3rd-4th August, 2022

1. Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, has inaugurated conference on drug trafficking and national security in Chandigarh.
2. The Central Govt has launched the National Solar Rooftop Portal to enable online tracking of the process of installation of rooftop solar plants.
3. Ministry of Power launched the Power Sector’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme for improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of Distribution Companies.
4. Ministry of Textile has been linking major tourist destinations with the handicraft clusters and infrastructure supports, as a part of “Linking Textile with Tourism” initiative.
5. Minister of Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has launched the event to celebrate 8 years of MyGov in New Delhi.
6. Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 has been approved by Lok Sabha.
7. Parliament was informed that arsenic had been found in the groundwater in parts of 209 districts in 25 states and Union territories, while uranium has been discovered in parts of 152 districts across 18 states.
8. Ministry of Culture is organizing “Tiranga Utsav” to celebrate the contributions of Pingali Venkayya to the nation on the occasion of his 146th Birth Anniversary in New Delhi.
9. The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed by Lok Sabha to amend the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
10. Ministry of Steel has constituted an Advisory Committee for Secondary Steel, under the Chairmanship of Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia, to strengthen the steel sector especially the secondary steel industry.
11. On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of National Education Policy 2020, Indian Knowledge System (IKS) division, an innovative cell under Ministry of Education (MoE) at AICTE, New Delhi organized an IKS Mela.
12. Arunachal Pradesh government has signed a tripartite MOU with NITI Aayog and Reach to Teach Foundation for a large-scale transformation in school education.
13. West Bengal has signed an MOU with Maharashtra government to prevent migration and trafficking of women.
14. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Navy have signed an MoU to collaborate on aviation research and development.
15. SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
16. United States and Japan have decided to launch a new joint international semiconductor research hub to establish a secure source of the vital components.
17. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, the growth of eight core infrastructure sectors rose by 12.7% in June against 9.4% in the year-ago period.
18. India’s fiscal deficit for April-June 2022 quarter stands at 3.52 trillion rupees, or 21.2% of annual estimates.
19. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, India received its highest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of Rs 6,31,050 crore in the previous fiscal, i.e., FY 2021-22.
20. According to National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) data, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has witnessed over 6 billion transactions, worth Rs 10.62 trillion, in July 2022.
21. RBI has released the financial inclusion index (FI-Index) to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country for March 2022.
22. HDFC Bank Parivartan has signed an MOU with the IISc-Bengaluru for construction of Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital at IISc Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 107.76 crores.
23. SEBI has deferred the implementation of rules pertaining to nomination for mutual fund holders till October 1.
24. SEBI has released a framework for automated deactivation of trading and demat accounts of investors in case of inadequate Know Your Client (KYC) details.
25. SEBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on BSE Ltd because BIL, a separate legal entity and a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd, had acquired an 8% stake in Indus Water Institute Ltd.
26. Pranay Kumar Verma has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
27. July 30 – International Day of Friendship; Theme – Sharing the human spirit through friendship
28. August 1 – Muslim Women’s Rights Day
29. August 1 to 7 – World Breastfeeding Week; Theme – Step up for Breastfeeding
30. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has presented the prestigious President’s Colours to the Tamil Nadu police in recognition of the State police’s commendable service and many achievements.
31. England has defeated Germany to win the UEFA Women’s European Championship at Wembley Stadium in London.
32. Formula One champion Max Verstappen has won the Hungarian Grand Prix.
33. Noted Bengali and Odia singer Nirmala Mishra has passed away.
34. Former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos has passed away.
35. DeepMind Technologies, an Alphabet-owned AI research company, has developed an artificial intelligence tool called “AlphaFold”.
36. T Mohandas Pai, founder of Kannada daily ‘Udayavani’, has passes away
37. Tata Power, in association with Ela Foundation, has released the 4th book in a series on ‘Amphibians of the Northern Western Ghats’, a photographic guide to all 52 species of amphibians in Gujarat, Diu, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra and Goa.

National News

1. Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, has inaugurated conference on drug trafficking and national security in Chandigarh.
2. The Central Govt has launched the National Solar Rooftop Portal to enable online tracking of the process of installation of rooftop solar plants.
   • The portal will track information starting from registering the applications to release of subsidies in residential consumers’ bank accounts after installation and inspection of the plant.
3. Ministry of Power launched the Power Sector’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme for improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of Distribution Companies.
   • Total Outlay – Rs 3,03,758 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26
   • It is also proposed to provide 25 crore Smart Prepaid meters to consumers all over the country.
   • The estimated capacity under the national solar rooftop program is 4000 MW.
   • Foundation stone of various green energy projects of NTPC worth over Rs 5200 crore were laid.
     • The programs are 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar Project in Telangana and the 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar Project in Kerala, 735 MW Nokh Solar Project in Rajasthan, Green Hydrogen Mobility Project in Leh and Kawas Green Hydrogen Blending with Natural Gas project in Gujarat.
   • The power generation capacity has increased to over 4 lakh MW at present, which is 1.85 lakh MW more than the demand.
4. Ministry of Textile has been linking major tourist destinations with the handicraft clusters and infrastructure supports, as a part of “Linking Textile with Tourism” initiative.
   • 8 craft villages have already been set up for overall development of villages.
   • The villages are Raghurajpur (Odisha), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Vadaj (Gujarat), Naini (Uttar Pradesh), Anegundi (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Taj Ganj (Uttar Pradesh), and Amer (Rajasthan).
   • Craft Villages will promote handicrafts as a viable and remunerative livelihood option for artisans in the clusters, thereby safeguarding the country’s rich artisanal heritage.
5. Minister of Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has launched the event to celebrate 8 years of MyGov in New Delhi.
   • Responsible AI for Youth 2022 was also launched by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. It has been created by National E-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics & IT in association with Intel India and Ministry of Education.
   • The Program will be open to all school students studying in classes 8-12 across India to foster a deeper understanding of AI-tech and encourage youngsters to become human-centric designers.
6. Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 has been approved by Lok Sabha.
   • The bill seeks to ban funding of weapons of mass destruction and also empowers the Centre to freeze, seize or attach financial assets and economic resources of people engaged in such activities.
   • Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, passed in 2005, only banned manufacture of weapons of mass destruction.
7. Parliament was informed that arsenic had been found in the groundwater in parts of 209 districts in 25 states and Union territories, while uranium has been discovered in parts of 152 districts across 18 states.
   • Lead was found in parts of 176 districts in 21 states, iron in 491 districts in 29 states and UTs, cadmium in parts of 29 districts in 11 states and chromium in 62 districts in 16 states.
8. Ministry of Culture is organizing “Tiranga Utsav” to celebrate the contributions of Pingali Venkayya to the nation on the occasion of his 146th Birth Anniversary in New Delhi.
   • Pingali Venkayya, a freedom fighter and the designer of India’s National Flag.
9. The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed by Lok Sabha to amend the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
   • The bill aims to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and expand the number of species protected by the convention.
   • CITES is a convention that requires countries to regulate the trade of all listed specimens through permits and regulate the possession of live animal specimens so it does not threaten the survival of the species.
   • The Bill provides for the central government to designate an authority which grants export or import licences for the trading in specimens.
10. Ministry of Steel has constituted an Advisory Committee for Secondary Steel, under the Chairmanship of Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia, to strengthen the steel sector especially the secondary steel industry.
11. On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of National Education Policy 2020, Indian Knowledge System (IKS) division, an innovative cell under Ministry of Education (MoE) at AICTE, New Delhi organized an IKS Mela.
    • 75 ‘Bhartiya Games’ will be introduced in schools under the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) initiative.
      • Games like Santhal katti, a version of gilli danda played by Odisha’s Santhal tribe, mardani khel, a form of martial arts originating from Maharashtra, and yubi lapki, a rugby-like game played with coconut in Manipur are in the list.
    • Kalashala initiative has been launched in 750 schools for educating children about the various art forms of India & help them discover the country’s rich cultural heritage.
    • 32 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI), more than 3,000 Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), 500 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) and nearly 300 Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) have partnered with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to provide upward mobility to students and help them attain higher education.
    • Nearly, 2000 Skill Hubs have been set up with more than 1.53 lakh candidates who have been trained till date under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.
    • 750 virtual labs and 75 skilling e-labs will be set up for simulated learning. DIKSHA portal is providing access to virtual labs to the students of classes 9-12.
    • Vidya Amrit Portal has been launched to scale up the micro-improvements taking place in the school education in different parts of the country, a Digital Project is being enabled.

State News

1. Arunachal Pradesh government has signed a tripartite MOU with NITI Aayog and Reach to Teach Foundation for a large-scale transformation in school education.
   • The MoU is a three-year partnership (2022-25) for enhancing the learning outcome of students across 3,000 plus government schools in the state thereby, by reaching out to over two lakh children.
2. West Bengal has signed an MOU with Maharashtra government to prevent migration and trafficking of women.

Defence News

1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Navy have signed an MoU to collaborate on aviation research and development.

International News

1. SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
   • India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the SCO foreign ministers with counterparts from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and with the Secretary General of the SCO.
   • 2022 SCO Summit – Samarkand, Uzbekistan
2. United States and Japan have decided to launch a new joint international semiconductor research hub to establish a secure source of the vital components.
   • US House of Representatives has also passed the CHIPS and Science Bill to provide assistance and subsidies worth USD 280 billion.
   • CHIPS bill stands for “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors”.

Banking and Economy

1. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, the growth of eight core infrastructure sectors rose by 12.7% in June against 9.4% in the year-ago period.
   • 8 core sectors – coal, cement, electricity, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, and natural gas industries
2. India’s fiscal deficit for April-June 2022 quarter stands at 3.52 trillion rupees, or 21.2% of annual estimates.
   • India will aim to narrow the fiscal gap to 6.4% of gross domestic product from 6.7% in the last financial year.
3. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, India received its highest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of Rs 6,31,050 crore in the previous fiscal, i.e., FY 2021-22.
4. According to National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) data, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has witnessed over 6 billion transactions, worth Rs 10.62 trillion, in July 2022.
   • This is highest ever volume since the launch of UPI in 2016.
5. RBI has released the financial inclusion index (FI-Index) to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country for March 2022.
   • The score in FI-Index stands at 4 vis-vis 53.9 in March 2021.
   • The FI-Index comprises of three broad parameters (weights indicated in brackets) viz., Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators.
   • The index is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of services, and quality of services, comprising in all 97 indicators.
6. HDFC Bank Parivartan has signed an MOU with the IISc-Bengaluru for construction of Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital at IISc Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 107.76 crores.
7. SEBI has deferred the implementation of rules pertaining to nomination for mutual fund holders till October 1.
   • As per the new rules, the Asset Management Companies (AMCs) will have to provide an option to the unit holder to submit either the nomination form or the declaration form for opting out of nomination in physical or online mode as per the choice of the unit holder.
8. SEBI has released a framework for automated deactivation of trading and demat accounts of investors in case of inadequate Know Your Client (KYC) details.
   

   • The framework will come into effect from August 31.
9. SEBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on BSE Ltd because BIL, a separate legal entity and a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSE Ltd, had acquired an 8% stake in Indus Water Institute Ltd.

Appointments

1. Pranay Kumar Verma has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
   • He is currently serving as India’s Ambassador to Vietnam.

Important Days

1. July 30 – International Day of Friendship; Theme – Sharing the human spirit through friendship
2. August 1 – Muslim Women’s Rights Day
3. August 1 to 7 – World Breastfeeding Week; Theme – Step up for Breastfeeding

Awards

1. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has presented the prestigious President’s Colours to the Tamil Nadu police in recognition of the State police’s commendable service and many achievements.

Sports

1. England has defeated Germany to win the UEFA Women’s European Championship at Wembley Stadium in London.
2. Formula One champion Max Verstappen has won the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Miscellaneous

1. Noted Bengali and Odia singer Nirmala Mishra has passed away.
2. Former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos has passed away.
3. DeepMind Technologies, an Alphabet-owned AI research company, has developed an artificial intelligence tool called “AlphaFold”.
4. T Mohandas Pai, founder of Kannada daily ‘Udayavani’, has passes away.
5. Tata Power, in association with Ela Foundation, has released the 4th book in a series on ‘Amphibians of the Northern Western Ghats’, a photographic guide to all 52 species of amphibians in Gujarat, Diu, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra and Goa.

Start Quiz of 3rd-4th August 2022 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 3rd-4th August 2022 on Desktop