Today's Current Affairs-2nd August 2022

INTERNATIONAL

S Korea, US, Japan to hold Pacific Dragon missile defence drill this week

• A joint ballistic missile defence exercise between South Korea, the US, and Japan will begin this week in the waters off Hawaii as part of increased security cooperation against North Korea‘s growing military threats, a media outlet claimed. According to the sources, the biannual Pacific Dragon drill will take place. Australia and Canada will also take part in the exercise in the edition of 2022, in addition to the three other nations.
• The exercise, which involves the mobilisation of eight warships and two planes, aims to improve coordination between the participating nations in the identification, tracking, and reporting of ballistic missile targets.
• The exercise was planned after the defence chiefs of South Korea, the United States, and Japan decided to improve their security coordination during their trilateral meeting on June 11 in Singapore, which was held in conjunction with the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.

About South Korea:

Capital: Seoul

President: Yoon Suk-yeol

Currency: South Korean won

Prime Minister: Han Duck-soo

About United States (US):

Speaker: Nancy Pelosi (Democratic Party) 

Capital: Washington, D.C.

President: Joe Biden

Currency: United States Dollar

About Japan:

Capital: Tokyo

Prime Minister: Fumio Kishida

Currency: Japanese yen

 NATIONAL

PM Modi inaugurates Deutsche Bank's IBU at GIFT-IFSC

• The Gujarat International Finance-Tec City (GIFT City) in Ahmedabad is home to the Deutsche Bank AG’s IFSC Banking Unit (IBU), which was opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The IBU will first offer financial products in the areas of trade finance, fixed income, and currencies, according to Deutsche Bank AG. According to a release, the IBU will offer all authorised international finance products to Deutsche Bank‘s clients in India and abroad. Additionally, it will enable cash pooling and other deposit proposals for Indian and foreign clients within the parameters of the current regulations.
• Deutsche Bank’s IBU will help its top clients obtain external commercial borrowing (ECB) financing and provide products including factoring and bank guarantees, all of which are anticipated to aid international clients in improving supply chain efficiency and lowering financing costs.

About Deutsche Bank:

Headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany

CEO: Christian Sewing (8 Apr 2018–)

CFO: James von Moltke

Founded: 10 March 1870, Berlin, Germany

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Aurangabad smart city first in India to get Google’s environmental insights data

• The Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) data from Google was officially released in Aurangabad on Wednesday, according to the Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL). This makes Aurangabad the first city in the nation to experience this. The data would aid research groups in formulating sustainable solutions for the city, according to ASCDCL authorities, who noted that the EIE dashboard for Aurangabad was introduced by Google during an event in New Delhi.
• Astik Kumar Pandey, CEO of ASCEDCL and the municipal commissioner of Aurangabad, stated that working with Google to improve the environment and society is a proud time for Aurangabad.
• According to ASCDCL officials, the latest breakthrough is consistent with the city’s commitment to the United Nations’ “race to zero” and “race to resilience” programmes and will help create a sustainable environment for future generations.

About Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL):

CEO : Astik Kumar Pandey

ASCDCL: Aditya Tiwari

Centre for Indian language technology launched at IIT Madras with funding from Nilekani Philanthropies

• The Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat was established by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to advance the state of Indian language technology and make a positive social impact. Rohini and Nandan Nilekani have donated Rs 36 crore through Nilekani Philanthropies to fund this Center, which was opened by Nandan Nilekani. IIT Madras launched the AI4Bharat programme to create open-source language AI for Indian languages.
• All the research data would be accessible to start-ups and other sectors working on Indian language technology because the objective is to energise the ecosystem to do more for Indian languages.
• Over the years, Drs. Mitesh Khapra, Pratyush Kumar, and Anoop Kunchukuttan have served as the center’s directors.
• IIT-Madras says that their group has made numerous contributions to Indian language technology, including cutting-edge Speech Recognition and Machine Translation models.

 OBITUARY

Fidel Ramos, former Philippine president who helped oust Marcos, dies

• Former Philippine President Fidel Valdez Ramos, has passed away due to the complications of COVID-19. He was 94. Ramos served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was a military officer by profession.
• During his tenure, the Philippines was recognized as a budding “tiger economy”. Ramos became a hero to many for defecting from Marcos’s government, in which he led the national police force, spurring the dictator’s downfall during the 1986 popular uprising against his rule. He was from a military background, and become the chief of the Philippine Constabulary and then Vice Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during the time of President Ferdinand E Marcos Sr.

About Philippines:

President: Bongbong Marcos 

Capital: Manila

Currency: Philippine peso

Renowned Bengali Singer Nirmala Mishra passes away in Kolkata

• Renowned Bengali singer Nirmala Mishra has passed away. She was 81. She was born in 1938 in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. She sang various songs in Bengali, Odia, and Assamese films. Her melodies in the Bengali language include ‘Eamon Ekta Jhinuk’, ‘Bolo to Arshi’ and ‘Eai Banglar Mati Te’.
• The West Bengal government has also awarded her ‘Sangeet Samman’, ‘Sangeet Mahasamman’ and ‘Bangabhibhushan’ awards. She has been conferred with the Sangeet Sudhakar Balakrushna Das Award for her lifetime contribution to Odia music.

About West Bengal:

Capital: Kolkata

Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee

Governor: Shri La. Ganesan 

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Auguste Tano Kouame takes charge as World Bank Country Director for India

• The World Bank has appointed Auguste Tano Kouamé as the Country Director for India, effective. He replaces Junaid Kamal Ahmad who recently completed a five-year term. He most recently served as the World Bank’s Country Director for the Republic of Türkiye, where he led the expansion of the Bank’s country program and deepened its support to Türkiye’s climate agenda.
• Prior to this, he served as Director of the Department of Human Development and Economic Management in the World Bank Group’s Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) from January 2017 to April 2019.
• Auguste took field assignments from 2002-05 as Senior Country Economist, based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and, subsequently, as World Bank representative in Haiti.
• Prior to joining the World Bank as a Young Professional in 1996, he worked at the United Nations Development Program and taught Applied Economics in Côte d’Ivoire and France.

About World Bank:

Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States

President: David Malpass

Founded: July 1944, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States

Motto: Working for a World Free of Poverty

Founders: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White

Centre names Satyendra Prakash as principal DG Press Information Bureau

• Senior Indian Information Service officer, Satyendra Prakash has been appointed as the Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau (PIB). A 1988 batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, Prakash, the Principal Director General of the Central Bureau of Communication, will succeed Jaideep Bhatnagar, who superannuated.
• In a career spanning over three decades, Prakash has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, including as Additional Director General, News & Current Affairs in Doordarshan, and Director (Media), Ministry of Communications & IT and Ministry of Civil Aviation in the Press Information Bureau.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Canadian scholar receives ICCR’s ‘Distinguished Indologist for 2021’ award

• Canadian scholar, Jeffrey Armstrong has been awarded the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Distinguished Indologist for 2021. He has presented the award in a ceremony by Manish, India’s consul-general in Vancouver. The citation for the award states that it has been conferred upon Armstrong “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the study/teaching/research in India’s philosophy, thought, history, art, culture, Indian languages, literature, civilisation, society, etc”. He becomes the seventh recipient of this award and joins the earlier recipients from Germany, China, Japan, the UK, South Korea and the USA.
• The annual award was instituted in 2015 during the First World Indology Conference hosted by the then President of India bringing prominent Indologists from the world over to a single platform with Indian scholars to deliberate upon the scope of promoting Indian studies abroad.
• The award comprises a citation, a gold-plated medallion, and US$ 20,000 (approximately ₹1.6 million).

About Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR):

Founded: 9 April 1950, New Delhi

Founder: Abul Kalam Azad

President: Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

Headquarters: Azad Bhawan, I. P Estate, New Delhi - 110002

Director General: Kumar Tuhin

About Canada:

Capital: Ottawa

Currency: Canadian dollar

Prime Minister: Justin Trudeau

BOOKS & AUTHOR

Odisha CM Releases Book ‘Lockdown Lyrics’, A Collection Of Poems

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has released a book titled Lockdown Lyrics’, a collection of poems written by Sanjukta Dash. The poems are an unadulterated narration of the author’s experiences and exasperations during the pandemic. She has reflected all the trauma & tribulations and hope and aspirations of humanity during this most critical journey of society in a long time.
• Sanjukta Dash is a well-known name in Odia literature. She has three anthology of poetries in Odia- Antaswar, Amrut Anwesha and Apekshare Ebe Bi. Lockdown Lyrics is her debut endeavour in English literature published by Authors Press New Delhi.

About Odisha:

Governor: Ganeshi Lal

Capital: Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik