CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS 24082022

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

 

24th August 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NATIONAL

BJP's Vijay Kumar Sinha named LoP in Bihar Assembly after resigning as Speaker

Senior BJP leader and former Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha was named as the Leader of the Opposition on Wednesday. Sinha resigned as the Speaker ahead of floor test on Wednesday morning. Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition was RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is now the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

 

Yamuna Expressway toll prices increased by up to ₹18.80 per km

Toll tariff on the Yamuna Expressway between Greater Noida and Agra has been increased between ₹2.60 and ₹18.80 per kilometre. Toll for car, jeep, van and light motor vehicles has been increased from ₹2.50 per kilometre to ₹2.65 per kilometre. It has been increased to ₹8.45 for bus or truck, while large size vehicles will be charged ₹18.80 per kilometre.

 

 

International News

Japan considers building new nuclear power plants

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday said a new generation of nuclear power plants could be built, signalling a shift in policy after the 2011 tsunami which destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant. The push for nuclear fuel comes as global energy supplies are under strain. Nuclear energy is expected to help Japan reach its carbon neutrality goal by 2050.

Chile govt revives efforts to pass bill aimed to reduce working hours

The Chilean government said on Tuesday that it has revived efforts to pass legislation that would reduce weekly working hours. The bill, which aims to reduce the working week from 45 hours to 40 hours, was first introduced in the country's Congress in 2017. Lawmakers will debate a series of changes to the bill made by President Gabriel Boric's government.

 

South Korea and the United States began their Largest Joint Military Drills

South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in years with a resumption of field training. This year, the annual summertime exercise has been renamed 'Ulchi Freedom Shield' and it is scheduled to end on 1st September 2022.  South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to normalize the combined exercises and boost deterrence against the North. South Korea has separately started or launched the four-day Ulchi Civil Defence Drills, which is specially designed to boost the government readiness for the first time after the Coronavirus pandemic occurred.

States News

Chhattisgarh government to set up 300 rural industrial parks in the state 

The Chhattisgarh government will set up rural industrial parks in the state. In the first year of the project, there will be 300 such parks. This move aimed to strengthen the rural economy and make the “gauthan” (cattle shed) a centre of livelihood.  The project will be launched on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2. The first such park in Chhattisgarh came up in Kulgaon, Kanker district, which has been named Gandhi Gram.  The district administration, along with women’s self-help groups, has developed the park.  The forest department has started a residential training centre, based on the value addition of minor forest produce. Chhattisgarh has set up 8,404 gauthans of the 10,624 sanctioned.

UP government to build India’s first education township

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to build an education township in the state. As per the Yogi Adityanath government, the education township will be developed on the idea of 'Single Entry, Multiple Exit'.  The move will provide high-quality education to the youth and equip them with a variety of professional skills in a single place. Besides, it will provide accommodation and many other facilities to both students and teachers.  The Government’s objective behind the education township is to provide high-quality education to the youth and equip them with a variety of professional skills in one place.

Appointments News

Odia scientist Debasisa Mohanty appointed as Director of NII

Odia scientist, Debasisa Mohanty was appointed as Director of the National Institute of Immunology (NII). He is currently working as a staff scientist at NII.  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment, with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post and up to the age of his superannuation.  The post fell vacant after Rajesh Verma, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, was appointed as Secretary to President Droupadi Murmu on August 18.

Rajesh Verma named as Secretary to President Droupadi Murmu 

Odisha cadre 1987-batch IAS officer, Rajesh Verma has been appointed as the Secretary to President Droupadi Murmu. He replaces the incumbent Kapil Dev Tripathi, a 1980-batch IAS officer.  He is currently serving as Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs & has also served as principal secretary to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik.  In the past, Verma has also served as the Principal Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Principal Secretary of Energy Department, Government of Odisha.

Vikram Doraiswami appointed to UK as India's High Commissioner 

Vikram K. Doraiswami, a seasoned diplomat appointed as India's new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom which is seen as a significant position given the two nations' expanding strategic alliance.  Vikram K. Doraiswami is Indian High Commissioner  to Bangladesh currently. He is an Indian Foreign Service officer from the 1992 batch.  At May 1994, Vikram K. Doraiswami was appointed Third Secretary in the Indian High Commission in Hong Kong after completing his in-service training in New Delhi between 1992 and 1993.

Agreements News

IREDA and MAHAPREIT sign an MoU to provide loans for green energy projects 

IREDA and MAHAPREIT sign an MoU: The Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology Ltd. (MAHAPREIT), a fully owned subsidiary of MPBCDC (49% owned by the Government of India and 51% owned by the Government of Maharashtra), and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) signed a memorandum of understanding.  The Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of IREDA, Shri Pradip Kumar Das, and the CMD of MAHAPREIT, Shri Bipin Shrimali, both signed the MoU.  As part of this partnership, IREDA will also do techno-financial due diligence on MAHAPREIT's initiatives involving renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation.

BUSINESS, BANKING AND ECONOMY News

Govt, LIC consider selling 51% stake of IDBI Bank: Reports

The central government and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), who together own about 94% of IDBI Bank's shares, are considering selling at least 51% of the bank's stake, according to reports. At the existing market capitalisation, 51% stake in IDBI Bank amounts to ₹22,017 crore. The government is also likely to keep some shares of the bank after the sale.

American Express allowed to on-board new card customers in India as RBI lifts ban

American Express Banking Corp has been permitted to on-board new card customers in India as the RBI lifted the business restrictions. RBI had imposed the restrictions on American Express last year for non-compliance with the RBI circular dated April 6, 2018 on Storage of Payment System Data. The ban has now been lifted due to "satisfactory compliancy", the RBI said.

TVS Motor buys 48% stake in Narain Karthikeyan’s startup DriveX

Two and three-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor has invested in former Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan's startup to acquire 48.27% stake. TVS has invested over ₹85 crore in DriveX (NKars Mobility Millennial Solutions Private Limited), a pre-owned two-wheeler platform. DriveX was founded in April 2020 and began as a two-wheeler subscription platform, and has since spread to five cities.

 Government extends tenure of UCO Bank's MD, CEO for 2 years

State-owned UCO Bank on Saturday said the government has extended the term of its MD and CEO Atul Kumar Goel for two years.

The central government, through a notification dated August 26, extended the term of office of Atul Kumar Goel as UCO Bank's managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO), for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

Goel's current term was to expire on November 1, 2022.

On Friday, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Maharashtra had also informed about extensions given to their MD & CEOs.

The government has also extended the terms of two executive directors each in Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India, and one executive director of Central Bank of India.

Bandhan Bank to open 551 branches in FY'23: MD Chandra Sekhar Ghosh

Ghosh also said Bandhan Bank will continue to expand its product portfolio, having recently added mutual funds to the lender's list of offerings.

Bandhan Bank will open 551 more branches in the 2022-23 fiscal, as a part of the lender's focus to make its distribution stronger in other parts of India outside the eastern region, MD & CEO Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.

With the latest addition, the Kolkata-headquartered bank's branch count will exceed 6,000, he said.

"India is a huge country and just one Bandhan Bank of the scale at which we are right now is not enough. So, we have to scale up even further and even faster.

"Majority of these (new branches) will be outside of east India, where we are already very strong in penetration. Bolstering our distribution in other parts of the country is a key focus for us," Ghosh said here at the seventh anniversary celebrations of Bandhan Bank on Monday night.

Irdai eases firm registration process from 8 to 2 months: Chairman

The registration process of new companies has been eased by substantially reducing the time taken to process new applications from 6-8 months to two, Debasish Panda, chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said on Wednesday.

The regulator has created a facilitation cell consisting of two officers for handholding the applicants so that the entity gets its approval to start its operations. “We have put up a guidance document to make it easier for new applicant so that there is room for an additional query,” Panda said speaking at a CII event.

This is one among the many steps taken by the regulator to promote ease of doing business in the insurance sector. Panda is of the opinion that the insurance is no longer at a nascent stage and therefore it was time to give the player more flexibility and freedom to operate.

Govt to provide bulk of Rs 15,000 cr capital support to weak PS  banks

Weak public sector lenders like Central Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank will get the lion's share of the Rs 15,000 crore earmarked for capital infusion in state-owned banks for the current fiscal

This will help these public sector banks (PSBs) meet regulatory requirements.

The capital infusion of Rs 15,000 crore would go mostly to banks which had got money through non-interest-bearing bonds in the previous year as the RBI had raised some concerns on the fair valuation of these instruments, sources said.

Castler tie-up with Yes Bank for digital escrow services

Global escrow banking solution provider, Castler has partnered with Yes Bank to offer digital escrow services for the bank’s customers.  The firm is a global digital escrow platform for individuals and enterprises, offering domestic and cross-border escrow solutions.  Through this partnership, both are in pole position to dominate the Enterprise Escrow Banking space and digitally democratise the product for easy adoption amongst its varied customer base.  Escrow banking is generally quite complex and Castler with its unique digital offering has demonstrated that technology and innovation can provide solutions to even the most complex requirements.

HPCL starts its first cow dung-based compressed biogas project

HPCL Compressed Biogas Project: HPCL's uses first of its kind Waste-to-Energy portfolio, uses 100 tonnes of dung per day to make biogas, which may be used as vehicle fuel. In a year, the HPCL Compressed Biogas Project project is expected to be put into operation.  The GOBAR-Dhan plan, announced by the Indian government in April 2018 as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission's (Grameen) Biodegradable Waste Management component, is the framework under which the HPCL Compressed Biogas Project initiative is being developed.

Adani group targets 55.18% stake in NDTV 

Adani Group founder, Gautam Adani has set the ball rolling to acquire a controlling stake of 55.18% in New Delhi Television (NDTV).  With a concept to carry 55.18 per cent stake in NDTV, the Adani group has issued an open provide for a 26 per cent stake within the information channel at Rs 294 for a share with a face worth of Rs 4.  The complete outlay for 26 per cent, or 16,762,530 totally paid up fairness shares of NDTV – if the provide is accepted in full – will likely be about Rs 483 crore for the Adani group.

Summits and Conferences News

23rd Central Zonal Council meeting presided over by Amit Shah in Bhopal

23rd Central Zonal Council Meeting: Union Home Minister Amit Shah led the 23rd Central Zonal Council Meeting in Bhopal. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, and Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, attended the meeting.  Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, participated virtually due to poor weather.  The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah addressed the people and stated that the government is solely focused on addressing the issue of left wing extremism in the Naxalite-affected regions included in the Central Zonal Council.

Awards News

BW Businessworld Awards Edutech 2022: Check the complete list of Winners

BW Edutech Summit & Awards 2022: It is India's biggest gathering of Edutech stakeholders. The initiative calls out all of the edtech founders, institutional leaders, schooling publishers, and educators to take part and make a mark in the way forward for schooling know-how.  Rewarding the excellence of edtech in India, in a day lengthy programme named ‘Transformation In Training By way of Know-how & Skilling’. The winners were felicitated by Dr Annurag Batra, Vinesh Menon and Harsh Wardhan.

Defence News

DRDO And Indian Navy Test Indigenous VL-SRSAM Missile

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy successfully flight-tested the indigenously designed and developed Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.  The flight test was carried out from a naval ship against a high-speed unmanned aerial target for demonstration of vertical launch capability.  During the test launch, flight path and vehicle performance parameters were monitored using flight data, captured by various range instruments such as radar, electro-optical tracking system (EOTS) and telemetry systems deployed by ITR in Chandipur.

Important Days

World Gujarati Language Day 2022: 24 August

World Gujarati Language Day 2022 is celebrated every year on 24 August. This day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of the great writer of Gujarat ‘Veer Narmad’.  ‘Gujarati Diwas’ is celebrated because the poet Narmad was considered to be the creator of the Gujarati language. He has made Gujarati literature international.  Poet Veer Narmad was born on August 24, 1833 in Surat, Gujarat. He was from a Brahmin family. His full name was Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave. Narmad wrote his first poem in 22 years.

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