NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Gujarat Govt to receive Rs 7,500 Cr Loan from World Bank, AIIB: The World Bank and
the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) stated that the Gujarat
government’s Mission School of Excellence project, which aims to improve
education quality in the state, will receive a loan worth Rs 7,500 crore. The
state government will spend Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years on the
Mission School of Excellence initiative, which would cover all 35,133
government and 5,847 grant-in-aid schools in the state.
Key Points:
a)
In
the state’s 41,000 government and grant-in-aid schools, the monies will be used
to develop 50,000 new classrooms, 1.5 lakh smart classrooms, 20,000 new
computer labs, and 5,000 tinkering labs.
b)
In
the next few years, it is expected that almost one crore school pupils will
directly benefit from this ambitious effort.
c)
The
World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have authorised a Rs
7,500 crore credit for the mammoth project.
d)
The
World Bank sent a group to Gandhinagar to look at the School of Excellence
project.
Note: World Bank Headquarters: Washington,
D.C., United States; World Bank Formation: July 1944; World Bank President:
David Malpass.
AIIB Headquarters: Beijing, China; AIIB
Membership: 105 Members; AIIB Formation: 16 January 2016; AIIB Head: Jin Liqun.
2.
HAL and Israel Aerospace have teamed up to convert civil aeroplanes into
mid-air refuellors: In
a significant development, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to convert civil passenger aircraft to Multi Mission Tanker Transport
(MMTT) aircraft in India. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been looking to
procure new mid-air refuellers for sometime.
Key Points: HAL will convert
pre-owned civil (passenger) aircraft into air refuelling aircraft with cargo and
transport capabilities under the newly inked agreement. According to the MoU,
it also covers passenger to cargo aircraft conversions as well as MMTT
conversions. A Boeing 767 passenger plane, according to a defence official, is
likely to be transformed.
The IAF presently has six Russian IL-78
tankers and has been looking to procure six new aircraft for sometime, but the
deal has been repeatedly delayed. It has been looking to reissue the tender but
the financial crunch had made it rethink the acquisition. To meet requirements
in the interim, it has been looking at leasing some mid-air refuellers, an
option introduced in the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020.
HAL: Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is a state-owned Indian aerospace and defence
enterprise based in Bengaluru. HAL was founded on December 23, 1940, and is now
one of the world’s oldest and largest aerospace and defence companies.
Note: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
Founded: 1940; Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka;
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited CMD: R Madhavan.
3.
Mudra Yojana celebrates the completion of 7 years: The Pradhan Mantri
Mudra Yojana, or PMMY, is celebrating its seventh anniversary. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi announced the initiative on April 8, 2015, with the goal of
granting loans up to ten lakh rupees to non-corporate, non-farm small, or
micro-enterprises.
Key Points: Since the inception of the
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, more than 34 crore 42 lakh loans worth 18.60 lakh
crore rupees have been sanctioned as per the official statement. Women
Entrepreneurs have received around 68 percent of the total number of loans
approved.
New Entrepreneurs have received nearly 22
percent of the loans. The Scheme has aided in the creation of an enabling
environment for small enterprises, as well as large-scale job prospects at the
grassroots level.
4.
India’s first case of XE variant of coronavirus disease reported from Mumbai: The first case of
the XE variety of the coronavirus illness (Covid-19) in India was reported in
Mumbai. The city civic authority Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)
announced the results of its 11th genome sequencing, which identified one
sample positive for the XE variant and another for the Kappa variant.
Key Points:
a)
According
to BMC officials, the person who tested positive for the XE strain was a fully
vaccinated 50-year-old woman who had no co-morbidities and was asymptomatic.
She had arrived from South Africa on February 10th with no prior travel
experience. She had tested negative for the virus when she arrived.
b)
According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), the new subvariant ‘XE’, which is a
hybrid strain of two Omicron subvariants, could be the most transmissible
coronavirus strain ever discovered.
c)
XE
is a hybrid or recombinant of Omicron’s two sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). The
BA.2 sub-lineage has been linked to COVID-19 instances in the United States,
the United Kingdom, and China.
d)
Early
research suggested the variant had a 10% growth rate advantage over BA.2, one
of the most contagious types, according to the World health organization.
5.
“Tiger of Drass: Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 23, Kargil Hero” authored by Meena Nayyar
& Himmat Singh Shekhawat: Meena Nayyar, Mother of Captain Anuj
Nayyar and Himmat Singh Shekhawat, a part of Rashtriya Riders, a biking group
that pays homage to martyrs and their families has authored a new book titled
“Tiger of Drass: Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 23, Kargil Hero”, published by
HarperCollins Publishers India. The book features the story of Capt. Anuj
Nayyar (23 years old), who martyred during the 1999 Kargil War while fighting
to secure the Drass sector which was critical to the success of Operation Vijay
and India’s victory in Kargil. Captain Anuj Nayyar was honoured with the Maha
Vir Chakra (posthumously), the second-highest gallantry award in 2000.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. QS
World University Rankings by Subject 2022: IIT Bombay & IIT Delhi among top
100: QS
Quacquarelli Symonds released the 12th edition of the QS World University
Rankings by Subject 2022, the subject-wise rankings of institutes across the
world are compilations of multiple lists. The QS World University Rankings by
Subject are compiled annually to help prospective students identify the leading
universities in a particular subject.
Top institutes under each category:
|
Category |
Top Institute(Rank 1) |
|
Arts and Humanities |
University of
Oxford(UK) |
|
Engineering and
Technology |
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (USA) |
|
Life Sciences &
Medicine |
Harvard University
(USA) |
|
Natural Sciences |
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT)(USA) |
|
Social Sciences &
Management |
Harvard
University(USA) |
Indian Institute: Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT)-Bombay ranked 65th and Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT)- Delhi ranked 72nd, are the only Indian institutes to be featured among
the top 100 ranks under the Engineering and Technology category. IIT Bombay has
scored 79.9 and IIT Delhi has scored 78.9.
Top 3 QS World University Rankings
2022:
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT),
2. The University of Oxford,
3. Stanford University & the University
of Cambridge.
2.
Astronomers detect identical twin of Jupiter: Astronomers have
discovered an identical twin of Jupiter dubbed as K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb, Which has
a similar mass and is at a similar location (420 million miles away) from its
star as Jupiter is from our Sun (462 million miles away). The study has been published
as a preprint on ArXiv.org and submitted to the journal Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society.
The exoplanet is about 17,000 light-years
from the Earth, and it was first detected by the Kepler space telescope in
2016. To spot the planet, scientists used Albert Einstein’s Theory of
Relativity and Gravitational Microlensing. K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb is “the first
bound microlensing exoplanet to be discovered from space-based data.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Riya Jadon wins 11th DGC Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship: Thirteen-year-old
Riya Jadon won the DGC Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship, following a close
fight with older sister Lavanya Jadon. Riya, who carded 78, 80 and 74, also won
the junior girls trophy. Over a hundred women golfers took part in this year’s
tournament, which resumed at the Delhi Golf Club after a two-year hiatus.
Usha International vice-president Anju
Munjal, who was present during the presentation ceremony, said, “As part of our
ethos of promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, Usha is proud to have
supported golf platforms that have paved the way for juniors and amateurs as
champions in the making.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBI Monetary Policy 2022: key rates unchanged: The six-member
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the repo rate
unchanged at 4 per cent. MPC committee keeps the reverse repo rate unchanged at
3.35 per cent as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added to a rise in inflation. The
Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee headed by Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das kept the repo rate unchanged for the 11th
consecutive time. The repo rate or the short-term lending rate was the last cut
on May 22, 2020. Since then, the rate remains at a historic low of 4 per cent.
The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
rate and bank rates remain unchanged:
Policy Repo Rate: 4.00%
Reverse Repo Rate: 3.35%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.25%
Bank Rate: 4.25%
CRR: 4%
SLR: 18.00%
Key Points:
a)
The
GDP growth forecast has been lowered to 7.2 per cent, owing to inflationary
pressures due to the ongoing Russia Ukraine War. Earlier, the central bank had
kept the GDP growth rate at 7.8 per cent.
b)
RBI
announced that now people can withdraw money from ATMs without a card in all
banks across the nation. This has been done to give a push to Digital India.
c)
Net
worth requirement for Bharat Bill Payments System Operating Units lowered from
Rs 100 crore to Rs 25 crore.
d)
Rationalisation
of risk weights for individual housing loans to be extended till March 31,
2023.
e)
RBI
sees the Current account deficit at sustainable levels and forex reserves at
$606.5 billion.
f)
Inflation
is now projected at 5.7% in 2022-23 with Q1 at 6.3%, Q2 at 5%, Q3 at 5.4% and
Q4 at 5.1%.
g)
India’s
10-year bond yield rises to 7%, the highest since 2019.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
India’s Agriculture Exports Cross USD 50 Billion Mark for First Time: Exports of
agricultural products from India surpassed the USD 50 billion mark for the first
time during the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), owing to significant growth in
sugar, rice, wheat, and other cereals exports. The Directorate General of
Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, has released provisional figures stating that agricultural exports
rose to USD 50.21 billion in 2021-22, which is 19.92%.
Previously: The growth rate
is significant since it exceeds the 17.66% growth rate of USD 41.87 billion
obtained in 2020–21, and it was achieved despite unprecedented logistical
obstacles such as high freight prices, container shortages, and so on.
Key Points:
a)
The
highest ever exports have been achieved for staples like rice (USD 9.65
billion), wheat (USD 2.19 billion), Sugar (USD (4.6 billion) and other cereals
(USD 1.08 billion).
b)
The
increase in exports of these products has benefitted farmers in states like
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
c)
India
has captured nearly 50% of the world’s market for rice.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Grammys 2022: Indian-American Singer Falguni Shah, Winner Of Best Children’s
Music Album: Indian-American
singer Falguni Shah won a Grammy Award for A Colorful World in the Best
Children’s Album category. Falguni Shah has even performed and collaborated
with music maestro AR Rahman and she is the only Indian-origin woman to be
nominated in the Best Children’s Music Album category at the Grammys twice.
Falguni Shah was earlier nominated for a Grammy in the same category for her
2018 album Falu’s Bazaar.
The other nominees in the category were ‘Actívate’ by 123 Andrés, ‘All One Tribe’ by 1 Tribe Collective, ‘Black To The Future’ by Pierce Freelon, and ‘Crayon Kids’ by Lucky Diaz And The Family Jam Band. Born in Mumbai and now based out of New York, Falu was even nominated in the same category in 2019 for her previous album called ‘Falu’s Bazaar’.
