Current Affairs 03rd July 2021| Current Affairs News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Cooperatives – Observed on First Saturday of July

• International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance.
• Theme of International Co-operative Day 2021 is: ‘Rebuild Better Together’.
• The aim of this celebration is to increase awareness of cooperatives, highlight the complementary goals and objectives of the United Nations and the international cooperative movement, underscore the contributions of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations and strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors.
• CoopsDay will be the occasion to spread the word about how a human-centred business model, sustained by the cooperative values of self-help and solidarity and the ethical values of social responsibility and concern for community, can reduce inequality, create shared prosperity.
• Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Digital India flagship programme completed six years

• The government’s flagship programme- Digital India has completed six years.
• The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched this ambitious programme on 1st July,2015.
• Mr Modi will interact with beneficiaries of ‘Digital India’ via video conferencing.
• The programme is being organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad will also be present on the occasion.
• ‘Digital India’ has turned out to be one of the biggest success stories of New India.
• It has enabled services, brought the Government closer to citizens, promoted citizen engagement and empowered people.
• The Digital India journey in the past 6 years has centred around empowerment, inclusion, and digital transformation.
• It has positively impacted all aspects of the lives of Indian citizens through Aadhaar, Direct Benefit Transfer, Common Services Centres, DigiLocker and mobile-based UMANG services.

About Digital India:

• Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure the Government’s services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.
• Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, e-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes.
• Each of these areas is a complex programme in itself and cuts across multiple Ministries and Departments.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World Bank expands $20 billion For coronavirus vaccine funding 

• The World Bank pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous target of $12 billion, citing a sharp increase in overall financing demand from developing countries.
• World Bank President David Malpass stated the global development bank had already provided more than $4 billion to 51 developing countries for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, and would add billions for 25 more countries soon.

World Bank:

• The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
• President: David Malpass
• The World Bank Group has four Boards of Executive Directors representing the four institutions of the World Bank Group: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Agency (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
• IBRD is a global development cooperative owned by its 189 member countries.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘YSR Bima’ scheme

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the ‘YSR Bima’ scheme with new guidelines, where the government itself will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of deceased to make the insurance claims easier.
• The Chief Minister stated that the government has prioritised public health care, thus soon after forming the government, the annual income for “Aarogyasri” has been pegged at Rs 5 lakh and increased the number of treatments to 2450.

About scheme:

• ‘YSR Bima’ scheme, under which the government will directly pay insurance amounts to families of the deceased to make the claim settlement easier.
• In order to support 32 lakh families through the YSR Bima scheme, the government allocated Rs.750 crore for the year 2021-22.
• In the last two years, the State government had spent Rs 1307 crore for YSR Bima.

Eligible for the scheme:

• All unorganized workers in the State in the age group of 18 to 70 years, drawing a monthly wage of less than Rs. 15,000/- per month who enrolled through Praja Sadhikara Survey are eligibleunder the Scheme.

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 VenkateswaraNational Park, Papikondalu National Park.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister resigned

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, less than four months after taking over, and hours after holding a press conference to talk about the achievements of his government.
• Rawat handed over his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya, citing the constitutional provision requiring him to get elected to the Assembly within six months, and the unlikelihood of that.
• To keep the post, Mr Rawat, who is an MP, would need to win an assembly seat and become a member of the Uttarakhand legislative assembly by September 10.
• The BJP has called a meeting of its legislature party in Uttarakhand on July 3 to elect a new leader with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar being appointed as observer for the meeting.
• On a possible successor to Mr. Tirath Singh Rawat, while many names are doing the rounds, sources said only someone who is already an MLA will be chosen this time round.

About Uttarakhand:

• Uttarakhand, a state in northern India crossed by the Himalayas, is known for its Hindu pilgrimage sites.
• Rishikesh, a major centre for yoga study, was made famous by the Beatles’ 1968 visit.
• The state’s forested Jim Corbett National Park shelters Bengal tigers and other native wildlife.
• Capital: Dehradun
• Governor: Baby Rani Maurya
• National Parks: Valley of Flowers National Park, Rajaji National Park, Nanda Devi National Park, Gangotri National Park, Corbett National Park, Govind National Park.

Assam govt grants one month’s compulsory leave every year to arms battalion personnel of police

• The Assam cabinet decided to grant one-month compulsory leave every year to police personnel from the rank of constable to sub-inspector to visit their homes.
• The cabinet also gave its nod to give a 10-day annual leave to those who are staying with their families in police quarters.
• The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
• The cabinet decided that staffers from the rank of constable to sub-inspector in all the arms battalions of the Assam Police will be given one-month compulsory leave every year for visiting their homes.
• The cabinet also gave the task of setting up mobile towers to the Information Technology Department to strengthen internet access in the state for the benefit of online education.

About Assam:

• Assam is a state in northeastern India known for its wildlife, archeological sites and tea plantations.
• In the west, Guwahati, Assam’s largest city, features silk bazaars and the hilltop Kamakhya Temple.
• Umananda Temple sits on Peacock Island in the Brahmaputra river.
• The state capital, Dispur, is a suburb of Guwahati.
• Capital: Dispur
• Chief minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma
• Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
• National Parks: Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Nameri National Park and Rajiv Gandhi OrangNational Park.

Manipur CM declared Rs. 20 lakh cash reward to first fully vaccinated assembly constituency in the state

• In Manipur, the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced that a cash reward of Rs. 20 lakh would be given to the first fully vaccinated assembly constituency.
• The cash reward is aimed to encourage mass vaccination drives being taken up in all the Assembly constituencies of the State.
• In the launching program of Mobile Insulated Vaccination Bus in Imphal East, Shri Biren stated that the nationwide free vaccination drive conducted under the leadership of Prime Minister is the only weapon to fight COVID-19.

About Manipur:

• Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital.
• It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west.
• It also borders two regions of Myanmar, Sagaing Region to the east and Chin State to the south.
• Capital: Imphal
• Governor: Najma Heptulla
• Chief minister: N. Biren Singh
• National Parks: Keibul LamjaoNational Park

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Google India publishes first transparency report under the new IT rules

• Google India has published its first transparency report under the new IT rules which includes details of complaints received from users in the country and the action taken across Google’s platforms that are classified as “significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs)” under the rules.
• The report currently covers complaints received and auctioned between April 1 and April 30 this year.
• Google stated there will be a two-month lag on reporting in a bid to allow sufficient time for data processing and validation.
• Under the new rules, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Indian players like ShareChat, Koo, and Chingari will have to publish a compliance report on a monthly basis.

About Google:

• Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, a search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware.
• It is considered one of the big four Internet stocks along with Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.
• CEO: Sundar Pichai
• Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States

Elon Musk’s Starlink now ready to provide internet nearly worldwide

• Elon Musk’s satellite network Starlink is on track to beam broadband internet everywhere in the world except the polar regions by August.
• Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,500 satellites so far and has Starlink operations in about a dozen countries.
• That’s costing a lot. SpaceX’s total investment in the network will be between $5 billion and $10 billion before cash flow is positive.
• The company is set to launch a new version of Starlink’s satellites next year that will have inter-satellite laser links to help them cover Polar Regions.

About Starlink:

• Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access.
• The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit, which communicate with designated ground transceivers.
• Elon Reeve Musk FRS is an entrepreneur and business magnate.
• He is the founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer at SpaceX; early stage investor, CEO, and Product Architect of Tesla, Inc.
• Founder of The Boring Company; and co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI.
• A centibillionaire, Musk is one of the richest people in the world.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS

HDFC Bank launches ‘Salaam Dil Sey’ initiative to show gratitude to doctors

• HDFC Bank launched a Salaam Dil Sey initiative to show gratitude to doctors for their tireless service during the pandemic, and to pay tribute to doctors across the country.
• Salaam DelSey encourages one and all to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of doctors and provides a platform to show their gratitude to doctors, who are bravely fighting the pandemic, at the risk of their own lives.
• As part of this initiative, the bank has created a web platform salaamdilsey.com wherein the general public can logon on to the microsite and share the thank you message for doctors which can be immediately shared via email, social media, and WhatsApp.

About HDFC Bank:

• HDFC Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• HDFC Bank is India’s largest private sector bank by assets and by market capitalization as of April 2021.
• It is the third largest company by market capitalization on the Indian stock exchanges.
• CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan
• Tagline: We Understand Your World.

World Bank approves USD 800-million loan for Pakistan

• The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 800 million to cash-strapped Pakistan, financing schemes on clean energy and human capital development.
• The loan amount would be utilized for schemes which are not covered due to the budget deficit for 2021-22 fiscal.
• The board of directors of World Bank approved financing for two programmes – Pakistan Program for Affordable and Clean Energy (PACE) and Securing Human Investments to Foster Transformation (SHIFT-II).
• The World Bank also approved USD 400 million for SHIFT-II which supports a federal structure to strengthen basic service delivery for human capital accumulation.

About Pakistan:

• Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia.
• It is the world’s fifth-most populous country, with a population exceeding 225.2 million, and has the world’s second-largest Muslim population.
• Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area, spanning 881,913 square kilometres.
• Currency: Pakistani rupee Trending
• Capital: Islamabad
• President: Arif Alvi
• Prime minister: Imran Khan

World Bank approves USD 500 mn loan to India

• World Bank stated it has approved a USD 500 million (about Rs 3,717.28 crore) loan programme to support India’s informal working class to overcome the current pandemic distress.
• The loan will create greater flexibility for states to cope with the ongoing pandemic, future climate and disaster shocks.
• Of the USD 500 million commitments, USD 112.50 million will be financed by its concessionary lending arm International Development Association and USD 387.50 million will be a loan from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
• The World Bank mentioned its total funding towards strengthening India’s social protection programmes to help the poor and vulnerable households since the start of the pandemic stands at USD 1.65 billion (about Rs 12,264.54 crore).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

Ashok Leyland appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as EV arm head

• Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland stated it has appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of its electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility.
• Switch Mobility, which commenced formal operations, combines the electric commercial vehicle operations of Ashok Leyland and its British arm Optare to secure a leading global position in net-zero carbon buses and light commercial vehicles.
• Andy Palmer has been appointed as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from July 1 supported by an experienced team of experts to deliver the company’s ambitions to be a leader in urban e-mobility, Ashok Leyland, a Hinduja Group firm.
• This includes the appointment of Nitin Seth as Chief Operating Officer, Sarwant Singh Saini as Chief Planning Officer and Roger Blakey as Chief Technical Officer.

About Ashok Leyland:

• Ashok Leyland is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
• It is owned by the Hinduja Group.
• It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors and became Ashok Leyland in 1955.
• CEO: Vipin Sondhi
• Headquarters: Chennai

Switch mobility:

• Switch Mobility is a technology based company that tries to convert the troublesome everyday commute in cities to a pleasurable or rather a beneficial one.
• The company is aimed at creating non conventional Light Electric Vehicles(LEVs).
• Switch Mobilityis an arm of Ashok Leyland.
• Switch Mobility’sIndian subsidiary is Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd. Recently Siemens Ltd

ICICI-Securities appointed Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science Unit

• ICICI Securities (I-Sec), India’s leading retail-led equity franchise, distributor of financial products, and investment bank, announced the appointment of Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science Unit, taking another step in the direction of strengthening its data and analytics acumen.

About Nilopal Gupta:

• Nilotpal Gupta, who has over 20 years of extensive experience in analytics and related roles in the financial services and technology industry, was previously the Director of Analytics and Information Management at Citi.
• He is a Computer Science engineer from Madras University, Chennai.
• Gupta has expertise in data engineering, data architecture, descriptive/predictive analytics, data visualisation, and other similar segments in addition to analytics.
• He has also held leadership positions at companies like Bajaj Finance, Mindtree, Accenture and Wipro.

About ICICI Securities:

• ICICI SecuritiesLtd is a technology-based firm offering a wide range of financial services including investment banking, institutional broking, retail broking, private wealth management, and financial product distribution.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS

CRPF signs MoU with C-DAC 

• The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies and undertake joint projects.
• The MoU aims at augmenting the technical capabilities of CRPF by training its manpower in advanced areas like Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, High-Performance Computing and Big Data Analytics.
• The agreement will also provide the expertise of C-DAC in the form of Technology Partner and Knowledge Partner in developing various ICT solutions of CRPF.
• Ravideep Singh Sahi IG Communication and IT on behalf of CRPF and Dr. Hemant Darbari, DG C-DAC on behalf of C-DAC, signed the 5 Year MoU in the presence of CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh.

About CRPF:

• The Central Reserve Police Force is India’s largest Central Armed Police Force.
• It functions under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India.
• The CRPF’s primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and counter insurgency.
• Headquarters: New Delhi

About C-DAC:

• The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is an Indian autonomous scientific society, operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• C-DAC was created in November 1988, originally as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing Technology (C-DACT).
• This was in response to issues purchasing supercomputers from the United States of
• After being denied a Cray supercomputerby the United States in 1988, due to military use concerns, India started a programme to develop an indigenous supercomputer and C-DAC was created as part of this programme.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

Seventh Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Concludes in France                

• The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France starting from 28 June to 01 July 2021.
• It is a biennial event hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion.
• France is the current chair of the Symposium, which assumed the Chairmanship on 29 June 2021 for a two-year tenure.
• From the Indian side, Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, participated virtually.

About IONS :

• The symposium was first held in 2008 with India as host.
• IONS is a series of biennial meetings, held between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region.
• The chairmanship of IONS has been held by India (2008-10), UAE (2010-12), South Africa (2012-14), Australia (2014-16), Bangladesh (2016-18) and Islamic Republic of Iran (2018-21).
• The IONS Consists of 23 Permanent members & 9 Observer members.
• It provides a forum to increase maritime security cooperation,discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships among the member states.
• The chairmanship and location of the Symposium rotates between the various member states.
• The Symposium also held panel discussions themed on the three IONS working Groups viz., HADR, Maritime Security and Information Sharing & Interoperability.
• The Naval Maritime Foundation (NMF) also participated in the Panel Discussion on HADR.
• IONS Conclave of Chiefs (CoC) is the decision-making body at the level of Chiefs of Navies, which meets biennially.
• The 6th IONS and CoC was conducted by the Iran Navy in April 2018 at Tehran. 
• Due to the pandemic, the CoC 2021, will be hosted by French Navy later in 2021.

About France :

• Capital: Paris
• President: Emmanuel Macron

CURRENT AFFAIRS : ENVIRONMENT

Two new insect species of snail discovered in Western Ghats

• On June 30, 2021, a group of scientists found a new snail genus and species from the Amboli hill area in Maharashtra, Western Ghats.
• The new genus, Varadia, has been named after herpetologist Dr Varad Giri, meanwhile the species has been christened as Varadia amboliensis.
• After five years of research, the findings were published in the European Journal of Taxonomy.

About the insect :

• The newly described species is a semi slug belonging to the eu pulmonate molluscan group Stylommatophora. 
• It is endemic to the Northern and Central Western Ghats.
• The new species have Unique genetic anatomy & Potential to detect minor climate fluctuations.
• The snail is around 7 cm long, omnivorous feeding & it can be differentiated by its unique external appearance, shell, reproductive system & most active at night time.

About Western Ghats :

• The Western Ghats, also known as Sahyadri.
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight hotspots of biological diversity in the world.

Rare Species of black-bellied coral snake found in Uttarakhand    

• A group of researchers discovered Black-bellied Coral snake in forests of Uttarakhand.
• The snake was observed in the Bhadraj Block of Benog Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mussoorie Forest Division. 

About the Snake :

• At present, there are 107 species of coral snakes in the world. In India, only 7 coral snake species are found.
• The snake belongs to the Elapidae family of Sinomicrurus genus, namely, S. nigriventer.
• According to a 2015 report of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on the management of snakebite, there are more than 2000 species of snakes in the world.
• About 300 of these species are found in India, of which 52 are venomous.
• The venomous snakes found in India belong to three families ‘Elapidae’, ‘Viperidae’ and’ Hydrophiidae’ (sea snakes).
• Further, all snakes are protected by the law. Cobra, Rat snakes, and Checkered keelback are protected in Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the rest are protected by Schedule IV.

About Uttarakhand :

• Governor: Baby Rani Maurya
• Chief Minister : Tirath Singh Rawat

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

Nihal Sarin Clinches Silver Lake Open 2021 Chess Tournament   

• On June 30, 2021, 17 year old Nihal Sarin won the gold medal in the  Silver Lake Open chess tournament held in Serbia.
• In the final round, he defeated Branko Damljanovic of the host.
• Sarin won eight of the nine points to finish with a score of 8.0/9.

List of Top 3 Winners :

1. Nihal Sarin
2. Raunak Sadhwani
3. Abhimanyu Puranik

• Another Indian,  Raja Harshit finished tenth.
• The open international rating event, 131 players from 27 countries participated.

About Nihal Sarin :

• Nihal Sarin achieved the title of Grandmaster at age 14.
• He is also the fourth youngest player in history to cross the Elo rating mark of 2600.
• In the 2020 FIDE Chess Olympiad Nihal won the Gold Medal as part of the Indian team.
• He won the U18 World Youth Championship in rapid format in 2020.
• Nihal won the gold medal in the World Blitz Championship in the Under-10 category in Al-Ain in 2013.
• He was the Rapid and Blitz gold medalist in the Asian Youth Championship in Tashkent in 2014.
• He won the silver medal in the Under-12 category of World Youth Chess Championship, Greece.
• In 2015, he was conferred the FIDE Master title by the World chess Federation (FIDE).
• On the occasion of Children’s Day in 2016, Nihal was chosen as one of the recipients of ‘National Child Award For Exceptional Achievement’ awarded by the then President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.
• In 2020, Nihal won the World Online Youth Championships in the Under-18 category.

About Silver Lake Open :

• The Silver Lake Open is a 9-round Swiss tournament.
• The Tournament took place from 23-30 June 2021 in Silver Lake, Serbia.

Indian Navy’s athlete MP Jabir  first Indian male to participate in 400m hurdles in Tokyo Olympics

• On July 01, 2021, 25-year-old Naval sailor from Kerala, MP Jabir qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 400m hurdles.
• Jabir would be the first Indian male athlete to participate in the 400m hurdles in Olympics.
• He is currently ranked 34th in the World Athletics’ Road to Olympics rankings where 40 athletes qualify.
• Jabir qualified through the World ranking quota where there are 14 spots available.
• Before that PT Usha, the legendary athlete from Kerala, competed in the 400-metre hurdles at the Los Angeles Olympics.
• Jabir is the second person from the state to compete in the Olympics in the same event.

About MP Jabir :

• In 2017, Jabir worked for the Indian Navy and was posted at Kochi.
• Jabir won the bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships in 400 metres hurdles.
• In the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, he won the bronze medal and he also achieved the qualification standard for 2019 World Athletics Championships.
• Jabir has participated in many National and International Athletic championships representing the Indian Navy and the Services earning many laurels.

About Indian Navy :

• Founded: 26 January 1950
• Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): Admiral Karambir Singh
• Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS): Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar
• Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS): Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh
• Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
• Headquarters : New Delhi

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Ex-US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld Passes away 

• The two-time defence secretary and one-time presidential candidate, Donald Rumsfeld Passed away.
• He was 88.

About Donald Rumsfeld :

• Donald Rumsfeld served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under George W. Bush
• He was both the youngest and the second-oldest person to have served as Secretary of Defense.
• He was a three-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois (1963–1969), director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969–1970), counsellor to the president (1969–1973), the United States Permanent Representative to NATO (1973–1974), and White House Chief of Staff (1974–1975).
• Secretary of State Henry Kissinger described Rumsfeld as “the most ruthless man”.

Achievements :

• Rumsfeld was awarded 11 honorary degrees.

Some of his other awards included:

• Victory of Freedom Award from the Richard Nixon Foundation (2010)
• Order of Anthony Wayne from Valley Forge Military Academy
• Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star (2011, Republic of China)
• National Flag award from Albania’s President Bujar Nishani (2013)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2015)

Daily CA On July 02 :

• Goods and Services Tax Day – Observed on July 01, India marks the fourth anniversary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• World UFO Day Observed on July 02, It is an awareness day for people to gather together and watch the skies for Unidentified Flying Objects.
• World Sports Journalists Day is celebrated across the world on 2 July every year. The main objective of celebrating this day is to support the work of sports journalists and encourage them to do better in their work.
• Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launched the Crop Insurance Awareness Campaign for Fasal Bima Yojana during the Crop Insurance Week as a part of Government’s India@75 campaign ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence. 
• Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ released the Report on United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 for School Education in India.
• Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the ‘Financial Literacy Workbook’ for Class 6 students. The book has been prepared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• As the nation celebrates the 75th anniversary of its Independence, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has initiated a project to create an interactive virtual museum of the country’s Gallantry award winners to honour the heroic deeds of the bravehearts of India.
• The World Bank (WB) will provide USD 300 million to the Bangladesh government as loan to implement a five-year project to improve livelihood, which is scheduled to begin from July.
• Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta, inaugurated SDRF first Battalion’s 24×7 mental health helpline ‘SUKOON’ at its headquarters.
• On the occasion of MSME Day, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari has launched the integrated services of Udyam Registration Portal with Common Service Centre Portal.
• State Bank of India (SBI) launched a dedicated counter across its 360 selected branches to cater to the current account customers. 
• ICICI Bankannounced the launch of a comprehensive banking solution for doctors, called Salute Doctors. It provides customized banking as well as value-added services for every doctor, beginning from a medical student to a senior medical consultant to an owner of a hospital or a clinic.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has appointed Prathmesh Mishra as its new chairman ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Leading jewellery and watches maker Titan Company stated it has appointed Ashok Sonthalia as its new chief financial officer (CFO).
• Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari took over as Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force.
• N Venudhar Reddy, an Indian Information service IIS Officer of 1988 batch took charge as Director General of All India Radio.
• Odia poet Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda has been selected for the Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar, the national award instituted in memory of the late poet laureate, for 2020.
• Reliance Industries (RIL) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have signed an agreement to set up a new petrochemical complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, to produce chlor-alkali, ethylene dichloride, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
• Singapore has signed an agreement with the Royal Government of Bhutan on the establishment of Model Technical Training Centres (MTTC) as part of growth between the two countries.
• On June 28, 2021, Multinational maritime exercise Sea Breeze 2021 (Ex-SB21) launched by Ukrainian Navy and U.S. Sixth Fleet. The exercise is taking place from June 28 to July 10 in the Black Sea region.
• On 28th June, 2021 an exclusive “Enforcing Contracts Portal” was inaugurated by Shri Barun Mitra, Secretary (Justice) at the Department of Justice, Delhi.
• Flipkart has launched a digital platform Shopsy, to enable Indians to start their online businesses without any investment.
• India has jumped three spots to be ranked at the 20th spot with a score of 8.833 among the top 100 countries in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 by Startup Blink.
• The journalist-author Sundeep Misra Authored a new book titled ‘Fiercely Female: The Dutee Chand Story’ . The Book was Published by Westland Books On on ‘SoftCover.
• On June 30, 2021, 12-year-old Indian origin boy, Abhimanyu Mishra became the youngest-ever Grandmaster in chess. Abhimanyu became the youngest GM at the age of 12 years 4 months and 25 days.

Daily CA On July 03 :

• International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance. Theme of International Co-operative Day 2021 is: ‘Rebuild Better Together’.
• The government’s flagship programme- Digital India has completed six years. The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
• The World Bank pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous target of $12 billion, citing a sharp increase in overall financing demand from developing countries.
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the ‘YSR Bima’ scheme with new guidelines, where the government itself will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of deceased to make the insurance claims easier.
• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, less than four months after taking over, and hours after holding a press conference to talk about the achievements of his government.
• The Assam cabinet decided to grant one-month compulsory leave every year to police personnel from the rank of constable to sub-inspector to visit their homes.
• In Manipur, the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced that a cash reward of Rs. 20 lakh would be given to the first fully vaccinated assembly constituency. The cash reward is aimed to encourage mass vaccination drives being taken up in all the Assembly constituencies of the State.
• Google India has published its first transparency report under the new IT rules which includes details of complaints received from users in the country and the action taken across Google’s platforms that are classified as “significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs)” under the rules.
• Elon Musk’s satellite network Starlink is on track to beam broadband internet everywhere in the world except the polar regions by August.
• HDFC Bank launched a Salaam Dil Sey initiative to show gratitude to doctors for their tireless service during the pandemic, and to pay tribute to doctors across the country.
• The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 800 million to cash-strapped Pakistan, financing schemes on clean energy and human capital development.
• Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland stated it has appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of its electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility.
• ICICI Securities (I-Sec), India’s leading retail-led equity franchise, distributor of financial products, and investment bank, announced the appointment of Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science Unit, taking another step in the direction of strengthening its data and analytics acumen.
• The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies and undertake joint projects.
• The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France starting from 28 June to 01 July 2021. It is a biennial event hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion.
• On June 30, 2021, a group of scientists found a new snail genus and species from the Amboli hill area in Maharashtra, Western Ghats. The new genus, Varadia, has been named after herpetologist Dr Varad Giri, meanwhile the species has been christened as Varadia amboliensis.
• A group of researchers discovered Black-bellied Coral snake in forests of Uttarakhand. The snake was observed in the Bhadraj Block of Benog Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mussoorie Forest Division. 
• On June 30, 2021, 17 year old Nihal Sarin won the gold medal in the  Silver Lake Open chess tournament held in Serbia.
• On July 01, 2021, 25-year-old Naval sailor from Kerala, MP Jabir qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 400m hurdles. Jabir would be the first Indian male athlete to participate in the 400m hurdles in Olympics.
• The two-time defence secretary and one-time presidential candidate, Donald Rumsfeld Passed away.