July 20th Current Affairs

1. Indian Institute of Heritage.

IN NEWS:

The government has decided to set up the ‘Indian Institute of Heritage’ at Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar.

KEY POINTS:

• This will impact higher education and research in the field related to rich Indian heritage and its conservation leading to Masters and Ph.D courses in History of Arts, Conservation, Museology, Archival Studies, Archaeology, Preventive Conservation, Epigraphy and Numismatics, Manuscriptology etc. as well as conservation training facilities to in-service employees and the students of the Indian Institute of Heritage.
• The Institute is being set up as Deemed to be University by integrating Institute of Archaeology (Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology), School of Archival Studies under National Archives of India, New Delhi, the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC), Lucknow, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMICHM) and Academic Wing of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.
• These shall become various schools of Institute.
• Indian Institute of Heritage will be a world-class university that would focus on the conservation and research in India’s rich tangible heritage, while offering research, development and dissemination of knowledge, excellence in the education of its students and activities associated with heritage that contribute to the cultural, scientific and economic life of India.
• This would be a standalone Institution of its type in the country.

SOURCE:PIB

2. India emerges as 5th largest forex reserves holder in the world.

IN NEWS:

 India’s forex (Foreign Exchange) reserves stood at $608.99 billion as on June 25, 2021.

KEY POINTS:

• With this, India has emerged as the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia.
• In 2020-21, India’s balance of payments recorded surplus in both current account and capital account which contributed to the increase in foreign exchange reserves during the year.
• Besides exports and imports of goods and services, the overall stability of the external sector depends on other components of balance of payments including remittances (transfers), income in the current account, the size of net capital flows and external debt.
• India is comfortable in most of these external sector vulnerability indicators.

What is Foreign Exchange Reserves?

• These are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies, which can include bonds, treasury bills and other government securities.
• Most foreign exchange reserves are held in U.S. dollars.
• These assets are held to ensure that the central bank has backup funds if the national currency rapidly devalues or becomes altogether insolvent.
• It is an important component of the Balance of Payment and an essential element in the analysis of an economy’s external position.
• India’s Forex Reserve
• It includes: Foreign Currency Assets(FCA), Gold reserves, Special Drawing Rights and Reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• FCAs are Assets that are valued based on a currency other than the country’s own currency. It is the largest component of the forex reserve. It is expressed in dollar terms.
• Special drawing rights (SDR): It is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. It is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. The value of the SDR is calculated from a weighted basket of major currencies, including the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan, and British Pound.

SOURCE:PIB

3. National Logistics Excellence Awards.

IN NEWS:

The Government of India announced the launch of a new category of awards named the National Logistics Excellence Awards.

This newly launched awards will provide with due recognition to the various players involved in the logistics supply chain in the country.

KEY POINTS:

• The awards are divided in two categories. The first category includes service providers and logistics infrastructure and second category will be awarded for the various user industries.
• The launch of the National Logistics Excellence Awards will highlight best practices which include process standardisation, consolidation, digital transformations, technological upgrade and sustainable practices in the logistics sector.
• Through these awards, the government aims to turn the spotlight on logistics service providers who have attained adopted digitisation and technology, operational excellence, pursued sustainable practices and improved customer service among the many other achievements.
• For the user industries, these awards will showcase efforts towards supplier ecosystem development, supply chain transformation, automation, skill development and other similar endeavours.
• The government has said that the winners of these awards will be announced on 31^st.

SOURCE:IE

4. Marine Aids to Navigation Bill.

IN NEWS:

The government  had introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha that seeks to repeal the decades old Lighthouse Act of 1927 to make way for shifting to modern aids from lighthouses for marine navigation.

KEY POINTS:

• Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports Shipping and Waterways, introduced the Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, which he had termed to be very important for developing the entire navigation system of India.
• This bill was passed in the Lok Sabha way back in March
• This bill is aimed at maintenance, development and management of marine aids to navigation around the country.
• The salient features of the Bill include development of vessel traffic services for enhancing the efficiency and safety of shipping, marking of wrecks in general waters to indicate sunken or stranded vessels for safe navigation and to protect the environment.
• Also, this bill seeks for the development of heritage lighthouses across the nation.

SOURCE:IE