CURRENT AFFAIRS 15TH JULY - FED BANK EPFO INTERVIEWS

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

15th July 2022

 

National News

 

Govt will promote chess in schools and colleges: Odisha CM

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on Friday said his government will promote chess in schools and colleges. His comment comes after he handed the Chess Olympiad relay torch to Padmini Rout at a function in Bhubaneswar's Lokaseva Bhavan. It's a proud moment for India as it is hosting such an international event in the 75th year of Independence, Patnaik added.

BJP appoints Laxmikant Bajpai as chief whip of Rajya Sabha

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed former Uttar Pradesh BJP President Laxmikant Bajpai as the party's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha. "I will discharge this responsibility given by the party leadership with full devotion," Bajpai said on Twitter. Bajpai has replaced Shiv Pratap Shukla who retired as a Member of Parliament from the Rajya Sabha.

 

National Rail and Transportation Institute upgraded as Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya 

National Rail and Transportation Institute upgraded as Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, the deemed to be university will be upgraded to a central university. The university has been renamed as Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya.  The Union Cabinet gave its approval to introduce a Bill in Parliament, namely, the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to amend the Central Universities Act, 2009 for setting up of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV).  The Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya is envisioned to be a key enabler for expanding the transportation sector which is strategically critical for India's economic growth and development.

Cabinet approved Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road new rail line

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of the Taranga Hill-Ambaji- Abu Road new rail line to be constructed by the Ministry of Railways at an estimated cost of Rs 2798.16 crore.  The total length of the new rail line will be 116.65 km and is expected to be completed in 2026-27. The project would generate direct employment during construction for about 40 lakh man-days.

UIDAI launched ‘AadhaarFaceRd’ mobile app to perform Aadhaar face authentication 

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched a face authentication feature through a new mobile app called “AadhaarFaceRd”.  For authentication, Aadhaar card holders no longer need to physically visit an enrollment centre for iris and fingerprint scans.  The UIDAI has started using face authentication as a method of confirming an Aadhaar holder’s identity. Once your facial authentication is successful, it verifies your identity.

AIIMS to host Film Festival to commemorate 12th National Plastic Surgery Day 

The 12th National Plastic Surgery Day will be observed on the 15th of July and the Burn and Plastic Surgery Department of AIIMS, Delhi will host the APSI Sushruta Film Festival (ASFF 2022) in conjunction with the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (APSI).  According to Dr. Professor Maneesh Singhal, Department Head of Burn and Plastic Surgery, the theme of this film festival is Changing Lives with Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He emphasised that the goal of the film festival is to showcase the greatest work produced by plastic surgeons around the nation.

 

INTERNATIONAL

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius reveals it owes users $4.7 billion

Crypto lender Celsius, which has filed for bankruptcy, owes its users $4.7 billion, a filing with the Southern District of New York court revealed. In the filing, the firm also revealed it had a $1.19 billion deficit on its balance sheet. The company blamed the bankruptcy on inflation, the war in Ukraine and the collapse of several other crypto funds.

 

Celsius becomes 3rd major crypto firm to file for bankruptcy in 3 weeks

Celsius has become the third major crypto firm to file for bankruptcy in three weeks following the collapse of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and broker Voyager Digital. The crypto lender said the decision was part of a financial restructuring that would "stabilise the business". The US-based platform had suspended customer withdrawals, swaps and transfers citing "extreme market conditions".

Appointments News

Mustafizur Rahman named as Bangladesh High Commissioner to India 

The Bangladesh Government has appointed Mustafizur Rahman as the next High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India.  He is currently serving as Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and the Ambassador to Switzerland. He will succeed Muhammad Imran as the new High Commissioner.

BANKING, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

Chhattisgarh govt to buy cattle urine from farmers at ₹4 per litre

The Chhattisgarh government is planning to procure cattle urine from farmers and cattle owners at ₹4 per litre. A pilot project of the scheme will be launched in the upcoming weeks, officials informed on Friday. According to Pradeep Sharma, adviser to CM Bhupesh Baghel, the urine will be procured through Gram Gauthan Samiti and payments will be made fortnightly.

Federal Bank's profit jumps 63% y-o-y to ₹600 crore, share price rises

The share price of private sector lender Federal Bank rose by 1.54% to ₹98.80 after it reported a 63.5% increase in net profit in the April-June quarter to ₹600.66 crore. The bank had reported a profit of ₹367 crore in the same period last year. Meanwhile, its net interest income rose by 13% to ₹1,604.5 crore.

RBI likely to introduce new rules for fintech firms: Report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to announce new regulations for fintech companies, Moneycontrol reported. The rules will likely cover areas such as data sharing, privacy, compliance with KYC and anti-money laundering norms, the report said. This comes in the wake of complaints related to some fintechs charging usurious interest rates and other issues, the report added.

 

Govt plans 'Right to Repair' framework to help consumers get products fixed independently

The government is working on a 'Right to Repair' framework to cut down restrictive practices introduced by some manufacturers so people can get goods such as consumer durables, phones and cars fixed on their own. Farming equipment, mobile phones/tablets, consumer durables and automobiles/automobile equipment are among the sectors identified by a government committee to implement the framework.

Wholesale inflation declines marginally to 15.18% for June 

The annual rate of inflation based on the all-India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is 15.18 per cent for the month of June, in a marginal drop from May when the figure stood at 15.88 per cent.  The latest figure has bucked the three-month rising trend but remained in double-digit for the 15th straight month. Figures have been in double digits since April last year.

Month-wise list of Wholesale Price Index:

 

2022	CPI
January	12.96%
February	13.11%
March	14.55%
April	15.08%
May	15.88%
June	15.18%

 

Ola introduces India’s first indigenously made lithium ion-cell 

Ola Electric has unveiled the country's first indigenously developed lithium-ion cell. The Bengaluru-based two-wheeler maker will begin the mass production of the cell- NMC 2170, from its Chennai-based Gigafactory by 2023.  The use of specific chemicals and materials enables the cell to pack more energy in a given space and also improves the overall life cycle of the cell.

Nasscom joins hand with Google for DigiVaani Call Center 

Nasscom Foundation and Google have announced setting up a call centre in collaboration with a not-for-profit body Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) to help women farmers scale up their business.  The “DigiVaani Call Center” project is being run on a pilot basis and initially around 20,000 rural women entrepreneurs shall be covered across six states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Infosys purchases a Danish-based life science company

Infosys bought BASE Life Science, a company based in Denmark, for around 110 million euros (roughly Rs. 875 crore). The acquisition will expand Infosys' knowledge in the life sciences industry and expand its presence in Europe.  This purchase strengthens Infosys' broad life sciences expertise, increases our foothold in the Nordics and across Europe, and scales our industry-specific cloud-based digital transformation solutions.

Chinese Academy of Sciences launched global naming event for its newest solar observatory 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.67 crore on Ola Financial Services Private Limited for non-compliance with certain provisions related to pre-paid payment instruments and Know Your Customer norms.  The penalty has been imposed in the exercise of powers vested in RBI under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.  A notice was issued to the entity advising it to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions.  Ola Financial Services Private Limited, a subsidiary of ride-hailing app Ola, offers financial services such as lending for two-wheelers, four-wheelers, personal loans and insurance products.

Schemes and Committees News

7th anniversary of Skill India Mission is being observed on 15th July 

The 7th anniversary of the Skill India Mission is being observed on 15th July. National Skill Development Mission also known as Skill India Mission was launched on this day in 2015. Skill India is an initiative of the central government to empower the youth with skill sets, making them more employable.  The programme has numerous benefits and its objective is to enable youth to take up training in order to secure a better livelihood. Over one crore youth are getting trained every year under the Skill India Mission. Under the Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna, more than one crore 36 lakh young persons have been trained so far.

Books and Authors News

Dr S Jaishankar launches 'Connecting through Culture' at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in Delhi

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar launched ‘Connecting through Culture’, an anthology of essays on various aspects of India's soft power strengths, at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan in New Delhi, India.  The Minister described the book as the “good cop” in diplomacy and said that it can be used to encourage others to work with India because “it creates a comfort about India.

Science and Technology News

Samsung created fastest graphics DRAM chip in the world 

Samsung announced the creation of a new graphics dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip with increased speed and power efficiency.  According to a statement from the manufacturer, the 24-gigabit Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) uses third-generation, 10-nanometer technology and boasts a data processing speed that is over 30% quicker than competing products.

Agnikul Cosmos opened India’s first rocket engine factory in Chennai 

Space tech startup, Agnikul Cosmos has inaugurated India’s first-ever factory to manufacture 3D-printed rocket engines in Chennai. The facility will use additive manufacturing technology to build 3D printed rocket engines and will be used to produce engines for its own in-house rockets.  It was unveiled by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and ISRO chairman S Somanath in the presence of Pawan Goenka, the chairman of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre).  The 10,000-square-foot facility is located at IIT-Madras Research Park. It will have a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D printer from EOS that will enable end-to-end manufacturing of a rocket engine under one roof. 

SPORTS

Wimbledon champ Rybakina to donate £2-mn prize money to juniors, animal charity

Elena Rybakina, who became the first Kazakh player to win a Grand Slam at Wimbledon 2022, said she would like to donate the majority of her £2 million prize money to juniors and some of it to the animal shelter. The 23-year-old, who was born in Moscow and shifted to Kazakhstan in 2018, defeated Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final.

 

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