NATIONAL NEWS
Indian Air Force's first Emergency Landing Field on National Highway inaugurated in RajasthanDefence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Emergency Landing Facility for the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the Satta-Gandhav stretch of National Highway (NH) 925A along with Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari.
- The Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) is part of a national highway that, for the first time ever, will be used for emergency landings of the Indian Air Force aircrafts. A Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft and a Jaguar jet landed at the national highway in Rajasthan's Jalore, showcasing the stretch of road that will be used for more such emergency landings of the armed forces.
- The Indian Air Force inducting the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM)/Barak-8 weapons system in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer. The MRSAM missile system, jointly developed by India and Israel, is expected to provide a significant boost to the country's air defence and combat capabilities.
The Ministry of Coal has constituted a Task Force and Expert Committee to Prepare Road Map for Coal based Hydrogen Production.
- The Task Force will be headed by Additional Secretary in the Ministry. Its broad terms and reference include identification of role to be played by each stakeholder Ministry, monitoring of activities towards achieving coal based Hydrogen production and setting up sub committees to achieve the objective.
- On the other hand, the Expert Committee will be headed by Director General of the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry, R.K. Malhotra. Its terms and reference include identifying experts in India and co-opting as members, desk based review of progress in hydrogen technology and also review ongoing research projects in Hydrogen technology.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras retained the top spot among institutes all over India for the third consecutive year whereas the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru was the best among research institutions, according to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings.
- Seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) -- IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee -- figured in the top 10 in the overall rankings. Jawaharlal Nehru University and Banaras Hindu University were ranked ninth and tenth in the overall rankings.
- In the universities category, IISc Bengaluru bagged the top spot followed by JNU and BHU at second and third rank. Calcutta University, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Jamia Millia Islamia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Jadavpur University, University of Hyderabad and Aligarh Muslim Univeristy bagged the subsequent positions in the universities category.
- IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta retained their first, second and third rank respectively among the B-Schools in the country.
- In the pharmacy category, the top institute is Delhi's Jamia Hamdard, followed by the Panjab University, Chandigarh and the Birla Institute of Science and Technology (BITS), Pilani. In the medical colleges category, AIIMS, Delhi bagged the top spot, followed by PGIMER Chandigarh and Christian Medical College, Vellore.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia launched the Delhi government's 'Business Blasters' programme which aims at developing young entrepreneurs at the school-level by providing students seed money to start a business.
- The programme will be implemented in all Delhi government schools under the "Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum (EMC)".
- As part of the programme, which he said was "successful as a pilot project", class 11 and 12 students will be provided seed money of Rs 2,000 to start a business, he said.
The All India Institute of Ayurveda under the Ministry of Ayush signed an MoU with NICM Western Sydney University, Australia to appoint an Academic Chair in Ayurveda via virtual mode.
- The new Academic Chair will undertake academic and collaborative research activities in Ayurveda, including herbal medicine and Yoga, as well as design academic standards and short-term/medium-term courses and educational guidelines.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
In world first, Cuba starts COVID-19 vaccine for toddlersCuba became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19, using home-grown jabs not recognized by the World Health Organization.
- The communist island of 11.2 million people aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020.
- Several other countries in the world are vaccinating children from the age of 12, and some are conducting trials in younger kids.Countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they plan to vaccinate younger children, but Cuba is the first to do so.
El Salvador has become the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. Announcing the decision, the government of El Salvador claimed that the move will give many citizens of the country access to bank services for the first time.
- In addition, trading in cryptocurrency will help the country save around $400 million in fees that is levied by banks and financial institutions on the money sent home by expat.
BANKING & FINANCE
Jana Small Finance Bank to provide digital payment infrastructure for Karnataka Government Namma Shaale Nanna Koduge programmeKarnataka government has roped in Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB) to build digital payment infrastructure to support its Namma Shaale Nanna Koduge (Our school, my contribution) initiative.The Namma Shaale Nanna Koduge software was launched to provide accessibility to donors who wish to donate money to government schools in Karnataka.
- The donation lands in an account of Karnataka Text Book Society – Department of Public Instruction [KSDPI], which then gets transferred to the account of the respective school, as per a statement from Jana SFB.
- With this tie-up, donors would be able to access Jana SFB’s complete payment ecosystem of RTGS, NEFT, UPI, IMPS, debit card and NACH to make their donations.
The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $112 million loan to develop water supply infrastructure and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery in four towns in the state of Jharkhand.
- The project will be ADB’s first urban project in the state and help establish a model for continuous water supply combined with policy reforms for sustainable operation which can be replicated by other low-income states for providing safe drinking water to urban households as envisaged under national Jal Jeevan Mission.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Fiserv Inc, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, have entered into an agreement to launch the plug-and-play RuPay credit card stack, nFiNi.
- This BaaS (banking-as-a-service) programme provides a ready stack of services required for fintechs and banks to issue RuPay credit cards.
- Under the nFiNi programme, NPCI and Fiserv will expand the market base by enabling fintechs and banks on credit cards. Once on-boarded, fintechs who largely cater to new-to-bank-and-credit customers will be able to issue credit to this segment through the nFiNi platform.
The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India to manage the mega initial public offering of country's largest insurer LIC.
- Other selected bankers include SBI Capital Market, JM Financial, Axis Capital, BofA Securities, JP Morgan India, ICICI Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd, a circular on the divestment department website said.
- Actuarial firm Milliman Advisors LLP India has already been appointed to assess the embedded value of LIC ahead of the IPO, which is likely in the January-March quarter of 2022.
Bank of Baroda launched its one-stop digital banking platform 'bob World'. The application will provide "seamless, contactless and effortless" banking services under a single roof.
- With over 220 services, the app, which is available in Google Play Store and App Store, will cover 95% of all retail banking services which can be accessed by domestic and international customers.
- The 'bob World' allows you to open an under in 10 minutes with instant virtual debit card issuance and instant loan disbursals for selected loan products. The new Bank of Baroda app has also integrated e-commerce to offer a wholesome and rewarding experience.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Byju's acquires online exam preparation platform GradeupEdtech giant Byju’s announced that it has acquired online exam preparation platform Gradeup for an undisclosed amount.
- This fresh acquisition will strengthen Byju’s presence in the exam-preparation category.
- The company said that the exam preparation platform will be rebranded as Byju’s Exam Prep and will cater to over 150 exams across 25 categories covering government jobs and and PG entrance exams such as IAS, GATE, CAT, bank PO/ clerk, defence and UGC-NET.
APPOINTMENTS
Tata AIA ropes in Neeraj Chopra as its brand ambassadorTata AIA Life Insurance announced the signing of a multi-year brand partnership with Indian athlete and Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, as its brand ambassador.
- This association also marks the very first brand partnership to be signed with the champion javelin thrower, post his historic Olympic win.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted its approval for the re-appointment of V. Vaidyanathan as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of IDFC FIRST Bank.
- The Bank, in a regulatory filing, said Vaidyanathan’s re-appointment as MD & CEO is for three years, effective from December 19, 2021.
- Vaidyanathan took over as the MD & CEO of IDFC FIRST Bank in December 2018 after Capital First and IDFC Bank merger.
President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed new governors in four states according to press communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
- Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh, who retired as the deputy chief of Army, was appointed the governor of Uttarakhand, a post which fell vacant after Baby Rani Maurya tendered her resignation.
- President Ram Nath Kovind also ordered shuffling of governors of some states which includes shifting Banwarilal Purohit from Tamil Nadu to Punjab. He was earlier holding additional charge of Punjab.
- The Centre's interlocutor and retired IPS officer RN Ravi has been shifted from Nagaland to Tamil Nadu as its new governor.
- Jagdish Mukhi, at present governor of Assam, has been appointed to discharge the functions of the governor of Nagaland in addition to his charge till a fresh appointment is made, the communique said.
Nirlep Singh Rai, director (technical), National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has been appointed as chairman and managing director, National Fertilizers Limited.
- According to the Personnel Ministry order, he has been appointed to the post for a period with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post till the date of his superannuation, i.e. August 31, 2022, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
AWARDS
Trichy Golden Rock Workshop bags best Energy Efficient Unit AwardThe Golden Rock Railway Workshop (GOC) has bagged the 22nd National Award for Excellence in Energy Management from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for having adopted and implemented various energy conservation measures.
- The award is instituted by CII to catalyse innovative practices in the energy efficiency sector.
- The GOC is the only workshop of the railways to have received the award this year. It bagged the award twice so far.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest-scoring man in the international football history with his 110th goal for Portugal.
- The Portugal captain scored in the 89th minute against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier, moving ahead of former Iranian striker Ali Daei.
- He added a second — another header — minutes later in the 2-1 victory. Earlier in the game, he had a penalty saved in the 15th minute.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates PRANA portal to regulate air pollution in 132 citiesUnion Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav launched PRANA. PRANA meaning ‘Life’ in Sanskrit, is a portal for regulation of air pollution in 132 cities across the country.
- PRANA or the Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-Attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) would support tracking of the physical and financial status of city air action plan implementation.
- The Union Minister also dedicated the first functional smog tower of India, installed in Anand Vihar in New Delhi to the country.The pilot smog tower project is expected to yield results and supplement air quality improvement efforts.
IMPORTANT DAYS
Food Processing WeekTo commemorate 75 years of India’s independence, the Government of India is celebrating the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.’ As a part of the celebration, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is observing ‘Food Processing Week’ from 6th to 12th September 2021, under which, the Ministry is organizing various programs.
- The success story of the beneficiary of the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme, Smt. Radhika Kamat was also published on the Ministry’s website in the ‘Atmanirbhar Enterprises’ series.
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