France Tests HELMA-P Laser Powered Anti Drone System
The French Armed Forces used 'HELMA-P' High Energy Laser for Multiple Application Power), a Laser-Powered Anti-Drone System to destroy a drone during a test of technology conducted near the Atlantic coast in the Southwestern part of France.
World's Most Affordable COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit Corosure Developed by IIT Delhi
Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal(Nishank) e-launched the World’s most affordable RT-PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic kit developed by IIT Delhi. The Corosure Kit has been developed indigenously and is much cheaper than other kits. The kit has received ICMR approval with the highest score and DCGI approved with a very high sensitivity and specificity.
Russia first nation to finish human trials for Covid vaccine
Russia has become the first nation to complete clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine on humans, and the results have proven the medication's effectiveness. Chief researcher Elena Smolyarchuk, who heads the Center for Clinical Research on Medications at Sechenov University, told Russian news agency TASS that the human trials for the vaccine have been completed at the university and they will be discharged soon.
NTPC Signs MoU with UT of Ladakh and LAHDC to Set up Country's First Green Hydrogen Mobility Project
Renewable Energy Ltd (REL), a 100% subsidiary of National Thermal Power Corporation, signed an MoU with the Union Territory of Ladakh, on July 13, 2021, to set up the country's first green Hydrogen Mobility project in the region. The signing of the MoU was also marked with the inauguration of NTPC's first solar installations in Leh in the form of solar trees and a solar car port. The MoU will enable NTPC to help Ladakh develop a carbon-free economy based on renewable sources and green hydrogen. This is also in line with the Prime Minister's vision of a 'carbon neutral' Ladakh.
G20 approves Global Corporate Tax Rate of at least 15 percent
G20 Finance Ministers approved a tax reform for multinationals that aim to put an end to tax havens by introducing a global corporate tax at 15 percent.The G20 finance chiefs wrapped up two days of talks in the Italian city of Venice with the adoption of a joint communique. The G20, Finance Ministers also endorsed the group's broad agreement on a plan to introduce new rules for taxing cross border businesses.
Landslide win for PM Abiy Ahmed's Party in Ethiopia
Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party on July 10, 203 was declared the winner of last month's national election in a landslide, assuring a second five-year term for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
PM Shri Narendra Modi dedicated Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to the Nation
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to the Nation via video conference. It is Asia's largest power project.
Cabinet approves Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund'
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The scheme shall provide a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support. Under the scheme, Rs. One Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public Private Partnership Project Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with sanction of Rs. 10,000 crorein the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in next three financial years.
Cabinet approves developing of Affordable rental housing Complexes for urban migrants / poor
The Union Cabinetchaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs) for urban migrants / poor as a sub-scheme under Pradhan MantriAwasYojana – Urban (PMAY U) by: xisting vacant government funded housing complexes will be converted in ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years. Concessionaire will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer/ septage, sanitation, road etc. States/UTs will select concessionaire through transparent bidding. Complexes will revert to ULB after 25 years to restart next cycle like earlier or run on their own. Special incentives like use permission, 50% additional FAR/FSI, concessional loan at priority sector lending rate, tax reliefs at par with affordable housing etc. will be offered to private/ public entities to develop ARHCs on their own available vacant land for 25 years.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CBDT and SEBI signed
A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two organizations. The MoU was signed by Smt. Anu J. Singh, Pr. DGIT (Systems), CBDT and Smt. Madhabi Puri Buch, Whole Time Member, SEBI in the presence of senior officers from both the organizations via video conference. The MoU will facilitate the sharing of data and information between SEBI and CBDT on an automatic and regular basis. In addition to regular exchange of data, SEBI and CBDT will also exchange with each other, on request and suo moto basis, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out their functions under various laws.The MoU comes into force from the date it was signed and is an ongoing initiative of CBDT and SEBI, who are already collaborating through various existing mechanisms. A Data Exchange Steering Group has also been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the data sharing mechanism.
Shambhu Nath Srivastava Appointed as Chairman of the IFUNA
Shambhu Nath Srivastava, the former Allahabad High Court Judge and former Chief Lokayukta of Chhattisgarh, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Indian Federation of United Nations Association (IFUNA). He succeeds Mukul Sangma, a former Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
World Bank and Government of India sign $750 million Agreement for Emergency Response Programme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
The World Bank and the Government of India signed the $750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme to support increased flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time.
Dr. Bishnu Prasad Nanda has taken over as Director General, Railway Health Services (DG RHS) Railway Board
Dr. Bishnu Prasad Nanda has taken over as Director General Railway Health Services(DG RHS) Railway Board. He has joined at the apex post of the Health Department in the Railway Board. Prior to this, Dr. B P Nanda was serving as Principal Chief Medical Director, Southern Railway. In Combined Medical Services Examination of UPSC in 1983, Dr.B P Nanda secured All India 1st position and was selected for the Indian Railway Medical Services. DrB P Nanda joined Indian Railway Medical Services on 14th November 1984, in Kharagpur Divisional Hospital of South Eastern Railway.
Sudhanshu Mittal has been re-elected as the President of Kho-Kho Federation of India
Sudhanshu Mittal was unanimously re-elected the President of the Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) for the term 2021- 2025 at its annual general meeting in New Delhi on July 5, 2021. Mahender Singh Tyagi was re-elected as the general secretary while Surendra Kumar Bhutiyani was elected as the treasurer
US President appoints Eric Garcetti as Ambassador to India
US President Joe Biden has appointed Eric Garcetti, a close political ally, as his nominee for ambassador to India. Garcetti, 50, is currently serving as mayor of Los Angeles. The White House announced his nomination on July 3, 2021, along with three other ambassadors. Garcetti was co-chair of Biden's presidential campaign and was also part of the committee that Biden had appointed to look for his running mate.
Indra Mani Pandey was appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Geneva
Seasoned diplomat Indra Mani Pandey on July 2, 2020 was appointed as the next Permanent Representative / Ambassador of India to the United Nations, Geneva. Mr. Pandey is a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service officer. He succeeds Rajiv K. Chander by becoming a permanent representative to the UN in Geneva. As a new permanent representative to the UN Mr. Pandey will be responsible for representing India in more than 25 important organisations of the UN in Geneva including UNHRC, WHO and ILO. In his nearly three-decade career M. Pandey has served in Indian missions in Cairo, Islamabad, Geneva, Kabul and Muscat.
Shrikant Madhav Vaidya is appointed as Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Shrikant Madhav Vaidya is appointed as Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) succeeding Sanjiv Singh whose term ended on June 30.
Smt. Parminder Chopra takes charge as Director (Finance), PFC
Government-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC), India's leading NBFC, announced the appointment of Smt Parminder Chopra as Director (Finance) of the company. She succeeds Shri N.B. Gupta, who superannuated on June 30 2020. Smt. Chopra was working as Executive Director (Finance) at Power Finance Corporation (PFC) before assuming charge as Director (Finance), PFC.With over 32 years of rich and varied experience, she specializes in handling crucial and core finance functions such as fund mobilisation, corporate accounts, banking & treasury, asset-liability management, stressed asset resolution etc. Before joining PFC, she was associated with key organizations in the power sector like National Hydroelectric Power Corporation of India (NHPC) and Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL).Smt. Chopra, who joined PFC in 2005, spearheaded the key initiative to diversify PFC's fund mobilisation to international markets that allowed the lender to raise money at lower costs. With her focussed approach, share of fund mobilisation in foreign currency grew from a meagre 2% to 15% within a short span of 2 years.
PM announces extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till November
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the nation and announced the extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana till the end of November 2020. He said that the PMGKAY scheme is extended from July till the end of November 2020. During this five-month period, more than 80 crore people will be provided 5 kg free wheat/rice per month along with 1 kg free whole chana to each family per month. The government will spend more than Rs 90,000 crore towards the extension of the scheme. The Prime Minister also underlined that the country is moving towards the institution of ‘one nation, one ration card’, which will be of immense benefit to the poor who travel to other states in search of work.
Mobile soil testing lab by NFL - Free testing of soil samples at the door step of farmers
To give further boost to the Soil Testing facility in the country for promoting appropriate use of fertilizers, NFL has launched five Mobile Soil Testing Labs for testing the soil samples at the doorstep of farmers free of cost. V N Datt, CMD along with Directors and senior officials flagged off one such Mobile Lab from the premises of NFL Corporate Office in Noida. These Mobile Labs, loaded with latest soil testing equipment, shall be used for macro and micro nutrient analysis of soil. In addition to this, these Mobile Labs are also equipped with Audio-Video system to educate farmers on various agricultural topics. Other than the Mobile Soil Testing Labs, the company is also serving farming community through six Static Soil Testing Labs located in different parts of country. All these Labs tested around 25,000 soil samples free of cost in the year 2019-20
Statistics Day, 2020 celebrated - Theme: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Government has been celebrating the Statistics Day, to popularize the use of Statistics in everyday life and sensitize public on how Statistics helps shaping and framing policies for the welfare of people. It is celebrated every year on the birth anniversary of Prof. P C Mahalanobis, on 29th June, in recognition of his invaluable contribution in establishing the National Statistical System. This year, due to the global pandemic, the Statistics Day, 2020 was celebrated through video conferencing. It was also live streamed nationally and internationally through various social media channels. The theme of Statistics Day, 2020 was Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)- 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) & SDG- 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
Navy Inducts Indigenously Developed Torpedo Decoy System
Anti - Submarine Warfare capability of the Indian Navy has received a major boost today with the conclusion of a contract for Advanced Torpedo Decoy System Maareech capable of being fired from all front line warships. Design & Development of this anti-torpedo decoy system has been undertaken indigenously DRDO labs (NSTL and NPOL). Bharat Electronics Limited, a Defence PSU, would undertake the production of this decoy system. The prototype of this system installed onboard a nominated naval platform had successfully completed all user evaluation trials and demonstrated the features as per the Naval Staff Qualification Requirements.
Cabinet approves declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport. Kushinagar Airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu, Lumbini (Kushinagar itself is a Buddhist cultural site) and declaration as an "International Airport" will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of competitive costs to the air-travellers. It will result in boosting of domestic/international tourism and economic development of the regions. Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar Pradesh about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and is one of the important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.
RIL becomes India's first $150 bn company
Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to be valued at $150 billion. In rupee terms, it also became the first company to be valued at over Rs 11 lakh crore. Reliance Industries is among the most valued energy companies in the world.
India elected non-permanent member of UN Security Council
India was elected as non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council for a two-year term, winning 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly.Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections.
NHAI becomes first construction sector organisation to go ‘Fully Digital’
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has gone 'Fully Digital', with the launch of unique cloud based and Artificial Intelligence powered Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake and Project Management Software. The entire project management work flow of NHAI is transformed from manual to online portal based, wherein the complete project execution operations including 'workflow with time lines' and 'alert mechanism' have been configured. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through portal only.
IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore Bag Top Positions in HRD Ministry's NIRF Rankings
IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore and IIT Delhi bagged the top three positions among educational institutions in the country in the HRD Ministry's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2020. As per the annual rankings, the top three universities are - IISc Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Banaras Hindu University.
IIM Ahmedabad has been ranked as the top B-School in the country followed by IIM Bangalore and Calcutta. Miranda College bagged the top rank among colleges, followed by Lady Sri Ram College for Women and St Stephen's College. As per the rankings, the top three engineering colleges in the country are IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay. In the pharmacy category, the top institute is Jamia Hamdard in Delhi followed by Panjab University, Chandigarh. The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Mohali stood third. In the medical colleges category, AIIMS Delhi got the top spot followed by PGI, Chandigarh and CMC, Vellore.
Govt of India approves Rs. 1,280 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in Madhya Pradesh during 2020-21
Government of India approved ?1,280 Crore for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the State in 2020-21. With an amount of ?244.95 Crore as unspent balance and this year's Central allocation and matching State share, ?3,093 Crore will be available with the State this year. Under this life changing Mission, Madhya Pradesh has planned to have 100% Functional Household Tap Water Connection (FHTC) by 2023-24. Out of 1.21 Crore rural households in the State, 13.52 lakh households are already provided with tap connections. The State plans to provide tap connections to 26.27 lakh households in rural areas in 2020-21. While planning for universal coverage of households, priority is given to water scarce areas, quality-affected areas, SC/ ST dominated habitations/ villages, aspirational districts and Sansad Adarsh Gramin Yojana villages, particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
Javed Akhtar becomes first Indian to receive Richard Dawkins Award
Poet, lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar has become the first Indian to receive the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award for 2020 for critical thinking, holding religious dogma upto scrutiny, advancing human progress and humanist values.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, founder and current Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon Limited, has been named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year for 2020. Shaw, an authoritative voice in India's pharmaceutical industry, becomes only the third Indian to receive this prestigious award joining the leagues of newly appointed CII President Uday Kotak who won the award in 2014 and Narayana Murthy Co-founder of India's IT giant Infosys.
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Foundation Date: December 8, 1991 Headquarters: The Republic of Belarus Executive Secretaries: Sergei Lebedev Member Countries: 12 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established on December 8, 1991, and the leaders of the Republic of Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine signed an a →
In 2009, an unknown programmer by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto put forward a whitepaper that proposed a creation of new form of digital currency - cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency functions the same way as regular currencies do in that its used as a means of exchange, unit of account and a store of va →
Headquarter: New Delhi Function and Objective of the Organization: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food-related issues in various Ministries →
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