Former SBI Chief Rajnish Kumar launches memoir ‘The Custodian of Trust’
Former Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) Rajnish Kumar has come out with his memoir titled ‘The Custodian of Trust – A Banker’s Memoir’. The book has been published by Penguin Random House India. It gave a rare insight of how the financial system in our country works. The Custodian of Trust presents Kumar’s journey from a modest house in the old city of Meerut to being a probationary officer in SBI in 1980 and growing to the post of Chairman in 2017.
UNDP Releases 2021 Multidimensional Poverty Index Report
The 2021 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report was jointly released by UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The report provides estimates on multidimensional poverty across 109 developing countries (with data from surveys ranging 2009-2019/2020); These include 26 low-income countries, 80 middle-income countries and 3 high-income countries. The index measures each person’s deprivations across 10 indicators divided into three equally weighted dimensions.
About the Index:
- The finding is based across 109 countries and 5.9 billion people. of this, 1.3 billion people are multidimensionally poor (or 21.7%)
- About half (644 million) are children under age 18.
- About 8.2 per cent (105 million) are age 60 or older.
- Nearly 85 per cent live in Sub-Saharan Africa (556 million) or South Asia (532 million).
- 84 per cent (1.1 billion) live in rural areas, and 16 per cent (about 209 million) live in urban areas.
- More than 67 per cent live in middle-income countries.
- In India, five out of six multidimensionally poor people were from lower tribes or castes.
Tamil Nadu’s ‘Kanniyakumari Clove’ gets GI Tag
The unique clove spice grown in the hills of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu has been awarded a geographical indication (GI) as ‘Kanyakumari clove’. In India, the total production of cloves is 1,100 metric tons and of this, 1,000 metric tons is produced in Tamil Nadu every year while 750 metric tons of cloves are produced in the Kanyakumari district alone.
Apart from this, the traditional dye-painted figurative and patterned cloth called Karuppur kalamkari paintings and the wood carvings of Kallakurichi from Tamil Nadu have also received GI tags.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai;
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister: MK Stalin;
- Tamil Nadu Governor: R.N.Ravi;
- Tamil Nadu State Dance: Bharathanatyam.
PM Narendra Modi launches Indian Space Association
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Indian Space Association (ISpA) via videoconferencing. Its founding members include Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited.
Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.
About the board members:
- First Chairman: Jayant Patil, L&T-NxT Senior Executive Vice President for Defence
- Vice-President: Rahul Vatts, Bharti Airtel’s chief regulatory officer
- Director-General: Lt Gen. A.K. Bhatt (Retd.)
About the ISpA:
The ISpA is a private industry body that will act as a premier industry body for space and satellite companies in the country. ISpA will be represented by homegrown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies. ISpA will work towards boosting space technology in India, with focus on capacity building and space economic hubs and incubators in India.
Railways launch two long haul freight trains ‘Trishul’, ‘Garuda’
The Indian Railways has launched two long haul freight trains “Trishul” and “Garuda” — which are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains. These long haul trains provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections. These trains are twice or multiple times longer than the normal composition of freight trains and provide a very effective solution to the problem of capacity constraints in critical sections.
About the Trishul:
Trishul is the first long haul train of South Central Railway (SCR) and consists of 177 wagons, or equal to three freight trains. It was launched from the Kondapalli station of the Vijayawada division to the Khurda division of the East Coast Railway.
About the Garuda:
The train ‘Garuda’ was launched from Raichur of Guntakal division to Manuguru of Secunderabad division. Both the long haul trains had empty open wagons to be used to load coal meant for predominantly thermal power stations.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Union Minister of Railways: Ashwini Vaishnaw.
National Award-winning actor Nedumudi Venu passes away
National Award-winning actor Nedumudi Venu has passed away. He won three National Film Awards, and six Kerala State Film Awards for his performances. Nedumudi Venu began his career as a theatre artist with the plays of Kavalam Narayana Panicker. He made his debut in films with Thambu, directed by G Aravindan in 1978. Known for his work in Malayalam and Tamil movies, Venu acted in over 500 movies.
Eight High Courts to get new Chief Justices
The Government notified the appointments of eight and transfer of five chief justices of high courts. Eight High Courts will get new Chief Justices, and five Chief Justices have been transferred. The clearance in the 13 High Courts was considered crucial as some of them have been making do with Acting Chief Justices.
Five Chief Justices have been transferred:
- The government cleared the transfer of Tripura High Court Chief Justice A.A. Kureshi to the Rajasthan High Court.
- Justice Indrajit Mahanty, Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, would take over as Tripura Chief Justice.
- Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq of Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
- Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder of the Meghalaya High Court has been transferred as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.
- Justice A.K. Goswami has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. He is presently the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Newly appointed Chief Justice:
- Justice Rajesh Bindal, Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
- Justice Ranjit V. More has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
- Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
- Justice Prakash Srivastava, a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.
- Justice R.V. Malimath has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
- Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
- Justice Aravind Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
- Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra would take over as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
GoI launched ‘My Port App’ for digital monitoring of port operations
The Centre government has launched ‘MyPortApp’ in Kolkata for digital monitoring of port operation. It has been launched for promoting transparency and to provide port-related information. The app has been launched for those port users who want to use various port services. It includes all facts about the port digitally.
The app incorporates information related to Vessel Berthing, Rake & Indent, Rake Receipt, Container Status, Tariff, Bills, Port Holidays and can be accessed anywhere 24×7.
K V Subramanian resigned as Chief Economic Adviser
The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) KV Subramanian has decided to return to academia after the completion of his three-year term in the Finance Ministry of India. KV Subramanian had taken over the charge of Chief Economic Adviser on December 7, 2018. The appointment was made nearly five months after his predecessor Arvind Subramanian had stepped down.
KV Subramanian, earlier in his career, had been part of the expert committees for the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Subramanian has also been well-versed with the private sector, with brief stints in top corporates including ICICI Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and Tata Consultancy Services.
Role of Chief Economic Adviser:
- CEA (Chief Economic Adviser) is a post in the Government of India. It is equivalent to the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
- The Chief Economic Adviser is head of the Economic Division of the Economic Affairs Department, Ministry of Finance.
- The extent to which the Indian Government takes into account the advice of CEA has generally been considered to be open-ended.
FIFA unveils “Ibha” mascot of India’s 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup
World football body, FIFA has unveiled the official mascot of the U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 “Ibha” an Asiatic lioness representing women power. The tournament will be held in India from October 11-30 next year. The announcement coincided with the International Day of the Girl Child.
According to a release issued by the global body, Ibha aims to inspire women and girls across India and around the world to realise their potential. Ibha is a strong, playful and charming Asiatic lioness that aims to inspire and encourage women and girls by using teamwork, resilience, kindness and empowering others.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- President of FIFA: Gianni Infantino; Founded: 21 May 1904.
- Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland.
Arvind Kejriwal launches ‘Desh Ke Mentor’ Programme
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has launched a programme under which students of Delhi government schools will be provided guidance on career choices by citizens who are successful in their respective fields. The ‘Desh ke mentor’ programme entails ‘adopting’ one to 10 government school students who can be mentored by citizens who are successful in their respective fields. The Delhi government had in August announced that Bollywood actor Sonu Sood will be the brand ambassador for the mentors’ programme.
Function of “Desh ke mentor’ programme:
Mentors will take out 10 minutes every week to guide students over the phone. Interested citizens can adopt between one to 10 children studying in the city’s government schools as part of the initiative.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief Minister of Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal; Lieutenant Governor of Delhi: Anil Baijal.
Adani Group takes over management of Jaipur International Airport
Gautam Adani-led Adani Group has took over the responsibilities of the Jaipur International Airport from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport has been leased out to the group by the government of India for a period of 50 years. For the last two months, officials from Adani group have been observing operations at the airport. Airport director J S Balhara handed over a symbolic key of the airport to Chief Airport Officer Adani Jaipur International Ltd Vishnu Jha in the presence of other officials.
About the Jaipur airport:
Jaipur airport is the 11th busiest airport in India in daily scheduled flight operations. Located in the southern suburb of Sanganer, the airport was granted the status of the international airport on 29 December 2005. The civil apron can accommodate 14 aircraft and the new terminal building can handle up to 1,000 passengers at a time.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Adani Group Headquarters: Ahmedabad;
- Adani Group Founder: Gautam Adani;
- Adani Group Founded: 20 July 1988.
