Daily Current Affairs 7th July, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 7 July 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Govt to Release Commemorative Stamp in Honour of Ex-PM Narasimha Rao: Union Minister
A commemorative stamp would be released soon by the Centre in honour of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao on his 100th birth anniversary, said by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy.

• PV Narasimha Rao served as the ninth Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996.
• He is revered as the ‘Father of Indian Economic Reforms.’

Fever Network launches ‘Happiness Partner’ initiative to help SMEs amid pandemic
Fever Network, the country’s leading radio network and house to the most popular radio stations, Fever FM, Radio Nasha and Radio One is now live with its latest campaign – ‘Your Happiness Partner’. 

•  The initiative aims to support the pandemic-affected small and medium enterprises and help them bounce back faster with the right promotion plan, targeting the right audience.

Govt sanctions Rs 4,000 cr under Atmanirbhar programme to improve infrastructure for Food Parks in K’taka
Karnataka Agriculture Minister B C Patil informed that Central Government has sanctioned 4,000 crore rupees under Atmanirbhar programme to improve infrastructure for the Food Parks in the state.

• Infrastructure will be improved in four Food Parks developed in the state and plans will be afoot to set up more.
• Agri start-ups will be encouraged in the state to set up units in the Food Parks. Malur, Bagalkote, Hiriyuru and Jewargi have Food Parks. Food Karnataka Limited is a special purpose vehicle appointed to manage these parks.

All India Radio to broadcast its first ever news magazine programme in Sanskrit 
In keeping with its spirit to give a fillip to Indian languages, All India Radio broadcasted its first ever news magazine programme in Sanskrit.

• The programme titled, ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’ of 20 minutes duration and can be heard at 7.10 A.M. on All India Radio FM News Channel,100.1 MHz frequency every Saturday with a repeat broadcast on Sundays.

Housing & Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches Swachh Survekshan 2021
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Hardeep Singh Puri, launched the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan 2021, the sixth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India conducted by MoHUA.

• He was also the launch of the integrated SBM-Urban MIS portal. The portal is an effort by the Ministry to bring the numerous digital initiatives on a single platform thus ensuring a unified and hassle-free experience for States and cities and leading the way towards the creation of not just a Swachh but a truly digital India.
• Puri announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional sub- categories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each. In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’,

Private players to begin rail passenger services by April 2023 
Private players will begin rail passenger services by April 2023, and they will run only five per cent of the Railways’ total mail and express trains.

• The rest of the 95 per cent of the trains in India will be operated by Railways.
• All the train sets and coaches will be procured under this project will be as par Make in India policy

Jharkhand launches immunization drive for 44K kids of migrant workers
The Jharkhand health department has launched a major campaign to immunize the deprived children. 

• The Jharkhand Health Department identified the children during an intensive door-to-door survey. The children between age group of zero to five who stayed with their parents at workplace in different states were deprived of immunization due to ignorance or time crunch due to work pres. sure
• A senior official in the state health department, who monitors immunization said they have set a target to immunize 8.30 lakh children between the age group of zero to five this year.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath launches piped water project ”Har Ghar Jal” for Bundelkhand region
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath launched the ambitious piped water project  ”Har Ghar Jal” that means water to every house for Bundelkhand region.

• The 12  projects for which the foundation stone was laid by the Chief Minister in Jhansi are part of the ”Jal Jeevan Mission” Har Ghar Jal, started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

TN CM orders Rs 3,000 stipend for junior lawyers
Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami announced a monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 to newly enrolled junior lawyers for two years to help them overcome financial difficulties in pursuit of their profession.

• The announcement fulfills a long pending demand of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• Expressing concern over the plight of the newly enrolled junior lawyers, Palaniswami said many young advocates could not realise their ambition due to lack of income during their initial years of practise.

Govt launches PM FME scheme to help micro food processing enterprises
The government launched a Rs 10,000 crore scheme for micro enterprises which offers 50% subsidy for storage and transportation to prevent distress sale by farmers.

• The scheme, called Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (PM FME), aims to bring in new technology, apart from affordable credit to help small entrepreneurs penetrate new markets.
• The scheme will be implemented for five years until 2024-25. It will generate investment of Rs 35,000 core, generate 900,000 jobs and help 800,000 units.

COVID-19 War Room to be set up in Delhi to check the spread of virus
The Delhi government will set up a ‘COVID-19 War Room’, which will 24×7 monitor the city’s fight against the novel coronavirus, and suggest measures to effectively deal with the prevailing situation.

• The ‘COVID-19 War Room’, which is being set up at the Delhi Secretariat, will be manned by around 25 experts. It is expected to become operational in the next few days

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Germany to become first major economy to phase out coal, nuclear power
German lawmakers have finalized the country’s long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn’t ambitious enough and free marketeers criticise as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

• Bills approved by both houses of parliament envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some 40 billion euros ($45 billion) to help affected regions cope with the transition.
• The plan is part of Germany’s ‘energy transition’ – an effort to wean Europe’s biggest economy off planet-warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country’s considerable energy needs from renewable sources.

IIM Bangalore jumps 25 places to break into top 50 of QS EMBA Rankings
From 61st position last year, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore has broken into the global top 50 Executive MBA (EMBA) Rankings by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) this year at 36th position.

• There are also two new Indian entries into the EMBA Rankings this year, including Indian School of Business (ISB) debuting at 81st position, while IIM Kozhikode ranks in the 101+ grouping.
• However, the Executive MBA sector is still one dominated by institutions in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) with 62 of the 141 single-provider programs ranked are offered by American or British providers.

BANKING & FINANCE

Equitas Small Finance Bank launches video KYC account
Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited has launched a facility of opening account through video KYC . With this, any person anywhere in the country can open a savings account with Equitas Small Finance Bank, complete the full KYC through video with the Bank employee.

• The new video KYC account is a step forward towards our vision. This will ensure contact less, no branch visit and hassle free account opening and transactions for customers.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

India to add 60 GW renewable energy capacity in 5 yrs: Report
India is expected to add only 60GW of renewable energy capacity in the next 5 years, according to Bridge To India’s India Renewable Energy CEO survey report 2020.

• This is very low, at 12GW per annum. The government wants to achieve 175GW by 2022 and 450GW by 2030. 
• India’s utility scale solar capacity was 32.2GW and wind capacity was 37.6GW as on 31 March 2020.
• The survey observed that 50% of the respondents believe the auctions market is quite aggressive.

Capgemini partners with Maharashtra govt, BMC to support their fight against Covid-19
Capgemini, a French multinational corporation, announced that as part of its global Social Response Unit activities, it would extend its support to the Government of Maharashtra and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) efforts.

• The collaboration aims to overcome the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic and provide critical care to those affected.
• Capgemini signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), to provide 65 fully equipped Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds to the following hospitals: (KEM) King Edward Memorial Hospital Mumbai (25 ICU Beds), (LTMGH) Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (20 ICU Beds), and B. Y. L. Nair Charitable Hospital (20 ICU Beds) in Mumbai.

SPORTS

Sumit Nagal wins PSD Bank Nord Open tournament in Germany
Rising tennis star Sumit Nagal has become the first Indian to win an international tournament in the Covid-19 era after he lifted the PSD Bank Nord Open trophy, a locally organised clay court tournament in Germany. 

• Nagal, , who is currently India’s highest-ranked singles player at 127, recently defeated second seed German Daniel Masur 6-1, 6-3 in the final match at the tournament held at the Pinneberg tennis club.

APPOINTMENTS

SP Kochhar appointed DG of Cellular Association of India
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has appointed SP Kochhar as its new Director General (DG), after Rajan Mathews quitting the position, after a decade of service.

•  Mathews served as the DG since 2010 and now is going back to the US (New Jersey) where his family lives.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank appoints Hariharan K as CFO
Lakshmi Vilas Bank said in the stock exchanges that the Audit Committee of the Board has appointed Hariharan K as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

• With over 29 years of experience in the banking and finance Industry, Hariharan has served in various capacities with State Bank of India (SBI), IDBI Bank and Karur Vysya Bank. He joined the bank in 2017 as Vice President in Accounts Department and was later promoted to the CFO role.

Union Bank of India CEO Rajkiran Rai gets 2-year extension
The Ministry of Finance, on June 30, granted Union Bank of India’s managing director and CEO Rajkiran Rai an extension of two-year given in its ongoing merger process with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank.

• Rai, whose term would have ended, will now be serving till May 31, 2022.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars, imaged by MOM: ISRO
Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard Mars Orbiter Mission has imaged Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars, on 1st July when MOM was about 7200 km from Mars and at 4200 km from Phobos.

• Spatial resolution of the image is 210 m. This is a composite image generated from 6 MCC frames and has been color corrected.

OBITUARIES

Former beauty queen Ibidun Ighodalo passes away at 39
Ibidun Ighodalo, former Nigerian beauty queen and wife of Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of The Trinity Church, has died at age of 39.

• First known as Ibidun Ajayi, she first hit fame when she won the Miss Lux beauty pageant competition as an 18-year-old undergraduate of the University of Lagos.
• Ighodalo was also a successful event planner whose outfit Elizabeth R, had big brands in her clientele.

Veteran journalist Bishnu Prasad Kumar passes away
Veteran journalist Bishnu Prasad Kumar, who had covered the Bangladesh Liberation War and the turbulent Naxalite movement in the 70s, died of old age ailments at his North Kolkata residence. He was 85.

• Kumar, who had a long stint with The Statesman, apart from Press Trust of India (PTI), Economic Times and the All India Radio in his illustrious career.
• He was a founder member of the Durgapur Press Club.

Veteran IIC librarian, poet and author Kaul passes away
 Dr Hari Krishen Kaul, the former chief librarian of India International Centre and a familiar name among the city’s literati, breathed his last at Primus Hospital. He was 79.

• Krishen Kaul was known for forming DELNET, a network of over 1,500 libraries in South Asia, in 1988, and was the founder-member and president of the Poetry Society (India), which he set up in 1984, along with poets Keshav Malik, J P Das and Lakshmi Kannan.
• An author of more than 50 books, he was known for editing anthologies Traveller’s India and Historic Delhi.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India” authored by R C Bhargava released
The Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, RC Bhargava has authored the book “Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India” from his experience as a policymaker and a leading industrialist.

• The book published by HarperCollins India.
• The book provides practical suggestions to make India a competitive industrialised country.

Former RBI governor Patel pens book ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’
Former RBI Governor, Urjit Patel, has written a book titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’, which is likely to be released on 31 July 2020.

• The book is focuses on the non-performing assets (NPAs) issue that has afflicted Indian banking in recent years, its causes and Patel’s efforts as the RBI Governor in dealing with it
• The book It has been published by HarperCollins India.

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