Daily Current Affairs 29th August, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 29 August 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Punjab to launch ‘Mera Kaam Mera Maan’ scheme to help unemployed youth soon
The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh gave the go-ahead to an innovative new scheme ‘Mera Kaam Mera Maan’ (MKMM), to facilitate the unemployed youth, enhancing their skills and employability in their chosen field.

• Chief Minister’s Office, the scheme provides an employment assistance allowance of Rs 2500 per month for a period of 12 months from the start of the training course under the short-term skill training programmes in the Punjab Skill Development Mission training centers.
• The Cabinet decided to roll out the scheme from the current fiscal on a pilot basis with a target of 30000 beneficiaries at a cost of Rs 90 crore.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indian scientists partner with BRICS to set up Genomic Surveillance Network
The Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology is implementing the SARS-CoV-2 NGS-BRICS consortium and multicentric programme to study the impact of severe Covid-19 conditions on TB patients in collaboration with the BRICS countries.

• The SARS-CoV-2 NGS-BRICS consortium is an interdisciplinary collaboration to advance Covid-19 health-relevant knowledge and to contribute to improvements in health outcomes.
• The consortium will accelerate the translation of genomic data, leading to clinical and public health research and interventions from clinical and surveillance samples by utilising the high-end genomic technologies, and epidemiologic and bioinformatics tools for future use in diagnostic assays and tracking transmission dynamics of Covid-19 and other viruses

Smriti Irani addresses 1st ever G20 ministerial conference on women’s empowerment
The Union Minister of Women & Child Development, Smriti Irani addressed the First ever G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment which was held at Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy in a hybrid format.

• During the conference, union minister highlighted India’s commitment of addressing gender and women centric issues by means of mutual cooperation.
• She also joined the Gender Equality Ministers of the G20 for the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women through cooperation and coordination at all the relevant fora.

China, Pakistan, Thailand, Mongolia to hold military exercise
The militaries of China, Pakistan, Mongolia and Thailand will take part in a multinational peacekeeping exercise to be organised by the People’s Liberation Army in the country’s central Henan province next month, a senior official said.

• The four countries will take part in the first multinational peacekeeping live exercise “Shared Destiny-2021” at the combined-arms tactical training base of the PLA in Henan’s Queshan county from September 6 to 15. 
• All the four countries will dispatch more than 1,000 troops to participate in the drills, involving units of infantry, fast response, security, helicopter, engineering, transportation and medical services.

BANKING & FINANCE

Jana SFB ties up with two co-op banks to offer digital, payment services
Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB) will provide its digital infrastructure and payments services to HCBL Co-operative Bank and Mysore Merchants Co-operative Bank under the bank sponsorship programme.

• Under the bank sponsorship programme, the RBI has permitted Core Banking Solution (CBS) enabled co-operative banks to issue ATM cards or ATM-cum debit cards to its customers in association with the sponsor bank.
• With this tie-up, HCBL Co-operative Bank and Mysore Merchants Co-operative Bank will be able to extend ATM, point of sale (PoS) and e-commerce services to its customers.

IIM Ahmedabad, Bank of America partner to set up CDT
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), the global management institution, has partnered with Bank of America to launch a Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT).

• The Centre aspires to become a vibrant knowledge hub for academia, policymaking, and the private sector by facilitating cutting-edge research on digital transformation and innovation.
• The Centre has also launched an advisory Council on Responsible Digital Transformation. The council will play a critical role in enhancing core competencies of the Centre and help guide the projects, a statement from IIM Ahmedabad said.

Decimal Technologies partners with Ujjivan Small Finance Bank to digitise loan process
Fintech firm Decimal Technologies, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (USFB) Limited, a mass market bank, has entered into a partnership through which Ujjivan SFB and its channel partners will use Decimal’s digital lending platform – Saarathi.

•  This collaboration will enable the Bank to digitize loan sourcing through its sales force as well as Direct Selling Agents (DSAs). This is part of the Bank’s strategy to strengthen its digital infrastructure which has been on one of it’ s key focus areas.
• Saarathi can be used by bank’s sales channels to source loan files digitally. Unlike any digitisation project, Saarathi requires no upfront capital investment and significantly reduces the time-to-market by 95 percent (i.e. from 6-9 months to one week).

Karnataka Bank launches KBL FASTag for seamless toll deduction
Karnataka Bank launched KBL FASTag for seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas by facilitating automatic deduction of the toll amount.

• Karnataka Bank launched its KBL FASTag, a pre-loaded payment instrument to facilitate seamless movement of vehicles at the toll plazas across India, in association with NPCI and Worldline, the FASTag processor.
• The FASTag facilitates the users with the ease and convenience during transit through the toll plaza by saving time, fuel and money.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Google launches kids safety programme in India
Tech leader Google has launched a programme in partnership with comic book publisher Amar Chitra Katha to inculcate safe internet practices in children. 

• The lessons – intended to make the internet a safer place for children – will be available in eight Indian languages under the ‘Be Internet Awesome’ programme launched.
• On the overall safety and security of users online, Google said it employs over 20,000 people across the world in global trust and safety operations and that it was committed to expanding the team significantly.

SPORTS

Indian Grandmaster GM Sethuraman wins Barcelona Open
Indian Grandmaster SP Sethuraman won the Barcelona Open chess tournament title in Barcelona while compatriot Karthikeyan Murali finished third in the tournament.

• Sethuraman (Elo 2644) collected 7.5 points from nine rounds to emerge the winner on the basis of a better tie-break score after Daniil Yuffa of Russia also finished level with the Indian player.

APPOINTMENTS

Reserve Bank of India appoints 3 executive directors
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has promoted three new officials to the post of executive directors (EDs), the central bank said in an internal circular.

• According to this circular issued by RBI’s human resources department, Ajay Kumar, A.K. Choudhary and Deepak Kumar are the three officers in Grade F who have been promoted as executive directors for the year 2021-22.
• Before being promoted to the new post, Ajay Kumar was heading New Delhi regional office of RBI as regional director.
• Choudhary was the chief general manager-in-charge of department of supervision in Mumbai and Deepak Kumar was the chief general manager in charge of department of information technology at RBI.

OBITUARIES

Padma Shri awardee agriculture scientist BV Nimbkar passes away 
Noted agricultural scientist and recipient of Padma Shri award, B.V. Nimbkar, died at Phaltan in Maharashtra’s Satara district due to his age-related ailments, sources close to his family said. He was 90.

• Born in 1931, Nimbkar was the founder of Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and worked in the research and development of animal husbandry and agriculture.
• He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2006 for his contribution in the field of agriculture. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj award.

BOOKS & AUTHORS 

‘An Invitation to Die: A Colonel Acharya Mystery’ book by Tanushree Podder
The book titled ‘An Invitation to Die: A Colonel Acharya Mystery’ book written by Tanushree Podder has been released recently.

• The book begins with a simple mystery – elderly widow Violet William’s van goes missing after her granddaughter Pia forgets to lock the door when using it to cater for a wedding reception. But this is Ramsar, and soon, a simple case turns sinister when ASP Timothy Thapa finally finds the missing van, and promptly discovers a dead body inside it.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Women’s Equality Day 
August 26 is celebrated every year as Women’s Equality Day in the US.

• It was first observed in 1971 to commemorate the event of the 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment to the US constitution which granted American women the constitutional right to vote.
•  Women’s Equality Day is an attempt to eradicate gender discrimination and ensure equal opportunities for women in every walks of life.

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