Weekly Current Affairs 9th July - 15th July 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI bars Mastercard from onboarding new customers over data storage norms
  • The Reserve Bank of India has asked Mastercard to not onboard domestic customers in India on debit, credit or prepaid platforms on to its card network from July 22, 2021.

• RBI scheme for individuals to invest in govt securities: Retail Direct Gilt Account
  • The Reserve Bank of India recently issued a scheme ‘RBI Retail Direct’, a one-stop solution to facilitate investment in government securities by individual investors.

• RBI asks banks to shift from LIBOR to alternative reference rates by December 31
  • RBI recently asked banks and financial institutions to use any widely accepted alternative reference rate (AAR) instead of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rates) as the reference rate for entering into new financial contracts.

ECONOMY

• Ministry of Corporate Affairs incorporates NARCL
  • The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has incorporated the 'National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL)' with an authorised capital of INR 100 crore and paid-up capital of INR 74.6 crore.

• India’s services exports on rebound after COVID shock: Commonwealth Report
  • India’s monthly services exports have largely rebounded after an initial COVID-19 shock, finds a new Commonwealth trade analysis.

• Railway Minister orders immediate changes in Railway Ministry’s shift timings
  • The Ministry of Railways has directed that all the offices and staff of the Railway Minister’s office will work in two shifts i.e. from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM and 3:00 PM to 12:00 AM/midnight with immediate effect.

NATIONAL

• Union Minister Piyush Goyal appointed as Leader of House in Rajya Sabha
  • Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal was appointed as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, filling the vacancy left by Thaawarchand Gehlot who is now the Governor of Karnataka.

• Country’s First Private LNG plant inaugurated in Nagpur
  • Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the country’s First Private LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant in Nagpur.

• Govt brings department of public enterprises under finance ministry
  • The government has decided to bring the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under the finance ministry.
  • The DPE, which was earlier under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, has been brought under the finance minister to ease coordination related to future disinvestment plans.

INTERNATIONAL

• World's Tallest Sandcastle Built in Denmark
  • In the small seaside town of Blokhus in Denmark, the world’s tallest sandcastle has been completed, weighing 4,860 tonnes and towering over 21.16 metres high (69.4 feet).

• Ethiopia: Abiy Ahmed's Ruling Prosperity Party Wins General Elections
  • Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party won the Parliamentary Elections, awarding Abiy Ahmed another five years at the helm of affairs.

• Sher Bahadur Deuba Becomes Nepal Prime Minister For Fifth Time
  • Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba became the country's Prime Minister. This is the fifth time that 74-year-old Deuba is returning to power as the Prime Minister of Nepal.
  • He replaced incumbent K P Sharma Oli.

STATES

• Karnataka to develop 46 Kempegowda heritage sites in Bengaluru
  • In a bid to boost the tourism in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's is going to develop 46 Kempegowda heritage sites located in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikballapura, and Tumakuru districts.

• Manipur enters India’s railway map as first passenger train reaches the state
  • A passenger train – Rajdhani Express from Assam’s Silchar railway station - reached the Vaingaichunpao railway station in Manipur for a trial run, putting the state on the Indian Railways map.

• India's first cryptogamic garden inaugurated in Dehradun
  • India's first cryptogamic garden was inaugurated in Deoban area of the Dehradun district in Uttarakhand.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Google publishes report under new IT rules
  • Google India has published its first transparency report under the new IT rules which includes details of complaints received from users in the country and the action taken across Google's platforms that are classified as “significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs)” under the rules.

• Online commerce industry to touch $188 billion by 2025: FICCI
  • FICCI has come up with a report- “A progressive shift from transactions to trust”.
  • The report states that the online commerce industry is projected to reach USD 188 billion in 2025 from USD 64 billion last year, with growing consumer preference to buy on the digital marketplace.

• US Became the 4th Largest Crude Oil Supplier to India in 2020
  • A British multinational oil and gas company- BP has come up with 'Statistical Review of World Energy 2021'.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• ISRO plans to launch GISAT-1 in August
  • THE Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting back into launch activity fully at Sriharikota spaceport with the planned orbiting of geo imaging satellite GISAT-1 on board GSLV-F10 rocket on August 12.

• ISRO successfully conducts 3rd test of Vikas Engine for Gaganyaan
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test on the liquid propellant Vikas engine that would launch the ambitious Gaganyaan programme.
  • Gaganyaan is India's first manned mission to space.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• India’s first ‘Grain ATM’ set up in Gurugram
  • India’s first ‘Grain ATM’ has been set up in Gurugram as a pilot project.
  • It is an automatic machine which works like a bank ATM. Installed under the World Food Programme of the United Nations, it is called Automated, Multi Commodity, Grain Dispensing Machine. It can dispense up to 70 kg of grains within five to seven minutes at a time.

• APEDA inks MoU with NAFED for strengthening export linkage of Farmer Cooperatives & FPOs
  • For harnessing exports potential of agricultural and processed food products of cooperatives as well Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED).

• CCEA clears realignment of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying schemes
  • The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided to revise and realign schemes of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and implement them as part of the special livestock sector package over the next five years starting from 2021-22 fiscal, in a bid to leverage an investment of Rs 54,618 crore.

DEFENCE

• Bharat Dynamics Ltd signs deal with IAF for Akash missiles
  • Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) signed a contract worth about Rs 499 crore with the Ministry of Defence for the manufacture and supply of Akash missiles to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• Indian naval ship Tabar conducts military exercise with Italian Navy
  • Indian Naval Ship Tabar participated in military exercises with a frontline frigate of the Italian Navy after it entered the Port of Naples as part of an ongoing deployment to the Mediterranean.

• Indian Navy Receives 10th Anti-submarine Warfare Aircraft P-8I from Boeing
  • The Indian Navy has received the 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from the US-based aerospace company Boeing.

EVENTS

• Third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting
  • The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) gathered in Venice for their third official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency.
  • This was the first in-person Finance Track meeting since February 2020.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Scripps National Spelling Bee 2021
  • Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, was crowned the winner of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
  • Avant-garde is the first African American winner in the bee's 96-year history.

• Film ‘PK’ negatives acquired by national archives
  • The National Film Archives of India has acquired the camera negatives of Raju Hirani and Aamir Khan’s film ‘PK’.

• Commonwealth Points of Light Award
  • Hyderabad’s hunger activist Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi, who has been feeding thousands of people everyday as part of his food drive ‘Hunger Has No Religion’ was conferred with the Commonwealth Points of Light Award, a top UK award.

SPORTS

• ICC board relieves Manu Sawhney as CEO with immediate effect
  • The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manu Sawhney will leave the organisation with immediate effect following the findings of an internal investigation over his abrasive conduct.

• Indian-American Samir Banerjee wins junior Wimbledon title
  • Indian-American Samir Banerjee has claimed the Wimbledon men's junior title after defeating Victor Lilov in an all-American final on No. 1 Court.

• Khelo India Youth Games Postponed To Feb 2022
  • Khelo India Youth Games, 2021, has been postponed by the Haryana Government due to the possibility of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The 'Khelo India Youth Games-2021' will be a competition in the under-18 category and across 25 different sports competitions, which include five indigenous games.