Current Affairs 7 July 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 7 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

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Launches NIPUN Bharat ProgrammeUnion Minister for Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually launched ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)’ Mission & its Guidelines. It aims to ensure that every child in India attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
i.Purpose – To cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3-9 years.
ii.The mission has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of ‘Samagra Shiksha’ and will be implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy by setting up a five-tier implementation mechanism at the national-state-district-block-school level in all states & UTs.
Focus areas
The programme will focus on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling, teacher capacity building, development of high quality and diversified Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes.
About Ministry of Education
Union Minister – Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ (Haridwar, Uttarakhand)
Minister of State – Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre (Akola, Maharashtra)
>>Read Full News

Goa to host 52nd IFFI from 20th – 28th November 2021On July 5th 2021, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Prakash Javadekar announced the dates for 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which will be held in Goa from 20th to 28th November, 2021. He also released the regulation booklet and the poster of 52nd IFFI.
i.Following the success of 51st IFFI, the Ministry has planned to host this year’s event also in the hybrid format.
ii.2021 is the 100th Birth anniversary of India’s legendary filmmaker “Satyajit Ray”, to mark this a Special Retrospective was arranged by the Directorate of Films Festivals at 52nd IFFI.
iii.A new award – “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema” will be instituted annually starting from 2021
Note – Satyajit Ray, is the only Indian to receive the “Academy Honorary Award” when he received it during 1992 Oscars
About International Film Festival of India (IFFI):
IFFI is India’s largest and one of Asia’s oldest International Film festival, recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).IFFI is annually held at Goa.
Founded – 1952
Host – Government of Goa; Directorate of Films Festivals, Ministry of I&B

MoEFCC approves Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary as 4th Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary in Bundi, Rajasthan has been sanctioned as the 4th Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan and 52nd Tiger Reserve of India by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC).

• In June 2021, The Technical Committee of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) approved the proposal for Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary into Tiger Reserve.
• The other 3 Tiger Reserves in Rajasthan namely Ranthambore in Sawai Madhopur, Sariska in Alwar, and Mukundra Tiger reserve in Kota are home to 102 Tigers.
• The Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary will be spread across 1,071 sq kms. A 302 Sq Km area in the proposed tiger sanctuary will be left as critical habitat for Tigers and the rest of the area will act as a buffer zone for the Ranthambore National Park.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
It is a statutory body under MoEFCC and was launched in 2005. It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and amended in 2006.One of its main objectives is to provide statutory authority to ‘Project Tiger’ so that compliance of its directives becomes legal.
About National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
Chairperson – Union Minister of MoEFCC (Prakash Javadekar)
Head Office – New Delhi
>>Read Full News

MoEFCC & MoTA sign Joint Communication To Provide More Power to Tribal CommunitiesThe Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) signed an ‘Joint Communication’ in New Delhi to give more powers to the Tribal communities in managing the forest resources.

• The Joint Communication is related to the effective implementation of the Schedule Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (commonly known as Forest Rights Act).

Forest Rights Act, 2006
i.The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.
ii.According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), nearly 23% of India’s landscape comprises forest area, and 200 million citizens are dependent on forests for their livelihood.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)
Union Minister – Arjun Munda (Lok Sabha – Khunti, Jharkhand)
Minister of State –  Renuka Singh Saruta (Lok Sabha – Surguja, Chhattisgarh)
>>Read Full News

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

MoC signed between IETO and Libyan African Business Council during FITA 2021 in Tunis, TunisiaA Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was signed between Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) and Libyan African Business Council during the Financial Investment Trade Africa (FITA 2021) held in Tunis, Tunisia on June 25, 2021.

• The MoC was signed between IETO’s President Dr. Asif Iqbal and Libyan African Business Council Vice-President Muhamad Eawn.

Focus of MoC:
To enhance business structures of both countries and to team up in the domains of IT (Information Technology) development, Healthcare, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) support in the aerospace sector, and support the academic institutions by collaborating with the Indian skill sector.
Key points:
i.This MoC will also cater to the immediate need for health professionals in Libya.
ii.During the summit, Libya suggested to host the Libya India Trade Forum in November 2021, in Tripoli, Capital of Libya.
iii.IETO has shown interest in opening new markets especially in Agriculture machinery from South India as it supports various MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) from South India. It will also supply medicines, FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) products, and food processing technology from India.
Points to be noted:
i.IETO’s is a business intelligence unit headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
ii.Indian Ambassador to Tunisia is Puneet Roy Kundal and is concurrently accredited to Libya.

Agriculture prices to ease, Global Targets on Climate, Hunger unlikely to be met in 2021-30: FAO, OECD reportThe ‘OECD‑FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021‑2030’ report released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) & UN’s FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization) states that the prices of Food commodities are set to become cheaper in 2021-30 and the global targets on reducing hunger and CO2 emissions are unlikely to be met under current policies.

• The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook is an annual report, which serves as a consensus assessment of the 10 year prospects for agricultural commodity and fish markets at national, regional and global levels.

Food Communities
Food Commodities may become cheap due to increase in productivity.
Overall Greenhouse gas emissions
The report forecasts an 4% increase in overall greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture during 2021-30, With Livestock accounting for 80% of the increase.
Hunger
The report states that without any additional efforts UN’s goal of ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 will be missed.
About Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Secretary-General –  Mathias Cormann
Headquarters –  Paris, France
>>Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

Aeldra Proposed US Bank Account for Indian StudentsAeldra Financial Inc., a ‘digital neo bank’ proposed a United States (US) bank account with a Mastercard Global Debit Card for the Indian students who are preparing to get admission in the US.

• The account could be opened and operated from India even before the students get an F-1 visa.
• Objective: To enable the Indian students, professionals, and investors to get their US bank account before they leave for the U.S.
• Requirements: Aeldra requires only a valid Indian passport and other local documents for KYC (know your customer) to open the account (No need for U.S. Social Security Number, U.S. address proof or even a U.S. visa).

Benefits of the Aeldra Bank account:
i.It has no minimum balance requirement and it doesn’t have foreign currency mark-up fees
ii.The account will enable the users to transfer funds to a USD account from India to protect against exchange rate depreciation.
iii.U.S. bank account is insured with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) through its banking partner Blue Ridge Bank, N.A.,

• FDIC is an independent agency of the US government that protects against the loss of insured deposits if an FDIC insured bank fails.

iv.It has Multi-layered information protection, fraud protection, and unauthorized transaction protection along with high-tech mobile banking experience and 24X7 servicing.
v.It has a feature to lock/unlock Debit cards through the App (when unused).
vi.It contains AeldraPay, a free peer-to-peer transfer, which will offer a quick way of sending funds in real-time.
About Aeldra Financial Inc.:
It is a digital banking and investment platform serving students, professionals, and investors globally. It has partnered with Blue Ridge Bank, N.A. and Mastercard in the US.
Establishment – 2019
Headquarters –  Silicon Valley, California, US
Headquarters(India) – Bangalore, Karnataka
CEO – Sukeert Shanker
M.D (India) – Anil Kumar N.S.

HDFC Launched ‘salaam dil sey’ initiative to acknowledge Service of Doctors

In order to acknowledge the tireless service of doctors during COVID-19 pandemic, HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) Bank launched ‘Salaam Dil Sey’ initiative. In this regard, a web portal has been created by bank www.salaamdilsey.com where the general public can log in and share their thank you message for doctors. These can be shared via email, social media, and WhatsApp.
Key Points:
i.The bank also virtually felicitated Padma Bhushan Dr Naresh Trehan, a renowned Cardiovascular and Cardiothoracic surgeon as a thank you gesture from the bank to all doctors across the country.

• He is Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), and Chief Cardiac Surgeon at Medanta -The MediCity, Gurugram (Haryana).

ii.On National Doctors’ Day i.e. on July 1, 2021, the bank unveiled ‘Wall of Dedication’ at its Corporate Office in Worli, Mumbai (Maharashtra). It consisted of a collage of thank you messages for doctors from across the country.

• An anthem, A Musical Tribute, to doctors, featuring bank staff from remotest locations was also released.

Flexiloans Partners with GooglePay to Provide Digital Loans to SMEsFlexiLoans.com, a Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) focused digital lending platform, collaborated with Google Pay, Google’s payment app, to offer digital and feasible loans to Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

• FlexiLoans is the 1st lender to go live on the Google Pay platform.
• The collaboration is intended to provide loans to small merchants and entrepreneurs in India, those who are unable to access formal credit.

FlexiLoans SMEs Lending:
i.It aims to disburse loans to over 50,000 SMBs in the next 12 months after this collaboration.
ii.The technology platform of FlexiLoans which is designed with embedded credit capabilities was deployed across many ecosystems in the country.
iii.FlexiLoans has disbursed unsecured business loans worth over Rs 1000 crore in 1400 cities across India in the last 4 years, it has more than 100 ecosystem partners to reach the 5 million MSMEs in the country.
iv.Its platform receives more than 10000 applications per month, mostly from Tier III and Tier IV cities. It aims to reach an annualized disbursal run-rate of above Rs 1000 crores in 2021 alone.
About Google:
Google Pay is the online payment system developed by Google to power in-app, online, and in-person contactless purchases, initially it was released as Android Pay in 2015 and later as Google Pay in 2018.
Headquarters– California, United States
CEO – Sundar Pichai

HDFC Bank Joins with Creditas Solutions to Offer Digital Self-Service Credit PortalHDFC Bank has partnered with Creditas Solutions to offer a guided and customised digital debt management solution with a self-service credit portal for its loan and credit card customers under COVID-19.

• Under the partnership, Creditas provides a fully integrated ready-to-deploy credit help platform to address the challenges faced by users while managing their credit card and loan payments.
• The platform will enable the customers to access their credit account information in real-time, on any device through the simplified self-service credit portal. The customers could also monitor, manage, and repay their outstanding dues easily through the portal.
• All major Indian vernacular languages are supported by the platform.

About HDFC Bank:
Establishment -1994
MD & CEO – Sashidhar Jagdishan
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline– We understand your world
Chatbot – Eva
About Creditas Solutions:
Establishment -2015
Headquarters – Gurugram, Haryana

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

NCDEX Launched 2 New Agri Commodity Indices – GUAREX, SOYDEXNational Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), India’s agricultural-commodity exchange, launched India’s 1st sectoral indices in agricultural-commodities space such as GUAREX and SOYDEX.

• GUAREX and SOYDEX were also India’s first return based agricultural futures index in agricultural-commodities.
• These indices will be available on the NCDEX’s website to represent the performance of the Guar complex and Soy complex. Futures trading in these indices will be launched later.

• GUAREX – It is the return based index, it tracks the change in the price of the futures contracts of Guar Seed and Guar Gum Refined Splits on a real-time basis.
• SOYDEX – It will also trace the price changes in futures contracts of Soybean and Refined Soy Oil.

About National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX):
It is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Establishment –  2003
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO – Arun Raste
>>Read Full News

ASCI, FSSAI sign Agreement to curb Misleading Claims in Food & Beverage AdsAdvertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) & Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have signed an agreement to protect consumers from misleading claims in Food & Beverage (F&B) advertisements.

• The agreement was signed in the presence of Arun Singhal, CEO of FSSAI & Professor Bejon Misra, Adviser, Public Affairs, ASCI.
• As per the deal, ASCI will identify advertisements that violate provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018 and FSSAI will investigate the cases.
• ASCI will set up a three-member expert panel to evaluate foods and beverages advertising identified by the ASCI monitoring team.

India – Fastest Growing Market for FMCG
A recent report by Media agency Zenith stated that India is set to be the fastest-growing market for FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) brands’ F&B advertising over the next three years, with spending set to increase by 14% per year.

• It is expected that FMCG brands’ digital ad spends will increase from USD 12.3 billion in 2020 to USD 14.9 billion in 2023.

About Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) 
Chairman – Subhash Kamath
Headquarters –  Mumbai, Maharashtra
About Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
Chairperson –  Rita Teaotia
Headquarters – New Delhi
>>Read Full News

Government set up Advisory Council for ONDC ProjectAs per the order of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has set up a 9-member Advisory Council to advise the government on measures needed to design and fast adoption of ‘Open Network for Digital Commerce’ (ONDC).
Key points:
i.ONDC is a project initiated by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and assigned to the Quality Council of India (QCI).
ii.Members of the Advisory Council:

• Nandan M. Nilekani, non-executive Chairman, Infosys
• Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI and Capacity Building Commission
• R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority
• Anjali Bansal, Founder & Chairperson, Avaana Capital

iii.Shailendra Singh, Additional Secretary (ITeC), DPIIT has been appointed as the convener of the Advisory Council.
About Quality Council of India (QCI):
It is an autonomous non-profit body set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to establish and operate national accreditation structures and promote quality.
Headquarters –  New Delhi
Chairperson – Adil Zainulbhai
CEO – Rajesh Maheshwari
>>Read Full News

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS        

KIAB Airport Inducted into ACI DG’s Roll of Excellence 2020

Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB Airport), Karnataka owned by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), has been inducted into the Airports Council International (ACI) Director General(DG)’s Roll of Excellence for the year 2020.

• ACI DG’s Roll of Excellence recognises the airports that delivered excellence in customer service by winning multiple ASQ awards over a period of 5 years.

Other Inductees of 2020:

• Cochin International Airport in Cochin, Kerala, India
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China
• Portland International Jetport in Maine, United States
• San Antonio International Airport in Texas, United States
• Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada

Decoding Shankar wins Biographical Film Award at the Toronto International Women Film Festival 2021

A documentary on singer Shankar Mahadevan titled ‘Decoding Shankar’ has won Best Biographical Film Award at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, 2021.The documentary was directed by Kochi-based filmmaker Deepti Pillay Sivan. This documentary also won a Special Jury Award at the Indo French International Film Festival.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS          

President Ram Nath Kovind Appoints New Governors for 8 StatesPresident Ram Nath Kovind appointed new Governors for 8 States.

• Article 155 of the Indian Constitution states that the Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
• As per Article 159, The Chief Justice of the concerned State High Court administers the oath of office to the Governor.

New Appointments & Transfers

>>Read Full News

MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari Became ‘Brand Ambassador’ of Khadi Prakritk Paint

On July 06, 2021, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways & MSME (Micro Small & Medium Enterprises) announced himself as the Brand Ambassador of ‘Khadi Prakritk Paint’ (cow dung paint) to promote the paint across the country and encourage the young entrepreneurs to manufacture it.

• Khadi Prakritk Paint is India’s 1st and only paint made from cow dung
• He also inaugurated a new automated manufacturing unit of Khadi Prakritik Paint virtually on the campus of Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur, Rajasthan, the institute is a unit of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC))
• The new unit was intended to double the production capacity of Prakritik Paint from 500 litres (Current protection).

Note – Nitin Gadkari appreciated KVIC for the successful research and set the target to set up a Parkritik Paint unit in each and every village.
About Khadi Prakritk Paint:
i.It was launched by Nitin Gadkari on 12th January 2021 with the objective of increasing farmers’ income and creating self-employment.
ii.KVIC included the project under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), the Central government’s employment generation scheme.
iii.Features:

• The paint is manufactured by using scientifically treated cow dung as a main raw material.
• It contains ‘AshtaLaabh’ i.e. the 8 benefits like anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and natural thermal insulation properties. It is also eco-friendly, non-toxic, odorless and cost-effective.
• It is free from heavy metals like lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic, cadmium and others.

About Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises:
Union Minister – Nitin Jairam Gadkari
Minister of State (MoS)–  Pratap Chandra Sarangi

IBM president and former Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst quits

American multinational technology company International Business Machines Corporation(IBM) has announced that Jim Whitehurst has decided to step down as President of the company, Whitehurst former CEO of Red Hat has played a pivotal role in the $34 billion IBM and Red Hat integration deal in 2018 and He will continue to work as senior advisor to Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS        

Govt to Sell up to 4% Stake in NMDC via OFS

Government plans to offload 4 percent stake (11,72,24,234 equity shares) in National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore mining company, through an offer for sale (OFS).

• The President of India (acting through and represented by the Ministry of Steel) is the promoter of NMDC. He holds 68.29 percent stake in the company.
• The floor price for the offer was stated to be about Rs 165 per equity share and the sale was scheduled to take place on July 6 and July 7, 2021.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Sea Breaker: Israel unveiled 5^th Gen Maritime & Land-based Long-Range Attack Weapon System Israeli defence major Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (RADS) Ltd. unveiled an all-weather missile Sea Breaker, a 5th generation long range, autonomous, precision-guided missile system to address an operational gap in maritime and artillery strike systems through a single platform. Catering to this, Sea Breaker can be fired both from sea and surface with stand-off ranges of up to 300 km.

• The missile is four-meter-long, and weighs less than 400 kilograms. Its land version design is based on RAFAEL’s highly-mobile SPYDER launchers.
• Notably, this attack weapon is similar to BrahMos, an Indo-Russia missile system.

About Sea Braker:
i.Equipped with an advanced imaging infra-red (IIR), it can be deployed for sea-to-sea, sea-land, land-sea or land-land missions.
ii.It has a capability of 100% operationalization in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied arenas or Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) arenas, along with a feature of electronic countermeasures immune and jam-resilient.
iii.It can support real-time man-in-the-loop decision making and tactical updates.
iv.It also features a mid-flight abort capability and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA).
v.It uses artificial intelligence (AI) for automatic target acquisition (ATA) and automatic target recognition (ATR) and can function during the day or night.
vi.Its battery architecture supports operation as an integrated solution with a command and control Unit (CCU) and various sensors.
Key Points:
i.Israel will offer Sea Breaker to India in future under Make in India initiative.
ii.It should be noted that RADS has an existing joint venture  (JV) with Indian private firm Kalyani Group namely Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) located in Hyderabad, Telangana.

• In March 2021, this JV rolled out its first batch of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) kits for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

Kiren Rijiju Launched 5 Portals on AYUSH sector along with 4 Publicationsi.On July 5, 2021, Minister of State (Independent Charge)-Additional Charge Kiran Rijiju, Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy) launched five important portals of importance along with four publications during a virtual event. He launched CTRI portal along with AMAR, RMIS, SAHI and e-Medha portals.
ii.The minister also released four publications related to the Traditional Indian Medicine System of India.
About Ministry of AYUSH:
Establishment– 2014
Minister of State (I/C)– Shripad Yesso Naik (Constituency – North Goa)
>>Read Full News

Tech Mahindra & StaTwig partners to implement Global Vaccine Tracker – ‘VaccineLedger’In July 2021, Indian IT major Tech Mahindra partnered with StaTwig – a digital supply chain provider to implement “VaccineLedger”, a global vaccine tracker platform. VaccineLedger is set to collaborate with countries across the world to facilitate transparency in the Vaccine supply chain and predict failure of cold storage facilities, thereby eliminating wastage of life saving drugs.
Overview of VaccineLedger:
i.It is an Open Source platform based on Block-chain technology that maintains end-to-end track of COVID-19 vaccine supply chain
ii.It can easily integrate with the existing vaccine tracking system of various countries and also adherence to their complex regulatory requirements
iii.Uses blockchain technology to effectively maintain complex records like – Inventory management, vendor payments, IoT integration and smart contract, date of purchase & expiry etc.
About StaTwig:
StaTwig is a UNICEF Innovation Fund Portfolio startup and the World Economic Forum Global Innovator focused on blockchain-based supply chain management platforms
Founded – 2016
Founder & CEO – Sid Chakravarthy
Headquarter –  IIIT Hyderabad, Telangana
About Tech Mahindra:
Established – 1986
CEO & Managing Director – C. P. Gurnani
Headquarter – Pune, Maharashtra

SPORTS

Nihal Sarin wins Silver Lake Open Chess tournament in Serbia

In July 2021, Nihal Sarin (16-year old) from Kerala won the Silver Lake Open Chess tournament in Serbia. He won 8 points from 9 rounds and defeated Serbia’s Branko Damljanovic in the finals. India’s Raunak Sadhwani and Abhimanyu Puranik with 7 points each have secured the 2nd & 3rd places in the tournament.

OBITUARY

Richard Donner – Director of “Superman” passes awayRichard Donald Schwartzberg, the famous Blockbuster movie director of Hollywood, popularly known as Richard Donner passed away at the age of 91, he belongs to the United States of America. The creator of multiple blockbuster movies from various genres including Thriller, Comedy & Adventure movie was also the creator of the 1st ‘Superman’ movie.
Popular Movies Directed by Richard Donner:

• “The Omen” (1976)
• “Superman” (1978)
• “Maverick” (1994)
• “Conspiracy Theory” (1997)
• “Lethal Weapon” movie series

i.He made his debut movie “X-15” in 1961
ii.The Production company “The Donners’ Company”, by Richard Donner & his wife Lauren Shuler Donner, is responsible for movies like “X-Men” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Zoonoses Day 2021 – July 6 World Zoonoses Day is annually observed across the globe on 6th July to create awareness about zoonoses or zoonotic disease, a disease or infection transmitted from vertebrate animals to humans. The day also commemorates the first vaccination administered against zoonotic disease.
First Vaccination against Zoonoses:
On 6th July 1885, Louis Pasteur, a French biologist, successfully administered the first vaccination against Rabies, zoonoses disease.
Zoonoses or Zoonotic Disease:
i.Zoonoses include the major percentage of all the new and existing diseases in humans such as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), Ebola virus disease, salmonellosis, Avian influenza, West Nile virus and COVID-19.
ii.According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), there are more than 200 known types of Zoonoses diseases.
About World Health Organisation(WHO):
Secretary-General– Tedros Adhanom
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
Incepted in 1948
>>Read Full News

STATE NEWS

Sukhbir Singh Sandhu Appointed as Chief Secretary of UttarakhandPushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister(CM) of Uttarakhand has appointed Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (SS Sandhu), a 1988 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre, as the new Chief Secretary(CS) of Uttarakhand, replacing Om Prakash.

• SS Sandhu was on deputation at the Centre as the Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI).
• Om Prakash has been made the chief resident commissioner of Delhi.

About SS Sandhu:
i.SS Sandhu has been serving as the Chairman of NHAI since October 2019.
ii.He has served in various capacities at the central government and in the state government of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
iii.He has served as the Additional secretary in the department of higher education under the ministry of Human resource.
About Uttarakhand:
Conservation Reserve– Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, Pawalgarh Conservation Reserve, Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve
RAMSAR site– Asan Conservation Reserve

DMRC Launched India’s 1st UPI-based Cashless Parking at Kashmere Gate Metro StationDr Mangu Singh, Managing Director(MD) of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) launched India’s first FASTag/UPI based cashless parking facility at the Kashmere Gate Metro Station, the only triple-interchange station of DMRC. 
DMRC has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch 100% digital parking plaza with the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) FASTag contactless parking solution at Kashmere Gate.

• The cashless parking project is a part of the ‘Digital India’ Initiative.
• The senior officials of DMRC and NPCI were also present during the launch.

Features of the Parking facility:
i.The cashless parking facility is located at Gate number 6 of the Kashmere Gate Metro Station.
ii.This parking facility can accommodate around 55 four-wheelers and 174 two-wheelers.
iii.The facility will accept the parking payments through the NETC FASTag for 4 wheelers and the 2 wheelers can pay using the UPI apps.
iv.The entry of 2 wheelers can only be done by swiping the DMRC smart card which will be used to register the entry/exit time and for fare calculations. The DMRC cards cannot be used for payments.
v.Only the vehicles with FASTag are allowed to utilise the parking facility.
Other launches:
i.Mangu Singh has also inaugurated the dedicated Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) lanes for Auto, Taxi and E-Rickshaws at Gate number 6 and 8 of the Kashmere Gate Metro Station.
ii.This initiative is a part of the Multi-Model Integration(MMI) project undertaken by the Kashmere Gate Metro Station.
Phase 2 of the MMI project:
Under the 2nd phase of the MMI Project, a food court by the Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DTIDC) and a Bus-Terminal with 3 lanes with 5 bus capacities each, by DMRC, will be established at the Kashmere Gate station.
About Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC):
Chairman– Durga Shanker Mishra
Managing Director– Dr Mangu Singh
Headquarters– New Delhi

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