Daily Current Affairs July 07 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

PM Set to Launch UP Expressway in Coming Week:

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is scheduled to officially open the Bundelkhand Expressway in the first week of July.
• The administration has predicted that these events would take place on July 6 or 7.
• The 296.07 km long Bundelkhand Expressway links Delhi and the National Capital Area with the Bundelkhand region near Agra.
• The Prime Minister’s office has indicated July 6-7 as potential dates for the Bundelkhand Expressway inaugural event.
• However, the final choice about the dates has not yet been made.
• The Agra-Lucknow Expressway and the Bundelkhand Expressway join near Kudrail village in the Etawah district.
• The Bundelkhand Expressway begins at Bharatkoop in the Chitrakoot district.

Key Points:

• The Bundelkhand Expressway’s opening will be the second major occasion under the Yogi Government.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the third groundbreaking event in the state on June 3rd as the primary guest.
• Only 28 months after Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the expressway on February 29, 2020, it was finished ahead of schedule.
• The precise deadline assigned for finishing this expressway was 36 months.
• The UP Government has saved 1,132 crores, or around 72 percent of the initial anticipated cost, with this initiative.
• The seven districts of the state are connected by the four-lane Bundelkhand Expressway, which is set to become six lanes in the upcoming year.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will perform the expressway’s opening ceremony at the Jalaun district’s Katheri hamlet.

Bundelkhand Expressway:

• The expressway travels over six toll booths, 266 minor bridges, four railroad overpasses, and 18 flyovers.
• The districts through which the expressway passes are listed below.
• Chitrakoot
• Banda
• Hamirpur
• Mahoba
• Jalaun
• Auraiya
• Etawah

The rivers along the Expressway are:

• Bagen
• Ken
• Shyama
• Chandawal
• Birma
• The Yamuna
• Betwa
• Sengar

Projects worth Rs. 1,800 Crore were inaugurated during PM Modi’s visit to Varanasi:

• Shri Narendra Modi, the prime minister, will head to Varanasi to visit his Lok Sabha district.
• There, he will dedicate and lay the cornerstone for several development initiatives totaling more than $8,000,000.
• These programs will concentrate on enhancing infrastructure and simplifying people’s lives.
• At LT College in Varanasi, the Prime Minister will open the “Akshay Patra Mid-Day Meal Kitchen.”
• Up to one lakh, pupils can get midday meals from the college.
• The “Akshay Patra Mid-Day Meal Kitchen” will be officially opened.
• Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will open the International Cooperation and Convention Centre’s “Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam,” which will discuss the execution of the National Education Policy.
• At the Dr. Sampurnanad Sports stadium, the Prime Minister will dedicate several projects worth $8,000 crore and lay their foundation stones.
• The following events will be facilitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi:
• Building a four-lane overpass on the route between Babatpur and Kapsethi-Bhadohi
• Varuna River Bridge on Central Jail Road
• Pindra-Kathiraon Road widening
• Phoolpur-Sindhaura connection road widening
• strengthening and building eight country roads
• seven roads will be built as part of the PMGSY, and the Dharsauna-Sindhaura route will be widened.
• The foundation stone will be laid by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for projects totaling more than Rs. 1200 crore.
• Among the several road infrastructure projects are:
• Road expansion from Lahartara to six lanes.
• Vijaya Cinema to BHU
• The road from Pandeypur flyover to ring road is expanded to four lanes.
• From Kuchaheri to Sandaha, a four-lane highway.
• improving and enlarging rural roads between Varanasi and Bhadohi
• the building of five new highways
• In the rural area of Varanasi, four CC roads are being built.
• On the Babatpur-Chaubeypur route, a bridge over a road is being built close to the Babatpur railway station.

PM Shri Modi inaugurated Digital India Week 2022 at Gandhinagar:

• Digital India Week 2022 was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Catalyzing New India’s Techade is the focus of this year’s Digital India Week, which aims to convert the country into a knowledge-based society and economy.
• The three-day orientation session “India Stack Knowledge Exchange- Showcasing India Stack and India’s Digital Products and Services” for Digital India Week 2022 will begin on July 7.

About The Digital India Week 2022 program:

• The Digital India Week 2022 program will highlight the digital platforms that have made life easier for the populace, including Aadhaar, UPI, Cowin, and Digilocker.
• Startups, government officials, business and academic professionals, and entrepreneurs will all take part in this session.
• Indian unicorns and startups have put up an expo at Mahatma Mandir with more than 200 booths.
• Along with other visitors, Prime Minister Mr. Modi engaged in conversation with those involved with startups and unicorns at this expo.

Highlights:

• Additionally, Modi has introduced “Digital India Bhashini,” which would make it simple for Indians to use the internet and digital services in their native tongues.
• Additionally, he established the national deep-tech startup platform “Digital India GENESIS” – Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups.
• For these programs, a total budget of 750 crore rupees has been planned.
• The government programs will be accessible through “MyScheme,” which the Prime Minister has also dedicated.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Interoperability of card tokens across payment channels introduced by Cashfree:

• Online payment processor Cashfree Payments announced that the interoperability would be supported by their card tokenization solution, Token Vault.
• The interoperability feature of Token Vault allows companies that use multiple payment gateways to process tokenized card transactions through any payment gateway and card network of their choosing.

Key Points:

• Businesses may connect with Token Vault to securely tokenize cards issued by all major card networks, including Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay, when they utilize Cashfree’s Payment Gateway.
• Thanks to this capability, businesses won’t waste time connecting with many token service providers to tokenize cards and conduct transactions.
• With Token Vault’s interoperability functionality, we want to empower individuals.
• Organizations and merchants may manage saved card transactions across any card network or payment gateway with a single tokenization system.
• They won’t have to rely on a certain payment processor to use Token Vault.
• Starting on September 30, 2022, businesses and payment aggregators must tokenize a customer’s card when offering the saved card option.

About Card tokenization

• Card tokenization involves replacing sensitive card information, such as the card number, expiration date, and CVV, with tokens, cryptograms, and other data that cannot be traced back to the original card information.
• This eliminates the chance of misplacing private card information when making a transaction.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

RBI imposes monetary penalty on Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank & 3 Cooperative Banks

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.05 crore on Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and Rs 1 crore on IndusInd Bank Ltd. for violating the provisions of its regulations.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank has failed to maintain a margin on advances to stock brokers, and credit the amount involved in the unauthorized electronic transactions to the customers’ accounts.
• IndusInd Bank has failed to adhere to customer due diligence procedures in the accounts opened using One Time Password (OTP) based e-KYC.
• As per the banking regulator, It has imposed a penalty on Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited for contravention of the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act) read with paragraph 3 of ‘The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014’ and for non-compliance with the directions on ‘Customer Protection – Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorized Electronic Banking Transactions’, and ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions.
• The RBI has also penalized Rs 1 crore on IndusInd Bank for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Reserve Bank of India (Know Your Customer (KYC)) Directions, 2016’.

Penalties on 3 Cooperative Banks :

• Ulhasnagar-based Nav Jeevan Co-operative Bank – Rs 2 lakh monetary Penalty
• Odisha-based Balangir District Central Cooperative Bank – Rs 1 lakh monetary penalty
• Dhakuria Cooperative Bank Ltd, Kolkata, West Bengal – Rs 2 lakh monetary Penalty

Recent News :

• On June 27, 2022, the RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Tamil Nadu-based The Tiruchengode Cooperative Urban Bank as it did not comply with directions issued on exposure norms and statutory or other restrictions of the urban cooperative bank and Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines.

Edelweiss General Insurance launches motor insurance product – SWITCH

• Edelweiss General Insurance has launched SWITCH, a comprehensive motor insurance product under Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDAI) Sandbox initiative.

About SWITCH :

• SWITCH is a completely digital, mobile telematics-based motor policy.
• The app detects motion and automatically activates insurance when the vehicle is driven, making it convenient and hassle-free for customers.
• Moreover, it rewards policyholders if they are driving well, as it measures both the quantity and quality of driving and calculates premiums accordingly.
• Customers are given a driving score based on several parameters such as overspeeding, distracted driving, and sudden braking, among others.
• The policy also allows customers to pay premiums in monthly installments after the initial premium is paid to activate the policy.
• The vehicle will be covered 24/7/365 against fire and theft.
• For instance, ‘’pay as you drive’ policies charge a lower premium when the vehicle is driven less and charge higher when driven more.

About Edelweiss General Insurance :

• Founded: 2017
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• CEO & Executive Director: Shanai Ghosh

RBI’s DICGC to pay depositors of two co-operative banks

• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) will pay the eligible depositors of Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Sahakari Bank, Ichalkaranji, and Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank, Wai in Aug 2022.

Key Highlights :

• Eligible depositors of Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Sahakari Bank will get the payment on August 10, 2022, and those of Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank on August 28, 2022.
• Depositors of the 2 Maharashtra-based banks will get the amount credited to the alternate bank account specified by them, or on their consent, to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
• DICGC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI, provides an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh on bank deposits.
• Deposit insurance extended by the DICGC covers all commercial banks, including local area banks and regional rural banks as well as co-operative banks in all the states and UTs.
• DICGC settled aggregate claims of Rs 8,516.6 crore under different channels during 2021-22.
• The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Act, passed by Parliament in 2021, made significant changes in the landscape of deposit insurance in India.
• Under the Act, the Corporation is liable to pay the insured deposit amount to depositors of an insured bank. Such liability may arise when an insured bank undergoes liquidation, reconstruction, or any other arrangement under a scheme, and merger or acquisition by another bank.

About DICGC :

• Established: 15 July 1978
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman: M.D. Patra
• The DICGC is a specialized division of the Reserve Bank of India which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, GoI.

RBI launches next round of survey of manufacturing companies

• The Reserve Bank of India has launched the 58th round of the Order Books, Inventories, and Capacity Utilization Survey (OBICUS) of manufacturing companies for the April – June 2022 period, results of which provide valuable inputs for monetary policy formulation.
• Selected manufacturing companies will be approached by the RBI for the survey.
• The RBI has also launched the 2021-22 round of its Survey on International Trade in Banking Services (ITBS).

About OBICUS :

• The RBI has been conducting the OBICUS of the manufacturing sector every quarter since 2008.
• It provides information on financial services rendered by branches/ subsidiaries/joint ventures of Indian banks operating abroad and branches/subsidiaries of foreign banks operating in India.
• The information collected in the survey includes quantitative data on new orders received during the reference quarter, backlog of orders at the beginning of the quarter, pending orders at the end of the quarter, and total inventories with a breakup between finished goods, among others.

About RBI :

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

HDFC Bank receives no objection letter from RBI for merger with HDFC

• The country’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank has received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval for the merger of Housing Development Finance Corporation with the lender.
• Also, the merger proposal between the two entities received approval from stock exchanges BSE and NSE.
• The scheme remains subject to various statutory and regulatory approvals inter alia including approvals from the Competition Commission of India, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), other applicable authorities, and the respective shareholders and creditors of the companies involved in the Scheme, as may be required.
• Once the deal is effective, HDFC Bank will be 100 percent owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 percent of the bank.
• Every HDFC shareholder will get 42 shares of HDFC Bank for every 25 shares held.
• In April 2022, HDFC Bank agreed to take over HDFC in a deal valued at about USD 40 billion.
• The proposed combined entity will have an asset base of around Rs 18 lakh crore.
• The merger is expected to be completed by the second or third quarter of FY24, subject to regulatory approvals.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Mr. Aviva India appoints Asit Rath as MD & CEO

• Private life insurer Aviva Life Insurance Company India has appointed Mr. Asit Rath as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) will come into effect on July 11, 2022.
• He succeeded Mr. Amit Malik.

About Mr. Asit Rath :

• He comes with 22 years of banking and insurance experience in India and Myanmar and has strong distribution experience with ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life in India.
• Currently, he is the CEO of Prudential Myanmar Life Insurance.

About Aviva India :

• Founded: 2002
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana
• Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited is a joint venture between Dabur Invest Corp, one of India’s oldest and most respected business houses, and Aviva International Holdings Limited, a UK-based insurance group.
• Aviva International has been associated with India since 1834.

Insecticides India Limited (IIL) appoints Ajay Devgn as brand ambassador

• One of the country’s largest crop protection and Nutrition companies, Insecticides (India) Ltd. (IIL), has roped in Bollywood’s versatile superstar Ajay Devgn as their brand ambassador.
• With the support of Devgn, the company intends to spread the message of judicious use of agrochemicals besides communicating about their products and boosting farmer awareness in India to the grassroots level.

About IIL :

• Founded: 2002
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• MD: Rajesh Aggarwal

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Tata Steel acquires strategic stake in NINL

• The Ministry of Finance stated that the strategic disinvestment transaction for Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) has been completed, with the transfer of 93.71 percent shares of the joint venture partners to Tata Steel Long products Limited (TSLP).
• Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) is a Joint Venture of 4 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), namely Mineral & Metal Trading Corporation (MMTC) with a shareholding of 49.78 percent; National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) with a shareholding of 10.10 percent; Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) with a shareholding of 0.68 percent; MECON with a shareholding of 0.68 percent; and 2 Odisha Government PSUs, namely Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) with a shareholding of 20.47 percent and Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) with a shareholding of 12 percent.
• The Enterprise Value is ₹12,100 Crores paid by Tata Steel Long products Limited.
• This payment has been utilized as per the SPA for settlement of dues of employees, operational creditors, secured financial creditors, and sellers (operational and financial dues) and for equity of selling shareholders as per SPA.
• Earlier, the Letter of Award (LOA) was issued to Tata Steel Long Products Limited on 2 February 2022, and the SPA was signed on 10 March 2022.

About NINL :

• Location: Jaipur, Odisha
• Chairman: J Rabi Shanker

About Tata Steel Long products Limited :

• Headquarters: Keonjhar, Odisha
• MD: Ashish Anupam
• TSLP is the subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited.

About Ministry of Finance :

• Cabinet Minister : Nirmala Sitharaman
• Minister of State : Bhagwat Karad, Pankaj Choudhary

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

Indian Navy commissions the first ALH Squadron INAS 324 in Visakhapatnam

• The Indian Naval Air Squadron 324, (INAS 324), was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam to boost its maritime surveillance in the presence of Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
• It is the first naval squadron on the eastern seaboard operating the indigenously designed and built advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv MK III helicopters.
• The INAS 324 Squadron is being commanded by Commander SS Dash, who is a highly experienced ALH Qualified Flying Instructor and has extensive operational experience.

About INAS 324 :

• INAS 324 has been named “KESTRELS”, which are birds of prey and have good sensory capabilities, symbolizing the envisaged role of the aircraft and the air squadron
• The insignia of the squadron depicts a “KESTREL” searching over vast blue and white sea waves, which signifies the integral maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue (SAR) role.
• These helicopters are indigenously designed and built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• The ALH MK III helicopters are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment which includes modern surveillance radar and electro-optical sensors.
• These helicopters can also be deployed for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations as well as special operations with Marine Commandos.
• The helicopter also has an airborne Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) for use in the air ambulance role to facilitate the medical evacuation of critically ill patients.

About the Indian Navy :

• Founded: 26 January 1950
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral R. Hari Kumar
• Vice Chief of the Naval Staff: Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India’s first Autonomous Navigation Facility – TiHAN, launched at IIT Hyderabad

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art “Autonomous Navigation” facility TiHAN (Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation) to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles in the IIT Hyderabad campus.
• It is funded by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology with a budget of Rs.130 crore.
• Dr. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy (Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Hyderabad), Prof. B.S. Murty (Director, IIT Hyderabad), and senior officers, faculty, and students joined the event.
• Also, IIT Hyderabad has established a new Post-Graduation course of M.Tech in “Smart Mobility”, which is the first of its kind in India.

About TiHAN :

• TiHAN is a multidisciplinary initiative of IIT Hyderabad.
• TiHAN Testbed will provide a unique platform for high-quality research between academia, industry, and R&D labs both at the national and international levels.
• One such initiative is the setting up of 25 technology innovation hubs by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) across the country under NM-ICPS.
• The testbed on Autonomous navigation (Aerial & Terrestrial) will allow us to test the next generation of autonomous navigation technologies accurately and allow faster technology development and global market penetration.
• It is developing and deploying a real-time CPS system utilizing autonomous UAVs and ground/surface vehicles for many application sectors of national importance.
• The testbed includes simulation platforms that allow for non-destructive testing of algorithms and prototypes
• In terrestrial systems, a few examples of these scenarios are Smart Cities, Signalised Intersections, Autonomous Vehicle Interactions with Cyclists and Pedestrians, Wireless Networking among vehicles, Road-Side Units, etc.
• It also provides dummy signboards, pedestrians, overpasses, and bikers to test all real-world conditions.
• Under this national mission, IIT Hyderabad has been awarded the Technology Innovation Hub in the technological vertical of ‘Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, ROVs. etc.)’.
• National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), TiHAN is a multi-disciplinary initiative, including researchers from Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mathematics, Design, Liberal Arts, and Entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad.
• TiHAN is recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

DGDE develops AI-based software to protect defense land from illegal encroachments

• The Center of Excellence on Satellite & Unmanned Remote Vehicle Initiative (CoE-SURVEI) in collaboration with knowledge partner Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Visakhapatnam has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software to automatically detect changes on the ground, including unauthorized constructions and encroachments in a time series using Satellite Imagery.
• The CoE-SURVEI was established by Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) at the National Institute of Defence Estates Management at Meerut Cantonment in Uttar Pradesh.
• Currently, the tool uses National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) Cartosat-3 imagery with trained software & the changes are detected by analyzing satellite imagery of different periods.

Background :

• The CoE was inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on December 16, 2021.
• The CoE-SURVEI, established by Directorate General Defence Estates at National Institute of Defence Estates Management, leverages the latest technologies in survey viz. satellite imagery, drone imagery, and geo-spatial tools for effective land management and urban planning.

About AI-based software :

• The application has been used by CoE in 62 Cantonments in the country.
• It enables Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Cantonment Boards to identify changes on the ground that are permanent and then enables them to check if such changes are authorized or without the due sanction of the competent authority.
• The software facilitates better control of unauthorized activities, ensures accountability of field staff, and helps in reducing corrupt practices.
• Out of 1,133 unauthorized changes detected, action was already taken in 570 cases & in the remaining 563 cases, wherever legal action is warranted.
• The CoE-SURVEI has also developed tools for vacant land analysis and 3D image analysis of hill cantonments for land management.
• By leveraging technology, it is trying to ensure optimum use of defense land through Geographic Information System (GIS)-based land management systems.

About Ministry of Defence :

• Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State: Ajay Bhatt
• Defence Secretary: Ajay Kumar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING & INDEX

Indian-origin engineer Jayshree Ullal ranked among America’s top self-made women billionaires

• According to Forbes’ 8th annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arista Networks, Jayshree Ullal, a computer networking firm, is one of only five Indian-Americans on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women.
• With her net worth reaching $2.1 billion in 2022, she ranked 15th on the list.

Other Indian-Americans on Forbes’ list :

• Neerja Sethi, co-founder of Syntel is ranked 24th on the list with a net worth of $1 billion.
• Neha Narkhede, the co-founder of cloud company Confluent, is ranked 57th on the list with a net worth of $900 million.
• Indra Nooyi, the former chairperson, and chief executive officer of PepsiCo ranked 85 with a net worth of $320 million.
• Reshma Shetty cofounder of Gingko Bioworks is the last Indian-American on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women with a net worth of $220 million.
• Diane Hendricks, co-founder, and chairman of ABC Supply topped the list for the fifth year with a net worth of $12.2 billion

States’ Startup Ranking 2021: Gujarat, Karnataka & Meghalaya Become the Best States

• According to the 3rd edition of the States’ Startup Ranking 2021 by the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystems for budding entrepreneurs.
• The state’s startup ranking 2021 was released by Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal during an event held at The Ashok, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
• For the third year in a row, Gujarat has bagged the title of Best Performing state by Startup India.
• In the report accompanying the rankings, the initiative was taken by the Student Startup and Innovation Policy Cell (SSIP) of Gujarat’s education department.

Key Highlights :

• A total of 24 states and 7 UTs participated, which ranked them under 5 classes.
• These classes were

1. Best performers
2. Top performers
3. Leaders
4. Aspiring leaders
5. Emerging startup ecosystems.

• The states and union territories (UTs) were divided into two categories – Category A and Category B.
• The first category consists of states and UTs with a population of over 1 Crore, while the second category consists of states and UTs with a population under 1 Cr.
• Top performers included 4 states from Category A: Telangana, Kerala, Maharashtra, and
• In Category B: Jammu and Kashmir
• Startup leaders included five states from Category A (Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Assam)
• Two states and a UT from Category B (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Andaman, and the Nicobar Islands).
• Aspiring leaders included four states from Category A (Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan)
• Category B: Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura were included.
• Emerging startup ecosystems included Andhra Pradesh, Bihar
• Category B : Mizoram and
• They were evaluated across 7 reform areas consisting of 26 action points, ranging from institutional support, fostering innovation, access to market, incubation, and funding support.
• The Commerce and Industry Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, declared the result at an event and mentioned that India currently features 70,809 startups recognized by the government.

Note :

• India Observes January 16 as National Startup Day.

About DPIIT :

• Founded: 1995
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska wins prestigious Fields Medal 2022:

• Maryna Viazovska, a math professor from Ukraine, was awarded the Fields Medal in 2022, the highest honor in mathematics.
• As a result of Moscow’s conflict, the Fields Medal celebration was relocated from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki, where Viazovska and three other mathematicians were awarded the medal.
• Since the prize was established in 1936 for mathematicians under 40, Maryna is just the second woman to earn it.
• Only three years after receiving the award, Iran’s Maryam Mirzakhani, the other female laureate, passed away from breast cancer in 2017.

The prestigious prize was given to four individuals, including:

• France’s Hugo Duminil-Copin (36 years)- Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
• US-based June Huh (39 years) – Princeton University
• Britain’s James Maynard (35 years) – University of Oxford
• Ukraine’s Maryna Viazovska (37 years) – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

About the Maryna Viazovska:

• In 1984, when Ukraine was still a part of the Soviet Union, Viazovska was born in Kyiv.
• Before getting a master’s degree at the University of Kaiserslautern in Germany and a Ph.D. at the University of Bonn, she completed her undergraduate studies at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in Ukraine.
• She has served as the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne’s number theory chair since 2018.
• The Swiss institute employs her spouse Daniil Evtushinsky as a physicist.

About Field Medals:

• The Fields medal is the mathematician’s greatest accolade.
• Every four years, during the International Congress of Mathematicians, the medal is presented.
• The Fields Medal is given to honor extraordinary contributions to mathematics that have already been made or that show promise of being made in the future.
• The Fields medal reward consists of a 14-karat gold medal with an image of Archimedes and money.
• A trust that J.C. Fields created at the University of Toronto provides funding for the Fields medal and monetary awards.
• Besides outstanding mathematical achievement, the chosen candidate must be below 40 years before January 1st of the year the Field Medals are awarded.
• The Fields Medals were first awarded in 1936 in Oslo, Norway.
• The Fields medals were conceived by John Charles Fields, a Canadian mathematician.

Michelle Poonawalla received the Prestigious Shiromani Award:

• For her contributions to the arts, Michelle Poonawalla was given the Shiromani Award at the NRI World Summit 2022 in the UK.
• The Shiromani Award was given to Rita Hinduja Chhabria, Lord Rami Ranger, and Shri Sadhu Bhramvihari in addition to Poonawalla.
• Keynote speaker Michelle Poonawalla received the Shiromani Award for her contributions to the realm of art while speaking in the House of Lords.
• On June 23, Poonawalla debuted “Reserve” her latest piece of art, at the JMS Foundation Charity Gala.
• Her video “Reserve” emphasized pollution and degradation of water reserves and emphasized water shortage as a worldwide concern.

About the Shiromani Award:

• Mother Teresa, Chief Marshal Manekshaw, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, PT Usha, Leander Paes, Vishwanathan Anand, The Dalai Lama, Jaya Bachchan, and Asha Bhosle have all received the Shiromani Award, which was established in 1977.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

Avanse Financial and Edelweiss collaborate to provide student travel insurance:

• International students who are supported by Avanse may now get student travel insurance thanks to a partnership between the NBFC Avanse Financial Services and Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI).
• Student travel insurance from Edelweiss General Insurance protects against crises and financial losses while covering medical expenses.
• The Edelweiss General Insurance plan offers complete coverage against medical, accommodation, and travel inconvenience-related covers, ensuring students enjoy a worry-free time while studying and lodging.
• Students will also have the choice to change their plan by adding optional coverage in line with their requirements and institution requirements.
• Overseas higher education is becoming more and more popular among Indian students.
• Forecasts from the industry predict that by 2024, this number would rise to 1.8 million, boosting expenditure as a result.
• This makes student travel insurance crucial, the business claims, especially to cover medical expenses given that healthcare expenditures overseas are far greater than in India.

The Tamil Nadu Government and IGSS Ventures sign an MoU to build a semiconductor park:

• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tamil Nadu and the Singapore-based M/s. IGSS Ventures Pte Ltd to construct a 300-acre semiconductor high-tech park in the State with an investment and grants of 25,60croresre was signed in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
• Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, and other important officials attended the event held at the Secretariat.
• According to an official press release, the project is anticipated to directly employ more than 5,000 people over the next five years.

Key Points:

• IGSS Ventures wants to contribute to Project Surya and the India Semiconductor Mission, both of which aim to reduce air pollution and global warming, by cooking with renewable energy.
• Tamil Nadu has allotted nine strategic sites, including two close to Chennai, for a semiconductor fab that will produce wafers in three different technology nodes, including 28 nm, 45 nm, and >=65 nm, as well as an industry ecosystem infrastructure that includes semiconductor circuit designers, material suppliers, equipment suppliers, and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test players.
• When commercial manufacturing starts in two years, 1,500 trained and semi-skilled people may be needed.
• With an expected investment of roughly 76,000 crores, the ecosystem partners’ work in the high-tech park might result in an extra 25,000 jobs for people.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Carlos Sainz won the British Grand Prix Title 2022:

• At the British Grand Prix in 2022, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari became the first Spaniard to win a Formula One race.
• He finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Sergio Perez of Red Bull.
• In his 150th race, Carlos Sainz won his first Formula One race.
• Max Verstappen, the leader of the world championship, battled with his vehicle after getting a puncture early on, finishing in P7, while Charles Leclerc, who had been leading the race until lap 43, was unable to hang on to his older set of hard tyres and slid to finish P4.
• Six drivers did not complete the Silverstone race, with Fernando Alonso, Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, and Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top 10.

Daily CA on July 07 :

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is scheduled to officially open the Bundelkhand Expressway in the first week of July.
• Shri Narendra Modi, the prime minister, will head to Varanasi to visit his Lok Sabha district.
• Digital India Week 2022 was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Online payment processor Cashfree Payments announced that the interoperability would be supported by their card tokenization solution, Token Vault.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.05 crore on Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. and Rs 1 crore on IndusInd Bank Ltd. for violating the provisions of its regulations.
• Edelweiss General Insurance has launched SWITCH, a comprehensive motor insurance product under Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDAI) Sandbox initiative.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) will pay the eligible depositors of Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Sahakari Bank, Ichalkaranji, and Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank, Wai in Aug 2022.
• The Reserve Bank of India has launched the 58th round of the Order Books, Inventories, and Capacity Utilization Survey (OBICUS) of manufacturing companies for the April – June 2022 period, results of which provide valuable inputs for monetary policy formulation.
• The country’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank has received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval for the merger of Housing Development Finance Corporation with the lender.
• Private life insurer Aviva Life Insurance Company India has appointed Mr. Asit Rath as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) will come into effect on July 11, 2022, & he succeeded Mr. Amit Malik.
• One of the country’s largest crop protection and Nutrition companies, Insecticides (India) Ltd. (IIL), has roped in Bollywood’s versatile superstar Ajay Devgn as their brand ambassador.
• The Ministry of Finance stated that the strategic disinvestment transaction for Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) has been completed, with the transfer of 93.71 percent shares of the joint venture partners to Tata Steel Long products Limited (TSLP).
• The Indian Naval Air Squadron 324, (INAS 324), was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam to boost its maritime surveillance in the presence of Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art “Autonomous Navigation” facility TiHAN (Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation) to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles in the IIT Hyderabad campus.
• The Center of Excellence on Satellite & Unmanned Remote Vehicle Initiative (CoE-SURVEI) in collaboration with knowledge partner Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Visakhapatnam has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software to automatically detect changes on the ground, including unauthorized constructions and encroachments in a time series using Satellite Imagery.
• According to Forbes’ 8th annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arista Networks, Jayshree Ullal, a computer networking firm, is one of only five Indian-Americans on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women.
• According to the 3rd edition of the States’ Startup Ranking 2021 by the department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystems for budding entrepreneurs.

• Maryna Viazovska, a math professor from Ukraine, was awarded the Fields Medal in 2022, the highest honor in mathematics.
• For her contributions to the arts, Michelle Poonawalla was given the Shiromani Award at the NRI World Summit 2022 in the UK.
• International students who are supported by Avanse may now get student travel insurance thanks to a partnership between the NBFC Avanse Financial Services and Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI).
• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tamil Nadu and the Singapore-based M/s. IGSS Ventures Pte Ltd to construct a 300-acre semiconductor high-tech park in the State with an investment and grants of 25,60croresre was signed in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
• At the British Grand Prix in 2022, Carlos Sainz of Ferrari became the first Spaniard to win a Formula One race.