he receives the Olympic Laurel at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony here.
- Union Minister for Labour & Employment Shri Bhupender Yadav chaired the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting under India’s Presidency.
- Ordnance Factory of Tiruchirappalli (OFT) handed over the locally assembled 12.7mm stabilised remote control gun (SRCG) system to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard for enhanced surveillance and warfare.
- Top defence officials from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives participated in a virtual trilateral tabletop exercise where they discussed best practices and procedures for countering common transnational maritime crime like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue.
- A reference was received from the State Government of Karnataka to the central government for setting up of a Sainik School in Shivamogga district of Karnataka.
- The Government has taken several policy initiatives and brought in reforms to promote indigenisation and self-reliance in defence manufacturing, under AatmaNirbhar Bharat Mission in the defence sector
- In line with Government of India’s initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, it has been decided to earmark an amount of Rs 71,438.36 crore for domestic capital procurement out of the total allocation of Rs 1,11,463.21 crore for Capital Acquisition.
- The Russian defense ministry Successfully test fired the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile.
- On July 18, 2021, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) launched a new campaign called ‘KALA VISHWA’, from its Mumbai Centre.
- On July 20, 2021, Russia successfully test-fired its new S-500 air defence missile systems, from a southern training range, Kapustin Yar & hit a high-speed ballistic target as planned.
- On July 18, 2021, India’s GM Viswanathan Anand defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to win the Sparkassen Trophy in his fourth and final round held in Dortmund, Germany.
- On July 18,2021, The International Cricket Council (ICC) welcomed its newest member countries Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland at the ICC’s 78th Annual General Meeting held.
- On July 15, 2021, Gira Sarabhai, co-founder of the renowned National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad passed away.
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