17th August, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Indian Bureau of Mines to Create Individual Portal for Mines Ministry Under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan

Ministry of Mines has said that an individual portal of the ministry will be started soon in the country. The Ministry said that the portal is being created by the Indian Bureau of Mines under the Prime Minister Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
The Ministry highlighted that two data layers of the portal have been created so far. The first layer covers the spatial data of Mineral concessions and the second layer includes mineral auction blocks.
It said that spatial data of around over 3000 mining leases covering over 2,97,000 Hectare area all over the country have been uploaded on the portal. This data is being validated, which is likely to be completed by the end of this month.

Indian Railway Protection Force Launched “Operation Yatri Suraksha”

Indian Railway Protection Force (RPF), have launched a pan-India operation known as Operation Yatri Suraksha. Under this initiative, several steps are taken to provide round-the-clock security to passengers. To kickstart Operation YatriSuraksha, the RPF launched a month-long pan-India drive against criminals who loot passengers in July 2022. During the drive, the RPF caught 365 suspects who were handed over to the concerned GRPs for legal action.
As part of this initiative, several steps are being taken to provide foolproof security to passengers i.e., train escorting, visible presence on stations, surveillance through CCTV, surveillance on active criminals, collection of intelligence about the criminals and action thereupon, identifying black spots and crime-prone trains/sections and enhancing security thereat among others to formulate an actionable strategy to reduce crime against passengers.

INTERNATIONAL
India contributes four lakh US dollars to Voluntary Trust Funds for support United Nations Human Rights

India has contributed four lakh US dollars to four Voluntary Trust Funds as part of its commitment to global promotion and protection of human rights and support for United Nations Human Rights.
India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Geneva in a tweet said that the contribution reflects India's commitment in this regard.
The four Trust Funds to which contribution has been made include the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation, the Voluntary Fund for financial and technical assistance for the implementation of Universal Periodic Review, and the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to support the participation of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in the work of the council.

India calls for comprehensive reform of United Nations' structure

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has stressed on the comprehensive reform of United Nations' structure saying that this worrying shortcoming of United Nations' system is manifestation of its structural inadequacy.
United Nations might progressively lose its effectiveness and relevance without democratization in decision-making and comprehensive reforms of United Nations' structure.
At the core of India’s call for reformed multilateralism, lies the reform of the United Nations Security Council which is reflective of the contemporary realities.
Major powers' refusal to change United Nations institutions in tune with time, ignores the emerging geo-political realities, economic and technological progress happened since 1945. The Council must be made more representative of developing countries to provide leadership to the entire world.
On the Indo-Pacific region, the Defence Minister said, as a nation central to the Indian Ocean, India is committed to a free, open, secure and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. He said, country's focus on regional maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean bear testimony to the value that India places on multilateralism.

ECONOMY
RBI asks banks to ensure borrowers are not harassed by recovery agents

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked financial institutions that their loan recovery agents should not intimidate or harass any person either physically or verbally for their debt collection efforts. RBI has also advised that, agents should not humiliate publicly or intrude upon the privacy of the debtors family members, referees and friends. RBI has observed that, the recovery agents employed by financial institutions have been deviating from the extant instructions issued time to time.
In view of concerns arising from the activities of these agents, RBI has asked recovery agents not to call the borrower for recovery of overdue loans, making false and misleading representations before 8 am and after 7 pm.
It has also barred recovery agents from sending inappropriate messages either on mobile or through social media, making threatening and/ r anonymous calls, repeatedly calling the borrower and/or calling the borrower before 8:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m.
These instructions will be applicable to all Commercial Banks including Regional Rural Banks, Co-operative Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies, Asset Reconstruction Companies and All India Financial Institutions. RBI has warned that, any violation in this regard by Recovery agents will be viewed seriously. It has clarified that, these guidelines will not be applicable to microfinance or collateral-free loan given to a household having an annual income up to ₹3,00,000.

Index of Industrial Production eases to 12.3% in June against 19.6 percent in May

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) eased to 12.3 percent in June against 19.6 percent in May this year. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data released today, the growth in IIP data during June was led by the manufacturing and electricity sectors. The electricity sector rose 16.4 per cent. IIP growth in June 2021 was 13.8 percent.
IIP is an index that details the growth of various sectors in the economy. The Eight Core Industries comprise more than 40 percent of the weight of items included in IIP. These are Electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers.

ENVIRONMENT
US President Joe Biden signs massive climate and healthcare legislation

US President Joe Biden has signed a massive climate change and healthcare spending bill into law. The legislation aimed to bring changes in the way medicines are priced. As per reports, there will be a minimum 15 percent tax for corporations. As per the White House, 740 billion dollar bill is the biggest commitment to counter climate change in the history of the country.
The federal government will invest around 375 billion dollar over the decade to fight climate change. The White House claimed that Biden's Inflation Reduction Act would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one billion tons in 2030. The law will also cap prescription drug costs at 2,000 dollar out-of-pocket annually for Medicare recipients. The new legislation will also help around 13 million Americans in paying for their healthcare insurance.

SPORTS

Asia's oldest football tournament - Durand Cup begins

Asia's oldest football tournament- Durand Cup has kicked off its 131st edition in Kolkata today and Imphal will witness its inaugural Durand Cup match.
The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande will be visiting Manipur to witness the inaugural match to be held at KhumanLampak Stadium situated in Imphal.
The inaugural match in Imphal will be played between NEROCA FC and TRAU FC and both are the football teams of Manipur. The State government has already taken up necessary arrangements for the historic football event.

Published date : 17 Aug 2022 06:07PM