Latest Current Affairs For Wednesday 6th July, 2022

Start-up ranking 2021: Gujarat, Karnataka emerges as best performers 

Gujarat and Karnataka emerged the “best performers” in the third edition of States’ Start-up ranking, 2021, while Meghalaya bagged the top honour among Northeastern (NE) states.

In the second edition of the survey, which was conducted in 2020, Gujarat was the best performer. The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting entrepreneurs.

These initiatives include the Startup India initiative, multiple funding and incubation support, and the government announcing January 16 as Startup Day.

New book explores Gandhi’s role in Champaran satyagraha

A book titled Gandhi and the Champaran Satyagraha: Select Readings, which has been edited by Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das, was released.

At the virtual book launch event, Prof. Das thanked the West Bengal government and the Netaji Institute for Asian Studies for sponsoring the research.

The book would immediately become an indispensable resource for those who wanted to look at Mahatma Gandhi’s journey at its very beginning in India with respect to the Champaran Satyagraha.

Michelle Poonawalla received the coveted Shiromani Award 

Michelle Poonawalla has received the Shiromani Award at NRI World Summit 2022 in the United Kingdom for her contribution to the field of art.

In addition to Poonawalla, the Shiromani Award was also awarded to Shri Sadhu Bhramvihari, Lord Rami Ranger, Rita Hinduja Chhabria.

The Shiromani Award was instituted in 1977 and has been bestowed on Mother Teresa, Chief Marshal Manekshaw, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, PT Usha, Leander Paes, Vishwanathan Anand, The Dalai Lama, Jaya Bachchan and Asha Bhosle in the past.

UK Parliament honours Tanuja Nesari with Ayurveda Ratna award 

Tanuja Nesari, Director of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) was awarded with the Ayurveda Ratna Award by the UK Parliament.

The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Indian Traditional Sciences (ITSappg) conferred the award recognising her contribution to prmoting the growth of Ayurveda in India and abroad.

SBI Life and Paschim Banga Gramin Bank sign a bancassurance agreement 

A bancassurance agreement has been reached between the Paschim Banga Gramin Bank and SBI Life Insurance.

Through the cooperation, SBI Life’s assortment of protection, wealth development, credit life, annuity, and savings products will be made available at all Paschim Banga Gramin Bank branches throughout West Bengal, therefore enhancing the region’s access to life insurance solutions.

Important For All Exam 2022:

General manager of Paschim Banga Gramin Bank: Arun Kumar Patra

Regional director of SBI Life, West Bengal: Jayant Pandey

SBI Card partners with Aditya Birla Finance to launch ‘Aditya Birla SBI Card’ 

SBI Cards and Payment Services announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Aditya Birla Finance (ABFL), the lending subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital for the launch of ‘Aditya Birla SBI Card’.

The card has been designed to give customers significant reward points on their spending around telecom, fashion, travel, dining, entertainment, and hotels, among others.

This partnership will enable us to issue credit cards to Aditya Birla Group’s customer base, thereby providing them a great product for all their spending needs.

This is in line with our strategy of enhancing value for both customers and co-brand partners. The customer acquisition process will be completely digital, thereby ensuring an enhanced customer experience.

Important For All Exam 2022:

SBI Card Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana;

SBI Card Managing Director & CEO: Rama Mohan Rao Amara.

PokerBaazi appointed Shahid Kapoor as its brand ambassador 

PokerBaazi.com, a poker platform, has onboarded actor Shahid Kapoor as its brand ambassador. PokerBaazi.com has launched its new brand campaign ‘You Hold the Cards’ featuring brand ambassador, actor Shahid Kapoor.

The company said this association with the actor comes in line with its commitment to popularise and create awareness amongst the masses about poker.

With the campaign titled ‘You Hold the Cards’, the brand aims to create awareness about poker as a skill-based sport and establish that in Poker, the game is under your control, and one can emerge victorious basis of skills, determination, and the right strategy.

Himachal Pradesh CM launched ‘Nari Ko Naman’ scheme for women

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur has launched ‘Naari Ko Naman’ scheme to provide 50 % concession on fares in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses to women commuters within the state boundaries.

Seema Thakur, the first woman bus driver in the state, drove him in a state transport bus to the event venue. The chief minister had announced the 50 per cent concession on bus fares to women on April 15, Himachal Day.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Himachal Pradesh Capital: Shimla (Summer) , Dharamshala (Winter);

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur;

Himachal Pradesh Governor: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.

Rahul Narwekar, the youngest Speaker in the country

Mumbai lawyer and first-time legislator, Rahul Narwekar has been elected as the youngest Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and also becomes the youngest ever in India to hold this august Constitutional post.

Narwekar scripted history to become the youngest legislator to be elected as the 16th Speaker (since 1960) and also is now the youngest ever lawmaker to occupy the coveted top legislative post in the country.

Narwekar received a total of 164 votes in support and 107 went to Shiv Sena candidate’s account. During the Speaker elections, 12 members were absent and 3 legislators abstained from the voting.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Maharashtra Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari;

Maharashtra Chief minister: Eknath Shinde;

Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai.

Utilizing BiSAG-N app, Steel Ministry interfaces with GatiShakti portal 

The Ministry of Steel said that it has joined the PM Gati Shakti Portal and uploaded the geo coordinates of important projects in an effort to detect and address connection gaps in the infrastructure.

According to a press release, the ministry registered itself on the National Master Plan portal with the help of the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BiSAG-N) app.

All of the central public-sector enterprises’ (CPSE) steel plants’ geolocations have been published to the portal. All of these CPSEs‘ mine locations were in the process of being uploaded.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Union Minister of Steel: Sh. Ram Chandra Prasad Singh

Former India goalkeeper EN Sudhir passes away

Former India International EN Sudhir, who played as a goalkeeper for India in the 1970s, died in Mapusa, Goa.

Sudhir, who made his international debut against Indonesia in Rangoon (currently Yangon) in the Olympic qualifiers in 1972, represented India in 9 matches. He was also part of the national team in the 1973 Merdeka Cup and the Asian Games squad in 1974.

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.