08 July 2022 Current Affairs and Gk Updates in English

July 9, 2022
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Current Affairs in English

Important Days

World Chocolate Day 2022: 7th July 

World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 7 every year to commemorate the invention of chocolate. This special day allows people around the world to indulge in their favorite treat without any guilt.

The day also celebrates all kinds of goodies made from chocolate, including chocolate milk, hot chocolate, chocolate candy bar, chocolate cake, brownies, or anything covered in chocolate. World Chocolate Day was first celebrated in the year 2009.

However, some even believe that people started marking July 7 as International Chocolate Day because it was the day when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550.

National

PT Usha, Ilaiyaraaja among four nominated to Rajya Sabha 

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated four noted personalities from the southern states to the Rajya Sabha.

The move is being seen as the BJP’s attempt to make inroads into South India — the party’s final frontier that it still has to conquer.

Sports icon PT Usha, music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, spiritual leader Veerendra Heggade, and screenwriter KV Vijayendra Prasad were the four picks of the BJP for the Rajya Sabha.

Smriti Irani, Jyotiraditya Scindia get additional charges of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Steel 

Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been assigned additional charges of Minority Affairs and Ministry of Steel respectively after two Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.

Post their resignations, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by PM Modi, accepted the resignations of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh from the Union Council of Ministers. This is the first time two sitting ministers are out of both Houses of Parliament.

Appointments

Lt. General Mohan Subramanian was appointed as Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan 

India’s ​Lieutenant General, Mohan Subramanian has been appointed the Force Commander in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He succeeds Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar of India.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment on July 5. Almost 20,000 peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan to protect civilians and build durable peace in the conflict-affected country.

Agreements

Rashtriya Raksha University, DroneAcharya tie-up to set up Remote Pilot Training Centre 

Rashtriya Raksha University at Gandhinagar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Private Limited for setting up a Remote Pilot Training Centre for imparting drone flying skills.

This training will be imparted to the Police and security force personnel and citizens at RRU Campus near Gandhinagar.

According to official sources, this initiative is in accordance with the mission of the University to identify, prepare and sustain statecraft of national strategic and security culture among the security, police and civilian society.

Banking

SBI updates agreement with Air Force for a defense compensation package 

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Indian Air Force for the Defence Salary Package (DSP) plan has been extended, according to SBI.

All active-duty and former members of the Air Force, as well as their families, will be eligible for a number of advantages and features under this program from the nation’s largest lender.

The bank claimed that in the event of an Air Force member’s passing, the family of the dead would be given additional coverage for the female child’s wedding and education.

Useful Notes or All Competitive Exams:

  • State Bank of India (SBI) chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara
  • Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari

South Indian Bank tie-up with Kerala Forest & Wildlife Dept for digital payment collection 

The South Indian Bank has signed an agreement with Kerala’s Forest and Wildlife Department to enable digital collection of payments at eco-tourism centers, Vanasree shops, mobile Vanasree units, and eco-shops across the State.

The Forest Department has set up Vanasree shops and units with the objective of marketing forest products, conserving and managing biodiversity, protecting the rich and sensitive ecosystem, and uplifting the living standards of the tribals working in the area.

Useful Notes or All Competitive Exams:

  • South Indian Bank Headquarters: Thrissur;
  • South Indian Bank CEO: Murali Ramakrishnan (1 Oct 2020–);
  • South Indian Bank Founded: 29 January 1929.

Business

Irdai and NHA to develop National Health Claims Exchange to settle claims 

Irdai and National Health Authority (NHA) will develop a National Health Claims Exchange as a digital platform to settle health claims. The National Health Claims Exchange will be developed as a digital platform, for settling health claims.

Chairman of IRDAI, Debasish Panda, has also proposed the creation of a working group with representation from the industry. The working group will decide on how to attract more people to buy health insurance, by making it the largest segment of general insurance in India.

Useful Notes or All Competitive Exams:

  • IRDAI Founded: 1999;
  • IRDAI Headquarters: Hyderabad;
  • IRDAI Chairperson: Debasish Panda.

Summits and Conferences

Parshottam Rupala inaugurates India’s first-ever Animal Health Summit 

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala inaugurated First India Animal Health Summit 2022, he called for greater use of Ayurveda for ensuring better animal health.

First India Animal Health Summit 2022 was held at NASC Complex, New Delhi understanding the significance of animal health towards the broader objective of the country’s food and nutrition security, rural incomes and prosperity, and overall economic development.

“HariyaliMahotsav” to be organized by the Ministry of Environment 

Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change will be organizing “Hariyali Mahotsav” on 8th July 2022 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi in the spirit of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

The Mahotsav is being organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with the State Governments, Police Institutions, and Schools of Delhi for undertaking plantation drives on the occasion.

Hariyali Mahotsav, the “Tree Festival” is being organized to create awareness about the importance of trees in sustaining not only the life of the present generations but also to secure the future of forthcoming generations. Trees play an extremely important role in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.

PM to start the three-day symposium on implementing the NEP 

During his visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is anticipated to launch development projects worth more than Rs. 1,774 crores. He has been to the city twice in the last four months.

Nine topics designated for higher education in the National Education Policy 2020 will be the subject of panel discussions. Modi will also inaugurate the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam, which is being organized by the Union Education Ministry at the international cooperation and convention center Rudraksha.

Useful Notes or All Competitive Exams:

  • The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath
  • Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan
  • Chairman of the NEP: Dr. K. Kasturirangan
  • University Grants Commission (UGC) chairperson: M Jagadesh Kumar

Ranks and Reports

Indian-American Billionaire on Forbes’ List of America’s Richest Self-Made Women 

Indian-American Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks, an American computer networking company, and a member of the board of directors of Snowflake was ranked near the top of the 8th annual Forbes’ America’s Richest Self-Made Women, with a net worth of $1.7 billion as of May 2022.

The list, released in June 2022, ranks her at #15, below Alice Schwartz, co-founder of Bio-Rad Laboratories, and above reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

Other Indian American women who made it to the Forbes list are Neerja Sethi, co-founder of Syntel; Neha Narkhede, co-founder and former CTO of Confluent; former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, and Reshma Shetty, co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. Diane Hendricks, co-founder, and chairman of ABC Supply topped the list for the fifth year.

Science and Technology

NSUT: Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence inaugurated 

At Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology (NSUT), an artificial intelligence center was inaugurated. In his remarks at the Center’s opening, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said universities must abandon conventional thinking and adopt an innovative approach if they are to advance the nation.

According to Manish Sisodia, universities today take pride in having a Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence. It exhibits the lofty thinking of the young people leading the university and acting pro-actively.

Graphical processing units, workstations, data storage, and communication systems are available at the Centre of Excellence.

According to the government, the center now has a cutting-edge supercomputing system that includes a DGX A100 with 324 GB RAM and 8 GPUs, 100TB of storage, a smart rack, and high-speed switches, among other cutting-edge tools.

Useful Notes or All Competitive Exams:

  • Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi: Manish Sisodia

India’s first autonomous navigation facility “TiHAN” launched at IIT Hyderabad 

India’s first Autonomous Navigation facility, TiHAN inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh at the IIT Hyderabad campus.

Developed at a budget of Rs. 130 crores by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology, TiHAN (Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation) is a multidisciplinary initiative that will make India a global player in the futuristic and next-generation smart mobility technology.

India’s mobility sector is one of the world’s largest markets and the TiHAN – IITH will be the source of futuristic technology generation for autonomous vehicles.

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