Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)issued the first set of guidelines for digital lending, to crack down on illegal activities by certain players. Towards addressing concerns that had sprung up, the RBI had constituted a Working Group on ‘digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps’ (WGDL) in January, 2021. The …

Recently, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has released a report titled “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022: Investing in transforming futures for young people”. It is the only tripartite United Nation (UN) agency. It brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member States (India is a member), to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes …

Recently, Russia suspended United Stated of America’s on-site inspections under New START Treaty with Washington due to Western sanctions and coronavirus infections. New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was the last remaining arms reduction pact between the former Cold War rivals and caps to 1,550 the number of nuclear warheads that can be …

In July 2022, Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) witnessed a net outflow of Rs 457 crore as investors parked their money in other asset classes as part of their portfolio rebalancing strategy. This was in comparison to a net inflow of Rs 135 crore in June 2022. Gold ETF, which aims to track the domestic physical gold …

India has hosted the Pre-Summit meeting of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs). The Tiger Range Countries Summit is scheduled to be held at Vladivostok, Russia on 5th September 2022. In January 2022, the 4th Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger conservation was held. India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority has also decided to introduce guidelines for the reintroduction of tigers that can …

Recently, a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that examined the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021, has submitted its suggestions on the Bill. The JPC has accepted several amendments made by the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change (MoEFCC). The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA) was enacted to provide for the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, …

On World Biofuel Day 2022, the government of India announced a 2nd generation (2G) ethanol plant to be set up at the Indian Oil Corporation’s refinery in Haryana. This ethanol plant will help reduce air pollution from the Delhi and the NCR region along with generating additional income and green fuel. World Biofuel Day It is celebrated every year on …

Recently, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Communications stated that there is no impact on the Environment due to Electromagnetic Field levels in India. Electromagnetic fields are a combination of invisible electric and magnetic fields of force. Electric fields are created by differences in …

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Review announced a 50-basis point hike in the repo rates thereby taking the cumulative rate hike over the last three months to 140 basis points.  Policy Repo Rate: 5.40% Repo rate is the rate at which the …

Recently, Government has modified the earlier scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS)’ with nomenclature ‘Pradhan MantriAdiAdarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY)’ for implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26. It supplements the efforts of State Governments for development and welfare of tribal people by extending Special Central Assistance as an additive to the State Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP). It …