National Affairs
1. Cabinet approves establishment of National Recruitment Agency
- Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of National Recruitment Agency (NRA).
- NRA will be a multi-agency nodal body that will conduct Common Eligibility Test (CET) for government jobs and state-owned banks.
- It will hold online exams every year for non-gazetted government posts (Group B and C) and each district will have at least one exam centre.
- Marks secured in NRA will be valid for 3 years and there is no bar on attempts
Banking & Finance
2. SBI waives off SMS charges for all savings accounts
- SBI has waived off SMS charges in addition to its penalty waiver on non-maintenance of minimum balance for all its Savings Accounts including those with cheque or Internet Banking facilities.
- Earlier, customers had to maintain monthly balance of Rs. 3000 (metro), 2000 (semi urban), 1000 rupees (rural areas) respectively.
- The bank used to levy a penalty of 5 to 15 rupees plus taxes on non-maintenance of average monthly balance.
- SBI has over 44 crore savings accounts.
National & International Appointments
3. Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner; to join ADB as VicePresident
- Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa has resigned from his post to join the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) as vice-president next month.
- Lavasa has submitted his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind and has requested to be relieved by the end of this month.
- Last month, the ADB had announced his appointment to the post.
- Formation: 19 December 1966
- President: Masatsugu Asakawa
- Headquarters of ADB: Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines
International Affairs
4. Democratic Party formally nominates Joe Biden as presidential candidate
- The United States Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their Presidential candidate for the 2020 elections.
- He will take on President Donald Trump in the November 2020 polls for the White House.
- Democratic delegates from 50 states and seven territories voted for Biden in a roll call that took place entirely online
- The nomination was a formality, as Senator Bernard Sanders withdrew from the contest in April.
National & International Appointments
5. Luis Rodolfo Abinader sworn in as Dominican Republic president
- Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (53 year) has been sworn in as the 54th President of Dominican Republic.
- He succeeds Danilo Medina of Liberation Party.
- The elections in Dominican Republic took place as Covid19 pandemic was sweeping across the Caribbean nation having 10.5 million people.
- Abinader’s Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) won the elections with 53% vote, while Gonzalo Castillo who was the candidate of the ruling PLD got 37.7%.
- Capital: Santo Domingo
- Currency: Peso
Obituaries
6. Inventor of Pixel, Russell Kirsch passed away
- Computer scientist Russell Kirsch (91 years) passed away in Portland, Oregon.
- He was the inventor of ‘Pixel’ and scanned World’s first digital photograph by creating 2-by-2-inch black-and-white digital image of his son.
- Pixels: Digital dots used to display photos, video and more on phone as well as computer screens.
- He is also the developer of world’s first programmable computer, SEAC (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer).
National Affairs
7. Reliance Retail took majority stake in digital pharmacy startup Netmeds
- Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd has acquired majority equity stake in Vitalic Health Pvt Ltd and its subsidiaries Netmeds for Rs 620 crore ($83.08 million)
- RRVL now represents 60% holding in equity share capital of Vitalic and 100% direct equity of its subsidiaries Tresara Health, Netmeds Market, Dadha Pharma Distribution
- Netmeds: licensed e-pharma portal, provides authenticated prescription, OTC medicine and health products
Obituaries
8. British Tennis pioneer Angela Buxton passes away
- Former Renowned British tennis player, Angela Buxton (85 years) passed away
- She won Grand Slam doubles champion twice alongside Althea Gibson at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 1956.
- She also reached the singles final at Wimbledon 1956 but lost to American Shirley Fry.
- He tennis career lasted, when she was 22 due to hand condition.
- She also secured the French Open doubles crown along side Althea Gibson
- Buxton was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015
Agreement
9. Delhi Police signs MoU with AIIA for Ayurveda health services
- Delhi Police has signed MoU with All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) to offer Ayurveda Preventive and Promotive health services in the residential colonies of Delhi Police
- Services will be provided through mobile unit named ‘Dhanwantari Rath’ and Police Wellness Centres
- It will include Doctors team who will visit Delhi Police colonies on regular intervals
- Delhi Police has also formed ‘AYURAKSHA’ with AIIA to by distributing kits among police personnel
National Affairs
10. Union Minister launches App for loan applications facilitation of Street Ve
- Minister of State (I/C), Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri has rolled out mobile app for Urban Local Bodies (ULB) functionaries.
- It will be a user friendly digital interface that will facilitate loan applications of street vendors under the Prime Minister Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme.
- Under PM SVANidhi scheme, street vendors can get working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000 which is repayable in monthly installment in one year tenure
Agreement
11. Flipkart signs MoU with IIT Patna for Artificial Intelligence research
- Flipkart has signed MoU with IIT Patna to encourage industry focused applied research in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML).
- It is a academic collaboration which it has been promoting for past 5 years and is a initiative of flipkart
- It will facilitate the students and scholars of IIT Patna to get real world industry exposure along with offering opportunities to the faculty members to work closely with Flipkart
Science & Technology
12. DIAT launches ‘Pavitrapati’ & ‘Aushada tara’ in fight against COVID-19
- Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, DIAT has rolled out two products titled as ‘Pavitrapati’ and ‘Aushada tara’ to fight against COVID-19.
- Pavitrapati: Ayurvedic based Biodegradable Face Mask which will act as a virus neutraliser to provide resistance against the bacteria / virus, which will be made available on Amazon and Flipkart soon.
- Aushada tara: Anti-microbial body suit which comprises of superhydrophobic, breathing, anti-microbial, comfort feeling properties.
National Affairs
13. 'Swachh Survekshan 2020' results announced
- Swachh Survekshan 2020 results has been announced declaring Indore as India's cleanest city for 4th time and Chhattisgarh as the cleanest state for 2nd time.
- Surat (Gujarat) bagged the 2nd spot followed by Navi Mumbai in cleanest city category
- Swachh Survekshan is a annual cleanliness survey, which ranks India's cities, towns and states
- It was first released in 2016.
- Swachh Survekshan League model was adopted in 2020 where assessment happened throughout the year.
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