WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the launch of the ‘Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs’, as per which it will impose monetary penalties on ATMs/WLAs that run out of cash.
• The Scheme shall be effective from October 01, 2021. Therefore, banks/ WLAOs should put in place a robust system for monitoring the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs.
• Cash-out at any ATM of more than ten hours in a month will attract a flat penalty of ₹ 10,000/- per ATM. In the case of White Label ATMs (WLAs), the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular WLA. The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the WLA operator.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an Rs 11,000 crore National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils, including palm oil.
• The government will ensure that farmers get all the facilities, from quality seeds to technology under the mission. While India has become self-sufficient in rice, wheat and sugar, it was not enough as the country is hugely dependent on imported edible oils.
• The Centre has already been running a National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm to boost oilseeds and palm oil production in India for the last few years with an aim to lower imports.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Karnataka has become the first state in the country to issue the order with regard to the implementation of the National Education Policy-2020.
• The state government has issued an order on the implementation of NEP-2020 with effect from the current academic year 2021-2022.
• This policy seeks to entirely overhaul the system through various reforms: A single regulator to oversee higher education; no more MPhil courses before PhD; fixed fees for public and private institutions; students can choose between three and four-year undergraduate courses; multiple entries and exit points in degree courses.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• The Indian Navy and UAE Navy conducted the bilateral naval exercise ‘Zayed Talwar 2021’ on August 07, 2021, off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
• The main objective of the ‘Zayed Talwar 2021’ naval exercise was to enhance interoperability and synergy between the two navies. Indian Navy participated with INS Kochi, with two integral Sea King MK 42B helicopters, deployed in the Persian Gulf.
• From UAE, UAES AL – Dhafra, a Baynunah class guided missile corvette and one AS – 565B Panther helicopter took part in the exercise.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Veteran actor Anupam Shyam has passed away. The actor was best known for his work on the TV show Mann Kee Awaaz: Pratigya and appearances in films like Slumdog Millionaire and Bandit Queen.
• In his nearly three-decade-long career, Shyam featured in films like Satya, Dil Se, Lagaan, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and received critical acclaim for his role as Thakur Sajjan Singh on Mann Kee Awaaz: Pratigya which aired in 2009 on Star Plus.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

India and Saudi Arabia are all set to conduct their first-ever naval exercise called “AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021”.

About:

• To participate in the exercise, India’s guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi reached Saudi Arabia.
• The joint naval exercise will showcase the reflection of growing defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia.
• INS Kochi reached Saudi Arabia after conducting a naval exercise with the UAE Navy off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

India was ranked at 122nd position among 181 countries in Global Youth Development Index, 2020. Commonwealth Secretariat released this triennial ranking of youth development for 181 countries.

About:

• The index measures the status of young people among 181 countries across the world.
• Singapore was ranked at the top for the first time.
• It is followed by Slovenia, Norway, Malta and Denmark.
• The bottom countries in the index include- Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Niger.
• Index highlights that, condition of young people has improved worldwide by 3.1 per cent in between 2010 and 2018. However, the progress remained slow.
• In the index, 156 countries recorded at least slight improvements in their scores.
• The report also highlights the positive trajectory of youth development pre-pandemic time, which the covid-19 virus could reverse if urgent action is not taken to secure the gain.
• The top five improvers include- India, Afghanistan, Russia, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso. They advanced their score on an average by 15.74 per cent.
• Countries like Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Jordan and Lebanon witnessed the greatest decline in youth development between 2010 and 2018.

How this index ranks countries?

• The Global Youth Development index ranks countries between the score of 0.00 (lowest) and 1.00 (highest) on the basis of developments in youth with respect to education, health, employment, equality & inclusion, political & civic participation, peace and security.
• It provides a score on the basis of 27 indicators, including literacy and voting, to showcase the state of 1.8 billion people across the world aged between 15 and 29.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Industrialization in China occurred at a breath-taking pace which lifted people out of poverty and transformed China into the world’s factory. However, this also made China the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. As a result, China has set the goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2060.

What is carbon neutral?

Carbon neutral means cutting carbon dioxide emissions as large as possible and offsetting what cannot be eliminated. This can be done by switching to renewable energy sources like using solar power instead of coal.

China’s goal

Despite being the world’s second-largest economy, China is considered a developing nation. Accordingly, it has not reached its emissions peak. By 2030, China will be committing to bring down carbon neutrality 2060. If China gets success in it, it will be the fastest decline from peak emissions.

How China can achieve the goal?

• China requires finding replacements for fossil fuels powering its economy and rapid urbanization.
• Recently in July, China opened the world’s largest carbon trading market that created a framework for how emissions are priced and regulated in the nation.
• China is also expanding the use of electric vehicles and automation besides investments in nuclear power. Nuclear power doesn’t emit greenhouse gases.
• It is also spending on research into technologies like storage batteries and has been using hydrogen fuel to complement low-emissions energy sources.
• The government has also directed local authorities to develop regional plans in order to lower emissions and curb wasteful uses of electricity like in Bitcoin mining.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed that the countdown for the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F10 EOS-03 mission has started.

Union minister of state (MoS), Jitendra Singh, recently confirmed in Lok Sabha that the Earth Observation Satellite-03 is scheduled to be launched on August 12.

About GSLV-F10 EOS-03 mission

• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F10 (GSLV-F10) will launch Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-03) on August 12 from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.
• EOS-03 is a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite. It will be placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10.
• The satellite will reach the geostationary orbit using its onboard propulsion system.
• The satellite will also carry a 4-metre diameter Ogive-shaped payload for the first time in this GSLV flight.
• This will be the fourteenth flight of GSLV.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, India’s first Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) will be held for three days starting from October 20, 2021.

About:

• The launch of the Internet Governance Forum was announced by Anil Kumar Jain, CEO of National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Chairman of Coordination Committee.
• Pre-IIGF engagement events will also start from August 2021 across colleges and universities.
• Pre-events will be organised with the aim of engaging students and youth to participate in the main event in October.
• IIGF 2021 will be held under the theme- “Inclusive Internet for Digital India”.

About IIGF?

IIGF, which stands for India Internet Governance Forum, is an Internet Governance policy discussion platform. IIGF is an Indian version of the Internet Governance Forum under the United Nations. It is organised with the aim of taking into account the aspirations of Indians at their International policy formation and stakeholder discussion. It also seeks to ensure the growth of broadband that adheres to the lifestyle and requirements of the Indian community. Indian version of IGF also adopts the multi-stakeholder concept to organize this event.

Coordination committee

The coordination committee of the IIGF is composed of representation from the Government, industrial association, civil society, industry, trust, and other stakeholders.

About IGF

IGF stands for Internet Governance Forum. It is a United Nations forum incorporating multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on issues related to Internet Governance. An announcement for the establishment of IGF was made in July 2006 by United Nations Secretary-General. After that, the first meeting was held in October-November 2006 in Athens in Greece. Since then, annual meetings are held