Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 29th June, 2022

Government extends levy of GST compensation cess till March 2026

As per the Goods and Services Tax (Period of Levy and Collection of Cess) Rules, 2022, has been notified by the finance ministry that the government has extended the time for levy of GST compensation cess by nearly 4 years till March 31, 2026.

The levy of cess was about to end on June 30.

The revenue from the GST compensation cess is used to pay for the borrowings and arrears of compensation paid to states in the last two financial years.

AI adoption will add $500 billion to India's GDP by 2025: Nasscom report

As per the new report of Nasscom, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and data utilisation strategy can add $500 billion to India's GDP by 2025.

Four key sectors of AI adoption -- BFSI, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail, healthcare, and industrials/automotive.

These four sectors can contribute 60% of the total $ 500 billion opportunity.

The current rate of AI investments in India is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.8%.

Kempegowda International Award to S M Krishna, Narayana Murthy & Prakash

S M Krishna (Former Karnataka CM), N R Narayana Murthy (Infosys founder) and Prakash Padukone (former badminton player) have been selected for the ‘Kempegowda International Award’.

The award presented on the 513th birth anniversary of Kempegowda, the architect of Bengaluru city, on June 27 at Vidhana Soudha.

Award: Cash prize of Rs 5 lakh along with a plaque.

Kempegowda Award is a civilian award which is given by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) annually.

Former SAIL Chairman, V Krishnamurthy passes away at 97

V Krishnamurthy, a former chairman of steel PSU SAIL has passed away at the age of 97 in Chennai.

He worked as the chairman of SAIL from 1985 to 1990.

He had also been the chairman of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Maruti Udyog and GAIL.

Awards: Padma Shri (1973), Padma Bhushan (1986), Padma Vibhushan (2007). 

He also been conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Management given by AIMA for the Year 2005.

Navjeet Dhillon wins gold medal at 2022 Qosanov Memorial

Indian women’s discus thrower, Navjeet Dhillon has won the gold medal at the Qosanov Memorial 2022 athletics meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

She won the women’s discus throw with a 56.24m effort.

Karina Vasilyeva (Kazakhstan) placed second with 44.61m and Uzbekistan's Yulianna Shchukina at third with 40.48m on the podium.

In the men’s 400m race, Muhammed Anas Yahiya followed Mixail Litvin of Kazakhstan (46.04s) to come second in 46.27s.

Indian Startup IG Drones wins Global Airwards Best Drone Organisation Award

Indian startup, IG Drones has been conferred with the “Best Drone Organization Start-up Category” by Airwards for its approach of helping local communities.

Airwards, is the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind, which identify the positive drone use cases.

IG Drones is developing disaster response technology and mitigate to increase the efficiency and efficacy of first responders' aid in emergency response.

Chairman of SP Group, Pallonji Mistry dies at 93

Chairman of Shapoorji Pallonji group, Pallonji Mistry has passed away in Mumbai at 93.

In 2022, Pallonji Mistry stands at rank 125 while he was the ninth richest Indian person as of 2021, as per the Forbes Billionaires List.

He has been conferred with the Padma Bhushan (2016) for his contribution in business including Real Estate, Textiles, Power, Shipping, Publications and others.

He was the largest individual shareholder in the Tata Group with a 18.4% holding.

A book titled, 'The Life and Times of George Fernandes' by Rahul Ramagundam

The biography of India’s former Union Defence Minister, late George Fernandes, 'The Life and Times of George Fernandes' will be released in July 2022.

The book was written by Rahul Ramagundam and published by Penguin Random House India.

He was born on June 3, 1930 in Mangalore.

He emerged as a key figure in the fight to restore democracy after the Emergency was imposed in 1975.

He became the Railways minister in 1989 under V P Singh coalition government.

‘One-Health’ initiative launches in Bengaluru on June 28

The Department of Animal Husbadry & Dairying (DAHD) has launched the One Health pilot in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Aim: To bring the stakeholders from animal, human and environment health on a common platform to address challenges.

DAHD has collaborated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to implement the One-Health framework in the states of Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

Kerala Financial Corp raises the limit of flagship entrepreneurial loan

Kerala Financial Corporation has raised the upper loan limit of loans under the Chief Minister’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme (CMEDP) to ₹2 crore.

Aim: More MSMEs can get funds at a concessional 5% interest rate.

The Kerala government will provide a subsidy of 3% with the Corporation chipping in with 2% towards the effective interest rate.

The age limit set by Govt for SC/ ST entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs and non-resident Keralites is 55 years.

Acemoney launches wearable ATM cards and offline UPI

Acemoney has launched UPI 123Pay payment and wearable ATM cards.

UPI 123Pay: Allow people to carry out cashless transactions without smartphones or internet connections by using feature phones only.

Wearable ATM cards: It is designed as key chains and rings that allows people to carry out cashless transactions without ATM cards and phones.

Acemoney is India's first company to launch UPI 123Pay services in Malayalam and Tamil.

RBI had launched UPI 123Pay in March 2022.

Mufin Finance received Prepaid Payment Instrument licence from RBI

Mufin Finance (NBFC) has received in-principal RBI approval for issuance of semi-closed prepaid payment instruments.

This PPI licence will allows digital banks, fintech firms and large consumer-facing applications to roll out features such as digital payment solutions for lending.

It is the fourth NBFC to receive such a licence from the RBI. 

Other three: Bajaj Finserve, Manapurram and Paul Merchants.

Mufin Finance established in 2016.

Co-founder : Rajat Goyal

Deepak Punia wins bronze in U23 Asian wrestling championships 2022

Tokyo Olympian, Deepak Punia has won a bronze medal in the U23 Asian wrestling championships 2022 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

He defeated Maksat Satybaldy in the 86kg freestyle weight category.

He has lost to eventual gold medallist, Azizbek Fayzullaev of Uzbekistan and Nurtilek Karypbaev of Kyrgyzstan.

Presently, India won 25 medals (including 10 gold medals) in all in the U23 meet in the wrestling event.

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.