03rd-05th September, 2022

1. Department of Pharmaceuticals has given an ‘in-principle’ approval to the proposals of the three States viz, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh under the Scheme for “Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks”, a key initiative to support the Bulk Drugs manufacturing in the country.
2. University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched an online portal named ‘e-Samadhan’ to monitor and resolve all grievances of students and staff members in varsities.
3. During the 14th India-UAE Joint Commission meeting in Abu Dhabi, “Emirati India Cultural Council” was set up to strengthen ties between the two countries and create opportunities for cultural cooperation.
4. PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry has organized the “Education Summit 2022” in New Delhi.
5. Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
6. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually inaugurated the ‘Swasth Sabal Bharat’ Conclave in New Delhi.
7. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla unveiled a statue of Swami Vivekananda in Mexico.
8. Karnataka government has launched – the Global Startup Challenge – VentuRISE.
9. Central government will set up India’s first-ever ‘night sky sanctuary’ in Hanle village, Ladakh region.
10. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced to provide Sri Lanka a loan of about $2.9 billion over a four-year period to help the country overcome the economic crisis.
11. For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a direct image of an exo-planet outside our solar system.
12. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India has overtaken the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.
13. WHO and UNICEF have released the “Progress on WASH in health care facilities 2000-2021: Special focus on WASH and infection prevention and control (IPC)”
14. Greenpeace India has released the “Different Air Under One Sky” report.
15. PwC and Coursera have partnered to address India’s current and future skill gap in the taxation space.
16. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security inspection technologies, for offering advanced, high-energy scanning systems to the Indian market.
17. BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) and Snapdeal have launched the Snapdeal BoB JCB RuPay Credit Card, in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International Co. Ltd.
18. SBI Card has launched the ‘CASHBACK SBI Card’ – industry’s first Cashback-focused credit card that enables cardholders to earn 5% cashback on all online spending without any merchant restrictions.
19. SEBI has changed the composition of its High Powered Steering Committee on Cyber Security (HPSC-CS).
20. India’s external debt has increased by 8.2% year-on-year to USD 620.7 billion as of March 2022.
21. Reserve Bank of India has started a project to digitise farm loan delivery under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme to make it time and cost effective for borrowers.
22. Adani Enterprises will enter Nifty 50 index from September 30 in place of Shree Cement.
23. State Bank of India has reduced India’s GDP forecast to 6.8% for FY23, due to low GDP growth rate first quarter.
24. Kalyan Chaubey has been elected as the new President of the All India Football Federation.
25. Yamuna Kumar Chaubey has been given the charge of Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC for three months beginning September 1.
26. India-born Laxman Narasimhan was named as the next chief executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks Corp.
27. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud has been appointed as the executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority.
28. August 24 – Internaut Day
29. September 2 – World Coconut Day; Theme – Cultivate Coconut for a Healthy Life and Future
30. 64th edition of Ramon Magsaysay Award (aka Asia’s Nobel Prize), named after Ramon Magsaysay, the third president of the Philippines, has been announced.

National News

1. Department of Pharmaceuticals has given an ‘in-principle’ approval to the proposals of the three States viz, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh under the Scheme for “Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks”, a key initiative to support the Bulk Drugs manufacturing in the country.
   • The scheme, with a financial outlay of ₹3,000 crore notified in 2020, provides for financial assistance to three states for establishing Bulk Drug Parks.
   • The scheme aims to bring down the cost of manufacturing of bulk drugs by creation of world-class common infrastructure facilities supported by the Central Government and thereby increase the competitiveness of the domestic bulk drug industry.
   • The Indian Pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world by volume.
   • India exported pharmaceuticals worth ₹175,040 crore in the financial year 2021-22, including Bulk Drugs/ Drug Intermediates.
   • Also, India is one of the major producers of Active Pharma Ingredients (API) or bulk drugs in the world. India exported Bulk Drugs/ Drug Intermediates worth ₹33,320 crore in the financial year 2021-22.
2. University Grants Commission (UGC) has launched an online portal named ‘e-Samadhan’ to monitor and resolve all grievances of students and staff members in varsities.
   • The portal will be the one-stop solution for all grievances; and all other existing portals and helplines will be merged with it except for the anti-ragging helpline.
   • The users can register their complaints on the portal by using their email id or by placing a call on the toll-free number 1800-111-656.
3. During the 14th India-UAE Joint Commission meeting in Abu Dhabi, “Emirati India Cultural Council” was set up to strengthen ties between the two countries and create opportunities for cultural cooperation.
   • The council will be administered by the International Cooperation of UAE and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
   • In 2019, ‘Zayed Gandhi Digital Museum’ was set up in Abu Dhabi for celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth.
   • An MOU was signed between the Wildlife Institute of India and the International Fund for Houbara Conservation for the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican.
4. PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry has organized the “Education Summit 2022” in New Delhi.
   • A knowledge paper on ‘Health Insurance 2042’ was also released to shed light on the challenges and opportunities in the sector.
   • A conference with the same name as that of the paper was also organized in New Delhi.
5. Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 30th Southern Zonal Council meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
6. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually inaugurated the ‘Swasth Sabal Bharat’ Conclave in New Delhi.
7. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla unveiled a statue of Swami Vivekananda in Mexico.
   • The bust of freedom fighter Dr Pandurang Khankhoje was also unveiled at Chapingo University in Mexico.

State News

1. Karnataka government has launched – the Global Startup Challenge – VentuRISE.
   • VentuRISE will be a part of the Global Investors Meet – Invest Karnataka 2022, which will be held from 2 – 4 November in Bengaluru.
   • The global challenge will help entrepreneurs across the globe with a platform to showcase their innovative products or solutions and connect with potential investors.
2. Central government will set up India’s first-ever ‘night sky sanctuary’ in Hanle village, Ladakh region.
   • The proposed Dark Sky Reserve will be located at Hanle village in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary and will be one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infra-red, and gamma-ray telescopes.
   • A tripartite MOU was signed by the Union Territory administration, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) for launching the Dark Sky Reserve.

International News

1. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced to provide Sri Lanka a loan of about $2.9 billion over a four-year period to help the country overcome the economic crisis.
2. For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a direct image of an exo-planet outside our solar system.

Report and Indices

1. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India has overtaken the UK to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.

2. WHO and UNICEF have released the “Progress on WASH in health care facilities 2000-2021: Special focus on WASH and infection prevention and control (IPC)”
   • The report was released during the World Water Week (23 August to 1 September) in Stockholm, Sweden.
   • Half of health care facilities worldwide lack basic hygiene services with water and soap or alcohol-based hand rub where patients receive care and at toilets in these facilities.
3. Greenpeace India has released the “Different Air Under One Sky” report.
   • According to the report, over 99% of India’s population is breathing air that exceeds WHO’s health-based guidelines with respect to PM2.5.
   • Jammu and Kashmir was found to be the only state in India to have areas where air quality met the WHO guideline for annual average PM2.5. However, less than 1% of the state’s population live in the area.

Banking and Economy

1. PwC and Coursera have partnered to address India’s current and future skill gap in the taxation space.
   • PwC is also working with Coursera to establish a ‘Tax Academy’ – a knowledge hub that will equip India’s taxation professionals with the most updated accounting and taxation curriculum, thereby creating a larger pool of skilled and certified professionals in the country.
2. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed an MoU with Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security inspection technologies, for offering advanced, high-energy scanning systems to the Indian market.
3. BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) and Snapdeal have launched the Snapdeal BoB JCB RuPay Credit Card, in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International Co. Ltd.
4. SBI Card has launched the ‘CASHBACK SBI Card’ – industry’s first Cashback-focused credit card that enables cardholders to earn 5% cashback on all online spending without any merchant restrictions.
   • Consumers across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities, can easily get CASHBACK SBI Card instantly through the digital application platform ‘SBI Card SPRINT’.
5. SEBI has changed the composition of its High Powered Steering Committee on Cyber Security (HPSC-CS).
   • Chairperson – Navin Kumar Singh
   • Total members – 6
6. India’s external debt has increased by 8.2% year-on-year to USD 620.7 billion as of March 2022.
   • The long-term debt estimated at USD 499.1 billion constituted the largest chunk of 80.4%, while the short-term debt at USD 121.7 billion accounted for 19.6% of the total debt.
7. Reserve Bank of India has started a project to digitise farm loan delivery under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme to make it time and cost effective for borrowers.
   • The central bank will run a pilot project for end-to-end digitalisation of KCC lending from September in select districts of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with Union Bank of India and Federal Bank, respectively.
   • The turnaround time from loan application to disbursement has also been rather high, ranging from two to four weeks.
8. Adani Enterprises will enter Nifty 50 index from September 30 in place of Shree Cement.

GDP Forecasts

1. State Bank of India has reduced India’s GDP forecast to 6.8% for FY23, due to low GDP growth rate first quarter.
   • According to National Statistical Office, the GDP growth in Q1 of FY23 was 13.5%.

Appointments

1. Kalyan Chaubey has been elected as the new President of the All India Football Federation.
   • Shaji Prabhakaran has been appointed new secretary general of AIFF.
2. Yamuna Kumar Chaubey has been given the charge of Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC for three months beginning September 1.
3. India-born Laxman Narasimhan was named as the next chief executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks Corp.
4. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud has been appointed as the executive chairman of National Legal Services Authority.

Important Days

1. August 24 – Internaut Day
2. September 2 – World Coconut Day; Theme – Cultivate Coconut for a Healthy Life and Future

Awards

1. 64th edition of Ramon Magsaysay Award (aka Asia’s Nobel Prize), named after Ramon Magsaysay, the third president of the Philippines, has been announced.

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