NATIONAL NEWS

Government to Inaugurate Tech Centre

• With an aim to make tech graduates more employable, Rajasthan government is set to inaugurate the Rajiv Gandhi Centre of Advance Technology or R-CAT.

• It will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on August 20 during a two-day DigiFest-2022.

• R-CAT will be conducting training programs on advanced and emerging information technologies with a duration ranging from one week to six months for professional graduates like BE/BTech, BCA, MCA, MBA and MSc (IT).
• The school will also provide industry standard certificates to all those who will complete the course successfully.
• The event will also see a Startup Expo, which will exhibit products and services by the startups of the state at one common platform.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs has Removed 4.33 Lakh Companies

• Ministry of Corporate Affairs has removed 4.33 lakh companies from the Register of Companies in the last five years.

• 49, 921 companies were removed in 2021-22.

• Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides for the removal of the name of the company from the Register of Companies in two conditions.

• If the company is not carrying on any business or operation for a period of two immediately preceding financial years and
• If the company has not made any application within the said period for obtaining the status of a Dormant Company under section 455 of the Act.

BRO to Build First Steel Slag Road

• In a first of its kind, the Border Road Organization (BRO) is planning to construct a pilot road stretch on the Arunachal Pradesh border using steel slag.
• It is to “convert waste to wealth” around one lakh tonne of processed steel slag aggregates has been utilized here substituting the natural aggregates.
• The project has been initiated after the success of using 100% steel slag on a port connectivity road in Gujarat, which has a longer life and is built at a low cost.

Paalan 1000 National campaign and Parenting App

• Bharti Pravin Pawar, the Union Minister of State for Health introduced the Parenting App and the Paalan 1000 national campaign in Mumbai.

• The objective is to lower the child mortality rate and provide for infants throughout their first 1000 days after birth, the Paalan 1000 National campaign and Parenting App were launched.

• The program was virtually launched by the Union Minister of State for Health.

• Bharti Pravin Pawar noted that India has made tremendous progress in lowering the child death rate since 2014, when it was 45 per 1000 live births, to 35 per 1000 live births in 2019.

India’s 1st Fully ‘Functionally Literate’ District

• Madhya Pradesh’s tribal dominated Mandla region has become the first fully ‘functionally literate’ district in India.

• The declaration was made by the state minister of food and civil supplies Shri Bisahulal Singh.

• Within two years, the entire district has become functionally literate, claiming that people were able to write their names, count and read.
• The district administration launched a campaign in 2020 to make the residents fully literate.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Thai PBS Signs MoU with Prasar Bharati

• External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Thailand to co-chair the 9th Meeting of India-Thailand Joint Commission with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand Don Pramudwinai.
• During the meeting, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Cooperation and Collaboration on Broadcasting between Prasar Bharti and Thai Public Broadcasting Service was signed.
• Also, MoU on Health and Medical Research Cooperation between Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Medical Sciences, Thailand.

India-France Transport Sector Pact

• The Union Cabinet approved signing of a contract between India and France to support the International Transport Forum (ITF) activities on the Indian transport sector.

• The activities to be carried out under this contract will lead to new scientific results and identification of technology options for decarbonisation of transport sector in India.
• The contract was signed on 06 July 2022.

BANKING

HDFC Bank Opens First All-Women Branch

• In a first, HDFC Bank opened its all-women branch in Kozhikode, north Kerala. The branch was inaugurated by city Corporation Mayor Beena Philip.

• The branch will have 4 women bankers.
• According to the bank, women constituted 21.7% (21,486) of the workforce as of 31 March 2022.
• The private lender has plans to increase it to 25% by 2025.

RBI Releases Discussion Paper on Charges in Payment Syatems

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a discussion paper on “Charges in Payment Systems” for public feedback.

• The Feedback may be provided in respect of questions raised, including other relevant suggestions through email on or before 03 October 2022.

• The focus of RBI’s initiatives in the payment systems has been to ease frictions that may arise from systemic, procedural or revenue-related issues.
• The discussion paper covers all aspects relating to charges in payment systems such as Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system and Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
• It also various payment instruments such as debit cards, credit cards and Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), etc.
• The feedback received would be used to guide policies and intervention strategies.

Paytm has Partnered with Samsung Authorized Stores

• Leading digital payments and financial services, Paytm has partnered with Samsung authorized stores across India to facilitate smart payments as well as Paytm Postpaid (Buy Now, Pay Later) at their retail outlets through the deployment of PoS devices.
• With this partnership, Paytm will enable consumers to make digital payments seamlessly at Samsung Authorized stores spread across the country.
• It will provide flexible payment options offered by Paytm including- Paytm UPI, Paytm Wallet, Paytm Postpaid and also all major debit cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards.
• Consumers can easily opt for Paytm Postpaid, which is offered in association with financial partners and get a monthly credit limit of up to Rs 60,000.
• In addition to Paytm Postpaid consumers can opt for low-cost personal loans up to Rs 2 lakh offered by Paytm’s financial institution partners to purchase goods.

SPORTS

Kevin O’Brien Announces Retirement

• Ireland's star all-round cricketer Kevin O'Brien announced retirement from international cricket career.
• He holds the record for the fastest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup century.
• He represented Ireland in three Tests, 153 ODIs and 110 T20s, scoring 5850 runs and 172 wickets.
• He first rose to world-wide fame in the 2011 ICC World Cup when he hit a match winning 113 runs off just 63 balls against England.

AWARDS & PRIZES

UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2022

• UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was by the Government of the Republic of Korea. It was first given in 1989.
• It is given in honor of Sejong the Great who created the Korean alphabet Hangul.
• Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar is one of the winners of the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2022.
• Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences will be awarded for its ‘Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Programme’.
• Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences is the largest residential institute for Tribals in the world.
• It began as a residential tribal school in 1993 and became a deemed-to-be-university in 2017.
• The winner receives a medal, a diploma and US$20,000.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

High-Level UN Internet Panel

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed India's Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma to the 10-member Internet Governance Forum (IGF) leadership panel.

• The panel’s role is to deal with “strategic and urgent issues” of the Internet and provide strategic advice to the IGF.

• He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Kerala Cadre.
• The panel was set up under the mandate of the IGF and the recommendations in Guterres’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.

Government Extends Tenure of DCGI Chief

• Union Government has extended the tenure of Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) VG Somani by 3 months.

• His term was set to end on 14 August 2022.
• In 2019, the government appointed as DCGI for a period of three years to head India’s apex drug regulatory agency Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

OBITUTARY

British Writer Nicholas Evans

• British writer Nicholas Evans, who authored the international best-selling novel “The Horse Whisperer” Passed away. He was at the age of 72.
• Nicholas Benbow Evans was born in 1950 in Worcestershire, England.
• He was an English journalist, screenwriter, television and film producer and novelist.
• His debut novel, ‘The Horse Whisperer’ which was published in 1995 was the bestselling novel in the United States for 1995 as determined to The New York Times.