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1. Prime Minister Modi recently congratulated RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das for earning an ‘A+’ rating in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2024, marking his second consecutive achievement of this accolade. Das is one of only three central bankers globally to receive this top rating, alongside Denmark's Christian Kettel Thomsen and Switzerland's Thomas Jordan. The rating, given by Global Finance magazine, assesses central bank governors from nearly 100 nations on factors like inflation control, economic growth, currency stability, and interest rate management. This recognition highlights the RBI's effective management of economic challenges, balancing inflation control with growth amid global economic volatility.
2. India marked its first National Space Day on August 23, 2024, celebrating the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s southern polar region a year earlier. This day highlights India’s advancements in space exploration and aims to inspire future STEM careers. Recent findings from Chandrayaan-3 reveal that the landing area’s terrain is remarkably uniform and support the lunar magma ocean hypothesis, suggesting that the Moon's crust formed from molten rock. Additionally, the topsoil around the lunar south pole contains minerals previously unexpected in the upper crust. Key Indian space missions include Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory, the Gaganyaan TV-D1 test demonstrating the Crew Escape System, and the XPoSat launch for studying X-ray polarization. ISRO also advanced its Reusable Launch Vehicle experiments, concluded SSLV development with successful launches, and saw private companies like Agnikul Cosmos and Skyroot Aerospace make strides with new launch vehicles.
3. The Indian government has launched a pilot project to rename and transform 60 Fair Price Shops (FPS) into "Jan Poshan Kendras" in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. This initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) aims to enhance the nutritional offerings beyond subsidized grains, addressing income challenges for ration dealers while improving beneficiary nutrition. The project plans to convert around 100,000 FPSs into "nutri-hubs" within three years. These Kendras will offer a range of nutritional items, including pulses and dairy products, with 50% of space allocated for these products. FPSs will receive financial support from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and collaborate with organizations like AMUL and eB2B platforms for sourcing. New digital tools will be introduced, such as FPS Sahay for financing, Mera Ration App 2.0 for consumer information, and a Quality Management System (QMS) for real-time quality control. These tools are expected to improve efficiency and transparency in the public distribution system. PMGKAY, initiated in 2020 to support low-income households during the Covid-19 pandemic, provides free food grains to over 80 crore beneficiaries. The scheme, initially ending in December 2022, was extended and will continue until December 2028, benefitting approximately 81.35 crore individuals.
4. Recently, police in Gopalganj, Bihar, seized 50 grams of Californium, a highly radioactive metal valued at approximately Rs 850 crore. Californium, with the chemical symbol Cf and atomic number 98, is a silvery-white, soft, and malleable metal first synthesized in 1950 at Berkeley. It tarnishes slowly at room temperature and can be sliced with a razor blade.This metal is a powerful neutron emitter, making it useful in various applications, including portable metal detectors for identifying gold and silver ores, locating water and oil layers in wells, and detecting metal fatigue in aircraft. Californium-252 (Cf-252) is also used in radiation therapy for treating brain and cervical cancers when other treatments fail. Priced at around Rs 17 crore per gram internationally, Californium is one of the most expensive substances in the world.
5. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has heightened its regulatory oversight of Non-Banking Financial Company–Peer to Peer (NBFC-P2P) lending platforms due to multiple regulatory breaches, including high levels of non-performing assets (NPAs). Violations discovered by the RBI include unauthorized deposit acceptance and excessively high balances in escrow accounts. Concerns were raised as some P2P platforms allowed lenders to recall their funds prematurely and replace them with new lenders unaware of the loans they inherited, resembling Ponzi schemes. A Ponzi scheme, named after Charles Ponzi, is a fraudulent investment scheme where returns for earlier investors are paid using funds from new investors. P2P lending platforms facilitate direct lending between individuals and borrowers through RBI-regulated NBFCs, meant to expedite short-term loans. RBI guidelines specify that NBFC-P2P entities should function solely as intermediaries without bearing credit risk. Additionally, P2P platforms are prohibited from marketing peer-to-peer lending as an investment product with guaranteed returns or liquidity options.