Today's Current Affairs-30th August 2022

NATIONAL

Andhra Pradesh signs MoU with parley for the Oceans:

• The State government entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S.-based “Parley for the Oceans” on plastic-waste management in Andhra Pradesh.
• The MoU was signed by Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), Audimulapu Suresh, MAUD Principal Secretary, Y. Sri Lakshmi and Founder of “Parley for the Oceans” Cyrill Gutsch. It was exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, during a programme held at AU Convention Centre, in Visakhapatnam, on August 26. Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet (GASP) will be partnering the project.
• Speaking during the programme, CM Reddy said that as part of the MoU, around ₹16,000 crore investment is expected for Andhra Pradesh in the next six years. This apart, about 20,000 employment will be generated for the locals with a minimum of at least ₹16,000 salary per month.

About Andhra Pradesh:

Capital: Amaravati

Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan

Chief Minister: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Founded: 1 November 1956

India refers to ‘militarisation’ of Taiwan Strait in spat with Chinese envoy

• India has for the first time referred to what it called “the militarization of the Taiwan Strait”, marking a rare instance of New Delhi appearing to comment on China’s actions towards Taiwan. The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka released a statement in which India accused China of “militarizing the Taiwan Strait.”
• India made the statement after a Chinese military research vessel docked at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port for a week.
• Recently, China completed its large-scale military drills around Taiwan in response to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
• India has followed a “One China policy” since 1949 and maintained trade and cultural relations with Taiwan. India stopped mentioning this policy in its official statements after 2008.
• The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometre wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental China (and Asia of course). The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.

About China:

Capital: Beijing

President: Xi Jinping

Currency: Renminbi

Official language: Mandarin

About Taiwan:

Capital: Taipei City

President: Tsai Ing-wen

Currency: New Taiwan dollar

Official language: Mandarin Chinese

 SPORTS

Verstappen cruises to Belgian Grand Prix victory from P14 as Perez completes Red Bull 1-2

• Red Bull’s driver Max Verstappen has won the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix 2022. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez & Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished at second and third positions respectively. Verstappen has now won 9 of this season’s 14 races. It was his 71st podium finish & he collected 26 points from this race. Verstappen won the Belgian GP in 2021 as well.

About Red Bull Racing:

Engine: Honda in Formula One

Headquarters location: Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Founder: Dietrich Mateschitz

Founded: 2004, United Kingdom

Base: Milton Keynes, England, UK

Chassis: RB18

Technical director: Pierre Waché

Viktor Axelsen, Yamaguchi win singles titles at BWF World Championships

• Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen has clinched his second BWF World Championships men’s singles title after beating Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand in Tokyo, Japan. World number one Axelsen has lost only one singles match this season and was too much for 21-year-old rising star Vitidsarn, who was blown away in the first game. The win gave Axelsen his sixth title of the season.

List of winners in different categories-

S.No	Category	Winner	Runner up
1	Men’s Singles	Viktor Axelsen	Kunlavut Vitidsarn
2	Women’s Singles	Akane Yamaguchi	Chen Yufei
3	Men’s Doubles	Aaron Chia	Soh Wooi Yik
4	Women’s Doubles	Chen Qingchen	Jia Yifan
5	Mixed Doubles	Zheng Siwei	Huang Yaqiong

About BWF World Championships:

Founded: 1977; 45 years ago

 IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2022 observed on 30^th August

• International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances is observed globally on the 30th of August every year by United Nations. The day is being observed to express deep concern about the rise in enforced or involuntary disappearances in different regions of the world including the incidents of arrest, detention and abduction. According to the UN, more than 6,000 people were registered as missing in Kosovo since 1999. Hence, the resource centre for missing persons in Kosovo has also been initiated by the UN.
• The day is observed to raise awareness about the suffering of people who are arrested, detained or abducted against their will and governments refuse to disclose the whereabouts of such people. Enforced disappearance is a global problem that is still being practised around the world. It is a serious violation of human rights that is not restricted to a specific region.

About United Nations:

Founded: 24 October 1945

Headquarters: New York, United States

Secretary general: António Guterres

National Small Industry Day 2022: 30^th  August

• In India, the National Small Industry Day is celebrated on 30 August every year, to support and promote small Industries for their overall growth potential and opportunities received for their development in the year. The day recognises the contribution of small industries to the country’s growth. The day is also an opportunity for the central and state governments to encourage and support small industries. These small businesses offer employment to a large number of people in India.
• The day motivates and shapes government policies to enhance the efficiency of the small-scale sector. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are an integral part of the value chain and to foster the ecosystem, the government is working tirelessly.
• The National Small Industry Day can be traced back to August 2000 when the government formulated a comprehensive policy package for small-scale industries (SSI) in India. On August 30, it was decided by the Ministry of Small-Scale Industries that the very day would be observed as SSI Day.

 RANKING

Bengaluru second on list of top tech hubs in APAC after Beijing: C&W Report

• Bengaluru ranks second in the Asia Pacific region in the top tech hubs list and is only behind China’s Beijing, according to a report by Cushman and Wakefield. The report, called ‘Tech Cities: The Global Intersection of Talent and Real Estate’, studied as many as 115 different ‘tech cities’ across the globe. After Beijing and Bengaluru, the list has three other Indian cities, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Mumbai and Pune also made it to the top-10 list with eighth and ninth position in a list of 14 cities from the APAC.
• The study considered factors such as talent, real estate and business environment to assess and evaluate the cities. Stating that Bengaluru is home to India’s largest Grade A office market, the report called the city one of the largest contributors to office space leasing with an average share of 25-30% in annual pan-India leasing activity from 2017 to 2021. The tech sector has accounted for an average 38-40% share in annual leasing activity (2017-2021) in the Bengaluru office market, which is higher than the national average of 35%, the report added.

About China:

Capital: Beijing

President: Xi Jinping

Currency: Renminbi

Official language: Mandarin

About Karnataka:

Governor: Thawar Chand Gehlot

Capital: Bengaluru (Executive Branch)

Chief Minister: Basavaraj Bommai

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Rupee rises 7 paise to 79.84 against US dollar in early trade

• After hitting all-time low, the rupee recovered some of its losses to settle 10 paise down at 79.94 (provisional) against the US dollar, tracking the strength of the American currency and firm crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 80.10 and fell to its all-time low of 80.15 against the US dollar in intra-day trade. The local unit finally settled at 79.94 a dollar, down 10 paise over its previous close of 79.84. On July 20, the rupee for the first time closed below the 80-mark at 80.05 against the American currency.
• The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.28 per cent higher at 109.10, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell adopted a hawkish tone to battle inflation. According to Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the rupee depreciated and touched an all-time low on a strong dollar and deteriorating global risk sentiments.
• Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose by 0.64 per cent to USD 101.64 per barrel. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 861.25 points or 1.46 per cent lower at 57,972.62, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 246.00 points or 1.4 per cent to 17,312.90. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 51.12 crore, as per stock exchange data.

Reliance AGM 2022: Mukesh Ambani Announces Total Investments Of Rs 3.5 Lakh Crore

• Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), on Monday announced investment plans to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh crore at the 45th annual general meeting of the company. In his speech, Ambani said investment plans include Rs 2,00,000 crore on rapid rollout of 5G, Rs 75,000 crore in expanding O2C capacities across value chains and Rs 75,000 crore in new energy business, as announced last year, with potential to double the commitment based on scalability of evolving models.
• Ambani announced that RIL will invest Rs 75,000 Crore in the next five years to expand capacities in existing and new value chains with an aim to maximise oil to chemicals integration and convert advantageous feedstock streams to high-value chemicals and green materials. Reliance to be among top five producers of PVC globally. Plans to triple existing capacity with world scale plants at Dahej and Jamnagar in India and in the UAE. In the new materials business, India’s first and one of the world’s largest carbon fibre plants to be built at Hazira, in phases to become a multi decade growth engine for O2C.

About Reliance Industries Limited:

Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani

Founded: 8 May 1973, Maharashtra

Headquarters: Mumbai

Owner: Mukesh Ambani (49.46%); Public (50.54%)

NMDFC signs pact with ICICI Bank for development of banking software

• The National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) on Thursday said it has signed an agreement with ICICI Bank for the development of financial accounting software and mobile application.
• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides for the development of financial accounting software for NMDFC and State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs), loan accounting software for receiving and processing of loan applications and accounting of repayments from beneficiaries.
• ICICI Bank will design, develop and deploy the application for NMDFC, provide source code and executable database information among others, an official statement said.
• The customised banking software will bring greater transparency and speed of transactions in the loaning and accounting process of NMDFC as well as SCAs.

About ICICI Bank:

CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi (15 Oct 2018–)

Headquarters: Vadodara

Founded: 1994, Vadodara

Founder: Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India

About National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC):

Founded: 30 September 1994