Today's Current Affairs-3rd September 2022

INTERNATIONAL

G7 agrees to implement price cap on Russian oil, seeks inputs from all countries

• Members of the G7 have agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil in a bid to hit Moscow’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine. The cap on crude oil and petroleum products would also help reduce global energy prices. The cap will be set at a level based on a range of technical inputs. “We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the G7 said. Russia said it would stop selling oil to countries that imposed price caps. “Companies that impose a price cap will not be among the recipients of Russian oil,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The G7 (Group of Seven) consists of the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The group is an organisation of the world’s seven largest “advanced” economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system.
• The introduction of a price cap on Russian oil means countries that sign up to the policy will only be permitted to purchase Russian oil and petroleum products transported via sea that are sold at or below the price cap. In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the price of oil soared and has remained at high levels, meaning Russia has increase its revenues from the fossil fuel despite its export volumes falling.
• China and India – major trading partners for Russia – may not follow G7 policy on Russian oil, analysts say. They have not joined the Western sanctions targeting Russia.

About G7:

Founded: 1975

Founded at: Washington, D.C.

G7 Member countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

About Russia:

President: Vladimir Putin 

Capital: Moscow

Currency: Russian ruble

Prime Minister: Mikhail Mishustin

India to host Quad Senior Official Meeting Next Week amidst Taiwan tensions

• The first such Senior Official Meeting after the tensions over Taiwan Strait will be hosted by New Delhi, an official-level meeting of the Quad grouping with the U.S., Japan and Australia next week. The Quad Meeting that is scheduled on Sept 5-6 will be organised with India’s Indo-Pacific partners in the week. It is seen as the government’s “balancing” moves for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit that is to be held in Uzbekistan in mid-September.
• SCO Summit is the first such in-person meeting after Covid 19 and the beginning of the Ukraine War and it will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with leaders from the countries, Russia, China, Pakistan, Central Asia and Iran. U.S. Assistant Secretary of States for South and Central Asia Donald Lu will be leading the American delegation to discuss bilateral issues. On the other hand, the Director General of the Foreign Policy Bureau in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Keiichi Ichikawa will attend the meetings.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join US President Joe Biden and prime ministers of Australia and Japan at a summit of the Quad leaders in Tokyo on May 24 which is taking place amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Making the announcement of Modi’s participation at the summit, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Modi will also have bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

About Taiwan:

President: Tsai Ing-wen 

Capital: Taipei City

Currency: New Taiwan dollar

Official language: Mandarin Chinese

The Markham City of Canada Has Named a Street after the Internationally Acclaimed Music Composer AR Rahman

• Oscar-winning music icon, AR Rahman recently had the honour of getting Canada’s Markham city’s street named after him. He is one of the most loved musicians worldwide. Known as the ‘Mozart of Madras, Rahman has delivered several hit songs and compositions which will be remembered eternally. He had started his career with Mani Ratnam‘s Roja and has only excelled since then. Some of his hit and award-winning compositions include Dil Se, Jai Ho, Ek Ho Gaye Hum Aur Tum, Rang De Basanti, and Ay Hairathe among many more.
• Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian film composer, record producer, singer and songwriter who works predominantly in Indian cinema (particularly Tamil and Hindi films) and occasionally international cinema.
• In 2010, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the nation’s third-highest civilian award. Among Rahman’s awards are six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South.

About Canada:

Queen: Queen Elizabeth II 

Capital: Ottawa

Currency: Canadian dollar

Official languages: French, English

 NATIONAL

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Launches “CAPF e-Awas” Portal

• CAPF eAwas: Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled the CAPF eAwas web-portal for the Central Armed Police Forces. The Central Armed Police Forces have always been a solid backbone of the nation’s internal security, Mr. Shah stated in remarks made on the occasion. More than 35,000 police officers have died since independence-day while maintaining internal security, he mentioned, and as a result of their sacrifices, people may sleep well at night and feel secure.
• The Indian government launched the “Ayushman CAPF” programme to give families of fallen soldiers access to better medical care.
• Ten lakh service members have received more than 35 lakh Ayushman Cards as part of this CAPF eAwas programme.
• Approximately 56 thousand bills totaling more than 31 crore rupees have already been paid using this programme.
• A unified web-portal called “CAPF eAwas” that has been created in order to operationalize the improved policy of allocation and to also increase transparency in the allocation process.
• The web service would allow eligible CAPF and Assam Rifles troops to register online and receive housing allocations.

About Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) :

Federal agency: IN

General nature: Federal law enforcement

Governing body: Ministry of Home Affairs

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Yamuna Kumar Chaubey gets charge of NHPC chairman and managing director

• Yamuna Kumar Chaubey takes over as Chairman and Managing Director of NHPC for three months beginning September 1. He succeeded Abhay Kumar Singh. Chaubey is currently Director (Technical) in NHPC & has been given additional charge of the post of CMD for a period of 3 months till a regular incumbent joins the post. Abhay Kumar Singh ceased to be the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the company with effect from August 31, 2022, upon attaining the age of superannuation.
• Chaubey, 59, is a graduate in Civil Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur. He joined NHPC Limited in 1985 as a Probationary Executive (Civil) at 540 MW Chamera Hydro-Electric Project, now Chamera-I Power Station, Himachal Pradesh. He is also serving as Chairman on the board of Bundelkhand Saur Urja Ltd and appointed as nominee director on the boards of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited and Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd from October 1, 2020 and June 1, 2021 respectively.

About NHPC Limited:

Founded: 7 November 1975

Headquarters: Faridabad, India

Purpose: Electricity generation, energy trading

Parent organization: Government of India, Ministry of Power

Power stations: Salal Dam

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

AICTE, Adobe Tie Up To Advance Digital Literacy In India

• Adobe and AICTE collaborate: The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in order to advance digital creativity capabilities throughout the nation, has struck a partnership deal with Adobe. According to a release, under the terms of the agreement, Adobe will provide training for educators, provide courses, and incorporate digital creativity into the curriculum to give kids the fundamental creative and digital literacy skills they need to succeed in today’s digital-first society.
• By 2024, the alliance hopes to equip more than 75,000 educators working in 10,000 institutions of higher learning with critical digital creativity abilities.
• The secret is to encourage digital and creative abilities if India is to become the world’s skill capital.
• Through our partnership with AICTE, Adobe aims to strengthen the nation’s skilling ecosystem while equipping teachers and students with the modern skills they need to succeed in the post-pandemic, digital-first future.

About All-India Council for Technical Education:

Founded: November 1945

Sector: Technology education

Headquarters: New Delhi

Agency executive: Anil Sahasrabudhe (Chairperson)

About Adobe:

CEO: Shantanu Narayen (1 Dec 2007–)

Headquarters: San Jose, California, United States

Founded: December 1982, Mountain View, California, United States

CTO: Abhay Parasnis

Founders: Charles Geschke, John Warnock

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Shri Hardeep S. Puri presents Smart Solutions Challenge & Inclusive Cities Awards 2022

• The Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs & Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri presented Smart Solutions Challenge & Inclusive Cities Awards 2022. These awards are an initiative of the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the United Nations (UN) in India to address city-level accessibility and inclusion challenges faced by persons with disabilities (PwD), women and girls, and the elderly.
• The Smart Solutions and Inclusive Cities Awards 2022 was designed with the aim of promoting people-centric design and fostering novel home-grown technological innovations and solutions. Over 100 entries were received through an open call for applications, out of which the top 10 technology-based innovations were identified as winning solutions after an intensive round of screenings and shortlisting by an eminent 7-member jury panel.

About NIUA:

Located in: India Habitat Centre

Founded: 25 June 1976, New Delhi

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Goldman cuts India's growth estimate; Morgan Stanley sees downside risks

• The quarterly gross domestic product figures for April through June falling short of market expectations, Goldman Sachs has revised lower its growth projections for India. A lower-than-expected growth during April to June increased the negative risk to current fiscal year growth predictions by 40 basis points.
• In the reporting quarter, India’s real GDP growth increased 13.5% year over year, falling short of the 15.2% projection made by experts surveyed by Reuters.
• GDP growth momentum decreased to -3.3% quarter-on-quarter after increasing by 0.5% from January to March.
• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a prominent global investment banking, securities, and investment management company, offers a comprehensive range of financial services to a sizable and diversified clientele that consists of businesses, financial institutions, governments, and private individuals.

About Morgan Stanley :

CEO: James P. Gorman (1 Jan 2010–)

Headquarters: New York, United States

Founded: 5 September 1935, New York, United States

Founders: Henry Sturgis Morgan, Dean G. Witter, Harold Stanley, Reynolds Securities

 Moody's slashes 2022 growth forecast for India to 7.7%

• Moody’s Investors Service drastically reduced India’s GDP growth by 1.1 percentage points, citing a slowdown in global growth, rising interest rates, and an irregular monsoon as reasons for the economy’s potential to lose steam in the coming quarters. According to Moody’s Global Macro Outlook 2022-2023 study, India’s central bank is anticipated to maintain a hawkish posture this year and keep a moderately restrictive policy stance in 2023 to prevent domestic inflationary pressures from escalating.
• India’s GDP is now expected to grow at a 7.7% annual rate, down sharply from the earlier estimate of 8.8% in May.
• This information was released a day after government data revealed that the Indian economy expanded 13.5% year over year during the April–June quarter.
• But according to experts, this expansion is anticipated to slow down in the future quarters due to, among other things, rising interest rates.
• A more rapid decline in global commodity prices would have a large positive impact on growth, according to Moody’s.
• If the private sector capex cycle were to pick up steam, economic growth would be stronger than what is anticipated for 2023.
• Even though it marginally decreased in July to 6.7%, inflation is still 7. consecutive months above the central bank’s goal range of 2–6%, according to Moody’s Global Macro Outlook 2022–2023 report.

About Moody's Investors Service:

Headquarters: New York, United States

Founder: John Moody

Founded: 1909, New York, United States

India leaps past UK to become world's fifth-largest economy

• India has surpassed Britain to become world’s fifth largest economy, Bloomberg reported. The change in ranking has pushed the United Kingdom to the sixth spot as the country continues to grapple under the brutal cost-of-living shack. The Indian economy is forecast to grow more than 7 per cent this year. On an adjusted basis and using the dollar exchange rate on the last day of the relevant quarter, the size of Indian economy in “normal” cash terms in the quarter through March was USD 845.7 billion. On the same basis, UK was USD 816 billion, according to the report.
• IMF’s own forecasts show India overtaking the UK in dollar terms on an annual basis this year, putting the Asian powerhouse behind the US, China, Japan and Germany. A decade ago, India ranked 11th among the largest economies, while the UK was fifth. The government is expecting the economy to grow at 7-7.5 per cent in 2022-23, in line with its projections made at the beginning of this financial year. India registered a growth of 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. “We remain on course to meet the 7.4 per cent. We expect to achieve. This does not really reflect on what is expected to be annual real GDP growth. So, 7-7.5 per cent in that range. 7.4 per cent is what the IMF has predicted,” Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said on Wednesday.

According to the International Monetary Fund, these are the highest ranking countries in the world in nominal GDP:

1.United States (GDP: 22.49 trillion)

2.China (GDP: 16.4 trillion)

3.Japan: (GDP: 5.27 trillion)

4.Germany: (GDP: 4.30 trillion)

5.India: (GDP: 3.21 trillion)

6.United Kingdom: (GDP: 3.2 trillion)

7.France: (GDP: 2.78 trillion)

8.Italy: (GDP: 2.07 trillion)

9.Brazil: (GDP: 1.87 trillion)

10.Canada: (GDP: 1.71 trillion)

About United Kingdom:

Prime Minister: Boris Johnson 

Capital: London

Currency: Pound sterling