NATIONAL NEWS
Cabinet approves implementation of National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm with financial outlay of over Rs 11,000 croreThe Union Cabinet has given its approval to launch a new Mission on Oil palm to be known as the National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) . It will be a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a special focus on the North east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Mr Tomar said, financial outlay of 11,040 crore rupees has been made for the scheme, out of which 8,844 crore rupees is the share of government of India and 2,196 crore rupees is the State share .
- He further said, under this scheme, it is proposed to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectare for oil palm till the year 2025-26 and thereby reaching the target of 10 lakh hectares ultimately.
- The proposed scheme will subsume the current National Food Security Mission-Oil Palm programme. To give impetus to the North-East and Andaman, the Government will bear additional cost of 2 per cent of the Crude Palm Oil price to ensure that the farmers are paid at par with the rest of the country.
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up a training centre for Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) commandos in Saharanpur's Deoband, known for its Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband.
- Officers said around 2,000 sq m of land has been acquired for the Deoband unit, and it is one of several planned besides the existing ATS centre in Lucknow.
IIT Madras will collaborate with Road Transport Ministry on pavement engineering and intelligent transportation systems.
- The research areas include pavement materials, hydrogen cell transportation, automatic vehicle classification, novel toll systems, Fast TAG data analytics and traffic simulations beside transportation safety among others.
- IIT Madras – MoRTH Chair has been set up . The Institute will train eight to ten students including nominated officers in the field of Highway engineering.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Navies of India, Vietnam undertake bilateral maritime exercise in South China SeaIndia and Vietnam navies have carried out bilateral maritime exercise in the South China Sea, the Indian navy said.
- Accordingly, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Ranvijay and INS Kora undertook bilateral maritime exercise with the Vietnam People's Navy frigate VPNS Ly Thai To (HQ-012).
- The bilateral interaction aims to consolidate the strong bond shared by the two navies and would be another step towards strengthening India-Vietnam defence relations.
As part of its Persian Gulf deployment, INS Kochi is at Manama in Bahrain. The ship will participate in the four-day Maritime Partnership Exercise.
- In the past couple of days, a coordination and operational planning conference was also held between the Indian and the Bahrain Navy teams.
BANKING & FINANCE
Kotak Mahindra Bank partners with Creditas Solutions for DIY Digital Repayment platformKotak Mahindra Bank has deployed a secure, Do It Yourself Digital Repayment Platform for missed loan repayments, in a tie-up with Creditas Solutions.
- Powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the Neo Collections platform will look to deliver a personalized and non-intrusive experience thereby enabling customers to manage their dues seamlessly on their own through an intuitive repayment platform.
- Using data analytics to target the right customer segments, the ‘Neo Collections’ platform creates hyper-personalised scenarios to connect with each customer.
Two years after RBI allowed them, ICICI Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have cut the first swaption deals, giving new risk management tools to borrowers in rapidly changing interest rate scenarios.
- The ‘swaption’ interest-rate derivative product helps both local borrowers and investors to rein in funding costs in a rising rate scenario and retain investment returns in a falling rate scenario. In June, 2019, the Reserve Bank of Indiaissued guidelines for ‘swaption’ deals.
- ICICI Bank and the two overseas lenders transacted ‘swaptions’ on Overnight Index Swap (OIS) for a total notional sum, which formed a significant majority of the total worth of transactions reported on day one. Trading in the instrument began a Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL) platform, which showed six separate deals for a total notional sum of Rs 700 crore.
The World Bank Group member IFC has extended $75 million or over Rs 557 crore debt support to Industrial real estate and logistics parks’ developer IndoSpace’s logistics fund to develop logistics and industrial parks with an objective to enhance warehousing and supply chain infrastructure in India.
- The development financial institution is extending the loan to IndoSpace Logistics Parks III LP, a $580-million vintage fund, and the first tranche of this amount has already been disbursed to IndoSpace.
- The $580 million fund, post leverage is expected to create a corpus of over $1.2 billion to develop and acquire industrial and logistics-related real estate investments in the country.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
USOF signs agreement with BSNL for high speed internet access to North Eastern statesFor making available high quality and high speed internet access to the States of North Eastern Region of the country, Universal Service Obligation Fund USOF has signed an Agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited BSNL for hiring of 10 Gbps International Bandwidth for Internet Connectivity to Agartala from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited BSCCL Bangladesh through Cox Bazar and Kuakata.
- Under the Agreement, USOF will provide financial support to BSNL for a period of three years for hiring the International Bandwidth. The availability of high speed internet access will help the citizens in accessing various e-services such as e-governance, e-education, e-health, e-commerce, e-banking, etc.
Seventeen years after it sold its stock for the first time in a relatively late public debut, Tata Consultancy Services crossed the Rs 13-lakh-crore mark in market value, becoming only the second in the country to do so — after Reliance Industries.
- The latest climb by India’s software bellwether after a relatively tepid run endorses emerging bullish views that the company stands to enhance its dominance in an environment where global clients are increasingly embarking on multi-year transformational projects with implications across revenue streams.
SPORTS
2021 edition of World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in NairobiThe 2021 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
- The tournament will continue till 22 August at the Nyayo Sports Complex.
- Javelin Thrower Kunwar Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Long Jumper Shaili Singh will lead the Indian challenge in the World Athletics U20 Championships.
The Odisha government said that the country’s largest hockey stadium, currently under construction at Rourkela in Sundargarh district of the state, will be completed by July next year.
- The 20,000-capacity Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, along with the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, will be the venues to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023.
APPOINTMENTS
Priyanka Chopra Jonas named Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival chairpersonActor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas was announced as the chairperson of Jio MAMI Film Festival, almost four months after Deepika Padukone stepped down from the position.
- The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) unveiled its plans for the coming year, edition and the change in leadership.
- Last year, the organisers of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival postponed its 22nd edition due to the coronavirus pandemic.
AWARDS
Mahatma Gandhi to be given the Congressional Gold MedalAn influential US lawmaker from New York reintroduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of peace and nonviolence.
- The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award in the United States.
- Gandhi would be the first Indian to receive a Congressional Gold Medal, an honour bestowed upon such great figures as George Washington, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and Rosa Parks.
OBITUARIES
Popular VJ and actor Ananda Kannan passes awayPopular television host, VJ and actor Anandha Kannan passed away. He was battling cancer since long time and left for the heavenly abode at the age of 48.
- Anandha Kannan, a native of Singapore, was popular among a young audience in the 2000s for his shows on Sun Music.
- He was awarded the International Youth Icon at World Universities Tamil Conference in 2013 and ‘Best Actor’ in Television Actors Guild Award (South India). Further, Anandha Kannan also won ‘Best Host’ in 2011 for Savaal Singapore
BOOKS & AUTHORS
“Operation Trojan Horse: A Novel Inspired by True Events” book by Abhishek Sharan & D.P. SinhaThe book titled “Operation Trojan Horse: A Novel Inspired by True Events” coauthored by Abhishek Sharan and D.P. Sinha has been released recently.
- Operation Trojan Horse is a thriller inspired by real events – including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and several other LeT operations – and the true stories of the courageous men who risked their lives in the enemy country for their motherland.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Photography DayWorld Photography Day is observed on August 19 annually to celebrate the art of taking photos.
- The day celebrates the art, craft, science, and history of photography. No doubt since the early 19th century, photography has become an important part of life, an ever-increasing medium of personal expression and appreciation for countless people across the world.
World Humanitarian Day is observed on August 19 every year to acknowledge the efforts of the people who have risked and lost their lives supporting humanitarian causes.
- The theme of World Humanitarian Day this year is #TheHumanRace.
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