Why in news?

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Giriraj Singh launched Online Course Mobile App “Matsya Setu” for fishermen.

About Matsya Setu App

• Matsya Setu app was developed by ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar.
• Funding support was provided by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad.
• This app comprises of species-wise or subject-wise self-learning online course modules.
• On the app, renowned aquaculture experts will explain basic concepts and practical demonstrations regarding breeding, seed production and grow-out culture of commercially important fishes such as carp, murrel, catfish, scampi, ornamental fish and pearl farming.

Why in news ?

• Satish Agnihotri has taken over charge as Managing Director, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. He comes with more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of mega rail infrastructure projects.
• He has worked as Chairman & Managing Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a schedule ‘A’ CPSE under the Ministry of Railways for close to 9 years. During his tenure as CMD/RVNL, RVNL completed 7000 km of project length including 3000 km doubling/3rd line, 880 km conversion of metre gauge track to broad gauge, 3000 km railway electrification, 85 km new line, 6 factories and many important bridges.
• A 7 km long tunnel was also completed in a record time of 25 months in a new line project in Andhra Pradesh.

Syllabus:

Context:

The latest round of meetings among the opec+ group of oil-exporting countries has stalled.

Background:

• The opec+ group of countries had, in april 2020, entered into a two-year agreement.
  • It entailed steep cuts in crude production to deal with a sharp fall in the price of oil as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
  • The price of brent crude hit an 18-year low of under $20 per barrel in april 2020 as economic activity around the world crashed as countries dealt with the pandemic.
  • The initial production cut by opec+ was about 10 million barrels per day or about 22 per cent of the reference production of opec+ nations.
• In november 2020, however,the price of brent crude started climbing consistently by the steady rollout of vaccination programmes around the world.
• Opec+, however, maintained lower levels of production despite crude oil prices reaching pre-covid levels.
  • With saudi arabia, notably, announcing a further cut in production of 1 million barrels per day for the february-to-april period.
  • It helped boost rising prices even further.
• The opec+ group ran into sharp criticism from developing economies, including india, for deliberately maintaining low supply levels to raise prices.
• The petroleum minister had even stated the high price of crude oil was slowing down the economic recovery of developing economies post the pandemic.
• In april, opec+ agreed to gradually increase crude production as prices reached $64.5 per barrel including a phased end to saudi arabia’s 1 million barrel per day cut in production by july 2021.

Issues:

• The uae agreed that there was a need to increase crude oil production from august 2021;
  • But did not agree to a condition by the opec joint ministerial monitoring committee (jmmc)that;
  • The two-year production agreement will be extended by six months.
• The uae’s key objection to the existing agreement is the reference output used to calculate the total production apportioned to each oil-exporting country.
• The uae noted that the baseline production level reference used in the current agreement was not reflective of the uae’s production capacityand, therefore, led to the uae being apportioned a lower share of total production of crude oil.
• The uae noted that the baseline reference production levels were unfair and that it would be open to extending the agreement if baseline production levels were reviewed to be fair to all parties.

Impact on india:

• If the uae and other opec+ nations do not reach an agreement to increase production in august 2021, expected relief in the form of lower crude oil prices could be delayed.
• India is currently facing record-high prices of petrol and diesel, with pump prices of the former exceeding rs 100 per litre in 13 states and union territories.
• High crude prices have led to indian oil marketing companies hiking the price of petrol by about 19.3 per cent and that of diesel by about 21 per cent since the beginning of 2021.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/opecs-output-pact-proposal-how-will-decision-affect-india/

Question:

Why in news ?

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), while reviewing market conditions and market borrowing program of government, has decided that benchmark securities of 2-year tenor, 3-year tenor, 5-year tenor, 10-year tenor & 14-year tenor and Floating Rate Bonds (FRBs) will be issued using uniform price auction method. However, for benchmark securities of 30-year and 40-year, auction will continue to be multiple price-based auction.

1. What is Government Security?

G-sec is a tradable instrument which is issued by Central Government or State Governments. It acknowledges Government’s debt obligation. G-Secs are of two types:

2. Short Term– They is usually called treasury bills. They have original maturities of less than one year. It is issued in three tenors viz., 91-day, 182-day and 364-day.
3. Long Term– They are usually called Government bonds or dated securities having original maturity of one year and more.

Why in news ?

Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened on July 3, 2021 and its center approached south-central Cuba.

About:

• Caribbean Island government issued hurricane warnings in provinces of Cienfuegos and Matanzas.
• According to U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast, Tropical Storm Elsa would strengthen more before moving over Cuba.
• As per data of NHC, maximum sustained winds were near 100 km per hour with higher gusts.

About Hurricane Elsa

Elsa is an active tropical cyclone which is affecting and threatening portions of Caribbean and South-eastern United States. It is the fifth named storm and first hurricane of Atlantic hurricane season 2021. On June 29, Elsa was first monitored by National Hurricane Center (NHC) as a tropical wave. It was then designated as Potential Tropical Cyclone.

Why in news ?

Union government is set to launch a new scheme called “NIPUN Bharat Initiative”. It will be launched to improve numeracy, foundational reading, and understanding for early-stage students.

About ‘NIPUN Bharat Mission’

• NIPUN stands for “National Initiative for Proficiency in reading with Understanding and Numeracy”.
• This scheme would provide an enabling environment in a bid to ensure universal acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy.
• It will ensure that every child achieves desired learning competencies in reading, writing, and numeracy by end of Grade 3, by the year 2026-27.
• This initiative will be a part of school education programme, Samagra Shiksha.

Which is the implementing agency?

NIPUN Bharat initiative will be implemented by school education department of Union government. In order to implement it, a five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up at national, state, district, block, and school levels across all states and Union territories.

Why in news ?

• A group of scientists who discovered two new species of jumping spiders from the Thane-Kalyan region named one of them after the brave police constable Tukaram Omble who lost his life in the 26/11 terror attacks.
• The species is called ‘Icius Tukarami.’
• The paper citing the discovery of the new species was published in the Russian science journal Anthropoda Selecta by scientists Dhruv A. Prajapati, John Caleb, Somnath B. Kumbhar and Rajesh Sanap

Why in news ?

• Top para high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu was named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent in the Tokyo Paralympics, which begins on August 24.
• Thangavelu, who is defending the T-42 gold he had won in the 2016 Rio Paralympics during the August 24 to September 5 showpiece in Tokyo, was picked for the honour by the executive committee of the national body.
• The 25-year-old Thangavelu, who was conferred with the Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting award, last year is one of the 24 para-athletes picked by the selection committee for the Tokyo Paralympics.
• Thangavelu, who hails from Salem district in Tamil Nadu, suffered a permanent disability at the age of five when a bus crushed his right leg below the knee.

Why in news ?

• The 7th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), concluded in France on July 01, 2021. The biennial event was hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion from 28 June to 01 July 2021.
• From India, Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, participated in the inaugural session of the event virtually. France is the current chair of the Symposium, which assumed the Chairmanship on 29 June 2021 for two-year tenure.
• The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a series of biennial meetings, held between the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region, to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the member states, by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues such as maritime security cooperation, discuss regional maritime issues, and promote friendly relationships.
• The first such symposium was held in 2008 with India as host.
• The chairmanship and location of the Symposium rotates between the various member states.

Why in news ?

• Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the next chief minister of Uttarakhand. He will be the youngest CM of Uttarakhand. 45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami, an MLA from the Khatima constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district.
• He will replace Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned from the post. Dhami was elected by the state leaders during the legislature party meeting in Dehradun