Weekly Current Affairs - 8 -14 August 2021

Weekly Current Affairs - 8th -14th August 2021

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National News

‘Pani Maah’ campaign to Implement Jal Jeevan Mission in Ladakh

• Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh RK

Mathur launched campaign named ‘Pani

Maah (water month)’ to accelerate the

implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in

Ladakh.

• An award of INR 5 lakh per village has

been announced to the first 5 Har Ghar Jal

villages of each district, and INR 25 lakh to

the first Har Ghar Jal Block in each District of

Ladakh.

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched on August 15th 2019 and is implemented by the Ministry of Jal

Shakti.

Tamil Nadu launches India’s 1st ‘Doorstep Healthcare’ Scheme

• Tamil Nadu launched ‘Makkalai Thedi

Maruthuvam’ scheme (Healthcare

services at people’s doorstep

Healthcare) at Krishnagiri to deliver

medical services at people’s doorstep.

• Rs. 250 crore has been allocated for

the scheme.







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Kerala Launched ‘COVID-19 Death Information Portal’

• The Government of Kerala launched

the ‘COVID-19 Death Information Portal’,

designed and developed by eHealth Kerala, to

ensure transparency and maintain a proper

record of the number of deaths due to COVID-

19

India’s 1st Earthquake Early Warning Mobile App for Uttarakhand

• Uttarakhand Government launched

India’s 1st Earthquake Early Warning

Mobile App ‘Uttarakhand Bhookamp

Alert’ for alerting its people about the

onset of earthquakes. The app has

been developed by IIT- Roorkee

• As part of the project, sensors were

installed in the high terrains of the

Garhwal and Kumaon regions of

Uttarakhand.

IIT Roorkee Director – Professor Ajit K. Chaturvedi







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CBIC launched Compliance Information Portal

• Central Board for Indirect Taxes

and Customs launched an Indian

Customs Compliance Information

Portal (CIP)-

https://cip.icegate.gov.in/CIP for

providing free access to information

on all customs procedures and

regulatory compliance for nearly

12,000 customs tariff items.

Central Board for Indirect Taxes and

Customs:

• Chairman– M. Ajit Kumar

• Headquarter– New Delhi

Cabinet passes Bill restoring power of states/UTs to make their own OBC lists

• The Union have cleared a Constitution

amendment bill which seeks to give power to

states and UTs to make their own OBC lists

• The Union Cabinet approved the

Constitution (127th) Amendment Bill

• After approval from parliament, the

amendments will be made over the Article

342-A and 366(26) C of the Constitution.

• Article 366(26C) gives the definition

for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).

• Through the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018, Articles 338B and 342A were included in the

constitution to remove the powers vested with States and UTs to create their own OBC list.







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India’s first Water Villas to be set up in Lakshadweep

• Water villas will be set up in the Union

Territory of Lakshadweep for the first

time in India with an outlay of Rs 800

crore.

About Lakshadweep:

• Governor– Praful Khoda Patel

• Capital– Kavaratti

Chitkara University - District Green Champion 2020-2021

• Mahatma Gandhi National Council of

Rural Education under the Ministry of

Education has recognised the Chitkara

University in Patiala as the ‘District Green

Champion’ for the academic year 2020-2021.

• The award recognises the colleges that

actively participated in maintaining the clean

and sanitised campus and contributed to the

“Swachh Bharat” mission.







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SIDBI launches Swavalamban Challenge Fund

• The Small Industries Development Bank of India in collaboration with Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, United Kingdom has launched the Swavalamban Challenge Fund to promote entrepreneurship.

• Pilot Category– Applicants can apply with their proposal to pilot their innovative ideas (Rs. 20 Lakh)

• Scale-up Category– Applicants can apply to scale up their already ongoing or completed projects. (Rs. 35 lakh)

Small Industries Development Bank of India:

• Chairman & Managing Director – Sivasubramanian Ramann

• Headquarters– Lucknow

Startup Blink Report

• The 2nd Edition of the ‘COVID-19 Innovation report 2021’ released by Startup Blink in association with Health Innovation Exchange & UN AIDS

• The report ranks the 40 countries and 100 cities in the world

Startup Blink:

• Founder & CEO – Eli David

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):

• Executive Director – Winnie Byanyima

• Headquarters – Geneva







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NASSCOM’s AI Gamechanger Award 2021

• The Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Department Telangana has won the AI GameChanger Award 2021 for the implementation of the ‘Crowd Monitoring using AI’ scheme.

• The winners of the awards were announced at the Xperience AI Summit 2021 organised by the National Association of Software and Services Companies

• The award is presented by the NASSCOM in collaboration with Microsoft

and Deloitte

• The technology partner of the Crowd Monitoring using AI scheme was “Awiros”.

• This is used while estimating and managing crowds during the India vs West Indies T20 match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in 2019 and during the Medaram Jathara festival in 2020.

• The NASSCOM XperienceAI Summit is the annual flagship AI event of NASSCOM.

• The theme of the NASSCOM XperienceAI Summit 2021 is ‘AI as a Catalyst for a Better Normal’.

ADB approves USD300mn additional loan for Rural Roads in Maharashtra

• Asian Development Bank approved an additional financing of a $300 million loan for the ongoing Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• President– Masatsugu Asakawa

• Headquarters–Manila

• Members– 68 Countries







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CEC inaugurates 11th Annual Meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for 2021

• Chief Election Commissioner of India and current Chairman, FEMBoSA Shri Sushil Chandra accompanied by Election Commissioners Shri Rajeev Kumar and Shri A.C.Pandey, inaugurated the 11th Annual meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of SouthAsia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2021.

• The meeting in Virtual mode was hosted by the Election Commission of Bhutan. Alongwith India,

delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated

• Shri Sushil Chandra, CEC, as the outgoing Chair of FEMBoSA, virtually handed over the Chairmanship of FEMBoSA to H.E. Dasho Sonam Topgay, Chief Election Commissioner of Bhutan

• The theme of today's meeting was ‘Use of Technology in Elections’

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) organizes 5th edition of National Public Procurement Conclave

• The 5th edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC) was organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII] on the theme “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards Efficiency, Transparency, and Inclusiveness”.

• Top performing buyers and sellers were awarded for leading the procurement efforts through GeM in financial year 2020-21.

• For Central Govt. Buyers, the winner was Ministry of Defence while the runner up in this category was Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. For State Govt. Buyers, Uttar Pradesh was adjudged the winner, while the runner up in this category was Gujarat. For CPSEs the winner was GAIL India Limited followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Ltd. On the seller’s front, the award was presented to TATA Motors Ltd. for best sales performance with Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. being the runner up in this category.







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‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and Mobile App

• Virendra Kumar, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App under the scheme PM-DAKSH (Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi) Yojana to ease the access of skill development schemes by the target groups.

• The portal and app were developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with National e-Governance Division.

• Under the scheme, training will be provided by the govt at free of cost for the trainees under the age group of 18-45 years.

• A stipend of Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 per month per trainee will be provided for trainees (in case of having 80 percent and above attendance).

• Wage compensation of Rs 3000 per trainee will also be provided (Rs 2500 – as per PM-DAKSH and Rs 500 – as per Common Cost Norms for trainees.

• After the completion of training, the trained candidates will be provided certification and placement.

• MoSJ&E aims to provide skill development to 2.7 lakh persons over the next 5 years, with around 0.5 lakh youth in the 1st year i.e. 2021-22.

A unique initiative by Tribal Affairs Ministry in Aurangabad

• In a unique initiative Ministry of Tribal Affairs in partnership with The Art of Living Foundation, Aurangabad, Maharashtra launched Vrushka Bandhan Project where 1100 tribal women are creating Rakhis for Raksha Bandhan with seeds of indigenous trees, which is a unique contribution to increasing forest cover & combating climate change.

• The initiative was part of project sanctioned by Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the Art of Living in October 2020 under which 10000 tribal farmers of 10 tribal villages in Aurangabad are being trained on sustainable natural farming based on Go-Adharith farming techniques. The 1100 members of the Mahila Kissan Manch germinated the idea of creating Rakhis with indigenous seeds.

• A virtual event was organised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs to highlight the project in which Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art Of Living was also present. Adivasi Kissan Mahila Manch ladies displayed the wide array of “Seed Rakhis” and the process of making them.







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‘KFC Startup Kerala’

• Kerala Financial Corporation a non-banking financial company owned by the Government of Kerala has announced a comprehensive funding scheme named “KFC Startup Kerala” to support the startups in all the stages of the development.

• The maximum repayment period will be 60 months which includes the moratorium period of maximum 12 months.

• The startups with firm purchase orders are eligible to get loans up to Rs 10 crore for executing orders.

• After the due diligence by venture capital fund registered with SEBI, the startups can get a venture debt of Rs 10 Crore.

Kerala Financial Corporation(KFC):

• Chairman & MD– Sanjay Kaul

• Headquarters– Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Gujarat Govt Launched eNagar Mobile app & Portal

• Gujarat launched ‘eNagar’ mobile application and portal which covers 10 modules offering 52 services.

• The 10 modules offered in the portal are, Property Tax; Professional Tax; Water & Drainage; Complaint Module / Grievance redressal; Building Permission; Fire & Emergency Services; Registration of Marriage; Land & Estate Management; License module; and Hall Booking







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Karnataka becomes first state to issue order on implementation of NEP 2020

• Karnataka has become the 1st state in India to issue an order on the implementation of NEP- 2020.

• NEP aims to increase the Gross Enrollment Ratio in higher education from 26.8 percent in 2018 to 50 percent by 2035 will bring in sweeping reforms in the area of education.

Postage Stamp on Social Worker ‘Mananiya Chaman Lal’

• Vice President Venkaiah Naidu released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on the Social worker and Sangh Pracharak, ‘Mananiya Chaman Lal’.

• Mananiya Chaman Lal worked for the people’s welfare and created an institutional mechanism for helping the Indians abroad and supported in fulfilling the strategic goals of the foreign policy of India.

• The postage stamp was proposed by Shri Amarjiva Lochan, General Secretary, International Centre for Cultural Studies and designed by Shri Sankha Samanta







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India to host 1st India Internet Governance Forum 2021

• Government of India to host the 1st India Internet Governance Forum 2021 in India

• The theme of the IIGF-2021 will be ‘’Inclusive Internet for Digital India‘’.

• IIGF 2021 will be conducted by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology

• IIGF is the Indian chapter of the United Nations based Internet Governance Forum. It will act as a

platform to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.

National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm

• Prime Minister launched the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm to make India self-sufficient in edible oil production.

• The government plans to invest Rs 11,000 crore under NMEO-OP for a 5-year.

• The government projected to reduce edible oil import dependence from 60 percent to 45 percent by 2024- 25.

• A 70 percent growth target was fixed by increasing the domestic edible oil production from 10.5 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes.

• It also plans to increase oil palm cultivation to 1.1 million hectares by 2025-26 and 1.7-1.8 million hectares by 2029-30







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Punjab to introduce online payment of water supply bills in villages

• Punjab is to introduce an online payment system for water supply bills in all of its villages in a phased manner. The information for the same was provided by Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Razia Sultana who launched an online billing and revenue monitoring system (RMS) for online payment of water supply bills in the villages of district SAS-Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali).

• This system is being implemented in collaboration with HDFC bank

CCI Approves Acquisition of Bikaji Foods International by Lighthouse Funds

• The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of Bikaji Foods International Limited by the Lighthouse India Fund III Limited and Lighthouse India III Employee

• The CCI has approved the acquisition of 2.727% of equity shareholding of Bikaji foods by Fund III and Lighthouse Employee Trust.

• At present Lighthouse Funds has a 7.472% equity shareholding in Bikaji Foods.

Bikaji Foods International Limited:

• Managing Director– Shivratan Agarwal

• Head Office– Bikaner

Competition Commission of India (CCI):

• Chairperson– Ashok Kumar Gupta







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• Headquarters– New Delhi

GoI grants Sanctions to Team CLAW to scale Siachen Glacier

• The Government of India has accorded sanctions to Team CLAW (Conquer Land Air Water) to lead a team of people with disabilities to scale Siachen Glacier. It is being undertaken as part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom’.

• It will be the new World Record for the largest team of people with disability.

• Operation Blue Freedom was launched by CLAW Global in 2019. It is a team of former Special Forces

Operatives of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy.

HCL Became the Fourth-largest IT company

• HCL Technologies Ltd became the 4th most valuable (Market Capitalization-M Cap) information technology services company

• Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the largest IT services company leads the list followed by Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd.







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Delhi launched 33 faceless transport services in Delhi

• Delhi launched the state transport department’s 33 ‘faceless’ services

• This will enable people to get various transport-related documents online along with obtaining an e- learning licence by undertaking online test using Aadhaar authentication.

• With this, Delhi has become the first Indian state to bring all transport-related services online, thereby saving people’s time and money.

• All the faceless applications will be processed within a period of seven days.

• These include renewal of driving license, transfer of ownership, fresh permit from goods and passenger vehicles, learning licences, duplicate registration certificate, international driving permit, change of address, hypothecation termination, among others.

PM Narendra Modi launches PMUY 2.0

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 Scheme from Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh.

• Under PMUY 2.0, an additional 10 million LPG connections will be provided to the beneficiaries.

• PMUY is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG). It was launched on 1st May 2016 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

• Tagline – “Swachh Indhan, Behtar Jeevan”. It is implemented by MoPNG.

• Financial assistance of ₹1,600 per household given by the centre to eligible households

• Under PMUY 1.0, a target of providing 8 Crore Free LPG Connections to the deprived households was set and achieved.







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UP launches Rashtriya Swasthya Sevak Abhiyan

• Uttar Pradesh has launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Sevak Abhiyan in Lucknow by launching the Health Warrior Portal.

• Under the campaign, Health workers will be trained to fight COVID-19.

• It is a follow up to the national campaign ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Swayamsevak Abhiyan’

• The Rashtriya Swasthya Swayamsevak Abhiyan (National Health Volunteer

Campaign) was launched to train health volunteers across India to fight COVID-19.

• Under the campaign, a target was set to train 4 lakh health volunteers across 2 Lakh Indian villages through the programme and train 4 lakh health volunteers across India.

Maharashtra Announced Rajiv Gandhi Award for excellence in IT Sector

• Maharashtra has introduced the Rajiv Gandhi Award for excellence in IT, named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to recognise the firms that excel in the Information Technology Sector in Maharashtra.

• The Maharashtra IT Corporation Limited has been appointed as the nodal agency of the award.







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Indore Declared as 1st Water Plus City of India

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has declared Indore, Madhya Pradesh, the cleanest city of India, as the 1st ‘water plus’ city of India.

• Indore received the 1st Swachh Certification of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Water Plus from the MoHUA under the Swachh Survekshan 2021(SS2021).

• Water Plus is one of the parameters under the SBM Urban (along with ODF (Open Defecation Free) Plus, ODF Double Plus) that is

used to test the cleanliness of cities.

• The certification of SBM Water Plus is valid for 6 months and the certification process needs to be carried out every 6 months.

• Surat, Gujarat also received the SBM Water Plus certification, it became the 1st city in Gujarat to receive that.

One of the World’s Highest Mobile ATC tower in Ladakh built by the Indian Air Force

• One of the world’s Highest Mobile Air Traffic Control towers has been built by the Indian Air Force in the Nyoma area of Ladakh

• Main purpose of ATC is to control the operation of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the East Ladakh region.







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2021 Census to be India’s 1st-ever digital Census

• Minister Home Affairs stated that the 16th Indian Census will be India’s 1st-ever Digital Census.

• Data for the Census 2021 will be collected through mobile Apps and will be uploaded on the portal directly.

• It will be conducted in 18 languages and English. The 2011 Census was conducted only in 16 languages.

• For the 1st time the information of household headed by transgender community

will be collected as a new category under Third Gender.

• The Data will be made available by 2024-25.

• During the Union Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated INR 3,768 Crore for the 2021 Census.

• The first synchronous census in India was held in 1881 by W.C.Plowden, Census Commissioner of India.

• The first census of Independent India was conducted in 1951.

• Censuses are conducted under Census of India Act,1948.

Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGCCI):

• Registrar General and Census Commissioner – Vivek Joshi

• Headquarters – New Delhi







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Appointments & Resignations

Dhriti Banerjee Appointed Director of Zoological Survey of India

• The Appointments Committee of the

Cabinet approved the proposal for

appointment of Dhriti Banerjee as the

Director of the Zoological Survey of

India. She will succeed Dr. Kailash

Chandra.

• She will be the 1st Woman Director

of ZSI in 100 years.

• Headquarters – Kolkata

Anthony Heredia - CEO of BOI AXA Investment Managers

• Anthony Heredia has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Limited

• He will succeed Sandeep Dasgupta.

BOI AXA Investment Managers Private Limited (BAIM):

• Headquarters – Mumbai







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Rekha Sharma- Chairperson of NCW

• The government of India has nominated Rekha Sharma as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women for another term of 3 years

• She has been serving as the chairperson of NCW since 7th August 2018.

National Commission for Women:


Tunisian President Kais Saied Dismissed Prime Minister

• Kais Saied, President of Tunisia, has dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended the parliament

Tunisia:

• Capital– Tunis

• Currency– Tunisian Dinar







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Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Guaba’s Tenure extended

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of Tenure of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Guaba by 1 year.

• Rajiv Guaba was appointed to the post of Cabinet Secretary in 2019.

Bvlgari Appoints Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Global Brand Ambassador

• Italian luxury brand Bvlgari has appointed Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas as its Global Ambassador.







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JK Tires appoints Narain Karthikeyan as Brand Ambassador

• JK Tyre & Industries Limited has appointed India’s first Formula One racer Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan as its brand ambassador.

• He was the first Indian racing driver to participate in F1 racing, he made his debut as an F1 racer in 2005 for the Jordan team.

• The government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, in 2010 for Sports.

Neeraj Chopra - Cyber Frauds Awareness Campaign

• Reserve Bank of India roped in Neeraj Chopra for its new public awareness campaign against digital banking frauds







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Cashify appointed Rajkumar Rao as its brand ambassador

• Cashify, formerly ReGlobe, the trademark of Manak Waste Management Private Limited, has appointed Bollywood actor Rajkumar Rao as its first brand ambassador.

RK Vishnoi - CMD of THDCIL

• RK Vishnoi assumed the charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of THDC India Limited.

• He succeeds Vijay Goel

• THDCIL is a joint venture between NTPC and Uttar Pradesh government.

• RK Vishnoi has been serving as the Director(Technical), THDCIL since September 2019.

• Headquarters– Rishikesh, Uttarakhand







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KM Birla Steps Down as Non-Executive Chairman & Director of Vodafone Idea

• Kumar Mangalam Birla has stepped down as the Non-Executive Chairman and Non-Executive Director from the board of Vodafone Idea

• The board of Vodafone Idea has elected Himanshu Kapania as a non-Executive Chairman. He is currently serving as the non-Executive Director.

Gajendra Singh & Anjani Kumar Tiwari Appointed as a members of PNGRB

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Gajendra Singh, Former Director of GAIL (India) Ltd, and Anjani Kumar Tiwari, Director(Finance) of GAIL (India) Limited as the members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

• Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is a statutory body constituted under The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006.








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Defence

“Zayed Talwar 2021” between India and UAE

• Indian Navy and United Arab Emirates Navy undertook Bilateral Naval Exercise Zayed Talwar 2021 off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

• The Indian Navy deployed INS Kochi and 2 Integral Sea King MK 42B helicopters

• Exercise Desert Eagle –Indian Airforce and Air force of UAE.

• Exercise Desert flag VI was hosted by the UAE Airforce.

United Arab Emirates:

• President – Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

• Capital – Abu Dhabi

• Currency – UAE dirham

“AL-MOHED AL-HINDI-2021”

• The Naval Exercise “AL-MOHED AL-HINDI-2021” between Indian Navy and the Royal Saudi Naval Forces commenced

INS Kochi represented India.

• Indian Navy deployed INS Shivalik and INS Kadmatt to Muara, Brunei to participate in various bilateral professional interactions with the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN).

• On completion of bilateral exercise with Royal Brunei Navy, the 2

ships will head to Guam to participate in exercise MALABAR-21 with the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy







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Partnership & MOUs

National Fisheries Development Board signed MoU with Punjab National Bank

• National Fisheries Development Board

has signed a MoU with Punjab National Bank

to extend financial assistance to the fisheries

sector

• Under this MoU, the fisheries sector

will tie-up with individuals/private

entrepreneurs of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) and

Entrepreneur Models under Pradhan Mantri

Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for

availing bank loan from PNB

• PMMSY is a flagship scheme launched in September 2020 for sustainable development of Indian

fisheries sector

India Recorded Highest Ever Monthly Merchandise Export of $35.17 billion in July 2021

• In July 2021, India has recorded the

highest ever monthly merchandise export.

• The merchandise exports in July 2021

was increased by 47.91 percent to USD 35.17

billion from USD 23.78 billion in July 2020.







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Assam, NABARD, AIFA Sign MoU

• Assam, National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development and the Assam

Infrastructure Financing Authority has signed

a Memorandum of Understanding to assist

the execution of various development

projects in Assam.

• The MoU will facilitate Rs 13,200 crore

investment for infrastructure development

across various sectors including the education

sector.

• Engineering and Medical Colleges, Universities, schools, Stadia, Tourism centres, cold storage will be built

across the state in the next 3 years.

John Abraham - India Ambassador for MotoGP

• Eurosport India, an Indian sports

channel of Discovery Asia-Pacific has

appointed Bollywood Actor John Abraham as

India ambassador for its flagship motorsport

property MotoGP.

• Yamaha’s R15 is the co-presenting

sponsor for the MotoGP broadcast in India.

• John Abraham will promote the

MotoGP through the “MotoGP, Race Lagate

Hai” campaign.







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NSE & IBBI signed agreement for research collaboration in Insolvency and Bankruptcy

• The National Stock Exchange partnered with Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to enhance research efforts in the area of insolvency and bankruptcy.

National Stock Exchange :

• Managing Director & CEO– Vikram Limaye

• Headquarters– Mumbai

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India :

• Chairperson– Dr. MS Sahoo


HPSHHCL Signed MoU with Flipkart

• Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts and Handloom Corporation Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Flipkart, India’s leading E-commerce Market, to include the local artisans, weavers, handicraft, and handloom makers of Himachal Pradesh into the E-commerce.

• Under this MoU, the Samarth Program of Flipkart will enable the master craftsmen, weavers, and artisans to showcase their hallmark products and provide them access to training and support.







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NEDFi signs MoU with FINER

• North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Federation of Industries of North Eastern Region to promote entrepreneurship, generate employment and create empowerment of weaker sections.

IDFC FIRST Bank Signed MoU with Indian Navy

• IDFC FIRST Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Navy to offer the special defence savings account named ‘Honour FIRST’ for the serving personnel and veterans of the Indian Navy.

• It is a zero balance salary account and it earns up to 5 percent interest per annum and no minimum balance is required for the account.

• The account includes Personal Accidental Insurance cover of up to Rs 46 Lakhs for both on-duty and off-duty incidents.

• It includes 40 Lakhs for the personal accident with 4 Lakhs for child education grant and 2 Lakhs for girl child marriage.

• The card provides Air accident cover of up to Rs 1 crore. It also offers Purchase protection against theft, burglary and damage of up to 1 Lakh (from 90 days from date of purchase) and Lost Card Liability of up to 6 lakhs on the Debit card.

IDFC FIRST Bank:

• MD & CEO – V. Vaidyanathan • Headquarters – Mumbai







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ADB ties up with IIFL Home Finance

• The Asian Development Bank has joined hands with price housing financier IIFL Home Finance Ltd, subsidiary of IIFL home finance to reduce carbon emissions and preserve water and vitality in India.

• The total cost of the project is $1 million

IIFL Home Finance Ltd:

• Chairman– S.Sridhar

• Headquarter– Gurgaon

India-Singapore Foreign Office Consultations

• The 15th round of Foreign Office Consultation between India & Singapore took place virtually. The Indian side was led by Riva Ganguly, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

About Singapore:

• President – Halimah Yacob

• Currency – Singapore dollar







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India & US sign MoU to Improve Weather and Monsoon forecasts

• India’s National Institute of Ocean Technology & National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of US have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monsoon data analysis and cooperation to improve weather forecasts in the region.

National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT):

• Director – G.A.Ramadass

• Headquarters – Chennai

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

• Administrator – Richard W. Spinrad

• Headquarters – Washington DC

Agritech Start-up Arya Tie-up with SBM Bank India

• Agritech start-up and India’s 1st Post Harvest Solutions Platform, Arya Collateral Warehousing Services Private Ltd made a partnership with State Bank of Mauritius-India for commodity financing.

State Bank of Mauritius-India

• MD & CEO – Sidharth Rath

• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra







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International News

28th ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting 2021

• Minister of State for External Affairs, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh led the Indian Delegation at the 28th Association of South East Asian Nations Regional Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting 2021. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Brunei Darussalam.

• During 2021-22, India will co-chair the ARF Inter Sessional Meeting on Maritime Security and conduct a workshop on International Ship and Port Facility Security Code

• India’s External Affairs S. Jaishankar participated in the 11th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers Meeting, which was chaired by Brunei Darussalam.

East Asian Summit (EAS):

• Total number of Members – 18 (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States).

G20 Digital Ministers Meeting 2021

• Union Minister for the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw led the Indian Delegation at the G20 Digital Ministers Meeting 2021 held virtually from Tieste, Italy.

• During the meeting, Ministers adopted the “Leveraging Digitalization for a Resilient, Strong, Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery” declaration at the meeting. It includes 12 actions to accelerate the digital transition.







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Deputy NSA Level Meeting of Colombo Security Conclave

• The 1st Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) level meeting of ‘Colombo Security Conclave’ took place virtually between India, Maldives, Sri Lanka. Bangladesh, Mauritius and Seychelles participated as observers.

• Pankaj Saran – Deputy NSA participated in the meeting.

• The Trilateral Cooperation Framework between India, Sri Lanka & Maldives was initially established in 2011.

8th Justice Ministers Meet 2021 of SCO

• Union Minister for Law & Justice, Kiren Rijiju participated in the 8th Justice Ministers Meeting 2021 of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held at Tajikistan virtually.

• The meeting was hosted by Tajikistan (2021 SCO Presidency).

• SCO is celebrating its 20th Anniversary under the slogan ‘20 years of SCO: Cooperation for Stability and Prosperity’.

• The next meeting of the Justice Ministers will be held in Pakistan in 2022.







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Bangladesh, Canada Joined Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

• Bangladesh and Canada joined the Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure an initiative of India launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019.

• After the inclusion of Bangladesh and Canada, CDRI has 25 countries and 7 international organisations as its members.

Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure :

• Director-General – Sandeep Poundrik

• Headquarters – New Delhi

South Africa issues first-ever patent with AI inventor

• South Africa became the 1st Country in the World to grant Patent to an Artificial Intelligence System.

• It has granted a patent related to an Food Container system based on Fractal Geometry invented by the AI system ‘DABUS’ (Device for Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience).

• DABUS was created by Stephen Thaler. Its main functions are Emergency warning system, spoiled food alert and others.

About South Africa:

• President – Cyril Ramaphosa

• Capitals – Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein

• Currency – South African RAND







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Banking & Finance

Karnataka Bank Empanelled as Agency Bank to RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India has empanelled the Karnataka Bank as the ‘Agency Bank’ to facilitate transactions related to government businesses.

• In February 2021, RBI has removed the ban imposed (in 2012) over ‘Appointing the Scheduled Private Sector Banks as Agency Banks of RBI’ and authorised the appointment of Scheduled Private Sector Banks as agency banks of RBI.

Karnataka Bank:

• MD & CEO – Mahabaleshwara M.S

• Headquarters – Mangalore, Karnataka

MCA amends Schedule III of Companies Act on disclosure norms in financial statements

• In order to bring in greater transparency in reporting of financial statements, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has amended the Schedule III to the Companies Act, 2013 to mandate various disclosures by companies in their financial statements.

Details of Crypto Currency or Virtual Currency

Where the Company has traded or invested in Crypto currency or Virtual Currency during the financial year, the following shall be disclosed:-

1. profit or loss on transactions involving Crypto currency or Virtual Currency

2. amount of currency held as at the reporting date,







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3. deposits or advances from any person for the purpose of trading or investing in Crypto Currency/virtual currency.

Details of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Where the company covered under section 135 of the companies act, the following shall be disclosed with regard to CSR activities:-

1. amount required to be spent by the company during the year,

2. amount of expenditure incurred,

3. shortfall at the end of the year,

4. total of previous years shortfall,

5. reason for shortfall,

6. nature of CSR activities,

7. details of related party transactions, e., contribution to a trust controlled by the company in relation to CSR expenditure as per relevant Accounting Standard,

8. where a provision is made with respect to a liability incurred by entering into a contractual obligation, the movements in the provision during the year should be shown separately.

Opening of SBI Accounts by NGOS

Prior to enactment of The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act 2020, exclusive FCRA bank accounts could be opened in any branch of scheduled banks. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act 2020, mandates that each FCRA NGO has to now compulsorily open ‘FCRA account’ in SBI, Main Branch, New Delhi for initial remittance/receipt of foreign contribution (FC) from a foreign source. The State Bank of India has informed that as on 31.07.2021, total of 18377 designated FCRA accounts have been opened with SBI, New Delhi Main Branch.

The details of Foreign Contribution (FC) received during last three years as reported in Annual Returns filed by NGOs is given below: -

In view of Covid-19 led constraints as well as to ensure smooth transition to the amended FCRA regime, the FCRA NGOs were allowed to receive FC in their old FCRA accounts until 30 June 2021. Receipt of FC in SBI, New Delhi Main Branch has been made mandatory only from 1st July 2021 onwards.







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Financial Year Foreign Contribution (FC) received by NGOs (excluding interest earnings and net income generated by FC)

2017-18 16940.58

2018-19 16525.73

2019-20 15853.94

Central Bank of India and Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd: Co- lending partnership

• Central Bank of India and Dhanvarsha Finvest Ltd entered into a strategic co- lending partnership to offer loans against gold ornaments under priority sector lending

• 80 percent of the gold loans with CBoI and 20 percent with DFL.

Central Bank of India :

• MD & CEO – M. V. Rao

• Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra







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RBL Bank has selected Amazon Web Services

• RBL Bank has selected Amazon Web Services the Cloud Computing arm of Amazon as its Preferred Cloud Provider to strengthen its Artificial Intelligence based Banking Solutions and bring digital transformation at the bank.

RBL Bank:

• MD & CEO – Vishwavir Ahuja


Amazon Web Services (AWS):

• CEO- Adam Selipsky

• Headquarters – Seattle

PPBL Became the 1st Bank to Cross 1 Crore FASTags

• Paytm Payments Bank Ltd became the 1st bank in India to achieve the milestone of issuing 1 crore FASTags.

• As per the data of National Payments Corporation of India around 3.47 crore FASTags were issued by all banks together till the end of June 2021.

• PPBL also exists as India’s largest acquirer of toll plazas under the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program. As per PPBL data, out

of the total 851 toll plazas across the national and state highways 280 were using PPBL payment gateway to collect toll charges digitally.







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NABARD approves INR 188.81 crore Loan to Goa

• National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development has sanctioned loans worth INR 188.81 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for the construction of Super Speciality Block Hospital in Bambolim and Enhancement of Solid Waste Treatment plant in Saligao

• NABARD has allocated a total of INR 217.72 Crore to the Government of Goa during the FY 2021-22

• Chairman – Govinda Rajulu Chintala


SIDBI Launched ‘Digital Prayaas’ App

• Small Industries Development Bank of India has launched the programme ‘Digital Prayaas’ an App based end to end digital lending tool platform to sanction loans to entrepreneurs from low income group

• The post sanction documentation such as e-signing and e-stamping of the documents will also be done digitally through the App.

• SIDBI also partnered with a major aggregator BigBasket to on board its delivery partners across the country and provide loans

to the youths of the urban areas at an affordable interest rate for the purchase of environment friendly e-vehicles (e-Bikes and e-Vans).

• Chairman & Managing Director – Sivasubramanian Ramann

• Headquarters – Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh







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SPORTS

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

• The Highest sporting honour of India,

“Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award”, has been

renamed as “Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna

Award”

• The Khel Ratna Award named after

former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was

instituted in 1991-1992 and the inaugural

award was presented to Vishwanath Anand

(Chess).

• The award is annually presented by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

• The award consists of a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, a medallion and a certificate.

• Major Dhyan Chand, who was known as ‘The Wizard’, was an Indian Hockey player who represented the

Indian hockey team from 1926 to 1949.

• He has won 3 consecutive gold medals in the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics.

• Since 2012, the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand has been celebrated as National Sports Day(29th

August).







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FIDE World Cup 2021

• Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) defeated

Sergey Karjakin (Russia) to win the

9th Edition of FIDE (International

Chess Federation) World Cup 2021.

FIDE World Cup 2021 was held at

Sochi, Russia

• Magnus Carlsen (Norway) finished

3rd

• Vidit Santosh Gujrathi lost to Jan-

Kryzstof Duda in the second game of

the Men’s quarterfinals.

• The Inaugural edition of a women’s only version of the Women’s World Cup 2021 took place in Sochi,

Russia

• Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) to win the Inaugural edition of

the Women’s World Cup.

• India’s Viswanathan Anand defeated Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik to win the ‘No-Castling (NC) World

Masters’ event of the Sparkassen Trophy held at Dortmund, Germany.

Hockey player Vandana Kataria made Uttarakhand's Women & Child Development ambassador

• Uttarakhand has appointed Team India's hockey player Vandana Katariya as the brand ambassador of the state's Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development.

• The Uttarakhand Government had also announced a cash reward of INR 25 Lakh to Vandana Kataria for her performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

• During the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Vandana became the 1st Indian Woman to score an Olympic hat-

trick in hockey.







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USMNT won CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021

• The United States men’s national team won the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup defeating Mexico, the finals held at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

England’s James Anderson overtakes Anil Kumble as 3rd Highest wicket-taker in Test

• England Fast Bowler James Anderson overtook India’s Anil Kumble tally of 619 wickets to become the 3rd Highest Wicket-Taker in Test Cricket.

• Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800) & Australia’s Shane Warne (708) are leading wicket takers in Test Cricket.







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Books & Authors

New Book- “The Biography of a Failed Venture”

• Founder of D:FY, India’s first Sports

brand, Prashant Desai has authored a

new book titled “The Biography of a

Failed Venture: Decoding success

secrets from the Black box of a Dead

Start-up”.

Book- ‘A Death in Shonagachhi: A Novel’

• A Death in Shonagachhi, the debut novel a murder mystery authored by Rijula Das features a murder of a prostitute in Shonagachhi.

• The World English rights outside India are sold to Amazon Crossing, for publication in June 2022 with the title “Small Deaths”.

• Notes From A Passing (2016)

• My Friend Finjo (2019)

• Grave of the Heart Eater (2019)







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Book - ‘Accelerating India: 7 Years of Modi Government’

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled “Accelerating India: 7 Years of Modi Government”

• He presented the first copy of the book to Arif Mohammad Khan, Governor of Kerala.

• The book is a collection of 25 essays covering the 25 sectors of Indian governance and the contribution of 28 authors.

• The book is edited by KJ Alphons, retired IAS and a former union minister and the foreword is written by NSA Ajit Doval.

• The 28 authors of the book include Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Ayog; Mohan Kumar, the former defence secretary; LC Goyal, former home secretary; Shakti Sinha, former chief secretary Andamans; Vrinda Sarup, former secretary of education; Ashish Bahuguna, former secretary of agriculture; Preeti Sudan, former secretary, health and family welfare and Anantha Nageswaran, member economic advisory council to the PM.

New Book -“Balakot Air Strike: How India Avenged Pulwama”

• Manan Bhatt has authored a new book titled “Balakot Air Strike: How India Avenged Pulwama”.

• The book features every detail from the moments before the Pulwama attack to the Balakot airstrike and the events that took place in those 12 days.







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New book- “Zohra! A Biography In Four Acts”

• Shri Ritu Menon has authored a new book titled “Zohra! A Biography In Four Acts”.

• Zohra Mumtazullah Khan from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has starred in various Television series and films like Neecha Nagar (1946) Doctor Who(1963), Jewel in the Crown(1984)

• The government of Maharashtra has honoured her with the Kalidas Samman in 2001.

• Borders and Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition (co-authored with Kamal Bhasin).

• Out of Line: A Personal and Political Biography of Nayantara Sahgal.

• From Mathura to Manorama: Resisting Violence against Women in India (co-authored with Kalpana Kannibiran).

New Book- ‘How the Earth Got Its Beauty’

• Sudha Murty, Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, has authored a new children’s book titled “How the Earth Got Its Beauty”







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Obituary

Former Footballer S.S Narayan passed away

• India’s former football goalkeeper & 2

time Olympian Shankar Subramaniam

Narayan also known as S.S. ‘Babu’ Narayan

passed away

• He represented India in the Melbourne

1956 Summer Olympics and Rome 1960

Summer Olympics as Indian football team’s

Goalkeeper.

Former Indian Hockey Player Gopal Bhengra passes away

• Former Indian Men’s Hockey Team player Gopal Bhengra passed away in Ranchi.

• He was part of the 1978 Men’s Hockey World Cup held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.







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Weekly Current Affairs - 8 -14 August 2021