Daily Current Affairs June 24 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Investment of Rs 7,243 billion made through PMMSY’s fisheries program; dashboard launched by the government:

• The government has made a project investment of Rs 7,242.90 crore has been made in the last two years under Padhan Mantri Matsya Samapada Yojana (PMMSY) while announcing the launch of a dashboard of this flagship scheme.
• The total project investment of Rs 7,242.90 crore (FY 2020-22) has been done under PMMSY.
• Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Mr. Parshottam Rupala unveiled the dashboard recently keeping in view the vast scope of PMMSY

Key Points:

• A Management Information System (MIS) dashboard for PMMSY has been put in place for aggregating information on one platform.
• The dashboard aims at effective monitoring of PMMSY activities and their progress in all participating states.
• It also helps strategically utilize the information for informed decision-making.
• As the data is fed into the MIS system at the district level by each participating states/union territory, the platform is a true indicator of PMMSY’s progress.
• With many other technological development activities in the pipeline for MIS dashboard improvement, the Department of Fisheries and PMC (project management consultant) team has been simultaneously making efforts to onboarding all states/UTs through hands-on training on the platform and creating awareness

About PMMSY:

• PMMSY, launched in May 2020, is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the country with an estimated investment of Rs 20,050 crore for its implementation during a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

UDAN celebrating its 5th anniversary in the year 2022:

• The Central Government’s dream project, Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) is five years old in 2022.
• Newer airlines, like Star Air, started to investigate this enormous untapped market, which helped the initiative gain popularity after a sluggish start.
• Analysts claim that UDAN is a game-changer for the aviation industry since it makes it possible for the common individual to move between smaller cities for a fair price and in minutes as opposed to hours.
• Over 92 lakh people benefit from the over 415 UDAN routes that connect 66 underserved/unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes.

About UDAN:

• The Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) project of the Government of India is a regional airport development program that is a component of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) for improving underserved air routes.
• Its goals include promoting inclusive national economic development, job creation, and the growth of air transportation infrastructure throughout all of India’s regions and states while also making air travel more affordable and pervasive.
• At the commencement of the initiative, 12 out of 18 participating under-served regional operational airports with regular fixed-wing scheduled flights were operational airports, 27 out of 97 non-RCS airports were well-served airports, and 406 out of 486 airports were participating under-served airports.

Culture Minister Mr. G Kishan Reddy launched the “Jyotirgamaya” festival in New Delhi:

• Union Culture Minister Mr. G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated Jyotirgamaya, a festival honoring the talent of unappreciated performers, in New Delhi.
• To showcase the skill of rare musical instruments from all across the country, including street performers and train entertainers, Sangeet Natak Akademi organized this event as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and on the occasion of World Music Day.
• The event wants to make participants more conscious of the need of maintaining both the making and using of unique musical instruments.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi’s initiative to preserve India’s disappearing performing arts is exceptional.

Key Points:

• Music is a universal language, according to Cultural Minister Mr. Reddy, and Indian music is incredibly diversified, much like its culture.
• The Cultural Minister asserts that music is an essential component of Indian culture.
• Folk music and its instruments should be preserved with the utmost care, and this festival will help with that effort.

PM Shri Narendra Modi to inaugurate Vanijya Bhawan and the NIRYAT Site:

• The “National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Commerce” (NIRYAT) portal, which will give information on India’s foreign trade, and the new office complex for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, “Vanijya Bhawan,” will both be formally opened by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
• The building, which will act as an integrated and modern office complex, will be used by both the department of commerce and the department for the development of industry and internal trade.

About Vanijya Bhawan:

• Vanijya Bhawan is a smart structure that includes sustainable architectural concepts with an emphasis on energy saving.
• It is being constructed near India Gate on a 4.33-acre land.
• During the building’s development, 214 trees—or more than 56 percent of them—were either left unattended or newly planted.
• The 1,000-person facility has modern conveniences including smart access control, central air conditioning, video conferencing, and fully networked systems.

About NIRYAT:

• NIRYAT was developed as a “one-stop platform” to provide stakeholders access to all the data they need on the nation’s foreign trade.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has introduced the “Surya Nutan,” a unique indigenous solar cooktop:

• The “Surya Nutan,” a patented indigenous solar cooktop created by the oil refiner’s Faridabad R&D center, has been revealed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
• India’s CO 2 emissions will be significantly reduced because of Surya Nutan, which will also protect our people from the whims of volatile global fossil fuel costs.
• The product was displayed in front of the Uttar Pradesh Minister of Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Khanna, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj HS Puri, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Som Prakash, Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore, and Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) Som Prakash.

About the Surya Nutan:

• The solar cooktop is fixed, portable, and integrated into the kitchen’s indoor solar cooking equipment.
• While charging, it provides an online cooking mode.
• Surya Nutan operates in hybrid mode, allowing it to utilize both solar and backup energy sources at once. Radiative and conductive heat losses are minimized by the solar cooktop’s insulating design.
• The product was initially priced at Rs 12,000 for the entry-level model and Rs 23,000 for the top model.
• But with economies of scale, the price is anticipated to drop significantly.
• To determine different operational and commercial elements associated with its implementation, pilot projects are now being conducted in over 60 locations, including Leh (Ladakh).

About Indian Oil Corporation 

• Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Founded: 30 June 1959

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US announces $122 million funds for India to address challenges posed by infectious diseases

• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States has announced a funding of USD 122 million (USD 122,475,000) to the top 3 Indian medical research institutions ie Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi, National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, Maharashtra and National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu for five years.

Purpose :

• To prevent avoidable epidemics, early detection of disease threats, and rapid and effective response.
• To detect and control zoonotic disease outbreaks through a ‘one health’ approach; evaluating vaccine safety monitoring systems; capacitating the public health workforce in field epidemiology and outbreak response, and combating antimicrobial resistance
• The fund will accelerate the progress towards an India which is safe and secure from infectious disease threats through ICMR institutions’ focus on emerging and re-emerging pathogens.

Eligibility :

• Eligibility for funding beginning from September 30, 2022, to Sep 29, 2027.
• The eligibility is limited to ICMR, and ICMR institutions, including the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, and the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai.
• These institutions are mandated by the Ministry of Health of Family Health and Welfare (MoHFW) to provide oversight for laboratory confirmation of priority pathogens in India.
• They will collect and analyze surveillance data for public health actions and work closely with the state governments where these institutes are located

About Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) :

• Established: July 1, 1946
• Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
• Director: Rochelle Walensky
• Parent Agency: United States Department of Health and Human Services
• It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services.

Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh arrives in Vietnam on a three-day visit to strengthen defense

• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh went on a 3-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnam’s Minister of National Defence General Mr. Phan Van Giang.

Aim :

• To consolidate the bilateral defense ties as well as the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Key Highlights :

• The defense minister will hold extensive talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phan Van Giang, with a focus on exploring new initiatives to further strengthen the defense engagements, besides exchanging views on regional and global issues of shared interest.
• At the Hong Ha Shipyard in Hai Phong, the defense minister will preside over the handing over ceremony of 12 high-speed guard boats constructed under the government of India’s USD 100 million defense line of credit to Vietnam.
• During his Vietnam tour, Singh will also visit training institutions of the country at Nha Trang, including the Telecommunication University where an Army Software Park is being established with a USD 5 million grant from India.
• He will also attend a community event organized by the Embassy of India in Hanoi and interact with the Indian diaspora.
• The relations between the two countries were elevated to the level of a “strategic partnership” during the visit of Vietnam’s then-prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to India in July 2007.
• In 2016, during Prime Minister Shri Modi’s visit to Vietnam, the bilateral relations were further elevated to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
• Vietnam has become an important partner in India’s Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific vision.
• India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea.

Note :

• India’s Ambassador to Vietnam: Pranay Verma
• Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the strategic South China Sea region.

Recent News :

• Recently, Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), visited Vietnam for the 12th round of political consultations and the ninth round of strategic dialogue in Hanoi.

About Vietnam :

• President : Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
• PM: Phạm Minh Chính
• Currency: Vietnamese dong
• Capital: Hanoi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

World Bank approves project to promote rain-fed farming in Uttarakhand

• The World Bank has approved a project named Uttarakhand Climate Responsive Rain-fed Farming worth Rs 1,000 crore to promote rain-fed farming in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand.
• The Project will be implemented by the watershed department.

Aim :

• To reduce greenhouse gas emissions for funding by the World Bank.

About the Project :

• The project will help in springshed management, boosting agricultural productivity, controlling migration, and promoting cluster-based agriculture.
• It will also boost climate-friendly activities in the agriculture sector so that it becomes an economically viable option for the youth and farmers.

About World Bank :

• Established: July 1944
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., U.S
• President : David Malpass
• MD & CEO: Anshula Kant

About Uttarakhand :

• Governor: Gurmit Singh
• CM: Pushkar Singh Dhami
• Capital: Bhararisain (summer) Dehradun (winter)

Gujarat becomes 1st state to launch ‘Balika Panchayat’

• Gujarat has become the first state to launch Balika Panchayat (girl Panchayat) in India.

Aim :

• To promote the social and political development of the girls and ensure their active participation of girls in politics.

About Balika Panchayat (girl Panchayat) :

• This is a unique initiative of the Women and Child Development Welfare department of the Gujarat Government under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign.
• It has been started in Kunaria, Maska, Motagua, and Vadsar villages of the Kutch district.

Objective :

• To promote the social and political development of the girl child and to remove the evil practices from the society such as child marriage, and the dowry system.
• Balika panchayat is a panchayat of girls between the age of 10 and 21 years

Note :

• 20-year-old Urmi Ahir has been named the sarpanch of the Balika Panchayat.

About Gujarat :

• Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel
• Governor: Acharya Devvrat
• Capital: Gandhinagar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

Max Life Insurance Company Ltd Collaborates with Policybazaar to launch life insurance savings plan

• Max Life Insurance Company Ltd has partnered with com to launch the ‘Max Life Smart Fixed-return Digital Plan’, a non-linked, non-participating, individual life insurance savings plan.
• The offer helps customers meet short-term financial goals with a minimum policy tenure of 5 years.

About ‘Max Life Smart Fixed-return Digital Plan’ :

• The plan offers guaranteed tax-free returns up to14% along with life cover protection at monthly premiums as low as ₹3000.
• It is also available to purchase on Max Life’s website and Policybazaar.com

Key features :

• Simplified on-boarding process along with instant confirmation of issuance after journey completion
• Fully guaranteed returns payable as a lump sum at maturity
• Flexibility to pay premiums monthly or annually for just 5 years
• Flexibility to choose between different variants, tailored to meet different financial security needs
• Higher benefits offered for higher premiums paid, as per the chosen goals
• Special benefits for women customers: 0.25% additional maturity benefit for 5 years’ policy term; 0.5% for 10 years policy term
• Option of taking a loan against policy to help in case of financial emergencies
• Tax benefits on premiums paid and tax-free maturity benefits, depending on the chosen variant, as per prevailing tax laws.

About Max Life Insurance Company Ltd :

• MD & CEO: Prashant Tripathy
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana

About Policybazaar.com :

• Founded: 2008
• Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
• CEO: Sarbvir Singh

Freo tie-up with Equitas small finance bank to launch digital savings account

• Freo, one of India’s leading consumer neo banks, in partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank launched its digital savings account ‘Freo Save’.
• With this launch, it has become the first consumer neo bank in the country to provide full-stack neo-banking products, including smart savings accounts, credit and payments products, cards, and wealth-growth products.
• The neo bank is planning to open one million new accounts in the next ten months.

About ‘Freo Save’ :

• Freo’s digital savings account has been integrated with Equitas’ infrastructure on the Freo Save App and has seamless UPI integration, making it a 100 percent digital experience.
• Freo Save will offer quick access to credit & shopping and through its partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank.
• It will provide up to 7 percent interest on customer savings for balances above ₹5 lakh up to ₹2 crores.
• Freo Save will be available in multiple Indian languages, including English, Hindi, and

About Freo :

• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka
• Co-Founder : Anuj Kacker
• Freo is India’s first credit-led neo bank.
• Earlier it was Started as MoneyTap in 2016.
• Currently, it offers a wide range of financial products, including credit lines, credit cards, EMI cards, deposits & savings, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) products in partnership with banks and financial institutions.

About Equitas Small Finance Bank :

• Founded: 2016
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• MD & CEO: Vasudevan P N

RBI extends the date for implementing provisions on cards by 3 months to Oct 1, 2022

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the deadline to implement three provisions by three months, as part of new regulatory guidelines for issuing credit and debit cards from July 1, 2022, to October 1, 2022.

1. Regarding card issuers being mandated to seek one-time password-based consent from the cardholder for activating a credit card, if not activated by the customer for more than 30 days from the date of issuance
2. Card issuers will have to ensure that the credit limit as sanctioned and advised to the cardholder is not breached at any point in time without seeking explicit consent from the cardholder.
3. The issuers shall not capitalize on unpaid charges for the compounding of interest.

• The deadline extension specifically for the aforementioned provisions comes in the wake of RBI receiving various representations from the industry stakeholders.

Additional Info :

• The central bank had issued the “Master Direction – Credit Card and Debit Card – Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2022” in April 2022 & the Directions are effective from July 1, 2022.

About RBI :

• Established: 1 April 1935
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Governor : Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors: Mahesh Kumar Jain, Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra, and T. Rabi Shankar

CARD91 enters a strategic partnership with YES BANK and RuPay to help simplify payment management

• CARD91 is a global payment infrastructure powering Business Business (B2B) payments announced a strategic partnership with YES BANK and RuPay, the flagship product of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

About the Partnership :

• Through this partnership, CARD91 will create a card management system that will allow companies to launch a variety of co-branded card instruments as well as maintain a real-time dashboard to generate insights.
• It will enable CARD91 to expand its presence in the Indian payments market.
• The Partnership will enable the company to provide businesses of all kinds across various sectors with a range of card instruments for managing and securing payments.
• Businesses will now have an option to choose from co-branded or non-branded card instruments, thereby giving them an innovative solution to address specific use.

Key Features :

• CARD91 is a plug-and-play Payment Issuance Infrastructure designed to help businesses launch co-branded cards and simplify payments.
• By managing compliance, regulation, infrastructure, lending, issuance, and customer service, the company offers a seamless process for the launch of co-branded payment cards.
• CARD91 optimizes costs, decreases launch time, and provides real-time insights and data on card instruments.
• It allows businesses to monitor their payment flows, from onboarding to processing transactions and data reconciliation.
• Banks can offer their customers access to new-age payment services, as well as support card-based lending.

About CARD91 :

• Founded: 2020
• Founders : Ajay Pandey, Kush Srivastava, Vineet Saxena
• Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka

South Indian Bank Launches EXIM Trade Portal – ‘SIB TF Online’

• The South Indian Bank (SIB) has launched a new portal called ‘SIB TF Online’ for its corporate EXIM (Export-Import) customers.
• The portal provides the customers with a platform for trade-related payments and remittances to foreign entities without visiting the bank’s branches.
• The customer can initiate the payment request over SIB TF Online after uploading the supporting documents for the transaction.
• Recently, the bank launched an internet banking facility specifically to enable retail savings bank (SB) and NRE SB customers to initiate foreign remittances without visiting the branch.
• Similar to the internet banking facility, SIB TF Online would offer customers a simplified transactional experience.

Key Highlights :

• SIB plans to launch SIB TF Online in phases with the initial version allowing for 3 types of import remittances, namely

1. Advance Remittance for Imports
2. Remittance against Import Bill received from overseas Bank for Collection (Bank-to-Bank Foreign Inward Collection Bill) and
3. Payment against Import documents received by Importer directly from overseas suppliers

• In the launch of subsequent phases, the portal will facilitate all other forex transactions as well.
• SIB TF Online has been hosted on the home page of Corporate Internet Banking (SIBerNet) and would allow corporates to transact on the portal digitally and 24×7, in a safe and paperless manner.

About South Indian Bank :

• Founded: 29 January 1929
• Headquarters: Thrissur, Kerala, India
• MD & CEO: Murali Ramakrishnan

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Mr. P Udayakumar assumes office as Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NSIC

• P.Udayakumar, Director (Planning & Marketing) National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) assumes an additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC.

About Mr. P.Udayakumar :

• He is a Mechanical engineer from College of Engg, Guindy with post-graduation from IIM Bangalore with 12 years of Board experience.
• He is an expert in the MSME domain.
• He was part of many initiatives of the Ministry of MSME.
• He is an Investment Committee member of the PE growth fund namely the SRI Fund, the Fund of the Ministry of MSME.
• He will be Chairman of NSIC Venture capital fund Ltd.
• He writes on MSME development issues.

About NSIC :

• Founded: 1955
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) is a Mini Ratna government agency established by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME), GoI.

Former Australia Cricketer Lisa Sthalekar Becomes First Woman President Of FICA

• Legendary Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar has become the first woman president of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA).
• Her appointment was made at a meeting of the organization’s executive committee in Nyon, Switzerland, the first in-person meeting since the start of the Covid pandemic.
• Earlier, Sthalekar had been on the board of FICA as an independent director.
• Notably, former West Indies batter Jimmy Adams and ex-South Africa batter Barry Richards have also served as president of FICA in the past.

About Lisa Sthalekar :

• Sthalekar represented Australia in 187 international matches across the 3 formats.
• She was part of the Australian teams that won the ODI World Cups in 2005 and 2013 and the T20 World Cups in 2010 and 2012.
• The all-rounder scored 2,728 runs in ODIs besides picking 146 wickets, and 769 runs in T20Is apart from claiming 60 wickets.
• Lisa, who received Australia’s best woman international cricketer award in both 2007 and 2008, played 187 matches for the national side from 2001 to 2013.
• She was the first woman to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs.
• She played 8 Tests and 54 T20 International matches.
• In 2021, she became only the fourth woman to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.
• She has also worked with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and has experience in player welfare.

About FICA :

• Founded: 1998
• The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) is an organization that coordinates the activities of all the national players’ associations that represent professional cricketers.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

DBS Bank India acquires 9.9% stake in NBFC Svakarma Finance

• DBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL) has acquired a 9.9% stake in Svakarma Finance, a non-banking financial company, for delivering financial solutions to micro-enterprises through a combination of direct lending and co-lending.
• DBS will continue to identify opportunities to support lending to micro-enterprises in a cost-efficient manner through its own expanded franchise as well as through partners.

About Svakarma Finance:

• Svakarma Finance is a non-deposit-taking non-banking financial Company (NBFC), set up by former bankers to target Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) using an industry segment and cluster-focused delivery model leveraging smart technology and data.
• It is currently present across Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.

Mission :

• To democratize access to cash and information to empower businesses.

About DBS Bank India Ltd :

• Establishment: 1994
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO: Surojit Shome
• DBS Bank India Ltd is among the first foreign banks in India to start operating as a wholly-owned, locally incorporated subsidiary.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

South Korea ‘successfully’ launches homegrown space rocket Nuri

• South Korea has successfully launched its first domestically developed space rocket, the Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle II called Nuri, lifted off from the Naro Space Center at a launch site in Goheung Jeollanam do Province, South Korea.
• The three-stage Nuri rocket has been in development for a decade for 2 trillion won ($1.5bn).
• The launch would make South Korea become the 7th country in the world to have developed a space launch vehicle that can carry a more than 1-tonne satellite, after Russia, the US, France, China, Japan, and India.
• South Korea has also launched a preliminary feasibility study for the successor to the Nuri intending to send a lunar landing module to the moon in 2031

About Nuri :

• Nuri is the first space launch vehicle developed with domestic technology.
• A total of 300 South Korean companies took part in developing the rocket.
• It is a three-stage rocket, more than 47 meters (154 feet) long and weighing 200 tons.
• It is Loaded with a 5-kilogram (358-pound) performance-verification satellite, as well as 4 cube satellites for academic research and a 1.3-ton dummy satellite &, and reached its target orbit of 700 kilometers (435 miles) above the Earth.
• It was topped with five satellites that will carry out Earth observation missions, such as monitoring the atmosphere, for up to two years.
• South Korean researchers and engineers have developed all parts of the Nuri, including 75-ton and 7-ton liquid fuel engines and pairings, a cover to protect satellites mounted on the launch vehicle.

Additional Info :

• Director of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute: Lee Sang-ryul

About Naro Space Center :

• The Naro Space Center is a South Korean spaceport in South Jeolla’s Goheung County, operated by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

About South Korea :

• President: Yoon Suk-yeol
• PM: Han Duck-soo
• Capital: Seoul
• Currency: the Korean Republic won

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKS & REPORTS

India ranks 4th in gold recycling with a refining capacity of 1,800 tonnes: WGC report

• The World Gold Council launched a report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling, in which India has ranked 4th in global gold recycling in 2021 with 75 tonnes of gold recycling.
• The report estimated that from 2013 to 2021, India’s gold refining capacity increased by 1,500 tonnes, or 500%, to 1,800 tonnes.

Top 3 in global gold recycling in 2021 :

1. China – Recycled 168 tonnes of gold
2. Italy – 80
3. United States of America (USA)- 78

• Over the past five years 11% of the country’s gold supply came from ‘old gold’; driven by movements in the gold price, future gold price expectations, and wider economic outlook.

Key Highlights :

• In India, the informal sector accounts for as much as an additional 300-500 tonnes
• India’s gold refining landscape has changed notably over the last decade, with the number of formal operations increasing from less than 5 in 2013 to 33 in 2021.
• The country’s organized gold refining capacity has surged to an estimated 1,800 tonnes compared to just 300 tonnes in 2013.
• The gold doré’s share of overall imports has risen from just 7% in 2013 to around 22% in 2021.
• India recycles little of its stock of gold, about 8 percent of the global scrap supply.
• There are three sources of gold recycling: jewelry, manufacturing scrap, and end-of-life industrial scrap.
• The report highlights that amidst India’s growing demand for gold, recycling will continue to be key and the refining industry, which is currently stabilizing after a period of change, will witness steady development.

About WGC :

• CEO: David Tait
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• The World Gold Council is the market development organization for the gold industry.
• It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and it aims to stimulate and sustain demand for gold.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

Spices Board to enable market access to farmers through Flipkart:

• Spices Board, a Ministry of Commerce and Industry establishment, under its initiative Flavourit Spices Trading Limited (FSTL), has signed a Terms of Understanding (ToU) with e-commerce platform Flipkart to enhance market access and help promote farmers and grassroots organizations working in the spices sector.
• The ToU was signed under the Flipkart Samarth Program, which aims to empower MSMEs, artisans, entrepreneurs, and rural seller and farmer communities selling products associated with rich cultural heritage through Flipkart’s e-commerce platform

About Flipkart:

• Founded: October 2007
• CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS AND PORTAL

Govt launches Rashtriya Puruskar Portal for inviting nominations for various awards:

• The Union Government has launched the Rashtriya Puruskar Portal for inviting nominations for various awards from the various Ministries, Departments, and agencies to ensure transparency and public partnership.
• This common portal has been developed by the government to bring together all the awards under one digital platform.
• The Portal aims to facilitate citizens to nominate individuals and organizations for various awards instituted by the Government of India.
• Presently nominations and recommendations for Padma Awards are open till the 15th of September this year for Sardar Patel National Unity Awards, nominations will be open till the 31st of July.
• Nomination for Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award will remain open till the 16th of June and nomination for the Jeevan Raksha Padak series of Awards will be open till the 30th of September 2022.
• The individual can be nominated for Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Telecom Skill Excellence Award.
• Individuals and organizations can visit awards.gov.in

NCPCR launches “CiSS application” under Baal Swaraj portal to help the rehabilitation of children in street situations:

• The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has launched a “CiSS application” under the Baal Swaraj portal to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations. (CiSS)
• Baal Swaraj is a portal launched by NCPCR for online tracking and digital real-time monitoring mechanism of children in need of care and protection.
• The portal has two functions- COVID care and CiSS.
• COVID Care link caters to the children who have lost either or both parents due to COVID-19 or otherwise post-March 2020.
• It follows six stages framework for the rehabilitation of children.
• The first stage is the collection of the child’s details, which is accomplished through the portal.
• The second stage is Social Investigating Report (SIR) i.e. investigating the child’s background. This is done under the supervision of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) by the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) by conversing and counseling the child.
• The third stage is formulating an Individual Care Plan (ICP) for the child.
• The fourth stage is the order of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) based on the SIR submitted to the CWC.
• The fifth stage is allocating the schemes and benefits that the beneficiary can avail of.
• And in the sixth stage, a checklist is made for the evaluation of the progress.

About the Portal:

• This portal, developed by, NCPCR is a first-of-its-kind initiative in India to help children in street situations.
• The CiSS application is used for receiving data of children in street situations from all the states and union territories, tracking their rescue and rehabilitation process.
• The initiative is taken under the direction of the Supreme Court of India.
• The program embodies Article 51 (A) of the Constitution of India, as it provides a platform to the public and organizations catering to the welfare of the children to report any child in need of assistance.
• The platform serves to collect data and report to the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) for them to take necessary action.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

India finalized deals for cheetahs from South Africa & Namibia:

• The world’s fastest creatures, cheetahs, which went extinct in India, have been acquired by the Indian government through agreements with South Africa and Namibia.
• They will be reintroduced into the wild at Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh, by the end of 2022.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed initially for ten years, with an option for an additional five years.
• There will be 8 cheetahs from Namibia and 12 from South Africa, with more to come in succeeding years.

Key Points:

• The environment ministry is working with the Wildlife Institute of India to carry out a lengthy, one-time initiative to bring cheetahs from Africa to India to bring back the wild cat, which went extinct in India in the 1950s.
• Kuno Palpur was approved as a potential place for the translocation of cheetahs by the expert team that the Supreme Court had formed.
• The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has been preparing a 10 sq km enclosure with 24-hour surveillance for the reintroduction of cheetahs for the past six months.

India’s newest recorded snail named after the Western Ghats:

• A carnivorous land snail discovered in Maharashtra’s western Ghats has made scientific history.
• It has been named after the original site of the species in the northern portion of the Western Ghats, which is Sahyadri in Sanskrit.
• The Haploptychius sahyadriensis is endemic to the Vishalgad Conservation Reserve in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district.
• The Haploptychius sahyadriensis, recorded from the northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, is the third member of the genus
• The other two – H. andamanicus and H. pfeifferi – were recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the 1860s.

About the snail:

• The ‘Sahyadri snail’ is distinguished from other Indian and Southeast Asia’s Haploptychius in having a sub-oblique helical shell, low spire, and presence of a strong parietal lamella.
• The new species also has a unique genital anatomy.
• Haploptychius sahyadriensis is different from the other Indian and South-East Asian species.
• India has 1,450 snails and slugs with the highest diversity in north-eastern India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Matteo Berrettini defeats Andy Murray in the championship game to win the Stuttgart Open:

• Matteo Berrettini defeated Andy Murray in the 2022 Stuttgart Open final.
• He overcame Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in a closely fought contest.
• The Italian had earlier missed the clay season after undergoing a minor operation on his right hand in late March.
• However, he showed his class, getting to a win-loss record of 28-6 on grass.
• The 26-year-old Berrettini now holds a perfect 9-0 record at the ATP 250 event.

About Berrettini :

• Berrettini has now won six ATP titles in his career.
• He has a 13-6 win-loss record in 2022.
• Before this, he had lost in the round of 16 at Indian Wells.
• Notably, he had reached the semis of the 2022 Australian Open.
• He went on to win the title in his only previous appearance in Stuttgart in 2019.
• Berrettini also clinched the crown on the grass at The Queen’s Club 2021.

Indian women’s Wrestling team wins Under-17 Asian Championship:

• The Indian women’s wrestling team won five medals in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to win the Under-17 Asian Championship with a total of eight gold.
• With a total of 235 points, including eight gold medals, one silver, and one bronze, India won the championship.
• With 143 points, Japan had to settle for second place, while Mongolia took third place with 138 points.
• Women’s wrestling matches were conducted in 5 weight divisions.

List of Winners:

• Ritika earned gold in the 43-kilogram category for Indian women
• Ahilaya Shinde won gold in the 49-kilogram category
• Siksha hoisted the gold medal in the 57-kilogram category
• Priya won the gold in the 73-kilogram category and
• Pulkit won the silver in the 65-kilogram category.
• Additionally, there were three weight divisions in freestyle contests, where Parwinder Singh won gold in the 80-kilogram division while Narender took home silver in the 71-kilogram division.

Minister of Civil Aviation releases National Air Sports Policy 2022:

• The National Air Sport Policy 2022 was introduced by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation (NASP 2022).
• By 2023, India should rank among the top sporting nations, according to NASP 2022’s objective.
• The policy guarantees that there will be air sports that are entertaining, economical, accessible, and sustainable in India.
• A variety of sporting events that will be held in the air were included in the air sports.
• India, a growing nation, has the potential to overtake other nations as a leader in the field of air sports.
• India has a huge geographic area, a pleasant climate, and a sizable population, with a large proportion of young people.
• These factors can help India promote air sports.
• The upcoming young will participate more in air sports, as these sporting activities will take place in an air-conditioned environment.

Attendees:

• Several ministers assisted in organizing the event including Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, Airport Authority of India (AAI), and Shri Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Smt. Rubina Ali, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Shri SK Mishra, Joint Secretary, MoCA, Shri Piyush Srivastava, Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA, Shri PK Thakur, Deputy Director-General, MoCA, and other dignitaries from AAI, MoCA, DGCA, and BCAS.

Four government structures have been established for the Air sports under the Policy, and their names are as follows:

• Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) is the apex governing body
• National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, as appropriate
• Regional (e.g., West/ South/ North East, etc.) or State and Union Territory level units of the national air sports associations, as appropriate; and
• District-level air sports associations, as appropriate.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

Haryana CM releases a book ‘Ashtang Yoga’ authored by Dr. Sonu Phogat:

• On the eighth International Yoga Day, Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal Khattar published the book Ashtang Yoga authored by Sonu Phogat.
• Every person, according to Manohar Lal Khattar, should have a resolution for yoga and must identify with that resolution.
• The Yog to Sehyog Mantra will illuminate a fresh path into the future.
• It is a source of pleasure that the yoga book was published on the eve of International Yoga Day, recognizing the efforts of author Dr. Sonu Phogat.
• It will help the people, he claimed.

Daily CA on June 24 :

• The government has made a project investment of Rs 7,242.90 crore has been made in the last two years under Padhan Mantri Matsya Samapada Yojana (PMMSY) while announcing the launch of a dashboard of this flagship scheme.
• The Central Government’s dream project, Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) is five years old in 2022.
• Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the Jyotirgamaya, a festival honoring the talent of unappreciated performers, in New Delhi.

• The “National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Commerce” (NIRYAT) portal, which will give information on India’s foreign trade, and the new office complex for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, “Vanijya Bhawan,” will both be formally opened by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
• The “Surya Nutan,” a patented indigenous solar cooktop created by the oil refiner’s Faridabad R&D center, has been revealed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States has announced a funding of USD 122 million (USD 122,475,000) to the top 3 Indian medical research institutions ie Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi, National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, Maharashtra and National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu over five years.
• Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh went on a 3-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnam’s Minister of National Defence General Mr. Phan Van Giang.
• The World Bank has approved a project named Uttarakhand Climate Responsive Rain-fed Farming worth Rs 1,000 crore to promote rain-fed farming in the hilly regions of Uttarakhand.
• Gujarat has become the first state to launch Balika Panchayat (girl Panchayat) in India.
• Max Life Insurance Company Ltd has partnered with Policybazaar.com to launch the ‘Max Life Smart Fixed-return Digital Plan’, a non-linked, non-participating, individual life insurance savings plan.
• Freo, one of India’s leading consumer neo banks, in partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank launched its digital savings account ‘Freo Save’.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the deadline to implement three provisions by three months, as part of new regulatory guidelines for issuing credit and debit cards from July 1, 2022, to October 1, 2022.
• CARD91 is a global payment infrastructure powering Business Business (B2B) payments announced a strategic partnership with YES BANK and RuPay, the flagship product of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• The South Indian Bank (SIB) has launched a new portal called ‘SIB TF Online’ for its corporate EXIM (Export-Import) customers.
• Mr. P.Udayakumar, Director (Planning & Marketing) National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) assumes an additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director, NSIC.
• Legendary Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar has become the first woman president of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA).
• DBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL) has acquired a 9.9% stake in Svakarma Finance, a non-banking financial company, for delivering financial solutions to micro-enterprises through a combination of direct lending and co-lending.
• South Korea has successfully launched its first domestically developed space rocket, the Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle II called Nuri, lifted off from the Naro Space Center at a launch site in Goheung Jeollanam do Province, South Korea.
• The World Gold Council launched a report titled ‘Gold refining and recycling, in which India has ranked 4th in global gold recycling in 2021 with 75 tonnes of gold recycling.

• Spices Board, a Ministry of Commerce and Industry establishment, under its initiative Flavourit Spices Trading Limited (FSTL), has signed a ToU with e-commerce platform Flipkart to enhance market access and help promote farmers and grassroots organizations working in the spices sector.
• The Union Government has launched the Rashtriya Puruskar Portal for inviting nominations for various awards from the various Ministries, Departments, and agencies to ensure transparency and public partnership.
• The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has launched a “CiSS application” under the Baal Swaraj portal to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations. (CiSS) A carnivorous land snail discovered in Maharashtra’s the Western Ghats has made scientific history.
• The world’s fastest creatures, cheetahs, which went extinct in India, have been acquired by the Indian government through agreements with South Africa and Namibia.
• Matteo Berrettini defeated Andy Murray in the 2022 Stuttgart Open final.
• The Indian women’s wrestling team won five medals in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to win the Under-17 Asian Championship with a total of eight gold.
• The National Air Sport Policy 2022 was introduced by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation (NASP 2022).
• On the eighth International Yoga Day, Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal Khattar published the book Ashtang Yoga authored by Sonu Phogat.