Current Affairs 29 July 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 29 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

Jitendra Singh Launches Multiple Initiatives on 15th Foundation Day of MoESThe Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) celebrated its 15th Foundation Day on 28th July at its Headquarters in Prithvi Bhavan, New Delhi. The Ministry launched multiple societally beneficial initiatives on occasion of the Foundation Day.

• MoES came into existence through a Presidential Notification dated the 12th July, 2006.
• India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) come under its Administrative control.

i.The Initiatives were launched by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MoES, Dr Jitendra Singh. He was the Chief Guest of the event. The initiatives are

• MoES-ESSDP (Earth System Science Data Portal), an Integrated digital web portal of MoES Institutes.
• New MoES Website & A New book ‘Hydrocarbon fluid inclusions in petroliferous basins’
• ‘Pune Weather Live’, a new mobile app developed by India Meteorological Department (IMD).

ii.Winners of the MoES National Awards for 2021 were announced during the event.
About Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
MoS (I/C) – Dr Jitendra Singh (Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir)
Headquarters – New Delhi
>>Read Full News

Skylo, FISHCOPFED Tie up to Improve Fishermen Safety, Profitability

Skylo, an IoT (internet of things)-based solutions provider, collaborated with the National Federation of Fishers Cooperatives in India (FISHCOPFED) to improve the safety, productivity, sustainability, and greater profitability of fishermen through technology.

• Under the partnership, Skylo will work with FISHCOPFED in four main ways, safety, productivity, sustainability, and greater profitability.
• Skylo will provide IoT-based solutions to marine fishing and aquaculture sectors, it will also monitor and report the oxygen and pH levels of water in ponds across the states.

About National Federation of Fishers Cooperatives in India (FISHCOPFED):
It is the apex institution of the Indian Fisheries Cooperative Movement.
Establishment – 1980 (as All India Federation of Fishermen Cooperatives)
Headquarters – New Delhi
President – T. Prasad Rao Dora

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

India ranked 9th in Agricultural Produce Exporters in 2019 by WTO Report; EU TopsA recently released World Trade Organization (WTO) report has ranked India 9th (holding 3.1% share in global agri exports) among the Top 10 list of Agricultural produce exporters in 2019. European Union (EU) with a global share of 16.1% has replaced the US as the World’s largest Agriculture produce exporter (13.8%).

• The report states that India holds a significant share in the export of rice, cotton, soya beans and meat.
• The WTO report documents the trends in World Agricultural Trade in the past 25 years (from 1995).  It compares the rankings & share of global agriculture exports in 1995 to the same in 2019.

Top Global Agriculture Export Countries

Key Points
i.The Top rice exporters in 2019 were India (33%) followed by Thailand (20%) & Vietnam (12%).
ii.India was the 3rd largest cotton exporter (7.6%), and the 4th largest cotton importer (10%) in 2019.
India among 5 Countries that account for 75% of COVID-19 Vaccine Production
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has stated that 5 members of the WTO namely India, Germany, US, France and China will account for 75% of the entire global output of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021.
About World Trade Organization (WTO)
Director-General – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
>>Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

SBI Tops List of PSBs Writing-Off NPAs in FY21 Followed by UBIState Bank of India (SBI) topped the list of Public Sector Banks (PSB) writing off loans in FY21 followed by Union Bank of India (UBI).
Top 3 list of PSBs wrote off bad loans in FY21:

Note – As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, the reduction in NPAs through write-off by PSBs in FY21 stood at Rs 1,31,894 crore from Rs 1,75,877 crore in FY20. The NPAs of banks in FY21 declined by Rs 61,180 crore to Rs 8.34 lakh crore.
About State Bank of India (SBI):
Establishment – 1st July 1955
Chairman – Dinesh Kumar Khara
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline – The Banker to Every Indian
>>Read Full News

SWIFT Launched ‘SWIFT Go’ Service for Low-value Cross-border PaymentsSociety for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) has launched a new solution for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) named ‘SWIFT Go’ to enable seamless Low-Value Cross-Border Payments anywhere in the world, directly from their bank accounts.
Features of SWIFT Go:
i.It will enable businesses and consumers to make instant and frictionless cross-border transactions with transparency and security.
ii.It would enable SMEs to make fast, easy, predictable, secure and competitively priced cross-border payments. It would ease the SMEs’ low-value transactions to overseas suppliers.
iii.It will strengthen the capabilities of banks to serve their customers under payments segments.
About Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT):
SWIFT’s network connects more than 11,000 institutions and 4 billion accounts across 200 countries worldwide.
Headquarters – La Hulpe, Belgium
CEO – Javier Pérez-Tasso
>>Read Full News

SVAAS Wellness, ICICI Lombard Launched Cashless Digital Health SolutionOn July 27, 2021, SVAAS Wellness Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, collaborated for the pilot launch of a first-of-its-kind cashless outpatient digital health solution to health insurance policyholders in India.

• At the pilot launch, the services will be provided in the cities of Hyderabad, Telangana and Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
• Dr Reddy’s digital health solution ‘SVAAS’ (meaning ‘breath’) was launched under the partnership.
• ICICI Lombard will offer wellness solutions for the outpatients through its ILTakeCare app and Dr Reddy’s SVAAS will provide doctor consultations, pathology laboratories and diagnostic services, pharmacies, and insurance to the outpatients.
• Other benefits for the outpatients include teleconsultations, home sample collections, medicine deliveries, and digital health record management.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company:
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO – Bhargav Dasgupta
About Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd:
Establishment – 1984
Headquarters (India) – Hyderabad, Telangana
Whole Time Directors – Satish Reddy, G V Prasad

InCred Partnered with Amazon India to Offer Loan to E-commerce MerchantsThe financial services platform InCred has signed a strategic partnership with Amazon India to offer collateral-free, working capital loans to e-commerce merchants (amazon merchants) across India.
The working capital loan of up to Rs 50 lakhs will be offered to the merchants through the InCred seller portal.
Objective: 
To enable the e-commerce merchants across India to get affordable credit to support the growth and working capital requirements.
Note: 
At present, merchant loans are available across 10 states: Maharashtra, New Delhi, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana.
Features of the partnership:
i.The partnership aims to solve the challenges faced by the merchants to meet the supply with increased demand on the ground by addressing their financial difficulties.
ii.Under this partnership, the merchants will be empowered with the quick easy and low-interest working capital loan with flexible repayment options.
About InCred:
Founder & CEO– Bhupinder Singh
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

IMF cut India’s FY22 GDP Growth Forecast to 9.5%In its July 2021 World Economic Outlook (WEO) titled ‘Fault Lines Widen in the Global Recovery’, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast in FY22 to 9.5 percent from 12.5 percent (April 2021 projection) and raised the growth forecast for FY23 to 8.5 percent from 6.9 percent.
Key Points:
i.The IMF has unchanged the global economic growth forecast in 2021 to 6 percent and for 2022 it was estimated to be 4.9 percent.
ii.The global trade volumes are projected to expand 9.7 percent in 2021 and moderate to 7.0 percent in 2022.
iii.India and Indonesia were mentioned as the most suffered among G20 economies.
About International Monetary Fund (IMF):
Establishment –  1944
Headquarters – Washington, D.C., United States
Member Countries – 190
MD – Kristalina Georgieva
Economic Counsellor and Research Department Director – Gita Gopinath
>>Read Full News

JSW Renew Energy signs PPA with SECI for supply of 270 MWJSW Renew Energy Ltd (JSWREL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Future Energy Ltd signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) for supply of 270 MegaWatt (MW) from its 810 MW wind capacity.

• In September 2020, JSWREL (then known as JSW Future Energy Ltd) received a letter of award for total blended wind capacity of 810 MW from SECI.

JSW Energy 
JSW Energy has a power generation capacity of 4,559 MW, out of which 30% of the capacity is from renewable sources.

• At present, it is constructing various renewable power projects to the tune of 2.5 GW.
• It aims to achieve a total power generation capacity of 20 GW by 2030. The share of renewables in the total capacity will increase to 85%.

About JSW Energy Ltd
CMD – Sajjan Jindal
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
About Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) 
CMD – Jatindra Nath Swain
Headquarters – New Delhi

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS        

3 Indian SMEs Among UN’s Winners of the Best Small Business of ‘Good Food for All’3 Indian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) have won the United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit competition ‘Best Small Business: Good Food for All’, which aims to showcase innovative solutions in improving access to healthy and sustainable food.
The 3 Indian SMEs: Edible Routes Private Limited, Oorja Development Solutions India and Taru Naturals were among the 50 SMEs which were announced as the winners of the Best Small Businesses of the Good Food for All competition held in conjunction with the UN Food Systems Summit.
UN Food Systems Summit:
UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened the Food Systems Summit 2021 as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Winners:
i.50 winners were from across 42 countries from Europe & Central Asia (10); Africa & Middle East (13); East Asia & Pacific (10); South Asia (8); and North and Latin America (9) were announced as the Best Small Businesses of the Good Food for All competition.
ii.Each winner will share 100,000 USD in cash prizes.
iii.Half of the winners were youths and around half were women.
About United Nations(UN):
Secretary-General- António Guterres
Headquarters- New York, United States
>>Read Full News

Pramod Bhagat Named as Differently Abled Sportsman of the Year by Indian Sports HonourWorld No. 1 Para-shuttler Pramod Bhagat was named as the Differently Abled Sportsman of the Year by Indian Sports Honour for 2019 (the award was delayed due to COVID-19).
About Indian Sports Honour:
It is an annual award founded in 2017 by the RPSG Group and the Virat Kohli Foundation to recognize and honour the outstanding sports personalities of India.
About Pramod Bhagat:
i.He is a professional Para-badminton player from Odisha, he has been ranked as world No 1 in para-badminton men’s singles SL3.
ii.He won 2 gold medals and a bronze at the Dubai Para-Badminton Tournament in 2021.
iii.He will be participating in singles and mixed doubles events at the 16th Summer Paralympic Games, which are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan between 24 August and 5 September 2021.
iv.In 2019, he received Arjuna Awards and Biju Patnaik Sports Award Odisha for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS          

Basavaraj S Bommai takes charge as the 23^rd Chief Minister of KarnatakaBasavaraj S Bommai, who belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took charge as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka. He will succeed BS Yediyurappa who resigned on July 26, 2021.

• He was administered the oath of office & Secrecy by Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot

Basavaraj Bommai

• Basavaraj is a 3-time MLA from Shiggaon Constituency, he has been representing the constituency since 2008 in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
• He has also served as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council during the period of 1998 – 2008.
• He held the Home Ministry portfolio under Yediyurappa’s Ministry. In the past, he has held several other portfolios such as Irrigation, Law, Parliamentary Affairs & others.

Article 164
Article 164 of the Indian constitution deals with appointment of Chief Ministers and other Ministers

• Article 164(1)- Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
• 164(3)- Oaths of Office & of Secrecy administered by Governor

About Karnataka:
Governor – Thaawar Chand Gehlot
Capital –  Bengaluru

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS        

Ladakh Received RBI Approval to Acquire 8.23% Stake in J&K BankThe government of Union Territory(UT) of Ladakh has got the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)’s approval to acquire 8.23% of the paid-up equity capital of Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K bank) as of the date of enforcement of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, i.e, 31st October 2019. 
Background:
i.The board of Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) has approved to transfer the ownership of 8.23% stake, around 4.58 crore equity shares, out of its shareholdings in J&K Bank to Ladakh.
ii.This is in line with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, RBI Master Directions: prior approval for the acquisition of shares or voting rights in private sector banks (directions, 2015) and Ownership in Private Sector Banks (Directions, 2016).
iii.As of December 2020, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir was the majority shareholder, owning a 68.18% stake in the bank.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NSDL e-Governance developing World’s 1st Cab-Hailing Platform enabled by Open-Source TechNSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd is developing the World’s 1st cab-hailing platform enabled by Open-Source specifications. It will allow enterprises, cab companies, and individual players to access the platform on their own pacts using open-source technologies.

• NSDL is using the open protocol ‘Beckn’ for building the platform. The protocol will enable local commerce across industries to be discovered and engage in business.
• An Open source powered cab-hailing platform will decentralize the market, and will ensure that the market is free & inclusive.
• On July 23, 2021, NSDL e-Gov’s cab-hailing project was launched in full scale by the Kerala Government for the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority.  Over 950 drivers and 5 Taxi associations in Kochi have been trained under the project.

Impact of Private Cab-Hailing platforms
Private cab-hailing platforms such as Uber, Ola and other private companies act as Central Aggregators.

• Cab drivers who use their platform to get customers need to pay high commission to use the platform.
• They have also put the individual cab companies or taxi associations out of competition.

About NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd
MD & CEO – Suresh Sethi
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra

MWCD Launched Web-based Portal ‘pmcaresforchildren.in’

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) launched the web-based portal ‘pmcaresforchildren.in’ to identify the children who are eligible to receive support under the ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme.

• The portal will facilitate the submission and processing of applications for securing benefits.
• ‘PM CARES for Children’ scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the orphan children who have lost both parents/legal guardian/adoptive parents due to COVID-19.
• The scheme will enable their wellbeing through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs. 10 lakh, on reaching 23 years of age.

OBITUARY

Indian Badminton Legend and Arjuna Awardee Nandu Natekar Passes Away On 28th July, 2021, Indian Badminton Legend & Arjuna awardee Nandu Natekar (88) passed away due to age related ailments in Pune, Maharashtra. He was the 1st Indian Badminton Player to win an International event, when he won the Selangor International title held at Malaysia in 1956.

• He was one of the 1st sportsmen to receive the Arjuna Award, when they were introduced in 1961.
• Hailing from Sangli in Maharashtra, Natekar has won more than 100 National & International Titles during his career.  He is also a 6-time National Champion.
• He led India at the Thomas Cup (World Men’s Badminton Team Championships) in 1959, 1961 and 1963.
• Natekar represented India at the 1965 Commonwealth Games held in Jamaica.

National Award-winning Multilingual Actress Jayanthi Passed Away 

Veteran Multilingual actress and national award winner Jayanthi, who was popularly known as ‘Abhinaya Sharadhe’, passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka. She was born as Kamala Kumari in Ballari, Karnataka. She has starred in more than 500 movies in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

• She won the National Award for her performance in the Kannada movie “Chandavalliya Thota”.
• She has also received 7 Karnataka state awards and 2 Filmfare awards.
• In 2005 she was honoured with the Dr Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award.
• She won the Padmabhushan Dr. B. Sarojadevi National Award, 2017.

Noted Violinist ‘Kalaimaamani’ Sikkil R Bhaskaran Passed Away

‘Kalaimaamani’ Sikkil R Bhaskaran, a noted Carnatic Classical Violinist has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He hails from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram honoured him with the “Kalaimamani” in 1983.

• He was an A-Grade artist of All India Radio(AIR) and served in Chennai radio Station from 1976 to 1994.
• He has served as an Executive Committee member of the Thiruvaiyaru Thyaga Brahma Festival for more than 20 years.
• He has received many honours and titles during his 50 years of career.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Nature Conservation Day 2021 – July 28 World Nature Conservation Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th July to highlight the importance of nature and the environment. The day also creates awareness about the significant role of nature conservation in protecting the Earth.
Objective:

• To promote the best practices to protect and conserve the environment.
• To save the flora and fauna which are facing extinction.

Conservation of Nature:
i.Conservation of nature is defined as the management and utilization of natural resources like water, oil, coal, natural gas, metals, stone and sand.
ii.Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can persist for future generations.
Threats to the environment:
i.The threats to the environment include Deforestation and Forest Degradation; Climate Change; Urbanisation; Oil and Gas Development; Pollution; Soil erosion and degradation; usage of plastics; illegal wildlife trade and others.
>>Read Full News

World Hepatitis Day 2021 – July 28 The United Nations(UN)’s World Hepatitis Day is annually observed across the globe on 28th July to highlight the need for the global response defined in the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Global hepatitis report 2017.
The day aims to create awareness about viral hepatitis, which causes severe liver diseases and hepatocellular cancer.
World Hepatitis Day is sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 
The theme of World Hepatitis Day 2021 is “Hepatitis can’t wait”. 
Note – World’s first affordable as well as effective new drug for hepatitis C has been registered by Malaysia. This new drug offers hope for accessible treatment to the millions of people around the world who are suffering from this disease.
Background:
i.World Hepatitis Alliance established in 2007 organised the first-ever community-led World Hepatitis day in 2008.
ii.The 63rd World Health Assembly held in May 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland adopted various resolutions on a variety of global health issues which includes the resolution WHA63.17 proclaiming the 28th July of every year as the World Hepatitis Day.
iii.The First WHO’s World Hepatitis Day was observed on 28th July 2011. 
About World Health Organisation(WHO):
Director-General– Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
Founded in– 1948
>>Read Full News

STATE NEWS

Rajasthan Launches Mission ‘Niryatak Bano’ to Help Local Traders The Industries Department of Rajasthan & Rajasthan Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO), the apex industrial development body of Rajasthan have launched the campaign ‘Niryatak Bano’ to help local traders to expand their businesses to foreign countries.
Mission Niryatak Bano
The Mission has been planned in 6 steps to register and assist local traders, who are seeking to expand their business in foreign countries.

• It will cover assistance of local traders from training, securing necessary documentation, registration in Rajasthan Export Promotion Council and also in exports and trade operations.
• The mission will help in increasing the total exports from Rajasthan, and also increase the job opportunities in the state.
• It will boost the traditional handicrafts and other new Industries whose products hold quality and demand in International markets.

About Rajasthan
Chief Minister –   Ashok Gehlot
Governor – Kalraj Mishra
UNESCO world heritage sites –   Hill forts of Rajasthan, Chittorgarh Fort, Keoladeo National Park.

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