Latest Current Affairs For Friday 8th July, 2022

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo passes away

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary-General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, passed away. He was born in April 1959 in northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa state, Barkindo assumed the office of the OPEC Secretary-General in 2016. His tenure was scheduled to expire in July.

OPEC is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.

World Chocolate Day 2022: 7th July

World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 7 every year to commemorate the invention of chocolate. This special day allows people around the world to indulge in their favourite treat without any guilt.

The day also celebrates all kinds of goodies made from chocolate, including chocolate milk, hot chocolate, chocolate candy bar, chocolate cake, brownies, or anything covered in chocolate. World Chocolate Day was first celebrated in the year 2009.

However, some even believe that people started marking July 7 as International Chocolate Day because it was the day when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550.

NSUT: Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence inaugurated 

At Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSUT), an artificial intelligence centre was inaugurated. In his remarks at the Center’s opening, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said universities must abandon conventional thinking and adopt an innovative approach if they are to advance the nation.

According to Manish Sisodia, universities today take pride in having a Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence. It exhibits the lofty thinking of the young people leading the university and acting pro-actively.

Graphical processing units, workstations, data storage, and communication systems are available at the Centre of Excellence.

According to the government, the centre now has a cutting-edge supercomputing system that includes a DGX A100 with 324 GB RAM and 8 GPUs, 100TB of storage, a smart rack, and high-speed switches, among other cutting-edge tools.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi: Manish Sisodia

PM to start three-day symposium on implementing the NEP

During his visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anticipated to launch development projects worth more than Rs. 1,774 crore. He has been to the city twice in the last four months.

Nine topics designated for higher education in the National Education Policy 2020 will be the subject of panel discussions. Modi will also inaugurate the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, which is being organised by the Union Education Ministry at the international cooperation and convention centre Rudraksh.

Important For All Exam 2022:

Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan

Chairman of the NEP: Dr. K. Kasturirangan

University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson: M Jagadesh Kumar

“HariyaliMahotsav” to be organized by Ministry of Environment 

Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change will be organizing “Hariyali Mahotsav” on 8th July, 2022 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi in the spirit of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

The mahotsav is being organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with the State Governments, Police Institutions and Schools of Delhi for undertaking plantation drives on the occasion.

Hariyali Mahotsav, the “Tree Festival” is being organized to create awareness about the importance of trees in sustaining not only the life of the present generations but also to secure the future of forthcoming generations. Trees play extremely important role in mitigating adverse effects of climate change.

Parshottam Rupala inaugurates India’s first ever Animal Health Summit 

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala inaugurating First India Animal Health Summit 2022, he called for greater use of Ayurveda for ensuring better animal health.

First India Animal Health Summit 2022 was held at NASC Complex, New Delhi understanding the significance of animal health towards the broader objective of the country’s food and nutrition security, rural incomes and prosperity and overall economic development.

Irdai and NHA to develop National Health Claims Exchange to settle claims

Irdai and National Health Authority (NHA) will develop a National Health Claims Exchange as a digital platform to settle health claims. The National Health Claims Exchange will be developed as a digital platform, for settling the health claims.

Chairman of IRDAI, Debasish Panda, has also proposed for creation of a working group with representation from industry. The working group will decide on how to attract more people to buy health insurance, by making the largest segment of general insurance in India.

Important For All Exam 2022:

IRDAI Founded: 1999;

IRDAI Headquarters: Hyderabad;

IRDAI Chairperson: Debasish Panda.

South Indian Bank tie up with Kerala Forest & Wildlife Dept for digital payment collection 

The South Indian Bank has signed an agreement with Kerala’s Forest and Wildlife Department to enable digital collection of payments at eco-tourism centres, Vanasree shops, mobile Vanasree units and eco-shops across the State.

The Forest Department has set up Vanasree shops and units with the objective of marketing forest products, conserving and managing biodiversity, protecting the rich and sensitive ecosystem and uplifting the living standards of the tribals working in the area.

Important For All Exam 2022:

South Indian Bank Headquarters: Thrissur;

South Indian Bank CEO: Murali Ramakrishnan (1 Oct 2020–);

South Indian Bank Founded: 29 January 1929.

SBI ने रक्षा क्षतिपूर्ति पैकेज के लिए वायु सेना के साथ समझौता अपडेट किया

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between State Bank of India (SBI) and the Indian Air Force for the Defence Salary Package (DSP) plan has been extended, according to SBI.

All active-duty and former members of the Air Force, as well as their families, will be eligible for a number of advantages and features under this programme from the nation’s largest lender.

The bank claimed that in the event of an Air Force member’s passing, the family of the dead would be given additional coverage for the female child’s wedding and education.

Important For All Exam 2022:

State Bank of India (SBI) chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara

Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari

Rashtriya Raksha University, DroneAcharya tie up to set Remote Pilot Training Centre 

Rashtriya Raksha University at Gandhinagar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Private Limited for setting up a Remote Pilot Training Centre for imparting drone flying skills.

This training will be imparted to the Police and security force personnel and citizens at RRU Campus near Gandhinagar.

According to official sources, this initiative is in accordance with the mission of the University to identify, prepare and sustain statecraft of national strategic and security culture among the security, police and civilian society.

Lt. General Mohan Subramanian appointed as Force Commander of UN Mission in South Sudan

India’s ​Lieutenant General, Mohan Subramanian has been appointed the Force Commander in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He succeeds Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar of India.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment on July 5. Almost 20,000 peacekeepers serve with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan to protect civilians and build durable peace in the conflict-affected country.

Smriti Irani, Jyotiraditya Scindia get additional charges of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Steel 

Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been assigned additional charges of Minority Affairs and Ministry of Steel respectively after two Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.

Post their resignations, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by PM Modi, accepted the resignations of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh from Union Council of Ministers. This is the first time two sitting ministers are out of both Houses of Parliament.

PT Usha, Ilaiyaraaja among four nominated to Rajya Sabha

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated four noted personalities from the southern states to the Rajya Sabha.

The move is being seen as the BJP’s attempt to make inroads into South India — the party’s final frontier that it still has to conquer.

Sports icon PT Usha, music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, spiritual leader Veerendra Heggade, and screenwriter KV Vijayendra Prasad were the four picks of the BJP for the Rajya Sabha.

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.