Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 22nd June, 2022

LIC India launches Dhan Sanchay life insurance plan

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched Dhan Sanchay, a non-linked, non-participating, individual savings life insurance plan.

This plan offers financial assistance to the family in the event of the life assured's untimely death within the policy's term.

It also offers a guaranteed income stream from the date of maturity until the end of the payout period.

LIC Chairperson: M R Kumar

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1 September 1956

ONDC joins hands with NABARD to activate e-commerce in agri tech

Open Network for Digital Commerce has joined hands with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to activate e-commerce in the agriculture domain.

ONDC and NABARD have come together to host the NABARD-ONDC Grand Challenge to establish market linkages for the enabled players with market ready Farmers Producers Organisations.

Aim: To promote development of innovative solutions that are likely to aid adoption of e-commerce in the agriculture domain.

TCS, HDFC, Infy and LIC placed in Kantar's global 100 most valuable firms

TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and LIC have been featured in the top 100 global biggest brands, along with companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

TCS has been placed on the 46th spot of the list with an estimated of $50 billion by Kantar Brands 2022.

HDFC Bank placed on 61st with $35 billion brand value.

Infosys was ranked at 64th position and LIC placed on 92nd.

Top 10: Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Tencent, McDonalds, Visa, Facebook, Alibaba, Louis Vuitton. 

Health Minister addresses inaugural session at the G20 Health Ministers

Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has virtually addressed the inaugural session at the G20 Health Ministers meeting at Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Indonesia has hosted two Health Working Group Meetings in Yogyakarta and Lombok.

Priority issues: Harmonizing Global Health Protocol Standards and Building Global Health System Resilience.

India has pledged to End TB by 2025 (five years ahead of the global SDG target of 2030).

Bishweswar Tudu inaugurates 20th Folk Fair and 13th Krishi Fair in Odisha

Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu has inaugurated the 20th Folk Fair (National tribal/folk song & dance festival) and 13th Krishi Fair 2022 at Saradhabali in Puri, Odisha.

Aim: At preserving tribal culture and promoting innovation in agriculture respectively

The fair will be continued for five days and concluded on 24th June.

The Minister has also extended all support of the Government for the upliftment of tribals in the state.

Ram Bahadur Rai's book titled ‘Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’ released

PM Narendra Modi has released the book titled, Bhartiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani’, written by Ram Bahadur Rai.

This book of Shri Rai will be in the tradition of New India’s effort to remember the forgotten thoughts to ensure that in the India of the future, consciousness of the past remains strong.

The book with the history of independence and the untold chapters of our constitution will give a new thinking to the youth of the country.

Australia provides financial support of USD 50 million to Sri Lanka

Australia has announced to provide 50 million US dollars support to Sri Lanka for meet urgent food and health care needs.

Presently, Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in 70 years, which leads to food shortage, medicine and fuel.

Australia will provide 22 million dollars to the World Food Programme (WFP) for emergency food assistance to meet their daily nutritional needs and 23 million dollars in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.

MoHUA launches NIPUN Project for promotion of upskilling Nirman Workers

Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Hardeep Singh Puri has launched an initiative for skill training of construction workers called ‘NIPUN’.

NIPUN refers National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers.

MoHUA has launched this initiative under its flagship scheme of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

Aim: To train over 1 lakh construction workers, through fresh skilling and upskilling programmes.

Apollo Hospitals joins hands with Imperial Hospital of Bangladesh

Apollo Hospitals has signed an agreement with Imperial Hospital Ltd to operate and manage the latter's 375 bedded multi-specialty tertiary care hospital in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

The state-of-the-art facility in Chittagong was built with the support of World Bank and will be rebranded as Apollo Imperial Hospital.

The hospital will have experienced clinicians, medical staff and administrative staff.

Apollo will also manage daily operations, clinical service delivery.

PM’s award for contribution for promotion of Yoga announced for 2021

The PM's award for outstanding contribution for promotion of Yoga for the year 2021 has been announced.

The award has been conferred to Bhikkhu Sanghasena (Ladakh); Marcus Vinicius Rojo Rodrigues (Brazil); The Divine Life Society from Uttarakhand; and British Wheel of Yoga from United Kingdom.

The winners will be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and cash award of 25 lakh rupees.

The award was announced by PM on the occasion of the 2nd IDY at Chandigarh in 2016.

8th International Day of Yoga is being observed across the world on June 21

The 8th edition of International Day of Yoga is being observed on 21st June.

Aim:  To raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.

2022 theme: ‘Yoga for Humanity’

PM Modi will lead the mass Yoga demonstration at Mysuru in Karnataka.

To mark the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', the Yoga Day is being celebrated in 75 iconic places across the country.

The United Nations in 2014 has declared the 21st of June as the International Day of Yoga.

Indian Coast Guard inducts new Advanced Light Helicopter Squadron 840 CG

The Eastern Region of Indian Coast Guard has inducted the indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark III, the first aircraft of the newly created “840 Squadron”.

The new squadron will be stationed at the headquarters of the Eastern Region of the Coast Guard, Chennai.

ICG will add three more ALHs to the inventory of ‘840 Squadron’ soon.

The aircraft is equipped to carry out target neutralisation.

Gustavo Petro elected as the first-leftist President of Colombia

Leftist party, Gustavo Petro has won presidential election of Colombia  and becomes the first ever leftist president in the history of country.

He defeated construction magnate, Rodolfo Hernandez with a margin of more than 700,000 votes.

Petro is a former mayor of capital Bogota and current senator.

He was also a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement.

Francia Marquez has become the first Black woman Vice President of Colombia.

Currency: Colombian peso

PM Narendra Modi to be awarded prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award 2023

The Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust (Hind Swaraj Sangh) would confer the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2023 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on August 1, 2023.

Reason: This award recognizes PM Modi's supreme leadership under which India has climbed the ladder of progress

It is presented annually on the occasion of Lokmanya Tilak's death anniversary.

Other awardees: Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sharad Pawar, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Manmohan Singh. 

J&K Bank wins award for Best Performance in CASA

Jammu & Kashmir Bank has been felicitated for the Best Performance in CASA-India (1st Runner up in Small Bank Category) at ICC Emerging Asia Banking Conclave & Awards 2022.

The event was participated by banks from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Myanmar.

The function was organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Goa.

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in Calcutta.

India poised to become world’s 2nd-largest economy by 2075: Goldman Sachs

According to the Investment Bank Goldman Sachs, India is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075.

As per the report, India would cross Japan, Germany, and the US With a population of 1.4 billion people.

India’s GDP is estimated to expand remarkably, reaching 52.5 trillion dollars surpassing the US GDP projection.

The labour force participation set to make India the second-largest economy in the world by 2075.

L&T and Spain's Navantia sign agreement for submarine project

L&T has signed a teaming agreement with Spanish-based Navantia for the submission of a techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s prestigious P75 (India) submarine program.

P75 (India) Submarine Project is expected to be valued at €4.8 billion.

Navantia would carry out the design of P75(I) submarines based on its S80 class of submarines.

The first S80 class submarine was launched in 2021 and is undergoing sea trials prior to its delivery to Spanish Navy. 

India overtakes China as most attractive emerging market for investing

According to a study by Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management, India has overtaken China to become the most attractive emerging market for investing in sovereign wealth funds this year.

Reason: This is due to its solid demographics, political stability, and proactive regulation. 

Positives for the nation also include the rapidly expanding demography, strong regulatory actions, and a welcoming climate for sovereign investors.

World Population Day 2023: 11 July

World Population Day is observed every year on July 11 in order to raise awareness about global population issues, including population control.

2023 theme: Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities. 

It was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, after the day the world approximately reached a population of five billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

MoHUA conducts SBM-U 2.0 Planning & Implementation Review-cum-Workshop

The Housing Ministry organized a review-cum-workshop to evaluate and accelerate the planning and implementation of the SBM-Urban 2.0.

PM Modi launched the 2.0 versions of SBM-U and AMRUT on October 1, 2021.

SBM-U 2.0: Achieving 100% waste segregation in all households and premises and 100% door-to-door collection of segregated waste from each. 

AMRUT 2.0: To provide complete coverage of water supply to all households and sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. 

Gujarat CM launches pilot project of ‘Antyodaya Shramik Suraksha Yojana’

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel launched the Antyodaya Shram Suraksha Accident Insurance Scheme from Kheda

All those registered under the e-Shram portal from Nadiad will benefit from the scheme.

It is being implemented through the Indian Postal Department, the IPPB, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Under this scheme, insurance with a premium of Rs. 289 and Rs. 499 per year will be a big support to workers in the event of death or partial disability.

OCA elects Sheikh Talal as the new President

Kuwait’s Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah has been elected as the new President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance wins Insurer Innovation Award 2023

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has won the Insurer Innovation Award 2023 for the APAC region at the 8th World Digital Insurance Awards, hosted by TDI - The Digital Insurer.

Recognition: Bajaj Allianz Life's ground-breaking WhatsApp Conversational Platform - empowering customers to digitally services their policies seamlessly. 

The award entries were shortlisted by industry experts and the winner was selected by the community through pre-voting and live event voting.