Daily GK Update- 19th June, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Govt establishes 10% quota for Agniveers, alters upper age limit: Following widespread opposition to the Agnipath plan, the Centre announced a 10% reservation for Agniveers in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles recruitment. The Ministry of Home Affairs also decided to grant a three-year age relaxation to Agniveers in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles who are between the ages of 17.5 and 21. Notably, the initial class of recruits will be given a five-year extension on the maximum age limit. Key Points:

a)      The Agnipath short-term recruitment strategy for the armed forces was previously announced by the Centre. The plan, which is intended to be a reformative step, attempts to infuse more fresh blood into the three services.

b)      The Agnipath programme will allow young people aged 17.5 to 21 to be inducted into one of the Army’s three services as agniveers for a four-year period.

c)       Agnipath has sparked protests in a number of states. During violent demonstrations by candidates, the central government increased the upper age limit for the scheme from 21 to 23 years in a one-time waiver.

d)      Defence job candidates have expressed concern over their next step, as just 25% of soldiers recruited through the scheme will be kept to complete a full term after four years. The youth who were recruited through the Agnipath initiative but were not integrated would be released from their obligations without receiving pension benefits.

 

2. Pramod K Mittal named as chairperson of COAI for 2022-23: Industry body Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) named Pramod K Mittal, President of Reliance Jio Infocomm, as the new Chairperson of the association for 2022-23. Mittal was previously the Vice-Chairperson of the COAI, whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (VIL). Mittal will replace Ajai Puri as the COAI Chairperson.

Other appointment: P Balaji, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer of Vodafone Idea (VIL), will be the Vice-Chairperson of the association for 2022-23. Balaji is also the Chairman of Assocham National Digital Communications Council, and a Member of the National Council of apex industry chambers CII, Ficci, Assocham and All India Management Association.

Note: Cellular Operators’ Association of India Founded: 1995; Cellular Operators’ Association of India Headquarters: New Delhi; Cellular Operators’ Association of India Director-General: Dr. S.P. Kochhar.

 

3. B S Patil sworn in as Lokayukta of Karnataka: Former Karnataka High Court judge, Bhimanagouda Sanganagouda Patil was sworn in as the Lokayukta of Karnataka. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to Justice Patil. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, ministers in the State Government and legislators attended the programme, and greeted Justice Patil.

Justice Patil, who served as the Upalokayukta of Karnataka, was elevated to the post of Lokayukta on June 14. The post of the head of the anti-corruption ombudsman in Karnataka was vacant after the end of the tenure of Justice P. Vishwanath Shetty in January 2022, served in the post for five years.

Note: Karnataka Capital: Bengaluru; Karnataka Chief Minister: Basavaraj S Bommai; Karnataka Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot.

 

4. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as New PCI Chief: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai is believed to have been chosen as the next head of the Press Council of India (PCI). Justice Desai recently served as the chairman of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir, which was established to redesign the Union Territory’s assembly constituencies.

Since Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad (retd) completed his tenure as PCI chairperson and demitted office in November of last year, the position has been empty. The appointment of Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai as PCI chairwoman was accepted by a committee that included Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and PCI member Prakash Dubey.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. IMD’s World Competitiveness Index 2022: India ranked 37th: India has seen the sharpest growth among the Asian economies, with a six-position jump from 43rd to 37th rank on the annual World Competitiveness Index 2022. The Index has been compiled by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). Meanwhile, the top-performing Asian economies are Singapore (3rd), Hong Kong (5th), Taiwan (7th), China (17th) and Australia (19th).

World Competitiveness Index 2022: Globally Denmark has moved to the top of the 63-nation list from the third position last year, while Switzerland slipped from the top ranking to the second position and Singapore regained the third spot from fifth, a global study showed.

Others in the top 10 include Sweden at the fourth position, followed by Hong Kong SAR (5th), the Netherlands (6th), Taiwan (7th), Finland (8th), Norway (9th) and the USA (10th).

 

2. 8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians hosted in Egypt: The Eighth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians has been started in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to address climate change. The two-day conference is being jointly organized by the House of Representatives and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Nagaland’s first woman elected as Member of Parliament to Rajya Sabha, S. Phangon Konyak is representing India at the Conference. She, along with two other young Lok Sabha MPs from India, will be sharing her thoughts on the ‘Young MPs for Climate Actions’.

About the Conference:

a)      The 8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians provides a platform for young MPs from across the world to exchange learn and define common and innovative strategies to advance youth empowerment.

b)      This year in Egypt, around 200 young MPs, from 60 countries are participating to discuss strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change and ensure that global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement.

c)       According to official information shared by IPU, there are 35,177 Parliamentary seats globally but just 2.66 per cent of these are held by young MPs.

Note: Egypt Capital: Cairo; Egypt Currency: Egyptian pound; Egypt President: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; Egypt Prime Minister: Moustafa Madbouly.

 

3. International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict: 19th June: The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is an international event conducted by the United Nations (UN) on June 19 each year. The day is celebrated to raise the awareness about conflict-related sexual violence. The theme for this year’s observance of International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is ‘Prevention as Protection: Enhancing structural and operational prevention of conflict-related sexual violence.’ The event is a ‘Permanent Mission of the Argentine Republic, United Nations.’

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict History: On June 19, 2008, the 15-member United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1820, to condemn sexual violence and rape during wars as crimes against humanity and war crimes, equated with genocide. The date was declared International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. ICC retains Nitin Menon in Elite Panel: India’s Nitin Menon has retained his place in the ICC Elite Panel and is set to make his maiden appearance as a neutral umpire in Sri Lanka later this month. A BCCI official told PTI that Menon has got a one-year extension from the International Cricket Council. The 38-year-old from Indore remains the only Indian in the 11-member Elite Panel of Umpires. Menon was promoted to the Elite Panel at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, becoming the third Indian to enter the club after S Venkataraghavan and S Ravi. However, Menon was limited to officiating international matches only within India with the ICC allowing local umpires due to the travel restrictions in place.

Other umpire’s in the panel: There is no change in the Elite Panel and besides Menon, it includes Aleem Dar from Pakistan, Chris Gaffaney from New Zealand, Kumara Dharmasena from Sri Lanka, Marais Erasmus from South Africa, Michael Gough, Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough (all three from England), Paul Reiffel and Rod Tucker from Australia and Joel Wilson from the West Indies.

Note: ICC Founded: 15 June 1909; ICC Chairman: Greg Barclay; ICC CEO: Geoff Allardice; ICC Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI lifted the restrictions on Mastercard 2022: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed the limitations placed on Mastercard Asia/Pacific Pte Ltd on onboarding new domestic clients. For non-compliance with RBI standards for data storage in India, Mastercard has been barred from onboarding new domestic users (debit, credit, or prepaid) onto its card network as of July 22, 2021. The RBI had given Mastercard almost three years to comply with the regulatory directives, but it was unable to do so. About the Terms and Conditions imposed by the RBI:

a)      All system providers were directed to ensure that the entire data (full end-to-end transaction details, information collected, carried, or processed as part of the message or payment instruction) relating to payment systems operated by them is stored in a system only in India by the RBI circular on Storage of Payment System Data dated April 6, 2018.

b)      They were also expected to notify the RBI of their compliance and submit a board-approved system audit report done by a CERT-In empanelled auditor within the prescribed time frames.

c)       The Reserve Bank of India had mandated that data be stored only in India, with no copies — or mirroring — stored in other countries.

d)      The Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow non-bank entities such as Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers, card networks, White Label ATM (WLA) operators, and Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platforms to join the centralised payment system (CPS) and conduct RTGS and NEFT transactions.

 

2. France signs agreement to accept UPI payments and RuPay cards from India: Union Communication Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that UPI and Rupay card services will be available in France soon, giving a huge boost to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Rupay cards. The overseas branch of India’s National Payments Corporation (NPCI) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France’s Lyra Network for the acceptance of UPI and Rupay in the country. Key Points:

a)      So far, countries such as Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, and Nepal have adopted India’s UPI payment system.

b)      The NPCI International is in discussions to expand UPI services in the United States, Europe, and West Asia.

c)       Indian travellers will be able to make smooth payments throughout their trip to France thanks to an agreement between NPCI International and Lyra Network.

d)      Jawed Ashraf, an Indian ambassador in France, spoke about his experience with a seamless and transparent digital payment system and how beneficial it may be in France.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Google announced a startup accelerator program for women founders: Google announced a startup accelerator program for women founders. The program will help them address challenges such as fundraising and hiring. Google for Startups Accelerator India – Women Founders will run from Jul-2022 to Sep-2022. The program is part of a larger effort by Google towards improving the representation of women across different sections of India’s digitally-trained workforce — be it entrepreneurship, professionals looking to upskill or young graduates seeking a headstart on their career. Key points of the program:

a)      The inaugural batch of the ‘Google for Startups Accelerator – India Women Founders’ will accept up to 20 women-founded / co-founded startups in the country, and support them through a three-month program.

b)      The program will place special focus on areas like access to networks, capital, hiring challenges, mentorship, and other areas which, for a variety of social reasons and low representation, prove challenging for female founders.

c)       The selected Startups will receive mentorship and support around AI/ML, Cloud, UX, Android, Web, Product Strategy and Growth. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the accelerator includes deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and founders’ leadership development.

Note: Google CEO: Sundar Pichai; Google Founded: 4 September 1998; Google Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States.

 

2. LinkedIn tie-up with UN Women to create employment opportunities for women: LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, will invest USD 5,00,000 (Rs 3.88 crore) in partnership with United Nation’s Women to advance women’s economic empowerment. The project will launch a pilot in Maharashtra to cultivate the digital, soft and employability skills of 2,000 women and present them with a range of career-building opportunities through job fairs, mentoring sessions and peer-to-peer networks. The three-year regional collaboration will digitally upskill women, providing them greater access to jobs and equipping them to fully participate in the formal economy. About the collaboration:

a)      The partnership will be guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of effective, actionable principles that guide businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

b)      UN Women and LinkedIn will leverage the online platform and institutional expertise to convene partners to support women’s economic empowerment.

c)       Together, they will hold joint advocacy campaigns and events, as well as convene key partners from their respective networks to achieve broadly equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men in the workplace.

Note: LinkedIn Corporation Founded: 5th May 2003; LinkedIn Corporation Headquarters: California, United States (US); LinkedIn Corporation CEO: Ryan Roslansky.