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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
46th World Heritage Committee meeting held in New Delhi, India; Inscribes 26 New Heritage Sites
The 46th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (WHC), hosted by India for the first time, was held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Delhi (India) from 21st to 31st July 2024.
i.The 46th session of WHC inscribed 26 new World Heritage Sites viz. 19 cultural, 4 natural, and 1 mixed property and 2 Significant modifications to existing boundaries.
ii.PM Narendra Modi announced a USD 1 million grant to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This funding will support capacity building, technical assistance, and the conservation of world heritage sites.
iii.The Government of India (GoI) and the Government of the USA signed the first ever ‘Cultural Property Agreement’ to prevent and curb the illicit trafficking of antiquities from India to the USA.
iv.Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum in New Delhi, Delhi.
About United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
Director-General– Audrey Azoulay
Headquarters– Paris, France
Establishment– 1945
>> Read Full News
Highlights of Visit of David Lammy MP, UK Foreign Secretary, to India
David Lammy MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the United Kingdom (UK) paid an official visit to India from 24th to 25th July 2024 at the invitation of Union Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India (GoI).
- This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as UK Foreign Secretary after Labour Party swept the UK’s General Elections held in July, 2024.
- On 24th July 2024, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with David Lammy MP
- India and the UK launched a new Technology Security Initiative (TSI) which aims to boost economic growth and strengthen the collaboration between two countries.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Ministry of Ayush & WHO signed USD 85 milliion Donor Agreement for GTMC in Gujarat
On July 31 2024, The Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy), Government of India (GoI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a donor agreement during an event in Geneva, Switzerland.
Signatories: The MoU was signed by H.E .Arindam Bagchi, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations (UN), Geneva, Switzerland and Dr. Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General (DG) for Universal Health Coverage and Life Course(ULC) on behalf of the Ministry of Ayush and the WHO respectively.
About the Donor Agreement:
i.This donor agreement is part of a USD250 million investment from India in support of the establishment of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) in 2022
ii.Under this agreement, India will donate USD 85 million over a period of 10 years (2022-2032) to support the operations of the WHO GTMC at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
iii.This agreement recognizes the establishment of the WHO GTMC as a key knowledge hub for evidence-based Traditional Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) aiming to improve human and environmental health and well-being.
About GTMC:
i.The GTMC was officially established on March 25, 2022 with the signing of a Host Country Agreement, making it the first and only global out-posted centre for traditional medicine.
ii.The WHO-GTMC’s interim office is already operational, functions on implementing capacity-building and training programs relevant to its objectives.
iii.These programs include campus-based, residential, and web-based training in collaboration with the WHO Academy and other strategic partners.
Keypoints:
i.The Ministry of Ayush and the WHO have collaborated on various fronts, such as the creation of benchmark documents for training and practice in the Ayurvedic, Unani, and Siddha systems; the establishment of WHO terminology for these practices.
ii.It also introduced a second module to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11’s Traditional Medicine Chapter; the development of apps such as M-Yoga; and support for the International Pharmacopoeia of Herbal Medicine (IPHM).
About the Ministry of Ayush:
Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge, IC)- Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao (Lok Sabha Constituency – Buldhana, Maharashtra)
About the World Health Organisation (WHO):
Director – General (DG) – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
Established – 1948
Curaçao Joins as 6th Associate Member of CARICOM
Curaçao has become the 6th Associate Member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world.
- The agreement was signed by Chairman of CARICOM Dickon Mitchell, (Prime Minister (PM) of Grenada) and Gilmar Simon Pisas, PM of Curaçao, during the opening ceremony of the 47th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government held in St. George’s, Grenada.
i.With this, CARICOM now consists of 15 full member countries and 6 associate members.
ii.Curacao is committed to supporting various initiatives within CARICOM, including, renewable energy, new forms of agriculture, climate resilience, etc.
iii.The other 5 associate members of CARICOM are Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
About CARICOM:
i.CARICOM, originally The Caribbean Community and Common Market, was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas executed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) on 4th July 1973 and came into effect on 1st August 1973.
ii.The Treaty was later revised in 2002 to allow for the eventual establishment of a single market and a single economy.
BANKING & FINANCE
Kotak Mahindra Bank and GOQii Launches Smartwatch for Contactless Payments
On 1st August 2024, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL), a leading Indian private sector bank in partnership with smart-tech-enabled preventive healthcare platform GOQii has announced the launch of ” Kotak-GOQii Smart Vital Plus smartwatch” , a wearable and contactless RuPay On-The-Go payment solution, powered by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
About Kotak-GOQii Smart Vital Plus smartwatch:
The Kotak-GOQii Smart Vital Plus will enable its customers to make contactless payments as well as enable them to monitor some of the health parameters.
- The introductory price of this wearable device is at Rs 3,499.
- The smartwatch is recognised as a medical device by New Delhi(Delhi) based Central Drugs and Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
Key Features:
i.The smartwatch enables seamless transactions up to Rs 5,000 without entering a Personal Identification Number(PIN).
- But, customers are required to enter their PIN for payments above Rs 5,000.
ii.It enables the easy E-Commerce (ECOM) transactions as it has daily purchase limit of Rs 1 lakh and daily purchase for Contactless transactions limit is Rs 25,000.
- But, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals are not allowed on wearables.
iii.Customers can simply place the smartwatch within 4 centimeters (cm) of the Point of Sale (PoS) device during the payment.
iv.The smartwatch can also act as fitness watch as it allows the users to track the Oxygen Level (SpO2),body temperature, Blood Pressure(BP) directly from their wrist.
Eligibility Criteria:
i.Person who holds a full Know Your Customer (KYC) savings or corporate saving account in KMBL, will be eligible to apply for the wearable device. Also, he/ she must be a resident individual.
- Non-KMBL customers will need to open a Kotak account to avail this facility.
ii.Account holders of Xpress One Time Password (OTP), Small and Basic savings, 811 OTP and 811 wallet are not eligible to apply for the wearable device.
About GOQii:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Founder- Vishal Gondal
Headquarters- California, the United States of America (USA)
Established- 2013
About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL):
Managing Director (MD) and CEO– Ashok Vaswani
Tagline- Let’s Make Money Simple
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
Established- 1985
RBL Launched RuPay Credit with UPI and NCMC Features
RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank Limited), a leading Indian private sector bank has launched a new RuPay Credit card, integrating it with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) features.
- With this, RBL becomes the 1st private sector bank to offer these comprehensive features of payment capabilities in a single card.
- The integration will enable the credit cardholders to make instant and secure payments through UPI and can travel hassle-free with the NCMC features.
Significance:
i.The integration of UPI and NCMC features with RuPay card will set a new benchmark for the digital payments industry. It will offer flexibility and ease of making payments for daily expenses or during travel to users.
ii.The vast acceptance of the RuPay card network will help to enhance the utility of these cards and will also ensure wide usability across various platforms and services throughout India.
About UPI:
i.The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system that was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, to facilitated inter-bank transactions through mobile phones.
ii.As per the Worldline India Digital Payments Report H2 2023, the UPI transactions volume in the 2nd half (H2) of 2023 i.e. from July,2023 to December, 2023 increased by 56% to 65.77 billion from 42.09 billion in H2 2022.
About NCMC:
i.Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched 1st indigenously developed NCMC on 4th March, 2019 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
ii.It is an inter-operable transport card, conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The card is enabled through the RuPay card mechanism.
About RBL Bank:
Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- R. Subramaniakumar
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline- Apno ka Bank
Established- 1943
SWIFT Partners with Axis Bank to Launch AI Pilot to Tackle Payment Fraud
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) has partnered with Axis Bank, leading Indian Private Sector Bank (PSB) to launch an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven pilot, to prevent the payments frauds occurring in cross-border payments.
- The AI-driven pilot is expected to provide a secure infrastructure that will allow the financial institutions to exchange important information with strong privacy-preserving models.
About the AI Pilot:
i.The initiative involves global banks such as Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon) (USA), Deutsche Bank AG (Germany), De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) (Norway), HSBC Holdings plc (United Kingdom-UK), Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) and Standard Bank (South Africa), utilizing secure data collaboration and federated learning technologies.
ii.The pilot will use AI algorithms to examine historical transaction data and will detect any sort of anomaly which indicates towards a fraud.
iii.The pilot will use both real-time and data-driven approach, which aims to refine the model for wider application across the network of SWIFT, to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of fraud detection.
iv.The AI-driven pilot will provide improved monitoring and reporting of fraud. It will enable the financial institutions to track transactions in real-time and generate detailed reports.
Note: According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, total 36,075 cases of fraud in banking sector were registered in FY24. Also, fraud cases in banking sector increased approximately 300% over the last 2 years.
Points to note:
i.On 30th May 2024, SWIFT announced two AI-based experiments in partnerships with its member banks, to explore how AI technology can help in preventing cross-border payments frauds.
- In 1st pilot, SWIFT aims to enhance its existing Payment Controls service, which helps the financial institutions to detect anomalies that could be indicative of fraud.
- In 2nd pilot, SWIFT has convened 10 leading financial institutions to use AI-technology to examine anonymously-shared data from different sources that will strengthen the international financial system.
About Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT):
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Javier Pérez-Tasso
Headquarters- La Hupe near Brussels, Belgium
About Axis Bank Limited:
Managing Director (MD) and CEO- Amitabh Chaudhary
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline- “Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi”
Established- 1994
Paytm Launches India’s First NFC Card Soundbox
Noida based (Uttar Pradesh,UP) One 97 Communications Limited (OCL), Paytm‘s parent company launched India’s first Near Field Communication (NFC) Card Sound Box, a two-in-one mobile Quick Response(QR) payment device which combines NFC card payment technology with mobile QR payments.
i.The Paytm NFC Card Sound Box will provide a cost-effective solution for offline merchants and allows customers to make payments by tapping a debit or credit card or scanning a QR code.
ii.It features an instant audio confirmation and a display screen for transaction amounts and long-lasting battery life of up to 10 days.
iii.The merchants can accept NFC-based debit and credit cards and receive mobile payments from any UPI app with a single device.
iv.The Paytm Soundbox is designed to address the different demands of offline merchants across India, with notifications available in 11 languages (English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bangla, Odia, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada) and a variety of device models.
Note: NFC is a technology that allows wireless data transfer between devices that are close to each other, typically within a few centimetres (cm).
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Thales & Garuda Aerospace Signed MoU to Secure Drone Operations in India
Thales, a global aerospace leader headquartered in Paris, France, and Garuda Aerospace Private Limited, India’s leading Drone technology start-up, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance the growth and innovation in India’s drone ecosystem.
- This collaboration aims to foster innovation and advance technological solutions for safe, secure drone operations and applications.
Objectives of the MoU:
i.The MoU which comes into effect in August 2024, aims to provide a platform for a strategic collaboration to develop the drone ecosystem in India.
ii.The collaboration aligns with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) vision, aiming to make India a global hub for drones by 2030.
Expertise:
i.Under this MoU, Thales will provide expertise in Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) solutions, radar, and sensors for high-performance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) detection, and system integration.
ii.Thales provides end-to-end solutions for drone integration and UTM systems from design and development to implementation and maintenance.
iii.Garuda Aerospace, known for its expertise in the Indian market, will bring its skills in the manufacture and use of UAVs.
iv.It has extensive knowledge of the production of high-tech UAVs and service applications in the Indian market.
- The company has a fleet of over 2500 drones and 4000 pilots across 400 districts, focusing on advanced drone solutions for the armed forces, and various sectors.
About Garuda Aerospace Private Limited:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Agnishwar Jayaprakash
Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Founded- 2015.
PwC India Partners with Microsoft India To Strengthen Cybersecurity
Kolkata (West Bengal, WB) based PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwC) India has partnered with Microsoft India to strengthen cybersecurity through advanced incident response and recovery capabilities.
i.It uses Microsoft Copilot for Security, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) -powered security tool, which enables the enterprises to leverage Microsoft’s large-scale data and threat intelligence security graph along with PwC’s incident management capabilities.
ii.It enables enterprises to use Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology, enhancing PwC’s capabilities in secure system rebuilding and broader incident management.
iii.It also reduces incident response times and processes large volumes of data quickly to improve overall security.
iv.It will enable the customers to predict, prevent, and respond to security threats with confidence.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
CWC Won GEEF Global WaterTech Award 2024 For Water Management
The Central Water Commission (CWC) has been awarded the GEEF Global WaterTech Award under the category ‘Water Department of the Year’ at the Global Water Tech Summit 2024, organised by the Global Energy and Environment Foundation (GEEF) at New Delhi, Delhi.
- The award is given in recognition of the CWC’s role in hydro-meteorological data collection, flood forecasting, reservoir storage and water quality monitoring, coastal area management, monitoring of water resources projects, and resolving inter-state water issues.
Key Initiatives of CWC:
i.The GEEF recognised CWC’s interactions with the Water Resources (WR)/ Irrigation/ Jal Shakti Departments of all the States/ Union Territories (UT) to enhance synergy in the works being done by CWC.
ii.It was also recognized for its innovative initiatives, such as Urban Hydrology Capacity Building for State Officials in Extended Hydrological Prediction (EHP) and developing the mobile app ‘Floodwatch India’ to provide flood-related information to the public.
iii.This recognition demonstrates CWC’s commitment to excellence and ongoing efforts to advance water technology and resource management.
About GEEF Global Water Tech Awards:
i.The GEEF Global WaterTech Awards are presented at the Global WaterTech Summit, the business conference for the water industry.
ii.It recognises the most important achievements in the water sector to honour and reward initiatives in the water, wastewater and desalination sectors on innovation, technology, conservation and sustainable development.
iii.The winners of this award will be honoured with a trophy and citation.
About the Central Water Commission (CWC):
CWC (formerly Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission, CWINC) is an attached office of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), under the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR).
Chairman – Kushvinder Vohra
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
Established – 1945
About the Global Energy and Environment Foundation (GEEF):
Global Energy and Environment Foundation (GEEF) is a not-for-profit organisation which focuses on innovative, technology and networking opportunities for the benefit of industries and individuals globally.
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
Incorporated – 2022
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
China to Build World’s 1st Thorium Molten Salt NPP in Gobi Desert
China plans to build the world’s 1st Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that will be fuelled by liquid fuel based on molten thorium salt in the Gobi Desert, China. The construction of the plant will begin in 2025 with the aim of developing safer and more environmentally friendly nuclear energy.
- Since the reactor uses liquid salt and carbon dioxide to transfer heat and generate electricity, it does not require water for cooling.
- It will use fuel enriched with less than 20% Uranium-235 (U-235) and approximately 50 kilogram (kg) of thorium.
- It will use FLiBe, a mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride, containing 99.95% lithium-7 and the fuel will consist of uranium tetrafluoride (UF4).
- The reactor is scheduled to be completed and operational in 2029, generating heat at a maximum power of 60 megawatts (MW).
- If successful, this would be the 1st operational molten salt nuclear reactor since the United States of America (USA) shut down its test reactor in 1969.
Note: The Gobi Desert that lies across southern Mongolia and northwestern China is the 5th largest desert in the world and the second largest desert in Asia.
IMPORTANT DAYS
Earth Overshoot Day 2024 – August 1
Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is an annual observance that marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services (Ecological Footprint) in a given year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate for the year (Bio-capacity).
- Earth Overshoot Day 2024 falls on 1 August, signifying that humanity uses nature 1.7 times faster than ecosystems can regenerate.
This day is hosted and calculated by the Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability research organization that pioneered the Ecological Footprint.
- Earth Overshoot Day 2023 was observed on 2 August.
- The 1st Earth Overshoot Day was calculated on 25 December 1971.
History:
i.The idea of EOD was first suggested by Andrew Simms of the United Kingdom’s (UK) think tank New Economics Foundation.
ii.That Foundation partnered with the Global Footprint Network in 2006 to launch the first global EOD campaign aimed at raising awareness of the Earth’s limited resources.
About the Global Footprint Network:
Global Footprint Network is an international nonprofit organization founded in 2003.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- Steven Tebbe
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
>> Read Full News
World Breast Feeding Week 2024 – 1st to 7th August
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is a global campaign annually celebrated across the globe in the first week of August, from 1st to 7th, to generate public awareness about the importance of breastfeeding, support for breastfeeding, and its benefits.
- The 2024 theme of WBW is, “Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all“. The 1st WBW was observed in 1992.
- The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) coordinates the annual WBW campaign.
Background:
i.WBW was started in 1992 to commemorate the Innocenti Declaration on the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding, adopted at the Spedale degli Innocenti in Florence, Italy, on 30 July- 1 August 1990.
ii.In 2016, during the WABA 7th Global Breastfeeding Partners’ Meeting in Malaysia, the WBW campaign was aligned with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
iii.In 2018, the WHO adopted a resolution endorsing WBW as an important breastfeeding promotion strategy.
About the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA):
WABA was formed in 1991 as a global network of individuals and organisations dedicated to the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding.
Executive Director(ED)– Amal Omer Salim
Headquarters– Penang, Malaysia.
>> Read Full News
World Wide Web Day 2024 – August 1
World Wide Web (WWW) Day is annually observed across the globe on August 1 to celebrate the creation and impact of the World Wide Web, and recognize its role in connecting the world.
- The day highlights the web’s transformative role in revolutionising communication, collaboration, and access to knowledge.
Significance:
i.Aim : To recognize and appreciate Tim Berners-Lee’s groundbreaking work and vision.
ii.It celebrates the individuals who have contributed to the web’s evolution into its current advanced and organised structure.
About the World Wide Web:
i.World Wide Web, also known as the Web or W3 is a collection of websites or web pages stored in web servers and connected to local computers through the internet.
ii.It was created to help people share and find information easily, using links that connect different pages together.
iii.These websites contain text pages, digital images, audios, videos, etc.
iv.The users can access the content of these sites from any part of the world over the internet using their devices such as computers, laptops, cell phones, etc.
Components of the Web:
There are 3 components of the web: Uniform Resource Locator (URL), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).
History:
i.In 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the WWW, with the goal to create a robust, user-friendly global information system by fusing computers, data networks, and hypertext while he was employed at Geneva (Switzerland)’s CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research).
ii.He coined the term ‘World Wide Web’ and wrote the first World Wide Web server ‘httpd’ and the first client program ‘WorldWideWeb’ in October 1990.
iii.The world’s first wesite ‘info.cern.ch’ went live on August 6, 1991, marking the beginning of the public World Wide Web.
iv.On Collaboration with Robert Cailliau, Belgian informatics engineer they developed the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and released it in 1992.
Related Organisation:
i.World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international standards organisation, developed for the long-term growth of the Web in 1994. It is headquartered at Massachusetts, United States
ii.The World Wide Web Foundation or Web Foundation was established in 2009 by to advance the open Web as a public good and a basic right.It is headquartered at Washington, D.C., the United States of America(USA).
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