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The NITI Aayog and Mastercard have released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’. The report identifies challenges in accelerating Digital Financial Inclusion (DFI) in India and provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to its 1.3 billion citizens. Digital Financial Inclusion “Digital financial inclusion (DFI)” can be defined broadly as digital …

A number of Covid-19 patients are developing a serious fungal infection known as Mucormycosis also called black fungus. Important points: Mucormycosis: It is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes, which is abundant in the environment. It mainly affects people who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness. The types of …

Recently, Indian Prime Minister participated in the India-European Union (EU) Leaders’ Meeting. The meeting was held in a hybrid format with the participation of leaders of all the 27 EU Member States as well as the President of the European Council and the European Commission. This is the first time that the EU hosted a meeting with India …

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has issued a notification making it mandatory for all States/UTs to grant certificate of disability through online mode only using UDID (Unique Disability ID) portal w.e.f. 01.06.2021. Important points: The project is being implemented with a view of creating a National Database for persons with disabilities (PwDs), and to issue a Unique …

Recently, a report by Hunger Watch claimed that Covid-19 has left the urban poor in India poorer, more hungry and with less nutrition than their rural counterparts. Hunger Watch is a loose collection of social groups and movements. Earlier, a study from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had found that an additional 207 million people could be …

According to the S&P Global Ratings, India’s sovereign rating will remain unchanged at the current level of BBB- for the next two years despite the potential adverse impact of surging pandemic on its economy. S&P is one of the largest credit rating agencies, assigning letter grades to companies and countries and the debt they …

Recently, Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries (USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) held a meeting in London, UK. The 47th G7 Summit will be held in June 2021. The UK is the host country. Important points: Australia, India, South Korea, South Africa and the Chair (Brunei Darussalam) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Australia, India, South …

Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed a plea by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to restrain media from reporting oral observations of the judges. The SC ruled that the media has rights to report observations made during the course of hearings (Court Proceedings). Important points: Real-time reportage of court proceedings, including the oral exchanges in courtrooms between …

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mooted the concept of ‘Model Insurance Village (MIV)’ to boost insurance penetration in rural areas. According to the Economic Survey for 2020-21, India’s insurance penetration, which was at 2.71% in 2001, has steadily increased to 3.76% in 2019, but stayed much below the global average of 7.23%. Recently, the Parliament …

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a series of measures to support the nation’s fight against the second wave of Covid-19 infections The measures form the first part of a calibrated and comprehensive strategy against the pandemic Earlier in 2020 also the RBI took measures to help deal with the economic fall out of the pandemic. …