CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
International Nelson Mandela Day
- Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela’s birthday.
- The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Pakistan and China signed for the 700 MW Azad Pattan hydel power project
- Pakistan and China signed an agreement for the 700 MW Azad Pattan hydel power project on the Jhelum river in Sudhoti district of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
- The $ 1.5-billion project is the second power project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), for which an agreement has been signed in the last two months. The first agreement, for the 1,100 MW Kohala project, was signed on June 23. That project, worth $ 2.3 billion, too will come up on the Jhelum near Muzaffarabad.
- The project is a run-of-the-river scheme with a reservoir located near Muslimabad village, 7 km upstream from the Azad Pattan bridge, in district Sudhnoti, one of the eight districts of PoK.
- The Azad Pattan project is one of five hydropower schemes on the Jhelum. Upstream from Azad Pattan are the Mahl, Kohala, and Chakothi Hattian projects; Karot is downstream. Like Kohala and Azad Pattan, Karot too, is being developed under the CPEC framework.
- India has protested the construction of dams and other infrastructure in PoK and Gilgit Baltistan, which are territories claimed by it as part of Jammu & Kashmir.
About Pakistan
- Capital: Islamabad
- Currency: Pakistani rupee
- Prime minister: Imran Khan
About China
- Capital: Beijing
- President: Xi Jinping
- Currency: Renminbi
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launches the revamped Scheme for PM’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2020
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh launched the revamped PM’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration and the web portal www.pmawards.gov.in
- The Scheme has been revamped in tune with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s governance model of citizen participation.
- Jitendra Singh acknowledged the extraordinary work done by District Collectors in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Scheme Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2020, has been revamped to recognize the performance of the District Collectors towards outcome indicators, economic development, peoples’ participation and redressal of public grievances.
- The Innovations category of the Scheme has been broad-based to provide separate award categories for innovations at National, State and District level. The period of consideration for the awards is 1stApril 2018 to 31st March 2020. In all 15 Awards would be conferred under the Scheme in 2020.
- Online applications shall be invited from 17th July till 15th August 2020 through the portal www.pmawards.gov.in from Districts / Implementing Units / Organizations under the various categories in the prescribed format detailing out the achievements highlighting any path-breaking innovation undertaken by any functionary/organization.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Bank of Maharashtra launches OD facility against fixed deposits
- Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has launched an overdraft facility (OD) against fixed deposits (FDs) for its individual customers holding a savings bank account.
- Under this facility, up to 90 per cent of the FD value can be availed as OD. The interest rate on this facility will be 2 percentage points over and above the FD rate.
- The bank has also decided not to charge any processing fee. Additional documentation is not required to avail this facility.
- The OD facility can be availed from the comfort of home in three simple steps using Bank of Maharashtra’s Mahamobile App.
About BOM
- Headquarters: Pune
- CEO: A. S. Rajeev
- Tagline: One Family One Bank
NABARD sanctions ₹795 cr to re-construct infra damaged by cyclone in Bengal
- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned ₹795 crore for reconstructing infrastructure damaged by cyclone Amphan that ripped through West Bengal in May.
- The state government had sought ₹1,028 crore from NABARD for repairing impaired embankments under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
- The amount of ₹795 crore was sanctioned following the appeal of the government.
- NABARD has already provided ₹145 crore under RIDF to the state as special liquidity support for boosting rural infrastructure in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About NABARD
- Founded: 12 July 1982
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Chairman: Govinda Rajulu Chintala
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
UNICEF India and SAP India partner to improve employability of young people
- On World Youth Skills Day, UNICEF India announced its partnership with SAP India to provide career counselling to young people in the country that will improve their employability skills in a COVID-19 and post COVID-19 era.
- UNICEF is collaborating with YuWaah (Generation Unlimited) under this initiative to provide digital education and occupational skillset to the underserved young people of the Country.Under the collaboration UNICEF – YuWaah – SAP will strengthen the following:
- Improve digital skills and life skills for young people
- Provide young people with career options.
- Reimagine the model in other states with the Government of India
- Impacting one million young people by the end of 2022
About UNICEF India
- UNICEF Representative in India– Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque
- Head Quarters- New Delhi
About SAP SE
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)– Christian Klein
- Headquarters– Walldorf, Germany
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Gabon appoints first woman prime minister Ossouka Raponda
- The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has appointed the country’s first female prime minister, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda.
- Ossouka Raponda, 56, was promoted from the defence ministry and takes over from Julien Nkoghe Bekale, who was appointed prime minister in January 2019.
- She is an economist by training who graduated from the Gabonese Institute of Economy and Finance, specialising in public finance.
- In 2012, she first became budget minister and then the first female mayor of the capital Libreville in 2014, as a candidate for Bongo’s Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).
About Gabon
- Capital: Libreville
- Currency: Central African CFA franc
