Weekly Current Affairs 23rd July - 31st July 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI eases norms for loans given by banks to directors of other banks
  • RBI recently said banks without their boards’ approval can sanction personal loans up to Rs 5 crore to directors of other banks. The earlier limit was Rs 25 lakh

• RBI cancels licence of Madgaum Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, Margao
  • RBI recently cancelled the licence of The Madgaum Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Margao, Goa, as the bank with its current financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full
  • The RBI further said that as per the data submitted by the bank, about 99 per cent of the depositors will receive full amounts of their deposits from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)

• RBI Plans to Introduce Central Bank Digital Currency in Phases
  • RBI plans to Introduce Central Bank Digital Currency in Phases
  • A CBDC is a legal tender that would be issued by the central bank in a digital form

ECONOMY

• Panel to study dues to be paid to Maharashtra co-op banks that lend to sugar mills
  • The state government of Maharashtra has set up a high-level committee, led by principal secretary (financial reforms) Rajgopal Deora to ascertain the exact amount to be paid to cooperative banks that had issued loans to several cooperative sugar and spinning mills despite negative NDR (net disposable resource)

• Eight core sectors' output up 8.9% in June
  • The output of eight core sectors grew 8.9 per cent in June, mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, steel, coal and electricity, official data showed

• Unclaimed funds with banks, insurance companies near Rs 50,000 crore
  • Funds lying unclaimed with banks and insurance companies are nearing the Rs 50,000-crore mark, with an estimated addition of Rs 5,977 crore into bank accounts during 2020

NATIONAL

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched the Green Sohra Afforestation Campaign at Sohra (Cherrapunji)
  • Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Greater Sohra Water Supply Scheme in Cherrapunji (Sohra)
  • This afforestation campaign will be run by the Meghalaya Government with the help of Assam Rifles, this will greatly benefit eco-tourism and will also boost tourism in the state

• Government announces 27% reservation for OBCs, 10% quota for EWS in medical seats
  • The Centre announced 27% reservation for OBCs and a 10% quota for students from the economically weaker sections (EWS) for undergraduate and postgraduate medicine and dental courses under the All-India Quota (AIQ) scheme

• Gwalior and Orchha in UNESCO’s ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ project
  • Gwalior and Orchha cities in Madhya Pradesh were selected as the 7th and 8th cities of South Asia by UNESCO under its ‘Historic Urban Landscape Project’ that began in 2011
  • Six cities from South Asia, including Varanasi and Ajmer, are already included in the project

INTERNATIONAL

• UNESCO Grants World Heritage Status to Madrid's Paseo del Prado and Retiro Park
  • UNESCO added Madrid's historic Paseo del Prado boulevard and Retiro Park to UNESCO’s World Heritage list
  • The site is number 49 for Spain on the UNESCO list

• Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City Removed From UNESCO World Heritage List
  • UNESCO has voted to remove Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City from its world heritage list
  • The UK ranks eighth in the worldwide list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. But instead of its previous 32 distinguished sites, there are now only 31

• World’s first 3D-printed steel bridge opens to public in Amsterdam
  • The first ever 3D-printed steel bridge “MX3D Bridge” has opened in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • It was created by robotic arms using welding torches to deposit the structure of the bridge layer by layer, and is made of 4500 kilograms of stainless steel

STATES

• Assam CM Lays Foundation Stone of Bamboo Industrial Park at Manderdisa in Dima Hasao
  • Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation of Bamboo Industrial Park at Manderdisa in Dima Hasao
  • The project will be implemented with Rs.50 crores from DoNER Ministry

• Basavaraj Bommai takes oath as 23rd chief minister of Karnataka
  • Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took oath as the 23rd chief minister of Karnataka, succeeding BS Yediyurappa for the post

• Puri becomes first Indian city to have 'drink-from-tap' facility: Clean water 24x7
  • Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the ‘Sujal’ or drink-from-tap mission
  • Odisha's Puri has become the first city in India to have a drink-from-tap facility. This means that the city now has now 24*7 quality drinking water supply and safe drinking water that can be used directly from tap for cooking and drinking, without requiring further filtration

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• NITI Aayog and IEA launch ‘Renewables Integration in India 2021’
  • NITI Aayog and IEA have jointly launched a report on “Renewables Integration in India 2021”
  • The report is based on the outcome of three states workshops held with the Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat to understand the specific energy transition challenges faced by these renewable-rich states

• India sees significant improvement in UNESCAP score on trade facilitation
  • UNESCAP has come up with Global Survey on Digital & Sustainable Trade Facilitation
  • India has seen a significant improvement in the Survey with a 90.32 per cent score

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• NASA selects SpaceX for Jupiter moon mission
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected SpaceX to launch its probe of Jupiter's moon Europa
  • The contract for the Europa Clipper mission, scheduled to launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is worth $178 million

• Hubble finds first evidence of water vapour on Jupiter's moon Ganymede
  • Astronomers have uncovered the first evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede by using new and archival datasets from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The water vapour forms when ice from the moon's surface turns from solid to gas

• COVIHOME: IIT Hyderabad Develops Country’s First Rapid Electronic Covid RNA Test Kit
  • India’s first Rapid electronic Covid-19 RNA Test kit that allows self-testing at home called ‘COVIHOME’ has been developed by a research group at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH)

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Over 21.40 lakh farmers enrolled under PM-KMY: Narendra Singh Tomar
  • More than 21.40 lakh farmers have so far joined the voluntary pension scheme for small and marginal farmers Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said recently

• NABARD sanctions Rs 446 crore for drinking water projects in Punjab
  • The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned Rs 445.89 crore for drinking water projects in Ferozepur, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts of Punjab
  • The funds have been sanctioned under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)

• NITI AAYOG -TRIFED join hands for successful implementation of Van DhanYojana
  • TRIFED is collaborating with NITI Aayog to implement the Van Dhan Yojana in the districts that have been identified as aspirational districts by NITI Aayog

DEFENCE

• CRPF signs MoU with C-DAC to train manpower of force in advanced technologies
  • 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

• INS Talwar reaches Mombasa to participate in Exercise Cutlass Express 2021
  • Indian Naval Ship (INS) Talwar is participating in Exercise Cutlass Express 2021, which commenced along the East Coast of Africa, to improve combined maritime law enforcement capacity and increase interoperability between the regional navies

• EXERCISE INDRA-21
  • 12th edition of Indo-Russia joint military Exercise INDRA 2021 will be held at Volgograd, Russia in August 2021
  • The exercise will entail conduct of counter terror operations under the United Nations mandate by a joint force against international terror groups

EVENTS

• G20 Ministerial Meeting on Environment, Climate and Energy
  • The Environment, Climate and Energy Ministerial Meeting is held in Naples
  • Many events will take place over the course of the year-long Italian Presidency
  • The Environment, Climate and Energy meeting will be chaired by Minister for the Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani and Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti

• Uzbekistan All Set To Host Two-day 'Central-South Asia Conference'
  • The Central-South Asia nation, Uzbekistan is set to host the two-day prestigious Central-Asia Conference in the capital city of Taskent
  • The top-level event is scheduled to to discuss the challenges and opportunities in Uzbekistan

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh begins 3-day visit to Dushanbe to attend SCO meet
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh begins a three-day visit to the Dushanbe (capital city of Tajikistan). He is visiting Dushanbe to attend the annual meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar 2021
  • The Maharashtra Bhushan Selection Committee chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray unanimously selected legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle for Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar for the year 2021

• Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) accreditation
  • 14 tiger reserves of India, including three each in Assam and Madhya Pradesh, have got the Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) accreditation, which is a globally accepted conservation tool that sets best practice and standards to manage tigers

SPORTS

• Sandesh Jhingan named AIFF men’s Footballer of Year
  • Senior India defender Sandesh Jhingan was named the AIFF men’s Footballer of the Year, while midfielder Suresh Singh Wangjam was picked as the Emerging Player for 2020-21 season

• Ngangom Bala Devi Named Women's 'Footballer Of The Year'
  • Indian team forward Ngangom Bala Devi has been named as the AIFF Women's 'Footballer of the Year', while Manisha winning the 'Emerging Player Award’ for the 2020-21 season
  • Meanwhile, the AIFF Award for the Best Referee went to Tejas Nagvenkar while Sumanta Dutta was adjudged the Best Assistant Referee

• Saikhom Mirabai Chanu Wins Silver In Weightlifting
  • Former world champion Saikhom Mirabai Chanu weightlifted of 202 kgs (87+115) to claim the silver medal in the women's 49kg category at Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Mirabai, 26, thus won the first medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics