NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Vice President Venkahiah Naidu Launches India’s First Social Media Super App
‘Elyments’: Honorable
Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, launched an indigenous social
media app ‘Elyments’ on 5th July 2020, through video conferencing. Elyments is
a first Made-in-India social media super-app, developed by Bengaluru-based
software company, Sumeru Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, in close competition with
similar platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. India has more than
500 million social media users, but most of these social media platforms are
owned by companies outside India, which creates doubt regarding the privacy of
data and data ownership. The initiative is a step forward towards becoming
Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and also boosting the economy of the country.
Key Features of Elyments: (1) The app
combine the features of popular social media apps and present it on a single
unified app. (2) Social media Terms such as – contacts, friends, followers–
have all been brought together in Elyments. (3) With end-to-end encryption,
Elyments ensures that users data remains safe from prying eyes. All the servers
are hosted in India, thus providing a fast and breezy experience. (4) It will
provide basic facilities like: Audio/Video conference calls; Private/ Group
chats; Secure payments via Elyments Pay; Public profiles that users can
Follow/Subscribe; Curated commerce platform to promote Indian brands; Regional voice
commands. Elyments is available in more than eight Indian languages. It can be
downloaded from all app stores and Google Play Stores across the world. The app
has already seen downloads of over 200,000 times.
2.
Delhi govt to launch “Paudhelagao, ParyavaranBachao” campaign: Delhi government
will launch a mega tree plantation drive under the ‘Paudhelagao,
ParyavaranBachao’ campaign. The campaign aims to reduce air pollution by
increasing green cover in the national capital. It has been planned that during
the campaign, in 17 days, 31 lakh of tree saplings will be planted under the
campaign. Out of the 31 lakh saplings, 20 lakh saplings will be of big trees
and the remaining 11 lakh saplings will be of shrubs that will be planted on
both sides of the road.
Note: Governor of Delhi: Anil Baijal; Chief
Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai.
3.
CBSE partners with Facebook to launch free virtual training program for
teachers and students: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has
partnered with social media giant Facebook to launch free and comprehensive
training program in virtual mode for teachers and students of its affiliated
schools. The first phase of the training program is scheduled from August 2020
to November 2020. The registration process for the first phase of the training
program will be held from 6th to 20th July 2020. Schools have to online
nominate their teachers and students for the training programs. The
participants will also receive a joint e- certificate from CBSE and Facebook on
successful completion of the course. In the second phase, CBSE will introduce
the training program on digital safety and augmented reality for 30 thousand
students in each category.
Note: CBSE chairman: Manoj Ahuja; Headquarters
of CBSE: New Delhi.
4.
India’s Largest COVID-19 facility ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID19 Hospital in
Delhi becomes operational: On 5th July 2020, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal
inaugurated the 1000-bedded Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre and Hospital
(SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area, located at Air Force
land near airport in Delhi. It is the largest COVID-19 facility in India and
has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
in a record time of 12 days. The hospital will operated by medical team of
doctors, nurses and support staff from Armed Forces Medical Services. The
facility has 250 intensive care units (ICU) beds and the capacity to house and
treat 10,000 coronavirus patients at the same time. Apart from this, DRDO has
decided to name all the different wards of new Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi after the Indian Army troops who lost their lives in
the Galwan valley clash last month.
5.
Odisha Govt Launches ‘Balaram Yojana’ to Provide Agricultural Loan To Landless
Farmers: Odisha
government has launched ‘BalaramYojana’ to provide crop loans to landless
farmers. Under the new scheme, the landless cultivators will get loans through
joint liability groups (JLGs). Under this scheme, the government has set a
target to provide farm loans to 7 lakh landless farmers in the next two years.
The Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE) will coordinate
to implement the scheme at the state level, the Agricultural Technology
Management Agency (ATMA) will coordinate at the district level. The scheme was
designed in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD).
Note: Odisha Capital: Bhubaneswar;
Governor: Ganeshi Lal; Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
6.
Former RBI governor Urjit Patel pens book on dealing with NPA issue titled
‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’: Former RBI Governor, Urjit Patel, has
written a book titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’ which focuses on the
non-performing assets (NPAs) issue that has afflicted Indian banking in recent
years, its causes and Patel’s efforts as the RBI Governor in dealing with it.
The book is likely to be released on 31 July 2020. It has been published by
HarperCollins India.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Russian President Vladimir Putin records victory in Presidential polls: President of
Russia, Vladimir Putin has recorded a victory in the recently held Presidential
polls. With a victory, he is set to stay in power until the middle of the next
decade i.e. until 2036. Russians citizens went to the polls to cast ballots in
a nationwide referendum on Constitutional Amendments. A preliminary tally of
results was released by the Central Election Commission of Russia after processing
50% of ballot, and stated that 76.24% of the citizens voted in support of the
amendments.
Note: Russia Capital: Moscow; Currency:
Russian Rouble; Prime Minister: Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin
2.
India-Afghanistan inked 5 MoUs for development of educational infrastructure in
Afghanistan:
In order to strengthen the bilateral development partnership, the Government of
India has inked 5 Memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Afghanistan under the
former’s high impact community development projects (HICDP) programme. The objective behind these MoUs is the
development of educational infrastructure in four Afghan provinces namely
Nooristan, Farah, Badakhshan and Kapisa. The projects to be taken up under the
five MoUs include the construction of classrooms, a higher education building
and a road within the campus of Albironi University.
Note: Afghanistan Capital: Kabul; Currency:
Afghan afghani; President: Ashraf Ghani
3.
World Zoonoses Day: 6th July: World Zoonoses Day is held every year on
July 6 to raise awareness for the risk of zoonotic diseases. Zoonoses are
infectious diseases (virus, bacteria and parasites) that can spread from
animals to humans, and vice versa, either with direct contact with animals or
indirectly, vector-borne or food-borne. It was on July 6, 1885, when Louis
Pasteur successfully administered the first vaccine against Rabies virus, which
is a zoonotic disease. The day emphasizes about Zoonotic disease and problems
caused by them. It urges people to take the right action. The day aims to show
how this disease can be prevented after taking precautionary measures.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Chess Player Akash becomes India’s 66th Grandmaster: The 23 year-old G.
Akash from Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN) becomes the country’s 66th Grandmaster with
rating of 2495. Akash got his third GM norm in the National senior chess
championship in Majhitar (Sikkim) last year, but his rating fell short of the
required Elo mark of 2500. He played another five tournaments across the world
to reach that rating. The title was confirmed at the recent meeting of
International Chess Federation (FIDE) Council. He has won the national title in
2012.
Note: FIDE Headquarters: Lausanne,
Switzerland; President: Arkady Vladimirovich Dvorkovich
2.
Quinton de Kock named men’s Cricketer of the Year in CSA’s virtual awards: White-ball skipper Quinton de Kock was
named the men’s ‘cricketer of the year’ at Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) annual
awards ceremony, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 27-year-old
also bagged the Test cricketer of the year. The complete list of awards:
Men’s Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de
Kock
Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Laura
Wolvaardt
Test Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de Kock
Women’s ODI Cricketer of the year: Laura
Wolvaardt
Men’s ODI and T20 Player of the Year: Lungi
Ngidi
Women’s T20 Player of the Year: Shabnim
Ismail
Fans’ Favourite Player of the Year: David
Miller
International Men’s Newcomer of the Year:
Anrich Nortje
Women’s Newcomer of the Near: Nonkululeko
Mlaba
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. V
Suryanarayanan appointed new MD of Chola MS General Insurance: Cholamandalam MS
General Insurance Company has announced the appointment of V Suryanarayanan as
its new managing director. Suryanarayanan succeeds S S Gopalarathnam, who
retired after serving the company for over 41 years. Cholamandalam MS General
Insurance is a Joint Venture between diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group
and Japan- based Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Ltd.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
WhatsApp Launches its 10-week long brand campaign ”It’s Between You” in India: Facebook-owned
messaging platform WhatsApp has launched its brand campaign titled ”It’s
Between You” in India on 4th July 2020, highlighting the core belief that when
privacy is deeply felt people can communicate as their ‘true selves using
Whatsapp.’
(1) 60-second ads: Under the campaign, two
60-second ads have been created, showcasing stories about how Indians are using
Whatsapp to communicate in a secure manner with their closest relationships.
Both the short films highlight how the features of Whatsapp like texts, video
calls or even a voice message (which is end-to-end encrypted) help replicate
in-person conversations. WhatsApp collaborated with Indian Bollywood director
Gauri Shinde and advertising agency BBDO India to create the two sixty seconds
ads.
(2) 10 weeks long campaign: The campaign
will run for 10 weeks in India on a number of national and regional television
channels and digital platforms. These films will be available in English and
seven regional languages that include Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya,
Gujarati, Marathi and Kannada.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
India’s Freya Thakral wins “The Diana Award 2020”: A 13-year-old
student of the British School New Delhi, Freya Thakral has received the 2020
Diana Award for her “Recycler App”. She developed this App to connect users
with waste-handlers as a measure to help the ragpickers of Delhi. Recycler App
is a web-based mobile application which connects the users with waste handlers.
The service through the app is provided in the south Delhi region with plans to
extend to the other parts with an aim to transform the lives of the ragpicker
community.
Note: Diana Award: The Diana award was
established in 1999 in memory of Princess Diana, to recognise the social works
and humanitarian efforts of youngsters across the United Kingdom (UK) and
around the world. The award is given on July 1st to commemorate the birth
anniversary of Princess Diana and it is supported by Prince Willam and Prince
Harry.
Note: United Kingdom Prime Minister: Boris
Johnson; Capital: London; Currency: Pound sterling
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