NATIONAL NEWS

Nine National Highway Projects in Rajasthan

• Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of nine National Highway Projects in Rajasthan costing 1,357 crore rupees.

• 11 hundred crore rupees have been sanctioned for the repair of the Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh highway.
• An allocation of nine hundred crores in CRIF for Rajasthan and 700 crore rupees for the Setu Bandhan Scheme has been approved by the Central Government.
• About 77.90 km of Suratgarh-Sriganganagar section for 56.20 crore rupees is also a part of these projects.
• These include four National Highway projects in Jalore Sirohi Parliamentary Constituency costing 247 crore rupees.

Government of Haryana and Israel

• Israel and the Haryana government signed a joint declaration on integrated water resources management and capacity building.
• The joint declaration was signed by Ambassador Eynat Shlein, Head of MASHAV– Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel and the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Government of Haryana.
• Under the agreement, Israel will share advanced and cutting-edge water technologies and expertise with the government of Haryana and work closely with all our partners in India as we continue enhancing the strategic partnership between our two nations.
• With this, Haryana will improve public health in the region and cooperate and coordinate efforts to protect the water resources and Preserve water resources in public water areas.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UN Ocean Conference 2022

• A five day “2022 UN Ocean Conference” kicked off on 27 June 2022 in Lisbon.

• The Conference is being co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal.

• The theme for the conference is “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.”
• More than 130 countries are participating in the UN Ocean Conference.
• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh is leading the Indian delegation.
• Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goal relates to the water. It talks about conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

China Builds a Naval Facility in Cambodia

• China is building a naval facility in Cambodia that would help extend its military’s currently limited reach in foreign waters.
• With more than 350 vessels, Beijing commands the world’s largest naval fleet by comparison, the US Navy has 296 ships
• However, China currently has only one foreign naval base in Djibouti in East Africa.
• The project in Cambodia would give China a foothold in Southeast Asia and a position in the western region of the South China Sea, part of Beijing to grow its military influence worldwide.

BANKING

 EGI Launches Out-Of-Network Cash Advance Facility

• Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) has launched an out-of-network cash advance facility to help customers with monetary support at any hospital that is not part of EGI’s network.

• The launch of this service has been based on the insights gained from qualitative research conducted by EGI across 4 cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

• Under the new “Cash Advance” facility customers will receive money up to 10,000 to take care of admission charges or other expenses during the hospitalization.

India’s Mufin Finance-PPI Licence

• Mufin Finance, an India-based non-banking financial institution, has secured in-principal approval for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the issuance of semi-closed prepaid payment instruments (PPIs).

• The licence enables fintech firms, digital lender and large consumer-facing applications to launch digital payment solutions and other features that supports lending.

• The licence will enable the company to provide an array of complementing products for customers and build enhance partnerships with consumer firms and corporates.
• PPI act as a store of value against which goods and services can be purchased and used to transfer funds.
• It can be in the form of gift cards, payment wallets, smart cards and vouchers.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Report on India's Gig and Platform Economy

• NITI Aayog launched a report titled ‘India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy’.

• The report was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery, CEO Amitabh Kant and Special Secretary Dr. K Rajeswara Rao.

• The report is a first-of-its-kind study that presents comprehensive perspectives and recommendations on the gig–platform economy in India.
• The report provides a scientific methodological approach to estimate the current size and job-generation potential of the sector.
• It also highlights the opportunities and challenges of this emerging sector and presents global best practices on initiatives for social security and delineates strategies for skill development and job creation for different categories of workers in the sector.

Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D)

• The Ministry of Education released the first-ever Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20.

• The PGI-D index assesses the performance of the school education system at the district level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.

• Based on the success of State PGI, the PGI-D structure comprises a total weightage of 600 points across 83 indicators, which are grouped under 6 categories.
• The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) devised Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States.
• Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Jaipur of Rajasthan have emerged as the best performers in the index.

AI Adoption Index

• National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) have collaborated with Microsoft, Capgemini, Ernst & Young and EXL to develop the NASSCOM AI Adoption Index, the first-of-its-kind assessment in the India.

• The index has been designed to track and measure the degree of AI penetration in India.

• Considering the centrality of Artificial Intelligence as a technology and its contribution to India’s GDP, it is important to track, assess and monitor its adoption at the enterprise level.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

New Chairman of CBDT

• Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Nitin Gupta has been appointed as the new chairman of Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT).

• Nitin Gupta, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the 1986 batch of the Income Tax cadre, is serving as the Member (investigation) in the Board of CBDT.
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Nitin Gupta.
• The post of the CBDT chief was being held in an additional capacity by Board member and 1986-batch IRS officer Sangeeta Singh.
• The CBDT is headed by a chairman and have six members who are in the rank of special secretary. It is the administrative body for the Income Tax department.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA Launches First Rocket from Australia

• NASA has successfully launched a rocket from the Australian soil for the first time in 27 years.

• The suborbital sounding rocket successfully took off from the Arnhem Space Center in the Northern Territory (NT).
• The Arnhem Space Center is owned and operated by Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), which is aiming to host 50 launches a year by 2024.
• It marks the first time since 1995 that the US space agency has launched a rocket from Australia and its first-ever launch from a commercial launchpad on foreign soil.
• It will travel more than 300 km into space on its mission to observe the Alpha Centauri ‘A’ and ‘B’ constellations, the nearest star systems to the Earth.

Iran Launches a Solid-Fueled Rocket into Space

• Iran has launched a solid-fueled rocket into space named Zuljanah.

• Zuljanah, a 25.5-meter-long rocket, is capable of carrying a satellite of 220 kilograms that will ultimately gather data in low-earth orbit and promote Iran’s space industry.

• Zuljanah is named for the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

OBITUTARY

Business Tycoon Pallonji Mistry

• Business tycoon Pallonji Mistry, who headed the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, passed away at the age of 93.

• SP Group is the largest shareholder in the Tata Group with 18.37 percent holding in the $100 billion conglomerate.
• According to the latest Forbes Data, he had a net worth of over $13 billion, ranking at 143 worldwide.
• Pallonji Mistry had been felicitated with the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s top civilian awards in 2016.