23rd-25th July, 2022

1. PM Narendra Modi unveiled Varuna, India’s first passenger drone, with a range of 25 km.
2. Nasscom Foundation has set up a call centre named as the “DigiVaani Call Center” in collaboration with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP- an NPO) to help women farmers scale up their business.
3. NHPC (State-owned hydro power giant) has signed an agreement with Damodar Valley Corporation to explore possibility of forming a joint venture firm for setting up hydro power and pump storage projects.
4. European Investment Bank (EIB) has joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
5. Airport Authority of India’s Leh airport is being built as India’s first carbon-neutral airport.
6. Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission submitted its report to Supreme Court regarding the reservation of OBCs in Local Bodies’ Elections in Maharashtra.
7. United Nations World Food Programme’s Executive Director, David Beasley, has paid an official visit to India.
8. 9th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC) was chaired by India and Singapore in a virtual mode.
9. Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, has launched two new schemes for strengthening pharmaceuticals industry with focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Clusters.
10. Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis.
11. Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC)-North East Initiative and North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) signed an MOU to promote investment in Assam and other Northeast States.
12. India and the Namibia has signed an MOU on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization for the restoration of cheetah into the Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
13. NITI Aayog has released the report on “Digital Banks: A Proposal for Licensing & Regulatory Regime for India”.
14. State Bank of India (SBI) has announced to raise up to ₹11,000 crores in bonds during 2022-23.
15. IndusInd Bank has partnered with EazyDiner to launch a co-branded credit card, called EazyDiner IndusInd Bank Credit Card.
16. New Development Bank (NDB) has approved five new projects totalling USD 875 million for water, sanitation, ecotourism and transport in Brazil, China and India to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
17. World Bank will provide a loan of Rs 1,600 crore for the Himachal Pradesh Power Sector Development Programme.
18. RBI has renewed its statement of commitment to the FX Global Code, which is a compilation of best market practices formulated by central banks worldwide.
19. State Bank of India has launched its WhatsApp Banking services.
20. Infrastructure company Tata Projects Ltd has appointed Vinayak Pai as its managing director.
21. Mumbai-based Upskilling platform UpGrad acquired New Delhi-based online learning platform Harappa Education for $38 million (about ₹296 crore) in a cash-and-share swap deal.
22. Asian Development Bank has reduced India’s GDP forecast for 2022-23 to 7.2% from 7.5%.
23. S&P Global Ratings has informed that the non-performing loans of banks are expected to decline to 5-5.5% of the total loans by March 2024.
24. Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has recommended Rajkiran Rai G as the MD of the newly set-up Rs 20,000-crore National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID).
25. International Hockey Federation (FIH HQ- Lausanne, Switzerland) has appointed Egypt’s Seif Ahmed as its acting president.
26. Droupadi Murmu (aged 64), from Odisha, has become the first tribal and second woman President of India.
27. Osman Sagar Cup 2022 will be held at Hyderabad.
28. Barry Sinclair (New Zealand cricketer) has passed away.
29. Uwe Seeler (footballer of Germany) has passed away.

National News

1. PM Narendra Modi unveiled Varuna, India’s first passenger drone, with a range of 25 km.
   • Varuna is being developed by an Indian startup named Sagar Defence Engineering, in partnership with Naval Technology Development Acceleration Cell (NTDAC).
2. Nasscom Foundation has set up a call centre named as the “DigiVaani Call Center” in collaboration with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP- an NPO) to help women farmers scale up their business.
   • The project is being run on a pilot basis to initially reach out to 20,000 rural women entrepreneurs across six states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan.
   • The call centre will provide information about various schemes – either government or non-government -available for the women entrepreneurs.
   • The project has been funded by Google through its philanthropic arm org.
3. NHPC (State-owned hydro power giant) has signed an agreement with Damodar Valley Corporation to explore possibility of forming a joint venture firm for setting up hydro power and pump storage projects.
4. European Investment Bank (EIB) has joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
   • Member countries and organizations of CDRI –

5. Airport Authority of India’s Leh airport is being built as India’s first carbon-neutral airport.
6. Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission submitted its report to Supreme Court regarding the reservation of OBCs in Local Bodies’ Elections in Maharashtra.
   • The panel maintained that the OBC community should be given 27% reservation (in the civic polls).
7. United Nations World Food Programme’s Executive Director, David Beasley, has paid an official visit to India.
8. 9th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC) was chaired by India and Singapore in a virtual mode.
   • ASEAN 2022 Summit will be held in Oct-Nov 2022 in Cambodia on the theme of “ASEAN A.C.T. – Addressing Challenges Together”.
   • The 10th ASEAN-India SOMTC Consultation on Transnational Crimes will be held in 2023 in Indonesia.
9. Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, has launched two new schemes for strengthening pharmaceuticals industry with focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Clusters.
   • The schemes are Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Promotion and development Scheme (PMDPS) and Assistance to Pharmaceutical Industries for Common Facilities Scheme.
   • The scheme will address the issues of technology upgradation at both unit level and cluster level.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis.
   • The Varroa Mite plague has spread in Australia, threatening its honey sector.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC)-North East Initiative and North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) signed an MOU to promote investment in Assam and other Northeast States.
   • Purpose – to provide a platform for the entrepreneurs of NER to avail the pragmatic schemes and initiatives of NEDFI and Indian Chamber of Commerce.
2. India and the Namibia has signed an MOU on wildlife conservation and sustainable biodiversity utilization for the restoration of cheetah into the Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
   • The current carrying capacity for Kuno National Park is a maximum of 21 cheetahs.
   • After restoration, the larger landscape can hold about 36 cheetahs.

Reports and Indices

1. NITI Aayog has released the report on “Digital Banks: A Proposal for Licensing & Regulatory Regime for India”.
   • The report provided recommendations for strengthening the digital banking sector.
     • Issue of a restricted digital bank licence (to a given applicant) (the license would be restricted in terms of volume/value of customers serviced and the like).
     • Enlistment (of the licensee) in a regulatory sandbox framework enacted by the Reserve Bank of India.
     • Issue of a ‘full-scale’ digital bank licence (contingent on satisfactory performance of the licensee in the regulatory sandbox, including salient, prudential and technological risk management).
   • The methodology for the licensing is based on an equally weighted ‘digital bank regulatory index’. This comprises four factors—(i) entry barriers; (ii) competition; (iii) business restrictions; and (iv) technological neutrality.
     • The elements of these four factors are mapped from the five benchmark jurisdictions of Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia and South Korea.
   • Minimum Paid-Up Capital For Digital Business Bank – ₹20 crore (in the restricted phase)
   • A full-scale Digital Business bank will be required to bring in ₹200 Crores (equivalent to that required of the Small Finance bank).

Banking and Economy

1. State Bank of India (SBI) has announced to raise up to ₹11,000 crores in bonds during 2022-23.
   • SBI will raise additional tier 1 (AT-1) capital of up to ₹7,000 crore, and the remaining ₹4,000 crore would be in the form of fresh tier 2 capita
2. IndusInd Bank has partnered with EazyDiner to launch a co-branded credit card, called EazyDiner IndusInd Bank Credit Card.
3. New Development Bank (NDB) has approved five new projects totalling USD 875 million for water, sanitation, ecotourism and transport in Brazil, China and India to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
   • In Brazil, NDB will provide USD 300 million for water supply and sewage collection in Sao Paulo.
   • In India, NDB will direct USD 79 million for the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project.
   • In China, NDB approved EUR 265 million for the expansion of the Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport and RMB 805 million for the expansion of the Xi’an Xianyang International Airport.
4. World Bank will provide a loan of Rs 1,600 crore for the Himachal Pradesh Power Sector Development Programme.
   • The total cost of the program is Rs 2,000 crores The remaining amount will be contributed by the state govt.
   • The programme duration will be of five years, starting from the year 2023 to 2028.
5. RBI has renewed its statement of commitment to the FX Global Code, which is a compilation of best market practices formulated by central banks worldwide.
   • RBI had also facilitated the formation of India Foreign Exchange Committee (IFXC) to promote adoption and adherence of the Code among FX market participants in India.
6. State Bank of India has launched its WhatsApp Banking services.
7. Infrastructure company Tata Projects Ltd has appointed Vinayak Pai as its managing director.
8. Mumbai-based Upskilling platform UpGrad acquired New Delhi-based online learning platform Harappa Education for $38 million (about ₹296 crore) in a cash-and-share swap deal.

GDP Forecasts

1. Asian Development Bank has reduced India’s GDP forecast for 2022-23 to 7.2% from 7.5%.
   • GDP forecast for India for 2023-24 – 7.8%
   • Inflation forecast for India has been raised to 6.7% for FY23 from the 5.8% estimated earlier.
2. S&P Global Ratings has informed that the non-performing loans of banks are expected to decline to 5-5.5% of the total loans by March 2024.
   • As per the RBI’s latest Financial Stability Report, the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) declined to a six-year low of 9% in March 2022.

Appointments

1. Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has recommended Rajkiran Rai G as the MD of the newly set-up Rs 20,000-crore National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID).
   • Rajkiran Rai G was the former MD of the Union Bank of India.
   • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved a government resolution for establishing the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) in place of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB). Former BBB chairman Bhanu Pratap Sharma is the chair of FSIB.
2. International Hockey Federation (FIH HQ- Lausanne, Switzerland) has appointed Egypt’s Seif Ahmed as its acting president.
3. Droupadi Murmu (aged 64), from Odisha, has become the first tribal and second woman President of India.
   • She is the youngest President of India since independence.
   • She is the 15th President of India.

Sports

1. Osman Sagar Cup 2022 will be held at Hyderabad.

Miscellaneous

1. Barry Sinclair (New Zealand cricketer) has passed away.
2. Uwe Seeler (footballer of Germany) has passed away.

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