Current Affairs 25 & 26 July 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 25 & 26 July 2021, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2021 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

NITI Aayog & IEA launch ‘Renewables Integration in India 2021’ ReportDr. Rakesh Sarwal, Additional Secretary of NITI Aayog &  Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security, International Energy Agency (IEA) jointly launched the ‘Renewables Integration in India 2021’ prepared by NITI Aayog & IEA.

• The report is based on the outcome of Workshops held with State Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. The workshops were held to understand the specific energy transition challenges faced by the renewable-rich states.
• The joint report uses IEA modelling results to show the effects of different flexibility options on the power system.
• The report provides suggestions for states to manage the integration of renewable energy sources.

About NITI Aayog 
CEO – Amitabh Kant
Headquarters – New Delhi
About International Energy Agency (IEA) 
Executive Director – Dr Fatih Birol
Headquarters – Paris, France
>>Read Full News

Cabinet Approved Establishment of a Central University in Ladakh at a Cost of Rs 750 croreThe Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur informed about the Union cabinet’s approval for the formation of a Central University in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh with a project cost of Rs 750 crore.

• The 1st phase of the university will be completed in 4 years and the jurisdiction of the upcoming Central University will cover the entire Ladakh region, including Leh and Kargil.
• Leh and Kargil were left out of the jurisdictions of central universities in Jammu and Kashmir after the state was bifurcated into 2 UTs.
• The bill for amending Central Universities Act, 2009 will be introduced to support the formation of Central University in Ladakh.
• The Cabinet has also approved the establishment of the 1st ‘Integrated Multi-purpose infrastructure Development Corporation’ for the UT of Ladakh.

About Ladakh:
Capital – Leh
Lieutenant Governor – Radha Krishna Mathur

MoSJE formulated SMILE scheme Covering Comprehensive Measures for Welfare of BeggarsThe Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) initiated a welfare scheme namely ‘SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise’ covering several comprehensive measures for the welfare of beggars.

• SMILE also includes a sub scheme – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’.
• This information was given by Minister of State (MoS) Abbaiah Narayanaswamyin, MoSJE.

Under this Scheme, funds allocated for the next five years are given below:

Key Points:
i.The focus of the scheme is on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, basic documentation, education, skill development, economic linkages, survey and identification, mobilization, basic hygiene among others.
ii.The scheme would be implemented with the support of State/UT (Union Territory Governments/Local Urban Bodies, Voluntary Organizations, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) , institutions and others.
iii.Scheme provides for the use of the existing shelter homes available with the State/UT Governments and Urban local bodies for rehabilitation of beggars. In case of non-availability of existing shelter homes, new dedicated shelter homes are to be set up by the implementing agencies.
Pilot project:
The sub scheme of SMILE is initiated in 10 cities by MoSJE. The cities are Delhi, Bangalore (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Telangana), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Patna (Bihar) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat).

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

UN Adopts 1st Resolution on Vision – ‘Vision for Everyone’ to Help 1.1 billionOn July 23, 2021, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a new first-ever resolution on vision named ‘Vision for Everyone’ to make eye care services an integral part of universal health coverage and address the increasing impact of vision loss on sustainable development.

• Objective: To provide eye care service for at least 1.1 billion people with vision impairment by 2030, especially those who lack eye service.
• Background: The resolution – ‘Vision for Everyone: accelerating action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)’ was introduced by Bangladesh’s U.N. Ambassador Rabab Fatima and proposed by Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh and Ireland to the UN General Assembly.
• Limited Access: Globally, over 2 billion people are living with vision impairment/ blindness and at least 1.1 billion people are living with vision loss due to the limited access to proper vision care for conditions like short and far-sightedness, glaucoma and cataract.

About United Nations General Assembly:
It occupies a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UNs.
Establishment – 1945 under the Charter of the UN
Headquarters – New York, USA
President – Volkan Bozkır (Turkey)
Members – 193
>>Read Full News

61% of Global Drowning Deaths in 2019 was in Asia Pacific region: WHO reportThe World Health Organization (WHO) released 2 reports ‘Regional status report on drowning in the Western Pacific’ & ‘Regional status report on drowning in the Asia Pacific region’. It is the 1st WHO regional assessment on drowning prevention.

• In 48 of 85 countries, drowning is among the top 5 causes of death for children under the age of 15 years.
• The report states that on average, men were 3-4 times more likely to drown than women.
• Drowning accounts for 75% of all deaths in flood disasters. Countries in South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions are particularly vulnerable to Flood disasters due to climate change.

About WHO
Director General – Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Ethiopia)
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
>>Read Full News

World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm to be Built in Indonesia

Singapore’s Sunseap Group and Batam Indonesia free zone authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build the world’s largest floating solar farm and energy storage system Indonesian city Batam at the cost of $2 billion, to double its renewable power generation capacity.

• The floating photovoltaic system will have a capacity of 2.2 gigawatt-peak (GWp) and will be located on the Duriangkang Reservoir in Batam Island spanning around 1,600 hectares. The project would begin in 2022 and would be completed by 2024).

Note – India’s Largest Floating Solar Power Plant of 100 MegaWatt (MW) capacity is being constructed at Ramagundam in Peddapalli district of Telangana. It will be India’s largest floating solar plant in a single location.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Allowed Loan of up to Rs 5 Crore to Other Bank’s Directors Without Board ApprovalAfter 26 years, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has amended the regulatory restrictions on personal loans and advances that are granted to bank directors and their relatives.

• RBI has increased the threshold of ‘personal loans’ that could be granted to any directors and their relatives of other banks to Rs 5 crore from Rs 25 lakh (which was fixed by RBI in 1996).
• The revised threshold regulations were applicable only for the personal loans of the directors (not for business loans), whereas the limit of Rs 25 lakh was allowed to continue for business loans.

Regulations under Lending to directors and their relatives:
i.As per the revised regulation, the banks no need to get approval from the board of Directors/Management Committee to grant loans above Rs 5 crore to the spouses and minor/dependent children of the Chairmen, Managing Directors (MD) or other Directors of their own bank and other banks.
ii.But, the banks need to get approval from the board of Directors/Management Committee to grant loans above Rs 5 crore to the relatives of the directors, major shareholders of the bank, and partner or guarantor of the bank.

• A shareholder needs to hold 10 percent or more of the paid-up share capital/ Rs 5 crore in paid-up shares, whichever is less in the bank.

iii.RBI also allowed banks to sanction loans to directors and their relatives for an amount less than Rs 5 crores (earlier it was Rs 25 lakh) through its appropriate authority (without board approval) under powers vested with it (but need to report that to the Board).
Note – Personal loans refer to loans given to individuals and it includes consumer credit, education loans, loans for creation/ enhancement of immovable assets (eg. housing) and loans for investment in financial assets (shares, debentures, etc).
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Establishment – 1st April 1935
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
Governor– Shaktikanta Das
Deputy Governors –  Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra, M. Rajeshwar Rao, T. Rabi Sankar

RBI Plans to Introduce Central Bank Digital Currency in Phases The Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar stated about the RBI’s plan for the phased introduction of a ‘Central Bank Digital Currency’ (CBDC).
What is CBDC?
A CBDC is a legal tender that would be issued by the central bank in a digital form. It is exchangeable one-to-one with fiat currency and it would appear as a liability (currency in circulation) on a central bank’s balance sheet.
Reasons for Adopting CBDC:
i.To meet the public’s need for digital currencies and to protect people from the usage of private virtual currencies.
ii.To make the transition from RBI’s paper currency into a more acceptable electronic form of currency.
iii.To make more efficient issuance (like Denmark, Germany, Japan, and the US).
About Reserve Bank of India(RBI):
i.Key Appointments in RBI – Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister appoints the governor and deputy governors of RBI.
ii.Section 7 in The RBI Act, 1934, empowers the government to issue directions to the RBI governor.
iii.Shaktikanta Das – The 25th governor of RBI from 11 December 2018
>>Read Full News

Paisalo Digital selected as SBI’s National Corporate Business CorrespondentState Bank of India (SBI) selected Paisalo Digital as National Corporate Business Correspondent of the Bank. It has been selected to ensure greater financial inclusion and to increase the delivery of its financial services.
i.As a Business Correspondent (BC), Paisalo Digital will provide banking services through Kiosks.
ii.As a Business Correspondent for SBI, Paisalo Digital will focus on boosting the fully digital small loan business under SBI-Paisalo Loan Co-origination.
iii.The engagement will help Paisalo Digital to increase the share of fee and service income in total income in future.

• Paisalo aims to enter the INR 8 lakh crore market opportunity of small ticket loans for India’s unbanked population, which stands at 365 million.

Business Correspondents (BCs)
BCs are retail agents engaged by banks for providing banking services at locations other than a bank branch/ATM.

• The BC model was introduced by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in January 2006
• As per the RBI guidelines the products provided by BCs are: Small Savings Accounts, Fixed Deposit and Recurring Deposit with low minimum deposits, Remittance to any BC customer, Micro Credit and General Insurance.

About State Bank of India (SBI)
Established – 1st July 1955
Chairman – Dinesh Kumar Khara
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline – The Banker to Every Indian
About Paisalo Digital
MD – Sunil Agarwal
Headquarters –  New Delhi

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS        

Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar honoured with Alexander Dalrymple award

On 23rd July 2021, Indian Chief Hydrographer – Vice Admiral Vinay Badhwar was honoured with the ‘Alexander Dalrymple award’, a top award of the United Kingdom. For his distinguished contribution towards hydrography, he was listed for the award in 2019, but the award ceremony was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
i.The Alexander Dalrymple award is conferred since 2006, to honour the contribution of the first hydrographer Alexander Dalrymple.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA selects SpaceX for Europa Clipper MissionUS Space Agency NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for the Europa Clipper Mission. It will be Earth’s 1st mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

• The Europa Clipper mission will be launched in October 2024 aboard Falcon Heavy Rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
• Total Contract award amount for launch services comes to around USD 178 million.

Key Points
i.Jupiter’s moon Europa is approximately 390 million miles (630 million kilometers) from Earth and the journey is expected to take more than 5 years.

• The mission will reach Jupiter’s orbit in April 2030.

ii.The mission will investigate whether the icy moon has conditions suitable for life.
iii.It will produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity and others.
About Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
CEO – Elon Musk
Headquarters – California, USA
About National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
Administrator – Bill Nelson
Chief Scientist – Jim Green

OBITUARY

Sahitya Akademi Award Winner, Marathi Litterateur Satish Kalsekar Passed AwayOn 24 July 2021, Marathi litterateur and Banker, Satish Kalsekar passed away in the Raigad district of Maharashtra. He received Sahitya Akademi Award in 2013 for his essay collection ‘Vachanaryachi Rojanishee’.

• His popular collections of poems include ‘Indriyopnishad’, ‘Sakshat’ and ‘Vilambit’.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book Release: Former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao releases ‘Bank with a Soul: Equitas’Former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao released a new book ‘Bank with a Soul: Equitas’ authored by retired IAS officer C.K. Gariyali.

• Gariyali is the founder trustee of EDIT (Equitas Development Initiative Trust).
• The book documents the journey of Equitas & EDIT in transforming the lives of women with frequent social reform initiatives and how they helped in establishing micro-enterprises and in pioneering financial inclusivity.
• The foreword of the book has been written by Duvvuri Subbarao who served as 22nd RBI Governor from 2008 – 2013.

IMPORTANT DAYS

161^st Income tax day observed on July 24, 2021 by CBDTThe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) celebrated the 161st Income Tax Day or Aaykar Diwas on July 24, 2021. It was on July 24, 1860 that income tax was introduced in India by Sir James Wilson to compensate the British government for the losses incurred during the First War of Independence in 1857.
Key Points:
i.July 24 has been celebrated as the Income Tax day in India since 2010 annually because this year marked the 150^th anniversary of income tax.
ii.The week preceding the Income Tax Day is marked by various activities undertaken by the regional offices of the IT department across the country.
About Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT):
Establishment– 1924
Chairman– Jagannath Bidyadhar Mohapatra
Headquarter– New Delhi

22nd July – World Brain DayAnnually the 22nd of July is observed as World Brain Day by the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) to create awareness on neurological diseases and their effects. This year’s focus is on ‘Multiple Sclerosis (MS)’, a cognitive neurological disease that leads to physical disability among people across age groups.

• Theme of 2021 – “Stop Multiple Sclerosis”

i.Annually over 2.8million people across the world are affected by Multiple Sclerosis
ii.First World Brain Day was observed on “22nd July 2014” 
About World Federation of Neurology (WFN):
Established – 22 July 1957
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
>>Read Full News

World Fragile X Day 2021 observed on July 22, 2021

The annual Fragile X Day was held on July 22, 2021 marking the 21st year of celebrating Fragile X Awareness. The entire month of July is being celebrated as 2021 Fragile X Awareness Month through awareness messages and programs.

• Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is genetic disease inherited from the parents to their children that causes developmental and intellectual disabilities.
• World Fragile X Day began with FRAXA Research Foundation in collaboration with the various global communities to raise Fragile X awareness and to make progress toward its effective treatments and a cure.

STATE NEWS

APEDA collaborates with Ladakh officials to boost unique agricultural produce to increase farmers’ income in regionThe Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has decided to promote and brand organic items from the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh to boost exports of agricultural produce and enhance farmers’ incomes.

• The initiative will be executed in association with officials from agriculture and horticulture departments of Leh and Ladakh districts, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu and Defence Institute of High-Altitude Research (DIHAR), among others.
• The focus of these collaborations is to make Ladakh an organic region by 2025.

Key Points:
i.The identified areas of work include enhancement of production of fruits with medicinal values including sea buckthorn (rich in Vitamin C and omega), apricot and organic produce and introduction of the traceability system, capacity-building of farmers and value addition of products.
ii.APEDA would provide special assistance for branding and promotion of Ladakhi products, especially sea buckthorn which is rich in Vitamin C, omega and other essential nutrients.
iii.Officials of Ladakh under the Mission Organic Development Initiative have formed an organic study group for the drafting of organic certification documents and implementation of certification process in phases.
iv.The technological interventions introduced by DIHAR will help farmers grow leafy vegetables at -25 degrees.
About Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA):
Parent organization– Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Headquarter– New Delhi
Chairman– Dr. Madhaiyaan Angamuthu

Arunachal Pradesh, IIM Shillong sign MoU to Collaborate as Knowledge Partners

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research & Analysis, Indian Institute of Management, Shillong (IIM-S), Meghalaya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

• The MoU aims at promoting mutual agreement between the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research Analysis of IIM Shillong and the Finance Planning and Investment Department of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
• The MoU was signed by Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar & Professor D.P. Goyal, Director of IIM Shillong.

Key Points
i.Under the MoU, Arunachal Pradesh will recognize Dr. APJ Centre of IIM Shillong as the official ‘Think Tank’ & ‘Knowledge’ partner of the state government.

• IIM-S will organize Managerial capacity building programs for the newly recruited officers of Arunachal Pradesh.
• It will assist in developing policies and roadmap for business development in Handloom, Horticulture, Tourism, Logistics and BPO sector.
• It will help the state government to implement its flagship projects by providing critical managerial interventions.

ii.A Satellite centre will also be set up or an extension knowledge centre of IIM-S at Itanagar. It will help in imparting skill training to youths, entrepreneurship development, promoting startup ecosystem
About Arunachal Pradesh
Chief Minister – Pema Khandu
Tiger Project Areas – Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Pakke Tiger Reserve
About Indian Institute of Management, Shillong (IIM-S)
Director –  Professor D.P. Goyal
Location – Shillong, Meghalaya

Corteva Agriscience to promote Sustainable Rice production in Uttar PradeshIn July 2021, Corteva Agriscience, a global agriculture firm, signed a 3-year agreement with the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) to transform 40,000 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh with sustainable rice cultivation techniques. They will work on promoting the use of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) technique, hybrid seeds and mechanised sowing instead of the traditional methods.
i.Corteva Agriscience, will conduct various training programs & field demonstrations to farmers and provide market-based sustainability financing and agronomy assistance leading to their socio-economic empowerment.
ii.This practice will reduce agricultural water consumption by 35-37% thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20-30%.
What is 2030 WRG?
i.2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG) is a global partnership among public, private organisations to provide sustainable water resource management. 
ii.It is hosted by the World Bank Group with a target to attain global water security by 2030, one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• Ajith Radhakrishnan is the Country Coordinator of 2030 WRG for India.

About Corteva Agriscience:
CEO – James C. Collins
Established – 2019
Headquarters – Wilmington, Delaware, United States

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