1) World Brain Day celebrates globally on July 22
•The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) celebrates World Brain Day on every July 22, focusing on a different theme each year. According to WHO, good brain health is a state in which every individual can realize their own abilities and optimize their cognitive, emotional, psychological and behavioural functioning to cope with life situations.
What is the theme of World Brain Day 2022?
•World Brain Day (WBD) 2022 is dedicated to the theme “Brain Health for all” as our brains continue to be challenged by pandemics, wars, climate change and the myriad of disorders impacting human existence globally.
2) Five years of Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana completed
•The five years of the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana are now complete. 21 July, 2017 marked the official launch of the programme. The programme is a social security programme for the elderly that aims to provide them with a guaranteed minimum pension based on a guaranteed return on the purchase price or subscription fee. The minimum investment required to participate in this scheme has been increased to one lakh 56 thousand 658 rupees for a pension of 12,000 per year and to one lakh 62 thousand 162 rupees for a pension of at least 1,000 rupees per month. The programme, which was in place through 2020, has now been extended for an additional three years, through March 31, 2023.
3) Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma launched ‘Swanirbhar Naari’ scheme
•Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched ‘Swanirbhar Naari’, a scheme to empower indigenous weavers in Assam’s Guwahati. The state government will procure handloom items directly from indigenous weavers via a web portal under the scheme. The scheme will help in preserving the heritage of handlooms and textiles in the state.
4) Egypt’s Seif Ahmed named as FIH acting president
•The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has appointed Egypt’s Seif Ahmed as its acting president following Indian administrator Narinder Batra’s resignation from the post. Batra resigned as FIH president and also quit as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief. He also gave up his International Olympic Committee (IOC) membership which was directly linked with his IOA position.
•Executive Board has officially accepted Batra’s resignation and unanimously appointed Ahmed as its interim chief till fresh elections are held on November 5 during its two-day virtual Congress. Ahmed played for Egypt’s national team in 1968 and has a long association with the sport as an umpire and technical official. He is a member on the FIH Executive Board since 2001. The FIH is also concerned that Hockey India has been placed under a three-member Committee of Administrators by the Delhi High Court when the country is scheduled to host the 2023 World Cup.
6) Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem named as new Kuwait’s Prime Minister
•Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has issued a decree to appoint Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem as a new Prime Minister. The appointment of a new PM comes three months after former Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Hamad Al-Sabah submitted his resignation, the fourth in the past two years and a half.
7) Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned
•Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Draghi has stepped down from his post after key coalition parties withdrew their support for his government on measures tackling the high cost of living. Draghi submitted his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella. However, Draghi’s government will continue to function under a caretaker capacity till a new leader is elected. He was elected as Prime Minister of Italy in February 2021.
•Draghi’s exit will also be a setback to the western alliance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Italian leader has taken an uncompromising stand towards Moscow and was a key architect of the tough sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
•Italy’s inflation rate hit 8 per cent in June, its highest level since 1986, according to the statistical agency. Faltering on a tight schedule of promised reforms would also jeopardise Rome’s ability to receive €200bn from the EU recovery fund.
8) Zero coupon, zero principal bond declared by Govt as securities
•The government has designated “zero coupon zero principal instruments” as securities in preparation for the creation of a social stock exchange. A Not for Profit Organization (NPO) that will be registered with the social stock exchange segment of a recognised stock exchange will issue a zero coupon, zero principal instrument. According to a formal announcement released on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will establish the laws that would apply to these instruments.
9) Rajarshi Gupta named as Managing Director of ONGC Videsh
•Rajarshi Gupta has been appointed as Managing Director of ONGC Videsh. He was recommended for the position by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). He has more than 33 years of wide-ranging experience in supervisory, managerial and strategic planning capacities in domestic and international operations of ONGC and ONGC Videsh.
10) FICCI downgrades India’s GDP growth forecast for 2022-23 to 7%
•Industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has downgraded India’s economic output estimate for this financial year by 40 basis points to 7% for 2022-23. In April, FICCI had estimated India’s growth at 7.4% for 2022-23. Owing to geopolitical uncertainties and their impact on Asia’s third largest economy.
•However, in its latest round of Economic Outlook Survey (July 2022), it revised the growth projection on account of geopolitical uncertainty and its repercussions for the Indian economy. The present round of surveys that drew responses from leading economists representing the industry, banking, and financial services sector, was conducted in the month of June 2022.
11) ADB cuts India GDP growth forecast for FY23 to 7.2%
•The Asian Development Bank (ADB), has slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7.2 per cent for FY23. Earlier this was estimated at 7.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the Manila-based multilateral development bank has revised down FY24 growth forecast to 7.8 per cent, from 8 per cent estimated earlier. It, however, raised the inflation forecast for India to 6.7% for FY23 from the 5.8 % estimated earlier.
12) Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index June 2022: India ranks 118
•India’s rankings fell by three spots in the median mobile speeds, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index. India has at the number 115th spot in May this year, but it dropped down to 118th in June. In April and May, India’s mobile broadband speeds improved. But the month of June 2022, saw the median mobile download speeds in India decrease from 14.28 Mbps in May to 14.00 Mbps, according to the data.
•India’s median download speeds on fixed broadband marked an improvement at 48.11 Mbps in June 2022, from 47.86 Mbps in the previous month. This pushed the country’s global ranking three notches higher, to 72nd spot in June 2022 from 75th in May 2022.
