Daily Current Affairs and GK | 18 July 2024

Topic: International News

1. India and Switzerland aim for a $100 billion investment and 1 million jobs in the next 15 Years.

• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal was on a two-day visit to Switzerland.
• He encouraged Swiss companies to invest in the growing and dynamic market of India.
• The main objective of the visit was to discuss the next steps for the implementation of the historic India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) which was signed on March 10.
• Switzerland is India’s 20th largest trading partner globally with bilateral trade of USD 21 billion in 2023.
• It is also the 12th largest investor in India. It has invested SD 10 billion from April 2000 to March 2024 under FDI.
• Around 330 Swiss companies operate in India, and they have created over 1,66,000 jobs in India.
• An ambitious target of 100 billion dollars in investment and the creation of one million jobs in India has been by both sides in the next 15 years.

Topic: International News

2. India’s first overseas Jan Aushadi Kendra has been inaugurated by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Mauritius.

• During the inauguration, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth joined him.
• Jaishankar said that the India-Mauritius health partnership project will supply cost-effective, made-in-India medicines.
• Earlier, the Mediclinic project at Grand Bois in Mauritius with Indian grant assistance was inaugurated by Dr. Jaishankar.
• Dr. Jaishankar said this will provide secondary health care for 16,000 people in the Grand Bois area.
• India has close relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean.
• Indian-origin people make up about 70% of the island's population of 1.2 million.

Topic: Books and Authors

3. The book ‘Wings to Our Hopes, Volume I,’ has been released.

• The book compiles 75 significant speeches from the first year of tenure of President Droupadi Murmu.
• This book has been published by the Publication Division.
• The book has been released in Hindi and English.
• Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan released the e-book in the presence of Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Topic: International News

4. Visa-free policy will be introduced by Belarus for 35 European countries.

• The policy will become effective from 19 July 2024. It will continue till December 31st of this year.
• Without a visa, citizens of 35 countries, including members of the European Union and the United Kingdom, can enter Belarus for up to 30 days at a time.
• According to a statement from Belarus's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, supports the temporary entry and stay of people of 35 European countries without the need for a visa at road and rail checkpoints.
• Belarus's commitment to openness, peace, and good neighbourliness, as well as its desire to simplify personnel exchanges, is further demonstrated by its visa-free policy.
• Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. Its capital is Minsk. Its currency is the Belarusian ruble.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

5. At the International Space Scientists Meet, two Indian space scientists were honored.

• The first scientific organization in the world dedicated to space science research, the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), awarded two Indian space scientists, Prahlad Chandra Agrawal and Anil Bhardwaj, with prestigious awards on July 15.
• Agrawal received the Harrie Massey Award at the 45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, which began in Busan, South Korea on 15 July.
• Agrawal is one of India's most senior space scientists and a retired professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• The Harrie Massey Award recognises outstanding contributions to space research in which leadership roles are of particular importance.
• Anil Bhardwaj was awarded the Vikram Sarabhai Medal, which honours outstanding space science research in developing countries.
• Bhardwaj is the director of the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory.
• The COSPAR and the ISRO have jointly instituted this medal.
• Along with a medal and citation, the award for Agrawal also involves naming of a minor planet after the scientist.
• One of the largest forums for space scientists, the Committee on Space Research, was set up in 1958, soon after the launch of the first satellite by the then Soviet Union in 1957.

Topic: State News/ Maharashtra

6. 'Ladka Bhau' job training and stipend scheme for youth announced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Pandharpur.

• Earlier, he had launched a monthly financial assistance scheme for eligible women.
• On the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi, he announced the broad features of the new scheme, mainly targeted at men, at Pandharpur in Solapur district.
• Under the scheme, Class 12 pass job seekers will get Rs 6,000, diploma holders will get Rs 8,000, and those with a graduate degree will get Rs 10,000 per month.
• They will get this stipend from the government during their training in the industry. The candidate will do apprenticeship and get the job.
• Earlier, 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme announced in the state Budget.
• Under this scheme, all women between 21 to 60 years of age will get financial assistance of Rs 1500 per month.
• To avail the benefit, the annual family income of the beneficiaries should be limited to Rs 2.5 lakh.

Topic: State News/Haryana

7. Agniveers will be provided a 10% horizontal reservation by the Haryana government in recruitment to specific positions in the departments of police, mining, and jail.

• Agniveers would be provided a 10% reservation in direct recruitment for the posts of constable, mining guard, forest guard, jail warden, and SPO in Haryana, said Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
• He said that Agniveers will also get a three-year age relaxation upon recruitment to group D. This relaxation would be five years for the first batch.
• Additionally, he announced a horizontal reservation of 1% for jobs in group B posts and 5% for Agniveers in group C posts.
• Agniveers seeking deployment in government agencies, boards, and corporations would receive preference in matrix scores, said the CM.
• The CM said that the government will provide an annual subsidy of 60,000 rupees to any industrial unit where Agniveers receive a salary of over 30,000 rupees per month.
• The CM further declared that an interest-free loan of up to 5 lakh rupees would be granted to any Agniveer who establishes his own enterprise.
• Priority will be given to Agniveers when granting arms licences.
• In the case of an accident, free treatment and compensation will be provided under the Government of India's Road Transport Highway Scheme. 

Topic: Indian Economy

8. Between mutual funds (MFs) and portfolio management services (PMS), SEBI is planning a new asset class.

• The gap between MFs and PMS will be bridged by the new asset class.
• This will be provided under the MF framework, with updated branding and relevant MF norm relaxations.
• It is proposed that the minimum ticket size be ₹10 lakh, which is equivalent to one-tenth of alternative investment products and one-fifth of PMS schemes.
• Retail investors will be discouraged from investing in the product by this threshold.
• This threshold will draw in investors having between ₹10 and ₹50 lakh in investible capital.
• The asset class will be available from MFs that have been in existence for three years and have an AUM of ₹10,000 crore.
• The minimum investment under this class has been decided at ₹10 lakh per investor.
• The asset class may also be offered by new or existing MFs that do not meet these requirements.
• They shall appoint a chief investment officer with ten years of experience who manages more than ₹5,000 crore in AUM.
• The asset class may be exposed to derivatives for reasons other than portfolio rebalancing and hedging. However, this would be subject to certain conditions.
• Services like systematic investment plan and systematic withdrawal plan will be available.

Topic: Indian Economy

9. ADB retained India’s FY25 GDP growth forecast to 7%.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its Asia Development Outlook, forecasted that India will grow by 7% with an inflation of 4.6% in 2025.
• India will remain the fastest-growing economy in this region.
• The ADB has predicted that India’s GDP will grow by 7.2% in 2025–26, with an average inflation rate of 4.5%.
• ADB has slightly raised its growth forecast for Asia and the Pacific for 2024 to 5 per cent from a previous projection of 4.9 per cent.
• India’s industrial sector is projected to grow robustly, driven by manufacturing and strong demand in construction.
• The latest forecast indicates a one-month delay in the La Nina climate pattern could impact the agriculture sector in India.
• Investment demand will remain strong, which will be led by public investment.
• In Asia and the Pacific region, inflation is forecast to slow down to 2.9 per cent this year.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

10. Government plans to launch the fourth phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

• Under the fourth phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, 50,000 habitations with a population above 250 in plain areas and 100 in special category states will be connected by roads.
• The step is part of the 100-day agenda of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
• The outlay of this phase of the scheme will be Rs 1.9 lakh crore, of which Rs 1.3 lakh crore will be the central share and the remaining 60,000 crore will be contributed by states.
• The main emphasis of this phase will be on improving connectivity to villages and habitation within 50 km of the national highway network.
• The first phase of PMGSY was launched on December 25, 2000, by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• The second phase of the scheme was launched in 2013, while the third phase was launched in 2019.
• PMGSY-IV and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) will give a push to investment and job creation in rural areas.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. The Best Ship of Eastern Fleet award presented to INS Delhi.

• At the annual "Fleet Awards Function-2024" held in Visakhapatnam, INS Delhi was selected as the best ship in the Eastern Fleet.
• On July 14, the event was held to acknowledge and celebrate the operational achievements of the Eastern Fleet during the past year.
• The Best Ship in Corvettes/ OPVs/ LSTs award was given to INS Kavaratti.
• While INS Shivalik, INS Sumedha and INS Sumitra were declared the most spirited ships of the Sunrise Fleet for having undertaken a variety of challenging missions in the last one year.
• The chief guest of the event was Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
• The event was hosted by Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet.

Topic: International Appointment

12. Roberta Metsola was re-elected Chief of the European Parliament.

• On 16 July, EU lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to give conservative Maltese politician Roberta Metsola another term as President of the European Parliament.
• Metsola was approved by a majority of EU parliamentarians to lead the EU Assembly for the next two and a half years, with 562 out of 623 supporting her reappointment.
• Metsola is a Maltese lawmaker who became the first woman in 20 years to lead the European Union Assembly in 2022.
• She is only the second president, after Germany's Martin Schulz, to win another term since the EU Parliament became a directly elected institution in 1979.

(Source: DD News)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

13. Government launched the ‘ASMITA' project to develop 22,000 books in Indian languages.

• The Union Ministry of Education and UGC launched the ASMITA project to produce 22,000 books in Indian languages in the next five years.
• The ASMITA (Augmenting Study Materials in Indian languages through Translation and Academic Writing) project has been launched by the secretary, Higher Education, Sanjay Murthy.
• It is one of several initiatives taken by the government to promote Indian languages in the education system.
• This project is a collaborative effort of the UGC and Bharatiya Bhasha Samit.
• The project aims to produce 1,000 books in 22 languages within five years.
• Under this initiative, 1,800 textbooks covering Arts, Science and Commerce streams will be produced by June 2025.
• 13 nodal universities have been identified to lead this project. The UGC has also created a standard Operating Process (SOP) for the book-writing process.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

14. Government launched India's first toll-free national anti-narcotics helpline number.

• The government has launched the helpline 1933 also known as 'MANAS' (Madak Padarth Nisedh Asuchna Kendra' or Narcotics Prohibition Intelligence Centre).
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched it during the seventh apex-level meeting of the Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD).
• It will allow people to tip off the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) about the illegal narcotics business and related issues.
• The helpline named MANAS aims to establish a user-friendly platform for every citizen to conveniently report drug-related matters 24×7.
• Amit Shah also inaugurated the NCB zonal office in Srinagar virtually. He also released NCB's 2023 annual report and compendium on “Nasha Mukt Bharat”.