NATIONAL NEWS
Manipur's Chandel Tops List of Aspirational Districts in June: Niti AayogChandel district in Manipur has topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by government think tank Niti Aayog FOR for the month of June.
- Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Firozpur (Punjab) have been ranked at the second and third positions, respectively, Niti Aayog said.
- Dhubri (Assam) and Kiphire (Nagaland) are at the fourth and fifth places, respectively. The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas in June 2021.
Karnataka has become the first state in the country to provide one per cent reservation for the 'transgender' community in all the government services.
- The government submitted a report to the High Court in this regard informing that a notification had already been issued after amending the Karnataka Civil Service (General Recruitment) Rule, 1977.
- In case of non-availability of transgender candidates, the job could be given to male or female from the same category, the notification notes.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has allocated over Rs 1,600 crore for COVID-19 related research and product development, the government informed Rajya Sabha.
- The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its public sector undertaking Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have allocated approximately Rs 1,300 crore for COVID-19 related research and product development, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said.
- Under the COVID-19 research consortium, as a part of the comprehensive efforts to facilitate development of indigenous research solutions to tackle COVID-19, 107 projects were supported in thematic areas of vaccines (17), diagnostics (45), therapeutics (22) and biomedical interventions (23). To advance biomedical research, the DBT has supported five COVID-19 biorepositories.
Meghalaya State Investment Promotion Society (MSIP) signed an MoU with Invest India of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to boost trade and industries in the state.
- The objective of the MoU is to leverage investment opportunities in key development sectors to boost trade and industries in the state.
- The targets will be focussed on both short term and long term plans. This will enhance the entrepreneurial system in the state while also focussing on promoting one product-one district programme.
The government will implement the Deep Ocean Mission at a total budget of over 4,077 crore rupees for five years. All the components of the Mission will commence in 2021.
- This information was given in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha by the Earth Sciences Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh.
- The Minister said a manned submersible to be developed carrying three people to a depth of six thousand metres in the ocean for exploration of deep-sea mineral resources and marine biodiversity.
NITI Aayog released a report which presents reform pathways to transform the country’s power distribution sector. The report, titled ‘Turning Around the Power Distribution Sector’, is co-authored by NITI Aayog, RMI and RMI India.
- The report presents a review of reform efforts in the Indian and global power distribution sector. ‘NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar said that the report examines many important reforms such as the role of the private sector in distribution, power procurement, regulatory oversight, integration of renewable energy, and upgradation of infrastructure.
- NITI Aayog Member Dr V.K. Saraswat said that this report presents policymakers with a menu of reform options to put the distribution sector on the track of efficiency and profitability. He said that NITI Aayog will partner with some of the states to take these reforms forward.
Haryana creates history, secures first place in CCTNS, score 100% Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said that the state has secured first position in the country in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) system with 100 percent score.
- It is for the first time that Haryana Police has secured the first position in the country with 100 percent marks under this system, while Gujarat has secured the second position with 99.9 per cent marks and Himachal Pradesh has got the third position with 99.6 per cent marks.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Mumbai, Bengaluru lose top-100 spots in QS Best Student Cities RankingMumbai and Bengaluru are out of the global top-100 list and are currently ranking at 106 and 110, respectively in the latest edition of the QS Best Student Cities Ranking.While Mumbai lost 29 places, Bengaluru fell by 21 places in the ninth edition of the rankings brought out by global higher education analysts QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
- However, among the different metrics as part of the methodology, Mumbai gained 27 places in the 'Affordability' indicator to rank at 21st globally. On the other hand, despite losing three places in the same indicator, Bengaluru was placed seventh globally in the affordability metric.
- London retain its status as the world’s best student city for the third consecutive edition. It is followed by Munich, which rises from 4th to 2nd. Seoul, which jumps from 10th to joint-3rd, shares the bronze-medal position with Olympic hosts Tokyo.
- Among other leading cities globally in the rankings, Boston is the only new entrant into the top ten, rising from 13th to joint-9th, sharing its position with Paris and Montreal. Germany and Australia are the only locations to have two of the world’s ten best student cities each, whereas Switzerland’s Lausanne enjoys a noteworthy debut in the rankings, placing 19th.
Germany became the 5th country to sign International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement after amendments to it entered into force on 8th January this year, opening its Membership to all Member States of the United Nations.
- Ambassador of Germany to India Walter J. Lindner deposited signed copies of International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement with Ministry of External Affairs, the depositary of Agreement. Signed copies of International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement were handed over to Additional Secretary (Economic Relations) in Ministry of External Affairs.
BANKING & FINANCE
SBI reports 55% jump in first quarter net profit of Rs 6,504 croreCountry’s largest lender, State Bank of India, SBI, reported a 55 per cent jump in its first quarter net profit of 6,504 crore rupees in comparison to the same quarter last year.
- SBI’s net interest income in the quarter rose 3.7 percent to 26,642 crore rupees, while other income soared 48.5 percent to 11,802.7 crore rupees.
SPORTS
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launches theme song for Tokyo ParalympicsSports Minister Anurag Thakur launched the theme song for Tokyo Paralympics in New Delhi.
- Mr Thakur said, Indian para-athletes have performed consistently in the International para-sports competitions and brought laurels for the country.
- The Sports Minister said, biggest ever Indian contingent of 54 para-athletes will participate in the Tokyo Paralympics in nine disciplines and they will give their optimum best.
APPOINTMENTS
Mini Ipe takes charge as Managing Director of IPO-bound LICMini Ipe has taken charge as Managing Director of the IPO-bound Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). She was appointed as managing director vide the Government of India notification dated 5 July 2021.
- She is a postgraduate in Commerce from Andhra University and in 1986, She became part of LIC as a direct recruit officer.Along with it, she has served as Executive Director (International Operations), Director & CEO of LICHFL Financial Services Ltd.
- Ipe was the first (1st) woman zonal manager (In-charge) of LIC and headed the Hyderabad zone.
AWARDS
Pak climber becomes world's youngest mountaineer to scale K2A 19-year old Pakistani climber became the youngest person in the world to reach the summit of K2, the second-highest peak in the world.
- Mr. Shehroze Kashif from Lahore achieved the feat of scaling the 8,611-metre high peak with the aid of bottled oxygen.
- Mr. Kashif also scaled the world's 12th-highest mountain, the 8,047-meter Broad Peak, at the age of 17. In May this year, he became the youngest Pakistani to scale Mount Everest.
The Government of West Bengal has received four SKOCH awards for its schemes under the Ease of Doing Business initiative.
- The State scheme ‘Silpasathi’-the online single window portal won the platinum award while the Auto Renewal of Certificate of Enlistment through online system for urban areas has received the gold award.
- Online issuance of trade licences in rural areas and the E-Nathikaran: the online system for registration, preparation and submission of deeds have won two silver awards.
Leading Indian-origin entrepreneur Ajay Dilwari has been honoured with Canada's prestigious Order of British Columbia award, the province's highest form of recognition.
- Dilwari, the owner of Canada's largest automotive group , Dilawri Group is among 16 exceptional people to be appointed to the Order of British Columbia.
DBS has been honoured as the global winner for Most Innovative in Digital Banking by Financial Times publication, The Banker, in its 2021 Innovation in Digital Banking Awards.
- The bank was also recognised as the Asia-Pacific winner, and won in the Cyber Security category for its Secure Access and Remote Working Solution.
- The Banker’s Innovation in Digital Banking Awards recognise the most innovative banks across the world for their digital banking initiatives, strategy, and overall commitment to digital transformation. These awards, now in their second year, are the evolution of The Banker’s Technology Projects of the Year Awards.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Commencement of sea trials of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier ‘Vikrant’Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) ‘Vikrant’ designed by Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design(DND) is being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited(CSL), a Public Sector Shipyard under Ministry of Shipping (MoS).
- The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is 262 m long, 62 m at the widest part and height of 59 m including the superstructure. There are 14 decks in all, including five in the superstructure. The ship has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1700 people, including specialised cabins to accommodate women officers.
- The ship has been designed with a very high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, ‘Vikrant’ has a top speed of around 28 knots and cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles. The ship can accommodate an assortment of fixed wing and rotary aircraft.
Messaging app WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature called 'View Once' this week. A photo or a video immediately will be deleted from the chat once opened by the recipient through WhatsApp's 'View once' feature.
- The message will be shown as "opened" once the media content has been viewed.
- The recipient will also be able to see that it is a 'view ones' photo/video, so this new feature one would want to use for people you trust to not take a screenshot.
Eutelsat Quantum, the world's first commercial fully re-programmable satellite lifted off from French Guiana on board an Ariane 5 rocket, with the hope of a new era of more flexible communications.
- Eutelsat Quantum, developed under an ESA partnership project with satellite operator Eutelsat and prime manufacturer Airbus, is the first commercial fully flexible software-defined satellite in the world.
- The mass of the satellite at launch is 3.5 tonnes and its design lifetime is 15 years.The satellite will provide communications on the move with dynamic beam shaping and vessel-tracking capabilities, optimised for power and throughput as required by maritime, aeronautical and land-based transportation.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
"Leopard Diaries: The Rosette in India" book by Sanjay GubbiThe book titled "Leopard Diaries: The Rosette in India" book written by Wildlife Biologist Sanjay Gubbi has been released recently.
- In this book, he says about the food habits, ecological context, and conservation of Leopard along with the suggestions to overcome leopard–human conflict.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Lung Cancer DayWorld Lung Cancer Day is observed on August 1 to raise awareness about the causes and treatment of lung cancer and to highlight the issues that a lack of sufficient research funding can create.
- The main purpose of the day is to sensitise people about the habits and the factors that can lead to lung cancer.
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