Latest Current Affairs For Tuesday 26th July, 2022

Vodafone Idea appoints Akshaya Moondra as new CEO

Vodafone Idea has appointed Akshaya Moondra as new chief executive officer with effect from August 19, 2022 for a period of three years. He will succeed Ravinder Takkar.

Takkar will continue to be a non-executive and non-independent director of the company post completion of his term as the MD & CEO.

Moondra has over 30 years of international experience and over 14 years’ experience in the Indian telecom sector.

Danish cyclist, Jonas Vingegaard wins his first Tour de France title

Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) has defeated two-time defending champion, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia by three minutes and 34 seconds to win his first Tour de France title.

Last year, Vingegaard has finished second after Pogacar.

The Tour de France is a prestigious multistage bike race, held annually in France.

The race, also known as Le Tour or La Grande Boucle, includes 21 stages and covers 3,328 kilometers in 2022.

Amit Shah launches e-FIR system in Gujarat

Union home minister, Amit Shah has launched an e-FIR filing system in Gandhinagar to enable citizens to file FIRs online, without visiting a police station.

With the help of this system, citizens will not need to go the police station to register a complaint for a vehicle theft or mobile phone theft.

The e-FIR service has been linked with the Gujarat state police CCTV command and control centre.

Actor Kamal Haasan receives 10-year Golden Visa of UAE

Actor, Kamal Haasan has received the prestigious Golden Visa from the UAE government for 10 years.

Prior to Kamal Hasan, several actors including Nasser, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Tovino Thomas, Parthiepan, Amala Paul and Shah Rukh Khan have received this honour.

The UAE Golden Visa is a long-term residence visa system, extending from five to 10 years.

It is granted to achievers from various fields, professionals, investors and those with promising abilities.

IAPH selected Ennarasu Karunesan to serve as its representative in India

Ennarasu Karunesan has been named as the official representative of the International Association of Ports and Harbors’ (IAPH) in India.

He has started his career in the port industry with the Mumbai port and later worked as the general manager of operations and CEO of the Westport Container Terminal in Port Klang, Malaysia (from 2001 to 2004).

IAPH is the world’s port industry’s forum for cooperation and excellence.

MD of the IAPH: Patrick Verhoeven

ONGC sign gas sale agreements with GAIL, AGCL for Tripura' Khubal field

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a gas-selling agreement with GAIL India and Assam Gas Company Ltd (AGCL) at Khubal under Panisagar of North Tripura.

The ONGC will supply 50,000 standard cubic metres (per day) of gas to GAIL and AGCL and a total 0.1 million standard cubic metres per day (MSCMD) gas will be supplied from ONGC's Khubal gas collecting station.

Khubal station would have a capacity to process 0.44 MSCMD of gas.

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Savner-Dhapewada-Goundkhairi section of NH 547-E

Union Minister for Road Transport, Nitin  Gadkari has inaugurated the Savner-Dhapewada-Goundkhairi section of National Highway 547-E in Nagpur.

The length of this section is 28.88 km.

The four-laning of the Savner - Dhapewada - Goundakhairi section will provide better connectivity to the pilgrims like Ganesha Temple at Adasa and the Vitthal-Rukmini Temple at Dhapewada in the area.

The bridge is over the Chandrabhaga river will relieve traffic jams in Dhapewada.

China launches Wentian lab module to its permanent space station

China has successfully launched the Wentian laboratory module (23-tonne), second space module to its permanent space station.

This has been launched on the Long March 5B from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan.

This module will help astronauts to carry out their scientific experiments, along with the other lab module.

First space module was Tianhe, was launched in April 2021 and the third module, Mengtian, will be launched soon.

RS Gandhi appointed as additional independent director of YES Bank

YES Bank has appointed Rama Subramaniam Gandhi as an additional independent director of the bank for a period of five years,  effective from July 23, 2022.

He is currently serving as a financial sector policy expert and adviser.

He was a Deputy Governor of the RBI for three years from 2014 to 2017. 

He had a three-year secondment to the SEBI and als served as Director of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), Hyderabad.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen wins the 2022 French Grand Prix

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the 2022 French Grand Prix, while the seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) finished second in his 300th Grand Prix.

George Russell (Mercedes) has finished third in the 2022 French GP.

Red Bulls's Sergio Pérez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. , finished at fourth and fifth respectively.

Previous GP 2022:

Austrian GP: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

British GP: Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)

Canadian GP: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

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.