Monthly BeePedia August 2022 INDEX RBI, Banking and Economy ___________________________________________ 2 SEBI and Financial Awareness _________________________________________50 NABARD and Agriculture ___________________________________________ 59 National __________________________________________________________ 68 International _____________________________________________________ 74 States____________________________________________________________ 77 Reports and Indexes _______________________________________________ 84 Science and Technology ___________________________________________ 96 Defence __________________________________________________________ 100 Events ___________________________________________________________ 104 Awards & Rewards ___________________________________________________108 Appointments _____________________________________________________ 112 Important Days ___________________________________________________ 116 Obituaries_________________________________________________________ 118 Books ___________________________________________________________ 119 Sports ___________________________________________________________ 121 Download important documents: Weekly & Monthly BeePedia: https://www.ixambee.com/beepedia-gk-updatescapsule?utm_source=ixamBee&utm_medium=header&utm_campaign=beepedia Hindi Weekly & Monthly BeePedia: https://www.ixambee.com/hi/beepedia-gk-updates-capsule For feedback, please contact: Email id: hello@ixambee.com hello@ixambee.com 1 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 RBI, Banking and Economy Monetary Policy Committee Meeting – hikes repo rate by 50 bps The Monetary Policy Committee meeting was chaired by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on August 5, 2022. Categories Current Rates Repo rate 5.40% Standing Deposit Facility 5.15% Marginal Standing Facility 5.65% CPI inflation eased to 7.0 percent (year-on-year, y-o-y) during May-June 2022 from 7.8 percent in April,2022.The inflation projection is retained at 6.7 percent in 2022-23. CPI inflation for Q1:2023-24 is projected at 5.0 percent. The real GDP growth projection for 2022-23 is retained at 7.2 percent & 6.7 percent for Q1 of 202324.The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during September 28-30, 2022.The yield of the 10year government bond, ended 14 basis points higher to close at 7.30 per cent. Learn Along RBI Headquarters: Mumbai Governor: Shaktikanta Das Deputy Governors: MK Jain, MD Patra, M Rajeshwar Rao and T. Rabi Sankar The MPC is a statutory committee that fixes the key policy interest rates and monetary policy stance of the country as well as the inflation target. The MPC comprises three external members and three members from the RBI. The RBI Governor heads the MPC. All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It has a base year of 2012 Marginal standing facility (MSF) is a window for banks to borrow from the Reserve Bank of India in an emergency situation when inter-bank liquidity dries up completely. Under MSF, banks can borrow funds from the RBI by pledging government securities. RBI charges higher interest rate over and above the repo rate. The Standing Deposit Facility allows the RBI to absorb excess cash from the economy by sucking liquidity from commercial banks without giving government securities in return to the lenders. Under the SDF, the banks can place deposits with the RBI on an overnight basis. The RBI, however, retains the flexibility to absorb liquidity for longer tenors under the SDF with appropriate pricing, as and when the need arises. All liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) participants will be eligible to participate in the SDF scheme. Gross domestic product or GDP is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period. 2 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 RBI allows invoicing & payments for international trade in Indian Rupee The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed invoicing and payments for international trade in Indian Rupee on International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees (INR). In terms of Para 10 of the Circular, the approval process is that for opening of Special INR Vostro accounts, banks of partner countries may approach Authorised Dealer (AD) banks in India which may seek approval from RBI with details of the arrangement. Learn Along A Vostro account is defined as an account that a correspondent bank holds on behalf of another bank An example of such an account would be HSBC vostro account is held by SBI in India Standalone PDs allowed access to forex markets-RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed relaxations for standalone primary dealers (SPDs) to operate in the foreign exchange market alongside banks with an aim to enable their customers to hedge currency risks and broaden the availability of market makers.The RBI has allowed standalone primary dealers to offer all foreign exchange market-making facilities as currently permitted to banks. They are also allowed to participate in foreign currency settled overnight indexed swap (FCS-OIS) transactions directly with non-residents and other market-makers. Learn Along Overnight Index Swap (OIS)-It is one type of interest rate swaps where the floating leg of the swap is linked to an overnight index, compounded every day over of the payment period. The parties agree to exchange the difference in the accrued interest arrived according to the fixed and floating interest rates at the maturity on the notional principal amount. The foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. House price index rises 3.5 percent in first quarter: RBI data According to the data released by RBI, the all-India house price index (HPI) rose by 3.5 percent yearon-year in the first quarter of 2022-23, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. The growth in the HPI was 1.8 percent during January-March and 2 percent in the April-June quarter of 2021-22. On a sequential basis, all India HPI increased by 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2022-23. Delhi, Kolkata, and Jaipur recorded sequential contraction in the index, while it rose for the remaining cities. Learn Along: The Housing Price Index (HPI) tracks residential home prices and quantities across the eight largest cities in India. The indices are constructed using quarterly survey data collected by Housing.com and are available from 2017-present. The survey includes information on price per square foot, quantity, and the total value of transactions for various sublocalities within each city collected from real-estate developers and brokers. The India level indices provide an average movement in prices and quantities across the eight cities. Finally, each index is normalized to a value of 100 in January 2017. RBI to widen Internal Ombudsman mechanism by including CICs 3 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) has improved the customer grievance redressal mechanism. With a view to strengthen the internal grievance redressal of CICs and making it more efficient, it has also been decided to bring CICs under the Internal Ombudsman (IO) framework. This will further provide a cost-free alternate redressal mechanism to customers of Regulated Entities for grievances against CICs. Learn Along A Credit Information Company (CIC) is an organization which collects and analyses credit and loan related data about individuals and companies and generates its products and services on the basis of this data. This data is provided to CICs by their member banks and other financial institutions. Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) A Scheme for resolving customer grievances in relation to services provided by entities regulated by Reserve Bank of India in an expeditious and cost-effective manner under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), Section 45L of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) and Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (51 of 2007). RBI issues digital lending norms RBI has come up with the guidelines to firm the regulatory framework related to the digital lending activities so as to curb the concerns arising from credit delivery through digital lending methods. RBI has clearly & categorically specified that the lending business will only be carried out by the entities regulated by RBI itself or those permitted under the law. The digital lenders universe is divided into 3 groups by RBI- entities regulated by the RBI and permitted to carry out lending business; entities authorised to carry out lending according to other statutory/ regulatory provisions but not regulated by the RBI, and entities lending outside the purview of any statutory/ regulatory provision. These guidelines are for the first category, or entities regulated by the RBI. Other entities which have to ask respective regulator/ controlling authority/ the central government to formulate guidelines based on the given recommnedations.For RBI-regulated entities (REs), their lending service providers (LSPs), and digital lending apps (DLAs) of REs, the central bank has mandated that all loan disbursals and repayments are required to be executed only between the bank account of the borrower and the RE, without any pass-through/ pool account of the LSP or any third party. RBI cancels Rupee Co-operative's licence RBI cancelled the licence of Pune based Rupee Cooperative Bank due tolack of adequate capital, earning prospsects and inability to comply with the banking regulations & it will cease to conduct business from September 22,2022. The depositors will be provided a claim upto Rs 5 Lakh under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act (DICGC). Learn Along: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. It was established on 15 July 1978 under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities. DICGC insures all bank deposits, such as saving, fixed, current, recurring deposit for up to the limit of Rs. 500,000 of each deposit in a bank. DICGC Headquarters: Mumbai Executive: M.D. Patra Mswipe Technologies & Easebuzz gets RBI approval for payment aggregator's licence 4 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Mswipe Technologies & Easebuzz Private Limited, a payments solutions platform has received an inprinciple approval from RBI for Payment Aggregator licence & thus will be able to develop an in housing online payment gateway moving away from outsourcing transaction settlements. Easebuzz, through scalable and easily adaptable Application Programming Interface (API) solutions, is solving end-to-end payment use cases for MSMEs. It seeks to be the financial operating system for the existing 63 million Indian MSMEs and be the catalyst for Digital Transformation. Learn Along: Mswipe Technologies Headquarters:Mumbai CEO: Manish Patel A payment aggregator is a service provider that allows merchants to process mobile or e-commerce payments. They let businesses accept credit and debit card payments without setting up a merchant account through a bank. All 12 public sector banks joined the account aggregator network All the 12 public sector banks have joined the account aggregator (AA) framework. As many as 22 major private sector and public sector banks (PSBs) have onboarded the framework since its launch in September 2021.Around 1.1 billion accounts, including all major public and private bank accounts, are now a part of the India’s Account Aggregator. Learn Along Account Aggregator Framework: It is a framework for data sharing between financial institutions like banks, pension funds, insurance companies and assets management companies. Under this, account aggregators (AAs) use technology for simple and secure exchange of the data between the institutions. With AAs, financial data can be used to access a vast array of financial services for your personal or business needs. Govt re-nominated four independent directors on central board of RBI The central government has re-nominated Satish Kashinath Marathe, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Revathy Iyer, and Sachin Chaturvedi as part-time, non-official directors on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India. These four nominations as non-official directors of RBI are for a period of four years. RBI penalises eight co-operative banks & also on Thodupuzha Urban Co-operative Bank The RBI imposed penalties on eight cooperative banks, including a fine of Rs 40 lakh on the Mehsana Urban Co-operative Bank, Gujarat, for non-compliance with various norms. A penalty of Rs 7 lakh has been imposed on Indapur Urban Cooperative Bank, Indapur (Maharashtra) for contravention of certain provisions related to exposure norms. Three banks — Warud Urban Co-operative Bank, Warud (Maharashtra), Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh) and the Yavatmal Urban Co-operative Bank, Yavatmal (Maharashtra) — have been penalised for noncompliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.A penalty of Rs 25 lakh has been imposed on Chhattisgarh Rajya Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) for non-compliance with certain 5 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 KYC provisions.Garha Co-operative Bank Limited, Guna (Madhya Pradesh) and the Goa State Cooperative Bank, Panaji are the two other banks on which penalty has been imposed. The RBI also barred customers of Thodupuzha Urban Co-operative Bank, Kerala, from withdrawing funds as part of several restrictions imposed on the lender due to its deteriorating financial condition.The restrictions will remain in force for six months from the close of business on August 23, 2022 RBI imposes monetary penalty on M/s Swagatam Marketing Private Limited, Kolkata The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.00 lakh on M/s Swagatam Marketing Private Limited, Kolkata for contravention of/ non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI to Non-Banking Financial Company regarding change in management. The company had changed its management without prior approval of Reserve Bank of India thereby failing to adhere to the RBI directions. Learn Along: RBI Headquarters: Mumbai Governor: Shaktikanta Das 4 Deputy Governors: T. Rabi Sankar, MK Jain, MD Patra, M Rajeshwar Rao RBI allows American Express to acquire new credit card customers after 15 months of ban The Reserve Bank of India has lifted the ban on new customer acquisition by American Express which was imposed with effect from May 2021 due to non-compliance with local data storage norms. In view of the satisfactory compliance demonstrated by American Express Banking Corp. with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Storage of Payment System Data, the restrictions imposed on onboarding of new domestic customers have been lifted with immediate effect. Learn Along: American Express Headquarters: New York, US Chairman & CEO: Stephen Squeri RBI stipulates four-tier regulatory structure for urban co-op banks The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prescribed a four-tier regulatory structure for urban cooperative banks (UCBs).The regulator has stipulated a minimum net worth of ₹2 crore for tier one UCBs operating in a single district and ₹5 crore for all other UCBs of all tiers. RBI also retained the minimum capital adequacy ratio requirement for tier one banks at the present level of 9%.For urban cooperative banks of all other tiers, while retaining the current capital adequacy framework, RBI said it has decided to revise the minimum capital adequacy ratio to 12% to strengthen their capital structure.In February 2021, RBI constituted the committee headed by former deputy governor N S Vishwanathan to examine issues in the urban cooperative banking sector, provide a medium-term road map and suggest measures for faster resolution of UCBs, among others. Learn Along: Co-operative Banks, which are distinct from commercial banks, were born out of the concept of co-operative credit societies where members from a community group together to extend loans to each other, at favourable terms. Co-operative Banks are broadly classified into Urban and Rural co-operative banks based on their region of operation. 6 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR) is also known as Capital adequacy Ratio, the ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. The RBI tracks a bank's CAR to ensure that the bank can absorb a reasonable amount of loss and complies with statutory Capital requirements. RIL emerges as top bidder with 88000 crore in the 5G auction spectrum 5G spectrum auction has generated revenues of over Rs 1.5 trillion (Rs 150,173 crore approximately). The government had put up 72.09 GHz of spectrum across 10 frequency bands on sale. While the government was able to sell 71 per cent of the spectrum on offer in terms of quantity, in value terms it accounted for only around 35 per cent of the total of Rs 4.3 trillion as per the base price. Reliance Jio topped the charts, spending out more than double of Bharti Airtel (212 cr) at Rs 88,078 crore for 24,740 MHz of spectrum. But that includes the crucial 700 MHz band (considered key for 5G because of its coverage) apart from 1800 and the 5G bands of 3.3 GHz as well as 26 GHz. Learn Along RIL Headquarters: Mumbai Bharti Airtel Headquarters: New Delhi CEO: Mukesh Ambani Chairman: Sunil Bharti Mittal GST collection jumps 28% YoY in July,2022 to second highest ever at Rs 1.49 trn Goods and services tax (GST) collection remained above Rs 1.4 trillion for the fifth month in a row, increasing 28 percent year-on-year (YoY) to nearly Rs 1.49 trillion in July,2022 having grown by 35 percent and the second highest ever since the rollout of the regime. Learn Along GST, or Goods and Services Tax, is an indirect tax imposed on the supply of goods and services. It is a multi-stage, destination-oriented tax imposed on every value addition, replacing multiple indirect taxes, including VAT, excise duty, service taxes, etc. GST slabs various goods and services announced by CBIC The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) announced GST slabs on a host of goods and services. The electric vehicles without batteries would attract 5 per cent GST. Mangoes — except fresh, sliced, and dried — would invite 12 per cent GST. It also clarified that treated sewage water is not purified and hence, would not see any levy. Cattle feed would be taxed at 5 per cent. UPI records 6 billion transactions in July,2022 ; the highest ever since 2016 Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recorded 6 billion transactions in July,2022, the highest ever by India’s flagship digital payments platform since its inception in 2016.The data released by UPI operator NPCI shows that UPI reported 6.28 billion transactions amounting to Rs 10.62 trillion & value of transactions was up 75 percent. Learn Along 7 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organization for all retail payments in India. It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks Association (IBA). NPCI Headquarters:Mumbai MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe States’ borrowing limit cut by Rs 41,000 crore The Centre has cut Rs 41,000 crore or 62% of the total off-budget liabilities of states in FY22 from their net borrowing ceiling for FY23. Of the Rs 41,000 crore deducted from the net borrowing ceiling for the current fiscal, Telangana accounted for Rs 8,800 crore, Uttar Pradesh Rs 8,000 crore, Andhra Pradesh Rs 3,600 crore, and Kerala Rs 3,578 crore. These loans are being serviced from the respective state budgets. In FY22, Telangana had mobilized the highest off-budget debt of around Rs 35,000 crore, Kerala about Rs 14,100 crore, and Andhra Pradesh Rs 8,000-9,000 crore. Learn Along Off-budget borrowings are loans that are taken not by the Centre directly, but by another public institution which borrows on the directions of the central government. Such borrowings are used to fulfil the government’s expenditure needs. Capital expenditure or capital expense is the money an organization or corporate entity spends to buy, maintain, or improve its fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, or land Centre sanctions Rs 20,000 crore as capex loans to 8 states The Centre has sanctioned Rs 20,000 crore capex loans to eight states so far in the current financial year. The beneficiary states in the first round included Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh. Considering the challenging fiscal environment faced by the states due to Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre launched a scheme for special capital expenditure support to states in FY21 by disbursing Rs 11,830 crore in 50-year interest-free loans and another Rs 14,186 crore in FY22. India manufacturing PMI hits 8-month high in July,2022 India’s manufacturing sector activity gained momentum in July,2022 , hitting an eight-month high driven by a significant rise in business orders. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 53.9 in June, to 56.4 in July, highlighting the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in eight months. Learn Along PMI or a Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is an indicator of business activity -- both in the manufacturing and services sectors. It is a survey-based measures that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before. India's services PMI at 4-month low of 55.5 in July,2022 amid high inflation 8 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 India’s services sector momentum hit a four-month low as the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.2 in June,2022 to 55.5 in July,2022 due to elevated inflationary pressures.On the prices front, services companies reported a further increase in their average expenses during July, with food, fuel, materials, staff, retail and transportation cited as the key sources of inflationary pressures. Under CLSS vertical of PMAY-U, an interest subsidy of ₹48,095 crore released for 20.76 lakh beneficiaries Under CLSS vertical of PMAY-U, so far, an interest subsidy of ₹48,095 crore has been released as interest subsidy for 20.76 lakh beneficiaries.For the implementation of CLSS vertical of PMAY-U Mission, Ministry identified three Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs), i.e. National Housing Bank (NHB) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) and State Bank of India (SBI) to channelize the subsidy to the Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs). Learn Along Credit Linked Subsidy is a central sector scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) wherein interest subsidy on home loans is provided through Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) and Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) to the EWS/LIG/ MIG beneficiaries for purchase, construction or enhancement of house. PMAY NHB Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Headquarters:New Delhi Launch Year: 2015 MD: Sriram Kalyanaraman Real GDP growth in 2021-22 stands at 8.7 per cent -NSO As per provisional estimates released by National Statistical Office (NSO) real GDP growth in 2021-22 stands at 8.7 per cent, 1.5 per cent higher than the real GDP of 2019-20 which shows that the Indian economy in 2021-22 has fully recovered the pre-pandemic real GDP level of 2019-20. India's July,2022 trade deficit widens to record $31 bn India’s trade deficit widened to a record $31 billion in July with a sequential decline in exports and slight decrease in imports as well.The merchandise exports declined to a five-month low at $35.2 billion in July while imports eased to $66 billion successively. There was a contraction in seven of the top 10 export items. They are engineering goods (2.5 per cent), petroleum products (7.1 per cent), gems and jewellery (5.2 per cent), pharmaceuticals (1.4 per cent), readymade garments (0.6 per cent), cotton yarn (28.3 per cent), and plastic (3.4 per cent) However, some saw robust growth. They are chemicals (7.9 per cent), electronic goods (46.1 per cent), and rice (30.2 per cent). Among major import items, gold declined 43.6 per cent to $2.4 billion. However, imports of non-oil and non-gems and jewellery products grew 42.9 per cent. Learn Along A trade deficit occurs when a country's imports exceed its exports during a given time period. It is also referred to as a negative balance of trade (BOT). SP Group sells entire stake in Jammu highway project to NIIF for $290 mn 9 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Shapoorji Pallonji Group announced the divestment of its entire shareholding in SP Jammu Udhampur Highway Ltd to the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) for USD 290 million (about Rs 2,200 crore).SP Jammu Udhampur is the developer for the Jammu-Udhampur highway project under a concession from the National Highways Authority of India on a build-operatetransfer (annuity) basis. Learn Along National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors, anchored by the Government of India, which manages funds with investments in different asset classes and diversified sectors. Government eases imported coal blending norms for power producers The government has left on states and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) as well as the coal ministry to decide the percentage of imported coal for blending purpose. Earlier, the power ministry had directed the power generation companies to import at least 10 per cent of their total coal requirement for blending purposes..If orders for coal imports are not placed by May 31, 2022 and the imported fuel does not start arriving at power plants by June 15, the defaulter gencos will have to increase their imports to the extent of 15 per cent. Learn Along Ministry of Power Headquarters: New Delhi Union Mininster: R.K.Singh Oppo India to invest $60M in 5 years to support MSMEs for strengthening local smartphone supply chain Smartphone and smart device maker Oppo India has launched project ‘Vihaan’ for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen the local supply chain for the smartphone ecosystem in India. Under the initiative, the company will invest $60 million in the coming five years. According to Oppo India, it has partnered with the government and the industry to encourage around 30 Tier-I suppliers set up operations in the country. Learn Along Oppo Headquarters: Dongguan, China CEO: Tony Chen Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) are entities that are involved in production, manufacturing and processing of goods and commodities. The concept of MSME was first introduced by the government of India through the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006. Micro Investment less than Rs. 1 crore or Turnover less than Rs. 5 crore Small Investment less than Rs. 10 crore or Turnover up to Rs. 50 crore Medium Investment less than Rs. 20 crore or Turnover up to Rs. 100 crore India's market capitalisation to GDP goes past 100% again India’s market capitalisation (m-cap)-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio has once again gone past the 100-per- cent mark. In June,2022, it had slipped below 100 per cent, following a sharp drop in the benchmark indices. At the end of July,2022, India’s m-cap-to-GDP ratio was at 102 per cent of 2022-23 GDP estimates, against its long-term average of 81 per cent. Learn Along 10 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Market capitalization, commonly called market cap, is the market value of a publicly traded company's outstanding shares. Market capitalization is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. The Market Cap to GDP Ratio (also known as the Buffett Indicator) is a measure of the total value of all publiclytraded stocks in a country, divided by that country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Rs 9.98 lakh crore sanctioned to 16.67 crore loan accounts under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana in 3 years ₹9.98 lakh crore of loans were sanctioned to 16.67 crore loan accounts under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana in three years from 2015 to 2018 & it has helped in generation of 1.12 crore net additional employment during a period of approximately 3 years (from 2015 to 2018). Further, as on 1 July 2022, more than 7.66 crore loans amounting to ₹6.12 lakh crore have been extended to New Entrepreneurs/Accounts under PMMY, since inception of the Scheme. Learn Along Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the PM on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, MFIs and NBFCs. Ministry of Labour & Employment Headquarters: New Delhi Union Miniter:Bhupender Yadav Uber sells entire stake in Zomato for Rs 3,088 cr American ride-hailing giant Uber sold its entire 7.78 per cent stake in domestic food-delivery company Zomato for Rs 3,088 crore ($390 million). A total of 612 million shares were sold at Rs 50.44 apiece to over a dozen institutional investors. Fidelity Investments bought shares worth Rs 274 crore and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance bought another Rs 226 crore. Learn Along Uber Headquarters: California,US CEO: Dara Khosrowshahi Zomato Headquarters:Gurugram CEO: Deepinder Goyal ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Headquarters:Mumbai MD & CEO: N.S.Kannan Bangladesh seeks $2 billion from World Bank, ADB to boost forex reserves Bangladesh is seeking assistance from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank amid efforts to boost its foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh is seeking $1 billion each from them to help the economy cope with the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine and energy price shocks. Learn Along World Bank ADB Headquarters: Washington DC,US Headquarters: Philippines President:David Malpass President: Masatsugu Asakawa Russia becomes India's third-largest coal supplier in July,2022 11 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Russia became India's third-largest coal supplier in July,2022, with imports rising by over a fifth compared with June,2022 to a record 2.06 million tonnes. Russia has historically been the sixth-largest supplier of coal to India, behind Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, and the United States, with Mozambique and Colombia alternatingly featuring in the top five. India's imports from Russia have jumped nearly five times to over $15 billion ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. Thermal coal imports from Russia jumped 70.3% in July, compared with June, to a record 1.29 million tonnes, while coking coal imports rose by over two-thirds to more than 280,000 tonnes. Learn Along About Russia Capital: Moscow Currency: Russian ruble Amazon to buy Roomba-maker iRobot Corp for about $1.7 billion Amazon.com Inc will acquire the maker of robot vacuum cleaner iRobot Corp in an all-cash deal for about $1.7 billion, in the latest push by the world’s largest online retailer to add to its cart of smart home devices.Amazon is also buying primary care provider One Medical for $3.49 billion, expanding the ecommerce giant’s virtual healthcare and adding brick-and-mortar doctors’ offices for the first time. NRIs can now pay utility bills through Bharat Bill Payment System- RBI Non-resident Indians (NRIs) will now be able to make utility bill payments for their family in India as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) to accept cross-border inward payments.The rationale behind the RBI move is to make it easier for the NRIs who do not have access to a full suite of bill collectors or may not have a NRE account should be able to make utility payments on behalf of their family. Learn Along Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an interoperable platform for bill payments and the scope and coverage of BBPS extends to all categories of billers who raise recurring bills. It was launched by NPCI. REC sanctions Rs 22,000 crore to discoms under new LPS mechanism In a step towards addressing the issue of mounting dues of state power utilities, which has now crossed Rs 1.5 trillion, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), the state-run financial institution in the power sector, has sanctioned Rs 22,000 crore to power distribution companies (discoms) under the government’s Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) rules.The amount is distributed for clearing the outstanding dues by the distribution licensees of Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir. Learn Along DISCOMs stands for ‘Distribution Company’. Discoms are the companies that are responsible for the distribution the electricity to the consumers. These companies do not produce electricity, they buy the electricity from the producers and then distribute it to consumers. Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd is a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power. The company is engaged in the financing and promotion of transmission distribution and generation projects throughout India. Their main objective is to finance and promote rural electrification projects all over the country. They provide financial assistance to State Electricity Boards State Government Departments and Rural Electric Cooperatives for rural electrification projects sponsored by them. 12 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Skill India launches RPL program in Delhi to upskill 75,000 workers The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the strategic implementation and knowledge partner of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has initiated a project to recognize the prior skills of 75,000 people between the age group of 18-45 years and upskill them in association with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The project aims at certifying them to increase their relevance in the volatile job market and encourage them in contributing toward nationbuilding.The initiative will be funded by NDMC and SANKALP (World Bank Project under MSDE) and implemented by NSDC. Learn Along NSDC Headquarters: New Delhi Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship CEO: Manish Kumar Union Minister:Dharmendra Pradhan Power Min introduces BeSMA mobile app for prepaid electricity meters Union Power Minister R K Singh unveiled Bharat eSmart Mobile Application (BeSMA) for prepaid smart meters, which will facilitate consumers to recharge their account and check balance amount in almost real time. The mobile app would build up on the data of the smart meters and would provide information to consumers with regard to their usage and balance electricity remaining, both in terms of units and monetary terms. The app provides multiple options and gateways like UPI, net banking, credit & debit card etc. for payment and recharge through mobile phones with ease. Learn Along Ministry of Power Union Minister: R.K.Singh Parliament passes bill to create Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya in Gujarat Parliament passed a bill to convert the National Rail and Transportation University, a deemed-to-be university, into Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, an autonomous central institution.The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, which also seeks to expand the scope of the University from beyond the railways to cover the entire transport sector to support the ambitious growth and modernisation in the field, was also passed by a voice vote. BPCL to invest Rs 1.4 trillion in next five years State-owned oil marketing firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to invest Rs 1.4 trillion in the next five years in six strategic areas, including gas, renewables and e-mobility, aimed at diversifying and creating additional revenue streams to hedge against any future decline in the liquid fuel business. Moreover, it also plans to increase its renewable energy capacity to one giga watt (GW) by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040, aligning with its aim to become a net-zero company by 2040. Learn Along: BPCL Headquarters: Mumbai CMD: Arun Kumar Singh Jan Samarth Portal eases loan application and disbursement process for applicants 13 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Government has launched Jan Samarth Portal to provide a common platform for availing loan under certain credit-linked Government schemes. The salient features of the Jan Samarth Portal are as under: o It connects all stakeholders like beneficiaries, financial institutions, Central/State Government Agencies, and Nodal Agencies on a common platform. o Applicants can initially access 13 credit-linked Government Schemes catering to youth, students, entrepreneurs and farmers viz. Education Loans, Agriculture Loans, Business Activity Loans, and Livelihood Loans. Adani Group to invest Rs 57,575 crore in alumina mill in Odisha Adani group will invest Rs 57,575 crore in setting up an alumina refinery in Odisha. It will include two projects — a 4 million tonnes per annum integrated alumina refinery and a 30 million tonnes iron ore (value addition) project. The capital investment of Rs 57,575 crore will create 9,300 direct jobs and will open thousands of indirect employment opportunities in Odisha. Learn Along: Adani Group Headquarters: Ahmedabad Founder: Gautam Adani Adani Enterprises becomes 4th Group company to cross Rs 3 trillion m-cap Adani Enterprises (AEL) has become the fourth Gautam Adani Group company to cross the Rs 3trillion market capitalisation (market-cap). With a market-cap of Rs 3.07 trillion, AEL stood at the 18th position in the overall market-cap ranking among the BSE listed companies, the exchange data showed. Currently, Adani Transmission tops the group list with a Rs 3.77 trillion market-cap, followed by Adani Green Energy (Rs 3.62 trillion) and Adani Total Gas (Rs 3.54 trillion). Learn Along BSE Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: Ashish Kumar Chauhan PM to inaugurate IOC ethanol plant near Panipat PM Modi will inaugurate Indian Oil Corporation’s Rs 900-crore ethanol plant on August 10,2022. The plant, located near the state-run firm’s Panipat refinery, will use about 0.2 million tonne of rice straw annually to generate around 30 million litres ethanol a year. The second generation (2G) plant will provide extra income to farmers and solve, to a great extent, environment problems related to burning of rice straw in fields. Learn Along: IOCL Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman & MD: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya Social Justice & Empowerment to launch “SMILE-75 Initiative Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, has identified 75 Municipal Corporations to implement comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of begging under SMILE Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise named as SMILE-75 Initiative. Under this, 75 Municipal Corporations and NGO’s will cover several comprehensive 14 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging with focus extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, awareness, education, skill development, economic linkages and convergence with other Government welfare programmes etc. Learn Along: SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise)- The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on February 12, 2022. A total budget of Rs 365 crore has been allocated for the scheme for the duration of 2021-22 to 2025-26. The umbrella scheme is set to provide welfare and rehabilitation to the transgender community and the people engaged in the act of begging. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Union Minister: Virendra Kumar NIPAM achieves target of training 1 million students on Intellectual Property (IP) awareness National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) has achieved target of imparting Intellectual Property (IP) awareness and basic training to 1 million students on 31st July 2022, ahead of the deadline which was 15 August 2022.The milestonnes that have been achieved till 31st July 2022 -3662 Educational Institutions in 28 States and 7 UTs covered have been covered so far. Learn Along: National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) -A National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) under the initiative of the Government's "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", has been launched by DPIIT on 8 December,2021. The pan-India ambitious mission aims to provide awareness on intellectual property and its rights to 1 million students. It aims to inculcate the spirit of creativity and innovation to students of higher education (classes 8 to 12) and ignite and inspire the students of college/Universities to innovate and protect their creations. Intellectual property rights (IP) are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time. Rs 1,000-crore angel fund to boost 10K start-ups in Uttar Pradesh The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has created an angel fund of Rs 1,000 crore to facilitate setting up 10,000 start-ups across sectors. Till now, around 6800 startups have been set up and most of them are set up in Noida, Lucknow and Ghaziabad.15 incubators have also come up in state universities, engineering colleges and private institutions. Learn Along: About UP Capital: Lucknow CM: Yogi Adityanath Governor: Anandiben Patel Retail inflation eases to 6.71 percent in July,2022 as food prices decrease Retail inflation softened to 6.71 percent in July, mainly on account of moderation in food prices. In June, retail inflation was at 7.01 percent and it stood at 5.59 percent in July 2021. Learn Along: Retail Inflation-The CPI monitors retail prices at a certain level for a particular commodity; price movement of goods and services at rural, urban and all-India levels. The change in the price index over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation, or retail inflation. 15 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Industrial production growth remains in double-digit at 12.3pc in June,2022 India’s industrial production grew in double-digit at 12.3 percent in June mainly due to strong performance by the manufacturing, power, and mining sectors. Despite being progressive, it is still lower than the 19.6 percent growth in May 2022. Learn Along: The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing. 10 states get Rs 31,624-crore special central capex support The Centre has sanctioned Rs 31,524 crore, or 39% of the unconditional component of the interestfree 50-year capex loans to 10 states till July in current fiscal year. The beneficiary states are Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. The Centre has launched an expanded scheme of Rs 1 trillion for FY23 to help states maintain capex after considering the demands from the states. Learn Along: Capital expenditure is the money spent by the government on the development of machinery, equipment, building, health facilities, education, etc. It also includes the expenditure incurred on acquiring fixed assets like land and investment by the government that gives profits or dividend in future. SBI to run Indian Visa Centres in Bangladesh for two more years The State Bank of India (SBI) will manage the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Bangladesh for two more years. Currently, SBI runs a total of 15 IVACs across Bangladesh. The IVAC center at the Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka was opened in 2018. It is the largest Indian visa application center. The first IVAC was started by SBI in 2005 in Dhaka. Learn Along: SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara Har Ghar Tiranga generates Rs 500 crore business & over 30 crore flags sold The Har Ghar Tiranga campaign by PM Modi has generated business of Rs 500 crore with over 30 crore flags sold this year according to the data provided by the traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). It also provided employment to more than 10 lakh people by providing them the job to make tricolor flags at home. Learn Along: Confederation of All India Traders Headquarters: New Delhi Secretary General: Praveen Khandelwal Hyatt Regency to organize the ‘Experience Nila Legacy’ Project to support local small businesses Hyatt Regency, a multinational hospitality group, in collaboration with The Blue Yonder, a travel company, is organizing ‘Experience Nila Legacy’, a project to support local small businesses as 16 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 part of the 75th Independence Day celebrations.The project is intended to support and encourage indigenous artisans from the banks of Nila River, to showcase their craftsmanship. Unique native products like the Killimangalam traditional grass mats, handloom fabrics, musical instruments, and products made of bamboo, pine, and clay will be displayed at by Hyatt Regency Thrissur on August 15. Learn Along: Hyatt Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, US The Blue Yonder Headquarters: Arizona, United States CEO: Mark Hoplamazian CEO: Duncan B. Angove Flipkart to handhold MSMEs, weavers, from Varanasi under Samarth programme for growth via ecommerce Walmart-owned Flipkart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the District Administration of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, to bring local artisans, weavers, and people with disabilities of Varanasi to the e-commerce marketplace under the Flipkart’s Samarth programme. Products such as Banaras sarees, handmade carpets, zardoji craft, metal crafts, and handmade dari from the state will be available to its 400 million customers. Learn Along Flipkart Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy SAMARTH PROGRAMME-Launched in 2019, Flipkart Samarth intends to benefit MSMEs, artisans and underserved communities from across the country through e-commerce. The programme offers incubation, assistance with onboarding, free cataloguing, marketing support, account administration, business insights, and warehousing support to small enterprises in selling their products on Flipkart’s marketplace. Infra assets worth over Rs 1.62 trn to be monetised this fiscal: FinMin Infrastructure assets worth over Rs 1.62 lakh crore are expected to be monetised during the current fiscal. The various transactions proposed to be undertaken during FY22-23 include redevelopment of sports stadium, operational power generation & transmission assets, lease of airports through PPP etc.The government had last year announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors, ranging from power to road and railways in four years till 2025. Learn Along: National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP): The NMP has been announced to provide a clear framework for monetisation and give potential investors a ready list of assets to generate investment interest. The government has stressed that these are brownfield assets, which have been “de-risked” from execution risks, and therefore should encourage private investment. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a mechanism for government to procure and implement public infrastructure and/or services using the resources and expertise of the private sector. Where governments are facing ageing or lack of infrastructure and require more efficient services, a partnership with the private sector can help foster new solutions and bring finance. Uni Cards suspends services after RBI tightens digital lending norms 17 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Uni Cards is suspending card services on its products -- Uni Pay 1/3rd and Uni Pay 1/2 as a consequence of the digital lending guidelines, recently brought in by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These guidelines tighten norms around digital lending methods. Uni Cards had paused its customer onboarding when the central bank issued that prepaid instruments (PPIs) cannot be loaded from credit lines. Learn Along: Uni Cards Headquarters:Bengaluru CEO: Nitin Gupta Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2022-23 (Series II) to be opened from August 22,2022 As announced by RBI, Sovereign Gold Bonds 2022-23 (Series II) will be opened for subscription during the period August 22-26, 2022 with settlement date August 30, 2022. The issue price of the Bond during the subscription period shall be Rs 5,197 per gram. Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow discount of Rs 50 per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode. For such investors, the issue price of Gold Bond will be Rs 5,147 per gram of gold. Learn Along: Sovereign Gold Bonds are the government securities denominated in grams of gold and they are issued by the RBI on behalf of the government to reduce the demand for physical gold, the sovereign gold bond scheme was launched in November 2015. To buy the gold bonds, the investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity. The Bonds will be denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of 1 gram. The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option after 5 th year to be exercised on the next interest payment dates. Minimum permissible investment will be 1 gram of gold. The maximum limit of subscription shall be 4 Kg for individual, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts andsimilar entities per fiscal (April-March) year Foreign exchange reserves fall $2.24 bn to $570 bn & FCA dips to $506.9 bn The country's foreign exchange reserves fell USD 2.24 billion to USD 570.74 billion recently.Previously, the foreign exchange reserves declined USD 897 million to USD 572.978 billion. The data of the components of forex reseres are as follows: o Foreign Currency Assets declined to USD 506.994 billion. o Gold reserves surged to USD 40.618 billion. o The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased to USD 18.133 billion. o The country's reserve position with IMF also rose by USD 7 million to USD 4.994. Learn Along: IMF Headquarters: Washington, United States MD: Kristalina Georgieva Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) are the most important component of the RBI’s foreign exchange reserve and include assets like US Treasury Bills bought by the RBI using foreign currencies Special drawing rights (SDR) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund. SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency per se. They represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged. 18 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Forex reserves are foreign currency assets held by the central banks of countries. These assets include foreign marketable securities, monetary gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and reserve position in the IMF. The main purpose of holding foreign exchange reserves is to make international payments and hedge against exchange rate risks. Retail inflation for farm, and rural workers rises to 6.6%, and 6.82% in July,2022 Retail inflation for farm and rural workers increased to 6.60 percent and 6.82 percent, respectively, in July,20222 mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. In June 2022 retail inflation for farm and rural workers stood at 6.43 percent and 6.76 per cent respectively. Learn Along: CPI-AL (Consumer Price Index-Agricultural Labourers) and CPI-RL (Consumer Price Index-Rural Labourers) is released by Labour Bureau Rajasthan govt to spend 17 crores this financial year to provide free coaching for competitive exams The Rajasthan government plans to spend over Rs 17 crore this financial year for providing coaching to students for competitive exams & the number of seats have also been increased to 15000. Mukhyamantri Anuprati Coaching Yojana was introduced by Rajasthan in 2021-22 for those meritorious students are unable to attend coaching classes and lag in competitive examinations for want of money & are provided free coaching from reputed coaching institutes so that they can fulfil their dreams. Students are prepared for various exams, including civil services, Rajasthan Administrative Service or Rajasthan State Subordinate Service Combined Competitive Examination, Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teacher (REET), IIT JEE and medical college entrance exams. Learn Along About Rajasthan Capital: Jaipur CM: Ashok Gehlot Governor: Kalraj Mishra KKR to sell entire 26% Max Healthcare stake for Rs 9,416 crore American private equity major KKR and Co will sell up to 26.83 per cent in Max Healthcare Institute for Rs 9,416 crore via block deals. The deal is managed by Jeffries India and Kotak Securities, India & would mark the exit of KKR from the company. Learn Along KKR & Co. Inc. Max Healthcare Headquarters: New York,US Headquarters: New Delhi CEO: Henry Kravis (1 May 1976–), George R. Roberts Chairman: Abhay Soi KKR launched its highway infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), the Highway Infrastructure Trust (HIT) Investment major KKR launched its highway infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), the Highway Infrastructure Trust (HIT), which is the firm’s third InvIT, with a combined asset value of $3.8 billion. 19 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Between HIT, Virescent Renewable Energy Trust (renewable energy InvIT), and India Grid Trust (transmission InvIT), the three InvITs cover 33 assets in 22 states in total. Learn Along: An InvIT is like a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of small amounts of money from individual/institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a portion of the income as return States including UP get nod in July to borrow Rs 42,268 cr The Centre allowed a number of states, including Uttar Pradesh, in July,2022 to borrow Rs 42,268 crore, taking the total debt limit for all states for the first three quarters of FY23 to Rs 6.14 trillion. This amount represents 71.5% of their aggregate annual net borrowing ceiling (NBC) of Rs 8.58 trillion (3.5% of GSDP). Learn Along Net Borrowing- The Financial Account shows financial assets and liabilities, such as loans, shares, investment funds and pension funds. The overall change in the account is the total increase in assets minus the total increase in liabilities and this is the Net Lending or Net Borrowing. Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is a measure in monetary terms, the sum total volume of all finished goods and services produced during a given period of time, usually a year, within the geographical boundaries of the State, accounted without duplication. India's July 2022 WPI inflation eases to 13.93% as food & fuel prices decline India’s wholesale inflation in July ,2022 eased consecutively to 13.93 percent as vegetables, milk and fuel became cheaper, but remained in double digits. Wholesale Price Index-based (WPI) inflation was 15.18 percent in June 2022 and at a record high of 16.63percent in May 2022. Learn Along: Wholesale Price Index- WPI is released by the Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It reflects changes in the average prices of goods at the wholesale level — that is, commodities sold in bulk and traded between businesses or entities rather than goods bought by consumers. The purpose of WPI is to inspect movement in prices of goods that reflect supply and demand in industry, construction and manufacturing. The index basket of WPI categorises commodities under three groups — primary articles, fuel and power & manufactured products. The base year for WPI is considered to be 2011-12. UP government to offer subsidies to support women entrepreneurs & attract capital investments Women business owners would be given a 100% stamp duty subsidy on land purchases for establishing micro and small units under the proposed new policy. Besides, a 50 to 100 percent subsidy will be given to other MSMEs, depending on their location in the state. The less developed regions such as Bundelkhand and Purvanchal in eastern Uttar Pradesh would have lower stamp duty rates.. The state would grant a 100 percent stamp duty grant in Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, while central and western Uttar Pradesh (apart from Noida and Ghaziabad) would receive a 75 percent subsidy. Learn Along: About UP – Capital: Lucknow CM: Yogi Adityanath Governor: Anandiben Patel 20 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Govt agrees to enhance ECLGS limit to Rs 5 trn for hospitality & allied sectors The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the limit of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by Rs. 50,000 crore to Rs. 5 trillion from 4.5 trillion. The additional amount is being earmarked for entities in hospitality and related sectors for its recovery and growth alongside other sectors of the economy. This year’s budget had announced extension of the ECLGS till March 2023, and expansion of the guarantee cover by Rs. 50,000. Loans of about Rs. 3.67 trillion have also been sanctioned under the scheme as of August 5, 2022. Learn Along: ECLGS was rolled out in May 2020 as part of the Centre’s Aatmanirbhar package in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The objective was to support small businesses struggling to meet their operational liabilities due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown. Flipkart penalised by CCPA for allowing the sale of poor-quality cookers The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on ecommerce firm Flipkart for allowing sale of substandard domestic pressure cookers on its platform, in violation of mandatory standards as been set by the Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order, which came into force on February 1, 2021, mandates conformity to IS 2347:2017 for all domestic pressure cookers. Learn Along: Flipkart Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy Central Consumer Protection Authority- It is a regulatory authority set up under Section 10(1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 in relation to matters affecting rights of consumers by individuals or entities following improper trade practices or by display of inappropriate or wrong advertisements affecting public interest and helps promoting consumer trust by enforcing the rights of consumers through effective guidelines. Microfinance loans grow 24% YoY in Q1 of FY23 – stable credit quality According to Sa-Dhan, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for microfinance, the loan portfolio of micro-finance institutions (MFI) increased 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 2.75 trillion by end of this June from Rs 2.22 trillion a year ago.Sequentially, the loan book expanded from Rs 2.62 trillion at end of March 2022 (Q4-FY22). Learn Along: Microfinance is a basis of financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses deficient in contact with banking and associated services. Similar to banking operation traditions, microfinance entities are supposed to charge their lender’s interests on loans. India’s oil demand to rise 7.7 pc in 2022 – OPEC According to the data provided by OPEC, India’s demand for petroleum products like petrol and diesel will grow by 7.73 per cent in 2022, the fastest pace in the world.India’s demand for oil products is projected to rise from 4.77 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 5.14 million bpd in 2022. 21 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The growth in demand is the fastest in the world ahead of 1.23 per cent of China, 3.39 per cent of the US and 4.62 per cent of Europe.For 2023, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projected a growth of 4.67 per cent in India’s demand to 5.38 percent lower than that of China.India is the world’s third largest oil importing and consuming nation behind the US and China. Learn Along: OPEC Headquarters: Vienna,Austria Secretary General: Haitham al-Ghais India's market capitalisation hits new record high of Rs 280.5 trillion The total m-cap of 4,776 firms on the BSE stood at Rs 280.5 trillion, surpassing the previous high of Rs 280 trillion in January,2022. The highest-ever m-cap value achieved can be partly attributed to this year’s big new listings such as Life Insurance Corporation of India (m-cap Rs 4.4 trillion), Adani Wilmar (Rs 95,091 crore) and Delhivery (Rs 40,627 crore). Learn Along: LIC Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson– M R Kumar Market capitalization, commonly called market cap, is the market value of a publicly traded company's outstanding shares. Market capitalization is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. IRCTC moves to monetize passenger data The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the ticket booking arm of the Indian Railways, is looking to monetize its bank of passenger data while conducting business with private and government companies. The public sector undertaking, which has sought the services of a consultant to assist with the monetization process, plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore through this exercise. In its tender document for hiring the consultant, IRCTC has mentioned a variety of sectors, such as hospitality, energy, infrastructure and health, as potential customers for the passenger data. Learn Along: IRCTC Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman & MD: Rajni Hasija Shiprocket becomes India’s 106th Unicorn Logistics Technology Platform Shiprocket raised USD 33 Million or Rs 260 crore from its existing investors Temasek Holdings and Lightrock India to be crowned as the 106th Unicorn of India. Zomato-backed Shiprocket is the 20th company to cross the 1 Billion Valuation mark in 2022 and joins the league of CredAvenue, Xpressbees, LEAD and PhysicsWallah among others. Learn Along: About Shiprocket Shiprocket is a Logistics Technology Platform which is backed by several large investors including Zomato, Temasek Holdings and Lightrock India. The company was founded in 2017 by Saahil Goel, Vishesh Khurana, Gautam Kapoor, and Akshay Gulati, as a technology-backed logistics service provider to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). About Unicorn 22 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Unicorn is a term that is associated with startup firms that are valued above USD 1 Billion mark. Currently, India ranks 3rd globally in terms of the number of unicorns being born out of a country. 12 state including J&K debarred from power trading over non-payment of dues Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO), the national grid operator under the power ministry, has debarred 12 states and a Union Territory (UT) from buying/selling electricity at the spot market as a penalty for not clearing their dues to generators. Among them are power distribution companies (discoms) in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Manipur, and Mizoram.The defaulting discoms cumulatively owe Rs 5,000 crore to power generation companies, the highest being in Telangana with Rs 1,380 crore. Learn Along: POSOCO Headquarters: New Delhi Director: Anshul Bharagava CCI nod for merger of Shriram group NBFCs Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for its merger with Shriram City Union Finance Company. The merged entity, Shriram Finance, will be India’s largest retail NBFC with assets under management (AUM) of Rs 1.65 trillion as of June 2022. Learn Along Competition India Commission of Headquarters: New Delhi Chairrman: Ashok Guptha Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Government or other marketable securities of a like nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business. CCI approves amalgamation of CSSL & JSW Ispat with and into JSW Steel Limited (JSW Steel) The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the amalgamation of Creixent Special Steels Limited (CSSL); and JSW Ispat Special Products Limited (JSW Ispat) with and into JSW Steel Limited (JSW Steel) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002. Learn Along: JSW Steel Ltd JSW Ispat Headquarters: Mumbai Headquarters: Nagpur MD & CEO: Prashant Jain MD & CEO: Prashant Jain Digital payment to become easier for Indians in UK - UPI to enter into UK market The indigenously developed real-time payments solution UPI will invade the UK market starting with QR code-based transactions. The NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has entered into a partnership with payments solutions provider PayXpert to internationalize the acceptance of its payment solutions in the UK. Learn Along: 23 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 NIPL is the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which developed the world's largest real-time payment solution the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the RuPay card scheme. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform. CCI approves acquisition of stake in IIFL Home indirectly by ADIA Group The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of stake in IIFL Home indirectly by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The proposed transaction relates to the acquisition of up to 20 per cent stake in IIFL Home Finance by Platinum Owl C 2018 RSC Ltd, a trustee acting for Platinum Jasmine Trust.ADIA is the sole beneficiary and settlor of the Platinum Jasmine Trust. In June,2022, IIFL Home Finance, a subsidiary of IIFL finance Ltd had entered into definitive agreements for raising Rs 2,200 crore of primary capital for a 20 per cent stake from a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADIA. Learn Along: IIFL Finance Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Headquarters: Gurugram Headquarters: Abu Dhabi CEO: Nirmal Jain CEO: Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Centre slashes Windfall Tax to Rs 13,000 per tonne; reintroduces levy on ATF; increased levy on Diesel The government reduced the windfall tax on petroleum crude marginally to Rs 13,000 per tonne from Rs 17,750 per tonne after crude oil prices reached 6 months low. The centre, however has increased levy on diesel exports to Rs 7 per litre from earlier Rs 5 per litre and reintroduced levy on aviation turbine fuel exports to Rs 2 per litre. Learn Along: A windfall tax is a higher tax rate on profits that result from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry, often as the result of a geo-political disturbance, war or natural disaster that creates unusual spikes in demand and/or interruptions to supply. FTA provisions over Rules of Origin to prevail in case of conflicts: CBIC Exemptions specified in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with regard to country of origin will prevail in case of conflict between the revenue department and the importer. The customs field officers should apply to CAROTAR (Customs Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) came into effect from September 21, 2020) and maintain consistency with the provisions of relevant trade agreements or its Rules of Origin according to CBIC.India has inked FTAs with several countries, including UAE, Mauritius, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and ASEAN members. Learn Along: Central Board of Excise & Customs Founded : 1 January,1964 Chairperson: Vivek Johri 24 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. Customs Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements or CAROTAR Rules, came into effect from September 21, 2020.It empowers the customs officers to ask the importer to furnish further information, consistent with the trade agreement, in case the officer has reasons to believe that the country-of-origin criteria have not been met. Where the importer fails to provide the requisite information, the officer can make further verification consistent with the trade agreement. Concessional rate of 10% customs duty to apply on mobile display assembly: CBIC The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has announced that the import of display assembly of cellular mobile phone along with back support frame of metal/ plastic will be eligible for concessional rate of customs duty (BCD) of 10%. However, in cases wherein other items such as antenna pin, power key, slider switch, battery compartment, Flexible Printed Circuits (FPCs) for volume, etc. are imported along with display assembly (with or without back support frame of metal/plastic) the whole assembly will attract basic customs duty (BCD) at the normal rate of 15%. Learn Along: Basic Customs Duty- It refers to the tax imposed on goods when they are transported across international borders. In simple terms, it is the tax that is levied on import and export of goods. The government uses this duty to raise its revenues, safeguard domestic industries, and regulate movement of goods. FDI inflow in R&D sector grows six-fold YoY to Rs 344 million in 2021- Ministry of Commerce & Industry According to data published by Ministry of Commerce & Industry- India witnessed a six-fold jump in foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflow of $343.64 million in the Research and Development (R&D) during the calendar year 2021 as compared to the same period a year earlier. Karnataka was the top FDI equity recipient state in R&D during 2021 followed by Telangana and Haryana. Singapore was the largest investor in the investor in the R&D space (40 percent) followed by Germany (35 per cent) and the United States (11 per cent). Company-wise, Daimler Truck Innovation Center was the top FDI inflow recipient (35 percent), followed by Aragen Life Sciences Private Limited (34 per cent) and Stelis Biopharma Private Limited (21 per cent ). Learn Along: A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country. Generally, FDI takes place when an investor establishes foreign business operations or acquires foreign business assets in a foreign company. Ministry of Commerce & Industry Union Minister: Piyush Goyal L&T to work across green energy value chain; to pump in $2.5 bn in 3-4 yrs L&T's plan will include a $2.5-billion investment (nearly Rs 20,000 crore) in green energy, including green hydrogen, over the next 3-4 years as well as covering the entire value chain sector. That is, from 25 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 producing the fuel to manufacturing critical components such as electrolyzers and advanced cell batteries to undertaking engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects in this space. The company’s joint venture (JV) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and ReNew Power will drive its agenda on green energy & electrolyers. The investment will also include Rs 5,000 crore to implement and adopt green energy into its manufacturing and construction sites. This would help it achieve water and carbon neutrality targets by 2035 and 2040, respectively. L&T has also launched its maiden green hydrogen plant in Hazira (Gujarat) for captive use. Learn Along: Larsen & Toubro Headquarters: Mumbai Indian Oil Corporation ReNew Power Headquarters: New Delhi Headquarters: Gurugram CEO: S N Subrahmanyan Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya CEO: Sumant Sinha Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) is a particular form of contracting arrangement used in some industries where the EPC Contractor is made responsible for all the activities from design, procurement, construction to commissioning and handover of the project to the End-User or Owner.The engineering and construction contractor will carry out the detailed engineering design of the project, procure all the equipment and materials necessary, and then construct to deliver a functioning facility or asset to their clients. India sees a sharp decline in IT sector's ability to fund the trade deficit There has been a sharp decline in the IT industry’s ability to fund India’s fast-growing merchandise trade deficit and current account deficit. The net export of IT services funded just 30 percent of India's merchandise trade deficit in July, 2022, down sharply from 68 percent in 2021. The country’s net IT services export was $9 billion in July this year, up 20 percent from $7.5 billion a year ago. In comparison, the merchandise trade deficit was up 173.4 percent $30 billion in July this year, from $11 billion a year ago. Learn Along: A trade deficit occurs when a country's imports exceed its exports during a given time period. It is also referred to as a negative balance of trade (BOT). Centre proposes stricter valuation rules for overseas direct investments The government introduced a new set of rules for domestic entities, including companies and large family offices and start-ups, opting for the overseas direct investment route (ODI), which could impact their acquisition decisions in a big way. The new rules made clear distinctions between ODI (all investments in unlisted foreign entities and more than 10 percent in listed foreign entities) and OPI (investment by listed companies in foreign listed securities). The rules state that all transactions of ODI must happen at fair value. Besides, round-tripping structures now do not require approval from the Reserve Bank of India, if the structure involves less than two levels of subsidiaries. The rules also clarified that gift of foreign securities is permitted only between relatives. Earlier, anyone could have gifted securities to Indian persons. Learn Along: 26 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Overseas Direct Investment or ODI is an investment made outside India in a Joint Venture (JV) or Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) either under Automatic Route or Approval Route. The investment is made by contribution to capital, subscription to memorandum of a foreign company, or acquisition of existing shares of a foreign entity by market purchase, private placement or stock exchange. Foreign portfolio investment (FPI/OPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of a foreign country, such as stocks or bonds available on an exchange. Round Tripping Structures- Structures involving investments by resident Indians in a foreign entity that invests or already has investment back in India are popularly referred as 'Round Tripping Structures'. Govt allows retro fitment of CNG and LPG kits in BS-VI compliant vehicles The government has allowed retro fitment of CNG and LPG kits in petrol and diesel vehicles that are compliant with the BS (Bharat Stage)-VI emission norm. As of now, such modifications are permissible only in vehicles that are compliant with BS-IV emission norm. CNG is an environment-friendly fuel and will reduce the emission levels of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, particulate matter and smoke as compared to petrol and diesel engines. ADB to provide $96.3-mn loan to improve water supply in Himachal Pradesh The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of USD 96.3 million (about Rs 769 crore) for a project to provide safe drinking water and improve water supply and sanitation services in Himachal Pradesh. The ADB project will connect 75,800 households to the service, providing an uninterrupted water supply to about 3,70,000 residents across 10 districts. To improve water supply and sanitation services, the project aims to construct 48 groundwater wells, 80 surface water intake facilities, 109 water treatment plants, 117 pumping stations, and 3,000 km of water distribution pipelines. Learn Along: The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank. It was established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region. ADB Headquarters: Philippines President: Masatsugu Asakawa Govt’s e-commerce portal GeM now has 50 lakh sellers The government’s platform for public procurement Government eMarketplace (GeM) has crossed a huge 50-lakh seller mark amid the growing number of registrations on the MSME registration portal Udyam which is integrated with the marketplace. GeM is targetting to double its GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) to Rs 2 lakh crore in the current financial year on the back of co-operatives. GeM’s GMV for FY22 stood at Rs 1.06 lakh crore, up 176 per cent from Rs 38,580 crore in FY21. Learn Along: The Government e-Marketplace is an online platform for public procurement in India. The initiative was launched on August 9, 2016, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India with the objective to create an open and transparent procurement platform for government buyers. Prashant Kumar Singh is the CEO of this platform. NHA issues hardware guidelines to facilitate effective implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission 27 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The National Health Authority (NHA) issued hardware guidelines across States and Union Territories for healthcare institutions like hospitals, clinics, and health and wellness centers to promote digitization in hospitals. The guidelines provide a basic framework to States/UTs for planning, assessment and procurement of the IT hardware (including IT specifications of various hardware equipment) to operate applications compliant with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). ABDM will simplify the processes and increase ease of living by connecting the digital health solutions of hospitals and other health facilities across the country with each other. The digital ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like teleconsultation, paper-less health records, QR code-based OPD registrations, etc. The digitization of health records will ensure that old medical records of patients cannot get lost and are accessible to them anytime anywhere. Learn Along: The National Health Authority or the NHA is responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. NHA has been set up to implement the PM-JAY at the national level. SBI and ICRA see economy growing in double-digits in June quarter Rating agency ICRA has predicted that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 13 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of financial year 2022-23 (Q1FY23), while the State Bank of India has fixed it at 15.7 percent YoY marking a sharp increase uptrend from the 4.1 percentgrowth recorded in Q4FY22For the full year, SBI predicted a GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent. According to ICRA, Gross value added (GVA) in agriculture, forestry and fishing is projected to contract by 1 percent in Q1, against 4.1 percent growth in Q4FY22.ICRA also expects 17-19 percent growth in the services sector in Q1, against 5.5 percent in the last quarter. Learn Along: About GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period by countries. SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited) was set up in 1991 by leading financial/investment institutions, commercial banks and financial services companies as an independent and professional investment Information and Credit Rating Agency. ICRA Headquarters: Gurugram CEO & MD : Ramnath Krishnan Canara Bank to raise up to Rs 3,500 crore through Tier II bonds Public sector lender Canara Bank plans to raise upto Re 3,500 crore through tier II bonds in tranches for enhancing the capital adequacy ratio to meet growth requirements. Rating agency ICRA has assigned AAA rating with stable outlook to Canara Bank’s proposed Tier II bonds issuance. Learn Along: Tier 2 bonds are components of tier 2 capital, primarily for banks. These are debt instruments like loans, more than they are equity features like stocks. As with all bonds and other debt instruments, they do not give ownership or voting rights, but they do offer interest earnings to bondholders or owners . 28 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Govt allows investment in financial services abroad Indian companies not in financial services can now directly invest in financial-services firms abroad, such as brokerages, asset management funds, and credit cards under the automatic route. Banks and insurance firms have been kept out of this. Earlier, such investment was prohibited. These are aimed at easing rules for domestic firms that want to invest abroad. The move could open the door for many companies that want to do so. A company can now invest four times its profit if it has been profitable for three years. An entity not in insurance can invest overseas in general and health insurance if such a business supports the core activity of the Indian outfit. The same relaxation has been given for investment in GIFT City, where an entity not in financial services can invest in a foreign outfit registered with the International Financial Services Centres Authority. Learn Along: Overseas Direct Investment or ODI is an investment made outside India in a Joint Venture (JV) or Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) either under Automatic Route or Approval Route. The investment is made by contribution to capital, subscription to memorandum of a foreign company, or acquisition of existing shares of a foreign entity by market purchase, private placement or stock exchange. Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (GIFT City) is a business district currently being constructed in the state of Gujarat. GIFT City is India’s first operational smart city with the development of world-class infrastructure and sustainable master planning, which will make GIFT at par or above par with renowned International centres. IFSCA Headquarters: Gandhinagar, Gujarat MD & CEO– Injeti Srinivas Department of Commerce to set up a dedicated trade promotion body To set up a future-ready administration geared towards the target of $2 trillion exports by 2030, the Department of Commerce has decided to set up a dedicated trade promotion body to drive overall promotion strategy, export targets, and execution as part of a restructuring exercise. The trade promotion body will formulate and drive overall trade promotion strategy; create and drive India’s branding across focus markets and sectors; drive coordinated action across missions, states and export promotion councils; strategic initiatives, including advisory and buyer-seller meet; and develop digital platforms for exporters and buyers. In the revamped structure, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will be positioned as a nodal entity to carry out trade regulation and facilitation. Learn Along: Directorate General of Foreign Trade Ministry of Commerce & Industry Headquarters: New Delhi Director General: Santosh Kumar Sarangi Union Minister : Piyush Goyal New rules allow Telcom Companies to lay infra on private properties without approval Telecom firms will not require any approval for laying cables or installing mobile towers over private properties, according to new Right of Way Rules. The Central Government also notified rules for using infrastructure for the installation of small mobile radio antennas or laying overhead telecom cables along with charges, to ease roll out of networks, specially 5G services. 29 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Affordable 5G services to be rolled out in India by Oct 12: Centre The Union Telecom Ministry has confirmed that 5G Services in India will start from 12th October 2022. It also launched the GatiShakti Sanchar portal, which would streamline the application and approval procedure for right of way (RoW) across the country. Applicants from various telecom service providers (TSPs) and infrastructure providers (IPs) would be able to apply to states and local governments for right of way licences to lay down optical fibre cable and erect mobile towers through a single platform. IOC to spend Rs 2 trillion for net-zero target by 2046 Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will invest Rs 2 lakh crore to achieve net-zero operational carbon emissions by 2046. The target set is in line with India's aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. Learn Along IOCL Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman & MD: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya ONDC inks MoU with J&K’s trade promotion body to boost e-commerce adoption in UT Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO) to boost e-commerce adoption in the union territory. Learn Along Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a freely accessible government-backed platform that aims to democratise e-commerce by moving it from a platform-centric model to an open network for buying and selling of goods and services. GAIL targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 GAIL (India) Ltd, the nation's largest gas firm, is targeting net-zero carbon emission from its operations by 2040. Recently, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Thursday announced a Rs 2 lakh crore investment to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by 2046. Learn Along GAIL (India) Headquarters: New Delhi CEO: Manoj Jain Mittal & Nippon to acquire infrastructure assets from Essar Group for $2.4 billion ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, announced recently that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire ports, power plants, and other logistics and infrastructure assets from the Essar group for a net value of about $2.4 billion (Rs 19,000 crore). Learn Along ArcelorMittal S.A. is a multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. The founder of Arcelor Mittal is Lakshmi Mittal. 30 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Over 281 million registered on e-shram portal According to the data compiled by the union ministry of labour and employment, over 281 million unorganised sector workers have got themselves registered on e-sharm portal since the process started on August 26 2021. The Aadhar-seeded centralised database is being created primarily to deliver all future social security benefits of the Centre and the states meant for such set of workers. Learn Along e-Shram Portal comes under the control of Ministry of Labour and Employment. It aims to register 38 crore unorganised workers such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors, and domestic workers, among others. Printing question paper exempt from GST, but not answer booklet, rules AAR According to Authority for Adavance Rulings, Karnataka, printing stationery items such as question papers, admit cards, pass certificates, ID cards on contract basis for a school board does not attract the goods and services tax (GST). However, printing answer booklets does attract GST. The authority ruled that printing stationery items constitutes a supply of service to an educational institution and, hence, is exempt from GST. Thus, if the essential character in the supply of printed product is printing, it would be classified as the supply of services and would be exempt from GST. However, if this is not the case, it would be considered as supply of goods and would come under the GST’s purview. Because printing is an ancillary activity hence will be exempted from taxation but answer booklets & envelopes provides essential characteristic to the products and hence, answer booklets are taxable under GST at 12 per cent, whereas envelopes attract 18 per cent. Learn Along: Authority for Adavance Rulings -Advance ruling has been internationally recognized as a more or less binding statement from the revenue authorities upon the voluntary request of a private person, concerning the treatment and consequence of one or series of contemplated future actions or transactions. Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) levied on the supply of goods and services. It is a comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax: comprehensive because it has subsumed almost all the indirect taxes except a few state taxes. Department of Commerce to overhaul export scheme for services sector The Department of Commerce is overhauling the export boosting scheme for the services sector — Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) — with the expressed objective of supporting pandemic-hit sectors like tourism, hospitality, education, and health care. The scheme is expected to be a part of the new foreign trade policy expected to be rolled out by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Learn Along: Directorate General of Foreign Trade Ministry of Commerce & Industry Headquarters: New Delhi Director General: Santosh Kumar Sarangi Union Minister : Piyush Goyal 31 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) has been introduced in 2015 and is valid for 5 years i.e. from 2015 to 2020.It aims to promote export of services from India by providing duty scrip credit for eligible exports. Under the scheme, service providers, located in India, would be rewarded under the SEIS scheme, for all eligible export of services from India. CAIT to educate 25 lakh traders across India on competition with retail & e-commerce firms Traders’ body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT ) will educate and guide 25 lakh traders across the country by August 15,2023 under its CAIT India Literacy Mission (CILM) to be launched on September 5,2022. The awareness programme will aim at helping traders understand about business upgradation, modernisation and adoption of digital technology. Moreover, the initiative would help businesses compete with the global multinationals and big corporate houses trying to control and monopolise the retail trade and e-commerce ecosystem in India. The traders’ body has tied up with Graposs Edutech, an online education company to facilitate traders with online learning in assistance with local level trade associations across the country. The course planned for this initiative will be available in 12 Indian languages for better experience. Learn Along: Confederation of All India Traders Headquarters: New Delhi Secretary General: Praveen Khandelwal PMJDY accounts hit 462.5 mn in eight yrs, deposits reach Rs 1.73 trillion Total accounts opened under PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) touched 462.5 million in eight years since the launch of the financial inclusion initiative, taking the deposits in these accounts to Rs 1.73 trillion in August, 2022. PMJDY accounts opened till August 2021 stood at 430.4 million.. The scheme has expanded its coverage to 67 percent of rural or semi-urban areas and has 56 percent of women account holders. About 54 million PMJDY account holders receive direct benefit transfers from the government under various schemes. Digital transactions have seen an increase with 319.4 million RuPay debit cards being issued under PMJDY, installation of point of sale (PoS) machines and introduction of UPI, taking total such transactions to 71.95 billion in FY22 from 9.78 billion in FY17.Total RuPay card transactions at PoS and ecommerce have increased from 282.8 million in FY17 to 1.51 billion in FY22. Learn Along: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is a financial inclusion program of the Government of India open to Indian citizens, that aims to expand affordable access to financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance and pensions. RuPay is an indigenous payment card launched by NPCI for all Indian banks. It was launched in 2012. Over Rs 1,500 crore invested in MSMEs through Self Reliant India fund: Govt The Self Reliant India (SRI) fund launched by the government to make equity investments in small businesses for their growth, listing on stock markets, and global expansion, has invested Rs 1,571.55 crore in MSMEs. SRI fund is a SEBI-registered category-II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) that operates through the mother-fund and daughter-fund structure. It provides funding to daughter funds for onward provision as growth capital through equity, quasi-equity, and debt. 32 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 SRI fund is implemented by a special purpose vehicle — NSIC Venture Capital Fund Limited (NVCFL). The government is the sole anchor investor in the SRI fund with the initial budgetary support of Rs 10,000 as the mother fund. The rest 80 percent of the Rs 50,000 crore fund will come from daughter funds that will raise capital from outside sources such as banks, financial institutions, HNIs, venture capital and private equity investors, and others, as per the fund’s guidelines approved in September 2021. Learn Along: Alternative Investment Fund or AIF means any fund established or incorporated in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors. Credit card spends touch all-time high of Rs 1.16 trillion in July,2022 Credit card spends touched an all-time high of Rs 1.16 trillion in July, registering a growth of 6.5 percent on a month-on-month basis and 54 percent year-on-year. The addition in credit cards was mainly done by HDFC Bank, Axis Bank,SBI & ICICI Bank. HDFC Bank has emerged as the largest issuer of credit cards among all banks. HDFC Bank has the highest market share in credit card spends at 28.34 percent, followed by ICICI Bank (20.1 percent), and SBI Card (16.7 percent). Axis Bank has a spends market share of 8.7 percent as of July. As far as market share in outstanding credit cards is concerned, HDFC Bank has 22.4 percent share, followed by SBI Card, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank at 18.1 percent, 17.1 percent and 12.4 percent respectively. Learn Along: HDFC Bank SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Shashidhar Jagdishan Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara ICICI Bank Headquarters: Vadodara CEO: Sandeep Bakshi Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry Adani Transmission is 9th most valued firm by mcap; LIC out of top 10 club Adani Transmission has entered the coveted list of top 10 most valued companies, with a market capitalization (mcap) of Rs 4.43 lakh crore, and holds ninth place in the overall ranking. Reliance Industries Limited is the most valued domestic firm with a market capitalization of Rs 17.85 lakh crore, followed by TCS (Rs 11.75 lakh crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 8.26 lakh crore), Infosys (Rs 6.28 lakh crore) and Hindustan Unilever (Rs 6,.24 lakh crore). Next in the ranking is ICICI Bank which has a market valuation of Rs 6.18 lakh crore, followed by State Bank of India (Rs 4.74 lakh crore), HDFC (Rs 4.44 lakh crore), Adani Transmission (Rs 4.43 lakh crore) and Bajaj Finance (Rs 4.42 lakh crore). With this, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has moved out of the top 10 most valued companies club. It now ranks at 11th place, with a mcap of Rs 4.26 lakh crore. Learn Along: Adani Transmission Headquarters: Ahmedabad CEO: Anil Kumar Sardana 33 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 TCS Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Rajesh Gopinath Infosys Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Salil Parekh LIC Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: M.R. Kumar Market capitalization, commonly called market cap, is the market value of a publicly traded company's outstanding shares. Market capitalization is equal to the share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. IMF revives Pakistan’s EFF program, approves USD 1.17 billion bailout fund Pakistan has secured a much-needed bailout package from the IMF for the revival of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, which will help the cash-starved country prevent an imminent default, amidst the persisting political uncertainty and the devastating floods that has displaced over 33 million people. The international lender approved the 7th and 8th tranche of USD 1.17 billion for Pakistan. Learn Along: IMF Headquarters: Washington, United States MD: Kristalina Georgieva Extended Fund Facility (EFF -The programme seeks to address domestic and external imbalances and ensure fiscal discipline and debt sustainability while protecting social spending, safeguarding monetary and financial stability and maintaining a market-determined exchange rate and rebuilding external buffers. 75,000 start-ups recognized by govt- Ministry of Commerce & Industry 75,000 start-ups have been recognized by the government and about 49% of them are from tier-II and tier-III cities. According to the data compiled by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), about 12% of the start-ups belong to IT services, 9% to healthcare and life sciences, 7% to education, 5% to professional and commercial services and 5% to agriculture. About 7,46,000 jobs have been created by the start-up ecosystem, having recorded a 110% annual increase over the last six years. HDFC Ltd secures $1.1 bn syndicated social loan for affordable housing Mortgage financier HDFC Ltd has completed a $1.1 billion syndicated social loan facility at a 3.3 per cent coupon rate for financing affordable housing projects in the country, making it the largest social finance issuance. This transaction is the largest social loan globally, the first social external commercial borrowing (ECB) loan out of India and the largest ECB loan deal from a housing finance company/ private NBFC in India.MUFG Bank, Ltd. (MUFG) was the lead social loan coordinator for this transaction and was one of the mandated lead arrangers and borrowers (MLAB). Learn Along HDFC Ltd. Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Keki Mistry RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, ACQUISITIONS, MoUs & LAUNCHES : 34 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Amazon & Indian for For moving customer packages on 325 inter-city routes and faster Railways delivery in festive season Learn Along Amazon Headquarters: Washington, US CEO: Andy Jassy L&T & Gujarat To set up an IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) Park in Vadodara at an investment of Rs 7,000 crore for a period of 5 years L&T Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: S. N.Subrahmanya n Walmart , Flipkart & Assam Govt To help local MSMEs get on to the e-commerce channel and expand. The Walmart Vriddhi Programme will help them to become Competitive and connected to export destinations. Walmart Headquarters: Bentonville, Arkansas, US CEO: Doug McMillon Flipkart Headquarters:B engaluru CEO:Kalyan Krishnamurthy SIDBI & Andhra Pragati Gramina Bank (APGB) Tata Steel Paytm & Samsung Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced a partnership with Andhra Pradesh’s regional rural bank Andhra Pragati Gramina Bank (APGB) to provide refinance facility to the SIDBI latter for credit availability to MSMEs in the state. :Lucknow Tata Group is planning to spend Rs 3,000 crore on R&D by FY26 and is ready to introduce the 'First in India' seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains from September 2022.These are specially designed seats, which can rotate 180 degrees and have aircraft-style passenger amenities. Headquarters CMD :Sivasubramania n Ramann PoS Devices- Paytm has partnered with Samsung stores across India to facilitate smart payments as well as its loan service Paytm Postpaid through the deployment of point-of-sale devices. The partnership will enable consumers purchasing Samsung devices — laptops, smartphones, television, smart watches etc — from any authorised store in the country to 35 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Tata Steel Heaquarters: Mumbai CEO: T.V Narendran Paytm Headquarters: Noida Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along pay through Paytm payment instruments, including UPI, wallet, buy now pay later scheme, debit cards and credit cards. Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma Samsung Headquarters:S outh Korea Chairman:Lee kun Hee Karnataka Bank State Bank of India Yes Bank & Seller App New Term Deposit Scheme- Karnataka Bank has launched a new term deposit scheme on the occasion of 75 years of Independence as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The new scheme will be called KBL Amrit Samriddhi under ACC and Fixed Deposit category. The bank is offering a 6.10% per annum interest rate on the deposit scheme with a tenure of 75 weeks (525 days). SBI Utsav Fixed Deposit Scheme- The State Bank of India (SBI) offered an “Utsav Deposit” in honor of India’s 76th independence anniversary, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The State Bank of India has introduced a unique term deposit program. The plan is valid beginning August 15, 2022, for a duration of 75 days. Under this scheme, there will be an interest rate of 6.10 percent per year on fixed deposits with a term of 1000 days. The scheme has an expiry date, which will last 75 days. But senior citizens of a particular age group will get 50% more in interest benefits than the usual accounts. Yes Bank partnered with SellerApp, a seller-centric intelligence platform in order to encourage the seller segment of its client base to adopt Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) and help them expand their digital commerce footprint. Karnataka Bank Headquarters:M angaluru CEO: Mahabaleshawa ra M.S - Yes Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Prashant Kumar BYD India Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Warren Buffett-backed, has signed an MOU with HDFC Bank for a stock financing solution to its pan India dealer network. The strategic tie-up will provide BYD’s dealers access to inventory finance for the electric cars. BYD India & HDFC Bank BYD India Headquarters: Tamil Nadu Director: Zhang Jie and Han Gang HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai 36 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along CEO: Shashidhar Jagdishan Manthan- The Government unveiled a platform named Manthan to drive collaboration between the industry and research institutes to implement technology-based social impact innovations and solutions in the country. The Manthan platform is powered by the National Stock Exchange of Indian Government India (NSEIT) which will help scale up interactions among stakeholders, facilitate research and innovation, and share challenges in various emerging technologies and scientific interventions, including those that make a social impact. Air India & Meta Air India has partnered with Meta as it has chosen Workplace technology of Meta for intra-company communications so that there is a simple and effective way for all levels of the company to interact with each other.Workplace will help Air India's employees get regular and real-time updates on the airline's operations and future plans, exchange information with peers, and get access to a forum to share their views, provide feedback and contribute to shaping the airline's vision and policies. National Stock Exchange of India Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: Ashishkumar Chauhan Air India Headquarters: New Delhi CEO & MD: Campbell Wilson Meta Headquarters: California,US CEO: Mark Zuckerberg Sri Lanka & Adani Green Wind projects- Sri Lanka has granted provisional approval to Adani Green Energy for two wind projects of 286 MW and 234 MW for an investment of over USD 500 million. Adani Green Headquarters: Ahmedabad CEO: Vneet Jaain Adani Group HPCL Sri Lanka has granted provisional approval to Adani Green Energy for two wind projects of 286 MW in Mannar and 234 MW in Pooneryn for an investment of over USD 500 million in the country’s Northern province. HaPpyShop- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. unveiled its branded store Happy Shop in New Delhi. The store will stock home utility products including food, toiletries, healthcare products, bakery products, groceries, vegetables and more – available to customers at competitive prices. It is also 37 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Adani Group Headquarters: Ahmedabad Founder: Gautam Adani HPCL Headquarters: Mumbai Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along equipped with advanced digital technology to give a seamless shopping experience to the customers. Along with the experience of physical store, it has the option of online shopping with a door delivery model. Chairman & MD: Pushp Kumar Bank of Baroda raised Rs 1,000 crore through issuance of bonds for financing infrastructure and affordable housing projects. The bonds, with a tenure of seven years, will offer a coupon rate of 7.39 per cent. Bank of Baroda Bank of Baroda Headquarters: Vadodara MD & CEO:Sanjiv Chadha Baroda Tiranga Deposit Scheme- Bank of Baroda launched the Baroda Tiranga Deposit Scheme. This is a special term deposit product which offers higher interest rates on retail deposits below Rs 2 crore.Available in two tenor buckets of 444 days and 555 days.The Baroda Tiranga Deposits offers an interest rate of 5.75 per cent p.a. in the former duration while it yields 6 per cent interest rate p.a. in the latter tenure. The scheme opens today i.e. August 16, 2022 and will run till December 31, 2022. Bank of Baroda ONGC & ExxonMobil Deepwater Exploration- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with global petroleum giant ExxonMobil for Deepwater exploration in East and West coasts of India.The collaboration areas focus on the Krishna Godavari and Cauvery Basins in the eastern offshore and the Kutch-Mumbai region in the western offshore. - ONGC Headquarters: New Delhi MD & CEO: Dr. Alka Mittal (ADDITIONAL CHARGE) ExxonMobil Headquarters: Texas,US CEO: Darren Woods ICAI MSME Yatra- The program is organized by the ICAI and supported by MSME Ministry, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) and State Bank of India (SBI).This 75-day-long MSME Yatra programme from Mumbai to support MSMEs in scaling up and capacity buildingThe Yatra will be held from August to November 2022.The Yatra Vehicle will travel for more than 14,000 kms covering 75 cities of the Western, Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern parts of the country to showcase the MSME ecosystem. 38 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com ICAI Headquarters: New Delhi President : Debasis Mitra Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along Yes Bank & Venture Catalysts Yes Bank has invested in Venture Catalysts Group Funds (Venture Catalysts), an integrated incubator that helps startup founders across all stages of their businesses and also sponsored two other platforms — Beams fintech fund and 9 Unicorns accelerator fund. YES Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Prashant Kumar ReNew Power ReNew Power has tied up a $1 billion loan with a consortium of 12 international lenders led by Rabobank through a special purpose vehicle. ReNew has signed a power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India for this project, which will see the setting up of wind and solar farms across Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. ReNew Power Headquarters: Gurugram Chairman & MD: Sumant Sinha Edelweiss Mutual Fund Gold & Silver Fund- Asset management company (AMC) Edelweiss Mutual Fund will launch India’s first scheme that offers exposure to gold and silver via a single fund on 24 August. The new fund offer for Edelweiss Gold and Silver ETF Fund of Fund (FoF) will close on 7 September,2022. Edelweiss Group Headquarters:M umbai Chairman & CEO: Rashesh Shah Indian Overseas Bank IOB Rupay Select Card - IOB has launched a special variant of debit card that can be used for domestic & international paymemts The ‘IOB Rupay Select Card’ is designed to cater High Net Worth Individuals (HNI) with add oon freebies in various facilities including air port lounges, gyms, spas & clubs etc. Indian Overseas Bank Headquarters: Chennai CEO: Partha Pratim Sengupta JSW Group & IIT Bombay Technology Hub for Steel- The JSW Technology Hub is being set up with the objective of rapidly expanding production of quality steel, while maintaining carbon emissions within the target levels. The partnership with IIT Bombay will also help the conglomerate increase its R&D efforts in the steel sector. Flipkart & India Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce market place announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the flipkart Samarth program with the District Administration of Varanasi, Government of Uttar Pradesh, to enable national market access for artisans, weavers, people with disabilities and of Varanasi. India, Japan & UAE Projects in Africa- India is joining hands with Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to implement two projects in Africa. While India will build a 39 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com JSW Group Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman & MD: Sajjan Jindal Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News cancer hospital in Kenya in collaboration with Japan, it will partner with the UAE to set up an information and communications technology (ICT) centre in Ethiopia. Central Bank of India , Protium Finance & Incred Financial Services Loans to MSME borrowers- Central Bank of India has entered into colending partnerships with Protium Finance and lncred Financial Services to offer loans to MSME borrowers. The partnerships will provide greater expansion of portfolio by the bank and to MSME players. Learn Along - Central Bank of India Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: M.V.Rao Director: Peeyush Misra HDFC ERGO General Insurance HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company has announced the launch of ‘Pay As You Drive – Kilometre Benefit’ add-on cover for all its private car owners.Anyone driving less than 10,000 km in a year can benefit up to 25% of their own damage premium, subject to the odometer reading. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Ritesh Kumar Jupiter Jupiter, a neobanking and financial services platform, has entered the investments space and is offering a no-penalty systematic investment plan (SIP).This means that if the bank balance of a user is running low, the SIP mandate will automatically be skipped, according to this new feature.The feature is currently available only to existing mutual fund account holders. Jupiter Wynk Studio - Airtel launched Wynk Studio, a music distribution ecosystem for independent artists, as part of its music and podcast streaming app Wynk. The studio enables artists to launch and partner in monetizing their music on a host of platforms. Airtel Headquarters: Mumbai Founder & CEO: Jitnedra Gupta Airtel Headquarters: New Delhi CEO: Gopal Vittal Indian Oil Corporation 50 Fuel Stations- Sri Lanka has given approval for India's Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) to open 50 new fuel stations as part of efforts to reduce severe shortages that have crippled the island nation. LIOC is a subsidiary of India's Indian Oil Corporation and is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. 40 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com IOCL Headquarters: NewDelhi Chairman & MD: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Jindal Staninless & EY India Learn Along Jindal Stainless Steel carveout a roadmap to meet its sustainability goals. It is making efforts to Ltd decarbonizean reduce carbon emissions significantly for its present and future Headquarters: capacity expansion plans. It has partnered with EY India to solidify ESG New Delhi (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals. Chairman & MD: Ratan Jindal ESG Goals-Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) has partnered with EY India to Ernst & Young Headquarters: London,UK CEO: Carmine Di Sibio HPCL & Honda Motors Battery Swapping Stations for EVs-Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd HPCL (HPCL) and Honda Motor have joined hands to set up battery swapping Headquarters: stations for electric vehicles at the state-owned oil firm's petrol pumps. HPCL and Honda Power Pack Energy India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co Ltd (Honda), launched their first e:swap station at HPCL's petrol pump in Bengaluru. Mumbai Chairman & MD: Pushp Kumar Joshi Honda Motor Co. Ltd Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan CEO:Toshihiro Mibe The Sajjan-Jindal-led JSW Energy announced that its arm JSW Neo Energy is going to buy Mytrah Energy’s 1.75-gigawatt (Gw) renewable energy assets for Rs 10,530 crore. This is the third-biggest acquisition JSW Energy Microsoft & Indian Government in the renewable energy space in India. JSW Energy Headquarters: Maharashtra CEO: Prashant Jain Microsoft and the Indian government will collaborate for a programme to Microsoft train nearly 2.5 million civil servants in using the company’s suite of digital tools. The partnership between the tech giant, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), and the Capacity Building Commission(CBC) aims to help civil servants in helping the underprivileged. It will help them in delivering social welfare services. 41 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Headquarters: Washington, US CEO: Satya Nadella Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Adani Group , ACC & Ambuja Adani Group is acquiring Ambuja Cements and ACC from Switzerland’s Holcim.The two companies were acquired in a $10.5-billion (Rs 81,339 crore) transaction in May,2022, making Adani the second-largest cement player in India after Ultratech. Learn Along Ambuja Cements Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Neeraj Akhoury ACC Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Sridhar Balakrishnan HDFC Bank TReDS-Private sector lender HDFC Bank has partnered with invoice discounting platform M1xchange to get onboard the Reserve Bank of India’s Trade receivables Discounting System (TReDS) mechanism to cater to MSMEs. This partnership is expectedto bring in more liquidity and enhance adoption of TReDS among a wider number of Corporate Customers and MSMEs. HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan Smart Facility for SIP, STP and SWP-According to the company, this feature Kotak Mutual Kotak Mutual Fund CoinSwitch takes the traditional SIP/ STP/ SWP facility a step further, where investors’ instalment (in case of SIP/STP) or withdrawal (in case of SWP) varies based onmarket valuation. This facility also allows you to choose the minimum and maximum SIP amount. Investors can also opt for this option through the Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) route. $10mn Venture Capital Fund- Indian crypto company CoinSwitch has launched a $10 million venture capital fund for investments in earlystage start-ups and building blockchain solutions.The Web3 Discovery Fund will carefully organise the portfolio start-ups and provide single-window access to variou investor partners. India & Malaysia The Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) to enhance cooperation between Malaysia and India in the palm oil industry and to promote the usage of palm oil. India & Maldives Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the “Greater Male connectivity projects in the Maldives” and also entered pacts in areas like cyber security, disaster management, and police infrastructure development. 42 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Fund Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Nilesh Shah CoinSwitch Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Ashish Singhal Malaysia Capital:Kuala Lumpur Currency:Malay sian ringgit PM:Ismail Sabri Yaakob Maldives Capital: Maale City President: Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News The Male connectivity projects will be built under India’s USD 100 million grant and USD 400 million line of Credit. India also extended a USD 100 million line of credit for development projects in the Maldives. India & France India & Iran CII & Nagaland On 6th July, 2022 the Union Cabinet approved the signing of Contract between the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, France on behalf of the International Transport Forum and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), India to support the International Transport Forum (ITF) activities on the Indian Transport Sector. India and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on recognition of Certificates of Competency in Unlimited Voyages to help seafarers from both countries as per the provisions of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping for Seafarers, 1978. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed an MoU with the Nagaland Government to collaborate and unleash the potential of entrepreneurial talents in Nagaland at the Nagaland CSR & Investment Conclave 2022 “Partnership for Strengthening Sustainable Development”. CII would establish startup cohorts and conduct capacity-building programs for Nagaland Government officials, financial institutions & banks in Nagaland, incubators, and academic innovation cells for engaging with startups. The Indian Navy will be facilitated to partner with entrepreneurs and startups in Nagaland to provide support for their innovation and indigenization initiatives. A training school will be set up in Nagaland, facilitated by the CII Institute of Logistics, to mobilize candidates from Nagaland for various roles in the logistics sector. 43 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Learn Along Ibrahim Mohamed Solih USA Capital: Washington, D.C. President: Joe Biden Currency: United States Dollar About France Capital: Paris President: Emmanuel Macron Currencies: Euro, CFP franc About Iran Capital: Tehran Currency: Iranian rial President: Ebrahim Raisi CII Headquarters: NewDelhi President: Sanjiv Bajaj Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name IOCL & Bangladesh SIDBI & Tata Power’s TPRMG News The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Roads and Highways department in Dhaka for the emergency supply of petroleum goods via Bangladesh territory to India. Green Entrepreneurs- Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has collaborated with TP Renewable Microgrid (TPRMG), a subsidiary of Tata Power, to launch 1,000 green energy enterprises across the country.The initiative is aimed at promoting sustainable entrepreneurship models and empowering rural entrepreneurs.The entrepreneurs shortlisted under the initiative will have to complete a capacity-building activity organized by TPRMG to receive an impetus called Go REsponsive, ENterprise incentive (GREENi) from SIDBI. Learn Along About IOCL Founded: 30 June 1959 Headquarters: New Delhi Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya SIDBI Headquarters: Lucknow Chairman & MD: Sivasubramania n Ramann Tata Power Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Praveer Sinha Adani Group & NDTV Acquisition- The media arm of the Adani group has acquired an indirect stake of 29.18 percent in New Delhi Television (NDTV) through the conversion of loans into an equity stake in the promoter group company of NDTV. NDTV Headquarters: New Delhi President: Suparna Singh Godrej Agrovet , Assam, Manipur & Tripura Oil Plam Cultivation- Godrej Agrovet that it has signed three Memorandum of Understandings with Assam, Manipur and Tripura state governments for development and promotion of oil palm cultivation in the region under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme. Godrej Agrovet Headquarters: Mumbai MD: Balram Singh Yadav HPCL Cow dung to Compressed Biogas Project- HPCL commenced its Cowdung to Compressed Biogas Project at Sanchore, Rajasthan. This will be HPCL’s first project under the Waste to Energy portfolio. The plant is proposed to utilize 100 Tons per day of dung to produce biogas, which can be utilized as automotive fuel. The project is proposed to be commissioned in a year’s time. The project is being developed under the GOBAR-Dhan scheme launched by Government of India. 44 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com HPCL Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman & MD: Pushp Kumar Joshi Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Solar Equipment Manufacturing Facility- NHPC said that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bharat Electronics (BEL) for setting up of gigawatt-scale vertically integrated solar manufacturing unit. NHPC Ltd & BEL Learn Along NHPC Ltd Headquarters: Faridabad CMD: Abhay Kumar Singh BEL Headquarters: Bengaluru CMD: Anandi Ramalingam Nutrihub, ICARIIMR & Akshaya Patra Foundation MoU- The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Nutrihub, sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under the supervision of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR) to integrate millets under the PM POSHAN scheme to increase the consumption of millets and thereby help improving children's nutritional status. The cooperation is a project to prepare for the International Year of Millets to be hosted by India’s government in 2023. Akshaya Patra Foundation Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Shridhar Venkat Online Safety Initiative-Aiming to better tackle the growing cyberattacks, the company has launched a cybersecurity upskilling program for approximately 100,000 developers, IT, and start-up professionals across the country. Google Google under the initiative has joined hands with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Digital India Corporation and few leading banks of India to launch a multilingual user awareness campaign on ways to adopt better digital transaction practices amongst the internet users. Google Headquarters: California, United States CEO: Sundar Pichai HCL TechBee Programme-HCL TechBee programme is organised by Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) Technologies every year for Class 12 students passing with Mathematics as a compulsory subject. This programme is also campaigned by the central government and various state governments. This programme aids students to pursue higher education in universities and higher educational institutions (HEIs) in India along with attaining financial assistance at an early age. Neutral Shared RAN Solution- RailTel, a CPSU of the Ministry of Railways and CloudExtel, a known Full Stack Network as a Service (NaaS) Provider have partnered together to launch India’s first Shared Radio Access Network (RAN) solution for congested locations with the objective of enhancing telecom users’ experience. RailTel and CloudExtel carried out the 45 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com HCL Headquarters: Noida Founder: Shiv Nadar RailTel Headquarters: Gurugram Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along RailTel & CloudExtel successful pilot of this project in partnership with Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Nokia, and the Telecom Infra Project (TIP)’s NaaS Solutions Group, with vital support from the Railways, in one of the most networks, stressed locations namely Mumbai Central railway station. CMD: Aruna Singh CloudExtel Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Kunal Bajaj EV Mnaufaturer BYD Telangana’s WE Hub & Neobank Tide LazyPay & Dukaan Born Electric SUV- The Warren Buffet-backed Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD will be unveiling a Born Electric SUV for the Indian market by the fourth quarter of 2022.This will be the first Born Electric SUV in the mass market. The Born Electric models from Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra would be launched from 2024. BYD India Headquarters: Tamil Nadu Director: Zhang Jie and Han Gang Support to Women led SMEs- Telangana government’s incubator for women entrepreneurs WE Hub has partnered with the United Kingdombased SME-focused neobank Tide for a year to help women entrepreneurs in India start and grow their businesses in Tier II & III regions. The joint venture will focus on counselling and educating women owners about regulations and compliances, accounting and financial planning, filing tax returns, loan application support, and marketing and sales. It will also facilitate peer training and networking among them Neobank Tide BPNL Solution to small businesses- Digital lending company PayU Finance’s buy now pay later (BNPL) solution LazyPay has partnered with the digital storefront provider for small businesses Dukaan to offer BNPL service to small sellers and entrepreneurs and help them scale their operations. Integrating the BNPL solution into the available payment modes will help such merchants improve their sales and encourage first-time customers to become repeat customers. LazyPay Headquarters: London CEO: Oliver Prill Headquarters:M umbai CEO: Anup Agarwal Dukaan Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Sumit Shah Mastercard & BASIX Agri-tech platform for farmers-Mastercard collaborated with livelihood promotion institution BASIX Social Enterprise Group to launch an agritech platform BASIX Farmers’ Market (BFM) to integrate farmers into the digital economy.The digital platform will be used to address the fundamental challenges for small farmers related to price discovery, market reach, payments, and credit access leveraging technology from Mastercard and sector expertise of BASIX. The companies aim to connect 10 lakh 46 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Mastercard Headquarters: New York, US CEO: Michael Miebach BASIX Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along farmers with technology to their benefit, including the new cohort of 200 Farmer Produce Organisations (FPO). Headquarters: Hyderabad CEO: Sattaiah Devarakonda HDFC Bank & Tata Neu Punjab National Bank Edelweiss General Insurance & Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Adani Group Suzuki Motor Tata Neu HDFC Bank Credit Card- HDFC Bank launched the ‘Tata Neu HDFC Bank Credit Card’ in partnership with Tata Neu. The card will offer exclusive benefits to its customers, with even more rewards for customers who transact on Tata Neu and its partners.The credit card will be available in two variants – Tata Neu Plus HDFC Bank Credit Card and Tata Neu Infinity HDFC Bank Credit Card, and both these variants will be available on RuPay and Visa networks. Pre-Qualified Credit card & OD Facility - State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) announced the launch of its pre-qualified credit card with a host of features, including insurance coverage. This facility will be available for salary account customers and they shall be able to apply through the mobile banking app PNB One, website or Internet Banking Service (IBS).The bank will be offering this service under two platforms -- RuPay and Visa.It has also introduced a new facility of overdraft against fixed deposit on PNB One in a few clicks and a single OTP. Digital Health IDs- The health ministry partnered with digital insurer Edelweiss General Insurance to help creating digital health IDs under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Digital Health ID or ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) number is a 14-digit number that helps users to share and access their health records digitally with registered healthcare providers.The company said that all its customers and the public at large can now generate their unique ABHA number through its official site. HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan PNB Headquarters: New Delhi MD & CEO: Atul Kumar Goel Edelweiss General Insurance Headquarters:M umbai CEO:Shanai Ghosh 1000MW Data Centres-Adani Group firm AdaniConneX is planning to build 1,000 megawatt data centers -- almost double the present size of the total industry -- over a period of 10 years. The six cities which will get first seven data centers will have total capacity of 450 MW over the next three years, while 550 MW is going to be in tier-2 and 3 towns. Adani Group EV Battery Unit-Suzuki Motor Corporation announced the setting up of a new research and development (R&D) centre in India. The new company is wholly owned by Suzuki, Japan. It aims to strengthen the R&D competitiveness and capabilities in new fields of technology not only for India but also for the global markets. Furthermore, it will strengthen the ties with Indian academic institutes and start-ups to develop diverse human resources Suzuki Motor 47 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Headquarters: Ahmedabad Founder: Gautam Adani Headquarters: Hamamatsu, Japan CEO: Osamu Suzuki Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name RailRestro Flipkart NMDFC & ICICI Bank News Learn Along Logistics Infrastructure-Leading food tech company RailRestro will be investing USD 20-30 million for building a robust logistics infrastructure and will undertake rapid expansion in coverage with a focus on the east. The infrastructure exercise primarily focuses on a company-owned delivery fleet to service all the railway stations that it covers across the nation. RailRestro Automated Fulfilment Centres- Walmart-owned e-commerce major Flipkart is going to invest over Rs 3,600 crore in the next three years to set up three new giant automated fulfilment centres. This includes one in Manesar which is under construction and two new ones, which would come up in South and West Bengal respectively.Each of these facilities will require Rs 1200 crore to Rs 1500 crore investment. Financial Accounting Software & App-The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) signed an agreement with ICICI Bank for the development of financial accounting software and mobile application.The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides for the development of financial accounting software for NMDFC and State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs), loan accounting software for receiving and processing of loan applications and accounting of repayments from beneficiaries.ICICI Bank will design, develop and deploy the application for NMDFC, provide source code and executable database information among others. Headquarters: Patna,Bihar CEO: Manish Chandra Flipkart Headquarters: Bengaluru CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy NMDFC Headquarters: Delhi CMD: Rakesh Sarwal ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD &CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi AXIS Bank & KMRL Meta & Reliance Kochi1 Card- Axis Bank has decided to roll out campaigns along with the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd to promote its Kochi1 card amongst metro commuters. This would help daily commuters save considerably more with discounted metro fares. The cardholders also get lounge access and discount on bus tickets, making the Kochi1 card popular amongst people of Kochi. Grocery shopping on Whatsapp- Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of WhatsApp, will partner with Reliance JioMart for a service where WhatsApp users can buy groceries on the messaging platform from the Indian retail firm. The company’s new commerce initiative is on course to partner with one crore merchants as it expands to cover the entire country in the next five years. Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD &CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry Meta Headquarters: California,US CEO: Mark Zuckerberg Reliance JioMart Headquarters: Mumbai 48 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along Chairman: Mukesh Ambani ICICI Bank & NPCI ICICI Bank Coral Rupay Credit- ICICI Bank has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a range of credit cards on RuPay network. ICICI Bank Coral RuPay Credit Card is a contactless card offering a host of privileges and benefits including reward points on daily purchases like shopping and restaurants, paying utility bills, complimentary domestic airport & railway lounge access, waiver of fuel surcharge, discounts on movie tickets & dining, among others & also offers exclusive benefits of the RuPay network such as accident insurance coverage to the cardholder. ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD &CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi NPCI Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: Dilip Asbe Union AMC PGIM India Mutual Fund BHEL & RVNL Union Retirement Fund-Union AMC has launched the Union Retirement Fund, which is an open-ended retirement solution-oriented scheme having a lock-in of 5 years or till retirement age (whichever is earlier). The New Fund Offer (NFO) of Union Retirement Fund will open on 1st September 2022 and close on 15th September 2022. The minimum investment required is Rs 1,000 and in multiples of Rs 1 thereafter. The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital gains by investing in a mix of securities comprising of equity, equity-related securities and debt instruments as per the asset allocation pattern of the scheme with a view to provide a retirement investment solution to investors. Money&Me Website- PGIM India Mutual Fund today announced that it has launched a new investor education and awareness website MoneyAndMe. The company also announced the launch of a consumer awareness campaign – 'Aapka HappinessPlanned' to promote the MoneyAndMe Initiative.The MoneyAndMe initiative draws on a key insight that different consumer personas have different needs for information and awareness, enabling it to sharply personalize content to make it more useful for respective consumer personas. Indigenous manufacturing & infrastructure development-BHEL and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL) have signed an MoU to jointly work in the field of infrastructure and project execution, in India and abroad, through synergy of their respective capabilities.This will pave the way for collaboration in both the present as well as future areas of operation towards the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' of Government of India. Union AMC Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: G. Pradeepkumar PGIM India Mutual Fund Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Ajit Menon BHEL Headquarters: New Delhi CEO: Nalin Singhal RVNL 49 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along Headquarters:N ew Delhi CMD: Pradeep Gaur AAI & Sweden Airports Authority of India (AAI) and LFV Air Navigation Services of Sweden has signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Corporate Headquarters of AAI in New Delhi. This MoU shall pave the way for bi-lateral exchange of aviation expertise and technology between the two countries. AAI Founded: 1 April 1995 Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman:Sanj eev Kumar Sweden Capital: Stockholm Currency: Swedish krona PM: Eva Magdalena Andersson SEBI and FINANCIAL AWARENESS SEBI restructures market data advisory committee SEBI has restructured its advisory committee on market data that recommends policy measures pertaining to securities market data access and privacy. The market data advisory committee will now have 20 members chaired by S Sahoo as compared to 21 members earlier.Sebi has replaced NSE's former MD and CEO Vikram Limaye with the exchange's newly appointed chief Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of BSE. Learn Along SEBI NSE BSE Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Girish Chandra Chaturvedi Headquarters:Mumbai Chairman: Ashishkumar Chauhan SEBI comes out with disclosure requirement for AMCs SEBI has released the disclosure framework for asset management companies, mandating a schemewise disclosure of investments in securities of entities that are excluded from the definition of “associate”. 50 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 SEBI had earlier amended mutual fund rules to remove the applicability of the definition of “associate” to sponsors that invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies or such other schemes. As part of the new framework, asset management companies (AMCs) will have to make scheme-wise disclosure of investments, as on the last day of each quarter, in securities of such entities that are excluded from the definition of “associate”. SEBI amends the rules for mutual funds; defines 'associate' SEBI has amended mutual fund rules to remove the applicability of the definition of "associate" to sponsors that invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies. The new rules will become effective from September 3,2022, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The definition of associate shall not be applicable to such sponsors, which invest in various companies on behalf of the beneficiaries of insurance policies or such other schemes. Under the amended rules, an associate includes a person who directly or indirectly, by himself, or in combination with relatives, exercises control over the Asset Management Company (AMC) or the trustee, among others. Learn Along An asset management company (AMC) is a firm that invests pooled funds from clients, putting the capital to work through different investments including stocks, bonds, real estate, master limited partnerships, and more. AMC managers are compensated via fees, usually a percentage of a client's assets under management. SEBI constitutes an expert group of FPIs to boost overseas flows SEBI has constituted an expert group of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to boost overseas flows into the country. The FPI Advisory Committee (FAC) will be chaired by KV Subramanian, Former Chief Economic Adviser and consists of 14 other members representing foreign banks, stock exchanges depositories and the RBI. Learn Along Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of a foreign country, such as stocks or bonds available on an exchange. SEBI announced Ananth Narayan as the 4th Whole-time Member SEBI has appointed Ananth Narayan Gopalkrishnan, Associate Professor, SP Jain Institute of Management & Research as the 4th whole time member. He has been appointed for the initial period of 3 years. He will join SEBI’s other three Whole Time Members namely SK Mohanty, Ashwani Bhatia and Ananta Barua. Learn Along: Whole Time Member-A whole-time director refers to a director who has been in employment of the company on a fulltime basis and is also entitled to receive remuneration. SEBI devices framework to curb insider trading Market regulator SEBI has come up with a new framework that will prevent company insiders from dealing in shares during the closure of the trading window. 51 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Under SEBI’s prevention of insider trading (PIT) regulations, the trading window is closed when the compliance officer determines that a designated person or class of designated persons are in possession of unpublished price-sensitive information. SEBI gives in-principle approval for change in control of HDFC AMC SEBI has granted its in-principle approval for the proposed change in control of HDFC Asset Management Company Limited along with the change in one of the cosponsors (s) of HDFC Mutual Fund from HDFC Ltd to HDFC BankHDFC AMC is the investment manager to the schemes of HDFC Mutual Fund. Currently, HDFC and Aberdeen Investment Management Ltd (erstwhile Standard Life Investments Ltd) are the sponsors of the fund house. Learn Along HDFC Mutual Fund HDFC Bank Headquarters: Mumbai Headquarters: Mumbai CEO- Navneet Munot CEO:Sashidhar Jagdishan SEBI tightens overseas norms for alternative investment and VC funds The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tightened overseas investment norms for alternative investment funds (AIFs) and venture capital funds (VCFs). All AIFs and VCFs will have to file an application before the market regulator for allocation of overseas investment limit in a format specified by SEBI. Also, such funds will only be permitted to invest in an overseas company incorporated in a country whose securities market regulator is a signatory to the International Organization of Securities Commission’s Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding.Alternatively, the regulator can also be a signatory to the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with SEBI. Learn Along: SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch A venture capital fund is a type of investment fund that invests in early-stage startup companies that offer a high return potential but also come with a high degree of risk. The fund is managed by a venture capital firm, and the investors are usually institutions or high-net-worth individuals. SEBI moves to safeguard demat accounts through block mechanism Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has announced fresh steps to safeguard investors’ demat accounts. The block mechanism announced will become mandatory for all early pay-in transactions with effect from November 14, 2022. The early pay of securities is used by traders to reduce their margin obligations.Presently, the block mechanism facility is optional. So shares sold by an investor are either transferred to brokers’ pool and then sent to the clearing corporation or remain blocked in an investor’s demat account and get delivered to the clearing corporation directly. Learn Along: A demat account is an account to hold financial securities in electronic form. In India, demat accounts are maintained by two depository organisations, National Securities Depository Limited and Central Depository Services Limited. SEBI joins the Account Aggregator system 52 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) joined the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Account Aggregator framework. The move will allow customers to share information about their mutual fund and stock holdings with financial service providers. With this move, the entire trading system, depository system, as well as mutual fund system will soon be online in the Account Aggregator system. Learn Along: SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch Account Aggregator system - It is a framework for data sharing between financial institutions like banks, pension funds, insurance companies and assets management companies. Under this, account aggregators (AAs) use technology for simple and secure exchange of the data between the institutions. With AAs, you can use your financial data to access a vast array of financial services for your personal or business needs. SEBI introduces prudential limits on PMS investments in related firms The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed prudential limits on investments by portfolio managers in their own associates or related parties. Under the amended framework, portfolio management schemes service providers will have to obtain prior consent of their clients if they intend to invest in related companies. Portfolio managers will be allowed to invest up to 30 percent of their client’s portfolio (as a percentage of the client’s AUM) in their own associates/related parties across equity, debt and hybrid securities. Learn Along: SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch PMS or Portfolio Management Service is a professional service where qualified and experienced portfolio managers backed by a research team manage equity portfolios on behalf of clients instead of clients managing themselves. Assets under management are the overall market value of assets/capital that a mutual fund holds. The fund manager manages these assets and makes all investment-related decisions on behalf of the investors. AUM is an indicator of the size and success of a given fund house. SEBI reconstructs preferential allotment rules for REITs, InvITs SEBI overhauled the pricing norms for preferential allotment of units by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs). Under the new framework, the pricing formula for allotment of units under preferential issue would be the Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) of weekly highs and lows for 90 trading days or 10 trading days, whichever is higher.At present, the pricing formula in a preferential allotment is the VWAP of the last two weeks or the last 26 weeks, whichever is higher. Preferential issue of units would not be made to any person who has sold or transferred any units of the issuer during the 90 trading days preceding the relevant date. At the present, the limit is six months. The restriction would not apply to a sponsor, in case any asset is being acquired by the REIT or InvIT from that sponsor, and the preferential issue of units is being made to that sponsor, as full consideration for the acquisition of such asset. Learn Along: SEBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch 53 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) are similar to mutual funds. While mutual funds provide for an opportunity to invest in equity stocks, REITs allow one to invest in income-generating real estate assets. They are collective investment vehicles that operate and manage property portfolios and give returns to investors The Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) is the average price of a stock weighted by the total trading volume. The VWAP is used to calculate the average price of a stock over a period of time.It helps compare the current price of the stock to a benchmark, making it easier for investors to decide when to enter and exit the market. Also, the VWAP can assist investors in determining their approach towards a stock (active or passive) and make the right trade at the right time. A preferential issue is an issue of shares or of convertible securities by listed companies to a select group of persons under Section 81 of the Companies Act, 1956 which is neither a rights issue nor a public issue. This is a faster way for a company to raise equity capital. Point of Presence players to get Rs 15 – Rs 10,000 commission in case of D-Remit towards NPS The PoP players in the NPS scheme are set to get a commission of Rs 15-10,000 from next month if subscribers route their voluntary contributions through the Direct Remit (D-Remit) facility under the all citizen model. The move aims to compensate the Point of Presence (PoPs) players who were losing fees. According to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) this move will support the PoPs as they have put in significant efforts and deployed their resources for sourcing the NPS accounts. For them to sustain their NPS outreach efforts, it has been decided that the trail commission shall be payable to PoPs, with effect from September 1, 2022. The trail commission to PoPs for D-Remit contributions of the associated subscribers will be 0.20 per cent of the contribution amount, with minimum Rs 15 and maximum Rs 10,000. Learn Along: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the regulatory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India for overall supervision and regulation of pensions in India. PFRDA Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman: Supratim Bandyopadhyay National Pension System (NPS) is a voluntary, defined contribution retirement savings scheme designed to enable the subscribers to make optimum decisions regarding their future through systematic savings during their working life. NPS seeks to inculcate the habit of saving for retirement amongst the citizens. It is an attempt towards finding a sustainable solution to the problem of providing adequate retirement income to every citizen of India. Point of presence PoPs are banks, non-banking financial companies and other players which register and service subscribers under the National Pension System (NPS). They are the first point of interaction between the subscriber and NPS. D-Remit is an electronic system through which money can be transferred from Subscriber’s Bank account to the Trustee Bank directly. IRDAI organises hackathon; invites innovative solutions for insurance sector The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has organised it’s first hackathon— Bima Manthan 2022 — with the theme ‘Innovation in Insurance’. 54 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 IRDAI has invited entities to develop technology-driven innovative solutions for automated death claim settlement, curtail miss-selling, and other areas of the insurance ecosystem, with an aim to protect the interest of policyholders.Fraud mitigation/ prevention in motor insurance by using technology is another area identified for Bima Manthan 2022. Learn Along IRDAI Headquarters: Hyderabad Chairperson: Debasish Panda IRDAI eases firm registration process from 8 to 2 months The registration process of new companies has been eased by substantially reducing the time taken to process new applications from 6-8 months to two. The regulator has created a facilitation cell consisting of two officers for handholding the applicants so that the entity gets its approval to start its operations. Insurers may not need prior IRDAI nod to raise capital via pref shares and subordinate debt In a bid to promote ease of doing business, insurance regulator IRDAI has decided to do away with the prior approval requirement for raising capital through preference shares and subordinate debts by insurers.As per approved changes, the issue of Other Forms of Capital (OFC) should not exceed 50 percent of the paid-up share capital or net worth of the insurance company. The prior approval requirement for exercising the call option under OFC subject to a solvency ratio not less than 180 percent has also been done away with.Besides changing the existing norms the maximum investment limit of insurers in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies has been made to 30 percent of their assets from 25 per cent. Learn Along Preference Shares : Preference shares allow an investor to own a stake at the issuing company with a condition that whenever the company decides to pay dividends, the holders of the preference shares will be the first to be paid. Subordinated Debt is debt which ranks after other debts if a company falls into liquidation or bankruptcy. Such debt is referred to as 'subordinate', because the debt providers have subordinate status in relationship to the normal debt. IRDAI tightens anti-money laundering rules for insurance companies The insurance regulator IRDAI has stiffened the anti-money laundering rules as part of consolidation of the guidelines for the insurance sector.The key change is that exemptions and relaxations from the guidelines for companies have been put to an end. So no life, general, or health insurer can claim any relaxations to comply with the money-laundering rules. Also, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has made the level of risk assessment a function of the size of the business of the companies.. IRDAI to revamp grievance redressal mechanism Insurance regulator IRDAI will launch a revamped grievance redressal mechanism to make complaint redressal more efficient with the option of customers filing their complaints in 13 regional languages. The Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGMS), launched in 2011, is being upgraded to make it more convenient for customers. It is to be renamed as Bima Bharosa. The new portal will not only be a gateway for registering and tracking grievances online but also act as an industry-wide grievance repository for the IRDAI to monitor the disposal of grievances by insurance companies. 55 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 GST e-invoicing must for entities with Rs 10 cr turnover from Oct 1,2022 The government has widened the scope of e-invoicing for businesses by lowering the mandatory turnover threshold to Rs 10 crore from Rs 20 crore under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The new threshold starts from October 1,2022. The government will further extend it to entities with a turnover of Rs 5 crore, seeking to plug revenue leakage and ease compliance. Learn Along GST, or Goods and Services Tax, is an indirect tax imposed on the supply of goods and services. It is a multi-stage, destination-oriented tax imposed on every value addition, replacing multiple indirect taxes, including VAT, excise duty, service taxes, etc. Adani Group to acquire Macquarie road portfolio for Rs 3,110 crore Adani Group will acquire Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund's toll road portfolio in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for Rs 3,110 crore. Adani Road Transport Ltd (ARTL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gujarat Road and Infrastructure Company Ltd (GRICL) (owned 56.8 percent by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund) and Swarna Tollway Private Ltd (STPL) (owned 100 percent by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund). Tiger Global sells 2.34% stake in Zomato, sells 185 million shares The investment firm Tiger Global has reduced its stake in the company by almost half to 2.77 percent in Zomato by selling over 18.45 crore (185 million) shares in the open market. Tiger Global's Internet Fund VI Pte Ltd had a hold of 5.11 percent in the online food delivery platform before the sale. Learn Along Tiger Global Zomato Headquarters: New York Headquarters:Gurugram Founder & Chairman: Chase Coleman Founders- Deepinder Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah 1.19 crore MSMEs & other businesses benefitted till June 2022 under ECLGS Post-Covid flagship credit scheme for MSMEs Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) has benefitted around 1.19 crore businesses as of June 30, 2022. Launched in May 2020, the scheme has sanctioned collateral-free loans amounting to Rs 3.48 lakh crore till June , 2022. Out of the total ECLGS beneficiary count, 1.13 crore were MSMEs (95 percent) while the amount sanctioned to MSMEs stood at Rs 2.32 lakh crore (66 percent) out of the total sanctioned.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest Financial Stability Report (June 2022) showed that Rs 2.54 lakh crore loans were disbursed till April 30, 2022. Learn Along ECLGS was rolled out in May 2020 as part of the Centre’s Aatmanirbhar package in response to the Covid-19 crisis. The objective was to support small businesses struggling to meet their operational liabilities due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown. 56 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 National Pension System rule changed- No credit card payment for NPS Tier II account allowed from now The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has decided to stop accepting payment of subscriptions/contributions by using credit cards as a mode of payment in the National Pension System (NPS) Tier-II account with immediate effect under Section 14 of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act 2013 to protect the interests of subscribers and to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the national Pension System and pension schemes to which the Act applies. Learn Along PFRDA NPS Headquarters: New Delhi Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman: Supratim Bnadhopadhyay CEO: Sashi Krishnan EPFO adds 18.36 Lakh Net Members In The Month of June, 2022 Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 18.36 lakh net members in the month of June, 2022. For the month of June, 2022 the net member addition has increased by 9.21% as compared to the previous month of May, 2022 and an increase of 5.53 lakh in terms of net member addition in comparison to the May 2021 with respect to year-on-year comparison. State-wise comparison of payroll figures highlights that the establishments covered in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi continue to remain in lead by adding approximately 12.61 lakh net members during the month, which is 68.66% of total net payroll addition across all age groups. Learn Along: EPFO is a statutory body established by the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Labour and Employment EPFO Headquarters: New Delhi Central PF Commissioner: Neelam Rao EPFO agrees to invest in public sector InvITs Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has approved the government’s proposal to allow the retirement fund body to invest up to 5% of its annual deposits in alternative investments funds including the infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs). This will be on a case to case basis and on approval from the Finance Investment and Audit Committee and the investments will initially be restricted to public sector funds only. Thus from now, the government allowed up to 5% investment in asset-backed, trust-structured and miscellaneous investments including the alternate investment funds (AIFs), real estate investment trusts (REITs) and units of infrastructure investment trusts (InvIT), paving way for EPFO to expand its investment basket to maximise returns. Learn Along: An InvIT is like a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of small amounts of money from individual/institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a portion of the income as return REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) are similar to mutual funds. While mutual funds provide for an opportunity to invest in equity stocks, REITs allow one to invest in income-generating real estate assets. They are collective investment vehicles that operate and manage property portfolios and give returns to investors. 57 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Value of EPFO's Rs 1.59-trn investment in ETFs rises to Rs 2.26 trn: Govt Retirement fund body EPFO has invested Rs 1.59 trn in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) till March 2022 and it rose to Rs 2.26 trn as on 31st March 2022. the proportion of investment was increased from 5 percent to 10 per cent in 2016-17 and 15 per cent in 2017-18 and onwards. Learn Along: An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a type of security that involves a collection of securities—such as stocks—that often tracks an underlying index. ETFs are listed on exchanges and ETF shares trade throughout the day just like ordinary stock.The first ETF was launched in India in December 2001 and was linked to Nifty 50 1,00,255 claims under PMSBY & 5.93 Lakh claims have been paid under PMJJBY- Ministry of Finance Under the benefits offered,1,00,255 claims paid amounting to Rs. 1,990.57 crore under PMSBY, and 5,93,316 claims paid amounting to Rs. 11,866.32 crore under PMJJBY have been provided respectively. PMJJBY and PMSBY are universal social security schemes that are open to all in the specified age groups and are not specific to people living below the poverty line or any other such specific group. Learn Along: The Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is a government scheme launched in 2015. It aims to provide life insurance security to the poor and low-income section of the society. This scheme can be availed by people aged between 18 years to 50 years. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is a government scheme launched in 2015. It intends to provide an affordable insurance scheme for the poor and underprivileged people in the age group of 18 to 70 years with a bank account at a premium of Rs.20 per annum; risk coverage of Rs.2 lakh for accidental death and full disability and Rs.1 lakh for partial disability. Centre releases two instalments of Rs 1.16-trn tax devolution to states The Centre released two instalments of tax devolution totalling Rs 1.16 lakh crore to states with an aim to strengthen the hands of states to accelerate their capital and developmental expenditure. The Centre has released the amount higher than the normal average of 58332 crore. Currently, 41 per cent of taxes collected by the Centre is devolved in 14 instalments among states during a fiscal year. Learn Along: Tax Devolution - It is based on a formulaic transfer of resources to states, determined by the Finance Commission. The tax devolution formula is based on the principles of need, equity, and efficiency. In other words, the formula is progressive – states in need of higher assistance receive a larger share of funds devolved. Income tax payers barred from enrolling in Atal Pension Yojana from October 1,2022 Income tax payers will not be allowed to enrol in the government’s social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from October 1,2022. 58 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The new guidelines, will not apply to subscribers who have joined or joins the scheme before October 1, 2022.In case a subscriber, who joined on or after October 1, 2022, is subsequently found to have been an income tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed and the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the subscriber. Learn Along: The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched on 9th May,2015 to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the workers in the unorganised sector. APY is administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). APY is open to all bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 40 years and the contributions differ based on pension amount chosen. Subscribers would receive the guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 or Rs. 2000 or Rs. 3000 or Rs. 4000 or Rs. 5000 at the age of 60 years. NABARD’S RIDF to fund UAS for setting up R&D millet incubation centre in Raichur NABARD’s Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to provide 25 crores to the University of Agricultural Science (UAS), Raichur, Karnataka, for the establishment ofan incubation centre for processing and value addition for the promotion of millets. This fund will be used for creating facilities focused on research, setting up of laboratories and support to farmers by the UAS. Millet conclave 2022 is being organized as a curtain raiser prior to the International Year of Millets 2023. The millets farmer producers associations (FPOs), processors, and startups are participating in the two-day conclave 2022 being organized jointly by Atal Innovation Mission, UAS, and NABARD. Under this conclave, awards of Rs.20 lakh each will be given to 15 Agri Startups and Rs.10 lakh each to 15 other Agri Startups. The aim is to increase employment opportunities, especially women who can be engaged in work from millet production to processing. Learn Along: NABARD Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: G.R. Chintala Rural Infrastructure Development Fund- In 1995-96, the Government of India set up RIDF for financing ongoing rural infrastructure projects. The funds released under RIDF are maintained by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) The main objective of the fund is to provide loans to State Governments and State-owned corporations to enable them to complete ongoing rural infrastructure projects. These funds are provided on a year-toyear basis by the Government of India. The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the country.AIM will provide grant-in-aid of Rs. 20 Lakh to each school that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5 years to each Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) NABARD sanctions financial assistance of Rs 230 crore for Mizoram 59 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has approved a Rs 230 crore loan to Mizoram for vital rural infrastructure development. Learn Along: NABARD Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: G.R.Chintala Rural Infrastructure Development Fund- In 1995-96, the Government of India set up RIDF for financing ongoing rural infrastructure projects. The funds released under RIDF are maintained by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) The main objective of the fund is to provide loans to State Governments and State-owned corporations to enable them to complete ongoing rural infrastructure projects. These funds are provided on a year-toyear basis by the Government of India. Govt to lift 51.8 mn tonnes rice in 2022-23, double coarse cereal purchases The Central government has fixed a target to procure 51.8 million tonnes of rice during the forthcoming 2022-23 procurement season that starts in October 2022, slightly more than the 50.98 million tonnes procured during the current season (2021-22). In addition to higher procurement of rice, the Centre also plans to lift 1.30 million tonnes of coarse cereals from farmers next year, which is 117.4 percent higher than the quantity purchased so far in the current year Fertiliser to be sold under single brand name: Govt Under the ‘one nation, one fertiliser’ policy, a single brand name for urea and other fertilisers will be used. The single brand name for fertilisers such as urea, di-amonimum phosphate (DAP), muriate of potassium (MOP) and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) sold by companies, state trading entities and marketing companies will be henceforth named as Bharat urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat MOP and Bharat NPK. A common logo indicating fertilizer subsidy schemes named Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna will be used in all fertilizer bags. Learn Along Pradhan Mantri Jan-Aushadhi Yojana is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It seeks to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Initially launched in 2008, the scheme was rechristened in 2015. The Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) is implementing the scheme. Govt to give financial assistance for solar agri pumps up to 15 HP under PM-KUSUM The finance ministry has agreed to set up solar pumps up to 15 horsepower capacity in the northeastern and Himalayan states. In 2019, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme with 3 components. Under the B component, individual farmers will be supported to install standalone solar agriculture pumps of capacity up to 7.5 Horse Power (HP) for replacement of existing diesel agriculture pumps/irrigation systems in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available. 60 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme was launched for farmers for installation of solar pumps and grid connected solar and other renewable power plants in the country. It aims to add solar and other renewable capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022 with total central financial support of Rs. 34,422 Crore including service charges to the implementing agencies. PM-KUSUM Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Launch Year: 2019 Centre hikes sugarcane FRP by Rs 15 per quintal for 2022-23 season The Cabinet hiked the fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane for the 2022-23 season, which starts from October,2022 , by Rs 15 per quintal to Rs 305. The FRP of Rs 305 per quintal is linked to a basic recovery rate of 10.25 percent. The recovery rate is the amount of sugar that sugarcane fetches and higher the quantum of sugar derived from sugarcane, greater the price it fetches in the market. Learn Along Fair and Remunerative Price or FRP is the price required to be paid by sugar mills and factories to sugarcane farmers. It was introduced in 2009 and replaced the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP). Under the FRP system, the price paid to farmers for sugarcane is not linked to the profits generated by sugar mills. Instead, FRP is based on the recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane. India to manufacture Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) in India Coromandel International Ltd, India’s leading phosphatic fertiliser player acquired 45% equity share in Baobab Mining and Chemicals Corporation (BMCC), a rock phosphate mining company based in Senegal. The mining will be done in Senegal and production of DAP will be done in India. 10 LMT of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) will be manufactured. Centre launches web-based registration facility for ration cards The Centre launched a common registration facility in 11 states and UTs to enable homeless people, destitutes, migrants, and other eligible beneficiaries to apply for ration cards. This facility will help states/UTs in identifying and including the eligible beneficiaries under the coverage of the NFSA as per the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The 11 states and UTs are Assam, Goa, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Punjab, and Uttarakhand. The National Food Security Act (NFSA) provides a maximum coverage for about 81.35 crore persons. At present, around 79.77 crore persons are given highly subsidized foodgrains under the Act. Learn Along The National Food and Security Act of 2013 (NFSA,2013) aims to ensure people food and nutritional security by assuring access to a sufficient quantity of high-quality food at reasonable prices.It provides subsidized food grains to 75% of India's rural population and 50% of its urban population. NFSA 2013 includes almost two-thirds of the Indian population in its entirety. Govt relaxes sugar export quota for 2021-22 61 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The government relaxed the quantitative restriction of 10 million tonnes on sugar exports and allowed shipments of an additional 1.2 million tonnes in the current marketing year ending September,2022. Sugar mills can now export up to 11.2 million tonnes from the earlier cap of 10 million tonnes as compared to the restrictions imposed in May 2022.India has now become the largest producer of sugar in the world in the year 2022-23, more than Brazil, while it would be the second largest exporter of sugar with a 335 LMT production of sugar in 2021-22. Rs. 375.25 crore approved under Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) as on 30th July 2022 As on 30th July 2022, of the corpus of Rs. 945 crore, Rs. 375.25 crore have been approved to 102 incubators under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS). Also, 378 DPIIT recognised startups have been approved a total sum of Rs. 81.45 crore by the approved incubators under the Scheme. Total sum of Rs. 5 crore approved to 2 incubators, one each from Sikkim and Assam.9 DPIIT recognised startups from North Eastern States have been approved a total sum of Rs. 1.15 crore by the approved incubators under the Scheme. Learn Along Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) launched in 2016 aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.This would enable these startups to graduate to a level where they will be able to raise investments from angel investors or venture capitalists or seek loans from commercial banks or financial institutions. 824 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) foodgrains distributed under PMGKAY According to the data provided by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as on 31st July 2022, total 824 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) of free foodgrains has been distributed under PMGKAY, A total subsidy outlay of around Rs. 2.79 Lakh Crore has also been provided till the said date. Learn Along Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against Covid-19. The scheme aimed at providing each person who is covered under the National Food Security Act 2013 with an additional 5 kg grains (wheat or rice) for free, in addition to the 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain already provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS). PMGKAY Ministry: Ministry of Finance Launch Year: 2020 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Union Minister: Piyush Goyal Partnership between ICRISAT and ICAR for Water Management ICAR and ICRISAT have partnered for the genetic improvement of grain legumes (Gram, Arhar and Groundnut) and dryland cereals (Jowar, Bajra and Ragi) for enhancing their productivity potential, adaptation and quality traits. The ICRISAT works with several ICAR institutes for possible collaboration to improve the productivity of dryland through application of science-based rainwater harvesting and management technologies. Learn Along The ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare 62 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 ICAR Headquarters: New Delhi Director General: Trilochan Mohapatra The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organization which conducts agricultural research for rural development. It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organisations convened by the Ford and the Rockefeller foundations. ICRISAT Headquarters: Hyderabad Director: Jacqueline D’arros Hughes India’s agricultural and processed food products exports up by 31 percent in first three months of 2022-23 India’s agricultural and processed food products exports up by 31 percent to USD 7408 Million in first three months of current fiscal (2022-23) compared to the same period last year. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was fixed at USD 5890 million. For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed by APEDA for the agricultural and processed food products basket. Fresh fruits & vegetables registered four percent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 59.71 percent (April-June 2022) in compare to corresponding months of the previous year. Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 25.54 percent in the first three months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from USD 922 million (April-June 2021) to USD 1157 million (April-June 2022). The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 9.5 percent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 29 percent in Q1 of the current fiscal. Learn Along Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an apex body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, responsible for the export promotion of agricultural products. APEDA initiates pilots to boost export of agricultural products under ODOP To boost unique agricultural products under the one district one product (ODOP) programme, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has initiated pilots in seven districts across five states for providing necessary infrastructure and financial assistance through convergence mode The districts include Lucknow (mango) in Uttar Pradesh; Nagpur (mandarin orange), Nasik (onion), Sangli (grapes) in Maharashtra, Krishna (mango) in Andhra Pradesh ,Kumuram Bheem (millets) in Telangana and Dharmapuri (millets) in Tamil Nadu. APEDA has also formed export promotion forums for boosting exports of grapes, onions, mango, banana, pomegranate, floriculture, rice, dairy products, and nutri-cereals. For the current fiscal, an export target of $ 23.56 billion has been fixed by APEDA for the agricultural and processed food products basket. Learn Along: The ‘One District, One Product’ (ODOP) was launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, to help districts reach their full potential, foster economic and socio-cultural growth, and create employment opportunities, especially, in rural areas. It aims to do this by identifying, promoting and branding a product from one district. The One District One Product scheme aims to turn every district in India, into an export hub through promotion of the product in which the 63 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 district specialises. The initiative plans to accomplish this by scaling manufacturing, supporting local businesses, finding potential foreign customers and so on, thus helping to achieve the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision.The one district one product launch date is January 24, 2018, by the Uttar Pradesh Government, and due to its success, was later adopted by the Central Government. India resumes mango exports to the US after two years India resumed mango exports to the US after a pandemic-induced two-year gap. More than 1,000 tonnes of Alphonso, Kesar, and other varieties of mangoes have been shipped till now. India also exported mangoes to Japan for the first time while shipment to South Korea resumed after two years too. Besides exporting mangoes to the US, APEDA also organized a series of mango promotion programme in Dubai, Bahrain, Denmark, San Francisco, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Germany. India has also commenced exports of mangoes to Japan through a shipment of around 50 tonnes. ICAR develops indigenous vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle Two institutes of agri research body ICAR have developed an indigenous vaccine for Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle been spread across many states recently. ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh has developed a homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd. Learn Along: The ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare ICAR Headquarters: New Delhi Director General: Trilochan Mohapatra Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)implemented for a duration of 2021-22 to 202526, aims at mitigating gaps and providing basic infrastructure in villages with significant tribal population in convergence with funds available under different schemes in Central Scheduled Tribe Component. It is envisaged to cover 36,428 villages having at least 50% ST population and 500 STs across States / UTs with notified STs during the period. An amount of Rs. 7,276 cr has been approved by the Cabinet for the scheme in next 5 years. Learn Along: Ministry of Tribal Affairs Union Minsiter : Arjun Munda Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry launches Culinary Coffee Table Book Union Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Shri Parshottam Rupala launched a unique coffee table book titled Fish & Seafood -a collection of 75 gourmet recipes. This initiative has been taken in an effort to boost the domestic consumption of fish and seafood, along with popularizing the local fish species.The recipe book is a highlight of the diversity of fish available within the domestic water bodies and the fish culinary heritage of the country that signifies the diverse cooking and eating styles across the country. 64 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Total Coal Production Goes up by 11.37 % to 60.42 Million Ton in July,2022 The overall coal production has increased by 11.37% to 60.42 million ton (MT) from 54.25 MT during July, 2022 as compared to July 2021.Of the top 37 coal mines, production of 24 mines was more than 100 per cent during July this year. Another seven mines’ production stood between 80 and 100 per cent. The overall power generation in July 2022 has been 4.29% higher than in July 2021 Govt plans to reduce import dependence on palm oil by 25-30% The government is aiming at reducing import dependence on palm oil by 25 to 30% through the production of 2.8 million tonne (MT) of oil by 2030 under the National Edible Oil Mission. The government plans to bring in more area under palm plantation in the next three years, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Tripura, and Mizoram so as to reduce the palm oil import dependence by 2030. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala are the major oil palm growing states, which account for 98% of the total production. Learn Along: The National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)- It has been launched in August 2021 with the aim to augment the availability of edible oil in the country by harnessing area expansion, increasing crude palm oil production with the aim to reduce the import burden. Basmati rice exports up by 26 percent in April-June to $1.15 billion Exports of basmati rice increased by 25.54 percent in April-June this fiscal year to USD 1.15 billion (around Rs 9,160 crore). Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, the UAE, US, UK, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman had a share close to 80 per cent in total shipments of basmati rice from India in 2021-22. Ministry of FAHD celebrates Har Ghar Tiranga Program at Ettaiyapuram in Tamil Nadu Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India in collaboration with Tamil Nadu State Government celebrated the Har Ghar Tiranga Program at Ettaiyapuram, Thoothukodi, Tamil Nadu on 12th August, 2022. Under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav year, the Government of India celebrated the event at 400 iconic sites across the country. Learn Along: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Union Minister: Parshottam Rupala Cabinet provides approval on providing Interest Subvention on Short term Agri Loans Union Cabinet has approved to restore Interest Subvention on short term agriculture loans to 1.5% for all financial institutions.The Union Cabinet provided Rs 34,856 crore towards the interest subvention scheme to help banks provide short-term agriculture loans of up to Rs 300,000 at a rate of 7 per cent.The additional budgetary provisions of Rs 34,856 crore for the period of 2022-23 to 202425 under this scheme. 4th Advance Estimate of major agricultural crops for 2021-22 65 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The 4th advance estimates of production of major agricultural crops for the year 2021-22 have been released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The production of Foodgrains in the country is estimated at 315.72 million tonnes which is higher by 4.98 million tonnes than the production of foodgrain during 2020-21. The production during 2021-22 is higher by 25 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2016-17 to 2020-21) average production of foodgrains. Record production is estimated of rice, maize, gram, pulses, rapeseed and mustard, oilseeds and sugarcane. As per the 4th Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during 2021-22 is as follows: Foodgrains 315.72 million tonnes, Rice 130.29 million tonnes ,Wheat 106.84 million tonnes, Nutri / Coarse Cereals 50.90 million tonnes, Maize 33.62 million tonnes ,Pulses 27.69 million tonnes Tur 4.34 million tonnes, Gram 13.75 million tonnes, Oilseeds 37.70 million tonnes, Groundnut 10.11 million tonnes, Soyabean 12.99 million tonnes, Rapeseed and Mustard 11.75 million tonnes,Sugarcane 431.81 million tonnes,Cotton 31.20 million bales, Jute & Mesta 10.32 million bales. Learn Along: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Union Minister: Narendra Singh Tomar Advanced, Intensive, All Male Tilapia Aquaculture Project with Israeli Technology to be launched by TDB-DST Technology Development Board, a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India supports M/s Fountainhead Agro Farms Private Limited, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra for ‘Advanced, Intensive, All Male Tilapia Aquaculture Project with Israeli Technology for enhancing the potential of the fisheries sector.A loan assistance of Rs. 8.42 crores out of the total project cost of Rs. 29.78 crores to the company has also been agreed to be provided by the Board. The company has adopted advanced Israeli Technology from Aquaculture Production Technology Limited (APTIL), Israel for land locked locations through closed loop farming for arid zone with seasonal water supply from rivers, which may be replicated throughout India in multiple arid landlocked locations with reasonable water sources. Learn Along: Department of Science & Technology Union Minister: Jitnedra Singh Online Marketplace feature "Aqua Bazar" in “Matsya Setu” app launched Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, launched the Online Market Place feature "Aqua Bazar" in the “MatsyaSetu” mobile app during the 9th general body meeting of the National Fisheries Development Board. The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). The online marketplace will help the fish farmers and stakeholders to source the inputs such as fish seeds, feed, medicines, etc., and services required for fish culture as well as farmers can also list their table-size fish for sale. The marketplace aims to connect all stakeholders in the aquaculture sector. Learn Along: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Union Minister: Parshottam Rupala 66 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 ICAR – CIFA Headquarters: Bhubaneshwar Director : D.K.Swain Committee on MSP sets up four sub-groups to discuss key issues The committee formed on MSP which is chaired by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal has now set up 4 sub-groups to discuss three mandated topics. Earlier the committee discussed ways to promote zero budget-based farming to change crop patterns keeping in mind the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent. The first group will study Himalayan states as well as the cropping pattern and crop diversification and how to ensure MSP support in those states. The second group on micro irrigation — to be headed by Sukhpal Singh will study how to make microirrigation farmer-centric. Currently, micro irrigation is driven by government subsidies and the group will examine how to generate farmers’ demand for this. The third group — led by a representative of the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) — will study zero budget based farming, including organic and natural farming methods, and generate a consensus of farmers. The fourth group — to be led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) — along with Hyderabad-based Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) and Nagpur-based National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSSLUP) and one more institute will study the crop diversification and cropping pattern across the country and submit a background report. Learn Along: The minimum support price (MSP) is an agricultural product price, set by the Government of India to purchase directly from the farmer. This is not enforceable by law. By definition, this rate is to safeguard the farmer to a minimum profit for the harvest, if the open market has lesser price than the cost incurred. The ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare ICAR Headquarters: New Delhi Director General: Trilochan Mohapatra Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZNBF) means raising crops without using any fertilizers and pesticides or any other external materials. The word Zero Budget refers to the zero cost of production of all crops. Centre implements 'One Nation One Fertiliser' plan under 'Bharat' brand To bring about uniformity in fertiliser brands across the country, the government issued an order directing all companies to sell their products under a single brand name of ‘Bharat’. All fertiliser bags, whether containing urea or di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) or muriate of ootash (MOP) or NPK will sport the brand name as ‘Bharat Urea’, ‘Bharat DAP’, ‘Bharat MOP’ and ‘Bharat NPK’ irrespective of the company that manufacturers it, whether in the public or the private sector. The order also stated that the single brand name and the logo of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojana (PMBJP), the scheme under which the Central government grants subsidy annually to the fertiliser, companies will have to be displayed on the bags. Four new facilities at Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur inaugurated 67 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurated four new facilities at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), which has been rendering services for more than 60 years under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The Ministry also inaugurated the newly constructed auditorium, Agri-business Nurturing Centre, environment-friendly wastewater treatment plant, and Indoor Sports Hall at CAZRI. Learn Along: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Union Minister: Narendra Singh Tomar Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI)- The Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) is one of the biggest research institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous organization working under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare of Government of India. CAZRI has the distinction of being one of the first institutes in the world exclusively devoted to arid zone research and development. The institute conducts multi-disciplinary research to seek solutions to the problems of farming in arid regions of the country. CAZRI Headquarters: Jodhpur Director: O.P Yadav Godhan Nyay Yojana: Chhattisgarh aims at subsidy for vermicompost production The Chhattisgarh government is eyeing subsidies on the vermicompost produced in the state under the Godhan Nyay Yojana. The move was necessary as the state government predicted a surge in demand besides helping villagers to get more return from producing vermicompost using cow dung. Chhattisgarh has started procuring cow dung under its Godhan Nyay Yojana launched in 2020.It has been the first time in the country and the world that the state government is purchasing cow dung by paying sellers Rs 2 per kilogram. As of now, the Chhattisgarh government has purchased 7.35 million quintals of cow dung, paying Rs 147.06 crore to the committees and strengthening the rural economy. The government has trained local woman self-help groups (SHGs) and engaged them in manufacturing vermicompost out of the collected cow dung. The SHGs package it to sell it at Rs 10 per kg. Learn Along: ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ is the scheme recently launched on 21st July 2020, on the occasion of Hareli, the first festival of the state, by the Chhattisgarh government. This scheme aims at boosting the rural economy by procuring cow dung at Rs 2 per kilogram from farmers and cattle rearers initially in the rural area later in the urban area too. NATIONAL The Central allocation of ₹66,750 crore for AMRUT 2.0 projects have been distributed The Central allocation of ₹66,750 crore for AMRUT 2.0 projects have been distributed among the States/UTs. Accordingly, the State of Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been allocated ₹4,615 crore, ₹4,500 crore, ₹4,045 crore, ₹8,145 crore and ₹3,650 crore respectively for the project component. Learn Along: 68 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) scheme, has been launched on 01 October, 2021 for the period of 05 years i.e. from the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26. Air India brings new policy; allows pilots to fly for 5 yrs after retirement Air India has introduced a new policy which will give an extension of service to its selected pilots on a contract basis for a period of 5 years after retirement. The contract can be extended till the age of 65 years. Learn Along: About Air India Founded: 1932 Headquarters: New Delhi Founder: J. R. D. Tata India some more wetlands designated as Ramsar sites to make total 64 sites India adds 10 more wetlands designated as Ramsar sites to make total 75 sites in the country. New Ramsar Sites Location Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary Tamil Nadu Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve Tamil Nadu. Vembannur Wetland Complex Tamil Nadu Vellode Bird Sanctuary Tamil Nadu Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary Tamil Nadu Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary Tamil Nadu Satkosia Gorge Odisha Nanda Lake Goa Ranganathituu BS Karnataka Sirpur wetland Madhya Pradesh Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary Tamil Nadu Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary Tampara Lake 69 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Hirakud Reservoir Odisha Ansupa Lake Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve Jammu and Kashmir Yashwant Sagar Madhya Pradesh Thane Creek Maharashtra Learn Along: About Ramsar Convention The Ramsar convention is an intergovernmental environmental treaty that was established by UNESCO on February 2, 1971 which came into force in 1975 The convention got its name from Ramsar city in Iran on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed. It provides for international cooperation and national action regarding conservation of wetlands and sustainable use of their resources. The Ramsar convention identifies wetlands of international importance across the globe, especially those that are home to diverse biodiversity. India signed it on 1st Feb 1982. World's Largest Floating Solar Power Plant to be built on Narmada River The world's largest floating solar power plant will be built on Omkareshwar Dam on the Narmada River in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh at an estimated cost of over Rs 3000 crores. The floating power plant is expected to generate about 600 Megawatt of power by 2022-23. Learn Along: About Madhya Pradesh Capital: Bhopal Chief minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Jagdeep Dhankhar is new Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who had earlier served as the Governor of West Bengal, has been elected as the 14th Vice President of India. He will take oath as India’s Vice President on 11th August 2022. Prior to being the Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar had severed as the Governor of West Bengal. Learn Along: About Jagdeep Dhankar Jagdeep Dhankhar was born on 18th May 1951 in Kithana village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district. He practiced law for over 40 years as a lawyer in Rajasthan High Court and then in Supreme Court. He has also been a ex-member of ICC - International Court of Arbitration. 70 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 ‘India ki Udaan’ to celebrate the unwavering, undying, spirit of India and its achievements Ministry of Culture and Google started an initiative, “India ki Udaan” to celebrate the unwavering, undying, spirit of India and its achievements in past 75 years. Learn Along: About Ministry of Culture Ministers responsible: G. Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister; Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State About Google Founded: 4 September 1998 Brin Headquarters: California, United States Founders: Larry Page, Sergey India: Target to eliminate Kala-azar by 2023 Union Government of India has set the target to eliminate Kala-azar from country by 2023. India’s target is way ahead than World Health Organisation (WHO)’s target of eliminating the disease by 2030. Learn Along: About Kala Azar Kala Azar is also called as Leishmaniasis. It is a neglected tropical disease, by which over 100 countries are affected, including India. About WHO (Worlf Health Organization) Founded: 7 April 1948 Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Director-general:Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Govt. extends PMAY-Urban scheme The Union Cabinet approved an extension to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban up to December 31, 2024 so that the houses sanctioned under the scheme can be completed. While the initial demand for houses was 112 crore, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has so far sanctioned 122.69 crore houses, of which 102.59 crore have been grounded and 61.77 crore have been delivered. Learn Along: PMAY-Urban Scheme(Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban)- It is a welfare scheme launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on 25 June,2015. The main objective of this scheme is to provide central assistance to implementing agencies through States and UTs for providing houses to all eligible families / beneficiaries. Grameen Udyami Project launched in Ranchi National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with Seva Bharti and Yuva Vikas Society, launched the second phase of Grameen Udyami Project to augment skill training in tribal communities for their inclusive and sustainable growth. Under the initiative, the endeavour is to multiskill India’s youth and impart functional skills to them for enabling livelihoods. Learn Along: About Jharkhand 71 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Capital: Ranchi Chief minister: Hemant Soren Gavernor: Shri Ramesh Bais EAM Jaishankar unveils bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Paraguay External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Paraguay and visited the historic Casa de la Independencia from where the South American country’s Independence movement started more than two centuries ago. Learn Along: About Paraguay Capital: Asunción Currency: Paraguayan guaraní President: Mario Abdo Benítez India Nominates Garba To Be Inscribed On UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List After the inclusion of Durga Puja on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage representative last year, India has now nominated dance form Garba to be inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List for 2022. Learn Along: About UNESCO Founded: 16 November 1945 Headquarters: Paris, France Tripartite MoU signed for swift development of modern Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, and Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Gen (Retd) VK Singh witnessed signing of tripartite agreement for swift development of modern Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLP) under Bharatmala Pariyojna across the country. The objective is to centralize freight consolidation and reduce logistics cost from 14% to less than 10% of GDP at par with International Standards. Delhi plans to spend $600 mn to clean its polluted air Delhi plans to spend $600 million over three years to electrify most of its public transport to improve air quality in one of the world’s most-polluted cities. The state, which regularly tops global air pollution charts, is working on a strategy to make 80% of its buses electric by 2025, set up more charging stations, and switch one-fourth of its power supply to solar to tackle the problem. Learn Along: New Delhi Chief Minister: Arvind Kejriwal Lt. Governor: Vinai Kumar Saxena NMCG Signs Agreement For Development Of Sewage Treatment Plants For Agra worth nearly 583 Crores A tripartite Concession Agreement was signed between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and M/s Vishvaraj Environment Private Limited (VEPL) for development of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) for Agra under Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM). The contract has been awarded at the total cost of Rs. 582.84 crores. 72 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 In order to abate pollution in River Yamuna through basin-approach, NMCG approved the project for construction of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) of total capacity of 177.6 millions of liter per day (MLD), among other works such as developing Interception & Diversion (I&D) structures, I&D network laying, sewage pumping stations including Operation and Maintenance for 15 years etc. This project aims to take care of the existing sewerage problems in the Agra city which pollutes River Yamuna. Centre conducts door-to-door screening for TB in over 68,000 villages under Aashwasan campaign The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, under its Aashwasan Campaign screened over one crore persons in over 68,000 villages.The data indicates that the tribal communities are more vulnerable to respiratory diseases and TB, compared to other population groups. As a way forward, to mark 75 years’ of India’s Independence, 75 high-burden tribal districts have been selected for focused interventions in the coming months. Learn Along: Ministry of Tribal Affairs Union Minister: Arjun Munda Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Union Minister: Mansukh Mandaviya The Aashwasan Campaign started in January this year in Nandurbar District of Maharashtra for finding active case for Tuberculosis in 174 tribal districts of India, under the ambit of the Tribal TB Initiative. PM Modi inaugurates Smriti Van memorial for earthquake victims Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Smriti Van memorial, which celebrates the resilience shown by people during the devastating 2001 earthquake in the Kutch region of Gujarat. Smriti Van is a tribute to the lost lives and the remarkable fighting spirit of the people of Kutch. The memorial carries names of the people, who lost their lives during the earthquake. It also has a stateof-the-art Smriti Van Earthquake Museum. The museum showcases Gujarat’s topography, rebuilding initiatives and success stories after the 2001 earthquake, and informs about different kinds of disasters and future readiness for any type of disaster. Learn Along: About Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel Governor: Acharya Devvrat AirAsia India becomes the first airline in India to use the revolutionary AI-powered CAE Rise™ Training System AirAsia India and CAE have announced their collaboration to integrate the CAE Rise™ Training System into the airline’s simulator training program. AirAsia India is the first airline in India to adopt a data-driven training program using CAE Rise™. CAE Rise™ leverages analytics to deliver a higher quality of training, providing real-time data during training sessions while giving instructors insights that enable them to objectively assess a pilot’s technical competencies and performance. 73 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along: Bout CAE Rise™ Launched in 2018, the CAE Rise™ training system is a technological innovation that enables the translation of simulator training data into valuable insights for instructors and training managers. This new training system compares independent sources to provide increased confidence in grading data quality. In addition to monitoring SOP compliance, CAE Rise™ augments each instructor’s capability to identify pilot proficiency gaps and evolve training programs to the most advanced aviation safety standards including AQP, ATQP, and EBT methodologies. About Air Asia Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, AirAsia (India) Private Limited is a joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and AirAsia Aviation Group Limited. AirAsia India commenced operations on 12th June 2014 and flies over 50 direct and 100 connecting routes across India. INTERNATIONAL Rare pink diamond, likely the largest in 300 years, discovered in Angola A rare 170-carat pink rough diamond, ‘The Lulo Rose’,weighing 34 grams, has been discovered at Lucapa’s Lulo Mine in Angola. It is the largest pink diamond discovered in the last 300 years. The pink diamond is the fifth largest diamond and is the 27th 100+ carat diamond extracted to date in the Lulo Mining project. Learn Along: The largest known pink diamond is the Daria-i-Noor, discovered in India, and weighs an estimated 182 carats. Pink diamonds are extremely rare and the same physical attributes that make the stones scarce also make them very tough and not easy to work into shapes. About Angola: Capital: Luanda Currency: Angolan kwanza President: João Lourenço Khulna-Mongla railway line to open by December Khulna-Mongla railway line in Bangladesh will become operational by the end of this year. The Mongla-Khulna railway line is funded by the government of India Line of Credit (LOC). The project is scheduled to be over by the end of this year. The Khulna-Mongla railway project is part of the first Line of Credit extended by India to Bangladesh in 2010. The construction work of the Padma Bridge Railway project from Dhaka to Bhanga will be complete by June 2023 after which the Kushtia-Khulna railway communication will commence. Learn Along: About Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka Currency: Bangladeshi taka Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina Fuel crisis prompts Bangladesh to cut govt office hours to save energy Bangladeshi government offices cut back office hours by one hour per day in a bid to save energy. 74 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Council also requested that schools and universities introduce two weekend days instead of one. US Navy Ship docks in India for first time for repairs and maintenance US Navy Ship has docked in India for the first time for repairs and maintenance. US naval ship Charles Drew arrived at L&T’s Katupalli Shipyard at Ennore, near Chennai for undertaking repairs and maintenance. The USNS Charles Drew will be at Kattupalli shipyard for 11 days and undergo repairs in various areas. Learn Along: About USA Capital: Washington, D.C. Currency: United States Dollar President: Joe Biden Indiana becomes first U.S. state to approve abortion ban Indiana became the first state in the United States to approve abortion restrictions since the U.S. lawmakers approved it. The ban, which takes effect on September 12, includes some exceptions. US, South Korea's Joint Military Drills South Korea and the United States began their annual joint military drills with a resumption of field training. The summer time exercises, renamed Ulchi Freedom Shield this year and scheduled to end on Sept 1. The United States, South Korea and Japan participated in a recent ballistic missile defence exercise off Hawaii's coast, the first such drills since 2017. Learn Along: About United States Capital: Washington, D.C. Currency: United States Dollar About South Korea Capital: Seoul Currency: South Korean won President: Joe Biden President: Yoon Suk-yeol U.S. to donate $3 billion in aid to Ukraine U.S. President Joe Biden announced nearly $3 billion in military aid to Kyiv— the biggest U.S. package so far — to mark Ukraine’s Independence day, six months after Russia invaded the country. The new funds will be for air defence systems, artillery and the much-in-demand ammunition for those systems, as well as radars and systems to counter Russian drones. Learn Along: About Ukraine Founded: 24 August 1991 Capital: Kyiv President: Volodymyr Zelenskyy India hands over 21,000 tonnes of fertilizer to Sri Lanka 75 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Indian High Commissioner formally handed over 21,000 tonnes of fertilizer supplied under India’s special support to the people of Sri Lanka. This follows 44,000 tonnes supplied last month under Indian support totalling about USD 4 billion in 2022. The fertilizer will contribute to food security and support the farmers of Sri Lanka. Learn Along: Since the beginning of 2022, Sri Lanka has experienced an escalating economic crisis and the government has defaulted on its foreign loans. The United Nations warned that 5.7 million people “require immediate humanitarian assistance. About Sri Lanka Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Prime minister: Dinesh Gunawardena Currency: Sri Lankan rupee President: Ranil Wickremesinghe India Bags 3 Gold, 2 Silver Medals At 15th International Olympiad On Astronomy, Astrophysics The 15th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) 2022 was held in Georgia, from August 14 to 21, 2022. The IOAA aims to promote the growing interest of students in Astronomy and related STEM subjects. The Indian contingent bagged three gold medals and two silver medals. Contestant Medal Raghav Goyal Gold Md Sahil Akhtar Gold Mehul Borad Gold Malay Kedia Silver Atharva Nilesh Mahajan Silver Saudi Arabia To Invest $1 Billion In Cash-Strapped Pakistan Saudi Arabia has announced a $1 billion investment in cash-strapped Pakistan which is currently in a state of both economic and political upheaval. Pakistan will get USD 2 billion from Qatar, USD 1 billion from Saudi Arabia under the umbrella of deferred oil facility and USD 1 billion investments from the UAE in various sectors. Learn Along: About Saudi Arabia Capital: Riyadh King: Salman of Saudi Arabia Currency: Saudi Riyal South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate – again 76 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 South Korea has broken its own record for the world's lowest fertility rate, as the country struggles to reverse its years-long trend of declining births. The country's fertility rate, which indicates the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime, sunk to 0.81 in 2021 -- 0.03% lower than the previous year. The 2021 fertility rate was 1.6 in the United States and 1.3 in Japan, which also saw its lowest rate on record last year. As of last November, 16.8% of South Koreans were over 65 years old, while just 11.8% were age 14 or under. Learn Along: About South Korea Capital: Seoul Currency: South Korean won President: Yoon Suk-yeol India hands over USD 1 million to BIMSTEC Secretariat’s operational budget Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs and Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh ceremonially handed over a cheque of USD 1 million for the BIMSTEC Secretariat’s operational budget. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Secretary General Tenzin Lekphell also held discussions on rapidly taking forward cooperation in specific areas led by India including counter-terrorism, disaster management, maritime cooperation and energy security. Learn Along: BIMSTEC comprises of 7 member states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand) which are littoral to, or dependent upon the Bay of Bengal. During the last BIMSTEC Summit hosted by Sri Lanka, Leaders adopted and signed the BIMSTEC Charter completing its evolution into a full-fledged regional organization with a distinct international legal personality. Founded: 6 June 1997 Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh STATES Chhattisgarh to flag off ‘Mahtari Nyay Rath’ The Chhattisgarh Women Commission is goint to organise ‘Mukhyamantri Mahtari Nyay Rath Yatra’ to make the women of the state aware of their constitutional rights and laws. The chariots will travel in all the districts and make people aware about the legal provisions of women and their constitutional rights, through short films, messages and brochures. With the aim of spreading legal awareness among women, Mukhyamantri Mahtari Nyay Rath is being commenced on the occasion of Hareli Tihaar. Learn Along: About Chhattisgarh Capital: Raipur Governor: Anusuiya Uikey Chief minister: Bhupesh Baghel Bihar’s Langat Singh College astronomy lab included in the Unesco heritage list UNESCO has added a 106-year-old astronomical observatory at Langat Singh College in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on its list of important endangered heritage observatories of the world. 77 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along: The Astronomical observatory at Langat singh college was built in 1916 in the 123-year old college, now affiliated to Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University. About UNESCO(The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Founded: 16 November 1945 Headquarters: Paris, France About Bihar Capital: Patna Chief minister: Nitish Kumar Governor: Phagu Chauhan Haryana government developed the Cheerag programme for EWS Students Haryana government recently launched the “Chief Minister Equal Education Relief, Assistance and Grant (Cheerag)” scheme. Under the Cheerag scheme, government school students whose parents have an annual verified income of less than Rs 1.8 lakh can enroll in private schools from Class II to XII. The government will reimburse Rs 700 per student from Classes II to V, Rs 900 per student from Classes VI to VIII, and Rs 1,100 per student from Classes IX to XII. Learn Along: About Haryana Capital: Chandigarh Chief minister: Manohar Lal Khattar Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya Tamil Nadu notifies fifth elephant reserve in Agasthyamalai landscapeHCs Tamil Nadu got Agasthyamalai Elephant Reserve in Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli as its 5th Elephant reserve. The Periyar-Agasthyamalai landscape is estimated to have 1,800 Asian elephants (Census 2010). Learn Along: India has 31 elephant reserves. In the last three years, Dandeli Elephant Reserve has been notified by Karnataka, Singphan Elephant Reserve by Nagaland and Lemru Elephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh. About Tamil Nadu Nilgiris – Eastern Ghat, Nilambur Silent Valley Coimbatore Elephant Reserve, Periyar Elephant Reserve,Anamalai – Parambikulam Elephant Reserve are the rest four elephant reserves in Tamil Nadu. Capital: Chennai Chief minister: M. K. Stalin Governor: R. N. Ravi Telangana launches Nethanna Bima Scheme The Telangana government has tied up with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India for the ‘Nethanna Beema’ scheme to provide economic assurance to handloom and power loom weaver families. The scheme will provide Rs 5 lakh insurance cover to the families of weavers in case of the unfortunate demise of an eligible beneficiary. Learn Along: About Telangana 78 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Founded: 2 June 2014 Capital: Hyderabad Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan About LIC Founded: 1 September 1956 Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: M R Kumar Asia's largest compressed biogas plant launched in Sangrur Asia’s largest Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant has been commissioned in Sangrur district of Punjab. The plant has now started commercial production of CBG, which is being supplied to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) outlet. Learn Along: About Punjab Capital: Chandigarh Chief minister: Bhagwant Mann Governor: Banwarilal Purohit About IOCL Founded: 30 June 1959 Headquarters: New Delhi Chairperson: Shrikant Madhav Vaidya MP’s tribal-dominated Mandla has become fully functionally literate district Madhya Pradesh’s tribal-dominated Mandla region has become the first fully “functionally literate” district in the country. The literacy rate in the district was 68 per cent as per a survey in 2011, while another report in 2020 pointed out that over 2.25 lakh people were not literate in the district and most of them were tribals living in the forest areas. Learn Along: About Madhya Pradesh Capital: Bhopal Chief minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan Governor:Mangubhai C. Patel “Dahi-Handi” Recognised as an Official Sport of Maharashtra Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the popular entertainment event of “Dahi Handi” would be officially recognised under the state’s sports category. Maharashtra would introduce the discipline “Pro Dahi Handi” and “Govindas” who participated in the tournament would get jobs under the sport Maharashtras quota. Govenrment will provide an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh for the Govindas. Learn Along: About Maharshtra Capital: Mumbai Chief minister: Eknath Shinde Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari Jharkhand India's 1st state to Use Blockchain To Distribute Seed To Farmers The Directorate of Agriculture, Jharkhand, and global blockchain technology company, SettleMint, India jointly announced the successful launch of seed distribution to farmers based on blockchain technology. 79 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Jharkhand is 1st state to implement blockchain in the country which is being used to track seed distribution. Learn Along: The blockchain platform tracks seed supply distribution-from issuing of supply orders from the Directorate of Agriculture, placing of seed demand by District Agriculture Officer, tracking seed distribution from empanelled government seed producing agency to distributors, retailers, LAMPS/PACS, FPOs, and finally to the farmers. About Jharkhand Capital: Ranchi Chief minister: Hemant Soren Governor: Shri Ramesh Bais Govt awards GI tag to Mithila Makhana The government has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Bihar’s Mithila Makhana. Mithila Makhana registered with GI Tag, farmers will get profit and it will be easier to earn. Due to Geographical Indication Tag to Mithila Makhana in the festive season, people outside Bihar will be able to use this auspicious material with reverence. Learn Along: About Bihar Capital: Patna Chief minister: Nitish Kumar Governor: Phagu Chauhan India’s 1st Commercial Space Situational Awareness Observatory to be set up in Uttarakhand India’s first commercial space situational awareness observatory is to be set up in Uttarakhand. The observatory will be developed by Bengaluru-based start-up Digantara. The Space Situational Awareness Observatory will be used to monitor space activity which includes space debris that is floating in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) and the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Apart from this, it will also add to India’s capability to locate and track military satellites hovering over the region. Learn Along: About Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer) Governor: Gurmit Singh Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami UP drafts services export policy to attract investors & earn forex The Uttar Pradesh government is drafting its ‘services export’ policy to woo private investors and earn foreign exchange. The proposed policy will accord priority to key services sectors of medical value travel, tourism, IT/ITeS, logistics and education. These 12 sectors comprise IT/ITeS, tourism and hospitality, medical value travel, transport and logistics, accounting and finance, audio visual, legal, communication, construction, engineering, environmental, financial and education. The state was targetting to increase merchandise exports to almost Rs 3 trillion in the next three years. While services exports contribute a significant share in India’s exports, the global market size of services sector imports is estimated to be $6 trillion. 80 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along: About Uttar Pradesh Capital: Lucknow Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath Governor: Anandiben Patel India’s first Night Safari to come up in Kukrail Forest Area in Lucknow UP State Government has approved setting up India’s first night safari park at Kukrail Forest Area in Lucknow. The Zoological Park will be set up in an area of 150 acres while the Night Safari Park will be established in an area of 350 acres. The forest land which was currently not in use for any other project will be used to develop the zoological park and night safari without impacting the existing flora and fauna. The project is aimed at promoting eco-tourism in the state. The century-old Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden, which is popularly known as the Lucknow Zoo, will also likely to be shifted from its current location to the Kukrail Forest. Unlike the zoo, where animals are kept caged, these safaris would allow them to roam free as they do in the wild. Medanta launches ‘Adopt a District’ campaign to eradicate tuberculosis in Haryana In its attempt to galvanise corporates to contribute to the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) in Haryana, Medanta Hospital organised a multi-stakeholder event engaging corporates and government stakeholders and launched the “Adopt a District” campaign. The programme will strengthen and support the robust NTEP that works to detect TB in the unscreened population and establish linkages between identified patients, and the government healthcare and treatment services. Learn Along: Medanta Headquarters: Gurugram CMD: Dr. NareshTrehan The National Tuberculosis Elimination Program is the Public Health initiative of the Government of India that organizes its anti-Tuberculosis efforts. It functions as a flagship component of the National Health Mission and provides technical and managerial leadership to anti-tuberculosis activities in the country Kerala to introduce online monitoring of medicines through Drug Management System Kerala Government is planning to launch an online monitoring system for medicines for hospitals. The new Kerala Drug Management System has been conceptualized to ensure better distribution of medicines across state-run hospitals amid allegations of a shortage of medicines in the state. The new online monitoring system for medicines will help track the availability of key medicines at government-run health facilities and also aid in better distribution of drugs across the state. Learn Along: About Kerela Capital: Thiruvananthapuram Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan Haridwar declared India’s Best Aspirational District under NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme 81 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Haridwar has been declared as India’s Best Aspirational District by NITI Aayog. The honour of the Best Aspirational District to the Holy City of Haridwar was accorded under NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme. Along with the title of being India’s Best Aspirational District, the district will also receive an additional allocation of Rs 3 Crores. Learn Along: NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme-Launched in 2018, NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme is aimed at identifying potential districts that can develop into model bblocks through socio-economic development. Under the program, the central government takes steps to improve the socio-economic condition of identified districts and ensure inclusive and holistic development. The program enables the local administration to leverage technology and innovation for better governance and service delivery. During its launch, a total of 117 Districts were identified to be a part of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP). Odisha launches "Startup Odisha Yatra 2.0" To Promote Youth Entrepreneurship Odisha launched Startup Odisha Yatra 2.0 a flagship initiative of Startup Odisha. It aims at scouting grassroots innovators, women entrepreneurs, and promoting entrepreneurship among the youth.The Yatra will cover over 100 educational institutions in 30 districts over a period of 60 days. Learn Along: About Odisha Capital: Bhubneshwar Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik Governor: Ganeshi Lal Odisha earmarked around Rs 600 crore to set up new industrial parks Odisha has announced investment of up to Rs 600 crore to set up 23 new industrial parks in the state by the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). The state government has renewed its focus on development of ancillary industries to upgrade and accelerate economic development and create employment. Maharashtra to get its first “Divyang Park’’ in Nagpur Ministry of social justice and empowerment, government of India organized A ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ for distribution of aids and assistive devices to Senior citizens under ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY Scheme) and to ‘Divyangjan’ under the ADIP Scheme by the department of SJ&E in association with ALIMCO, by Nagpur municipal corporation today in reshimbagh ground in Nagpur. It was announced in the event that the Ministry of SJ&E has provided all potential support to establish the primary “Divyang Park” of Maharashtra in Nagpur. “Divyang Park” will be having completely different facilities for Divyangjans like sensory garden, textile Pathway bit and smell garden, talent coaching facility, rehabilitation facility, Sports & pic etc. Learn Along: Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Union Minister: Virendra Kumar 82 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase / Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) is a scheme initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. This scheme has been launched to provide assistance to disabled persons in obtaining standard aids and appliances in order to enhance their economic conditions. Parley to invest 16,000 crore on plastic-free initiatives in Andhra Pradesh The Andhra Pradesh government entered into a memorandum of understanding with US-based environmental organisation Parley for the Oceans to make Andhra Pradesh plastic-free by 2027. As part of the MoU, Parley will set up its recycling Super Hub and Future Institute in the state, most likely in Visakhapatnam. The initiatives will attract 16,000 crore investment to AP besides providing employment to about 20,000 people. Learn Along: About Andhra Pradesh Capital: Amaravati Harichandan Founded: 1 November 1956 CM: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Governor: Biswabhusan About Parley Parley for the Oceans is a non-profit environmental organization that focuses on protection of the oceans. It was founded in 2012 by Cyrill Gutsch. World’s largest religious monument to be constructed in India An under-construction temple in West Bengal’s Mayapur, Bigger than the Taj Mahal and St Paul’s Cathedral in Vatican, will be the largest religious monument in the world. It is Set to be inaugurated in 2024. A project of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the Mayapur temple being built along the Ganga river aims to make the age-old Vedic culture and traditions accessible to all. Learn Along: About ISKCON Founded: 13 July 1966 Headquarters: Mayapur Founder: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada About West Bengal Capital: Kolkata Chief minister: Mamata Banerjee Governor: La Ganesan Chennai airport becomes fifth busiest in country Chennai airport has recently climbed one rank up to become the fifth busiest airport in the country after Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Till February 2014, Chennai airport held onto being the third busiest in the country and post March, Bengaluru airport overtook and continues to retain that position. 83 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Looking at the international passenger traffic data for July, Chennai airport stood third behind Delhi and Mumbai; it overtook Bengaluru and Hyderabad, recording 4.29 lakh passengers. Learn Along: About Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai Chief minister: M. K. Stalin Governor: R. N. Ravi Uttarakhand CM launches ‘CM Udyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana’ Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched “CM Udyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana’, in the program organized on the occasion of National Sports Day in the Police Line Maidan. Considering the shortage of sports trainers under the Sports Department, 08-08 departmental sports trainers will be appointed for each district. Chief Minister Sports Development Fund will be established to be given financial benefits to the students according to accelerated rules. Learn Along: About Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer) Governor: Gurmit Singh Chief minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami REPORTS AND INDEXES Cybercrime against women up 28% since 2019, Karnataka's share highest: NCRB According to the data released by National Crime Records Bureau, the number of cybercrime incidents in 2021 has gone up by 18.4 per cent since 2019, but the number of such cases against women has risen at a significantly steeper 28 per cent. The data showed that out of the 52,974 incidents reported in 2021, 10,730 — 20.2 per cent — were reported as cases of crime against women. The top five states accounted for 61 per cent share of cybercrimes against women. Karnataka had the highest share with 2,243 cases in 2021, followed by Maharashtra with 1,697, and Uttar Pradesh with 958 cases. In terms of overall cybercrime cases, Telangana accounted for the highest share, as cases increased 282 per cent from 2,691 in 2019 to 10,303 in 2021. The other four states with the highest number of cases were Uttar Pradesh (8,829), Karnataka (8,136), Maharashtra (5,562), and Assam (4,846). However the cybercrime cases declined in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Learn Along: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and Special and Local Laws. NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India Nature Index Rankings 2022 Recently the Nature Index rank survey was conducted on the basis of research articles published in chemistry, life sciences, earth & environment sciences, and physical sciences. 84 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The University of Hyderabad (UoH) ranked first among Indian Universities and 16th among all institutions in the academic sector in the Nature Index 2022 ranking. Rank (Overall) Indian Institutions Ranks Among Indian Institution 16 University of Hyderabad 1 23 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad 2 26 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Tirupati 3 54 Amity University 4 76 National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Hyderabad 5 82 International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad 6 92 Andhra University 7 108 Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada 8 122 Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (IIT) Tirupati 9 Learn Along: The Nature Index This index is a database of affiliations of author and relationships of institution. It records contributions to research articles, published across 82 high-quality natural science journals. These journals are selected by an independent group of researchers. This database is compiled by Nature Research. It provides real-time proxy of high-quality research output. It is updated monthly. ETFs accounted for a third of record FPI outflows in June,2022- NSDL India-dedicated funds saw outflows to the tune of $906 million in June, 2022. Meanwhile, funds investing in global emerging markets (GEM) and other funds (such as those investing in Asia exJapan, BRIC, and global markets) withdrew $997 million and $354 million, respectively. Total outflows from funds tracked by EPFR Global, a data provider, stood at $2.6 billion, accounting for a third of capital outflows from the domestic market in June,2022.According to depository firm NSDL, total foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows from the domestic market stood at a record $6.4 billion in June. Learn Along NSDL Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Padmaja Chunduru 85 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Credit growth to MSME sector expanded by Rs 52,800 crores in current fiscal: SBI Ecowrap report According to SBI Ecowrap Research report, credit growth to the MSME sector has expanded by Rs 52,800 crores as of mid-July in the current fiscal 2022-23 against a de-growth of Rs 61,000 crore in the similar period previous fiscal. Retail loans during the period expanded by Rs 1.34 lakh crores against a de-growth of Rs 26,500 crore last year. In FY23, credit growth has gained further progress over FY22 and has recorded a 3-year high growth of 14 percent (YoY) as of July 2022. The incremental growth (Year to date) in credit is Rs 3.8 lakh crore (3.3 percent) till July 2022. Learn Along SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara IT, BPM industry to add more 300,000 jobs by FY2023: TeamLease report According to the TeamLease Report, India’s information technology (IT) and business process management (BPM) workforce will grow by 7 percent in FY2023 as more than 300,000 jobs are created. According to the TeamLease Digital - Digital Employment Outlook Report, headcount will increase from 5.1 million to 5.45 million for the first half of 2023. Demand for digital skills will grow by 8.4percentt by the end of FY2022.Contractual staffing headcount is expected to grow 21 percent fueled by investments and companies installing new technologies. IT services companies, global capability centers (GCC), and product development companies are the top contract staffing consumers, contributing more than 70 percent to the ongoing trend. Private banks reported most data breaches in 2018-22: Government data According to the data provided by the government, private banks reported the most data breaches between June 2018 and March 2022 in attacks that stole business and personal information. All banks reported 248 data breaches in the four-year period. Of those attacks, 205 were in private banks and 41 in state-owned. The remaining two were at foreign banks.The data also showed that 0.93 million incidents of compromise of customer accounts were due to phishing, credential /one time password (OTP) compromise. The incidents and amount of loss incurred by customers were reported between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2022, involving an amount of Rs 1,435 crore.According to government data, fraud amounting to Rs 6,861 crore was reported by private and public sector banks in the first quarter of the current financial year. RBI's March 2022 financial inclusion index shows growth in all segment The FI index was conceptualized as a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators in August ,2021 . 86 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The FI-Index has been constructed without any base year and is published in July every year. The FIIndex comprises three broad parameters: access, with a weightage of 35 per cent; usage with 45 per cent weightage; and quality with 20 per cent weightage with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators.The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) financial inclusion (FI) index, has risen to 56.4 in March 2022, showing growth across all parameters. The index stood at 53.9 as of March 2021. 18.34 lakh MSMEs established in FY21-22 employ 1.16 crore people- Udyam Data According to the data provided by the Udyam Portal, Haryana has got the highest number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) registered during the financial year 2021-2022 recording a total of 66,767 enterprises. MSMEs that employed 3.36 lakh jobs. Of the 66,767 MSMEs registered in Haryana during the last fiscal, 66,442 are micro-enterprises, 318 are small enterprises and seven are medium enterprises. Punjab is next in line with 46,519 MSMEs, out of which 46,366 are micro-enterprises, 144 are small enterprises and nine are medium enterprises providing employment to 1.94 lakh people in the state. Likewise, in Himachal Pradesh, 12,460 MSMEs were established in FY21-22, out of which 12,394 are micro-enterprises, 63 are small enterprises and three are medium enterprises giving jobs to 62,069 people. Similarly, in the union territory of Chandigarh 2,657 MSMEs were established FY21-22 employing 12,042 jobs. Of the MSMEs registered 2,648 are micro-enterprises and nine are small enterprises. According to the portal, 18.34 lakh MSMEs were established in FY21-22 employing 1.16 crore people. Learn Along Udyam is an online system for registering micro, small and medium enterprises launched by the Union MSME Ministry on July 1, 2020. The government had also revised the definition of MSMEs from the same date. More than 88 lakh MSMEs have successfully registered themselves to date through the Udyam registration portal Fortune Global 500 List : LIC gained spot for the first time According to Fortune Global 500 list, following companies have gained spots in the top 500 Top companies- The list, topped by US retailer Walmart, has nine Indian companies -- five of them state-owned, and four from the private sector. Thus,Walmart landed at No. 1 for the ninth straight year, followed by Amazon, which reached its highest ranking ever. Chinese energy giants State Grid, China National Petroleum, and Sinopec rounded out the top five. Indian Companies ranking – o Reliance Industries jumped 51 places to 104 on the 2022 list. 87 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 o The nation's biggest life insurer LIC with revenue of USD 97.26 billion and a profit of USD 553.8 million, was ranked 98th on the just released Fortune 500 list. This is the first time that LIC has gained a spot in the Fortune Global 500 List. o Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rose 28 places to 142nd rank while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) climbed 16 places to 190. o The list had two Tata group firms -- Tata Motors at 370 and Tata Steel at 435th spot. o Rajesh Exports at 437th rank was the other private Indian company on the list. o State Bank of India (SBI) climbed 17 places to rank 236th and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd 19 places to 295. Learn Along The Fortune Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine. Literacy rate for STs improved from 47.1% in 2001 to 59% in 2011: Census According to Census 2011,the population of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the countryis 104.49 million. STs constitute 8.6 per cent of the country’s total population and 11.3 per cent of the total rural population.The population of ST males is 52.5 million and ST females 52 million. The decadal growth of ST population in 2011, compared with 2001, reveals that the ST female population growth rate (25 per cent) is higher than the ST male population growth rate (23 per cent).The sex ratio with reference to STs is 990 — this is higher than the national average of 943. Also, the ST sex ratio improved from 978 females per 1,000 males in 2001 to 990 in 2011. Goa, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh have shown a high ST sex ratio, while Jammu & Kashmir the lowest at 924 in 2011.According to the Census figures, the literacy rate for STs in India improved from 47.1 per cent in 2001 to 59 per cent in 2011. The literacy rate for the total population increased from 64.8 per cent in 2001 to 73 per cent in 2011. There is a gap of about 14 percentage points in the literacy rate of STs, compared to the all-India literacy rate.Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Kerala have shown a gap of more than 18 percentage points in literacy rate of STs, in comparison with the total population during 2011.However, all states registered a decline in literacy rate between 2001 and 2011. India's outbound tourism to surpass $42 billion by 2024- report by Nangia Andersen LLP & FICCI According to the report titled Outbound Travel and Tourism - An Opportunity Untapped' by Nangia Andersen LLP in association with FICCI – highlights that India will surpass USD 42 billion by 2024 and the government could bring about certain policy changes to boost this growing market. Europe sees 20 per cent of the travellers from India's outbound traffic. 10 per cent travel to Australia and New Zealand, while the rest of the traffic is towards South east Asia. In 2021, Indians spent approximately USD 12.6 billion in outbound trips, compared to USD 22.9 billion in 2019. Learn Along FICCI Headquarters: New Delhi President: Sanjiv Mehta 88 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 85 per cent of Indian children have experienced cyberbullying- McAfee Cyberbullying report According to the report published by McAfee Cyberbullying, around 85 per cent of Indian children have reported being cyberbullied as well as having cyberbullied someone else at rates well over twice the international average. The survey was conducted between June 15 to July 5,2022 covering 11,687 parents and their children across 10 countries. It also reported that Indian children claimed that they were more likely to be cyberbullied by strangers compared to other children around the world, at 70 per cent in India versus 45 per cent worldwide. Besides, 45 per cent of Indian children reported that they hide their cyberbullying experiences from parents, perhaps due to the relative absence of conversation. According to Indian parents, 42 per cent of children have been the target of racist cyberbullying, strikingly 14 per cent higher than the rest of the world at 28 per cent. Extreme forms of cyberbullying reported besides racism include trolling (36 per cent), personal attacks (29 per cent), sexual harassment (30 per cent), threat of personal harm (28 per cent) and doxing (23 per cent), all of these at almost double the global average. India also reported prominent acts of cyberbullying such as spreading false rumors at 39 per cent, being excluded from groups and conversations (35 per cent) and name calling (34 per cent). Indian fintech to have $1 tn in AUM, $200 bn revenue by 2030- Chiratae Ventures - Ernst & Young According to the report been published by Chiratae Ventures – Ernst & Young - $1trn India Fintech Opportunity , the Indian Fintech will grow tenfold to have $1 trn Assets Under Management and and $200 bn revenue by 2030. It reorted that the Indian digital lending marketwill grow to $515 bn from $476bn by 2030 itself due to the collaborative support of new fintech companies been emerged in India as well the government initiatives like Digital India, Smart City , UPI etc. Learn Along: Ernst & Young Headquarters: London,UK CEO: Carmine Di Sibio Assets under management (AUM) is the total market value of the investments that are held by the Mutual Fund. In simple terms, it is the money that the mutual fund is handling for their clients/investors. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India facilitating inter-bank transactions. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform. MSME credit demand up 1.6x from pre-pandemic levels: SIDBI - TransUnion CIBIL According to the MSME Pulse report published by SIDBI and credit bureau TransUnion CIBIL, the demand for MSME loans, which is measured as the number of commercial credit enquiries, as of Q4 FY22 has grown 1.6 times the pre-pandemic levels (Q4 FY20) due to broader economic activity after the second wave of pandemic and extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) scheme.MSME segment’s credit exposure grew to Rs 23.12 lakh crores during Q4 FY22, 89 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 up from Rs 21.8 lakh crore in Q4 FY21 and Rs 20.2 lakh crore in Q4 FY20 with outstanding balance been increased on the lenders’ side. For public sector banks, the outstanding balance jumped 6 per cent to Rs 9 lakh crore as of March 2022, while for private banks, it increased 13 per cent to Rs 9.4 lakh crore. For non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the outstanding balance increased 7 per cent to Rs 2.7 lakh crore.In terms of disbursement, the credit disbursed by lenders to MSMEs increased by around 43 per cent in Q4 FY22 from the year-ago period. Learn Along: TransUnion CIBIL Headquarters: Mumbai CEO: Rajesh Kumar 7.3% of Indians owned digital currency in 2021; 7th highest in the world: UN According to the UN, over seven percent of India's population owns digital currency and reported that the use of cryptocurrency rose mainly during the pandemic. The UN trade and development body UNCTAD reported that in 2021, developing countries accounted for 15 of the top 20 economies in terms of the population that owns cryptocurrencies. In India, 7.3 per cent of the population owned digital currency in 2021 and is ranked seventh in the list of top 20 global economies for digital currency ownership as share of the population.Countries that were on the top of the list include - Ukraine topped the list with 12.7 percent, followed by Russia (11.9 pecent), Venezuela (10.3 percent), Singapore (9.4 percent), Kenya (8.5 percent and the US (8.3 percent). Learn Along: United Nations UNCTAD Headquarters: New York, USA Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Secretary General: Antonio Guterres Secretary-General: Rebeca Grynspan Recovery in youth employment continues to lag worldwide: ILO report According to the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)- the unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds stands at 15.6 per cent worldwide, which is three times more than the adult unemployment rate. The number of unemployed young people worldwide fell from 75 million in 2021 to 73 million in 2022 – which is still six million more than the pre-pandemic levels. The increased labour market challenges faced by the young are further amplified by the share of the youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) rose to 23.3 per cent – an increase of 1.5 percentage point from 2019.The education being mostly online or distance, and falling family incomes during the pandemic, led to youth giving up on their education and training as well, thus making it difficult for them to search for new jobs with employers hesitant to invest in the relatively young and inexperienced workforce. Learn Along: ILO Headquarters: Geneva (Switzerland) Director-General: Gilbert Houngbo Govt health centres face shortage of doctors- Rural Health Statistics 2021 90 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 According to the Rural Health Statistics published by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare- that across rural and urban areas, there is a 7 per cent shortfall of doctors at primary health centres (PHCs) and a 57 per cent dearth of doctors at community health centres (CHCs). Almost two-thirds of the country’s population resides in rural areas and yet only 33 per cent of the total health workers and 27 per cent doctors are available. Even though the number of health centres has increased in rural areas, the shortage of doctors in CHCs has risen from 45 per cent in 2005 to 80 per cent in 2021, and has remained constant in PHCs at 4.3 per cent. In urban areas, the undersupply at PHCs is 9.8 per cent and at CHCs 34 per cent. India home to 18 of 20 cities with severe rise in PM2.5 – Health Effects Institute The report published by US based Health Effects Institute summarizes data on air pollution exposures and associated health impacts in 7,239 cities (with minimum population of 50,000) from 2010 to 2019. It combines ground-based air quality data with satellites and models to produce air quality estimates for cities around the world. The findings of the report show that Delhi and Kolkata reported 106 and 99 deaths per 1 lakh population in 2019 which could be attributed to PM2.5 pollution.In 2019, Delhi recorded an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 110 micrograms per cubic metre, the highest among the most populous cities in the world, followed by Kolkata (84 micrograms per cubic metre), according to the report Air Quality and Health in Cities by the State of Global Air Initiative, a collaboration between the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's Global Burden of Disease project. Beijing in China had the highest PM2.5-attributable death rate of 124 in 2019. Delhi and Kolkata ranked sixth and eighth, respectively. The report concluded that the burden on the health of PM2.5 has grown rapidly in cities in Southeast Asia.However no Indian city appeared in the list of top 10 – or even top 20 - polluted cities when N0 2 levels were compared. Learn Along: PM2.5 refers to fine particles (measuring 2.5 µm or less in diameter) that penetrate deep into the body and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, leading to the risk of having cardiovascular and respiratory problems, including a weak immune system. Factory count rose to 2.46 L, with 1.3 cr workers in FY20 – Annual Survey of Industries According to the Annual Survey Industries released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), The number of factories in the country increased by 1.7 percent year-onyear to 2.46 lakh in FY20, employing a total of 1.3 crore workers. In comparison, the number of factories stood at 2.42 lakh in 2018-19 and 2.37 lakh seen in the post-demonetization year of 201718. The employment in the corporate sector, including public and private government and nongovernment companies, rose 5.5 percent to 97 lakh in FY20, while that in individual proprietorship 91 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 declined 3.1 percent to 11.36 lakh. Employment in the partnership sector fell by 11.7 percent to 18.58 lakh in 2019-20, while that in the limited liability partnership grew 42 percent to 1.22 lakh. Among states, Tamil Nadu showed the highest number of employment of workers in factories at 22.09 lakh in 2019-20, followed by Gujarat with 15.89 lakh workers and Maharashtra with 14.54 lakh workers. Learn Along: Ministry of Statisitcs & Programme Implementation Union Minister: Rao Inderjit Singh RBI report projects retail inflation within tolerance band by Q1FY24 – RBI’s State of the Economy Report According to RBI’s State of the Economy Report, easing of supply chain pressures and reduction in commodity prices has contributed to decrease in inflation.The fall in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation to 6.7 percent in July from 7 percent in June 2022 came out to be a development for relief and retail inflation may ease to 5 percent by the first quarter of the next financial year before hitting the target of 4 percent as per the RBI report. Private capex announcements rose in 2021-22 – RBI According to RBI monthly bulletin, announcements of new investment projects, by the private corporate sector, increased significantly during 2021-22, with the total cost of projects increasing by about 90% over 2020-21, yet staying below the pre-pandemic levels. Overall, the investment plans of 791 projects were made during 2021-22 aggregating to Rs 1,94 lakh crore as against 576 projects in 2020-21 with investment intentions of Rs 1,16 lakh crore. State-wise data reveals that during 2021-22, more than half (56.4%) of the projects were taken up in five states — Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.The total cost of infrastructure projects increased from Rs 56,103 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 81,221 crore in 2021-22. Indians remitted $6 bn in Q1FY23 under LRS scheme - RBI data According to the data released by RBI, outward remittances under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) liberalized remittance scheme (LRS) made a strong comeback in the first quarter of FY23 as Indians increased spending on international travel, maintenance of close relatives, and gifts. The data for Q1FY23 shows that remittance by Indians under the scheme jumped 64.75 percent to over $6.04 billion from $3.67 billion in Q1FY22. The amount remitted in Q1FY23 is even higher than that in Q4FY22, where outward remittance under LRS was $5.8 billion. International travel contributed $2.92 billion of the $6.04 billion remitted under LRS in Q1FY23, thus constituting almost 48 percent of the money remitted under the LRS scheme and the largest contribution too. Maintenance of close relatives formed the second largest segment after international travel, with Indian remitting just over $1 billion in Q1FY23. Money remitted under the category “gift” constituted the third largest segment, with India remitting around $770.66 million in Q1.Overseas 92 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 education constituted the fourth largest segment, with $738.42 million remitted in the April – June quarter. Learn Along: Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of RBI , all resident individuals, including minors, are allowed to freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March) for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both. 80% SMEs expect jump in order books in Q3 as demand revives: ASSOCHAM & D&B According to Small Business Confidence Index survey released by industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and analytics company D&B-the business confidence of SMEs in India has improved with 80 per cent of enterprises expecting an increase in their domestic order books in the third quarter of 2022 with pick-up in demand, up 5 percentage points from the second quarter, resulting in the growth of sales revenue The index, which measures the level of optimism among SMEs on key business parameters, reported that small businesses with improved confidence are looking to enhance their capacity utilisation to 60 per cent in the third quarter & 55 per cent in the second quarter. However, SMEs’ optimism pertaining to new investments was largely intact with 75 per cent of respondents in the survey expecting a jump in their fixed capital investment in comparison to 77 per cent in Q2. Learn Along: ASSOCHAM Headquarters: New Delhi President : Vineet Agarwal Banks say NPAs may rise in MSME sector in next 6 months- FICCI-IBA survey According to a survey provided by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the Indian Banks’ Association- The pressure on the asset quality of loans to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is set to increase, leading to a rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) in this segment in the next six months. A total of 25 banks, including the public, private sector, and foreign ones participated in the survey. These banks together represent about 76 percent of the banking industry, as classified by asset size. The survey through these respondents has identified some of the high NPA risk sectors including aviation, tourism and hospitality, power, and retail trade. Sixty-five percent of the respondent banks expect NPAs in the MSME sector to increase in the next six months. More than half of the respondents expect the gross NPA levels to be below eight percent by the end of December 2022. About 33 percent of the respondents felt that gross NPA levels would be in the 8-9 percent range. The reason identified by ICRA behind the rising NPAs in the MSME sector in the future is the rising interest rates and input cost inflation could impact the debt-servicing ability of borrowers in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). Those borrowers in the longer-tenor loan segments could see an increase in their equated monthly installments (EMIs) as the repo rate goes up further. This could also affect the debt servicing ability of retail/MSME borrowers. 93 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along: FICCI Headquarters: New Delhi President: Sanjiv Mehta IBA Headquarters: Mumbai Chairman: Atul Kumar Goel A non performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days. Banks are required to classify NPAs further into Substandard, Doubtful and Loss assets. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi top tech hubs in Asia Pacific after Beijing- Cushman & Wakefield In the report Tech Cities: The Global Intersection of Talent and Real Estate published by Cuhsman & Wakefield, tech markets were identified based on business environment metrics. 14 criterias across talent, real estate, and The report has identified Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi as the top technology hubs in the APAC region after Beijing. Bengaluru leads India with 2,30,813 tech job creation during the last fiscal, followed by Chennai with 1,12,781, Hyderabad with 1,03,032 and Delhi with 89,996 jobs. ECLGS helped MSMEs start new trades as well apart from reviving, and scaling businessTransUnion CIBIL According to the ECLGS Insights report published by the Transunion CIBIL, the average number of new trades opened per MSME borrower went up by 15 percent compared to only 6 percent for the eligible borrowers who didn’t avail of the credit scheme. Among the top beneficiaries, ECLGS helped revive contact-intensive sectors such as mobility and consumption-dependent sectors like services, traders, and construction, along with laborintensive industries like textile and food processing. Traders had the highest share of 20.9 percent in the disbursement amount followed by services businesses (19.2 percent), textiles (8 percent), food processing (5.7 percent), construction (4.1 percent), etc.Sectors with the lowest disbursement share were auto components, hospitality, paper and paper products, infrastructure, gems and jewellery, etc. In terms of asset quality, ECLGS was also able to help borrowers manage their asset credit better in comparison to those who were eligible for the credit scheme but didn’t avail it. The NPA rate for MSMEs availing of ECLGS was 4.8 percent, lower than 6.1 percent for MSMEs who were eligible but did not opt for it. On the supply side, public sector banks processed the highest number of applications with 50 per cent share followed by 23 per cent share each for private banks and NBFCs. Small finance banks and regional rural banks, etc., had a combined share of 4 per cent in applications processed. In terms of borrower type, 83 per cent who availed ECLGS up to March 2022 were micro enterprises while small businesses and large enterprises were 15 per cent and 2 per cent respectively of the total count. Cybercrime against women up 28% since 2019, Karnataka's share highest: NCRB 94 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 According to the data released by National Crime Records Bureau, the number of cybercrime incidents in 2021 has gone up by 18.4 per cent since 2019, but the number of such cases against women has risen at a significantly steeper 28 per cent. The data showed that out of the 52,974 incidents reported in 2021, 10,730 — 20.2 per cent — were reported as cases of crime against women. The top five states accounted for 61 per cent share of cybercrimes against women. Karnataka had the highest share with 2,243 cases in 2021, followed by Maharashtra with 1,697, and Uttar Pradesh with 958 cases. In terms of overall cybercrime cases, Telangana accounted for the highest share, as cases increased 282 per cent from 2,691 in 2019 to 10,303 in 2021. The other four states with the highest number of cases were Uttar Pradesh (8,829), Karnataka (8,136), Maharashtra (5,562), and Assam (4,846). However the cybercrime cases declined in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Learn Along: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and Special and Local Laws. NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India Gautam Adani becomes 3rd Richest Person in the World, 1st Indian and Asian to Achieve the Feat According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ,Adani Group chairPerson Gautam Adani, as his overall net worth grew to USD 137.4 billion, has become the 3rd Richest Person in the World after surpassing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and LVMH co-founder Bernard Arnault. He is the 1st Indian and 1st Asian to achieve this distinction. The distinction of becoming the Third Richest Person in the World comes Adani now trails behind Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking. Rank Name Net Worth Country Business 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Elon Musk Jeff Bezos Gautam Adani Bernard Arnault Bill Gates Warren Buffett Larry Page Sergey Brin 251B 153B 137B 136B 117B 100B 100B 95.8B United States United States India France United States United States United States United States Technology Technology Industrial Consumer Technology Diversified Technology Technology 9 Steve Ballmer 93.7B United States Technology 10 Larry Ellison 93.3B United States Technology 11 Mukesh Ambani 91.9B India Energy 12 Carlos Slim 71.1B Mexico Diversified 13 Zhong Shanshan 70.8B China Diversified 95 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 14 15 Francoise Bettencourt Meyers Charles Koch 69.3B France Consumer 67.7B United States Industrial Learn Along: Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people. The agency maintains the net worth of the richest people in the world with detailed calculations and net worth analysis. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IIT Madras launches ‘Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat’ to promote Indian language technology The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras launched the ‘Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat’ to promote the state of Indian language technology with the intention to create a societal impact. This Centre is being supported by Rohini and Nandan Nilekani with a grant of Rs 36 crore through Nilekani Philanthropies. The AI4Bharat was set-up as an initiative of IIT Madras to build open-source language AI for Indian languages. AzaadiSAT: ISRO to launch a satellite built by 750 school girls on 7th August ISRO will be launching a unique Satellite called AzaadiSAT on 7th August 2022. AzaadiSAT is a microsatellite which has been designed, developed and built by 750 girl students from 75 schools across India. The 8 Kg Satellite will be launched into space using the newly developed latest Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. Along with AzaadiSAT, the SSLV D1 will also carry a 135 kg India’s experimental Earth Observation Satellites – EOS-02 as payload. Learn Along: About ISRO(The Indian Space Research Organisation) Founded: 15 August 1969 Headquarters: Bengaluru Founder: Vikram Sarabhai SPARK: New Virtual Space Museum Launched By ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation has come up with an innovative idea of showcasing digital content regarding various ISRO missions in an interactive manner. The virtual space museum 'SPARK' was launched by ISRO Chairman S Somanath for public use. The platform hosts several documents, images & videos related to ISRO launch vehicles, satellites and scientific missions. China: Launch of Reusable Spacecraft 96 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 On August 4, 2022, China launched a reusable experimental spacecraft into orbit from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, on Long March 2F rocket. Spacecraft will be placed into low Earth orbit. Learn Along: Earlier, China had carried the orbital test of a reusable experimental spacecraft in September 2020. About China Capital: Beijing Currency: Renminbi President: Xi Jinping Russia launches Iranian satellite into space from Kazakhstan base A high-resolution Iranian-owned satellite Khayyam satellite has been launched into space from a base in Kazakhstan on board a Russian rocket. The Khayyam – named after 11th-century Persian polymath Omar Khayyam –was commissioned by Iran and built by Russia, can hit a much more precise resolution of 1 metre (3.3 feet) and is to operate at the 500km orbit while weighing about 600kg (1,322 pounds). Learn Along: About Iran Capital: Tehran About Russia Capital: Moscow Currency: Iranian rial Currency: Russian ruble President: Ebrahim Raisi President: Vladimir Putin India’s first Saline Water Lantern Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has launched India’s first Saline Water Lantern “Roshni” which uses the sea water as the electrolyte between specially designed electrodes to power the LED lamps. It is aimed at achieving energy security, energy access and reducing the carbon footprints of the national economy. Saline Water Lantern will also boost and supplement UJALA scheme. Learn Along: About UJALA Scheme Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) was a project to distribute efficient LED lighting, launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 5 Jan 2015. The project is spearheaded by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited. In non-subsidized LED lamp distribution projects, this program is considered the world's largest. In May 2017, the Government of India announced that they were expanding the LED distribution project to the United Kingdom. U.K. authorises Moderna’s Omicron-specific booster British health authorities authorised the use of Moderna’s Omicron variant-specific COVID-19 vaccine booster for adults, the first country to do so. 97 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted conditional approval to Moderna’s bivalent vaccine, Spikevax, which combines mRNA sequences that code for the SARSCoV-2 spike protein from both the original and the Omicron BA.1 variant. Learn Along: About UK Capital: London Currency: Pound sterling Prime minister: Boris Johnson Arunachal gets drone-based healthcare services The government of Arunachal Pradesh has decided to conduct 'Medicine from the Sky' -a pilot project of using drones in healthcare, agriculture and disaster management in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF). The pilot project has been funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and executed by Bengaluru-based startup Redwing Labs. Learn Along: About World Economic Forum Founded: January 1971 Founder: Klaus Schwab Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland Chairperson: Børge Brende About USAID The United States Agency for International Development is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance . Founded: 3 November 1961 Founder: John F. Kennedy Headquarters: Washington, D.C.,US. About Arunachal Pradesh Capital: Itanagar Chief minister: Pema Khandu Governor:B. D. Mishra ‘Tomato flu’ detected among children in India, says Lancet A new infection tomato flu, or tomato fever, has been detected in India mostly among children younger than five, according to a report in the Lancet Respiratory Journal. The “non-life-threatening” virus was first identified in Kollam district of Kerala on May 6. Learn Along: About Tomato Flu Similar to other types of influenza, tomato flu is very contagious and children are at an increased risk of exposure as viral infections are common in this age group and the spread is likely to be through close contact. “The ‘tomato flu’ is caused by Coxsackie virus A 16. It belongs to Enterovirus family. India’s 1st Indigenously Developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Unveiled 98 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 India’s 1st Indigenously Developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus was unveiled in Pune recently by MoS Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh on 21st August 2022. The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus has been developed by KPIT-CSIR in Pune. The Indigenously Developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus has been developed as part of National Green Hydrogen Mission and Atmanirbhar Bharat mission. Learn Along: About National Hydrozen Misson In his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2021, Hon'ble Prime Minister announced the launch of National Hydrogen Mission. The draft Mission proposes a framework inter-alia for a phased implementation approach, demand creation, a basket of measures to support production and utilization of Green Hydrogen, support for indigenous manufacturing, Research & Development, pilot projects, enabling policies and regulations, and infrastructure development. Both private companies and Public Private Partnership entities are expected to be facilitated by the measures proposed in the draft Mission. New species of long-fingered bat discovered in India, Sri Lanka An international team of researchers has found a new species of long-fingered bats in India and Sri Lanka. Tharaka Kusuminda of University of Rohana, Sri Lanka led the team and named the new species of long-fingered bats as Miniopterus phillipsi. The name of the species was attributed to W W A Philips (1892-1981), a noted zoologist, in recognition of his contributions to studies on the mammals of Sri Lanka and South Asia. The long-fingered bats belong to the family Miniopterus and are a part of a large group comprising at least 40 species worldwide. Synthetic’ embryo with brain and beating heart grown from multiple stem cells Researchers have created model embryos from mouse stem cells that form a brain, a beating heart, and the foundations of all the other organs of the body a new avenue for recreating the first stages of life. To guide the development of their synthetic embryo, the researchers put together cultured stem cells representing each of the three types of tissue in the right proportions and environment to promote their growth and communication with each other, eventually self-assembling into an embryo. The researchers found that the extraembryonic cells signal to embryonic cells by chemical signals but also mechanistically, or through touch, guiding the embryo’s development. Mark Zuckerberg announces launch of new VR headsets in October Mark Zuckerberg has announced Meta’s new VR headset (cost around UDS 1,000) that will be out this October. VR headsets will give one the ability to “have kind of eye contact in virtual reality”. Learn Along: 99 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 About Meta Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, among other products and services. Founded: February 2004 Headquarters: California, United States CEO: Mark Zuckerberg DEFENCE Joint Exercise “EX VINBAX 2022” The 3rd Edition of Vietnam India Bilateral Army Exercise “Ex VINBAX 2022” is scheduled to be conducted at Chandimandir from 01 to 20 Aug 2022 which will provide an opportunity to the troops of India and vietnam to learn about the social and cultural heritage of each other. The theme of Ex VINBAX – 2022 is employment and deployment of an Engineer Company. Indian Army is being represented by troops from the 105 Engineer Regiment. INDIAN ARMY LAUNCHES “HIM- DRONE-A-THON” The Indian Army in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India has launched the ‘Him Dronea-thon’ programme on 08 August 22. This initiative is aimed to catalyse and provide focused opportunities to the Indian drone ecosystem to develop path-breaking drone capabilities for meeting requirements of frontline troops. The ‘Him Drone-a-thon’ programme is pan India sustained connect between all stake holders including industry, academia, software developers and drone product manufacturers. Learn Along: About Indian Army Founded: 26 January 1950 (as current service) ,1 April 1895 (as British Indian Army) Chief: General Manoj Pande IAF to take part in ‘Pitch Black’ in Australia The Indian Air Force (IAF) will join 16 other nations, including Quad partners, later this month for Exercise Pitch Black, the biennial exercise hosted by the Australian Air Force. International participation in Ex Pitch Black, from within the Indo-Pacific region and further abroad, provides all nations’ personnel with experience in working with aircraft, systems and work practices, in northern Australia’s unique environment. The 2020 edition of the exercise was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn Along: About Indian Air Force Established:8 October 1932 Chief :Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari INDIAN AIR FORCE TO PARTICIPATE IN BILATERAL EXERCISE HOSTED BY MALAYSIA 100 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 A contingent of the Indian Air Force left for Malaysia to participate in a bilateral exercise named 'Udarashakti'. Indian Air Force is participating in the air exercise with Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft. The four days of exercise will witness conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces. Ex Udarashakti will fortify the long standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, thereby augmenting security in the region. Indian and French Navies Exercise in The Atlantic INS Tarkash, on its long range overseas deployment, conducted a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with French Naval Ships in the North Atlantic Ocean on 29 and 30 July 2022. Replenishment at sea was exercised between Tarkash and the French Fleet Tanker FNS Somme. Learn Along: About Indian Navy Founded: 26 January 1950 Chief: Admiral R. Hari Kumar Indian Navy's All Woman Aircrew Creates History On 03 August 2022, five officers of the Indian Navy's INAS 314 based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar, created history by completing the first all-women independent maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft. INAS 314 is a frontline Naval Air Squadron based at Porbandar, Gujarat and operates the state-ofthe art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. This first-of-its-kind military flying mission was unique and is expected to pave the way for women officers in the aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles. DRDO successfully test fires indigenously developed laser-guided ATGMs Indigenously developed Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) were successfully testfired from Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The all-indigenous Laser Guided ATGM employs a tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles. The ATGM has been developed with multi-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from 120 mm rifled gun of MBT Arjun. Learn Along: About DRDO(Defence Research and Development Organisation) Founded: 1958 Headquarters: New Delhi Chairman: G. Satheesh Reddy DRDO, Indian Navy test indigenous missile 101 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VLSRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. The VL-SRSAM, a ship-borne weapon system, is meant for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges, including sea-skimming targets. DRDO Successfully Test-fires Pinaka Extended Range Rocket In Pokharan Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out the Pinaka extended range rocket trials at the Pokharan firing ranges in Rajasthan. The Pinaka rocket has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). However, they are produced by private sector firm. The Pinaka is an Artillery Missile System capable of striking into enemy territory up to a range of 75 kilometers with high precision. 12th DefExpo to be held in Gandhinagar The 12th edition of DefExpo - India’s flagship exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems - will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat between October 18-22, 2022. The five-day event will witness three business days followed by two public days. Live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill set of the Armed Forces, DPSUs and Industry will be held on all five days at Sabarmati River Front through active participation and synchronized efforts at all levels. Learn Along: About Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar Governor: Acharya Devvrat Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel Centre extends GAGAN compliance for Boeing 787 planes till Dec 2025 The government has given time till the end of December 2025 for aircraft maker Boeing to ensure its 787 Dreamliners are compliant with the GAGAN navigation system as major design changes will be required. GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GAGAN has been jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Currently, Air India and Vistara operate the wide-body Boeing 787 planes. Air India has around 27 such aircraft while Vistara has so far taken delivery of two planes. India’s 1st Composite Indoor Shooting Range Inaugurated at INS Karna India’s 1st Composite Indoor Shooting Range has been inaugurated at INS Karna. The Shooting range has been equipped with advanced target systems with associated control software to help personnel improve their firing skills. INS Karna is the first in the Navy and the only military unit in the country to develop and operationalize an indoor shooting range. 102 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Learn Along: About INS Karna Indian Naval Ship (INS) Karna is a dedicated base for Indian Special Operations Forces, MARCOS or Marine Commandos. MACROs were raised in February 1987 as part of the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF). INS Karna is based at the Navy's Eastern Command, Vishakapatnam. On 12 July 2016, the naval base INS Karna was commissioned near Visakhapatnam as a permanent base for the unit. PM to commission 1st indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 September will commission Vikrant — India’s first indigenouslybuilt aircraft carrier – introducing the country into a select group of nations that can manufacture carriers with a displacement above 40,000 tonnes. The keel-laying of the Vikrant was done in 2009, the ship was first launched in August 2013, the sea trials began in August 2021, and the ship was delivered in July 2022. The Vikrant was designed by the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and built by the Cochin Shipyard. The Vikrant is equipped with 32 Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM),loaded with AK 630 rotary canons, which are close-in weapons systems and has the Kavach anti-missile naval decoy system, which is used to distract laser-guided missiles from their targets. INDO – US SPECIAL FORCES JOINT EXERCISE CULMINATES AT BAKLOH, HIMACHAL PRADESH The 13th Edition of India - USA Joint Special Forces Exercise VAJRA PRAHAR 2022 culminated at Bakloh (HP) on 28 August 2022. This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India and the United States. The 12th edition was conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord, Washington (USA) in October 2021. The exercise was conducted in two phases; the first phase involved combat conditioning and tactical level special missions training exercises and the second phase included 48 hours of validation of training received by both contingents in the first phase. IAF to induct first LCH squadron in October The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to formally raise its first unit of indigenous Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) in Jodhpur in the first week of October coinciding with Air Force Day on October 8. The IAF operates the older Russian Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, of which one squadron has been phased out following the induction of 22 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The existing Mi-35 squadron is in the process of being sent for overhaul which will extend its life by many years. Learn Along: The LCH is the first dedicated attack helicopter of the Army, which otherwise operates 75 Rudra helicopters, the weaponised variant of the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter. In March 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved procurement of 15 Limited Series Production (LSP) variants of the LCH at the cost of ₹3,887 crore along with infrastructure sanctions worth ₹377 crore. 103 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Of the 15 helicopters, 10 are for the IAF and five for the Army. The LCH is designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). EVENTS Shumang Leela, the traditional form of theatre celebrated in All Manipur Shumang Leela Festival 2021-2022 The 50th All Manipur Shumang Leela Festival 2021-2022 began at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen in Imphal. Shumang Leela is a traditional form of theatre in Manipur and the roles of female artists are all played by male actors and male characters are played by female artists in case of female theatre groups. Learn Along: About Manipur Capital: Imphal Chief minister: N. Biren Singh Governor: La. Ganesan World Breastfeeding Week 2022 World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year across the world from August 1 to August 7. It aims to promote breastfeeding and encourage women across the globe to breastfeed their children for a certain period, at least two years after birth. The Theme of world Breastfeeding Week 2022 campaign will be promoted with a #WBW2022. The main aim of the theme is to focus on strengthening the capacity of actors that have to protect, promote and support breastfeeding across different levels of society since they make up the warm chain of support for breastfeeding. Ministry of Culture organised “TirangaUtsav” The Ministry of Culture organized “TirangaUtsav” to celebrate the contributions of PingaliVenkayya to the nation on the occasion of his 146th Birth Anniversary in New Delhi on 2nd August. The commemorative Postal Stamp in the honor of Pingali Venkayya was released by Shri Amit Shah during the event. Learn Along: PingaliVenkayya, a freedom fighter and the designer of India’s National Flag was a follower of Gandhian principles, and it was upon the request of Mahatma Gandhi that he designed the Indian National Flag with saffron, white and green colors with chakra in the middle. ‘NASHE SE AZADI’ - National Youth and Students Interaction Program NashaMukt Bharat Abhiyaan(NMBA) is scheduled to organise ‘Nashe se Azadi’ - National Youth and Students Interaction Program on 4th August 2022 as part of AzadiKaAmritMahotsav. Learn Along: About NashaMukt Bharat Abhiyan 104 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Launched: 15th August 2020 Ministry: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment About The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Officeholders: A. Narayanaswamy (Minister of State), Ramdas Athawale (Minister of State), Virendra Kumar (Union Minister) 'Badhe Chalo’ Movement under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav begins Badhe Chalo’ Movement under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav has begun with an objective to instill a deeper sense of patriotism among the youth. 'Badhe Chalo' have begun at national level and these ten locations include Lal Chowk in Srinagar, Ashtley Hall in Dehra Dun, Akashdeep Market in Itanagar, Central Mall in Patna, Telibandha Talab in Raipur, CMR Mall in Vishakhapatnam, Gaurav Tower in Jaipur, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Alpha One Mall in Ahmedabad and Keshav Vatika in Kanpur. To connect and to bring the youth and people of the country at one platform, Badhe Chalo movement will feature Flash Dances across 75 cities, where dancers will perform on a specially created ‘Youth Anthem’. Learn Along: ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is an initiative of the Government to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. PM Modi Chairs NITI Aayog Governing Council Meeting The 7th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th August 2022. This was the first meeting of NITI Aayog council since July 2019, which was being held on-ground and in-person at Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre in New Delhi. At the meeting, PM Modi hailed the collaborative efforts put in by state and the central government to tide over the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a unique 3Ts formula to reduce imports and promote consumption of local products. The 3Ts formula proposed by PM Modi cover Trade, Tourism, Technology and is aimed at increasing consumption of locally produced goods while also reducing imports. Learn Along: Members of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council 1. Prime Minister of India 2. Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories with legislature 3. Ex-Officio Members 4. Lt Governors of Union Territories 5. Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog 6. Full-Time Members of NITI Aayog and 7. Special Invitees. About NITI Aayog Formed: 1 January 2015 Headquarters: New Delhi Chairperson: Narendra Modi 105 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Canada An Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be attending the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference scheduled to be held in Halifax, Canada from August 20-26. During the Conference, eight workshops will be held on various subjects. The Lok Sabha Speaker will participate as a panelist in the Workshop ‘C’ titled “A People’s Parliament: Accessibility through Innovation”. The Lok Sabha Speaker will also interact with his counterparts from other commonwealth countries to discuss the matters of mutual interest and parliamentary cooperation. Learn Along: About Canada Prime minister: Justin Trudeau Capital: Ottawa Currency: Canadian dollar IIT Guwahati Hosts Smart India Hackathon 2022 Grand Finale The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati successfully hosted the grand finale of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2022. The institute was selected as a nodal centre to facilitate the software edition of the two-day long SIH 2022 where a total of 25 teams having 178 participants, with most of them visiting the region for the first time, will be competing against seven problem statements. IT Guwahati hosted problem statements given by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Each problem statement had a winning amount of Rs one lakh. Learn Along: Smart India Hackathon 2022 is being conducted in two formats including SIH Software edition and SIH Hardware edition for higher education students. Since 2017, it is conducted at various nodal centres identified by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell and All India Council of Technical Education, where selected student teams, industry representatives, design mentors, and evaluators travel to the assigned physical centres. During the grand finale, the student team works round the clock under the guidance of mentors and industry /Ministry representatives to produce the working solution for the selected problem statements. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This department is in the charge of the promotion of internal trade (including retail trade), the welfare of traders and their employees, matters relating to facilitating Ease of Doing Business, and matters relating to start-ups. Ministry of Commerce & Industry Union Minister: Piyush Goyal BioAsia’s 20th edition will be hosted by the Telangana government The 20th edition of BioAsia, the marquee life sciences and health tech event, hosted by the Telangana government, will be held from February 24 – 26, 2023. The theme for the event is- Advancing for ONE: Shaping the next generation of humanized healthcare of BioAsia 2023. Learn Along: BioAsia is created with a vision to enhance, enrich and encourage newer innovations, path-breaking discoveries and effective solutions in the biotechnology industry, by offering a vibrant global platform for convergence of the key 106 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 stakeholders - Biotech &Biopharma Companies, research institutions, academia, investors, service providers, policymakers, regulators, and analysts. BioAsia is a dynamic platform for companies to exhibit, launch and showcase their unique strengths, products, and services. The India Clean Air Summit 2022 begins in Bengaluru on 23rd August 2022 The fourth edition of the India Clean Air Summit(ICAS) began in Bengaluru with global experts set to discuss an integrated approach to resolving air pollution and climate change. The summit will continue till August 26. The summit has been organised by think-tanks Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS) and the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP). The four-day event will see policymakers, scientists, technologists and people affected by climate change sharing experiences and statistics and, hopefully, devise solutions. Learn Along: CSTEP established the Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS) envisioning a combination of science-based knowledge, techno-economic assessment of mitigation options, as well as policy assessment and advocacy on various aspects of air pollution to reduce its impact on human health and the environment. The Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) is one of India's leading think tanks, with a mission to enrich policymaking with innovative approaches using science and technology for a sustainable, secure and inclusive society. Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry will organize - 'Meet the Champion' initiative On the occasion of National Sports Day on 29th August , the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) would be organising the *'Meet The Champion'* initiative in 26 schools across the country. 'Meet the Champions' is a unique school visit campaign that was kicked off by Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in December last year and has reached various parts of the country over the past few months. Sports Authority of India (SAI) has now expanded the initiative to also include athletes who participated in the recently concluded Common Wealth Games (CWG) and World Championships. Sports Authority of India would also be celebrating this year's National Sports Day, as part of the FIT INDIA campaign, through pan-India sports events with the theme of “Sports as an enabler for an inclusive and fit society.” Learn Along: Sports Authority of India Founded: 1984 Headquarters: Delhi, India 8th International Film Festival of Shimla begins at Gaiety Theater,Himachal Pradesh A three-day 8th edition of the International Film Festival of Shimla has begun at Gaiety Theater, in , Himachal Pradesh from 27th August 2022. A total of 86 films will be screened and 50 directors from India and abroad will participate. During the three days film festival, 27 films in the international category, 34 Indian films, 4 Himachali films, and 15 National Award-winning films will be screened. 107 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Films across 17 countries - Canada, America, Lebanon, Spain, Iran, Taiwan, Brazil, Iceland, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Greece, Belgium, Denmark, and Russia will be shown. These include documentaries, animation, features, and short films. A total of 16 National Award Award-winning films received from the Directorate of Film Festivals, will also be screened at the festival. A film exhibition organized by the National Film Archives of India, Pune will be displayed at the venue which will help the audience to enhance their knowledge about the film. Movies will also be shown for the prisoners at Kanda Model Central Jail, which will also give them an opportunity to get acquainted with different dimensions of cinema. Learn Along: About Himachal Pradesh Capital: Shimla (Summer), Dharamshala (Winter) Chief minister: Jai Ram Thakur Governor: Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar Shri Dharmendra Pradhan to participate in G20 4th Education Working Group Meeting & Education Ministers’ Meeting in Bali Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will be participating in the G20 4th Education Working Group Meeting & Education Ministers’ Meeting in Bali. India will be sharing best practices towards building a more resilient, inclusive, equitable & sustainable future through education. Learn Along: About Indonesia Capital :Jakarta (current),Nusantara (2024) Currency: Indonesian rupiah (Rp) (IDR) President: Joko Widodo AWARDS AND REWARDS DSF institutes first of its kind Dinesh Shahra Lifetime Award for Excellence in Music Dinesh Shahra Foundation (DSF) has instituted a first-of-its-kind ‘Dinesh Shahra Lifetime Award’ for Excellence in Music. The initiative is supported by the Indian Arts & Cultural Society. The Announcement of this novel recognition was made during a cultural event titled “Mausiqui’ in Mumbai recently. The event ‘Mausiqui’ was a tribute to deceased legends – Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Lata Mangeshkar who have made invaluable contributions to Indian music. Shashi Tharoor honoured with the Highest French Civilian Honour - Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur French Government has decided to bestow the highest French civilian honour - Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur to Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor for his writings and speeches. 108 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 In 2010, Shashi Tharoor received an honour from the Spanish Government, the ‘Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III’, established by the King of Spain Charles III to reward people for their actions benefiting the country and the Crown. Learn Along: About Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur The Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour) was constituted by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognise outstanding contributions to the recipient’s field of expertise, regardless of their nationality. Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur was constituted in 1802 as the highest civilian award given by the French Republic. Before Shashi Thaoor, several prominent names from India have been honoured with the French Highest Civilian Honour Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Azim Premji, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw are some of the Indians who have received it. About France Capital: Paris Prime minister: Élisabeth Borne President: Emmanuel Macron Puneeth Rajkumar to be conferred Karnataka Ratna posthumously Kannada film star Puneeth Rajkumar, who died last year, will be conferred with the ‘Karnataka Ratna’ award posthumously, on November 1, which is Kannada Rajyotsava, the state’s formation day. He will be the 10th recipient of the state’s highest civilian honour. The Karnataka Ratna was last awarded to Dr Virendra Heggade for social service in 2009. Puneeth’s late father Rajkumar is among the first recipients of Karnataka Ratna award in 1992, along with poet Kuvempu. Learn Along: Other recipients of the award are S Nijalingappa (Politics), CNR Rao (Science), Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty (Medical), Bhimsen Joshi (Music), Shivakumara Swamiji (Social Service), and Dr J Javaregowda (Education & Literature). About Puneeth Rajkumar Puneeth, popularly known as ‘Appu’ and ‘power star’ by his fans, made his debut on screen when he was just sixmonths-old and went on to win a national award as a child artiste for the film ‘Bettada Hoovu’. On Independence Day 2022 ,107 gallantry awards announced President Droupadi Murmu has approved 107 gallantry awards to armed forces and CAPF personnel. The awards include three Kirti Chakra, 13 Shaurya Chakras, two bar to Sena Medals (gallantry), 81 Sena Medals (gallantry), one Nao Sena Medal (gallantry) and seven Vayu Sena Medals (gallantry). Kirti Chakra 1. Naik Devendra Pratap Singh 2. Constable Sudip Sarkar (Posthumous) Shaurya Chakra 1. Major Nitin Dhania 2. Major Amit Dahiya 3. Major Sandeep Kumar 109 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Kirti Chakra 3. Sub-Inspector Paotinsat Guite (Posthumous) Shaurya Chakra 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Major Abhishek Singh Havildar Ghanshyam Lance Naik Raghavendra Singh Sepoy Karnveer Singh (Posthumous) Gunner Jasbir Singh (Posthumous) Lieutenant Commander Mrityunjay Kumar (Indian Navy) Assistant Commandant Amit Kumar (CRPF) Somay Vinayak Munde (IPS), Additional SP (Maharashtra Police) Ravindra Kashinath Naetam, Police Hero (Maharashtra Police) Tikaram Sampatrao will bite, police hero (Maharashtra Police) Coal Minister’s Awards for 2021-22 in Different Categories Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi conferred coal minister’s awards for 2021-22. The purpose of the Awards is to create a congenial and competitive spirit to outperform each other. The first ever awards of last year were in three categories of safety; production & productivity; sustainability. This year two new additional categories of quality and ERP implementation have been added. General Managers of best performing areas are also acknowledged and awarded this year in four subcategories. Category Winner Safety Production & Productivity Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd (MCL) Quality Sustainability Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) Implementation of ERP Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) Bangladeshi architect Marina becomes first South Asian to win Lisbon Triennale Lifetime Achievement Award Renowned Bangladeshi architect, researcher and educator Marina Tabassum became the first person from the global south and first south Asian to win the prestigious Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. 110 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 She won the award for presenting an inspiring example of work with local communities that can have a positive impact across the globe even under the most adverse conditions. She will receive an original artwork by the Portuguese artist and sculptor Carlos Nogueira as award during the Lisbon Triennale which begins on 29 September in Lisbon, Portugal. Learn Along: About Lisbon Triennale Lifetime Achievement Award Lisbon Triennale Lifetime Achievement Award is Awarded on the basis of criteria of excellence of the contribution to architectural and spatial practice. The Achievement Award has been bestowed in previous editions upon Vittorio Gregotti (2007), Álvaro Siza Vieira (2010) and Kenneth Frampton (2013). About Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka Currency: Bangladeshi taka Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina Bangladesh-born Fahmida wins Pulitzer Bangladeshi-born American illustrator and author Fahmida Azim has been named one of the members of a 2022 Pulitzer-winning team for illustrated reporting and commentary for their work in the American online media organisation Insider. Fahmida has been awarded for an illustrated report titled “How I Escaped a Chinese Internment Camp”, which was published by the Insider website on 28 December last year. Liberty Medal to be awarded to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy The 2022 Liberty Medal will be awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy has also been the recipient of awards such as the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award and the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award as well as honors from the governments of the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia. Learn Along: About Liberty Medal The Liberty Medal, established in 1988 to mark the U.S. Constitution’s bicentennial, is presented to individuals who strive to secure the blessings of liberty for people around the globe. Recent recipients have included Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, Sen. John McCain, Rep. John Lewis and Malala Yousafzai. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel wins UNESCO Peace Prize 2022 Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded UNESCO Peace Prize for her ‘efforts to welcome refugees’. According to the website of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Merkel was awarded the 2022 Félix Houphout-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize for her “courageous decision in 2015 to welcome more than 1,2 million refugees, notably from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. Learn Along: 111 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 UNESCO Peace Prize-The honour, which is officially called Felix Houphouet-Boigny-Unesco Peace Prize, is named after the former president of Ivory Coast. It has been awarded each year since 1989 to individuals, organisations or institutions that have made a special effort to promote, research or secure peace. UNESCO Headquarters: Paris Director General: Audrey Azoulay Liberty Medal 2022 will be awarded to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy The 2022 Liberty Medal will be awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this time. The National Constitution Center announced that Zelenskyy will be honored in a ceremony in October for what it called his heroic defense of liberty in the face of Russian tyranny. Learn Along: The Liberty Medal, established in 1988 to mark the U.S. Constitution's bicentennial, is presented to individuals who strive to secure the blessings of liberty for people around the globe. APPOINTMENTS Organization Name News Learn Along Press Information Bureau Shri Satyendra Prakash assumed charge as Principal Director General of Press Information Bureau (PIB). Formed:1919 World Bank Auguste Tano Kouame took charge as the World Bank Country Director for India, replacing Junaid Kamal Ahmad. President: David Malpass Central Vigilance Commission Vigilance Commissioner Suresh N. Patel was sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) by President Droupadi Formed: February 1964 Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Oil India Limited Indo-Tibetan Border Police BharatPe CSIR Ranjit Rath has taken over as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Oil India Limited (OIL).He took charge of the organization on 2 August. Founded: 18 February 1959 Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal, SSB Dr. Sujoy Lal Thaosen took over the additional charge of Director General of IndoTibetan Border Police in New Delhi. Founded: Fintech platform BharatPe has appointed former SBI Card CFO Nalin Negi as its new chief financial officer, as it prepares for its initial public offering (IPO). CEO: Dr Kalaiselvi N has become the 1st Women Director-General of CSIR. 112 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com 1962 Suhail Sameer Founded 26 September 1942 Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along She will take over CSIR from Mr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology who was accorded special additional charge of CSIR in April. Uttarakhand state United Nations Cricketer Rishabh Pant was appointed as the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in a programme in New Delhi . United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Simon Stiell, the former environment minister of Grenada, as the new executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He will succeed Patricia Espinosa of Mexico. Formed: 09 November 2000 Headquarters: New York,US Secretary General: Antonio Guterres Founded 24 October 1945 The Bill & Melinda Gates Kenya The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the appointment of Indian philanthropist Ashish Dhawan, founder and CEO of Convergence Foundation, to its board of trustees. Founded: 2000 Recently Deputy President William Ruto became the Kenya’s Capital: Nairobi president. Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States Currency: Kenyan shilling President: Uhuru Kenyatta Kuwait Kuwait has appointed Bader Abdullah Al-Munaikh as its ambassador to Iran, more than six years after recalling its top envoy to Tehran. Capital: Kuwait City Currency: Kuwaiti dinar PM:Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Paytm 113 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name United Kingdom Disney+ Hotstar News Learn Along Shareholders of One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand, have approved the re-appointment of Vijay Shekhar Sharma as managing director and chief executive officer of the company. Founded: August 2010 Indian diplomat Vikram K Doraiswami has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. Disney’s international content and operations group has announced the appointment of Sajith Sivanandan as executive vicepresident and head of Disney+ Hotstar, that its video streaming service is known as in India and other Asian markets. Prime minister: Boris Johnson Launched 11 February 2015 (as Hotstar) 3 April 2020 (as Disney+ Hotstar) Former Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian is appointed as Executive Director (India) at the International Monetary IMF Fund. Subramanian is currently Professor (Finance), Indian School of Business. Samir V Kamat is appointed as Secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). DRDO Indian Cricket Team DreamSetGo Kamat, who is Director General, Naval Systems & Materials, at the DRDO will succeed G Satheesh Reddy who has been named as scientific adviser to the defence minister The NCA chief VVS Laxman has been appointed as the interim head coach of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ACC Asia Cup 2022 . DreamSetGo, India’s first premium sports experiences and travel platform, announced Sourav Ganguly as its first brand ambassador. IMF Headquarters: Washington, United States MD: Kristalina Georgieva DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi Agency Executive: Sameer V Kamat DreamSetGo Headquarters: Mumbai Chief Business Officer: Monish Shah Indian financial services firm SBICAP Securities, a unit of SBI Capital Markets and part of the government-owned State Bank Group, named Deepak Kumar Lalla as its managing director and chief executive, replacing Naresh Yadav. 114 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com SBI Headquarters: Mumbai Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News SBI Securities Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara IDFC appointed Mahendra N Shah as the bank's managing director & will replace Sunil Kakar with effect from 1 October 2022. IDFC Supreme Court Learn Along Mahendra N Shah was the group company secretary & group chief compliance officer of IDFC First Bank and has been the group head governance, compliance & secretarial and senior advisor of taxation at IDFC for more than a decade. IDFC First Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD &CEO: V. Vaidyanathan Justice Uday Umesh Lalit has sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India today succeeding Justice NV Ramana.President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of India to Justice Lalit. Supreme Court The All India Chess Federation (AICF) appointed Vipnesh Bharadwaj as its interim secretary after the Delhi High Court reiterated its order of removing former chief Bharat Singh Chauhan. AICF AICF Founded: 8 January 1950, New Delhi Headquarters: Chennai President: Sanjay Kapoor RBL Bank Mali RBL Bank, has augmented its Board strength with the appointment of two eminent members as non-executive directors - Gopal Jain, Managing Partner at Gaja Capital, and Dr. Sivakumar Gopalan, an accomplished Researcher with over three decades of experience across various aspects of technology. In Mali, the military has appointed a Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga as interim Prime Minister after the country's civilian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga was admitted to hospital. Before this appointment, Colonel Maiga was working as a Government Spokesman and Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea’s Parliament has returned Prime Minister James Marape second time to power in the country. 115 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com RBL Bank Headquarters: Mumbai MD & CEO: R Subramaniakum ar Capital: Bamako Currency: West African CFA franc About Papua New Guinea Capital: Port Moresby Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Organization Name News Learn Along Currency: Papua New Guinean kina About Kenya Kenya Recently Deputy President William Ruto became the Kenya’s president. Capital: Nairobi Currency: Kenyan shilling President: Uhuru Kenyatta IMPORTANT DAYS Day/Week Observance 6 August Hiroshima Day Significance Hiroshima Day is observed on August 6 every year. It aims to promote peace politics against war. 8 AUGUST Quit India Movement Day Quit India Movement Day is observed on 8 August which is also known as August Kranti. The Quit India Movement is also known as August Kranti or August Movement. On 8 August 1942, the Bharat Chhodo Andolan or Quit India movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi and gave a call 'do or die'. 9 August International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples This year, the theme is ‘The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge" The theme of World Biofuel Day for the year 2022 hasn’t been announced yet. 10 August World Biofuel Day The theme for the previous year was “the promotion of biofuels for a better environment.” World Lion Day World Lion Day is observed globally on August 10 every year to raise awareness about the conservation of lions and highlight the plight faced by them. The day was established in 2013 by Dereck and Beverly Joubert. 12th August World Elephant Day This day was first observed in the year 2012 by two Canadian filmmakers Patricia Sims and Michael Clark along with the Thailand-based Elephant Reintroduction Foundation. 116 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 13 August International Youth Day The theme for 2022’s edition of International Youth Day is “Intergenerational solidarity: creating a world for all ages.” World Organ Donation Day This day is aimed at spreading awareness about organ donations and also looks to debunk various misconceptions that are associated with donating organs. India has its own organ donation day - November 27 20 August Sandbhavana Diwas or Harmony Day World Mosquito Day The birth anniversary of India’s sixth prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is observed as Sandbhavana Diwas or Harmony Day every year on August 20 in the country. World Mosquito Day 2022 is observed on 20 August to mark the historic discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross in 1897 that malaria is transmitted between humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The theme for World Malaria Day 2022 is "Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives." 21 August 23 Aug- 01 World Senior Citizens’ Day World Water Week Sep The day is observed with the intent to highlight the contributions of elderly people in human society and honour them. World Water Week is an international, week-long, global conference that takes place in late August or early September, in Stockholm. This year, World Water Week started on August 23 and will continue till September 1. The theme for World Water Week 2022 is “Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water.” 26th August Women’s Equality Day Women's Equality Day is celebrated in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. In 2022, the theme for Women's Equality Day - Hard Won, Not Done 29 August National Sports Day National Sports Day is celebrated in India every year on August 29 to honor and celebrate the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand, the hockey wizard of India. National Sports Day was first observed in 2012 as a tribute to Hockey Wizard. Major Dhyan Chand was born on August 29, 1905. 30 August National Small Industry Day National Small Industry Day is observed every year in India on August 30 to recognize the significance of and the contribution of the small industries in India. 117 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 National Small Industry Day 2022 aims at encouraging the development and growth of small-scale businesses. OBITUARIES Name of Person Field Points to Remember Bill Russell Sports NBA great Bill Russell, the cornerstone of a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 titles and a powerful voice for social justice, passed away at the age of 88. Nirmala Mishra Singer Renowned Bengali singer Nirmala Mishra recently died.She was was 81. Johnny Famechon Boxing Former boxing world champion Johnny Famechon has died in Melbourne. He was 77. Narendra Thapa Football Player Narendra Thapa, one of the biggest names of Indian football in the 1980s, passed away. Pradeep Patwardhan Actor Veteran Marathi actor Pradeep Patwardhan passed away at Girgaon in Mumbai. He breathed his last at the age of 52. Rudi Koertzen International umpire Former South African international Umpire Rudi Koertzen was killed in a car crash on Tuesday morning. He was 73. Shivamogga Subbanna Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Singer Billionaire stock investor National award-winning Sugama Sangeetha singer Shivamogga Subbanna passed away in Bengaluru following a cardiac arrest. He was 83. Billionaire stock investor and an early backer of the latest entrant to India’s aviation sector Akasa Air, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala , passed away in Mumbai.He was 62. With an estimated net worth of $5.8 billion, Forbes had ranked him as India’s 36th richest individual. Abhijit Sen Eminent Economist Abhijit Sen, former Member of the Planning Commission, former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and eminent economist, died recently. Mikhail Gorbachev Last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War and was the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91. 118 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Amitabh Chaudhary Former BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary, the former BCCI acting secretary and president of Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), died. He was 62. He also served as a BCCI joint-secretary and was an administrative manager with the Indian team on a few occasions. Uma Pemmaraju Syed Sibtey Razi Nayyara Noor Journalist Former Governor of Jharkhand Indian American Journalist And Emmy Award Winner, Uma Pemmaraju Emmy Award Winner, Uma Pemmaraju, Dies At 64 Former Governor of Jharkhand, Syed Sibtey Razi passed away in Lucknow. He served as the Governor of Jharkhand from the year 20042009. Singer Celebrated Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor, passed away. She was 71. Abdul Gaffar Nadiadwala Filmmaker Veteran filmmaker Abdul Gaffar Nadiadwala died due to cardiac arrest. He was 91. Madhav Buchi Prakash Businessman Madhav Buchi Prakash (72), great grandson of M. Buchi Babu (considered the father of South Indian cricket), passed away. Madhav, a businessman, also played squash, tennis and golf. BOOKS Book Title Author/s About the book Lockdown Lyrics Sanjukta Dash Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik released a book titled ‘Lockdown Lyrics’, a collection of poems authored by Sanjukta Dash. “Lion of the Skies: Hardit Singh Malik, the Royal Air Force and the First World Stephen Barker A new book titled “Lion of the Skies: Hardit Singh Malik, the Royal Air Force and the First World War” have been released. War” 119 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 “Dangerous Earth: Ellen Prager In the book, the author seeks to respond to the most compelling question: Why can’t we better predict the natural disasters? K.R.A. Narasiah Author and historian K.R.A. Narasiah’s autobiography Through The Rear View Mirror was launched by former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. What we wish we knew about volcanoes, hurricanes, climate change, earthquakes and more”. Through The Rear View Mirror 'Odisha Chapter of Modi @ 20: --- Dreams Meet Delivery' ‘Rusty skies and Sannidhya Sharma Golden Winds’ Home Minister Amit Shah Released the book titled 'Odisha Chapter of Modi @ 20: Dreams Meet Delivery' in Bhubaneswar. Union Minister of State, science & Technology and Earth sciences and MoS in PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh, launched a poetry book titled ‘Rusty skies and Golden Winds’ written by 11 years old Sannidhya Sharma, student of class 7th. ‘Fish & Seafood -a collection of 75 --- Union Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Shri Parshottam Rupala launched a unique coffee table book titled ‘Fish & Seafood -a collection of 75 gourmet recipes’. gourmet recipes’ BRAVO YADAV Putin: His Life and Deepak Singh Philip Short Times ‘Indians at Herod’s Navtej Sharma Gate’ Men of Steel --- The biography of Kargil Hero Yogendra Singh Yadav, India's Youngest Param Vir Chakra Recipient, honors the brave and indomitable spirit of the soldiers who refused to surrender before adversities in the Kargil War, in 1999. Philip Short's magisterial biography explores in unprecedented depth the personality of its enigmatic and ruthless leader and demolishes many of our preconceptions about Putin's Russia. Israeli President Isaac Herzog unveiled the Hebrew translation of the book ‘Indians at Herod’s Gate’ written by the former Ambassador of India to the US, UK and Israel Navtej Sarna. Men of Steel, a book about military leadership by the head of the Indian Army, was published. The book “Men of Steel” is a compilation of essays that evaluate military leadership and offer categorical suggestions to maintain the military’s efficacy and culture. Science behind Suryanamaskar --- Minister of State for Ayush and Minister of State for Women and Child Development Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai 120 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Kalubhai released a book titled “Science behind Suryanamaskar”, a collection of evidence-based research on one of the most well-known Yoga Asanas at All India Institute of Ayurveda. Free Fall: My Experiments with Living Mallika Sarabhai “Free Fall: My Experiments with Living” is an upcoming selfhelp memoir of Acclaimed classical dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai. The book is about “coming to terms with yourself, your body and finding the lifestyle that works for you”. It is published by Speaking Tiger. SPORTS James Anderson becomes most successful pacer in international cricket England's James Anderson became the first-ever fast bowler to complete 950 wickets in international cricket. He attained the historic feat on Day 3 of the second Test against South Africa. Anderson broke the record of Australia's Glenn McGrath, who finished with 949 wickets across formats. Anderson remains the only cricketer besides Tendulkar to feature in over 170 Tests. Serena Williams announces her retirement from tennis Tennis legend Serena Williams announced her retirement. Serena Williams has won an Open era record of 23 grand slam singles titles, earning a total of $94,588,910 in prize money. Serena Williams fell short of the all-time record of 24, set by Margaret Court. Ireland all rounder Kevin o’Brien retires Ireland all-rounder Kevin O’Brien announced his retirement from international cricket. O’Brien holds the record for the fastest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup century in 2011 against England in Bangalore. Max Verstappen wins the Hungarian Grand Prix Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix on the Formula One world championship. The Red Bull world champion registered his eighth win of the season and 28th of his career ahead of Mercedes duo, Lewis Hamilton and pole-sitter George Russell. 121 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 4th ONGC Para Games 2022 Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the fourth ONGC Para Games in Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi. 275 Persons with Disabilities (PwD) – employees of eight central oil and gas public enterprises - are participating in the 4th ONGC Para Games, being organized by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) during 2-4 August 2022. Learn Along: ONGC conceptualized and started this Para Games in 2017, to mainstream the especially-abled persons on their rolls. To widen the scope of the games, ONGC roped in athletes from IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, EIL, OIL and GAIL to be part of the grand 3rd edition of ONGC Para Games at Gandhinagar. In this current 4th edition, apart from the 192 ONGCians, seven other Public enterprises are participating viz. IOCL (21), GAIL (15), BPCL (13), MRPL (11), EIL (9), OIL (8) and HPCL (6). ONGC organizes the Para Games on an international format from its very first edition in 2017 with the help of the Paralympic Committee of India, where 120 ONGC PwD employees participated in games like athletics, badminton, table tennis and wheelchair race. About ONGC: Founded: 14 August 1956 Headquarters: New Delhi Full Indian medals tally, Commonwealth Games 2022 The 2022 Commonwealth Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multisport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations took place in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022. Anahat Singh a Grade 9 student who plays squash and when it comes to the Indian contingent at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Anahat was the youngest participant in this edition. India’s Commonwealth Games 2022 medals tally rose to 60 with 22 gold medals from Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis men’s singles), Satwik Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Badminton men’s doubles), P. V. Sindhu (Badminton singles), Lakshya Sen (Badminton singles gold) on the last day in Birmingham on 08th August 2022. India won 61 medals in the overall Commonwealth Games 2022 medal table. India finished its CWG 2022 campaign as the fourth-best country on the medals table. India’s Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign 22 gold medals, 16 silver and 23 bronze is its fifthbest in terms of the number of medals won. India’s best finish was at its home games in Delhi in 2010, where it won 101 medals. Sports Gold Silver Bronze Total Athletics 1 4 3 8 Badminton 3 1 2 6 Boxing 3 1 3 7 122 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Cricket 0 1 0 1 Cycling 0 0 0 0 Gymnastics 0 0 0 0 Hockey 0 1 1 2 Judo 0 2 1 3 Lawn bowls 1 1 0 2 Para powerlifting 1 0 0 1 Squash 0 0 2 2 Swimming 0 0 0 0 Table tennis 4 1 2 7 Triathlon 0 0 0 0 Weightlifting 3 3 4 10 Wrestling 6 1 5 12 TOTAL 22 16 23 61 Top 5 Countries Sports Gold Silver Bronze Total Australia 66 57 54 177 England 56 64 53 173 Canada 26 32 34 92 India 22 16 23 61 New Zealand 20 12 17 49 India Chess Legend Viswanathan Anand Becomes FIDE Deputy President Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand was elected deputy president of FIDE, the sport’s world governing body, while incumbent president Arkady Dvorkovich was re-elected for a second term. Learn Along: About FIDE(The International Chess Federation) Founded: 20 July 1924 Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland President: Arkady Dvorkovich Prabath Jayasuriya and Emma Lamb win ICC Player of the Month Awards for July 2022 123 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Sri Lankan spin sensation Prabath Jayasuriya and England batting all-rounder Emma Lamb as the winners of its Player of the Month awards for July 2022. Learn Along: About ICC Founded: 15 June 1909 Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates Chairman: Greg Barclay AIFF Footballer of Year(2021-22) Category winner Women’s Footballer of the Year Manisha Kalyan Men’s Footballer of the Year Sunil Chhetri Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year Martina Thokchom Men’s Emerging Footballer of the Year Vikram Partap Singh Best Referee of the Year Crystal John Best Assistant Referee of the Year Ujjal Halder Learn Along: About AIFF Founded: 23 June 1937 Headquarters: Delhi Former West Indies player Kieron Pollard 1st to play 600 T20 matches Former West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard became the first cricketer to play 600 T20 matches. He achieved this landmark during his side's London Spirit's match against Manchester Originals during ongoing The Hundred tournament at Lord's. Behind him are players Dwayne Bravo (543 matches), Shoaib Malik (472), Chris Gayle (463) and Ravi Bopara (426). Women’s IPL likely in March 2023 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to organize the first-ever edition of women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in March 2023. Since 2018, BCCI has been organising the Women’s T20 Challenge. Major Dhyanchand Stadium to Host Phase 1 of 1st Khelo India Women's Hockey League U-16 Following the success of the Khelo India Women’s Hockey League (U-21), a similar league for U-16 girls is scheduled to start on August 16 at the Major Dhyanchand stadium in the national capital. Phase 1 of the 1st Khelo India Women’s Hockey League (U-16) is scheduled from August 16 to 23. 124 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 The Sports Authority of India has allocated a total of Rs 53.72 lakh for 3 phases of the competition, which includes Prize money of Rs 15.5 lakh. Learn Along: About Sports Authority of India Founded: 1984 Headquarters: New Delhi Meghalaya to host 2nd NE Olympic Games Meghalaya will host the second edition of the North East Olympic Games, 2022 at Shillong from 30 October to 6 November this year. The Games will feature 18 Olympic sports disciplines-archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, wushu, cycling, golf, weightlifting and wrestling. Duleep Trophy to be held in Tamil Nadu The Duleep Trophy will be held in Chennai, Coimbatore and Salem. The competition will be held between Sept. 8 and 25. This year’s Duleep Trophy will be played in the traditional inter-zonal format, discarding the ludicrous competition between assorted teams, and has generated considerable interest. Bengaluru to host U18 women basketball event The International Basketball Federation FIBA is scheduled to host the FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship at Sree Kanteerva and Koramangala Indoor stadiums in Bengaluru from September 5 to 11. The countries in Division A are: China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Chinese, Taipei, Australia and New Zealand. In Division B are: Hong Kong, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Philippines, Samoa and Thailand. Division A will be held at Kanteerva Indoor Stadium and Division B at Koramangala Indoor Stadium. The FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup, is scheduled to be held in Madrid, Spain, in July 2023. Learn Along: About FIBA Founded: 18 June 1932 Headquarters: Mies, Switzerland Secretary General: Andreas Zagklis President: Hamane Niang Antim Panghal becomes India’s First-Ever U-20 World Wrestling Champion Antim Panghal, a 17-year-old wrestler from Haryana created history by being crowned as India’s First-Ever U-20 World Wrestling Champion. She defeated Kazakhstan's Atlyn Shagayeva in a match. The U-20 World Wrestling Championship was being held in Sofia, Bulgaria. India wins 14 Medals at U-20 World Wrestling Championship. 125 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 India Women’s Wrestling Team managed to finish 2nd on the medals tally while the Men’s Freestyle Team event secured the 2nd spot on the list. Before 2022, India’s earlier best campaign at the U-20 World Wrestling Championship came in 2011 when India won two gold and one bronze medal. This Year’s Medals Tally Event Gold Silver Bronze Women’s 1 3 3 Men’s Freestyle 1 0 6 Men’s Greco- 0 0 2 Wrestling Roman First Khelo India Women’s Judo Tournament starts from 27th August,2022 The first Khelo India Women’s Judo Tournament will start from 27 of this month. The tournament will be held across four zones in the country. The national round will be held from 20th to 23rd October of this year at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The Department of Sports of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has allocated 1.74 crore rupees for the conduct of the tournament. The competitors from four age groups will compete during the tournament. Audi to enter Formula One in 2026 as power unit manufacturer German manufacturer Audi will enter Formula One in 2026 in line with new engine regulations. It has officially been registered Power Unit (PU) Formula One manufacturer and will start racing in F1 from 2026. Audi will manufacture its own power unit in an era when there will be a greater emphasis on sustainable fuels and an increased electrical component in engines. From 2026, the electric power output for the power units, consisting of an electric motor, battery, control electronics, and a combustion engine, will increase. The electric motor will then be nearly as powerful as the combustion engine and the highly efficient 1.6-liter turbo engines will run on advanced sustainable fuel. Learn Along: Audi Headquarters: Ingolstadt, Germany CEO: Markus Duesmann Neeraj Chopra creates history, Wins Lausanne Diamond League Meet title in the Javelin throw 126 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra won the javelin throw competition at the Lausanne Diamond League with a best throw of 89.08 meters. Neeraj has now become the first Indian to clinch the prestigious Diamond League Meet title. Neeraj has thus qualified for the Diamond League Finals, which will take place in Zurich, Switzerland from September 7 and 8. He has also now qualified for the 2023 World Championships. Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi wins 28th Abu Dhabi Masters Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi clinched the 28th Abu Dhabi Masters chess tournament, beating Spain's David Anton Guijjaro. Arjun also remained unbeaten through the nine rounds and finished half-a-point ahead of Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov. The 18-year-old emerged victorious over the Spaniard in the ninth and final round with 7.5 points. Linthoi Chanambam Wins India's First-ever Gold Medal at Judo World Championships Linthoi Chanambam scripted history by winning India’s first-ever medal in Judo World Championships with a gold in the Women’s 57kg category at the World Judo Cadet (U18) Championships. The 15-year-old judoka outclassed Brazil’s Bianca Reis in the 57-kg category final. She became the first Indian judoka to win a medal at any age-group category of the World Championships. Indian men's volleyball team wins bronze in Asian U-18 C'ship India defeated South Korea to finish third and claim the bronze medal in the 2022 Asian Boys' U18 Volleyball Championship. Japan, Iran, India and South Korea, who finished in the top four in this order, also qualified for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship as the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) representatives. Virat Kohli Becomes 1st Indian to Play 100 Matches in Each Format of International Cricket Virat Kohli has become the first Indian and just the second player overall in international cricket history to have played 100 matches each in all three formats of the game. Virat Kohli has now 100 T20Is to his name in addition to 102 Tests and 262 ODIs since making his international debut in August 2008. The first man to do so was New Zealand batter Ross Taylor who retired from international cricket in April this year. BWF World Championships: Denmark's Viktor Axelsen clinched the men's singles title at the 2022 BWF World Championships after beating Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the final. 127 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com Monthly BeePedia August 2022 Axelsen now simultaneously holds the Olympic, World Championships, BWF World Tour Finals, and the last three Super 1000 titles. He also claimed the world title in Glasgow in 2017. Sources of the News: The Hindu,The Indian Express,Business Standard, The Financial Express ,PIB, etc. 128 | P a g e All ixamBee Mock Tests are FREE Please visit www.ixamBee.com Contact us at 92055 24028 (SMS/WhatsApp/call) or hello@ixambee.com