NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
India becomes power surplus nation: The government has informed that India has
turned into a power surplus nation with a total installed electricity capacity
of over 4 lakh Mega Watt. India is the world’s third largest producer of
renewable energy, with 40% of its installed electricity capacity coming from
non-fossil fuel sources. Power Generation from Renewable Energy Sources has
increased from 51 thousand 226 Gigawatt hours to one lakh 38 thousand 337
Gigawatt hours in 2020. The country’s vision is to achieve Net Zero Emissions
by 2070, in addition to attaining the short-term targets including increasing
renewables capacity to 500 Giga Watt by 2030 and meeting 50 percent of energy
requirements from renewables.
2.
World’s largest museum of Harappan culture is coming up in Rakhigarhi, Haryana: Harappan Culture
in Haryana: The world’s largest museum
of Harappan culture is coming up in Rakhigarhi in Haryana to showcase about
5,000-year-old Indus Valley artefacts. The village of Rakhigarhi was part of
the Indus Valley Civilisation from 2600-1900 BC. Haryana is slated to host the
world’s largest museum dedicated to the Harappan civilization. Rakhigarhi is a
hamlet in Haryana’s Hisar district, some 150 kilometres from Delhi. The
settlement is also a well-known archaeological site from the time of the Indus
Valley civilization.
3.
India’s first plastic project listed by EKI Energy Services Ltd: EKI Energy
Services, a developer and seller of Carbon credits, announced that it is the
first company to list an Indian plastic project (India’s first plastic project)
under a global accreditation standard. With this, the Indore-based carbon
credit specialist, EKI Energy Services, who has worked in the field of climate
action and offset solutions for the past 14 years across 16 countries, became
the first company to ever list a plastic project from the nation with the goal
of creating India’s first-ever international plastic credits. Key Points:
a)
The
project by EKI Energy Services makes sure that plastic waste, primarily
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste, PET flakes, and chips, are properly
sourced and recycled to create Recycled Polyester Staple Fibre (RPSF).
b)
Recycled
Polyester Staple Fibre (RPSF) can then be used in the textile industry for
clothing and other utility products made of fabric.
c)
It
will motivate numerous additional projects around the nation to build up their
recycling efforts in a planned manner for plastic credits financing that can
enable and support greater climate action.
d)
All
participants in the collecting and recycling process, from ragpickers to
recycling facilities, will be empowered by such a value chain.
e)
The
project has been accredited by Verra, a Washington-based organisation, under
their Plastic Waste Reduction Standard.
4.
Koo tie-up with IPPB to drive financial inclusion in remote cities: India Post Payments
Bank (IPPB), a division of India Post, the country’s postal giant, has
partnered with the Indian microblogging platform Koo. IPPB has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Koo to boost financial inclusion and
literacy in the country. IPPB and Koo will work together to promote financial
education in tier-2, tier-3, remote, and hinterlands. Koo is a multilingual
platform that allows users to communicate in 10 languages – Hindi, Marathi,
Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Bengali and English. About
the partnership:
a)
The
partnership between Koo and IPPB will allow the bank to reach out to their
customers across the country, even in remote cities and hinterlands and use the
multi-lingual Koo (MLK) feature offered to communicate in the language that the
customer is comfortable in.
b)
India
Post Payments Bank was set up in 2018 and uses a network of 1,55,000 post
offices across the country to offer its services. Out of the 1,55,000 post
offices, 1,35,000 are situated in rural areas.
c)
This
is where Koo will be able to help IPPB to communicate with its customers in
different languages. Koo’s grievance redressal system will also allow IPPB to
manage customer relationships.
Note: India Post Payments Bank Founded:
September 1, 2018, under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication;
India Post Payments Bank Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi; India Post Payments
Bank MD & CEO: J Venkatramu; India Post Payments Bank Tag line: Aapka Bank,
Aapke Dwaar.
5.
Sanjay Kumar Rakesh, named managing director of CSC e-Governance SPV: Sanjay Kumar
Rakesh, a former IAS officer, has been named managing director of the CSC
e-Governance India SPV, which is run by the central government. The appointment
follows Dinesh Tyagi’s resignation from the position, who was instrumental in
increasing the number of CSCs from 60,000 in 2014 to over 5 lakh at the moment.
Key Points:
a)
Meity
Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma presided over the board meeting, which covered
essential items like the hiring of a new managing director and directors as
well as the adoption of the annual financial statement for the fiscal year
2021–2022.
b)
Net
profit rose from Rs 125 crore in the fiscal year 2020–21 to Rs 141 crore in the
fiscal year 2021–22.
c)
In
comparison to the financial year 2020–21, CSC’s earnings climbed by more than
25% to Rs 1,804.92 crore in the year ending March 2022.
d)
CSC
disclosed a 6% dividend for its stockholders. 5.33 lakh CSCs were in operation
as of July 2022, with 74,500 of those being run by female rural entrepreneurs.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Sibi George appointed India’s next ambassador to Japan: Senior diplomat
Sibi George has been appointed as the next Indian ambassador to Japan. George,
a 1993-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently the Ambassador of
India to Kuwait. He will replace Sanjay Kumar Verma as India’s envoy to Japan.
He previously served as Ambassador of India to Switzerland as well.
Note: Japan Capital: Tokyo; Currency: Yen;
Prime Minister: Fumio Kishida
2.
Kyrgyzstan Reports Heavy Fighting With Tajikistan: Kyrgyzstan reported
“intense battles” with Central Asian neighbour Tajikistan and said 24 people
had been killed in the latest outbreak of violence to hit the former Soviet
Union. Both of the small impoverished landlocked nations have accused each
other of restarting fighting in a disputed area, despite a ceasefire deal. In a
statement, the Kyrgyz border service said its forces were continuing to repel
Tajik attacks.
The issue: Kyrgyzstan
reported fighting in its southern Batken province which borders Tajikistan’s
northern Sughd region and features a Tajik exclave, Vorukh. The same area is
famous for its jigsaw-puzzle political and ethnic geography and became the site
of similar hostilities last year, also nearly leading to a war. Clashes over
the poorly demarcated border are frequent, but usually de-escalate quickly.
3.
International Week of Deaf People: 19th to 25th September: Every year, the
full week ending on the last Sunday of September is observed as the
International Week of the Deaf (IWD). In 2022, IWD is being observed from
September 19 to 25 September 2022. The theme of the 2022 International Week of
Deaf People is “Building Inclusive Communities for All”. It is an initiative of
the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and was first launched in 1958 in Rome,
Italy to commemorate the month when the first World Congress of the WFD was
held.
Daily themes:
Monday 19 September 2022: Sign Languages in
Education
Tuesday 20 September 2022: Sustainable
economic opportunities for deaf people
Wednesday 21 September 2022: Health for All
Thursday 22 September 2022: Safeguarding
deaf people in times of crisis
Friday 23 September 2022: Sign Languages
Unite Us!
Saturday 24 September 2022: Intersectional
Deaf Communities
Sunday 25 September 2022: Deaf Leadership
for Tomorrow
International Week of the Deaf
History:
On 19 December 2017, the UN General Assembly declared 23 September as the International
Day of Sign Languages (IDSL). The resolution was proposed through the Permanent
Mission of Antigua and Barbuda to the UN, following an original request by the
World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). There were 97 UN Member States including
Canada voted for the adoption of the resolution as co-sponsors. The choice of
23 September commemorates the date the WFD was established in 1951. The
objective of the IDSL is to raise awareness on sign languages and strengthen
their status of sign languages.
Note: World Federation of the Deaf Founded:
23 September 1951; World Federation of the Deaf Headquarters Location:
Helsinki, Finland; World Federation of the Deaf President: Joseph Murray.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Vinesh Phogat wins bronze in World Wrestling Championships: Vinesh Phogat won
bronze at the World Wrestling Championship 2022 in the women’s 53kg
category. In the bronze medal bout,
Vinesh defeated European Champion Emma Malmgren of Sweden by 8-0. Vinesh Phogat
became the first Indian woman wrestler to win two medals at the World
Championship. She also became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at
both the Commonwealth and Asian Games. At Commonwealth Games 2022, she won the
gold medal in the women’s 53 kg freestyle wrestling category.
2. Roger
Federer announces retirement from Professional Tennis: One of the greatest
sporting careers will come to a close when Roger Federer, 41, announces his
retirement following the Laver Cup in London. Federer, a 20-time grand slam
champion, declared on social media that his final week playing professionally
will be the one in LAver Cup. The Laver Cup, a competition modelled after the
Ryder Cup, was founded by Federer’s management company, Team8.
Roger Federer hasn’t played since the
Wimbledon quarterfinal loss to Hubert Hurkacz, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0, where it was
revealed he had reinjured the knee that had kept him off the tour for more than
a year. Since January 2020, Federer has competed in five events and undergone
three knee surgeries. He gave as his reason for retiring his late-career injury
issues.
Roger Federer Career:
a)
For
a significant amount of time, Roger Federer owned the male grand slam
championship record, surpassing his idol Pete Sampras, whose total of 14 titles
was once thought to be virtually indestructible.
b)
He
also broke numerous records that serve as a testament to his excellence and
consistency throughout his career, like making it to 36 straight quarterfinals
and 23 consecutive grand slam semifinals.
c)
Roger
Federer has won six ATP Finals, 28 ATP Masters titles, and 103 ATP singles
championships. He had a singles record of 1251-275 (82%) in 1,526 ATP tour
matches.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
Axis Bank and Square Yards launched co-branded home buyer ecosystem: Axis Bank and
Square Yards launched ‘Open Doors’, a co-branded Home Buyer Ecosystem. The
‘Open Doors’ platform will ensure that the complete journey from searching to
buying one’s dream home becomes an efficient and delightful experience for the
customers. Axis Bank and Square Yards have created a digital-first solution to
simplify the customer journey. These digital platforms reflect the cultural
alignment between the two organizations. Key Points:
a)
Open
Doors is a first-of-its-kind unified platform, which is designed to address the
entire gamut of customer queries.
b)
Customers,
who are looking to purchase a house can now avail of end-to-end home buying
assistance, exclusive builder inventory access, seamless home loan processing,
and other ecosystem services.
c)
The
ecosystem services include rental and property management, home furnishing, and
legal and technical services.
d)
The
real estate inventory displayed on the Open Doors platform will carry joint
offers from both Square Yards and Axis Bank on home buying, home loans,
interiors, property management, and other allied property services.
e)
The
customers of Axis Bank and Square Yards can now also avail of an array of
value-added financial benefits. The value-added financial benefits include
customized loan amounts and flexible tenure, with the benefits of minimal
documentation for a seamless home buying experience.
2.
SBI hit market capitalization of Rs 5 trillion, share prices reach record high:
State
Bank of India, SBI, market capitalization of India’s largest state lender,
surpassed $5 trillion for the first time after its shares reached a new high of
Rs. 564.85 in intraday trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). According to
data from Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), State Bank of India (SBI) is ranked seventh
overall among corporations with a market valuation of 5.03 trillion.
State Bank of India, SBI surpasses the
market cap of Rs. 5 trillion, making it the third lender in the nation to do
so. HDFC Bank, the biggest private lender in India, tops this list with a
market cap of Rs 8.38 trillion, followed by ICICI Bank with a market cap of Rs
6.33 trillion.
Note: SBI Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara
HDFC Bank Chairman: Deepak Parekh; HDFC
Bank CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan
ICICI Bank Chairman: Girish Chandra
Chaturvedi; ICICI Bank CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
Google acquire cyber-security company Mandiant for $5.4 billion: Google for $5.4
billion acquired Cybersecurity Company Mandiant has been fully acquired
according to Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. Mandiant in order to assist
organisations in managing threats, incidents, and exposures better will join
Google Cloud. Mandiant is renowned for discovering the shocking SolarWinds
hack. Benefits of the Mandiant
company acquisition:
a)
With
this organizations will be able to continuously check assets for exposures by
integrating Mandiant‘s attack surface management capabilities into Google
Cloud’s portfolio.
b)
It
allows intelligence and red teams to shift security programmes from reactive to
proactive in order to understand what is exposed, misconfigured, and
vulnerable.
c)
The
partnership between Google Cloud and Mandiant and their dedication to
multi-cloud will encourage more collaboration, spur innovation in the
cybersecurity sector, and strengthen threat research capabilities.
Note: Google CEO: Sundar Pichai; Google
Cloud CEO: Thomas Kurian
2.
IBM and IIT Madras collaborate to promote quantum computing in India: Indian Institute
of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras) and International Business Machines (IBM)
have cooperated to improve quantum computing research and talent development in
India. IIT Madras joins the IBM Quantum Network’s global membership of over 180
organisations through this agreement. IIT Madras also joins the global network
of Fortune 500 corporations, start-ups, academic institutions, and research
labs using IBM Quantum technology to enhance quantum computing and investigate
business application cases as the “first Indian university.” Key Points:
a)
The
partnership will open up new opportunities to collaborate with business
partners to accelerate research, make quantum real in areas like supply chain
improvements, logistics, and the modelling of financial data, among other
things.
b)
Finance,
energy, chemistry, materials science, optimization, machine learning, and even
space exploration will all benefit from the combined study on quantum
computing.
c)
The
collaboration enables IIT Madras to access IBM’s cutting-edge quantum computing
devices through the cloud.
d) In order to develop and expand the quantum computing ecosystem in the nation, IIT Madras’ Centre for Quantum Information, Communication and Computing (CQuICC) will use IBM Quantum services along with the open-source Qiskit framework to investigate topics like quantum algorithms, quantum machine learning, quantum error correction, quantum tomography, and quantum chemistry.
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