• The Reserve Bank proposed a uniform regulatory framework for the microfinance sector, wherein microfinance institutions (MFIs) can provide collateral-free loans to households at interest rates determined by their boards.

• Microfinance institutions will get the freedom to set rates and end regulatory cap on interest rates.

• Microfinance is a form of financial service which provides small loans and other financial services to poor and low-income households.

• The RBI has proposed a debt-income ratio cap so that the loans should be given in such a way that the payment of interest and repayment of principal for all outstanding loans of a household at any point of time should not cross 50 per cent of the household income.

• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank(Ujjivan SFB) partnered with nStore Technologies Private Limited (nStore)to digitise offline retailers and small businesses in India.

• Under this collaboration, Ujjivan SFB will offer the mobile application ‘nLincs’, to its current account holders who own local businesses and enable them to sell their products online.

• A new research released by UNICEF on representation of women in advertisements shows that while girls and women are well-represented as characters (49.6%) and dominate screen time (59.7%) and speaking time (56.3%) but when girls and women appear in ads, it is mostly to sell domestic and beauty products to female consumers.

• The research conducted by UNICEF with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media measures the level and type of gender stereotyping found in Indian advertisements on TV and YouTube, through analysis of over 1,000 most viewed advertisements in 2019.

• The ads were provided and translated by the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). UNICEF shared that IAA will be working with members to launch campaigns to deconstruct harmful stereotypes.

• Dutch long-distance runner Sifan Hassan broke the women's 10,000 metres world record, clocking 29 minutes 6.82 seconds in a Continental Tour meeting on home soil in Hengelo.

• Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana held the previous record of 29:17.45, set at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but Hassan shaved more than 10 seconds off that mark.

• Hassan is the reigning world champion having won gold in Doha in 2019 and the 28-year-old set down a marker before next month's Tokyo Games, blowing away the competition and sprinting solo across the line with her arms outstretched in celebration.

It’s in thestate of Maharashtrathat Tarapur Atomic Power station is located.

This station is located in thePalghar district,and has pressurized heavy water reactors.

It’s in the state of Maharashtra that Tarapur Atomic Power station is located.

This station is located in the Palghar district, and has pressurized heavy water reactors.

• India ranked 31 out of 46 countries in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 2021 on levels of overall trust in news.

• Only 38% of the respondents from India said they trust news overall.

• Finland had the highest levels of overall trust in news (65%) while the U.S. had the lowest levels of trust (29%).

• The 10th edition of the report is based on an online survey of 46 media markets to understand how news is consumed in different countries.

• This is the first time India features in the main report.

• Six Indian sites, under the care of Archaeological Survey of India, have been shortlisted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to be classified as world heritage sites.

• The six Indian sites include the Satpura Tiger Reserve, the Iconic Riverfront at Varanasi, Hire Benkal, a megalithic site, Maratha military architecture in Maharashtra, Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley, Jabalpur, and the temples of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.

• To boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, will be enlarged to include 22 perishable products.

• Toycathon 2021 was jointly launched by the Ministry of Education, WCD Ministry, MSME Ministry, DPIIT, Textile Ministry, I&B Ministry and AICTE to crowd-source innovative toys and games ideas.

• India’s domestic market, as well as the global toy market, offers a huge opportunity to our manufacturing sector.

• Globally, toy-making is a $100 billion industry, with China, the USA, Germany and Japan as the key players.

• India imports 80 to 85 per cent of its annual $1.5-billion toy market.

• Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet has been conferred with National Book Critics Circle prize for fiction

• Hamnet: Well-timed story for the current pandemic, explores the impact of the boy’s illness and death on his family. He was Shakespeare’s only son.

• Non-fiction section: Tom Zoellner’s Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire

• Biography: Amy Stanley’s Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and Her World