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CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

 20th June 2022

 

NATIONAL NEWS

 

Appointment of new chief justices to five high courts approved 

The appointment of new chief justices to five high courts has been approved by the government. The appointment for Uttarakhand, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gauhati has been announced by the Ministry of Law and Justice.  The Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court will be Justice Vipin Sanghi of the Delhi High Court, while the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court will be Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Telangana High Court.  The Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court will be Justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed of the Bombay High Court, while the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court will be Justice Shinde Sambhaji Shiwaji of the Bombay High Court.  The Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court has been named Justice Rashmin M Chhaya of the Gujarat High Court. Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, has been appointed to the Delhi High Court, according to the Ministry.

 

 

Gujarat: PM inaugurates the renovated Shree Kalika Mata temple 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the renovated Shree Kalika Mata temple at Pavagadh Hill in Gujarat's Panchmahal district. At the temple, he also conducted Puja with customary customs. A 'Dhwaja' was raised at full mast atop the shrine by Mr. Modi.  This majestic Mahakali temple's sanctum sanctorum is composed of gold. It is one of the region's oldest temples and draws a huge number of pilgrims.  The Prime Minister told the crowd that this temple also represents Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas.  The Prime Minister thanked God for his good fortune in being able to visit the temple.

 

 

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates National Yoga Olympiad 2022 

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated National Yoga Olympiad 2022 and quiz competition in New Delhi.  The National Yoga Olympiad is being organised jointly by the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training.  This year about six hundred students from 26 states and UTs and Demonstration Multipurpose Schools of Regional Institutions of Education will be participating in the forthcoming National Yoga Olympiad.

Purana Qila, New Delhi: Ministry of Culture and ASI hosts 'Yoga Mahotsa' 

Yoga Mahotsav was organised by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Purana Qila in the national capital. The event was held as part of the celebrations for the International Day of Yoga 2022.  According to the Ministry of Culture, the purpose of the event was to instil the everlasting value of cultural wellbeing among the people.  The event drew around 500 participants, including officials from the Union Culture Ministry and foreign representatives from over 40 nations.  The event began with the Saraswati Vandana being recited, followed by a yoga session led by instructors from the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga.

International News

'Fujian,' China's third most advanced domestically built aircraft carrier launched 

China launched its third aircraft carrier, the country's most modern and first "completely domestically made" naval warship, as an aggressive Beijing pushed to expand its navy's range in the key Indo-Pacific area.  The 'Fujian' aircraft carrier was launched at a brief ceremony at Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard, according to official media reports from the eastern metropolis.  According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Fujian is China's first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.  Due to the COVID lockdown of Shanghai, the ship's launch was delayed by two months. It was supposed to be launched on April 23, around the time of the People's Liberation Army Navy's 73rd anniversary (PLAN).

Pakistan remains in FATF ‘grey list’ for terror financing, money laundering 

Pakistan will continue to be on the "Grey List" of countries under increased monitoring of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), from the global money-laundering and terror-financing watchdog.  Pakistan has been on the grey list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019.

Banking, Business and Economy  News

IDBI Bank to sell Great Indian Tamasha Company's assets to recover dues

IDBI Bank has put properties of the Great Indian Tamasha Company (GITC) on sale for non-payment of dues on loans it took from three banks. The immovable properties, which will be sold through e-auction next month, are located in Karnataka's Kodagu. GITC owes ₹86.48 crore to IDBI Bank, ₹6.26 crore to HDFC Bank and ₹49.23 crore to Bank of Baroda.

 

Non-banks cannot load credit lines into prepaid payment instruments: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a clarification saying that non-bank prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as wallets and prepaid cards, cannot load credit lines into these instruments. "Such practice, if followed, should be stopped immediately," the RBI said in a notification. According to reports, the RBI has sent the notification to non-bank PPI issuers, including fintech startups.

 

RBI's 'Payments Vision 2025' aims for a three-fold increase in digital payments 

The Reserve Bank's Payments Vision 2025 plan, which wants to triple the volume of digital payments, is progressive, according to industry players, and intends to build India as a worldwide payments powerhouse.  In light of rising geopolitical threats, the RBI released its Payments Vision 2025 document, which discusses ring-fencing domestic payment networks, as well as the necessity to enforce domestic processing of payment transactions.

Equitas Small Finance Bank set to launch "ENJOI" kid's savings account

Equitas Small Finance Bank is set to launch kids’ savings account called ENJOI, on Father’s Day. The SFB announced that this account introduces "young kids" to the financial world, encouraging them to develop an early habit of saving.  ENJOI will allow kids of 0-18 years to open savings accounts under the supervision of their parents. Minors aged 10 and above will also get the option for a personalised debit card.  To promote higher growth in savings, the account will offer 7 per cent interest for savings balances between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Upon written consent from parents, minors aged 10 and above can also avail of self-operating accounts with limited transaction limits.

 

Fitch upgrades 9 Indian Banks' IDRs to Stable

Fitch Ratings upgraded nine Indian institutions, including SBI, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank, from negative to stable. Bank of Baroda (BOB), Bank of Baroda (New Zealand) Ltd, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), and Union Bank of India are among the other institutions to get a upgrade.  Fitch Ratings has upgraded 9 India-based banks' Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Stable from Negative, while upholding their IDRs.

Ranks and Reports News

Hamad International Airport named World’s Best Airport 2022 

Qatar's Hamad International Airport has been named the World’s Best Airport for the second year running. The announcement took place at the Skytrax 2022 World Airport Awards, held at Passenger Terminal EXPO in Paris, France.  Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) was named the finest regional airport in India and South Asia. Customers voted for the airport with the greatest customer service every year in a global study, and BLR Airport received this honour.

TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC featured among the top 100 global biggest brands

As per Kantar Brandz, 2022 ‘Most Valuable Global Brands report’, 4 Indian companies namely, Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), HDFC Bank, Infosys and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) were featured among the top 100 global biggest brands.  Apple retains its 1st position to become the first trillion-dollar brand with a brand value of USD 947.1 billion followed by Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

Sports News

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra wins gold at Kuortane Games in Finland 

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra clinched his first top podium finish of the season by winning the javelin throw event at the Kuortane Games in Finland, beating reigning world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.  The 24-year-old Chopra's opening throw of 86.69m turned out to be the winning distance. Trinidad and Tobago's 2012 Olympics champion Keshorn Walcott was second with a first round throw of 86.64m. Peters was third with a best throw of 84.75m, which also came in the opening round.

PM Modi launches torch relay for 44th Chess Olympiad 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the historic torch relay for the 44th Chess Olympiad at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.  This year, for the very first time, International Chess Federation, FIDE, has instituted the Chess Olympiad Torch, a part of the Olympic tradition. India is the first country to have the Chess Olympiad Torch Relay.  FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich handed over the torch to Prime Minister, who in turn handed it over to Grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand.

Neeraj Chopra to lead 37-member athletics team for CWG 2022 

Neeraj Chopra will be leading a 37-member Indian athletics team at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the Athletics Federation of India announced.  The Tokyo Olympics gold medallist will be the flag bearer in Birmingham as star sprinters like Hima Das and Dutee Chand booked their berth for the Games that will be held from July 28 - August 8.  The selection committee picked up all the expected athletes for CWG with zero surprises. Out of 37 members, 18 are women. The star sprinters Hima Das and Dutee Chand reserved their berths in the women’s 4x100m relay team. The selectors also named a men’s 4x400m relay team. Amoj Jacob has been selected for the men’s 4x400m relay team.

FIFA announces 2026 World Cup venues across U.S., Canada and Mexico

Matches for the 2026 World Cup will be held in 11 US cities as well as three host sites in Mexico and two in Canada, soccer's world governing body, FIFA, announced.  The 16 host cities will be: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

Books and Authors News

PM releases Ram Bahadur Rai’s book ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Ram Bahadur Rai’s book ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’.  Prime Minister noted Shri Ram Bahadur Rai’s life-long quest for searching for new ideas and desire to bring something new before the society. He expressed the hope that the book that was released today will present the Constitution in a comprehensive manner.

Important Days

World Refugee Day 2022 observed on 20 June 

World Refugee Day is celebrated every year on 20 June. World Refugee Day was designated as an International Day by the UN (United Nations). The day is being celebrated to honour the refugees around the world.  While the theme of World Refugee Day 2022 has not been rolled out, last year it was “Together we heal, learn and shine.”  The United Nations General Assembly had decided on the date - June 20 to observe World Refugee Day, while adopting Resolution 55/76, on December 4, 2000. For the first time in history, on June 20, 2001, World Refugee Day was celebrated.

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