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NATIONAL Digital India flagship programme completed six years  The government s flagship programme- Digital India has completed six years.  The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge’ economy.  Prime Minister had launched this ambitious programme on 1st July,2015.  Mr Modi will interact with beneficiaries of Digital India via video conferencing.  The programme is being organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. ‘ ’  Minister of Electronics and Information Technology will also be present on the occasion.  Digital India has turned out to be one of the biggest success stories of New India. Seventh Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Concludes in France  ‘The 7th edition’ of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France starting from 28 June to 01 July 2021.  It is a biennial event hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion.  France is the current chair of the Symposium, which assumed the Chairmanship on 29 June 2021 for a two-year tenure.  From the Indian side, Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, participated virtually. BANKING AND ECONOMIC HDFC Bank launches ‘Salaam Dil Sey’ initiative to show gratitude to doctors  HDFC Bank launched a Salaam Dil Sey initiative to show gratitude to doctors for their tireless service during the pandemic, and to pay tribute to doctors across the country.  Salaam DelSey encourages one and all to take a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of doctors and provides a platform to show their gratitude to doctors, who are bravely fighting the pandemic, at the risk of their own lives.  As part of this initiative, the bank has created a web platform salaamdilsey.com wherein the general public can logon on to the microsite and share the thank you message for doctors which can be immediately shared via email, social media, and WhatsApp. World Bank approves USD 800-million loan for Pakistan  The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 800 million to cash-strapped Pakistan, financing schemes on clean energy and human capital development.  The loan amount would be utilized for schemes which are not covered due to the budget deficit for 2021-22 fiscal.  The board of directors of World Bank approved financing for two programmes Pakistan Program for Affordable and Clean Energy (PACE) and Securing Human Investments to Foster Transformation (SHIFT-II). –  The World Bank also approved USD 400 million for SHIFT-II which supports a federal structure to strengthen basic service delivery for human capital accumulation. World Bank approves USD 500 mn loan to India  World Bank stated it has approved a USD 500 million (about Rs 3,717.28 crore) loan programme to support India s informal working class to overcome the current pandemic distress.  The loan will create greater flexibility’ for states to cope with the ongoing pandemic, future climate and disaster shocks.  Of the USD 500 million commitments, USD 112.50 million will be financed by its concessionary lending arm International Development Association and USD 387.50

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 03 JULY 2021

million will be a loan from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).  The World Bank mentioned its total funding towards strengthening India s social protection programmes to help the poor and vulnerable households since the start of the pandemic stands at USD 1.65 billion (about Rs 12,264.54 crore). ’ STATE GOVT NEWS Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launches ‘YSR Bima’ scheme  Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Bima scheme with new guidelines, where the government itself will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of deceased to make the insurance claims easier.‘ ’  The Chief Minister stated that the government has prioritised public health care, thus soon after forming the government, the annual income for Aarogyasri has been pegged at Rs 5 lakh and increased the number of treatments to 2450. Chief Minister resigned “ ”  Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, less than four months after taking over, and hours after holding a press conference to talk about the achievements of his government.  Rawat handed over his resignation to Governor , citing the constitutional provision requiring him to get elected to the Assembly within six months, and the unlikelihood of that.  To keep the post, Mr Rawat, who is an MP, would need to win an assembly seat and become a member of the Uttarakhand legislative assembly by September 10.  The BJP has called a meeting of its legislature party in Uttarakhand on July 3 to elect a new leader with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar being appointed as observer for the meeting. CM declared Rs. 20 lakh cash reward to first fully vaccinated assembly constituency in the state  In Manipur, the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced that a cash reward of Rs. 20 lakh would be given to the first fully vaccinated assembly constituency.  The cash reward is aimed to encourage mass vaccination drives being taken up in all the Assembly constituencies of the State.  In the launching program of Mobile Insulated Vaccination Bus in Imphal East, Shri Biren stated that the nationwide free vaccination drive conducted under the leadership of Prime Minister is the only weapon to fight COVID-19.

DAY AND DATES International Day of Cooperatives – Observed on First Saturday of July  International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance.  Theme of International Co-operative Day 2021 is: Rebuild Better Together .  The aim of this celebration is to increase awareness of cooperatives, highlight the complementary goals and objectives of the United‘ Nations and the international’ cooperative movement, underscore the contributions of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations and strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors. INTERNATIONAL World Bank expands $20 billion For coronavirus vaccine funding

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 The World Bank pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous target of $12 billion, citing a sharp increase in overall financing demand from developing countries.  World Bank President David Malpass stated the global development bank had already provided more than $4 billion to 51 developing countries for the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, and would add billions for 25 more countries soon. Google India publishes first transparency report under the new IT rules  Google India has published its first transparency report under the new IT rules which includes details of complaints received from users in the country and the action taken across Google s platforms that are classified as significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) under the rules.  The report currently’ covers complaints received“ and auctioned between April 1 and April 30” this year.  Google stated there will be a two-month lag on reporting in a bid to allow sufficient time for data processing and validation.  Under the new rules, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Indian players like ShareChat, Koo, and Chingari will have to publish a compliance report on a monthly basis.

SPORTS Nihal Sarin Clinches Silver Lake Open 2021 Chess Tournament  On June 30, 2021, 17 year old Nihal Sarin won the gold medal in the Silver Lake Open chess tournament held in Serbia.  In the final round, he defeated Branko Damljanovic of the host.  Sarin won eight of the nine points to finish with a score of 8.0/9. List of Top 3 Winners :  Nihal Sarin  Raunak Sadhwani  Abhimanyu Puranik Indian Navy’s athlete MP Jabir first Indian male to participate in 400m hurdles in Tokyo Olympics  On July 01, 2021, 25-year-old Naval sailor from Kerala, MP Jabir qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 400m hurdles.  Jabir would be the first Indian male athlete to participate in the 400m hurdles in Olympics.  He is currently ranked 34th in the World Athletics Road to Olympics rankings where 40 athletes qualify. MISCELLANEOUS’ CRPF signs MoU with C-DAC  The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies and undertake joint projects.  The MoU aims at augmenting the technical capabilities of CRPF by training its manpower in advanced areas like Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, High-Performance Computing and Big Data Analytics.  The agreement will also provide the expertise of C-DAC in the form of Technology Partner and Knowledge Partner in developing various ICT solutions of CRPF.  Ravideep Singh Sahi IG Communication and IT on behalf of CRPF and Dr. Hemant Darbari, DG C-DAC on behalf of C-DAC, signed the 5 Year MoU in the presence of CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh. APPOINTMENT NEWS Ashok Leyland appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as EV arm head 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 3

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 Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland stated it has appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of its electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility.  Switch Mobility, which commenced formal operations, combines the electric commercial vehicle operations of Ashok Leyland and its British arm Optare to secure a leading global position in net-zero carbon buses and light commercial vehicles.  Andy Palmer has been appointed as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from July 1 supported by an experienced team of experts to deliver the company s ambitions to be a leader in urban e-mobility, Ashok Leyland, a Hinduja Group firm. ICICI-Securities’ appointed Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science Unit  ICICI Securities (I-Sec), India s leading retail-led equity franchise, distributor of financial products, and investment bank, announced the appointment of Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science’ Unit, taking another step in the direction of strengthening its data and analytics acumen.  Nilotpal Gupta, who has over 20 years of extensive experience in analytics and related roles in the financial services and technology industry, was previously the Director of Analytics and Information Management at Citi.

ONE LINER  International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance. Theme of International Co-operative Day 2021 is: Rebuild Better Together .  The government s flagship programme- Digital India has completed six years. The vision of Digital India programme is to transform India into‘ a digitally empowered’ society and knowledge’ economy.  The World Bank pledged to boost available funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment to $20 billion from a previous target of $12 billion, citing a sharp increase in overall financing demand from developing countries.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the YSR Bima scheme with new guidelines, where the government itself will directly pay the insurance amount to the family of deceased to make the insurance claims easier.‘ ’  Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, less than four months after taking over, and hours after holding a press conference to talk about the achievements of his government.  The cabinet decided to grant one-month compulsory leave every year to police personnel from the rank of constable to sub-inspector to visit their homes.  In Manipur, the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced that a cash reward of Rs. 20 lakh would be given to the first fully vaccinated assembly constituency. The cash reward is aimed to encourage mass vaccination drives being taken up in all the Assembly constituencies of the State.  Google India has published its first transparency report under the new IT rules which includes details of complaints received from users in the country and the action taken across Google s platforms that are classified as significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) under the rules.  Elon Musk s ’ satellite network Starlink is on“ track to beam broadband internet everywhere” in the world except the polar regions by August.  HDFC Bank’ launched a Salaam Dil Sey initiative to show gratitude to doctors for their tireless service during the pandemic, and to pay tribute to doctors across the country.  The World Bank has approved a loan of USD 800 million to cash-strapped Pakistan, financing schemes on clean energy and human capital development.

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 Commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland stated it has appointed former Aston Martin chief Andy Palmer as Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of its electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility.  ICICI Securities (I-Sec), India s leading retail-led equity franchise, distributor of financial products, and investment bank, announced the appointment of Nilotpal Gupta as the Head of its Data Science’ Unit, taking another step in the direction of strengthening its data and analytics acumen.  The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies and undertake joint projects.  The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France starting from 28 June to 01 July 2021. It is a biennial event hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion.  On June 30, 2021, a group of scientists found a new snail genus and species from the Amboli hill area in , Western Ghats. The new genus, Varadia, has been named after herpetologist Dr Varad Giri, meanwhile the species has been christened as Varadia amboliensis.  A group of researchers discovered Black-bellied Coral snake in forests of Uttarakhand. The snake was observed in the Bhadraj Block of Benog Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mussoorie Forest Division.  On June 30, 2021, 17 year old Nihal Sarin won the gold medal in the Silver Lake Open chess tournament held in Serbia.  On July 01, 2021, 25-year-old Naval sailor from Kerala, MP Jabir qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 400m hurdles. Jabir would be the first Indian male athlete to participate in the 400m hurdles in Olympics.  The two-time defence secretary and one-time presidential candidate, Donald Rumsfeld Passed away.

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