Daily Current Affairs and GK | 2 July 2022

Topic: International Appointments

1. Indian origin T Raja Kumar becomes the new President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

• T Raja Kumar will focus on improving the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures.
• He succeeded Dr Marcus Pleyer and will serve for a two-year term.
• Prior to this, he was serving as the Senior Advisor (International) in the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore.
• He has held many key positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore.
• Financial Action Task Force:
  • It is a global watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing.
  • It was established in 1989 to create policies to deal with money laundering. The financing of terrorism was also included in 2001.
  • It is headquartered in Paris, France.
  • India became an Observer at FATF in 2006 and became a full-time member in 2010.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International Appointments

2. Yair Lapid became the 14th Prime Minister of Israel.

• Yair Lapid became the caretaker Prime Minister. He has taken place of Naftali Bennett.
• Israel’s Parliament got dissolved and now the elections will be held on 1 November. It will be the fifth election in less than four years.
• Naftali Bennett said that he will not participate in the next parliamentary elections. Naftali Bennett’s term was the shortest in the history of Israel.
• Yair Lapid said that he looks forward to further strengthening the bilateral partnership between India and Israel.
• Israel:
  • It is a country in Western Asia.
  • Its capital is Jerusalem and the currency is the Israeli shekel.
  • Isaac Herzog is the current President.
  • It is governed by a multi-party parliamentary system.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

3. Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Management Shillong (IIMS).

• This partnership aims to promote startups, incubation, and entrepreneurship in the North-Eastern Region (NER).
• The institutes will work together and exchange information and resources to assist professional growth in the fields of management, entrepreneurship, and skill development.
• Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE):
  • It was established by the then Ministry of Industries (now the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) in 1993 in Guwahati.
  • It works as an autonomous national institute for undertaking training, research, and consultancy activities in small and micro enterprises with a focus on entrepreneurship development.
• Indian Institute of Management Shillong (IIMS):
  • It was founded in 2007 and is the seventh Indian Institute of Management in the country.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

4. National Chartered Accountants Day 2022: 1 July

• In India, July 1 is celebrated as National Chartered Accountants Day.
• The day commemorates the foundation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on July 1, 1949.
• Indian Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI):
  • It is a statutory body established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, owned by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
  • It is the second largest professional accounting and finance body in the world in terms of members.
  • The ICAI is the only organization in the country that issues licenses and regulations for the financial auditing and accounting professions.
  • It is headquartered in New Delhi. Its President is Dr. Debashis Mitra.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

5. BESCOM has developed a mobile app named EV Mitra.

• The EV Mitra mobile app has been developed by the Bengaluru Electricity Company BESCOM to provide information about EV charging stations in Bengaluru.
• Earlier, BESCOM had introduced the EV Jagruthi Web portal, which was a joint project of NITI Ayog and the United Kingdom.
• The website provides information about the availability of electric vehicles, incentives, support mechanisms, and state government initiatives related to electric mobility.
• In Bengaluru, BESCOM has launched 136 charging stations, and another 152 such stations will be started soon.
• From July 1st to July 6th, EV Abhiyan will be conducted for a week, and from July 1st to July 3rd, EV Expo will be conducted.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Miscellaneous

6. Ravi Shastri became the new brand ambassador of the FanCode.

• FanCode is the top digital sports destination in India and is dedicated to providing each fan with a fully personalized experience in terms of Sports Content, Commerce, and Statistics.
• Other brand ambassadors:
  • Actor Shahid Kapoor has been appointed as PokerBaazi.com's brand ambassador.
  • Nykaa has appointed Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar as its brand ambassador to launch its new campaign 'As Good as Nyk.'
  • General insurance company Go Digit has appointed Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador to launch its new brand campaign 'Do the Digit Digit'.
  • Kareena Kapoor Khan has been appointed as the brand ambassador for the mattress company Springfit.

Topic: Defence

7. DRDO successfully carried out the maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator.

• Maiden flight was successfully carried out from Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka on July 01, 2022.
• It is designed and developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru.
• The aircraft operated in a fully autonomous mode. It is powered by a small turbofan engine.
• The aircraft's airframe, as well as its entire flight control and avionics systems, are developed indigenously.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

8. UP government will issue cards to each and every family as a major step towards eradicating unemployment in Uttar Pradesh.

• These cards will be known as Family Cards. Through these cards, the government will identify the families without any government job or any kind of employment.
• The government will give jobs, employment or self-employment to at least one member of such families.
• UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath distributed a loan of 16 thousand crore rupees to 1.90 lakh artisans and small entrepreneurs at a function in Lucknow.
• CM Yogi said that the government will soon come up with an action plan to connect one person from every family with a job, employment or self-employment.
• Uttar Pradesh:
  • It is the most populous state in India and ranks 4^th in terms of area. Its capital is Lucknow.
  • The Chief Minister of the state is Yogi Adityanath and Governor is Anandiben Patel.
  • Deputy CMs: Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya

Topic: Indian Economy

9. India’s external debt grown $47.1 bn in FY22.

• India’s external debt increased by 8.2 percent to $620.7 billion in FY 22 as compared to the previous year.
• According to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India, short-term debt has risen by 20% but the Debt-GDP ratio has declined to 19.9% from 21.2 per cent.
• The long-term debt has grown by 5.6 per cent and stood at $499 billion. The share of short-term debt in total external debt has increased to 19.6%.
• The ratio of short-term debt to foreign exchange reserves has increased to 20 per cent (17.5 per cent at the end of March 2021) by end-March 2022.
• US dollar-denominated debt remains the largest component of India’s external debt. It is followed by the Indian rupee-denominated debt (31.2 per cent), SDR (6.6 per cent), yen (5.4 per cent), and the euro (2.9 per cent).
• Debt service (i.e., principal repayments and interest payments) has declined from 8.2 per cent in March 2021 to 19.9 per cent in March 2022.
• The share of outstanding debt of non-financial corporations in total external debt was the highest at 40.3 per cent, followed by deposit-taking corporations (except the central bank) (25.6 per cent), general government (21.1 per cent) and other financial corporations (8.6 per cent).
• External debt means money borrowed from a source outside the country. Government and corporations are eligible to borrow loans from abroad.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

10. RBI released the 25^th edition of the Financial Stability Report.

• As per the report, the Indian economy remains on the path of recovery even after the global challenges. Inflationary pressures, external spillovers and geopolitical risk will be the key challenges to the Indian Economy.
• Banks, as well as financial institutions, have sufficient capital buffers. The capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of scheduled commercial banks has increased by 16.7 percent.
• According to this report, the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio has fallen down to a six-year low of 5.9%.
• The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of all scheduled commercial banks could reach 5.3 per cent by March 2023.
• The global economic prospect is clouded in uncertainty due to the war in Europe, high inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
• The Financial Stability Report is the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council. It reflects the risk to financial stability and the resilience of the financial system.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

11. India’s first national coalition platform for urban nature-based solutions has been launched during the 11th World Urban Forum in Poland.

• The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) Climate Centre for Cities (NIUA C-Cube) in association with World Resources Institute India (WRI India) has launched India’s first national coalition platform for urban nature-based solutions (NbS).
• It has been launched under the ‘Cities4Forests’ initiative and is supported by the Caterpillar Foundation, the Department of Environment of the United Kingdom and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).
• Its main objective is to attract investment and strengthen delivery mechanisms through multi-stakeholder coordination.
• It will also try to bring urban ecosystem-based services and nature-based solutions into the mainstream through informing policy, plans and project interventions.
• Ecosystem-based services and Nature-Based Solutions are the most effective and sustainable ways to resolve climate change challenges.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

12. NITI Aayog released a report titled ‘Harnessing Green Hydrogen — Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India’.

• This report has been created in association with Delhi-based think tank RMI India.
• NITI Aayog in its report recommends the reduction or exemption of GST and customs duties on green hydrogen production.
• It also proposed to set up green hydrogen corridors and provide financial support to startups working on green hydrogen solutions.
• The report states that "There is a need to develop three hydrogen corridors across the country".
• As per this report, the government should focus on ways to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production in India.
• NITI Aayog also suggested bringing investment through demand aggregation and dollar-based bidding for green hydrogen.
• According to this report, India’s hydrogen demand could increase by more than four-fold times by 2050.
• The government should support entrepreneurs in the field of Green hydrogen through incubators and investor networks.
• Green hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

13. Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released its annual complaints report.

• According to the annual Complaint Insights 2021-22 report, 33% of the “objectionable or misleading” advertisements were found to be from the education sector.
• ASCI is planning to study all advertisements of edtech companies.
• According to this report, 16 per cent of the misleading ads were from the health sector while 11 per cent were from the personal care sector.
• Around 8 per cent of the complaints were from newer categories like crypto and gaming and the food and beverage sector.
• As per the report, ASCI processed 5,532 ads across print, digital, and television. It is 62% more than the previous year.
• Complaints against advertisements have also increased by 25%.

Topic: Important Days

14. National Doctor’s Day: 1 July

• National Doctors' Day is celebrated every year on 1 July. It was first observed in 1991.
• National Doctor’s Day is celebrated to mark both the birth and death anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy on 1 July.
• The theme for National Doctors' Day 2022 is “Family Doctors on the Front Line”.
• Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy played an important role in the establishment of the Medical Council of India and the Indian Medical Association.
• It is observed to show gratitude to all those doctors who work tirelessly for the health of their patients.