NATIONAL NEWS 

Second Generation Ethanol Plant 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated to the nation the Second-Generation Ethanol Plant at Panipat in Haryana virtually. 

• The Second-Generation Ethanol plant will strengthen the effort to boost production and usage of biofuels in the country. 

• It will generate around 3 crore litres of Ethanol per annum. 

• It has been built at an estimated cost of over Rs.900 crore by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited. 

• Ethanol blending in petrol in the country increased to around 8 percent in the last 7 to 8 years. 

• With this country has saved at least 50 thousand crore rupees following the introduction of Ethanol blending process and the amount diverted to the farmers.   

• India’s first ethanol plant was inaugurated in Purnia, Bihar in April 2022. 

Extension of PMAY-Urban 

• Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) - Housing for All Mission till 31st December 2024.  

• Financial assistance is being provided for the completion of already sanctioned over 122 lakh houses till 31st March 2022.  

• It will help in completion of already sanctioned houses under Beneficiary Led Construction and Affordable Housing in Partnership. 

• The scheme is one of the major flagship programmes being implemented by Central Government to provide all-weather pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in the urban areas of the country through States, Union Territories and Central Nodal Agencies. 

• Central Assistance approved since 2015 is two lakh three thousand crore rupees against 20 thousand crore rupees in 2004-2014. 

The 22nd ‘Bharat Rang Mahotsav’ 

• The 22nd “Bharat Rang Mahotsav” was officially launched at Rabindra Natya Mandir in Mumbai by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. 

• The Union Ministry of Culture and P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Akademi in the city are working together to organize the five-day theatre festival as a homage to our liberation heroes. 

• From July 16 to August 14, 2022, 30 plays will be presented as a part of the 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav (Azadi Segment) in Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Mumbai. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

EC to host virtual Meet of Asian Regional Forum 

• The Election Commission will host a virtual meet of the Asian Regional Forum in New Delhi. 

• This Regional Forum meets on the theme of ‘Making our Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’. 

• It is a precursor to the Global Summit for Democracy to be hosted by the National Electoral Institute of Mexico in 2022.  

• The Global Summit and the Regional Forum meet aim at generating synergy amongst international organizations and electoral bodies from the world and promote intellectual and institutional mobilization to strengthen electoral democracy in the world. 

• Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey will head over the Asian Regional Forum meet.  

• It will have participation from Election Management Bodies of Mexico, Mauritius, Philippines, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Maldives and Representatives from Association of World Election Bodies and International Foundation for Electoral Systems.  

• The first session is on Inclusive Elections: Enhancing Participation of Youth, Gender and Citizens in Remote Areas which will be co-chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner from Mauritius and Nepal. 

3 Men Commission for World Peace 

• Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed a 3-men commission comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Pope Francis for global peace.  

• The Mexican President is planning to submit a written proposal to the UN to create the commission made up of three world leaders to promote a world truce for a period of five years.  

• The aim of the commission is to present a proposal to stop the wars around the world and reach an agreement to seek a treaty for at least five years. 

BANKING 

Indian Visa Centres in Bangladesh

• The State Bank of India (SBI) will run the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh for two more years.  

• The agreement to extend the operations for two more years was signed between the officials of the SBI and the High Commission of India in Dhaka. 

• The IVAC will also be starting a few additional services soon which include facilitation for online form filling and submission of forms, slot booking and launching of a mobile app.   

• SBI runs a total of 15 IVACs across Bangladesh. The first IVAC was started by SBI in 2005 in Dhaka. 

• The IVAC centre at the Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka was opened in 2018. It is the largest Indian visa application centre.   

• On average, the IVAC manages more than 5.5 thousand visa applications on a daily basis.   

One-stop Cash Management Proposition 

• Axis Bank becomes the first Indian bank to launch Axis Receivables Suite (ARS)-an innovative Cash Management proposition. 

• It simplifies Receivables reconciliation, accelerates cash flow, enhances the client experience and reduces the cost of doing business. 

• Using ARS, Axis Bank clients can customize and automate fully what has traditionally been a very time-consuming, costly, manual and error-prone activity. 

• Clients also benefit from knowing their upcoming and pending payments which give them real-time control over all their receivables. 

HDFC Partners with M1xchange 

• Private sector lender HDFC Bank has partnered with invoice discounting platform M1xchange to get onboard the Reserve Bank of India’s Trade receivables Discounting System (TReDS) mechanism to cater to MSMEs.  

• This move is expected to bring in high liquidity to buyer corporates and MSMEs at competitive interest rates. 

• HDFC Bank will benefit from partnering with M1xchange with shorter TAT and lower admin costs in booking additional New-to-Bank (NTB) corporate buyer relationships. 

• M1xchange has discounted invoices of over 11,000 MSMEs amounting to more than Rs 29,000 crore so far and aims to increase its footprint in digital factoring by 25 per cent to 30 percent in 2022. 

SPORTS 

ICC Women's T20I Rankings for Bowlers 

• Indian pacer Renuka Singh has moved to the 18th spot in the ICC Women's T20I Rankings for bowlers after finishing as the top wicket-taker in the Commonwealth Games 2022.  

• Renuka's 11 wickets have rewarded her with a top 20 entry for the first time.   

• She made a climb of 10 spots after this performance.  

• Australian opening batter Beth Mooney has regained the top spot for batters in the ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings.

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS 

Chief Minister of Bihar 

• Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the 8th time. 

• RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will also take oath as the deputy Chief minister. 

• Nitish Kumar is the second longest serving Chief Minister of Bihar with this term extending up to 8 years and 117 Days from 24 November 2005 to 20 May 2014.   

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 

Russia Launches Iranian Satellite 

• Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying an Iranian remote sensing satellite Khayyam, into orbit from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. 

• It’s named after Omar Khayyam, a Persian scientist who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries. 

• Iran has stated that the satellite fitted with a high-resolution camera will be used for environmental monitoring and will remain fully under its control. 

• The satellite would provide high-resolution surveillance images with a one-meter-per-pixel definition. 

• It is designed to conduct scientific research, test inter-satellite communications channels technology, measure the level of electromagnetic radiation and carry out Earth’s remote probing and environmental monitoring. 

BOOKS & AUTHORS 

A new Book ‘Field Guide, Birds of India’ 

• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has published a book titled ‘Field Guide, Birds of India’. 

• It deals with 1,331 avian species found in the country. 

• Director of ZSI Dhriti Banerjee announced that it highlights quality photographs of birds unlike other books that mainly used drawings. 

• The ZSI organized two activities to advertise the book “Field Guide, Birds of India.” One occurred in Kolkata and a second will take place in Mumbai. 

• The writers of the book spoke with local birders and explained their motivation for writing this book to them. 

IMPORTANT DAYS 

World Biofuel Day 

• World biofuels day is observed every year on 10th August to honour the inventor of the diesel engine.   

• It is to create awareness of the non-fossil fuel against the conventional fossil fuel among the people for a better environment.   

• World Biofuel Day is celebrated on August 10 in memory of Sir Rudolf Diesel, the creator of the diesel engine. 

• It is being observed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas since 2015. 

World Lion Day 

• World Lion Day is being observed every year 0n 10 August.  

• The day aims to spread awareness about lions and the urgent need to strive for their conservation. 

• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that Asiatic Lions population has shown a steady increase with an increased rate of nearly 29 per cent.  

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” with an aim to protect and conserve lions. 

• First World Lion Day was observed in 2013 to safeguard lions in their natural environment. 

OBITUTARY 

Former Athlete PV Kamaraj 

• Former International athlete P. V. Kamaraj Passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was at the age of 68. 

• He was part of the Indian 4x400m relay team that won bronze in the 1979 Asian championships in Tokyo. 

• He retired as a Chief Reservation Officer with the Indian Railways and had contributed immensely to athletics in Tiruchi. 

• He was represented as part of the Tamil Nadu team and has won a host of medals (including gold, silver, and bronze) in 400m hurdles in National inter-state meets and Open Nationals from 1977-80. 

• He was a NIS-trained coach and had trained the Tamil Nadu state team for several years. 

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author David McCullough 

• Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author and renowned historian David McCullough passed away in Hingham, Massachusetts of United States. He was at the age of 89. 

• He was an American author, narrator, popular historian and lecturer. 

• His first book was The Johnstown Flood (1968). 

• He wrote nine more on such topics as Harry S. Truman, John Adams (2001), Theodore Roosevelt, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal and the Wright brothers (2015). 

• McCullough won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for Truman. 

• In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the United States’ highest civilian awards.