Current Affairs Quiz 15th July 2022 : Daily GK Update

Exp. Delhi LG launched SAH-BHAGITA scheme to reward RWAs for property tax compliance

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has announced significant changes in the property tax policy of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after its unification.

The LG has also launched a SAH-BHAGITA scheme to increase the involvement of the Residential Welfare Association (RWAs) in optimal tax collection and waste management systems.

Under this scheme, the RWAs will be incentivized for their efforts to improve efficiency and compliance in tax collection.

The RWAs, on achieving 90% tax collection from the total number of properties in their societies, can recommend development work to the tune of 10% of the tax collection subject to a ceiling of Rs 1 lakh in their areas.

The new uniform policy addresses the long-pending rationalization of the property tax structure and places waste segregation, de-centralized processing, recycling and reuse as the axis for deciding upon additional rebates in the property tax matrix.

Recent Delhi Schemes/Apps

Hobby Hubs scheme

My EV portal

Shramik Mitra Scheme

Paryavaran Saathi chatbot & website

Mukhyamantri Muft Sewer Connection Yojana

Exp. Vedanta partners with IIT Madras incubated startup

Metal and oil and gas producer Vedanta has teamed up with Detect Technologies, an IIT Madras-incubated startup, to implement safety incident detection by deploying T-Pulse HSSE Monitoring System, based on artificial intelligence (AI), across all its business units.

The collaboration is in line with Vedanta group’s commitment to zero harm by implementing AI enabled safety monitoring of workplaces which is a key initiative in its digital transformation roadmap.

It will implement safety incident detection by deploying T-Pulse HSSE Monitoring System, based on artificial intelligence (AI), across all its business units.

T-Pulse offers centralized and scalable technology stack designed for plug-and-play deployment.

Exp. RIL partnered with Athletics Federation of India to support Indian Athlete

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) have entered into a long-term partnership to enable the holistic growth of athletics in India.

The partnership aims to discover, nurture and develop Indian athletes from across the country and provide them with world-class facilities, coaching and sports science and medicine support by leveraging the Reliance Foundation ecosystem including the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Center and Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.

In line with the larger vision of the organization, this partnership will have a special focus on girl athletes and aim to bridge the gender divide and enable them to achieve their dreams.

Since 2017, Reliance Foundation has invested in the development of athletics through the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports programme reaching more than 5,500 educational institutes in 50+ districts across the country.

In 2018, Reliance Foundation set up Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC, a high-performance centre in partnership with the Government of Odisha, from where multiple national and international medalists and national record holders have been shaped.

The Reliance Foundation has also been supporting the AFI with sports science and medicine support, with physiotherapists from Reliance Foundation accompanying the Indian contingent to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)

Founded – 8 May 1973

Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra

Founder – Dhirubhai Ambani

Owner – Mukesh Ambani (50.49%)

Subsidiaries – Jio Platforms (67.03%) Jio Payments Bank (70%)

Exp. Bharti Airtel allotted 1.2% equity shares to Google for USD 1 Billion

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has allotted over 7.1 crore equity shares to internet major Google for Rs 734 apiece.

The allotment is part of Google’s commitment to invest USD 1 billion with Airtel, which included equity investment in the company worth USD 700 million, about Rs 5,224 crore.

Google now holds 1.2% stake in India’s No. 2 telecom service provider.

The investment follows Google’s USD 4.5 billion investment in Reliance Jio in July 2020 for India Digitization Fund.

Bharti Airtel

Founded – 1995

Founder – Sunil Bharti Mittal

Headquarters – New Delhi

Chairman – Sunil Bharti Mittal

MD & CEO – Gopal Vittal

Exp. India’s first Monkeypox case reported in Kerala

The first case of monkeypox was confirmed in India, after a person who had returned to Kerala from UAE developed symptoms of the disease.

His samples were sent to National Virology Institute in Pune which confirmed the disease.

It was first found in monkeys in 1958.

About Monkeypox – Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity. The virus is transmitted through close contact with another infected person or animal, and spreads from lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.

The symptoms can include fever, headache, muscle ache and backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion, and rashes that can look like pimples or blisters on the face, inside the mouth and other parts of the body.

About Kerala

• Capital –Thiruvananthapuram
• Chief Minister– Pinarayi Vijayan
• Governor –Arif Mohammad Khan

Exp. India’s NSCS hosted meeting of BIMSTEC on cyber security cooperation

The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India has organized meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation in New Delhi.

The meeting is based on the agreement made during the meeting of the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs held at Bangkok in March 2019 that the BIMSTEC Expert Group will formulate an Action plan to deal with Cyber Security challenges in the BIMSTEC region.

It is being chaired by National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt General Rajesh Pant.

India as a lead Country for Security Sector in BIMSTEC forum has taken the initiative to organize this meeting on Cyber Security Cooperation and develop a Plan of Action on cyber security.

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

Founded – 6 June 1997

Headquarters – Dhaka, Bangladesh

Membership – 7 (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka &Thailand)

Secretary General – Tenzin Lekhpel (Bhutan)

Exp. Union Minister Narendra Tomar launched e-NAM Platform to promote agricultural trade

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched the Platform of Platforms (POP) under the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

It has launched on the sidelines of the State Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers’ Conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Equity grant of over Rs 37 crore has also released to 1,018 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) that will benefit about 3.5 lakh farmers.

This conference will focus on farmers’ accessibility digitally to multiple numbers of markets, buyers, and service providers and to bring transparency in trade transactions with the intent to improve price discover mechanisms for better price realization of farm produce to the farmers.

The technical session will cover nine thematic areas, viz, Digital Agriculture, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana, Natural Farming, FPO, e-NAM, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, National Food Security Mission, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, New Technology by ICAR.

With the introduction of POP, farmers will be facilitated to sell the produce outside their state borders.

Exp. UAE to invest USD 2 billion to develop integrated food parks across India

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will invest $2 bn to develop a series of integrated food parks across India.

This decision has announced during the first virtual summit of the ’12U2′ (India, Israel, US and UAE) group, held on virtually.

The grouping focused on food security crisis and clean energy during their meeting and discussed innovative ways to ensure longer-term, more diversified food production and food delivery systems that can better manage global food shocks.

India will provide appropriate land for the project and will facilitate farmers’ integration into the food parks. The US and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project.

The investments from UAE will help maximize crop yields and in turn help tackle food insecurity in South Asia & Middle East.

The I2U2 group will also advance a hybrid renewable energy project in Gujarat consisting of 300 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar capacity, complemented by a battery energy storage system. Indian companies are keen to participate in this project and contribute to India’s goal of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.

About I2U2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has participated in the first Leaders’ Summit of I2U2, along with leaders of Israel, UAE and the US virtually.

The grouping is known as ‘I2U2’ with “I” standing for India and Israel and “U” for the US and the UAE.

I2U2 is aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.

PM of Israel Yair Lapid, President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President of the USA Joseph R. Biden has also participated in it.

The 12U2 Grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries held on 18th October 2021.

Exp. Haryana CM Khattar & Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated NIFT campus in Panchkula

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Union Minister Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the 17th campus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Panchkula calling it a ‘fulcrum of development of the textile sector in the state’.

The policy of NIFT, 20 per cent of seats in this institute will be reserved for the residents of Haryana.

On December 29, 2016 Smriti Irani, the then Union Textiles Minister, had laid the foundation stone of this campus.

Rs 133.16 crore has been spent on the construction of the institute building over 10.45 acres of land, built in collaboration with the textile ministry.

Goyal hoped that the landmark campus will help create a complete ecosystem of textiles in Haryana.

About Haryana

• Capital –Chandigarh

Chief Minister – Manohar Lal Khattar

Governor – Bandaru Dattatreya

Exp. Industrial Production Index jumps to 19.6 percent in May

According to the data released by the National Statistical Office, The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has jumped 19.6 percent in May this year as against 7.1 percent. in preceding month.

The manufacturing sector’s output grew 20.6 percent in May this year while the mining output climbed 10.9 percent and the Electricity sector surged 23.5 percent.

The IIP had grown by 27.6 percent in May last year, mainly due to the low-base effect. Industrial production has been hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020, when it had contracted 18.7 percent.

Exp. Trade Deficit surged to record USD 26.1 Billion in June

According to Ministry of Commerce & Industry data, India’s merchandise trade deficit rose to $26.1 billion in June 2022, in comparison to $9.6 billion in June 2021.

Merchandise trade deficit was 172 percent higher than June 2021 as rise in global commodity including the prices of key energy and metal imports breached records.

According to the data, released by the government, India’s exports in June rose by 23.5 percent to $40.13 billion, imports shot up by 57.5 percent to $66.31 billion. Thereby a resultant $26.1 billion worth of trade deficit, which may become a new headache for the Commerce Department.

While goods exports increased and exceeded $40.1 billion, imports outpaced, reaching $66.3 billion on account of higher purchases of coal, gold and petroleum products.

Coal imports jumped almost fourfold to $6.76 billion while gold imports almost trebled to surpass $2.7 billion. Petroleum imports climbed 99.5% to $21.3 billion.

Exp. Arohan Financial Services launched ApnaArohan digital lending app

NBFC-MFI Arohan Financial Services has launched a digital lending app for its existing customers having good repayment track record to provide them an experience equivalent to that of privilege banking and to raise collection efficiency ratio.

NBFC-MFI Arohan Financial Services has launched a digital lending app named ‘ApnaArohan’ for its existing customers.

This app will help its customers make repayments and other transactions through the digital mode. It reduces the physical interaction with the loan officers of the MFI.

The AI-powered app will provide the microfinance company the ‘first mover advantage’ and help increase the outstanding portfolio from Rs 4,500 crore, as on June 2022, to around Rs 5,100 crore by the end of the current financial year.

Exp. Nomura cuts 2023 GDP forecast for Indian to 4.7%

Nomura sharply lowered India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2023 by 70 basis points from 5.4% to 4.7% estimated earlier on the back of the global economic slowdown, elevated inflation and rising interest rates.

Reason- Higher inflation, monetary policy tightening, dormant private capex growth, the power crunch and the global growth slowdown.

Retail inflation rate of India – the CPI has been recorded 7.01% as compare to 7.04% in May, the sixth consecutive month that the CPI inflation has remained above RBI set limit.

GDP Forecast

• World Bank – 7.5% (FY23), 7.1%(FY24)
• MOODY’S – 8.8% (FY23)
• S&P – 7.3% (FY23)
• IMF – 8.2% (FY23)
• ADB – 7.5% (FY23)
• RBI – 7.2% (FY23)
• FITCH RATING – 7.8.% (FY23)
• FICCI – 7.4% (FY23)
• OECD – 6.9% (FY23), 6.2% (FY24)
• CRISIL – 7.3% (FY23)
• NSO – 8.7%.     Q4 – 4.1% (FY23)
• SBI Ecowrap – 7.5% (FY23)
• Morgan Stanley – 7.6% (FY23)

Exp. Madhulika Bhaskar gets additional charge as NIACL CMD for three months

The New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL) has given additional charge as CMD to General Manager, Madhulika Bhaskar for a period of three months or till a regular appointment to the post is done, with immediate effect.

She has replaced Atul Sahai, whose tenure had ended on February 28, 2022 following his superannuation.

New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL)

Founded- 1919

Founders- Dorabji Tata

Headquarters – Mumbai

Nationalized – 1973

It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance

Recent Appointment

• New president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) -T Raja Kumar
• MD and CEO of Aviva India Life Insurance Company – Asit Rath
• MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Company – VP Nandkumar
• Force Commander in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) – Lt Gen Mohan Subramanian
• Director-General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security – Zulfiquar Hasan

Exp. Sudhakar Dalela appointed as India’s next Ambassador to Bhutan

Sudhakar Dalela presently Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Washington, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan.

Dalela an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1993 batch has been appointed as the Ambassador of India to Bhutan.

He will succeed Ruchira Kamboj who has been appointed as India’s next Permanent Representative to the UN.

Dalela has also served as Director in the PM’s Office

Exp. FSIB recommended G Rajkiran Rai as NaBFID Managing Director

The newly created Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has recommended G Rajkiran Rai for the position of Managing Director at the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID).

Rai was appointed as the managing director & CEO of Union Bank of India on July 1, 2017, for a period of 3 years until June 30, 2020. He was then handed a two-year extension till his date of superannuation in May 2022.

NaBFID is a newly created development finance institution (DFI) that has been set up by the government to support the development of long-term non-recourse infrastructure financing, including the development of the bonds and derivatives markets necessary for infrastructure financing and to carry on the business of financing infrastructure.

Earlier this year, the Government had infused ₹ 20,000 crore into NaBFID.

Exp. British Parliament felicitated BCCI President Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly as the former India captain has felicitated by the British Parliament.

The Indian cricket legend was felicitated on the same date July 13 when he led India to Natwest final win in 2002 and exactly 20 years later on the same day he was honoured in the same city.

He was elected as the President of BCCI in 2019.

Exp. India topped ISSF Shooting World Cup 2022 medal tally

India topped the medal tally at the ongoing ISSF Shooting World Cup at Changwon in South Korea.

India finished the tournament with 8 medals including 3 gold, 4 silver & 1 bronze.

India has way ahead of hosts Korea and Serbia in the medal tally.

The troika of Arjun Babuta, Shahu Tushar Mane & Paarth Makhija helped India bag its third gold medal by beating Korea in the 10-metre air rifle team event.

Exp. Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar book titled The McMahon line

Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has released a book titled, ‘The McMahon line: A century of discord’.

This book is authored by former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and former Chief of Army Staff General JJ Singh (Retd).

The book is based on the experiences and research on the India-China border dispute.

The book had laid emphasis on politics, history, structure and geography of the McMahon line.

Recent Books

The Winning Formula for Success – Vinit Karnik

Fearless Governance – Dr Kiran Bedi

Bhartiya Samvidhan Ankani Kahani – Ram Bahadur Rai

The Life and Times of Georeg Fernandes – Rahul Ramgundan

The Struggle for Police Reforms in India: Ruler’s Police to People’s Police – Prakash Singh

A Place Called Home – Preeti Shenoy

Tomb of Sand – Geetanjali Shree

Listen to Your Heart: The London Adventure – Ruskin Bond

Shuttling to the Top: The Story of P.V. Sindhu – V. Krishnaswamy

Leaders, Politicians, Citizens – Rasheed Kidwa

Exp. 15 July – World Youth Skills Day

World Youth Skills Day is celebrated every year on July 15.

Objective – The sole purpose of this day is to provide essential skills to youngsters around the globe so that they can get employment.

In December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 15th July as World Youth Skills Day.

Theme 2022 – Transforming youth skills for the future

Exp. Former New Zealand cricket captain Barry Sinclair passed away

Former New Zealand cricket captain and batsman Barry Sinclair has passed away at the age of 85.

He was the third batsman from New Zealand after Bert Sutcliffe and John R Reid to score 1,000 runs in Test cricket.

He had played 21 Tests for New Zealand between 1963 – 1968, scored 1148 runs, including three centuries against South Africa, Pakistan and England.

Biography – In Pursuit of Excellence- The Barry Sinclair Story

Exp. Noted social worker, Avdhash Kaushal passed away

Noted social worker and Padma Shri awardee Avdhash Kaushal has passed away at 84.

He founded the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) for the development work among tribal hill communities in the areas of Jaunsar-Bawar (Dehradun district).

He led various initiatives including protecting the fragile eco-system of Doon valley, abolition of the bonded labour system in Jaunsar-Bawar area of Dehradun and securing the rights of marginalized communities.