Current Affairs and Corporate Affairs as on 23rd July 2020

CURRENT AFFAIRS AS ON 23rd JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS

(1.) Rajnath Singh chairs Group of Ministers meeting on welfare of street vendors :- Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a Group of Ministers meeting on the welfare of street vendors. The meeting which took place in New Delhi, reviewed the progress of Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Aatma Nirbhar Nidhi. This scheme was launched by the Ministry of Urban Development last month. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Hardeep Singh Puri, Ram Vilas Paswan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and others.

(2.) 10th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting : Piyush Goyal calls for all nations to enhance transparency in their trade & build trust :- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for all nations to enhance transparency in their trade and build trust to prevent losing their role as a preeminent trade partner. Addressing the 10th BRICS Trade Ministers virtual Meeting, Mr. Goyal said that it is trust and transparency which determines the sustainability of global supply chains and nations must demonstrate their compliance with global rules of trade to remain a part of global trade flow.

(3.) HRD Ministry conducts first ever Ind-SAT Test 2020 under its Study in India program :- Human Resources and Development Ministry conducted the first ever Indian Scholastic Assessment (Ind-SAT) Test 2020 under its Study in India program. Nearly five thousand candidates from Nepal, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zambia, Indonesia and Mauritius appeared for the exam yesterday. The exam was conducted in the proctored Internet mode by the National Testing Agency. The Ministry said, Ind-SAT is an exam for grant of scholarships and admissions to foreign students for studying in selected Indian universities. The exam is designed to gauge the scholastic capability of students applying to study in India. The Ind-SAT scores will serve as a criterion to shortlist the meritorious students for the allocation of scholarships for under graduate as well as post graduate programs under Study in India program.

(4.) No employee will be laid off, no reduction in basic pay, DA : Air India :- Air India has made it clear that no employee of the organization will be laid off. Recent decisions of the Air India Board regarding rationalization of staff cost were reviewed in a meeting at the Civil Aviation Ministry this evening. In a series of tweets, Air India said, it has been reiterated in the meeting that unlike other carriers which have laid off large numbers of their employees, no employee of Air India will be laid off. It informed that there has been no reduction in the basic pay, dearness allowance and HRA of any employees. It said, flying crew will be paid as per the actual number of flown hours. Air India said, the rationalization of allowances had to be implemented due to the difficult financial condition of the airline, further worsened by COVID-19. It said, the rationalization of allowances will be reviewed as domestic and international operations are expected to reach pre-COVID levels.

(5.) Defense Ministry formally sanctions Permanent Commission to Women Officers in all streams of Indian Army :- Defense Ministry has issued the formal Government Sanction Letter for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in the Indian Army. This will pave the way for empowering Women Officers to shoulder larger roles in the organisation. The order specifies grant of PC to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) Women Officers in all ten streams of the Indian Army namely, Army Air Defense (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC).

STATE NEWS

(1.) 3 Megawatt Solar Power Plant commissioned at Indian Naval Academy in Kerala :- Indian Navy commissioned a three megawatt solar power plant at Indian Naval Academy situated in Ezhimala, Kerala. This is in line with the government initiative of ‘National Solar Mission’ to achieve 100 gigawatt of solar power by the year 2022. The solar plant is the largest in Indian Navy and has an estimated life of 25 years.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

(1.) World leaders to submit pre-recorded video statements for UN General Assembly :- Heads of state and government will not be physically attending the annual United Nations General Assembly session in September due to a corona-virus pandemic and the high-level session goes virtual for the first time in the United Nation’s 75 year history. World leaders will submit pre-recorded video statements the 193-member organisation has decided. The landmark 75th session of the UN General Assembly will begin on September 15th. The General Debate is held at the beginning of each session of the General Assembly and usually runs for over a week when leaders and ministers from the 193 UN member states address the world from the iconic lectern in the General Assembly hall. The General Assembly adopted a decision on Wednesday that each Member State, observer State and the European Union can submit a pre-recorded statement of its Head of State, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall during the general debate of the Assembly at its seventy-fifth session.

(2.) Turkmenistan gets observer status in World Trade Organization :- Turkmenistan has been granted Observer status by the World Trade Organization (WTO ) General Council. Turkmenistan has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body, a WTO Spokesperson said yesterday. The Central Asian country filed a request for Observer status in May and expressed willingness to trigger the talks on accession to the WTO within five years. Neighbouring Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Afghanistan — have acceded to the WTO, while Uzbekistan has been in on-and-off negotiations on WTO accession since 1994.

(3.) International Union of Railways nominate DG of RPF, Arun Kumar as its security platform’s Vice-Chairman :- International Union of Railways, UIC, Paris, has nominated Director General of Railway Protection Force, Arun Kumar, as Vice-Chairman of its security platform. Mr. Kumar will take over as chairman of the platform from July 2022 to July 2024. The decision was taken in the 96th General Assembly of the Union. The Security Platform of the Union is empowered to develop and formulate analysis and policy positions for matters relating to security, property and installation in the rail sector.

(4.) India, Maldives sign contract for setting up Neighbourhood Fish Processing Plants :- India and Maldives signed a contract for setting up Neighbourhood Fish Processing Plants at two of the islands in the neighboring country. High Commissioner of India Sunjay Sudhir participating in the ceremony recalled that the MoUs for implementation of the Fish Processing Plants were signed during a Video conferencing between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Ibrahim Solih last December. He noted that there had been concrete progress regarding the projects despite the obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic. These fish-processing plants are the first in a series of High Impact Community Development (HICDP) projects that India and Maldives have committed to execute together under a total grant of US Dollars 5.5 million.

BUSINESS AND FINANCE

(1.) CCI approves Krishnapatnam port acquisition by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited :- The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited. The proposed combination envisages acquisition of equity shareholding along with management control of Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited.

IMPORTANT DAYS

(1.) National Broadcasting Day being observed today :- Today is National Broadcasting Day. On this day in 1927, the first ever radio broadcast in the country went on air from the Bombay Station under a private company, the Indian Broadcasting Company.


CORPORATE AFFAIRS AS ON 23rd JULY 2020

MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS (MCA)

(1.) Corporate Seva Kendra of MCA is shifting to a new location 17th July 2020 onwards and can be reached at its new number 0120 483 2500.

DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

(1.) India’s First 700 MWe Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor at Kakrapar, Gujarat Attains Criticality.

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

(1.) Press Information Bureau and Regional Outreach Bureau organize webinar on ‘Mental Health in the time of COVID-19.’

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

(1.) Finance Minister holds 2nd review meeting on CAPEX of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

SEBI PRESS RELEASE/ CIRCULARS

(1.) Reporting to Stock Exchanges regarding violations under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 relating to the Code of Conduct (CoC)

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(2.) Allowing Offer for Sale (OFS) and Rights Entitlements (RE) transactions during trading window closure period.

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(3.) Baroda Mutual Fund Scheme Information Document (SID)

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(4.) Miscellaneous Order in the Matter of Modex International Securities Limited

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(5.) Interim Order in the Matter of Five Core Electronics Limited

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Thanks for Reading Current Affairs and Corporate Affairs as on 23rd July 2020

Compiled By : CS Surbhi Saxena

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