Current Affairs in English – August 11 2022

National Events:

PNB Housing Finance:

PNB Housing Finance has revamped its ‘ Unnati ‘ loan portfolio to offer affordable housing loans of ₹ 9-12 lakh to target customers . PNB Housing has created a small vertical under Unnati which will be different from existing 18-19 lakh as affordable housing loans .
In the June quarter , PNB HFC has already opened 10 more branches . PNB HFC : HQ : New Delhi MD & CEO : Hardayal Prasad. It was incorporated under the Companies Act , 1956 .

Regulatory framework:

RBI has issued the regulatory framework to make digital lending safe for customers . The RBI has mandated that digital loans must be credited directly in the bank accounts of borrowers and not through any third party .
Any fees , charges , payable to Lending Service Providers in the credit intermediation process shall be paid directly by Regulated Entities and not by the borrower . Automatic increase in credit limit without explicit consent of borrower is prohibited.

‘ Rusty Skies and Golden Winds ‘:

Union Minister of State ( IC ) of the Ministry of Science and Technology , Dr. Jitendra Singh , launched a poetry book titled ‘ Rusty Skies and Golden Winds ‘ written by 11 years old Sannidhya Sharma , student of class 7th , here at Jammu .
The book is published by Blue – Rose Publishers . The Union Minister lauded the efforts of the little author in crystallising his thoughts in the shape of a collection of his poems and his rare achievement at this tender age and wished him a bright future .

International Events:

Singapore National Day:

Singapore has declared its 200 – year – old iconic green open space Padang as its 75th national monument as the country celebrates its 57th National Day ( 9th August ) . From this site , Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had given his Delhi Chalo ‘ slogan in 1943 .
From now , the Padang has been preserved and accorded the highest level of protection in Singapore under the Preservation of Monuments Act . The victory parade of Japanese surrender on September 12 , 1945 was held on Padang .

Papua New Guinea:

James Marape , who become the prime minister of Papua New Guinea in 2019 , has been re – elected as PM of the country for second term .

About Papua New Guinea :

Capital : Port Moresby ;

Currency : Kina;

It is a South Pacific nation .

Papua New Guinea has been governed by multi – party coalitions . He joined the PANGU Pati in May 2019 and announced to lead the PANGU Pati . It got independence from Australia on 16 September 1975 . It is rich reserves of copper , gold , and oil.

Khayyam:

A Russian rocket has successfully launched an Iranian satellite named Khayyam , into orbit by the Soyuz rocket from the Russia – leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan .
The name of satellite was named after Omar Khayyam , a Persian scientist who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries .
The satellite fitted with high – resolution camera will be used for environmental monitoring and will remain fully under its control .

China & Taiwan:

China has reaffirmed that it will not hesitate to launch a war on the island if necessary to achieve its goal of annexing Taiwan. Taiwan has been operating as an independent country since the civil war. However, China considers the island as a part of their country.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been saying that he can annex Taiwan whenever he wants. As if recognizing Taiwan as a separate country, China is condemning any leader who visits the island.
In this context, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last week as part of her Asian tour.This is the first time in 25 years that a US Speaker of the House has visited Taiwan. In order to strongly condemn this, the Eastern Zone Division of the Chinese Army was engaged in combat training using weapons including missiles in the sea area around Taiwan.
Countries including the United States condemned the military exercise which increased the war tension and affected the sea trade. Taiwan warned that the country was involved in this military exercise as a preparation to invade them and merge with China.
In this context, China has reiterated that it will not hesitate to use military force to annex Taiwan.