Daily Current Affairs 29th June, 2021

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

NATIONAL NEWS

FM Sitharaman’s Announces Relief Package Worth Rs 6,28,993 Crore Against COVID-19
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced eight relief measures worth Rs 6,28,993 crore to help revival of the economy battered by Covid-19.

• The Centre has announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore of additional credit for small and medium businesses, more funds for the healthcare sector, loans to tourism agencies and guides, and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists as part of a package to support the pandemic-hit economy.
• Together with previously announced Rs 93,869 crore spending on providing free foodgrains to the poor till November and additional Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy, the stimulus package — mostly made up of government guarantee to banks and microfinance institutions for loans they extend to Covid-hit sectors — totalled up to Rs 6.29 lakh crore.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ashgabat World’s Most Expensive City For Foreign Workers
Turkmenistan’s capital city Ashgabat has become the world’s most expensive city for foreign workers, according to this year’s Mercer Cost of Living Survey. Hong Kong was on the second position, followed by Beirut in Lebanon and Tokyo in Japan.

• The annual report has ranked 209 cities across five continents by measuring the comparative cost of more than 200 items, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. The survey used New York City, ranked 14 on the list, as the base city and currency movements were measured against the US dollar.
• List of top 10 expensive cities mostly features global financial hubs like Hong Kong, which was the priciest last year, Tokyo, Shanghai, Zurich and Singapore.
• Mumbai remains India’s most expensive city at 78th rank but has dropped 18 places in this year’s ranking “due to a relatively weak Indian rupee in comparison with other cities in the ranking.” Other Indian cities on the list are New Delhi (117), Chennai (158), Bengaluru (170), and Kolkata (181).

Ukraine And U.S. Launch “Sea Breeze Drills”
Ukraine and the United States launched joint naval exercises “Sea Breeze Drills”
 in the Black Sea in a show of Western cooperation with Kiev as it faces off with Russia.

• The drills come just days after the British Royal Navy’s HMS Defender passed near Russian-annexed Crimea in the Black Sea, with Moscow saying it fired warning shots at the destroyer to ward it off.
• The Sea Breeze drills — which have taken place 21 times since 1997 — will involve some 5,000 military personnel from more than 30 countries.

BANKING & FINANCE

Mastercard partners with Instamojo to help MSMEs, gig workers
Mastercard has announced a strategic equity investment in Instamojo, India’s largest full-stack digital solutions provider for MSMEs.

• This investment is aimed at empowering millions of MSMEs and gig workers by providing easy to use solutions that will help them to rapidly digitise such as setting up online stores, equip with digital payment acceptance capabilities and reach out to customers, even during the pandemic.

AMNS India executes paperless bill discounting transaction with ICICI Bank
Gujarat-based ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India said it has executed India’s very first “paperless bill discounting transaction” in partnership with ICICI Bank.

• The transaction, end-to-end electronic in nature, comprising digital issuance of letter of credit (LC), advisory and presentation of documents, took place among AMNS India, its customer, and ICICI Bank.
• ICICI Bank’s branch in Baroda issued the LC to the buyer, Vijay Tanks, while its Hazira, Surat-based branch negotiated on behalf of the seller, AMNS India.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

NTPC sets target to install 60 GW renewable energy capacity by 2032
India’s largest power producer NTPC has set a target to install 60 GW (gigawatts) of renewable energy capacity as part of the plan to reduce by 10% its net energy intensity by 2032.

• In addition, the coal-burning behemoth has declared that it will form at least two international alliances/groups to facilitate clean energy research and promote sustainability in the energy value chain by 2025.
• These commitments make NTPC the first company in India’s energy domain to declare its Energy Compact goals as part of UN High-level Dialogue on Energy.

SPORTS

Max Verstappen Wins 2021 Styrian Grand Prix 
Red Bull Racing superstar Max Verstappen extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton in the driver’s championship to 18 points by winning the Styrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

•  The win is Verstappen’s fourth of the 2021 Formula One season and second in succession after last weekend’s French Grand Prix.

APPOINTMENTS

Twitter Appoints California-Based Jeremy Kessel As India Grievance Officer
Twitter appointed California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new Grievance Officer for India, as required under the new Information Technology Rules, 2021, hours after Dharmendra Chatur quit from the post, Bar and Bench reported.

• His appointment, however, is not seen to be in line with new IT rules guidelines, which mandate that the grievance redressal officer should be a resident of India.

Praveen Sinha Appointed As Special Director Of CBI 
CBI Additional Director Praveen Sinha has been appointed as Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation, a post earlier held by Rakesh Asthana. 

• A Gujarat-cadre IPS officer of 1988 batch, Sinha has served in the agency as superintendent of police, deputy inspector general, joint director and additional director in two stints between 2000 and 2021.

WhatsApp Appoints Manesh Mahatme As Head Of Payments In India
WhatsApp has appointed former Amazon executive Manesh Mahatme to head its newly launched payment service in the country.

• As director, WhatsApp Payments-India, Mahatme will focus on “enhancing the payments experience for users, scaling the service offering and work towards contributing to WhatsApp’s vision of digital and financial inclusion in India.

Swedish PM Stefan Lofven Resigns Following No Confidence Vote
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven resigned, one week after he lost a vote of no confidence, leaving it up to the speaker of parliament to begin the search for a replacement

• The 63-year-old Lofven is the first Swedish government leader to be defeated by a no-confidence vote. He was serving as the prime minister of Sweden since 2014 and then hung on by moving his party closer to the centre right after the 2018 elections.

Attorney General KK Venugopal’s term extended by one year
The government has extended the tenure of Attorney General K.K. Venugopal by a year.

• Mr. Venugopal will continue as the government’s top law officer till June 30, 2022. 
• This is the second time the Centre has extended his tenure. Mr. Venugopal, who was appointed Attorney General in July 2017, received his first extension of term in 2020.

AWARDS

RK Sabharwal Gets Highest Civilian Award Of Mongolia
RK Sabharwal, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Engineers India Limited (EIL), has been honoured with the highest civilian award of Mongolia ‘The Order of Polar Star’.

• Sabharwal was bestowed with the honour by His Excellency, the President of Mongolia, Ukhnaa Khurelsukh for an outstanding contribution towards the establishment of the first-ever oil refinery in Mongolia.

French Non-Fiction Author Emmanuel Carrere Wins Top Spanish Award
French author Emmanuel Carrere, popular for his non-fiction books in a high literary vein, has been granted this year’s Spanish Princess of Asturias Literature Award.

• The award is one of the eight prestigious prizes by the foundation named after the heir to the Spanish throne, Princess Leonor.
• The 50,000-euro award is handed out annually during a lavish ceremony, normally in October, by the Princess of Asturias Foundation, which is presided over by Princess Leonor’s father, King Felipe VI.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DRDO Successfully Flight-Tests ‘Agni P’ Ballistic Missile Off Odisha Coast
In another boost to India’s firepower, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out the test-firing of a new missile of the Agni series known as Agni-Prime off the coast of Odisha from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island .

• Agni P is an advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles and is a canisterised missile with a range capability between 1000km and 2000km.
• The ballistic missile weighs 50% less than Agni 3 and has new guidance and a new generation of propulsion. Since the missile is canisterised, it can be launched from rail and road and stored for a longer period and transported all across the country as per operational requirements.

ENVIRONMENT

Thiruvananthapuram’s wasteland yields a new plant species
A subshrub spotted on the roadsides and wastelands in Thiruvananthapuram district has been identified as a new species of the genus Sida, to which the Kurumthotti, used in Ayurveda, also belongs.

• Named Sida keralensis, the plant was spotted during a floristic survey at Maruthur in the district. A subsequent search helped confirm the presence of the plant, which belongs to the family Malvaceae, in nearby areas such as Vattapara as well.
• Its discovery has taken the number of species in the genus Sida endemic to India from six to seven.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

A Book Titled “Fiercely Female: The Dutee Chand Story” By Sundeep Mishra
Journalist Sundeep Mishra’s book titled ‘Fiercely Female: The Dutee Chand Story’ has been released recently. The book was published by Westland Books.

• The book ‘Fiercely Female: The Dutee Chand Story’ chronicles Chand’s journey with a detailed narrative of the gender-identity controversy that made her an iconic figure in Indian sport.

Chief Justice Of India Releases Book On Evolving Legal System
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana released a book  “Anomalies in Law and Justice” by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retd) R V Raveendran, explaining in simple terms various deficiencies in the law which needs to be overcome.

• The book was an attempt to explain to a common man that the law and the legal system is still evolving and it requires more critical thinking to resolve issues that have persisted for a long time

U.S. President’s sister Valerie Biden Owens to pen memoir ‘Growing Up Biden’
US President Joe Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens has signed a book deal with Celadon Books to pen a memoir ‘Growing Up Biden’.

• Owens’ ‘Growing Up Biden’ will be released on April 12, 2022.
• In the memoir, Valerie is expected to share about her childhood as the only girl among four siblings, how her equation with her elder brother evolved over the years and her “trailblazing, decades-long professional relationship” with Biden.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Allergy Week 2021 
The World Allergy Week 2021 observed from 13-19 June 2021 and will focus on the topic of “Anaphylaxis“.

• The objective of World Allergy Week, is to raising awareness of anaphylaxis triggers, identification, treatment, and prevention.

National Insurance day 
National Insurance Awareness Day on June 28 is meant as a reminder for individuals, families and businesses to review their insurance policies and take steps to prevent being underinsured.

National Statistics Day 
National Statistics Day is celebrated on June 29 on the birth anniversary of late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

• The day is dedicated to statistics in daily life and creating awareness among people on how statistics helps in framing policies.
• End Hunger, Achieve Food Security and Improved Nutrition and Promote Sustainable Agriculture (Sustainable Developent Goal or SDG 2 of the UN) is the theme of this year’s National Statistics Day.

International Day Of The Tropics
The International Day of the Tropics is observed on June 29, every year to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of the tropics while highlighting unique challenges and opportunities nations of the Tropics face.

• International Day of the Tropics theme this year, as per the ‘State of the Tropics Report 2021’ is The Digital Divide in the Tropics

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