NATIONAL NEWS

Google Launched Startup School India

• Google launched the ‘Startup School India’ initiative which aims to gather relevant information on startup building into a systematic curriculum to help 10,000 startups in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• It also aims to organize accumulated knowledge into a structured curriculum to enable startups in small cities to overcome various challenges.
• It will ba a nine-week virtual programme and will involve chats between Google leaders and collaborators from across the startup ecosystem.
• Topics covered will include fintech, language, social media and networking, job search and business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce.

Remote Pilot Training Centre

• Rashtriya Raksha University at Gandhinagar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Private Limited.
• They signed MoU for setting up a Remote Pilot Training Centre for imparting drone flying skills in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• This training will be imparted to the Police and security force personnel and citizens at RRU Campus near Gandhinagar.
• It will be set up under the Public-Private Partnership model.
• The training is primarily designed for personnel of Armed Forces, Paramilitary and Police Force, but also offers programmes for citizens willing to acquire the skill.

Tamil Nadu Government Partners with IGSS Ventures

• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Tamil Nadu and the Singapore-based M/s. IGSS Ventures Pte Ltd to construct a 300-acre semiconductor high-tech park.

• It would be constructed with an investment of 2560crores rupees.

• the project is anticipated to directly employ more than 5,000 people over the next five years.
• IGSS Ventures will contribute to Project Surya and the India Semiconductor Mission, both of which aim to reduce air pollution and global warming, by cooking with renewable energy.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

First Campus-Based IT Business Incubator

• In a major step towards boosting the startup sector in Bangladesh, the first campus-based IT business incubator was opened at Chattogram, Bangladesh.
• It was opened at the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.
• The facility named ‘Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator’ was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
• The facility has been built over an area of 4.7 acre with a cost of Taka 113 crore.
• The incubator will provide a complete and innovative eco-system for startups in Bangladesh.
• An Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab, a machine learning lab, an optical fibre backbone, a substation and a solar panel are also being set up.
• The incubator will also provide assistance to university graduates to develop themselves as entrepreneurs.

BANKING

Edelweiss General Insurance Launches Motor Insurance

• Edelweiss General Insurance has launched SWITCH, a comprehensive motor insurance product.

• It has been launched under Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority's (IRDAI) Sandbox initiative.
• SWITCH is a completely digital, mobile telematics-based motor policy.
• The app detects motion and automatically activates insurance when the vehicle is driven, making it convenient and hassle-free for customers.
• This usage-based model measures not only the quantity but also the quality of driving and calculates premium.
• It is the only on-demand motor product in the country that places complete control in the hands of customers.

Samunnati Enters Partnership with SBI

• Open Agri network Samunnati has entered into a co-lending partnership with State Bank of India (SBI) to expand its outreach to Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).

• Initially, under this partnership, the lending amount would be Rs 100 crore.
• SBI and Samunnati have also entered into a non-financial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the FPO sector, to mainstream FPO as an asset class and increase awareness of this class of farmer-owned institutions in the banking sector.

PNB Signs MoU with Indian Air Force

• Punjab National Bank (PNB), nation’s leading Public Sector Bank, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• It is to provide specially designed products to the defence personnel under the bank’s flagship scheme of ‘PNB Rakshak Plus’.

• This scheme includes personal accidental insurance, air accidental insurance to serving, retired and trainees of the defence forces, central armed police forces, state police force, metro police and retired defence pensioners.

RBI’s DICGC to Pay Depositors of Two Co-Operative Banks

• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) will pay the eligible depositors of Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Sahakari Bank, Ichalkaranji and Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank, Wai in Aug 2022.

• Eligible depositors of Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Sahakari Bank will get the payment on 10 August 2022 and Harihareshwar Sahakari Bank on 28 August 2022.

• DICGC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI, provides an insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh on bank deposits.
• Depositors of the 2 Maharashtra-based banks will get the amount credited to the alternate bank account specified by them, or on their consent, to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Forbes List of top Self-made Women Billionaires

• According to Forbes’ 8th annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women, Jayshree ullal, the president and CEO of Arista Networks, a computer networking firm is one of only five Indian-Americans on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women.

• With a net of $2.1 billion in 2022, Indian origin Ullal ranks 15th on the Forbes list.

• Diane Hendricks, co-founder and chairman of ABC supply has topped the Forbes list.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to Take Role of G20

• Amitabh Kant, the former CEO of Niti Aayog, will be becoming the new Sherpa for G-20.

• Kant will replace Union Minister Piyush Goyal who is likely to step down due to workload.

• India is set to assume the G-20 presidency in 2022.
• The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) began in Bali on 07 July 2022 and will continue till 08 July 2022.

Nominations to the Rajya Sabha

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

• Olympic Sprinter PT Usha, music composer Ilaiyaraaja, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade and screenwriter V. Vijayendra Prasad were nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

• All four nominees are from the four southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh respectively.
• They have been nominated in the category of eminent persons nominated by the President of India.

MD and CEO of SBI General Insurance

• SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. has appointed Paritosh Tripathi as managing director and chief executive officer which came into effective 05 July.

• He was nominated by the parent company, State Bank of India for the post and succeeds P.C. Kandpal.

• Tripathi is in-charge of the SBI General Insurance’s overall business strategy and growth, operations, budgets and strategic growth.
• He has over 32 years of banking experience.

Additional Charge of Minority Affairs

• Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani has been assigned the charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs, in addition to her existing portfolio.
• Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Steel.
• The developments come after the President accepted the resignations of Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh from the Union Council of Ministers.