PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the Co-WIN Global Conclave
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated and addressed the CoWin Global Conclave, virtually. The global meet was participated by representatives from 142 countries. The Conclave was jointly organized by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and National Health Authority (NHA) with an objective to extend the Co-WIN platform as a digital public good to the world.
About the Conclave:
- India has offered its indigenously developed cloud-based CoWIN platform to be made open-source so that it is available to any and all countries.
- The CoWin Global Conclave served as a platform to share India’s learnings and experiences with regards to planning, strategizing and executing the world’s largest vaccination drive through Co-WIN.
Flipkart partners with PhonePe to digitise cash-on-delivery payment
Digital payments platform PhonePe has partnered with Flipkart to launch a contactless ‘Scan and Pay’ feature for Flipkart’s pay-on-delivery orders. Using PhonePe’s QR code solution, the Flipkart customers who earlier opted for cash on delivery can pay digitally through any UPI app at the time of delivery.
While on one hand, the new feature will help in reducing personal contact as well as ensure safety, on the other hand, it will drive contactless payments for customers who are traditionally more comfortable with cash on delivery.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Flipkart headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- Flipkart CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
- CEO of Phonepe: Sameer Nigam
- Headquarters location of Phonepe: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
RBI announces change in Government securities auction methodology
The Reserve Bank of India has announced a change in Government securities auction methodology for benchmark securities. They noted in the latest update that on a review of market conditions and market borrowing program of the government, it has been decided that benchmark securities of tenor 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year, 14-year tenor and Floating Rate Bonds (FRBs) will be, henceforth, issued using the uniform price auction method.
For other benchmark securities i.e. 30-year and 40-year, the auction will continue to be multiple price-based auctions, as hitherto. The above arrangement will continue till further review, note the bank.
About the Uniform Price auction:
In a Uniform Price auction, all the successful bidders are required to pay for the allotted quantity of securities at the same rate, i.e., at the auction cut-off rate, irrespective of the rate quoted by them.
About the Multiple Price auction:
In a Multiple Price auction, the successful bidders are required to pay for the allotted quantity of securities at the respective price/yield at which they have bid.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
52nd IFFI to be held in November 2021 in Goa
The 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held in Goa from 20th -28th November 2021. The regulations and poster for the 52nd IFFI were released by Hon’ble Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shri Prakash Javadekar.
On the occasion of the birth centenary of the maestro of Indian cinema Shri Satyajit Ray, the “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema” has been instituted from this year to be given at the IFFI every year starting from this year.
Ministry of Education launches NIPUN Bharat Programme
Union Minister for Education, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has launched NIPUN Bharat programme. The aim of the NIPUN programme is that every child in India gets foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27. NIPUN stands for National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy.
This Mission, which has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha, will focus on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling; teacher capacity building; development of high quality and diversified Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials; and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes.
To help this scheme achieve its objective, teachers will play an important role. In view of the challenges of in-service teacher training across the different stages of school education, NCERT has designed an innovative integrated programme of teacher training, now, popularly known as NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads‟ and Teachers‟ Holistic Advancement).
Army inducts 10m bridging system developed by DRDO
The Army inducted the first production lot of 12 Short Span Bridging System (SSBS)-10m, designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with Larsen & Toubro Limited, the production agency. The SSBS-10m plays a crucial role of bridging the gaps up to 9.5m as a single span providing a 4m wide, fully decked roadway, ensuring faster movement of the troops.
About the SSBS-10m:
- The project involved the development of two prototypes of 5m SSBS on Tatra 6×6 chassis and another two prototypes of 10m SSBS on Tatra 8×8 re-engineered chassis.
- This bridging system is compatible with the Sarvatra bridging system (75 m), where the last span required covering gaps less than 9.5 m.
- The DRDO has developed a range of bridges for the Army that have already been inducted.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
- DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.
- DRDO Established: 1958.
DRDO gives licence to Laurus Labs to make & market 2-DG
Hyderabad-based pharma player Laurus Labs has received a licence from the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) for manufacturing and marketing Covid-19 drug 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG) in India. The licence to Laurus Labs has been granted by DRDO as part of efforts to make the drug affordable and accessible to patients.
DRDO had recently invited expression of interest (EoI) from other pharma companies for manufacturing this drug and had said it would grant licences to 15 companies on a first-come, first-served basis. Meanwhile, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research institution Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) has been licencing the know-how for 2-DG synthesis to other companies, including Lee Pharma, Suven Pharma, Anthem Biosciences and Nosch Labs.
A book titled ‘The Fourth Lion: Essays for Gopalkrishna Gandhi’
A book titled ‘The Fourth Lion: Essays for Gopalkrishna Gandhi’ authored by Venu Madhav Govindu and Srinath Raghavan. The book consists of twenty-six essays contributed by individuals drawn from various walks of life and from across the globe.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi has been an administrator, diplomat, author, and public intellectual of distinction for over four decades. His writings have spanned diverse genres, showcasing both his deep scholarship as well as a profound engagement with issues of politics, history, literature, and culture.
President Kovind appoints new Governors for eight states
President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has appointed new Governors for eight states. The new governors have been appointed for states including Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Tripura, Jharkhand, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh. While some of the current governors have been transferred to new states, in some others new appointments have been made.
Complete list of new governors:
| SI.no | State | New Governor |
| 1. | Karnataka | Thawarchand Gehlot |
| 2. | Madhya Pradesh | Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel |
| 3. | Mizoram | Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati |
| 4. | Himachal Pradesh | Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar |
| 5. | Goa | P.S. Sreedharan Pillai |
| 6. | Tripura | Satyadev Narayan Arya |
| 7. | Jharkhand | Ramesh Bais |
| 8. | Haryana | Bandaru Dattatraya |
KVIC project ‘BOLD’ to boost tribal income
KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission) has launched Project BOLD (Bamboo Oasis on Lands in Draught), a first-of-its-kind exercise, to create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones. It is the first of its kind exercise in India which was launched from the tribal village Nichla Mandwa in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Under the project, 5000 saplings of special bamboo species i.e. Bambusa Tulda and Bambusa Polymorpha have been planted over 16 acres approx. of vacant arid Gram Panchayat land.
Why to choose bamboo?
- Bamboo grows very fast and can be harvested within 3 years.
- They are famous for conserving water and reducing water evaporation from the land, making it perfect to grow in arid regions.
What is bamboo?
These are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants. Although it appears like a tree, taxonomically, it is grass. In India, North-eastern states grow around 70% of the country’s total bamboo production.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- KVIC Founded: 1956;
- KVIC Headquarters: Mumbai;
- KVIC Chairperson: Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Mary Kom, Manpreet Singh to be India’s flag-bearers at Tokyo Olympics
MC Mary Kom, the six-time world boxing champion, and Manpreet Singh, the men’s hockey team skipper, will be India’s flag-bearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, announced Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Bajrang Punia, a silver medallist at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships, will be the flag-bearer at the closing ceremony on August 8.
In a first, India is having two flag-bearers — one male and one female — at the upcoming Tokyo Games to ensure “gender parity”. The IOA has communicated the decision in this regard to the Organising Committee of the Games.
James Anderson claims 1000th first-class wicket
Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson has added another feather to his cap as he completed 1000 wickets in first-class cricket. Anderson achieved the rare feat during Lancashire’s County Championship clash against Kent in Manchester. Anderson is the leading wicket-taker among pacers in Test cricket. In 162 Tests, the England great has claimed 617 wickets at an average of 26.67 with 30 five-fors and three 10-wicket match hauls.
Anderson is only the 14th player to claim 1,000 first-class wickets this century and only the fifth among pacers. Andy Caddick, Martin Bicknell, Devon Malcolm and Wasim Akram were the other pace bowlers to cross the 1000-wicket landmark before Anderson.
WAKO India Kickboxing Federation gets Government recognition
The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has decided to grant recognition to WAKO India Kickboxing Federation as National Sports Federation (NSF) for promotion and development of the Kickboxing sport in India. To be fully included and accepted in the Olympic movement is important for the recognition and development of the sport of kickboxing.
It is expected that with government recognition of WAKO India Kickboxing Federation as NSF, the sport of kickboxing will develop at a faster pace in the country. WAKO have been a provisionally recognized member of the IOC Since 30 November 2018. The full recognition of WAKO will be finally decided by the IOC Session in Tokyo in July 2021.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports: Kiren Rijiju.
