Latest Current Affairs For Saturday 9th July, 2022

Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe passes away

Former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe has been passed away, after being shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election in Nara.

He was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan, who held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020.

In 2020, he resigned from the PM post due to the debilitating bowel condition ulcerative colitis.

He was the first Japanese PM to be chief guest at India's Republic Day parade in 2014.

Japan PM: Fumio Kishida

CBSE launches Pariksha Sangam

CBSE Board has launched a portal named ‘Pariksha Sangam’ to connect students, school regional offices and CBSE board headquarters to integrate examination-related processes.

A single window is available for board examination results, sample papers, and other details.

The pariksha sangam portal can be accessed at parikshasangam.cbse.gov.in.

The portal is divided into three parts, namely- Schools (Ganga), Regional Offices (Yamuna) and Head Office (Saraswati).

PNB signs MoU with Indian Air Force for 'PNB Rakshak Plus Scheme'

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has signed MoU with the Indian Air Force for 'PNB Rakshak Plus'.

The scheme covers personal accidental insurance, air accidental insurance to serving, retired and trainees of the defence forces, central armed police forces, state police force, metro police and retired defence pensioners.

Death Cover:

Personal Accidental: Rs. 50 lakh

Air Accidental Insurance : Rs. 100 lakh

Personal Accidental (Permanent total Disability): Rs. 50 lakh

HDFC joins hands with Salesforce to reimagine the customer lifecycle

HDFC Ltd has partnered with software firm, Salesforce to support the company's growth priorities.

HDFC, to build the next generation of integration backbone, to connect backend and frontend systems including Salesforce.

Mulesoft (software company) with its innovative API-led integration approach and low code integration capabilities will help HDFC to innovate quickly around connecting systems.

MuleSoft has been part of the Salesforce family since 2018.

Deutsche Bahn becomes world's first intermodal partner of Star Alliance

Deutsche Bahn (DB) is ready to become the world's first Intermodal Partner of Star Alliance.

Under the new partnership, the DB customers and passengers of Star Alliance member airlines will be able to start or end their journey comfortably on the climate-friendly train.

Germany is the first market and DB is the world's first partner in the new Star Alliance initiative.

This partnership between DB and Star Alliance builds on the Lufthansa Express Rail programme.

India’s first floating LNG terminal likely to operationalise in 2022

First floating terminal of India for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Jaigarh in Maharashtra is expected to be operational in the second half of 2022.

Floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) of H-Energy Gateway at Jaigarh and the Swan Energy-led terminal at Jafrabad are cumulatively expected to add 11 million tonnes per annum of regasification capacity.

The sixth LNG import terminals was Mundra LNG in 2020.

Google announces Startup School India initiative

Google has announced the launch of Startup School India (SSI) as part of the Google for Startups initiative.

Through this platform, the Google will bring together investors, successful entrepreneurs and programmers.

Aim: To reach out to at least 10,000 startups with this programme.

This is a nine-week program, which will be delivered virtually.

India is the third largest startups ecosystem in the world.

100th Unicorn: Open (neobanking fintech portal)

Delhi govt launches 'Mission Kushal Karmi' to upskill construction workers

The Delhi government has launched the ’Mission Kushal Karmi’ programme to offer a skill development training course to labourers, who are registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

The government will also compensate the loss of work by providing ₹4,200 to those workers who take the course (15-day programme).

The programme conducted by the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University, Simplex, NAREDCO and India Vision Foundation.

MoD approves three private sector banks for overseas procurement

The defence ministry has allowed three private sector banks - HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank, to provide financial services to it for overseas procurement of military hardware.

Earlier, only authorised public sector banks were allow to provide services such as issuance of letters of credit and DBT to the ministry.

For one year on concurrent basis, the selected banks may be allocated with LC business of Rs 2,000 crore, each on the capital and revenue side.

India elected to UNESCO panel on Intangible Cultural Heritage for 2022-2026

India has been elected as a member of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) for the 2022-2026 cycle.

The elections for the Intergovernmental Committee was held during the two-day General Assembly of the 2003 Convention at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

India has already served as a member of the ICH Committee, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2018.

Culture Minister: GK Reddy

Former CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant appointed as new G20 Sherpa

Former NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant has been appointed as India’s new Sherpa for the G-20.

He replaced Piyush Goyal. (Minister for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs), who was appointed as the G-20 Sherpa in September 2021.

India will hold the Presidency of G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.

He served as the NITI Aayog CEO from June 2016 to 2022.

G-20 Leaders’ Summit 2023: India

G-20 Summit 2024: Brazil

G-20 Summit 2025: South Africa

TVS's R. Dinesh appointed as President Designate of CII for 2022-23

R Dinesh, Executive Vice-Chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions has been elected President Designate of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2022-23.

He has been the Chairman of CII Southern Region during 2018-19.

Sanjiv Puri (Chairman and Managing Director, ITC) will continue as the Vice-President of CII.

Sanjiv Bajaj (Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Ltd) continues to be the President of CII for 2022-23.

CII Headquarters: New Delhi

Gita Gopinath becomes 1st woman to feature on wall of former chief economis

Gita Gopinath has become the first woman and second Indian to feature on the 'wall of former chief economists' of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Gopinath was served as IMF Chief Economist for three years, since October 2018.

Raghuram Rajan, was the first Indian who was featured on the IMF's wall of former chief economists.

He served as IMF's Chief Economist and Director of Research between 2003 and 2006.

New IMF chief economist: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas

India-US launched ‘Operation Broader Sword’

India and the USA, jointly conducted an ‘Operation Broader Sword’ to stop the illegal shipment of drugs through the International Mail System.

It targeted shipments of illicit, potentially dangerous, unapproved prescription drugs, combination medical devices, and synthetic drug precursors shipped through International Mail Facilities.

The operation resulted in the interception of over 500 shipments of illicit and unapproved prescription drugs bound for US consumers.

NLU Delhi launches research affiliate program ‘Eklavya’

The National Law University (NLU), Delhi launched Eklavya, a ‘Research Affiliate’ program, for those who do not have a traditional law degree.

Aim: To emphasize its commitment to actively seek partnerships outside the varsity and draw from their experiences and perspectives to develop quality legal scholarship. 

It is open to those who have at least three years of demonstrable experience working on issues that have a significant interface with the law.

CarTrade Tech to acquire OLX India's auto business for Rs 537 cr

Mumbai-based used cars platform CarTrade Tech Ltd will acquire online marketplace OLX India's auto sales business for Rs 537 crore.

CarTrade will acquire a 100% stake in Sobek Auto India Pvt Ltd, the entity that houses OLX India’s Automotive business, in an all-cash deal.

The acquisition will likely to be completed in 21-30 days.

Sobek is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, of 2013.

It is engaged in the business of running an automotive digital platform.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.