In a major reform, the Union Cabinet has approved the participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions.

Bengaluru-headquartered Navi Technologies, a financial services startup founded by Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, has launched a mobile app to provide instant personal loans, targeted at consumers in the middle-income segment. The ‘Navi Lending’ app will provide instant loans of up to Rs 5 lakh with repayment tenures of up to 36 months

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a Compressed Bio Gas Plant (CBG) at Namakkal and five CBG fuel stations in Pudhuchattiram and Rasipuram.

The CBG plant has been set up by IOT Infrastructure and Energy Services, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. and Germany’s Oil tanking GmbH at a cost of Rs.25 crore.

India to be World’s First Country to Use Drone Mounted ULV Sprayer for Locust Control.

President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. It is in pursuance with the commitment to ensure the safety of depositors across banks. The Ordinance will amend the Banking Regulation Act 1949 as applicable to Cooperative Banks.

India’s insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formulated a 9-member working group headed by Anjan Dey, general manager of the New India Assurance, to suggest insurance products covering various risks involved in the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System(RPAS)/ Drones. The panel shall need to submit its report within six weeks.

The pandemic situation in the country called for various efforts to revive the industries affected due to countrywide lockdown. The CGSSD stands for Credit Guarantee Scheme for Sub-ordinate Debt which was launched by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSME, Minister Nitin Gadkari. Under this scheme, the Founders of the MSMEs will be given credit equal to 15 percent of their stake or 75 lakh rupees whichever is lower. There will be a moratorium of 7 years on payment of principal whereas maximum tenure for repayment will be ten years.

Swiss National Bank (SNB) has released ‘Annual banking statistics, 2019’. According to the latest SNB data, India has moved down three places to 77th rank in terms of money parked by its citizens.

Srikakulam TDP MP K Ram Mohan Naidu has created a record as he is the youngest MP to be honoured with Sansad Ratna Award 2020.
Ram Mohan Naidu has been nominated for the ‘Jury Committee Special Award’ for his overall qualitative performance and individual efforts.

Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the KapuNestham scheme to provide financial support of Rs 75000/- (Rs 15000/- per annum) to women of Kapu community. The objective of the scheme is to financially empower Kapu women by enhancing their livelihood and living standards with financial assistance.

India Ratings and Research have projected the GDP growth of India to contract by 5.3% in 2020-21 (FY21). India Ratings and Research expect the GDP of India to grow in the range of 5-6% in FY22.

Indian star Priyanka Chopra and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap are among the 50 celebrated filmmakers and actors invited as the ambassadors of a slimmed-down Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released its first report titled “Lives Upended How COVID-19 threatens the futures of 600 million South Asian children” focusing on the South Asian region on the impacts of COVID-19 on children states that around 240 million children are classified as poor and the current COVID-19 situation will affect an additional 120 million children, a total of 360 million children will be pushed into poverty and food insecurity in the next 6 months.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced the launch of ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ in the state on June 25, 2020. Under the scheme, the state will procure cow dung from livestock owners at a fixed procurement rate to make animal husbandry commercially profitable, prevent open grazing by cattle and solve the problem of stray animals on roads and for environment conservation

Liverpool has won the English Premier League 2019-20 title.

For the first time in India, an Aviation Weather Monitoring System has been installed at the Bangalore airport at both ends of the runway.
It is the first airport in India to have this technology installed at both ends of the runway.

Union Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh inaugurated”Puneja Bridge” in Doda district and “Devika Bridge” in Udhampur district in Jammu & Kashmir over a virtual platform.

The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Sub-ordinate Debt (CGSSD) has been launched by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. The Scheme will provide Rs. 20,000 crore of guarantee cover to two lakh MSMEs. The scheme is also called “Distressed Assets Fund–Sub-ordinate Debt for MSMEs”.  Guarantee cover worth Rs. 20,000 crores will be provided to the promoters who can take debt from the banks to further invest in their stressed MSMEs as equity.

Recently, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for the declaration of Kushinagar Airport in the state of Uttar Pradesh as an international airport.

Jharkhand has decided to launch the Employment Guarantee Scheme “Chief Minister Employment Scheme” for the urban poor.

Union Minister of State for Defence Shri Shripad Naik inaugurated a two-day digital conference on the defence & aerospace manufacturing sector Defence Conclave 2020, Gujarat via video conference on 26 June. The conclave is being jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Gujarat and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).

A US court has upheld a verdict that talcum powder sold by Johnson & Johnson caused ovarian cancer and ordered the pharmaceutical giant to pay $2.1 billion in damages.

The Maharashtra government has declared the Vithabai Narayangaonkar lifetime achievement award 2018-19 to a senior tamasha (folk art) artist Gulabbai Sangamnerkar. The honor conveys the money prize of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a memento.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The 37-member FIFA Council voted in an open vote to decide which country will host the Women’s World Cup 2023. While Australia and New Zealand won 22 of the 35 votes cast, Colombia won 13 votes.

A scheme “Atma Nirbhar Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyan” has been launched in Uttar Pradesh to generate employment for the migrant workers of the state who recently returned from other states.

The Union Cabinet has announced the formation of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe).
It will promote the participation of private industries in space activities, including planetary exploration missions.

Jharkhand (CM – Hemant Soren) is set to launch a 100-day employment scheme “Mukhyamantri SHRAMIK (Shahri Rozgar Manjuri for Kamgar) Yojna” to enhance the livelihood and security of urban poor. This scheme is in line with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).After Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (AUEGS), Jharkhand is the 2nd state in the country to launch a job guarantee scheme for the urban poor.

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s financial services startup Navi has launched a mobile app to provide instant personal loans targeted at consumers in the middle-income segment.

The Republic of Mali has awarded the Project Management Consultancy contract to NTPC Limited, a central PSU that functions under the Ministry of Power, in an event held on 24 June 2020. The contract aims to develop 500 MW Solar Park. The event was chaired by the Union Minister of State for Power R.K.Singh, NRE, Skill Development and President of International Solar Alliance (ISA), and Mr.H.E. Sekou Kasse, the Ambassador of Mali.

India has been ranked at the third position according to the finding of the World Bank on the basis of Purchasing Power Parity (PPPs) with the reference year taken as 2017. The findings have been done under the International Comparison Programme (ICP), The next comparison will be undertaken with 2021 as the reference year.