28th July, 2023

1. Ministry of Jal Shakti Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Rural WASH Partners Forum (RWPF) with a two-day National Conference at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
2. Bengaluru has become the 1st Indian city to join World Cities Culture Forum.
3. ITC in collaboration with the Department of Post has released a special postal stamp to raise awareness on millets.
4. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched several new technological initiatives under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
5. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched the Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry Coalition in Chennai.
6. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed an agreement for $295 million loan to upgrade state highways in Bihar.
7. Rajkot International Airport in Gujarat has been inaugurated.
8. Telangana government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Walmart and Flipkart for capacity building of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State.
9. AP-Genco and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) will form a Joint Venture (JV) for implementing Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects (PSPHs) in Andhra Pradesh.
10. HDFC Bank has overtaken State Bank of India (SBI) to secure top spot in 2023 CRISIL’s “Greenwich Market Share Leaders” rankings in “Large Corporate Banking” category. 
11. Federal Bank has launched an exclusive NR savings account scheme.
12. Dvara KGFS has entered into a co-lending partnership with HDFC Bank.
13. India will become world’s 3rd largest economy by FY28 according to SBI Ecowrap.
14. An amount of Rs 10.16 trillion has been recovered by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) during the last 9 financial years ending 2022-23, according to finance ministry.
15. Digital payments have registered a growth of24% in FY23 according to RBI’s Digital Payments Index.
16. 26 July- World Drowning Prevention Day
17. 27 July– 85th CRPF Raising Day
18. Aditya S Samant has become India’s 83rd chess Grandmaster.
19. India AI and Meta India have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on AI and emerging technologies.
20. Renowned Marathi writer Anant Yashwant Khare, known as Nanda Khare, has passed away.
21. Veteran journalist-author-columnist Shirish Kanekar has passed away.

National News

1. Ministry of Jal Shakti Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Rural WASH Partners Forum (RWPF) with a two-day National Conference at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
   • Theme of the conference– “Accelerating Progress towards a Swachh Sujal Bharat.”

2. Bengaluru has become the 1st Indian city to join World Cities Culture Forum.
   • World Cities Culture Forum –
     • Founded in- 2012 by the office of the Mayor of London.
     • It is a global network of nearly 40 cities, which provides a way for policy makers in these cities to share research and intelligence, and explore the vital role of culture for their future prosperity.
       Source: ToI

   
   
3. ITC in collaboration with the Department of Post has released a special postal stamp to raise awareness on millets.

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has taken several initiatives to celebrate the International Year of Millets-2023 such as holding of G20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting (AMM) and designating ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad as Global Centre of Excellence on Millets (Shree Anna).
• India is the largest producer of millets in the world.

Source: BS

4. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched several new technological initiatives under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.

   • YES-TECH Manual
     • It is a comprehensive guide to facilitate the implementation of YES-TECH, a technology-driven yield estimation system, offering methodologies, best practices, and integration insights for accurate yield assessments at the Gram Panchayat level.
   • WINDS Portal
     • It is a centralized platform that hosts, manages, and processes hyper-local weather data collected by Automatic Weather Stations and Rain Gauges at Taluk/Block and Gram Panchayat levels.
   • AIDE mobile app
     • The app aims to revolutionize the enrolment process by making it door-to-door, making crop insurance more accessible and convenient for farmers.

   
   

5. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched the Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry Coalition in Chennai.
   • The coalition has been launched on the sidelines of the 4th G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) and Environment and Climate Ministers meeting.
   • The coalition is structured around the three guiding pillars of partnerships for impact, technology cooperation and finance for scale.
     Source: PIB
6. Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed an agreement for $295 million loan to upgrade state highways in Bihar.
   • Purpose- To upgrade around 265-kilometerstate highways with climate and disaster resilient design, and road safety elements.

7. Rajkot International Airport in Gujarat has been inaugurated.
   • It is the first greenfield airport in the state and has been built at a cost of Rs 1,405 crore.
     Source: ET

State News

1. Telangana government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Walmart and Flipkart for capacity building of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State.
   • Objective- Development of local MSMEs towards accessing a wider domestic marketspace, to leverage online retail and enable sustained growth and commercialisation.
     Source: NIE
2. AP-Genco and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) will form a Joint Venture (JV) for implementing Pumped Storage Hydropower Projects (PSPHs) in Andhra Pradesh.
   • Total generation capacity of the projects under JV- 6,000 MW
     Source: HBL

Banking and Economy

1. HDFC Bank has overtaken State Bank of India (SBI) to secure top spot in 2023 CRISIL’s “Greenwich Market Share Leaders” rankings in “Large Corporate Banking” category. 
   • For middle market corporates, HDFC Bank has again topped the list of 2023 Leaders among local banks,
   • HDFC bank and ICICI bank have been recognised as the joint Greenwich Quality Leaders for the year.

2. Federal Bank has launched an exclusive NR savings account scheme.
   • The scheme, named NRE Eve+, will cater to the unique financial needs of NRI women, offering a range of benefits tailored to enhance the financial journey of NRI women.
     Source: HBL

3. Dvara KGFS has entered into a co-lending partnership with HDFC Bank.
   • Objective: To provide capital to micro business units operating primarily in the unorganised sector.
   • Dvara KGFS, Chennai based is a rural-focused non-banking It launched an enterprise loan vertical in 2020, focussing on grocery, dairy, and agri value chains.

4. India will become world’s 3rd largest economy by FY28 according to SBI Ecowrap.
   • SBI Ecowrap is a report released by State Bank of India’s Economic Research Department.

   Other findings –

   • India’s global share in GDP will cross 4% by 2027.
   • India might surpass both Japan and Germany in 2027 at the current rate of growth.
   • At least two Indian states, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, will break the $500 billion mark in 2027 (or FY28) when India achieves the 3rd place in global economy.
   • At this current rate, India is likely to add $0.75 trillion in every 2 years, implying that India will touch $20 trillion by 2047.
     Source: BT
   
   
5. An amount of Rs 10.16 trillion has been recovered by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) during the last 9 financial years ending 2022-23, according to finance ministry.
   • Steps taken to recover bad loans
     • Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), which has taken away control of the defaulting company from promoters/owners, and debarring wilful defaulters from the resolution process.
     • Creation of stressed asset management verticals for stringent recovery by SCBs.
     • Debarring wilful defaulters and companies with wilful defaulters as promoters/directors from accessing capital markets to raise funds.

6. Digital payments have registered a growth of 13.24% in FY23 according to RBI’s Digital Payments Index.
   • RBI’s Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) has stood at 395.57 at end-March 2023 compared to 377.46 in September 2022 and 349.30 in March 2022.

Source: BS

Important Days

1. 26 July- World Drowning Prevention Day
   • History- It was established through a UN General Assembly resolution in April 2021, aiming to address global drowning prevention.
   • In 2023, the 76th World Health Assembly has adopted its first ever resolution on drowning prevention.

2. 27 July– 85th CRPF Raising Day
   • Purpose- To commemorate the formation of the central force on this day in
   • CRPF is an integral part of India’s internal security and one of the oldest Central Armed Police Forces.
   • It operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
     Source: cnbc

Sports

1. Aditya S Samant has become India’s 83rd chess Grandmaster.
   • Criteria to become a GM – A player has to secure three GM norms and cross the live rating of 2,500 Elo points.
     Source: ToI

Memorandum of Understanding

1. India AI and Meta India have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on AI and emerging technologies.
   • India AI will leverage Meta’s AI research models like Llama, Massively Multilingual Speech, and No Language Left Behind.

Source: ET

Miscellaneous

1. Renowned Marathi writer Anant Yashwant Khare, known as Nanda Khare, has passed away.
   • Some of his most noted works are ‘Antajichi Bakhar’, ‘Bakhar Antakalachi’ and ‘Udya’.
     Source: NoA

2. Veteran journalist-author-columnist Shirish Kanekar has passed away.
   • His notable works include: “Nut Bolt Bolpat,” “Kanekari,” and “Cricket Vedh”.
   • His collection of stories titled ‘Lagaon Batti,’ was recognised and honoured with the Maharashtra Literary Parishad Award for Best Comedy- Joshi Award.
     Source: ToI

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