NATIONAL NEWS
‘Boita Bandana’ festival celebrated in OdishaKartika Purnima (Boita Bandana) is celebrated on the full moon of the Kartika month where Odisha people across the State head for the nearest water body to set afloat tiny banana, paper or thermocol boats with diyas, betel leaves, crackers, fruits and coins.
- The festival is the maritime tradition that is celebrated as a testament to the maritime trade history of Kalinga, tradesmen and mariners known as sadhabas travelled on boitas (boats) to trade with distant island nations that share borders with the Bay of Bengal like Indonesia, Java, Sumatra and Bali.
The Cabinet approved the construction of 32,152 km of roads which are to be completed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in far-flung tribal and backward areas, including those affected by left wing extremism, at a cost of Rs 33,822 crore.
- The cabinet also approved telecom connectivity in tribal areas by putting up telecom towers in 7,287 villages in five states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha.
- The project envisages to provide 4G based mobile services in the 7,287 uncovered villages of 44 Aspirational Districts across five States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra & Odisha at an estimated cost of implementation about Rs 6,466 crore including operational expenses for 5 years. The project would be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the country’s northeast, where people speak in at least 180 different languages, epitomise diversity, and Assam, being the gateway to the region, will be made a “laboratory" for mother tongue-based education.
- He was speaking at the North-East Education Conclave 2021 in Guwahati.
- Stating that the National Educational Policy (NEP) has opened a lot of pathways, he said the focus should be on primary education with an emphasis on teaching in the mother tongue or the local language.
- He also announced a plan for upgrading five colleges of Assam to universities in the next three years.Five colleges of Assam will be given the status of university in the next three years. These are the JB College in Jorhat, Lakhimpur College, Nowgong College, Sivasagar College and Handique College in Guwahati.
The levels of popular satisfaction with the quality of policing is reported to be highest in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Kerala, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Gujarat, a new survey revealed.
- The Indian Police Foundation (IPF) released its ‘IPF Citizen Satisfaction Survey on SMART Policing, 2021’. It aims to gauge public perceptions about the quality of policing in India and the level of public trust in the police. In the ‘IPF Smart Policing Index 2021’, Andhra Pradesh (8.11), Telangana (8.10), Assam (7.89), Kerala (7.53), and Sikkim (7.18) emerged as the top five states.
- On the other hand, the five states that featured at the bottom of the list were Punjab (6.07), Jharkhand (6.07), Chhattisgarh (5.93), Uttar Pradesh (5.81), and Bihar (5.74).
- 19 states/UTs scored an index value between 6 and 7, while 3 states scored between 5 and 6.
Enrollment of children in government schools has leaped from 65.8 per cent to 70.3 per cent over the last one year, according to the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey. The survey aims to capture the transition in the education system in the country as the Covid-19 pandemic shows signs of receding.
- The trend of more students depending on tuition classes, which came up in the 2020 ASER survey as well, holds, with the share rising from 32.5 per cent to 39.2 per cent. This is seen as a natural outcome of families seeking external support due to the prolonged closure of schools, states the report.
- Digital divide remains an area of concern with as much as 26.1 per cent children with smartphones at home having no access to the device. Younger children are more deprived when it comes to access to smartphones, with as many as 40 per cent having no access despite having devices at home, states the report.
Meghalaya government has signed an MoU with the United Nations World Food Programme to streamline and strengthen the public distribution system in the state.
- The partnership will help the WFP authorities and the state government work together towards Sustainable Development Goal two - Zero Hunger.
- As part of the partnership, the WFP and the department will undertake supply chain optimisation of the entire targeted public distribution system in the state, and introduce innovative solutions and technologies.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched 'Aatmanirbhar Gram Yatra' from Mahemdabad near Ahmedabad to reach out to the villages in the state.
- During the three-day Yatra, 100 Raths will run on 993 routes to cover 10,605 villages. During the Aatmanirbhar Gram Yatra, the programmes and projects worth of 1,577 crore rupees will be launched or dedicated in the rural areas. More than eight thousand houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana will be handed over to the beneficiaries during this Yatra.
- The State Government will also lay the foundation stones for biogas plants worth 41.72 crore rupees in 20 districts, unveil projects under MGNREGA and provide aid for fishermen in the coastal areas.
Uttar Pradesh's first air pollution control tower opened in Noida. Located in the posh Sector 16A, the 20-metre-high tower with a diameter of nine metres can filter air in an area of one square kilometre around.
- The tower has come up with joint efforts of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and the Noida Authority.
- The indigenously developed APCT is set up between the DND flyway and the slip road to Noida Expressway. The tower will help to mitigate the rising air pollution problem in the city.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Of Chiefs held at ParisThe 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs was hosted by French Navy at Paris.Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, lead a two member Indian Naval delegation for this Conclave.
- Various bilateral interactions are also being conducted on the side-lines of the Conclave to facilitate a greater degree of maritime cooperation and understanding between the IONS nations.
- The 7th edition of IONS Symposium was held at Le-Reunion from 28 Jun - 01 Jul 21 in hybrid format due to COVID protocols. During the Symposium, it was agreed upon to conduct the extant Conclave of Chiefs at Paris.
BANKING & FINANCE
RBI authorises RBL Bank to collect direct taxesPrivate sector lender RBL Bank has been authorised by the Reserve Bank of India to collect direct taxes on behalf of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
- After technical integration, RBL Bank’s corporate and individual customers will be able to pay their direct taxes through RBL Bank’s mobile banking or net banking platforms as well as through the branch banking network, resulting in ease and convenience for customers.
IDFC First Bank has partnered Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to facilitate fuel payments at their retail outlets using the bank’s FASTags.
- In addition, IDFC First Bank’s FASTags can now also be bought, recharged and replaced by passenger vehicle users at select HPCL retail outlets.This tie-up makes the purchase and use of tags convenient for about five million motorists.
- IDFC First Bank has issued close to five million FASTags and these tags are used actively by motorists across toll plazas with transactions averaging two million a day.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Sidbi, Google tie-up to support MSMEsSmall Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) said it has entered into a partnership with Google India Pvt. Ltd. (GIPL) for piloting a social impact lending programme with financial assistance up to ₹1 crore at competitive interest rates to MSMEs.
- This partnership with GIPL brings a corpus of $15 million (around ₹110 crore) to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a crisis response related to COVID-19.
- Under it, a loan programme targeted at micro enterprises (having turnover up to ₹5 crore), with loan sizes ranging between ₹25 lakh to ₹1 crore, is being implemented by Sidbi.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has projected a real rate of growth of 7 to 7.5 per cent and a nominal rate of growth of more than 11 per cent in 2022-23.
- Members of the EAC-PM has expressed optimism about real and nominal growth prospects in 2022-23 in a meeting held in New Delhi.
- Members felt that contact intensive sectors and construction should recover in 2022-23 and once capacity utilization improves, private investments should also recover.
SPORTS
BCCI says IPL 2022 will be played in IndiaBCCI secretary Jay Shah has announced that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be played in India.
- The 2020 IPL along with the second leg of the 2021 IPL were held in the UAE because of the COVID-19 situation in India.
The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) announced that Tashkent will host the 2025 Asian Youth Para Games.
- The decision was taken by the APC's executive board following a bidding process that saw a number of national Paralympic committees express interest in hosting the event.
- Uzbekistan, supported by the country’s ministry for tourism and sport, submitted a bid to host the event in late September or early October in Tashkent, which means that for the first time the event will be held in the same city and the same venues.
Alexander Zverev won his fifth ATP title of the season and 18th overall by defeating American qualifier Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open.
- The fourth-ranked German improved to 5-0 in finals this season, becoming the second player after Norwegian Casper Ruud with a tour-leading five tournament wins in 2021.
India bagged a total of seven medals at the Asian Archery Championships 2021 held in Dhaka. India's recurve archery teams added two silver medals and a bronze on the final day of the Championships. India ended the week-long continental event with seven medals - one gold, four silvers and two bronze.
- In the women’s recurve final, the Korean team of Ryoo Su Jung, Oh Yejin and Lim Haejin defeated the Indian trio of Ankita Bhakat, Ridhi Phor and Madhu Vedwan 6-0. In men’s final, the Korean trio of Leo Seungyun, Kim Pil-Joong and Han Woo Tack outclassed the Indian team of Pravin Jadhav, Parth Salunkhe and Kapil 6-2.
- In the bronze-medal match, the mixed recurve team of Ankita Bhakat and Kapil clinched bronze after a 6-0 win against Uzbekistan.
- Earlier, Jyothi Surekha Vennam clinched the gold medal in the women’s individual compound while 2017 Asian champion Abhishek Verma won silver in the men’s event. Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Rishabh Yadav also had to settle for silver in the compound mixed team, losing 155-154 to South Korea’s Choi Yonghee and Kim Yunhee.
AWARDS
SAI Confers 246 Athletes and Coaches with First-ever SAI Institutional AwardsThe Sports Authority of India gave out its first-ever Institutional Awards to a total of 162 athletes and 84 coaches for their performance in national and international competitions.
- Cash awards amounting to Rs 85.02 Lakhs were conferred on the awardees during the ceremony, which was attended by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The awardees have also been given a special tailor-made blazer along with a citation.
- The categories of awards included Outstanding Award (for National level achievements) and Best Award (for International level achievements).The awards acknowledged the exceptional performance of the SAI athletes and coaches under the various sports promotion schemes at the national and international level from 2016.
Indian badminton great Prakash Padukone will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
- The former world no. 1 and the first-ever Indian world championships medallist, Prakash Padukone has contributed immensely to the game. In 2018, he was also honoured with the BAI's Lifetime Achievement Award.
OBITUARIES
Veteran football commentator Novy Kapadia passes awayConsidered an authority on Indian football, veteran commentator and former Delhi University professor Novy Kapadia died after a prolonged illness. He was 67.
- He was often called as ‘the voice of Indian football’. The noted commentator had covered nine FIFA World Cups, as well as Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. As an author, Kapadia had written books like Barefoot To Boots, The Many Lives Of Indian Football among others.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
“Cooking to Save your Life” book by Economist Abhijit Banerjee’sThe book titled “Cooking to Save your Life” written by Economist Abhijit Banerjee has been released recently.
- The book is published by Juggernaut. In this book, Banerjee explores the social dimension of food in his latest book ‘Cooking to Save Your Life’ with grocery runs, dinner parties and lemon dal.
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