Indian origin "T Raja Kumar" has taken over as President of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world's anti-terrorism financing agency. FATF tweeted that Raja Kumar will focus on enhancing the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures, improving asset recovery and other initiatives.

 

* He has more than 35 years of leadership and operational experience in Singapore’s home ministry and police force.

 

* Raja Kumar succeeds Dr Marcus Pleyer as the chief of the FATF and will serve a two-year-term. FATF is a global watchdog tasked with combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.

 

* Raja Kumar forged a stronger collaborative relationship with key counterparts in the safety and security arena, including with strategic partners such as INTERPOL and the UN..

Source : News On Air

* In a series of measures to regulate the import and export of items such as crude oil and gold, the government has imposed special additional excise duty/ cesses on exports of petrol and diesel of Rs 6 per litre and Rs 13 per litre respectively.

 

* The import duty on gold has been hiked to 15 per cent from 10.75 per cent to curb imports of gold amid concerns over increasing pressure on the current account deficit.

* A cess of Rs 23,250 per tonne (by way of special additional excise duty or SAED) or windfall tax, has been imposed on crude. A SAED of Rs 6 per litre has also been imposed on exports of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel.

* Recently, the Cabinet Appointments Committee (ACC) has passed a government resolution to establish the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) in place of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

* The new framework was proposed by the Department of Financial Service, Ministry of Finance.

* The FSIB will select the chiefs of public sector banks and insurance companies.

* The FSIB will have the clear mandate to issue guidelines and select general managers and directors of state-run non-life insurers, general insurers and Financial Institutions.

* FSIB will be the single entity for making recommendations for appointments of WTD (Whole-time Director) and NEC (Non-executive Chairman) in Public Sector Banks, India Private Limited company and Financial Institutions.

* Juridiction of FSIB will be larger than BBB. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

* The ACC has approved the appointment of Bhanu Pratap Sharma as Initial chairperson of FSIB for two years. He was the former Chairman of BBB..

Source : Indian Express

Recently, Scientists have spotted fossils of a small mammal resembling squirrels called treeshrew (known as Sivatupaia ramnagarensis) belonging to a new genus and species from Jammu and Kashmir.

This treeshrew currently represents the oldest record of fossil tupaiids in the Siwaliks, extending their time range by 2.5-4.0 Million Years in the region.

Tupaiids refers to several species of East Indian and Asiatic insectivores of the family Tupaiidæ, somewhat resembling squirrels in size and arboreal habits. The nose is long and pointed.

Treeshrews are very rare elements of the fossil record, with only a few species known throughout the entire Cenozoic era..

Source : PIB

The country's largest "floating solar power project" has become fully operational, just as NTPC declared commercial operation of the final part capacity of 20 MW out of 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project at Ramagundam, Telangana with effect from July 1st, 2022.

 

The operationalisation of 100-MW Solar PV Project at Ramagundam means that the total commercial operation of floating solar capacity in the Southern Region has now gone up to to 217 MW.

Additionally, NTPC declared commercial operation of 92 MW Floating Solar at Kayamkulam (Kerala) and 25 MW Floating Solar at Simhadri (Andhra Pradesh).

As per an official release, the 100-MW floating solar project at Ramagundam is endowed with advanced technology as well as environment-friendly features.

Constructed with a financial implication of R. 423 crore, the project spreads over 500 acres of its reservoir. An official release said that with the presence of floating solar panels, the evaporation rate from water bodies is reduced, thus helping in water conservation..

Sourec : Mint

Maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator was carried out successfully by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, Karnataka on July 01, 2022. Operating in a fully autonomous mode, the aircraft exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown. This flight marks a major milestone in terms of proving critical technologies towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is significant step towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.

 

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is designed & developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, a premier research laboratory of DRDO. It is powered by a "Small turbofan engine". The airframe, undercarriage and entire flight control and avionics systems used for the aircraft were developed indigenously.

 

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO and said it is a major achievement towards autonomous aircraft and will pave the way for ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in terms of critical military systems.

 

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy appreciated the efforts of the teams associated in the design, development and testing of the system..

Source : PIB

The 47th GST Council met under the Chairmanship of Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in Chandigarh.

 

 

* 18 per cent of GST will be applied to bank cheque book and 12 per cent will be applied on maps, atlas and globes. The rate rationalisation decision implies that printing, writing and drawing ink will get costlier.

* Non-branded pre-packed lassi, curd, butter milk, food items and grains will now be a part of the GST.

* GST rates on medical items, including ostomy and orthopaedic appliances – splints and other fracture appliances, artificial body parts which are worn or implanted in the body has been reduced to five per cent.

* The GST for transport of good and passengers via ropeway has been reduced from 18 per cent to five per cent. Also, the renting of truck which includes fuel cost will now stand at 12 per cent.

* As part of the revised rates, GST on LED lamps, lights and fixture, their metal printed circuits board, drawing and marking instruments will be increased from 12 per cent to 18 per cent.

* The GST rates have been increased for services supplied by a foreman in a chit fund, jobs related to leather goods and footwear, processing of hides and skins, manufacturing of clay bricks, contracts for roads, bridges, railways, metro among others..

Source : DNA India

International Day of Cooperatives is marked annually on the first Saturday of July. This year(2022), the day will be observed on 2 July to highlight the contributions of the cooperative movement. The occasion also spreads awareness about how cooperatives work in harmony for social, cultural, and economic development.

 

History : The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution on 16 December 1992 to declare the first Saturday of July 1995 as the International Day of Cooperatives. The date was chosen as it marked the centenary of the International Cooperative Alliance's establishment. It is also called Coops Day.

 

The International Day of Cooperatives celebrates the formation of the International Co-operative Alliance and how cooperatives work towards making the world a better place. The International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated by organising activities and discussions. This involves the screening of short documentaries that feature the work of different co-operatives. The day also uses radio programs, newspapers and various other mediums to highlight the achievements of the sector.

 

International Day of Cooperatives 2022 Theme : On July 2, cooperatives all around the world will celebrate the 100th International Day of Cooperatives (#CoopsDay). A decade on from the UN International Year of Cooperatives, which showcased the unique contribution of cooperatives to making the world a better place, this year’s #CoopsDay slogan — “Cooperatives Build a Better World”— echoes the theme of the International Year.

Source : CNBC

World Sports Journalists Day is a global professional observance celebrated every year on 2nd July to acknowledge the job of sports journalists. The day encourages those who help in the development of different kinds of games and strengthen sporting culture all around the world.

 

Sports are considered an important part of human life in shaping personality and character. Though everyone enjoys playing a variety of sports in childhood, there are some people who take this up as a profession later on. Besides sports persons, there are some individuals who bring up information about different sports from every nook and corner of the world and they are known as sports journalists.

 

 

A dedicated column for sports in the news business was introduced in the early 1800s by the elite class. Later, it earned popularity among the middle and lower classes which led them to take part in the specialised profession. There are different formats of sports journalism including game recap analysis, play-by-play and research on various fields of sports.

 

The first International Sports Journalists Day was celebrated in 1994 by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). The day was decided to honour the 70th anniversary of the establishment of AIPS. The organisation was founded in 1924 and the current headquarter is located in Switzerland..

Source : First Post

The World UFO Day (WUD) is held on July 2 every year globally. It is a day dedicated to the undoubted existence of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) by World UFO Day Organization (WUFODO). WUD aims to raise awareness about the existence of UFOs and encouraging people to think about the possibility of us not being alone in the Universe. 

 

The World UFO Day provides an opportunity to these explorers and enthusiasts to discuss, decode, and deduce multiple theories related to UFOs.

 

World UFO Day History : The World UFO Day commemorates two important days which are the first widely reported UFO sightings in the world. The first sighting was reported on June 24, 1947, when an aviator named Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen what looked like a flying saucer. This sighting shaped the narrative of the UFO with a disk being the widely accepted appearance.

Source : WIO News