Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finally issued the Retail Direct scheme to bring investments from individual investors into government securities on 12th July 2021. The scheme is a one-stop solution to facilitate investment in government securities (G-secs) by individual investors. Under this scheme retail investors can open and maintain a Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) account with the RBI free of cost through the dedicated online portal for this scheme.
Government securities (G-secs) These are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money. The two key categories are treasury bills – short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and dated securities – long-term instruments, which mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years. Sources : The Hindu
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Wimbledon 2021 Men’s Singles title won by Novak Djokovic(Serbia) against first-time finalist Matteo Berrettini(Italy).
About Wimbledon Championships Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877. Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, which is the traditional tennis playing surface. Sources : The Hindu The giant panda has just been downgraded from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the global list of species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced the positive change to the giant panda’s official status in the Red List of Threatened Species.
Sources : Worldwidelife Union Minister for Finance participated virtually in the Third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting under the Italian Presidency. The two-day meeting held from 9th to 10th July 2021. The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors reaffirmed their resolve to use all available policy tools for as long as required to address the adverse consequences of COVID-19.
About G20 Established : 1999 The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union. G20 founded in 1999 with the aim to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. Sources : PIB All BRICS countries agreed to the STI-led BRICS Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24). The proposed plan facilitate sharing of experiences of each other’s innovation ecosystem and networking of innovators and entrepreneurs. The Action Plan will be worked by BRICS Science, Technology Innovation Entrepreneurship partnership (STIEP) Working Group.
About STI-led BRICS Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24) he STI-led BRICS Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2021-24) proposed by India during 12th Meeting of BRICS S&T Steering Committee. Sources : PIB The India Industrial Land Bank (IILB) is a GIS-based portal - a one-stop repository of all industrial infrastructure-related information – connectivity, infra, natural resources & terrain, plot-level information etc. Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectare of land, serving as a decision support system for investors. The system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states to have details on the portal updated on a real-time basis and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021.
Sources : PIB The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance on 9th July 2021 released the 3rd monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs. 9,871 crore for the year 2021-22 to 17 States. The States recommended for Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant The eligibility of States to receive this grant and the quantum of grant was decided by the Finance Commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the State. The Centre provides the Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the States under Article 275 of the Constitution. The 15th Finance Commission has recommended Post Devolution Release Deficit grants to 17 States. Sources : PIB India and the UK held the inaugural meeting of the India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue virtually on 9th July 2021. The Dialogue began with a government to government discussion on four themes:
About India-UK Financial Markets Dialogue The Dialogue was established at the 10th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in October 2020 to deepen bilateral ties in the financial sector. Financial Cooperation is one of the key pillars of the 2030 Roadmap adopted by the two countries during the recent meeting of the two Prime Ministers and the India-UK Financial Market Dialogue is one of the key elements of this Financial Cooperation. As two services driven economies, both sides agreed there is significant scope for strengthened financial services cooperation between India and the UK. Sources : PIB The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister of India on 8th July 2021 approved the Memorandum on Cooperation (MoC) between Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) to promote and strengthen cooperation in the matter of Competition Law and Policy.
Competition Commission of India(CCI) Competition Commission of India is the competition regulator in India. It is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 and promoting competition throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. Sources : PIB This joint report between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WWF released on 8th July 2021 with titled 'A future for all - the need for human-wildlife coexistence', reveals that globally conflict-related killing affects more than 75% of the world’s wild cat species as well as many other terrestrial and marine carnivore species such as polar bears and Mediterranean monk seals, and large herbivores such as elephants.
Human-wildlife conflict is as much a development and humanitarian issue as it is a conservation concern affecting the income of farmers, fishers, and Indigenous peoples particularly those living in poverty and without resilience; interfering with access to water for communities competing with wildlife for local water sources. Sources : UNEP The government has brought Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) under the Finance Ministry to give it with a gazette notification on 6th July 2021. Earlier Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) was part of Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Now with Cabinet Secretariat notification dated July 6, 2021 Ministry of Finance has
Sources : The Hindu Education Ministers from the five BRICS countries virtually signed a joint declaration on 6th July 2021 with the resolve to further strengthen their academic and research collaboration in higher education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). In the 8th meeting of BRICS education Ministers that was held as part of the 13th BRICS Summit being hosted by India. Two Themes adopted in 8th BRICS Education Ministers is
Sources : PIB Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying on 6th July 2021 launched the Online Course Mobile App “Matsya Setu”. The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar. The online course app aims to disseminate the latest freshwater aquaculture technologies to the aqua farmers of the country.
About Matsya Setu App Matsya Setu app has subject-wise self-learning online course modules, where renowned aquaculture experts explain the basic concepts and practical demonstrations on breeding, seed production and grow-out culture of commercially important fishes like carp, catfish, scampi, murrel, ornamental fish, pearl farming etc. Sources : PIB Host Country : Kenya
India is participated in the multi-national maritime exercise Cutlass Express 2021 (CE 21), being conducted from 26th Jul 2021 to 6th Aug 2021 in Kenya. Exercise Cutlass Express is designed to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness and information sharing practices to increase capabilities between the U.S., East African and Western Indian Ocean nations to counter illicit maritime activity in the Western Indian Ocean. National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA) has approved the conversion of the Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary in Rajasthan’s Bundi district into the fourth tiger reserve on 6th July 2021. Apart from Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary three tiger reserve in the state are
Sources : Times of India In a historic move, a separate ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been created by the Government on 6th July 2021 for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’. This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. It will help deepen Co-operatives as a true people based movement reaching upto the grassroots. The Ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enable development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).
Sources : PIB The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook provides an assessment of the prospects of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets over the coming decade. The baseline projections for production, consumption, stocks, trade and prices for cereals, oilseeds and oilseed products, roots & tubers, pulses, sugar, meat, dairy products, fish, cotton, biofuels and tropical fruits cover the years 2021 to 2030.
Sources : FAO U.S. and NATO troops vacated their main Bagram Air Base, from where the coalition forces led operations for two decades against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan.
About Bagram Air Base Bagram Air Base was the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, 11 kilometres southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. Sources : The Hindu The first production lot of 12 Short Span Bridging System (SSBS)-10 m designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is inducted into Indian Army. The SSBS-10 m plays a crucial role of bridging the gaps up to 9.5 m as a single span providing a 4 m wide, fully decked roadway, ensuring faster movement of the troops.
About Bridging System devloped by DRDO The DRDO has vast experience in developing Military Bridging Systems. Number of mechanised mobility solutions for the Indian Army like Single Span 5 m and 10 m, Short Span Bridging System, 46 m Modular Bridge and multi span 75 m Sarvatra Bridging System etc. Sources : PIB U.S State Department's "Trafficking in Persons Report 2021" published on 2nd July 2021. Six countries were downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 are Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland. Two nations Guinea-Bissau and Malaysia were added to the Tier 3. The United States may restrict foreign assistance to Tier 3 nations subject to presidential approval.
About India in "Trafficking in Persons Report June 2021" While retaining India in the Tier 2 category, the Trafficking in Persons Report June 2021 said that the Government of India has demonstrated "overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity". About Trafficking in Persons Report Published by : U.S. State Department The Trafficking in Persons Report, or the TIP Report, is an annual report issued by the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking. It is also the world’s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. Government’s commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue. Sources : US State Department Majority of the members OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting(including India)adopted 1st July 2021. The proposed solution consists of two components-
About Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax. Working together within OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), 139 countries and jurisdictions are collaborating on the implementation of 15 measures to tackle tax avoidance, improve the coherence of international tax rules and ensure a more transparent tax environment. Sources : PIB Union Education Minister on 1st July 2021 released the Report on United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 for School Education in India. As per the UDISE+ report 2019-20, Gross Enrolment Ratio at all levels of school education has improved in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19. Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) has improved at all levels of school education. The UDISE+ report shows a remarkable improvement in the number of schools with functional electricity, with functional computers, internet facility in 2019-20 over the previous year.
About UDISE+ system Published by : Department of School Education & Literacy The UDISE+ system of online data collection from the schools was developed in the year 2018-19 to overcome the issues related to manual data filling in paper format and subsequent feeding at the block or district level, which was in practice in the UDISE data collection system from 2012-13. The present publication relates to UDISE+ data for the reference year 2019-20. Sources : PIB Established : 2008
7th Edition Host Country : France The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a biennial event, was hosted by the French Navy at La Reunion from 28th June to 1st July 2021. IONS Seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region(IOR) by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to common understanding on the way ahead. The symposium was first held in 2008 with India as host. Sources : PIB The Reserve Bank released the 23rd issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). According to Report Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) of banks may rise to 9.8 per cent by March 2022 under a baseline scenario, from 7.48 per cent in March 2021, according to the Financial Stability Report (FSR) released by the Reserve Bank of India.
About Financial Stability Report (FSR) of RBI The Reserve Bank of India biannually releases the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). Sources : RBI National Doctors’ Day celebrated on 1st July every year in the memory of Doctor BC Roy, is the symbol of the highest ideals of our medical fraternity. In 1991, the Government of India defined a special day to recognise the contributions of BC Roy, an Indian physician as well as a freedom fighter.
About Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy was an Indian physician, educationist, philanthropist, freedom fighter and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1948 until his death in 1962. Sources : PIB |
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