26th July, 2022

1. NTPC has signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with NITI Aayog to develop its net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions roadmap.
2. Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers has launched the ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Sector’ scheme and its three sub-schemes to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the pharmaceutical sector.
3. AadhaarFaceRd mobile app has been launched by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for conducting the face authentication.
4. Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology has been developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to convert the saline seawater into drinking water.
5. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met his UK counterpart Stephen Lovegrove to discuss a wide range of subjects of bilateral and global significance.
6. 16th meeting of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) was addressed by the Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, in New Delhi.
7. Human Space Flight Expo has organized by ISRO at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru.
8. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya State Employees Cashless Medical Scheme to provide cashless medical facility to more than 75 lakh people including 22 lakh state government employees, pensioners and their dependents.
9. India’s first brain health clinic has been established under the Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI) at Jayanagar General Hospital, Bengaluru on the World Brain Day (July 22).
10. Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh has become the first district in India to be certified as “Har Ghar Jal” district by the government of India.
11. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will launch an e-FIR filing system in Gandhinagar, which will enable citizens to file FIRs online, without visiting a police station.
12. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 96.3 million (about Rs 770 crore) loan to fund safe drinking water and sanitation project in Himachal Pradesh.
13. Andhra Pradesh has launched the “Family Doctor” project in the Padmanabham mandal in Visakhapatnam district on a pilot basis.
14. India and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement for mutual recognition of educational degrees of students of bachelor, masters and doctoral courses.
15. NASA has awarded a contract to SpaceX to provide launch services for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission.
16. 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue was hosted at Berlin, Germany, along with Egypt, from 17-19 July 2022.
17. A partnership of 18 economies, including India, the US and the European Union (EU), has unveiled a four-point roadmap for building collective, long-term resilient supply chains.
18. China has launched its Wentian module, 2nd module after the Tianhe module, to complete its own Tiangong space station.
19. NITI Aayog and UK Govt have released the “Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Reuse and Recycling Market in India”
20. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released ‘Youth in India 2022’ report, which shows that the population share of the youth is starting to decline whereas the share of the elderly is expected to increase during 2021-2036.
21. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched ‘Pay As You Consume’, an add-on motor insurance cover under the IRDAI’s Sandbox Regulations.
22. Canara Bank has launched a mobile banking app – Canara ai1 – to enable customers of all age groups to use traditional, modern and financial services through digital mode.
23. Thane-based pharmaceutical company Bajaj Healthcare Limited has become India’s first private company to be awarded a government contract for the highly-regulated opium processing sector.
24. FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey (July 2022) has forecasted a 7% growth rate for India for 2022-23, with a minimum and maximum growth estimate of 6.5% and 7.3%, respectively.
25. Morgan Stanley has reduced its GDP forecast for India to 2% for the FY23.
26. Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
27. A total of 28 new members have taken oath as the MPs in Rajya Sabha.
28. Pi Day (also on March 14)
29. National Broadcasting Day
30. Income Tax Day
31. 2022 Global Energy Prize winners –
32. NTPC has been recognized as one of the “Most Preferred Workplaces of 2022″ in the premier edition of “Most Preferred Workplaces 2022″ organized by Team Marksmen in association with India Today.
33. Saugata Gupta (MD of Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Marico) has emerged as the highest-paid CEO in the FMCG segment in FY22, as his total pay package rose to 157%.
34. Adani Sportsline (the sports arm of the Adani Group) has become an official partner with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, Hangzhou Asian Games 2022, and Paris Olympic Games 2024.
35. GM Aravindh Chithambaram has won the 41st edition of Villa de Benasque International Open chess tournament in Benasque, Spain.
36. India won the 3-match T20I and 3-match ODI series matches against England at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Southampton, UK.
37. Former Australian star Lleyton Hewitt has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
38. Jonas Vingegaard (Danish cyclist) has won the Tour de France 2022 (annual men’s multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France).
39. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch motorsports racing driver) has won the French Formula One Grand Prix at Paul Ricard racetrack in Le Castellet, France.
40. Sports Authority of India has started “Create for India” initiative to cheer Indian team in Commonwealth Games.

National News

1. NTPC has signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with NITI Aayog to develop its net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions roadmap.
   • The SoI seeks to formalise a framework of cooperation between the parties to facilitate NTPC to strategize on diversification of its generation mix to eventually reduce its carbon footprint and support India’s endeavour towards achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
   • NTPC has become India’s first energy company to declare its energy compact goals as part of the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE).

   About NTPC –

   • The total installed capacity of the company is 69,000 MW approx. having 23 coal based, 7 gas based, 1 Hydro, 19 renewable energy projects.
   • Under the JVs, NTPC has 9 coal-based, 4 gas-based, 8 hydro and 5 renewable energy projects.
   • NTPC – India’s largest power producer – is also aiming for a 10% reduction in net energy intensity by 2032.
2. Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers has launched the ‘Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Sector’ scheme and its three sub-schemes to strengthen Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the pharmaceutical sector.
   • In March 2022, the guidelines for the scheme were released. Therefore, the scheme-related details are in March spotlight.
   • Minor changes have been made into the scheme based on the recommendations of the stakeholders.

3. AadhaarFaceRd mobile app has been launched by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for conducting the face authentication.
   • The app is available on Google Play Store.
4. Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology has been developed by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) to convert the saline seawater into drinking water.
   • This technology has been successfully demonstrated in Lakshadweep islands.
5. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met his UK counterpart Stephen Lovegrove to discuss a wide range of subjects of bilateral and global significance.
6. 16th meeting of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) was addressed by the Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, in New Delhi.
   • Theme – ‘From Encroachers to Self-Employed’
   • The scheme provides collateral-free working capital loans of Rs.10,000 to street vendors. The loan amount can be increased upon the successful repayment of the earlier loans to Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000.
   • Progress made by the scheme –
     • As of 11 July 2022, Rs. 3,661 crores had been provided as micro-credits to more than 30 lakh street vendors which was a large figure.
     • Under Phase 1 of SVANidhi se Samriddhi was launched in January 2021, under which 31 lakh street vendors and their families across 125 cities were covered.
7. Human Space Flight Expo has organized by ISRO at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru.

State News

1. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has launched the Deendayal Upadhyaya State Employees Cashless Medical Scheme to provide cashless medical facility to more than 75 lakh people including 22 lakh state government employees, pensioners and their dependents.
   • Also, cashless medical facilities up to Rs 5 lakhs will be available at hospitals empanelled under the under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
   • The state is already providing a medical insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to the poor families of the state under the Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
   • Besides, medical insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh is also being provided to the registered workers of Construction Workers Welfare Board.
2. India’s first brain health clinic has been established under the Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI) at Jayanagar General Hospital, Bengaluru on the World Brain Day (July 22).
   • Two more such centres will come up in Chikkaballapura and Kolar districts, in association with National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).
3. Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh has become the first district in India to be certified as “Har Ghar Jal” district by the government of India.
   • The certification was given by “Har Ghar Jal” scheme.
4. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will launch an e-FIR filing system in Gandhinagar, which will enable citizens to file FIRs online, without visiting a police station.
   • The eGujCop Project was launched in 2013 for integrating IT into working of the Home Affairs Department.
5. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 96.3 million (about Rs 770 crore) loan to fund safe drinking water and sanitation project in Himachal Pradesh.
   • The project is named as ‘Himachal Pradesh Rural Drinking Water Improvement and Livelihood Project’.
   • The project aims to meet the objectives of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
6. Andhra Pradesh has launched the “Family Doctor” project in the Padmanabham mandal in Visakhapatnam district on a pilot basis.
   • This project will be launched with the aim of improving health services among rural population.
   • As a part of the “Family Doctor Project”, a doctor from Primary Health Centre (PHC) will be made available to look after health needs of people in Ward and Village Sachivalayam.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. India and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement for mutual recognition of educational degrees of students of bachelor, masters and doctoral courses.
   • Indian senior secondary school or pre-university certificates will also be considered for entry into UK’s higher education institutions, enabling mobility of students.
   • From now onwards, UK degrees will be recognised as equivalent to Indian degrees. Degrees like medicine, pharmacy, engineering, architecture are not covered in this pact.
   • Another MoU on maritime education qualification was signed to mutually recognise the certificates of maritime education and training.
   • A framework agreement on healthcare workforce was signed, which includes cooperation on nursing and allied health professionals, training of health care professionals and measures to bridge the skill gap.
   • The agreements have been signed under the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP).

International News

1. NASA has awarded a contract to SpaceX to provide launch services for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission.
   • Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly known as WFIRST, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope) is a next-generation observatory.
   • The contract is named as NASA Launch Services (NLS) II.
   • The telescope is targeted to launch in October 2026 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at a cost of $255 million.
   • The Roman Space Telescope project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland.
2. 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue was hosted at Berlin, Germany, along with Egypt, from 17-19 July 2022.
   • The Petersberg Climate Dialogue was launched in 2010 by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel to bring together selected states on an annual basis to prepare the ground for successful negotiations at the UNFCCC climate change conferences.
   • Petersberg, formerly known as the Stromberg, is a mountain in the Siebengebirge mountain range near Bonn, Germany.
3. A partnership of 18 economies, including India, the US and the European Union (EU), has unveiled a four-point roadmap for building collective, long-term resilient supply chains.
   • The roadmap was released during the Virtual Supply Chain Ministerial Meeting hosted by US secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo.
4. China has launched its Wentian module, 2nd module after the Tianhe module, to complete its own Tiangong space station.
   • Three modules are required to complete the space station.

Reports and Indices

1. NITI Aayog and UK Govt have released the “Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Reuse and Recycling Market in India”
   • Green Growth Equity Fund Technical Cooperation Facility (GGEF TCF) of UK has supported the creation of this report.
   • The report was launched, along with the e-AMRIT portal, during the visit of COP 26 President Alok Sharma to India.
   • India is among 42 leaders to back and sign up for the UK’s Glasgow Breakthroughs, launched at the COP26 climate summit.
   • India is also a co-convener of the Glasgow Breakthrough on Road Transport, together with the UK and the US.
     • The Breakthrough on Road Transport aims to make Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) – including 2&3-wheelers, cars, vans and Heavy-Duty Vehicles – affordable, accessible and sustainable in all regions by 2030.
   • India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45%.
2. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released ‘Youth in India 2022’ report, which shows that the population share of the youth is starting to decline whereas the share of the elderly is expected to increase during 2021-2036.
   • Trends in youth population – 222.7 million in 1991 –> 333.4 million in 2011 –> 371.4 million in 2021 –> 345.5 million by 2036 (a decrease)
     • Proportion of youth to the total population – 26.6% in 1991 –> 27.9% in 2016 –> 22.7% by 2036
   • Trends in elderly population – 2011 Census: 104 million old people –> 2036: 225 million –> 2061: 425 million
     • Proportion of elderly to the total population – 6.8% in 1991 –> 9.2% in 2016 –> 14.9% in 2036
   • State-wise – Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh will see an increase in elderly population
     • Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are projected to have over half (52%) of the country’s youth.

Banking and Economy

1. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched ‘Pay As You Consume’, an add-on motor insurance cover under the IRDAI’s Sandbox Regulations.
2. Canara Bank has launched a mobile banking app – Canara ai1 – to enable customers of all age groups to use traditional, modern and financial services through digital mode.
   • “E-transactions for Everyone, Everywhere, Everytime” is the core vision of the bank.
   • The app is available in 11 languages.
   • MD and CEO of Canara Bank – L V Prabhakar
3. Thane-based pharmaceutical company Bajaj Healthcare Limited has become India’s first private company to be awarded a government contract for the highly-regulated opium processing sector.
   • Now, the company can use opium to extract active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in medicines such as painkillers, cough syrups, and even cancer drugs.

GDP Forecasts

1. FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey (July 2022) has forecasted a 7% growth rate for India for 2022-23, with a minimum and maximum growth estimate of 6.5% and 7.3%, respectively.
   • The report also forecasts that the repo rate of RBI can increase to 5.65%. Currently, it is 4.9%.
2. Morgan Stanley has reduced its GDP forecast for India to 7.2% for the FY23.
   • FY24 GDP growth rate for India – 6.4%

Appointments

1. Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
2. A total of 28 new members have taken oath as the MPs in Rajya Sabha.
   • Cricketer Harbhajan Singh, film director V Vijayendra Prasad are among the new joinees.

Important Days

1. July 22 –
   • Pi Day (also on March 14)
   • World Brain Day; Theme – ‘Brain health for all’
2. July 23 – National Broadcasting Day
   • The day commemorates the first radio broadcast in India from the Bombay Station under the Indian Broadcasting Company in 1927.
3. July 24 –
   • Income Tax Day

Awards

1. 2022 Global Energy Prize winners –
   • Viktor Orlov (Russia) – Conventional Energy category
   • Mercouri Kanatzidis (USA) – Non-Conventional Energy category
   • Kaushik Rajashekara (USA) – New Ways of Energy Applications
   • The awarding ceremony will be held during the Russian Energy Week to take place in Moscow on 12-14 October 2022. The award is given by the Global Energy Prize Association (HQ – Moscow; set up in 2002 by Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Zhores Alferov).
2. NTPC has been recognized as one of the “Most Preferred Workplaces of 2022″ in the premier edition of “Most Preferred Workplaces 2022″ organized by Team Marksmen in association with India Today.
   • In March 2022, NTPC Limited had been declared the “Dream Employer of the Year” at the 30th World HRD Congress.
   • The 31st World HRD Congress will be held in February 2023 in Mumbai.
3. Saugata Gupta (MD of Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Marico) has emerged as the highest-paid CEO in the FMCG segment in FY22, as his total pay package rose to 157%.
   • Following Gupta, is Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) CEO and MD Sanjiv Mehta.
   • Third in the list of highest-paid FMCG CEO in India is Nestle India’s MD Suresh Narayanan.
4. 68th National Film Awards for the year 2020 were given in New Delhi.

Sports

1. Adani Sportsline (the sports arm of the Adani Group) has become an official partner with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, Hangzhou Asian Games 2022, and Paris Olympic Games 2024.
   • In 2021, the Adani Group had sponsored the Indian Contingent during the Tokyo Olympics and this is the second association of this group with IOA.
   • Adani Group is celebrating Indian athletes’ legacy under the #GarvHai.
2. GM Aravindh Chithambaram has won the 41st edition of Villa de Benasque International Open chess tournament in Benasque, Spain.
3. India won the 3-match T20I and 3-match ODI series matches against England at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Southampton, UK.
4. Former Australian star Lleyton Hewitt has been inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
   • The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Danish cyclist) has won the Tour de France 2022 (annual men’s multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France).
6. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch motorsports racing driver) has won the French Formula One Grand Prix at Paul Ricard racetrack in Le Castellet, France.
7. Sports Authority of India has started “Create for India” initiative to cheer Indian team in Commonwealth Games.
   • Indian athlete contingent comprise of 215-members across 16 disciplines.

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