29th July, 2022

1. Central Govt has notified amendments to environmental impact assessment rules, exempting highway projects related to defence and strategic importance within 100 km of the Line of Control or the border from the requirement of environmental clearance.
2. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar virtually addressed the Western Region Dissemination Workshop of the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
3. Union Cabinet has approved a project for providing of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages at a total cost of ₹26,316 crores to provide 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages in remote & difficult areas.
4. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the additional investment of USD 1,600 million (about Rs. 12,000 crore) by Bharat Petro Resources Ltd. (BPRL) for development of BM-SEAL-11 Concession Project in Brazil.
5. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), through its commercial arms i.e., New Space India Limited (NSIL), has earned $279 million in foreign exchange by launching satellites for global clients.
6. Tripura government has signed an MOU with the North East Space Application Centre (NESAC), Shillong, for 21 projects including disaster management and resource mapping.
7. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has signed a contract worth over ₹100 million with Honeywell for supply and manufacture of 88 TPE331-12B engines/kits along with maintenance and support services to power the Hindustan Trainer Aircraft (HTT-40).
8. Noida-based National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) and Kerala-based APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) have signed an MOU for conducting an innovative entrepreneurial development training project for disabled youth in Kerala.
9. India and Mozambique have signed an MOU for cooperation between the parliaments of both nations.
10. Gazprom (Russia’s oil company) halved the amount of natural gas flowing through a major pipeline, named Nord Stream I, from Russia to Europe to 20% of capacity.
11. Taiwan held the Han Kuang exercises (a military exercise).
12. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministerial meeting in Tashkent, Capital of Uzbekistan.
13. InterNations (HQ- Germany) has published Expat Insider 2022.
14. International Energy Agency has released the Electricity Market Report – July 2022 Update.
15. Competition Commission of India has approved acquisition of 11.43% stake in Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. by Greenforest New Energies Bidco Ltd.
16. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has partnered with fast-growing legal education startup LawSikho for encouraging the skill development.
17. India Post Payments Bank has partnered with TATA AIG for providing TATA Accidental Guard policy to IPPB customers.
18. State-run Union Bank of India has launched SARAS (Stressed Asset Recovery Automated Solution) for resolving the stressed assets through a bad loan management system.
19. ECGC Ltd, formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd, has introduced a new scheme to provide enhanced export credit risk insurance cover to the extent of 90%, to support small exporters.
20. Union Cabinet has approved the merger of telecom firm BSNL with Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL). A revival package of Rs 1.64 lakh crores has been approved.
21. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has issued a circular permitting companies to spend their CSR funds for activities related to the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.
22. Tata Steel has signed an MOU with Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS), a Bengaluru-based start-up that sells end-to-end drone solutions for mine management.
23. SIDBI has launched Vyapar Credit Card for the MSMEs, which are registered on the Udyam portal.
24. Bajram Begaj has been appointed as the new President of the Republic of Albania.
25. Ministry of Home has given security clearance to Campbell Wilson to hold the office of the CEO of Air India.
26. Sterling Hospitals has appointed former Fortis Healthcare executive Dr Simmardeep S. Gill as its MD and CEO.
27. British PM Boris Johnson has awarded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award.
28. Hurun Leading Wealthy Women List 2021 has been released.
29. Cricketer Karuna Jain announced her retirement from all forms of cricket.
30. Official Slogan for both 2024 (Summer) Olympics and Paralympics is ‘Games Wide Open’.
31. India will host its first-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October 2022 in three cities, which are –
32. Leicester Cricket Ground, England has been named after India’s legendary cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar.
33. V. Sindhu and Manpreet Singh (hockey) were named as India’s flag-bearers for the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony to be held in Birmingham.
34. Asia Cup T20 tournament will be staged in the United Arab Emirates after it was moved from Sri Lanka.
35. Padma Shri awardee Dr Sushovan Banerjee (famously known as the ‘One Rupee Doctor’) has passed away.
36. LZ Detector (or LUX-ZEPLIN) – World Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector – has given result from the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

National News

1. Central Govt has notified amendments to environmental impact assessment rules, exempting highway projects related to defence and strategic importance within 100 km of the Line of Control or the border from the requirement of environmental clearance.
2. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar virtually addressed the Western Region Dissemination Workshop of the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
   • The Union Minister emphasised the role played by the Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV) 2016.
   • Under the MPV scheme, innovative strategies like the distribution of Nayi Pehel kits, Saas Bahu Sammelan, and Saarthi vans were organized to create awareness about the family planning.
   • The Minister also unveiled the India Family Planning 2030 vision document and launched the Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) Wheel Application, E-Module of Family Planning Logistics Management System (FPLMIS), and Digital Archive on Family Planning under the category of Digital Intervention.
3. Union Cabinet has approved a project for providing of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages at a total cost of ₹26,316 crores to provide 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages in remote & difficult areas.
4. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the additional investment of USD 1,600 million (about Rs. 12,000 crore) by Bharat Petro Resources Ltd. (BPRL) for development of BM-SEAL-11 Concession Project in Brazil.
   • BPRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
   • The authorised share capital of BPRL has been increased to Rs 20,000 crores from Rs 15,000 crores. The additional amount will be entirely subscribed by BPCL (time to time) to increase its equity in BPRL.
   • The start of production from BM-SEAL-11 project is expected from 2026-27.
   • In the BM-SEAL-11 Concession Project, BPRL has 40% stake and Petrobras, National oil company of Brazil has 60% stake.
5. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), through its commercial arms i.e., New Space India Limited (NSIL), has earned $279 million in foreign exchange by launching satellites for global clients.
   • NSIL has successfully launched 345 foreign satellites from 34 countries on-board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
   • PSLV-C53 mission by ISRO, successfully launched three Singapore customer satellites namely DS-EO, NeuSAR and SCOOB-1.
   • The PSLV-C53 was the second dedicated commercial mission for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

State News

1. Tripura government has signed an MOU with the North East Space Application Centre (NESAC), Shillong, for 21 projects including disaster management and resource mapping.
   • Of the 21 projects, the Centre has already approved 20 projects as part of promotion and transfer of technology to develop capacity building as well as resource mapping.
   • ISRO and North Eastern Council (NEC) will fund to implement all the 21 projects within the next three years. An amount of Rs 4.30 crores has been sanctioned for disaster management as resource mapping.

Defence News

1. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has signed a contract worth over ₹100 million with Honeywell for supply and manufacture of 88 TPE331-12B engines/kits along with maintenance and support services to power the Hindustan Trainer Aircraft (HTT-40).

Memorandum of Understanding

1. Noida-based National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) and Kerala-based APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) have signed an MOU for conducting an innovative entrepreneurial development training project for disabled youth in Kerala.
   • Launched by the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) in 2019, I-YwD project is a platform for preparing the disabled youth to develop their innovative ideas into entrepreneurial activities and equip them to contribute for the welfare of the society.
2. India and Mozambique have signed an MOU for cooperation between the parliaments of both nations.
   • Signatories – India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Mozambique’s Assembly Speaker Esperanca Laurinda Francisco Nhiuane Bias
   • Mozambique’s Parliamentary designation, led by Esperanca, visited India for 3-days.
   • President of Mozambique – Filipe Nyusi

International News

1. Gazprom (Russia’s oil company) halved the amount of natural gas flowing through a major pipeline, named Nord Stream I, from Russia to Europe to 20% of capacity.
2. Taiwan held the Han Kuang exercises (a military exercise).
3. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministerial meeting in Tashkent, Capital of Uzbekistan.

Reports and Indices

1. InterNations (HQ- Germany) has published Expat Insider 2022.
   • Total – 52 countries
   • Top – Mexico
   • India’s rank – 36th
     • India ranks low in the Quality of Life.
   • Bottom – Kuwait
   • Parameters – It ranks the countries on the basis of the ease of settling for expatriates in the country.

2. International Energy Agency has released the Electricity Market Report – July 2022 Update.

Global Scenario – 

• The growth of electricity demand is slowing significantly in 2022.
• The global demand for electricity will be 2.4% in 2022, as against the strong 6% in 2021.
• Reason for low demand – slow global economic growth, higher energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and renewed public health emergencies, particularly in China.
• Due to high gas prices and supply constraints, coal is replacing gas for power generation in markets with spare coal plant capacity.
• Renewables are growing faster than demand and replacing fossil fuels at 10% demand in 2022.
• Electricity sector emissions are set to decline slightly by 2% in 2022.

India’s Scenario –

• Electricity demand forecast for 2022 – 7% from previously 6% (due to heatwaves)
• For 2023, the demand will be 5% (from 6%).

Banking and Economy

1. Competition Commission of India has approved acquisition of 11.43% stake in Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. by Greenforest New Energies Bidco Ltd.
2. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has partnered with fast-growing legal education startup LawSikho for encouraging the skill development.
   • LawSikho will provide digital skills to learners from tier-2, tier-3 cities, small towns and villages across India under this program.
   • The partnership will benefit over 10,000 learners over three years.
3. India Post Payments Bank has partnered with TATA AIG for providing TATA Accidental Guard policy to IPPB customers.
4. State-run Union Bank of India has launched SARAS (Stressed Asset Recovery Automated Solution) for resolving the stressed assets through a bad loan management system.
5. ECGC Ltd, formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd, has introduced a new scheme to provide enhanced export credit risk insurance cover to the extent of 90%, to support small exporters.
   • The scheme is expected to benefit a number of small-scale exporters availing export credit with banks.
   • The enhanced cover shall be available for manufacturer-exporters availing fund-based export credit working capital limit of up to Rs 20 crores.
6. Union Cabinet has approved the merger of telecom firm BSNL with Bharat Broadband Network Ltd (BBNL). A revival package of Rs 1.64 lakh crores has been approved.
   • The package has three elements — to improve services, de-stress balance sheet and expansion of fibre network.
   • Govt will also allocate spectrum to BSNL, so that, it can offer 4G services.
   • The government will also provide Rs 13,789 crore to BSNL as viability-gap funding for commercially unviable rural wireline operations done during 2014-15 to 2019-20.
7. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has issued a circular permitting companies to spend their CSR funds for activities related to the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign.
   • Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 details about the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
   • Companies having a net worth of Rs 5 crores or more, turnover of Rs 1,000 crores, or a net profit of Rs 5 crores are required to constitute a CSR committee for undertaking CSR activities.
8. Tata Steel has signed an MOU with Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS), a Bengaluru-based start-up that sells end-to-end drone solutions for mine management.
9. SIDBI has launched Vyapar Credit Card for the MSMEs, which are registered on the Udyam portal.
   • The card will pool together all the credit schemes available for MSMEs, including interest subvention, in addition to offering collateral-free loans of up to ₹1 lakh, similar to what is provided to Kisan Credit Card (KCC) beneficiaries.
   • The initial limit of the card could vary between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh.
   • A limit of 5-10% of the credit limits of the institutions could be encouraged through the card for bonafide business expenditure.

Appointments

1. Bajram Begaj has been appointed as the new President of the Republic of Albania.
2. Ministry of Home has given security clearance to Campbell Wilson to hold the office of the CEO of Air India.
3. Sterling Hospitals has appointed former Fortis Healthcare executive Dr Simmardeep S. Gill as its MD and CEO.

Awards

1. British PM Boris Johnson has awarded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award.
   • The Churchill leadership award was first presented in 2006. Past recipients include Prince Charles, former British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
2. Hurun Leading Wealthy Women List 2021 has been released.
   • First – Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCL Technologies
   • Second – Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar
   • Third – Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon

Sports

1. Cricketer Karuna Jain announced her retirement from all forms of cricket.
2. Official Slogan for both 2024 (Summer) Olympics and Paralympics is ‘Games Wide Open’.
   • The games will be held in Paris.
   • It is the 33^rd edition of Olympics.
   • Los Angeles will hold the 2028 Olympics.
3. India will host its first-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October 2022 in three cities, which are –
   • Bhubaneswar, Odisha
   • Margao, Goa
   • Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
4. Leicester Cricket Ground, England has been named after India’s legendary cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar.
   • Gavaskar was the first cricketer to score 10,000 runs and once held the record for most number (34) of centuries.
5. V. Sindhu and Manpreet Singh (hockey) were named as India’s flag-bearers for the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony to be held in Birmingham.
6. Asia Cup T20 tournament will be staged in the United Arab Emirates after it was moved from Sri Lanka.

Miscellaneous

1. Padma Shri awardee Dr Sushovan Banerjee (famously known as the ‘One Rupee Doctor’) has passed away.
   • He was from Bolpur, West Bengal.
2. LZ Detector (or LUX-ZEPLIN) – World Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector – has given result from the Sanford Underground Research Facility.
   • LZ Detector is a next-generation dark matter experiment by US Department of Energy.

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