Focus Merit

Category: All Current Affairs

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong wins elections

July 13, 2020
Lee Hsien Loong
  • Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has secured a “clear mandate” with his ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) winning 83 of the 93 contested parliamentary seats in the general election held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Opposition gaining ground by winning a record 10 seats.

India Ranks Eighth For Cancer Preparedness index 2020 Among 10 Asia-Pacific Countries

July 13, 2020
cancer preparedness
  • India has been ranked eighth for cancer preparedness among 10 Asia-Pacific countries where Australia ranked 1st.
  • The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report on “Cancer preparedness in Asia-Pacific: Progress towards universal cancer control”, sponsored by Roche, examines the findings from the EIU’s Index of Cancer Preparedness.
  • The report describes the complexities of the challenge of cancer facing 10 Asia-Pacific countries Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

India becomes second-largest source of FDI in United Kingdom

July 13, 2020
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
  • Based on the latest figures, released by the government of United Kingdom, India has moved up one place to become the second-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in UK in the financial year 2019-20. It was the third largest FDI source in 2018-29.
  • United States remained the top source of FDI for UK in 2019-20.
  • The top five largest source of FDI in UK included US, India, Germany, France and China and Hong Kong.

WHO sets up independent panel to review its handling of COVID-19 pandemic

July 13, 2020
WHO
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) has set up an independent panel to review its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response by governments.
  • The panel will be co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
  • The panel will provide an interim report to an annual meeting of health ministers in November and present a substantive report in May 2021.

SEBI Revamps advisory committee on mutual funds

July 13, 2020
SEBI
  • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has re-constituted its advisory committee on mutual funds that advises the capital markets regulator on matters related to regulation and development of the mutual fund industry.
  • The revamped advisory committee on mutual funds has 20-member and will be headed Usha Thorat, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Roles & Responsibilities of the committee:

  • Issues related to regulation and development of the mutual fund industry.
  • Disclosure requirements and measures required for a change in the legal framework to introduce simplification and transparency in mutual fund regulations

12th July: Malala Day 2020

July 12, 2020
Malala day 2020
  • The United Nations(UN) designated 12th July of every year as Malala Day, to commemorate the birthday of Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist and the youngest recipient of the Nobel prize for peace.
  • In 2013 first “Malala Day: An Education for All Children” was celebrated.

NTPC Ltd won 2019 CII-ITC Sustainability Awards 2020

July 12, 2020
ntpc award
  • National Thermal Power Corporation  Ltd, a central PSU under Minister of Power and India’s largest power generation company, has won the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2019, under the outstanding Accomplishment in Corporate Excellence Category.
  • NTPC has received Commendation for Significant Achievement in the category of CSR.

ADB Renews Pact with IEA to collaborate on Energy Sector

July 12, 2020
abd iea agreement
  • ADB has renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to further scale up collaboration and advance progress on sustainability on energy sector resilience in the Asia and the Pacific region.
  • The three-year agreement, upto 2023, will enable the two organisations to share knowledge and best practice in energy sector data and analysis, on-the-ground engagement, capacity building, technology and innovation among other areas.

Qualcomm to invest Rs 730 crore in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms

July 12, 2020
jio qualcomm
  • US chipmaking giant Qualcomm’s venture arm has invested Rs 730 crore (approximately $97 million) in Jio Platforms for a 0.15 percent stake. This is the 13th foreign investment in Reliance’s $65 billion digital business in a span of 12 weeks.
  • The investment will deepen the ties between Qualcomm and Jio Platforms to support Jio Platforms on its journey to roll out advanced 5G infrastructure and services for Indian customers.

T-Hub partners with MeitY and Digital India to lead program for hardware startups

July 12, 2020
t-hub
  • T-Hub announced its partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Digital India.T-Hub will lead Digital India’s Scale Up program for hardware and IoT startups across India.
  • MeitY and Digital India aim to provide scale up opportunities to the startups and make them ready in terms of product, investment and new market access.