July third current affairs

International
Bangladesh receives Moderna COVID vaccines from US

• Bangladesh received 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID 19 vaccinegifted by the US under the COVAX framework of WHO around midnight on Friday and early morning on Saturday.
• The consignment was received at theHazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka by the Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen along with health Minister Zahid Maleque and the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller.
• The US embassy said in a statement on Saturday that it is committed to donate 80 million doses of vaccine to support global need for the COVID vaccine.
• Ambassador Miller said that the 2.5 million doses of the vaccineis only the beginning and the US will donate surplus supply as it becomes available. It has contributed over USD 84 million to Bangladesh in COVID-related development and humanitarian assistance through its various agencies.
• Another consignment of the vaccines purchased by the government of Bangladesh was also received around the same time, reports the official news agency BSS. Bangladesh has entered into a commercial agreement with China to purchase 15 million dosesof the Sinopharm vaccine.
• Health Minister Zahid Maleque had announced earlier that the government will resume regular vaccination drives after receiving 4.5 million doses from the US and China.
• Bangladesh has so far vaccinated over 56 lakh people with the first dose and approximately 43 lakh people with the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccineproduced by the Serum Institute of India. A very small number of people have also received Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines in the country till date.

INS Sarvekshak completes survey around MV X-Press Pearl off Colombo

• Indian Navy’s Hydrographic Survey Ship Sarvekshak successfully completed survey action around the site of ill-fated MV X-Press Pearl on 02 July and handed over the survey data to the Sri Lankan authorities.
• The ship equipped with the state of the art survey equipment including the Side Scan Sonar, was deployed on 25 June at the request of Government of Sri Lanka.
• The survey operations in three search areas around the wreck was progressed in coordination with Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).
• The ship undertook a total of 807 miles of Side Scan Sonar survey and identified 54 prominent underwater debris from MV X-Press Pearl and also one additional uncharted wreck.
• The survey of the wreckage area would facilitate issuance of advisory to both mariners and fishermen, and subsequent removal of debris by Sri Lankan authorities, thereby ensuring safety of navigation for marine traffic operating through Colombo port.
• INS Sarvekshak, is based at Southern Naval Command at Kochi and is fitted with state-of-the-art survey equipment like Deep Sea Multibeam echo sounder system, Side Scan Sonar, Sound Velocity Profilers, and a fully automated digital surveying and processing system.
• In addition, the ship carries a Chetak helicopter which was extensively deployed during the survey for aerial recce. In the past, INS Sarvekshak has also undertaken foreign cooperation surveys in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Kenya.
• India and Sri Lanka share a strong bond and partnership, and this survey operation undertaken has been another milestone in strengthening cooperation and understanding between the two countries and reinforcing the shared values.

UN chief urges Myanmar military to release Aung San Suu Kyi

• United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged the Myanmar military to release the ousted State CounsellorAung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint immediately.
• The associate Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General made this remark on Thursday after thousands of other detainees were released by the military government of Myanmar.
• The military government released more than 2200 people including journalists who were detained during the anti-government protests in the country.
• According to the human rights group tracking political prisoners Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the government has detained 6462people since the protests started after the military government removed the Aung San Suu Kyi led civilian government on February 1. AAPP reports that 885 people have been killed in the protests during the same period.

WHO warns new COVID wave inevitable in Europe as cases rise by 10 percent

• COVID-19 infections have risen by 10% in a week in Europe after two months in decline and the risk of a new wave of cases is growing. This was informed by the World Health Organization.
• Regional director Hans Kluge said the risk had been heightened by sluggish vaccine rollouts, new variants and increased social mixing. There was also a danger that Euro 2020 could act as a super-spreader. Hundreds of fans returning from London and St Petersburg have tested positive.
• WHO senior emergency officer Catherine Smallwood called on host cities to do more to monitor the movement of fans.
• Russia has seen record numbers of deaths for the past three days, with 672 fatalities and 23,543 new cases reported yesterday alone. Most of the new cases in Moscow are of the Delta variant, and top health officials are also talking of a new Delta-plus variant.
• Euro 2020 host city St Petersburg recorded 115 deaths in the past 24 hours yesterday, on the eve of its sixth and last tournament match between Spain and Switzerland.

National
When is National Doctors’ Day observed?

• July 1 is celebrated as ‘National Doctor’s Day’ as National Doctors’ Day by theIndian Medical Association (IMA). commemorating the iconic and internationally renowned medical practitioner, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy who served as a physician, a freedom fighter, an educationist and a politician.
• National Doctors’ Day: PM Modi Urges Doctors To Undertake Research Over Benefits Of Vaccines

History of National Doctors’ Day 2021:

• The day was first celebrated in the year 1991 to honour the former Chief Minister of Bengal, Dr BC Roy to acknowledge his contribution to serving humanity. Dr Roy was an exemplary and eminent doctor who made an enormous contribution to the medical fraternity in his medical career. He was born on July 1, 1882, and died on a similar date in 1962.

Government brings retail and wholesale trade under ambit of MSME

• The Government has decided to bring retail and wholesale trade under the ambit ofMicro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME). It has issued revised guidelines to include retail and wholesale trade as MSME and extending to them the benefit of priority sector lending under RBI guidelines.
• In a series of tweets, MSME Minister, Nitin Gadkari said, the decision will benefit 2.5 crore retail and wholesale traders. He said, the Government is committed to strengthening of MSME and making them engines for economic growth. With the revised guidelines the retail and wholesale trades will now be allowed to register on Udyam Registration Portal.

Health and Family Welfare Ministry gives nod for vaccination of pregnant women

• The government has given nod for Pregnant women to take the Covid vaccine. The decision was taken by the Union Health Ministry on the recommendations of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, NTAGI. For getting vaccinated, pregnant women can register on CoWIN or directly go to the nearest COVID Vaccination Centre.
• The Health Ministry has prepared an operational guideline for vaccination of pregnant women, counselling kit for Medical Officers and front-line workers. The procedures and modalities of COVID-19 vaccination will remain the same as it is for any beneficiaries above 18 years of age.

Government imposes stock limit for all pulses except moong till October 31 this year

• The Government has imposed stock limit for all pulses except moong till the 31st of October this year. The decision has been taken to prevent hoarding and check price rise.
• The order will be applicable to wholesalers, retailers, millers and importers. Stock limit will be 200 metrictonnes for wholesalers, five metric tonnes for retailers. The Removal of Licensing Requirements, Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions on Specified Foodstuffs (Amendment) Order, 2021 has been issued.
• As a result of a slew of measures taken by the Central Government, a declining trend in the prices of pulses and edible oils is being witnessed. The highest ever production of major pulses amounting to over 255 lakh metric tonnes took place in the last financial year.

Economy
India achieves highest ever Merchandise export of 95 Billion dollar in first quarter of current financial year

• India has recorded the highest ever merchandise export in the first quarter of April to June this year despite the severity of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
• Also, the country has also received the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment of 81.72 billion US dollars in the last financial year. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal informed this during a press conference in New Delhi yesterday.
• The Commerce Minister said, the highest ever Merchandise export of 95 Billion dollarwas achieved in the first quarter of this financial year which surpassed the earlier peak of export of 90 Billion dollars in quarter four of 2020-21, which was.
• He said, the export of engineering goods increased by 5.2 billion dollars over the first quarter of 2019-2020. He also said, Rice exports growth has also remained positive since May last year.
• He said, India has set a target of 400 billion US dollars merchandise exports in the current financial year.
• Mr Goyal said, India's economy is growing and the exports are also growing. He said, sector-specific government’s interventions, involvement of all the stakeholders and simplification of procedures have resulted in record performance of exports.
• The minister said, several labor-intensive sectors have seen a rapid export growth.

Bilateral
India joins OECD, G20 Inclusive Framework tax deal of global corporate tax

• India has joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 Inclusive Framework tax deal of global corporate tax.
• According to a Finance Ministry, the members OECD and G20 countries adopted a high-level statement containing an outline of a consensus solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy.
• The proposed solution consists of two components- reallocation of additional share of profit to the market jurisdictions and minimum tax subject to tax rules. However, the technical details of the proposal will be worked out in the coming months and a consensus agreement is expected by October.
• The Finance Ministry statement released, said the principles underlying the solution vindicates India’s stand for a greater share of profits for the markets. It said, India is in favour of a consensus solution which is simple to implement and simple to comply with.
• At the same time, the solution should result in allocation of meaningful and sustainable revenue to market jurisdictions, particularly for developing and emerging economies.
• Initially, the global corporate tax was proposed by the United States as Global Minimum Tax (GMT). The tax deal was adopted in the OECD and G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). BEPS refers to tax-avoiding strategies used by big multinational companies that exploit the gaps and mismatches in tax rules across the globe.
• Around 130 countries, representing more than 90 percent of global GDP, adopted the global corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent. The countries also agreed on a fairer distribution of ‘profits and taxing rights’ with respect to multinationals including digital giants such as Amazon and Google. However, Hungary and Ireland were part of a small group of countries that did not agree on the tax rate on multinationals.

Appointment
Who has been appointed as US new envoy to India?

• Atul Keshap took charge as United States' new envoy to India. He most recently served as the Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives.
• The US state department said, appointment of the Indian-American career diplomat, an old India-hand at the US state department will help reinforce the close US partnership with the Government and people of India.
• Mr Keshap said, it is his honour to serve as Chargé affairs at the U.S. Mission in India. He said as a proud Indian-American, it is his privilege to work to further strengthen the warm and dynamic US-India partnership.

Published date : 03 Jul 2021 05:40PM