28th July, 2022

1. Department of Posts has launched a philately scholarship scheme named Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby) for generating interest regarding Philately amongst students.
2. The Central Govt is planning to introduce the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019 in the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament.
3. Five new sites from India have entered into the Ramsar Convention, aka Convention on Wetlands, taking the total number of wetlands in India to 54 from 49.
4. The Lok Sabha has passed the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to amend the Family Courts Act, 1984 to establish three family courts in Himachal Pradesh with effect from February 15, 2019 and in two in Nagaland with effect from September 12, 2008.
5. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has met USAID Administrator Samantha Power (an Irish-American) in New Delhi.
6. Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (Rajeevika) and Stree Nidhi, a government of Telangana organisation, have signed an MOU to establish Rajasthan’s first and the country’s third ‘women’s financial institution’.
7. Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, has launched National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)’s subsidiary named as NDDB MRIDA Limited for manure management.
8. Ministry of Defence has approved the procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 28,000 crores.
9. iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) has signed its 100th contract with Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd.
10. Prasar Bharati has signed an MOU with IIT-Kanpur to develop Next Generation Broadcast Solution and Roadmap for Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting consistent with emerging standards such as 5G Broadcast.
11. Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024.
12. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has reduced shareholding in Sun Pharmaceuticals by selling 2% stake in the company for about Rs 3,882 crores.
13. HDFC Securities Ltd has partnered with Equitas Small Finance Bank to provide its clients with a demat account and its broking or investment services.
14. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a loan agreement with the Central govt to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of about ₹6,000 crore (100 billion Japanese Yen) as the third tranche for the construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR).
15. City Union Bank has signed a bancassurance agreement with Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company.
16. PM Narendra Modi will launch the India’s first international bullion exchange at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) on July 29.
17. The long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is being held in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz), and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
18. Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad, informed the Lok Sabha that the amount involved in frauds reported by banks and select financial institutions based on the date of occurrence of fraud declined by 8% in the last two years.
19. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Axis Bank’s acquisition of the consumer banking operations of Citibank, A. and Citicorp Finance (India) Limited.
20. ONGC has signed an MOU with Greenko Group to jointly pursue opportunities in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen.
21. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook- July 2022
22. World Bank has appointed Indermit Gill as the chief economist and senior vice president for development economicse.f., September 1, 2022.
23. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has named Tufan Erginbilgic as its next chief executive officer (CEO).
24. July 26 – International Day for Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystem (death anniversary of Greenpeace activist from Micronesia, Hayhow Daniel Nanoto)
25. Pallavi Singh (from Kanpur) has won the Mrs Universe Divine Title at the finals held at Yeosu City, South Korea.
26. India will host the women’s 50-over World Cup in 2025.
27. Northern Ireland peacemaker David Trimble has passed away
28. US actor Paul Sorvino has passed away.

National News

1. Department of Posts has launched a philately scholarship scheme named Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby) for generating interest regarding Philately amongst students.
   • Students of class VI to IX having good academic record and pursuing philately as a hobby will be awarded scholarship on the basis of Philately Quiz & Philately Project to be conducted by circle offices.
   • At the time of selection for award of scholarship the candidate must have scored at least 60% marks or equivalent grade/ grade point in the recent final examination.
   • There will be 5% relaxation for SC/ST.
   • The Selection Process will be consisting of two levels (Level 1- Philately Written Quiz & Level- 2- Philately Project).
   • Scholarship amount – Rs 6000 p.a. (Rs 500 per month)
2. The Central Govt is planning to introduce the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019 in the ongoing Monsoon session of the Parliament.
   • Features of the Bill –

3. Five new sites from India have entered into the Ramsar Convention, aka Convention on Wetlands, taking the total number of wetlands in India to 54 from 49.
   • Sites –
     • Tamil Nadu – Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest, Karikili Bird Sanctuary, and Pichavaram Mangrove
     • Mizoram – Pala wetland
     • Madhya Pradesh – Sakhya Sagar
4. The Lok Sabha has passed the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to amend the Family Courts Act, 1984 to establish three family courts in Himachal Pradesh with effect from February 15, 2019 and in two in Nagaland with effect from September 12, 2008.
   • A new Section 3A has been inserted in the Act to validate all actions taken by family courts in the bill.
5. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has met USAID Administrator Samantha Power (an Irish-American) in New Delhi.
   • They discussed global development prospects in the context of food, energy, and debt challenges.
   • USAID – United States Agency for International Development

State News

1. Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (Rajeevika) and Stree Nidhi, a government of Telangana organisation, have signed an MOU to establish Rajasthan’s first and the country’s third ‘women’s financial institution’.
   • ‘Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi’ (RMN), to be run by women, will be established in the state following Telangana’s ‘women fund model’.
   • RMN will be established as a state-level cooperative financial institution through Rajeevika.

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, has launched National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)’s subsidiary named as NDDB MRIDA Limited for manure management.
   • Shri Sandeep Bharti is the newly appointed Managing Director of NDDB MRIDA Limited.
   • NDDB MRIDA Limited, an Unlisted Public Limited Company, has been set up under the Companies Act, 2013, as with the paid-up capital of 9.50 crore on July 1, 2022.
   • NDDB has also registered a trademark named “SuDhan” to provide common identity to dung based organic fertilisers.

Defence News

1. Ministry of Defence has approved the procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 28,000 crores.
   • The weapons, including swarm drones and close-quarter battle carbines, to bolster the overall combat prowess of the armed forces along the northern and western borders.
2. iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) has signed its 100th contract with Pacify Medical Technologies Pvt Ltd.

International News

1. Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after
   • The space station is jointly run by the space agencies of Russia, the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada.

Banking and Economy

1. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has reduced shareholding in Sun Pharmaceuticals by selling 2% stake in the company for about Rs 3,882 crores.
2. HDFC Securities Ltd has partnered with Equitas Small Finance Bank to provide its clients with a demat account and its broking or investment services.
   • Now, Equitas SFB will be able to offer its customers a 3-in-1 account that helps them access the services of HDFC Securities.
3. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a loan agreement with the Central govt to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan of about ₹6,000 crore (100 billion Japanese Yen) as the third tranche for the construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR).
   • National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) is the Executing Agency of the Project.
4. City Union Bank has signed a bancassurance agreement with Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company.
   • Purpose – for selling different insurance products to bank’s customers.
5. PM Narendra Modi will launch the India’s first international bullion exchange at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) on July 29.
   • At the launch, the prime minister will also launch NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. This platform will allow the members of Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) to trade in the Nifty derivatives through the Connect platform.
   • RBI has already released the guidelines for the billion exchange. India and Singapore have also signed an agreement for the Connect platform.
6. The long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is being held in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz), and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
   • Department of Telecom’s own internal estimates put the 5G auction collections at Rs 70,000 crores to Rs 1,00,000 crores.
7. Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad, informed the Lok Sabha that the amount involved in frauds reported by banks and select financial institutions based on the date of occurrence of fraud declined by 8% in the last two years.
   • The amount reduced significantly from Rs 32,178 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 3,785 crore in 2021-22.
   • India’s gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) have come down to a six-year low of 5.9% as of March 2022.
     • The GNPA was Rs 10,36,000 crore in 2018. It is Rs 53,735 crores in 2022.
   • Countries with most NPAs –
     • Russia – 8.3%
     • India – 5.9%
     • South Africa – 5.2%
     • Indonesia – 2.6%
     • China – 1.8%
     • US – 1.1%
8. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Axis Bank’s acquisition of the consumer banking operations of Citibank, A. and Citicorp Finance (India) Limited.
9. ONGC has signed an MOU with Greenko Group to jointly pursue opportunities in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen.
   • Under the partnership, the companies will jointly develop a 1-MMTPA green ammonia production and storage facility in the country for export purpose.

GDP Forecasts

1. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook- July 2022

Appointments

1. World Bank has appointed Indermit Gill as the chief economist and senior vice president for development economicse.f., September 1, 2022.
   • Gill will be the second Indian, after Kaushik Basu, to become the chief economist of the World Bank.
   • He is currently the Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions at the World Bank, where he led work on macroeconomics, debt, trade, poverty, and governance.
2. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has named Tufan Erginbilgic as its next chief executive officer (CEO).

Important Days

1. July 26 – International Day for Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystem (death anniversary of Greenpeace activist from Micronesia, Hayhow Daniel Nanoto)

Awards

1. Pallavi Singh (from Kanpur) has won the Mrs Universe Divine Title at the finals held at Yeosu City, South Korea.

Sports

1. India will host the women’s 50-over World Cup in
   • Bangladesh will host the 2024 T20 World Cup, England the 2026 edition, and Sri Lanka the inaugural T20 Champions Trophy in 2027.
   • The Final of the World Test Championships in 2023 and 2025 will be played at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Miscellaneous

1. Northern Ireland peacemaker David Trimble has passed away
   • He received the Noble Prize for Peace in 1998, along with John Hume, for their roles in crafting the Good Friday Agreement or the Belfast Agreement (which ended the civil war in Northern Ireland).
2. US actor Paul Sorvino has passed away.

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