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JULY - 2020

My Dear Aspirants, Greetings to all of you! “What we think we become” Gautama Buddha. We all have dreams. To make dreams come into reality it takes a lot of determination, dedication, self discipline and continuous effort.

We at VETRII IAS Study Circle are committed to provide the right guidance, quality coaching and help every aspirants to achieve his or her life’s cherished goal of becoming a civil servant.

The class room coaching at VETRII IAS Study Circle is meticulously planned to equip the aspirants with all the relevant facts and fundamentals of the subjects. Further the VETRII IAS Study Circle Study materials aim to support the candidate by providing the most relevant study material in a comprehensive manner.

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(M.Shunmugam) Vetrii IAS Study Circle.

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INDEX

01 - 36 HISTORY

Important Days Defence National Security and

Terrorism World Organisations – Pacts and Summits

Eminent Persons Sports and Games Books & Authors

Awards & Honours Cultural Panaroma India & its

Neighbours Appointments – Who is who?

37 - 39 POLITICAL SCIENCE

India’s Foreign Policy Latest Court Verdicts Govt

– Welfare oriented Govt schemes, their utility

40 - 43 GEOGRAPHY

Policy on Environment and Ecology Natural Disasters

– Safeguard Measures

44 - 48 ECONOMICS

New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector Current Socio

- Economic Problems

40

37

01

44

49 - 68 SCIENCE Latest Inventions in Science & Technology

Latest Discoveries on Health Science

Mass Media & Communication

67 NATIONAL – DIARY OF

EVENTS

92 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

99 TAMIL NADU AFFAIRS

104 PRACTICE QUESTIONS

49

67

92

99

104

Vetrii's Current AffAirs, July - 2020

Vetrii iAs study CirCle 1

History1.1 Important Days

Date Day Theme / Remark

July 1 National Doctors Day 2020 The theme of 2020 Doctors Day is “Lessen

the Mortality of COVID-19”

July 13rd Anniversary of GST day 2020

Goods and Service Tax (GST) day is observed annually on July 1. This year marks the 3rd anniversary of the launch of the day and was marked by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and all its field offices across India. Most of the interactions with stakeholders to mark this day were made in virtual mode due to COVID-19.

Gist about GST GST came into effect on 1st July 2017,

through GST Act passed in parliament on 29th March 2017.

GST has replaced various indirect taxes in India like, excise duty, Value-Added Tax (VAT) and services tax among others.

About CBIC: It is a part of the Department of Revenue

under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

July 4International Day of

Cooperatives 2020 The theme of the 2020 celebration is

“COOPS 4 Climate Action”.

Important Days

Vetrii iAS Study CirCle2

Vetrii's Current AffAirs, July - 2020Important Days

July 10National Fish Farmers Day

2020

India celebrates 10th July every year as the “National Fish Farmers Day” to honor the fish farmers, aquapreneurs & fisher folks in recognition of their accomplishments in the field and their contribution in the growth of the fisheries sector in the country. This year it was 63rd National Fish Farmer’s Day.

July 11 World Population Day

Theme of World Population Day 2020: Putting the brakes on COVID-19: Safeguarding the health and rights of women and girls.

Counter-Terrorism Week

The Second Counter-Terrorism Week at the United Nations was observed from 29 June to 3 July 2020 at the UN Headquarters, New York.

The Virtual Counter-Terrorism Week will be held from 6-10 July and convened under the overarching theme of “Strategic and Practical Challenges of Countering Terrorism in a Global Pandemic Environment”

15 July World Youth Skills Day The theme of World Youth Skills Day 2020

is “Skills for a Resilient Youth“.

International Year of Peace

and Trust 2021: UN

The United Nations (UN) has adopted the Resolution on declaration of 2021 as International Year of Peace and Trust to strengthen the ideals of peace, both within and between countries, which was initiated by the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the 106th plenary meeting of the 73rd session of the United Nation General Assembly.

July 23National Broadcasting Day

2020



82nd Raising Day of Central

Reserve Police Force

The 82nd Raising Day of Central Reserve Police Force was observed on 27 July 2020.

The CRPF was founded as Crown Representative’s Police on July 27, 1939 and became the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on the enactment of the CRPF Act on December 28, 1949.

CRPF has the mandate to secure internal security scenario and is at the forefront to keep our nation safe.

The first battalion of the force was raised on July 27, 1939, as the Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) under the British in Neemuch town of Madhya Pradesh.

July 24 Income Tax Day 2020

24th July 2020 is marked as the 160th Income Tax day or Aaykar Diwas by the Income Tax Department. The Income Tax Day has been celebrated in India on 24th July since 2010.

In 2010, The Income Tax Department declared July 24th as the annual Income Tax Day to mark the 150th year of this levy, the income tax was first imposed as a duty and came into force on 24th July 1860.

July 28 World Hepatitis Day 2020 The theme of 2020 World Hepatitis Day is

“Hepatitis-free future”.

July 29 International Tiger Day 2020 The Global Tiger Day slogan for 2018,

2019 and 2020 is “Their Survival is in Our Hands”

Important Days



1.2 Defence, National Security and TerrorismIndia, Japan Hold PASSEX Naval Exercise to Promote Understanding in Indian Ocean

In order to promote mutual understanding, Indian Navy and Japanese Navy (Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force) have conducted a day long Naval Exercise PASSEX (Passing Exercise) for tactical and communications training, towards the Malacca Strait in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This was the 15th exercise undertaken by the navies of these two nations in the last three years.

f The overall content of this PASSEX was goodwill training and to promote understanding.

f Participants: The exercise consisted of four warships viz. Rajput-class destroyer INS (Indian Naval Ship) Rana and Kora-class missile corvette INS Kulish of Indian Navy and JS Kashima (TV 3508) and JS Shimayuki (TV 3513) of JMSDF’s training squadron.

f India-China Tension: The Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in a tense standoff in several locations in eastern Ladakh and the tension increased manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.

f Japan-China Tension: There is also growing tension between Japan and China over Senkaku islands.

PM Narendra Modi quotes from ‘Tirukkural’ again for soldiers in Ladakh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted from Tamil classic ‘Tirukkural’ to reinforce that Indian armed forces have always followed the time honoured traditions of valour and honour.

Addressing troops during a surprise visit to Ladakh, Modi quoted saint poet Tiruvalluvar’s couplet “Maramanam manda vazhichelavu thetram yena nangey yemam padaikku.”

That is, the tradition and credibility of valour, honour, dignified behaviour, these four qualities are the reflection of the army of any country. Indian forces have always followed this path

The Prime Minister has quoted from the ‘Tirukkural’, which offers guidance to people from all walks of life, on earlier occasions too.

The verses quoted by him today are from the 766th couplet under the chapter ‘Padadi Matchi’ which means the dignity and honour of the armed forces.

Tirukkural is a revered classic work in Tamil and the ancient treatise deals with several subjects.

‘Operation Setu’ gets completed; Indian Navy brings back 3,992 Indians

Operation ‘Samudra Setu’ has been completed successfully by Indian Navy by bringing back 3,992 Indians stranded overseas amid the outbreak of novel Coronavirus. The operation was launched on May 5. INS Shardul, INS Airavat, INS Magar (Landing ship Tanks) and Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock) participated in operation.

Defence, National Security and Terrorism




DRDO developed fully indigenous P7 Heavy Drop System for IL 76 aircraft

As a part of Make in India programme, DRDO has developed P7 Heavy Drop System (HDS) which is capable of para dropping military stores (vehicle/ ammunition/ equipment) up to 7-ton weight class from IL 76 aircraft [Ilyushin Il-76 or Gajraj (elephant king)].

The design of this fully indigenous system has been developed by Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), a pioneer Research & Development (R&D) lab of DRDO based in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

It’s platform system was manufactured by L&T (Larsen & Toubro) while parachutes manufactured by Ordnance Factory.

Armed forces get special financial powers

The Defence Ministry has granted special powers to the three services for individual capital procurement programme worth Rs 300 crore to meet emergent operational requirements.

This will shrink the procurement timelines and ensure placement of orders within six months.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Cochin Shipyard Limited signs contract for construction of world’s first Autonomous electric vessels for Norway

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has signed a contract with ASKO Maritime

AS, Norway for the construction and supply of the two autonomous electric ferries along with an option to build two more identical vessels.

This autonomous electrical vessel project is an ambitious one in Norway, partially funded by the Norwegian Government, and aims at emission-free transport of goods across the Oslo fjord.

These vessels will be managed by Massterly AS, a joint venture between Kongsberg, the world leader in autonomous technology, and Wilhelmsen, one of the largest maritime shipping companies in the world.

Indian Navy Conducts Naval Exercises in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Indian Navy conducted major Naval exercises in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands led by Sanjay Vatsayan, Chief Rear Admiral of Eastern naval fleet as a display of strategic intents against China amid the current military conflicts in the Northeastern borders in Ladakh.

About Indian Navy: Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)– Admiral

Karambir Singh.

Indian Navy hold PASSEX with US’s Nimitz carrier group in Indian Ocean Region

Indian Navy undertook a short joint naval Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the United States (US) Navy near the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) islands in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to conduct maritime drills, against the backdrop of the India-China border standoff in



Ladakh. India was represented by Rajput class

destroyer INS (Indian Naval Ship) Rana (D52), two Shivalik class indigenously built stealth frigates – INS Sahyadri (F49) and INS Shivalik (F47) and anti submarine corvette of the Kamorta class INS Kamorta (P28).

Trials of anti-tank guided missile ‘Dhruvastra’ conducted in Odisha

The trials of Helicopter-launched Nag Missile anti-tank guided missile ‘Dhruvastra’ were conducted on July 15-16 at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha. The missile was earlier named as HELINA.

The trails were conducted without a helicopter in direct and top attack mode. In July 2019, the DRDO had conducted three successful test firings of the Nag missiles in the Pokhran firing ranges.

Nag was one of the first five strategic missiles, which was planned to be developed under the Integrated Missile Development Programme initiated in the 1980s. The other missiles developed under the project include Agni, Prithvi and Akash, all of which were successfully developed and inducted into the armed forces.

Indian Army gets ‘Bharat’ drones for accurate surveillance

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has provided drones named ‘Bharat’ to the Indian Army.

The indigenously developed drones

are sent in order to provide accurate surveillance along the Line of Actual Control in high altitude and mountainous terrains of Eastern Ladakh.

Bharat Drones is a series of drones that comes under one of the world’s lightest and agile drone surveillance systems and is made in India.

Bharat drones are equipped with artificial intelligence which helps the drone to detect friends from foes and helps take any action accordingly.

The drones are further being developed to perform in harsher weather.

Indian Air Force Commanders’ Conference begins in Delhi

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the Air Force Commanders’ Conference (AFCC) at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan) New Delhi.

The Air Force Commanders’ Conference (AFCC) will be held with the theme “IAF in the Next Decade”.

AFCC is a three days conference which will be chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. The plan of action for operational capability enhancement of the IAF in the next decade would be deliberated during the conference.

IAF to get HAMMER missiles The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to

further boost the capabilities of its Rafael combat fighters, which are set to arrive from France soon, by equipping them with the deadly HAMMER missiles.

HAMMER (Highly Agile Modular




Munition Extended Range) is a medium-range air-to-ground weapon designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy initially.

The HAMMERs would give India the capability to take out any bunkers or hardened shelters in any type of terrain including the mountainous locations such as Eastern Ladakh, according to the defence experts.

HAMMER – the new generation medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon had been designed and manufactured by Sagem (Safran group) for the French Air Force and Navy.

Largest Solar Power Plant of Indian Navy Commissioned

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla, Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command commissioned a 3 MW Solar Power Plant at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala through virtual conferencing.

The solar plant is Indian Navy’s largest plant and has an estimated life of 25 years. Its launch is in line with the centre’s initiative of ‘National Solar Mission’ to achieve 100GW of solar power by 2022.

All components of the plant were indigenously sourced including 9180 highly efficient monocrystalline solar panels employing the latest technology.

APSEZ Becomes the 1st Indian Port and 7th Port Globally to Sign Up for the Science-Based Targets initiative

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) becomes the 1st Indian port

and 7th Port globally to sign up for the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). By signing the commitment letter to SBTi, APSEZ is committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets (across their entire value chain) that keep global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

APSEZ is one out of 43 Indian companies who have signed a commitment letter to SBTi.

APSEZ has also signed a commitment as a supporter to the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).

Science-based targets The science based targets are greenhouse

gas emissions reduction targets that are in line with the level of decarbonisation required to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement ie., to control global warming below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

DRDO launches ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ contest

An innovation contest ‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ has been launched by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The contest was launched on the 5th death anniversary of former President and noted scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

‘Dare to Dream 2.0’ has been launched as an open challenge to promote the innovators and startups of the country.

The contest has been launched for emerging technologies to encourage the individuals & startups for innovation in




defence and aerospace technologies in the country.

After due evaluation, an expert committee will decide the winners of the contest. The winners would be awarded with prize money of up to Rs 10 lakh for startup and Rs five lakh to individual category.

Five Rafale fighter jets arrive in Ambala

Nearly 23 years after Sukhoi aircraft were imported, a fleet of five French-manufactured Rafale multi-role combat jets touched down in India, giving the country’s air power a strategic edge over its adversaries in the neighbourhood.

The aircraft, having an undisputed track record and considered one of the most potent combat jets globally, landed at the Ambala Air Force base after covering a distance of 7,000 km from the Merignac airbase in French port city of Bordeaux.

The Rafales were escorted by two Sukhoi 30 MKIs after they entered the Indian air space.

The touchdown of Rafale combat aircrafts in India marks the beginning of a new era in our Military History. These multirole aircrafts will revolutionise the capabilities of the IAF.

The fleet, comprising three single seater and two twin seater aircraft, are being inducted into the IAF as part of its Ambala-based No 17 Squadron, also known as the ‘Golden Arrows’.




World Organisations – Pacts and Summits

1.3 World Organisations – Pacts and Summits

45.8 million Women Missing in India over the Past 50 Years: UNFPA Report

According to the report, “State of World Population 2020: Against my will – Defying the practices that harm women and girls and undermine equality” released by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the world organisation’s sexual and reproductive health agency, India accounts for 45.8 million of the world’s 142.6 million “missing females” over the past 50 years & it has the highest number of missing women after China (72.3 million).

Missing females are women missing from the population at given dates due to the cumulative effect of postnatal and prenatal sex selection in the past.

Missing women more than doubled in the last 50 years:

As per the report, the number of missing women has more than doubled in the last 50 years – from 6.1 crores in 1970 to 14.26 crores by 2020.

UN Global E-waste Monitor 2020 Report

In accordance with “The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report-Quantities, flows, and the circular economy potential” report, the world dumped a record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste in 2019, an increase of 21% in 5 years.

China is the biggest contributor to e-waste with 10.1 million tonnes (mt) followed by the United States (US) with 6.9 mt and India with 3.2 mt at 2nd and 3rd rank respectively.

This report is jointly prepared by the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP), formed by UN University (UNU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), in close collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Static Points: E-waste is a health and environmental

hazard because it contains toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury which damages the human brain and / or coordination system.

India is the only country in South Asia to draft legislation for e-waste.

India Ranked 117th in SDG Index 2020, Sweden Tops

In accordance with the “Sustainable Development Report 2020- The Sustainable Development Goals and Covid-19”, comprising of SDG index 2020, there will be severe negative impacts on most of the United Nations (UN)-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to COVID-19 pandemic. India, which has ranked at 117th position with a score of 61.92 is also facing major challenges in 10 of the 17 SDGs including zero hunger, good health, gender inequality among others.

The index has been topped by Sweden with a score of 84.72.



The 2020 report has reviewed the performance of 193 UN Member States out of which 166 were ranked under SDG index 2020.Rank Country Score (out of 100)

117 India 61.921 Sweden 84.722 Denmark 84.563 Finland 83.77

SDG Annual Report: Since its launch in 2016, this annual

report provides the most up-to-date data to track and review the performance of all 193 UN member states on the 17 SDGs.

U.S. from World Health Organization over coronavirus response

The Trump administration has begun the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization, a move that could hurt the U.N. agency’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and reshape public health diplomacy.

The notice of withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, was sent to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. Under the terms of a joint resolution passed by Congress in 1948, the United States must give a year’s notice and pay its debts to the agency to leave.

India Ranked 8th for Cancer Preparedness among 10 Asia-Pacific Countries; Australia Tops: EIU Report

In accordance with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report on “Cancer preparedness in Asia -Pacific: Progress towards universal cancer control”, India

has been ranked eighth with an overall score of 51.6 for cancer preparedness among 10 Asia-Pacific countries.

The report sponsored by Roche, examined the findings from the EIU’s Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP) which was created upon the findings of the global ICP (evaluated 28 countries based on 45 separate indicators).

The 10 Asia-Pacific countries included in this report were - Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

Rank Country Score (out of 100)8 India 51.61 Australia 92.42 South Korea 83.43 Malaysia 80.3Only Vietnam (44.5) and the Philippines (42.6) after India at 9th and 10th position respectively.

Helen Clark to co-chair WHO panel to review handling of Covid-19 pandemic

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced it was setting up an independent panel to review its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the response by governments worldwide.

The announcement follows strong criticism by US President Donald Trump’s administration, which accused the WHO of being “China-centric”, and US formal notification that it was withdrawing from the UN agency in a year’s time.




Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head the panel, annpunced by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

The magnitude of this pandemic, which has touched virtually everyone in the world, clearly deserves a commensurate evaluation, an honest evaluation,” Tedros told a virtual meeting with representatives of WHO’s 194 member states.

NITI Aayog presented India’s 2nd Voluntary National Review at UN’s High-Level Political Forum

NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog presented India’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020, which is being held virtually from July 7, 2020 to July 16, 2020, under the aegis of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), amid COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of HLPF is “Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development”.

The India VNR 2020 presented by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog represented NITI Aayog’s efforts towards the whole-of-society approach and its commitment towards localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The India VNR 2020 report titled Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local was also unveiled during this event.

About Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):

f President– Mona Juul f Headquarter– New York, United

States (US)

UNICEF, FICCI joined hands to Initiate “#Reimagine Campaign” to Support Vulnerable Populations and Children in India

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) India joined hands with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) to initiate UNICEF’s “#Reimagine Campaign” for the support of most vulnerable populations and children during the ongoing COVID-19 response and its aftermath in India.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF has launched Reimagine – an urgent appeal to governments, the public, donors and the private sector to support UNICEF’s efforts to respond, recover and reimagine a world severely impacted by COVID-19.

Importantly, Ogilvy, a New York (United States) based advertising agency is offering free of charge support in developing the creative narrative for the campaign.

About FICCI:

f President– Sangita Reddy f Secretary General– Dilip Chenoy f Headquarter– New Delhi




About UNICEF:

f Other name– United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.

f Headquarter–New York, United States (US)

f Executive Director–Henrietta Holsman Fore

f UNICEF Representative in India–Dr Yasmin Ali Haque

8.9% of the world’s population, went hungry in 2019

In accordance with the United Nations’(UN) annual report “The state of food security and nutrition in the world- Tansforming food systems for affordable healthy diets”, nearly 690 million people, or 8.9% of the world’s population, went hungry in 2019, an increase of 10 million since 2018 and of nearly 60 million since 2014. The report warned that the COVID-19 pandemic may add an additional 83 to 132 million people to the ranks of the undernourished in 2020.

The number of hungry people worldwide has been slowly rising and if this trend continues, the number of undernourished people will exceed 840 million by 2030.

The report has been prepared by 5 UN agencies, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO).

More than half of world’s population lacks access to air quality data

A new report to be released on July 9 by Open Air Quality an international NGO based in Washington DC reveals the huge global inequality in access to information about air quality.

The study, ‘Open Air Quality Data: The Global State of Play’, examined 212 countries and found that 109 (51 per cent) governments are not producing air quality data of any major pollutants, while 103 are. Among the defaulters are major powers like China, India, Russia, the Philippines, Brazil and South Africa.

The research is being supported by scientists at NASA, who use the OpenAQ system. Combining NASA’s satellite data of air pollution with OpenAQ’s system “has the potential to bring air quality information to everyone in the world.

International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security

The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program. Events will run over a span of time during the conference depending on the number and length of the presentations. With its high quality, it provides an exceptional value for students, academics and industry researchers.

International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security aims to bring together leading academic




scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security

UNICEF India Partners with SAP India to Provide Career Counselling to Young People

World Youth skills Day, The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) India announced its partnership with SAP India, to provide career counseling to young people.

UNICEF India collaborates with YuWaah – UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited initiative to provide digital education and skills required for employment.

About UNICEF India: UNICEF Representative in India– Dr.

Yasmin Ali Haque.

PM Modi to address ECOSOC on 75th anniversary of UN on 17 July

PM Narendra Modi will be virtually addressing the session of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on 17th July on the occasion of 75th anniversary of the United Nations. This will be PM Modi’s first speech at the UN after being elected to the UN Security Council.

Besides the Prime Minister, Norway PM Erna Solberg and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also be addressing the event.

India lifted record 273 million out of poverty in 10 years, says UN report

About 273 million Indians moved out of multidimensional poverty between 2005-6 and 2015-16, according to a UN report, which noted that India has recorded the largest reduction in the number of people living in this category.

The data, released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), shows that 65 out of 75 countries studied significantly reduced their multidimensional poverty levels between 2000 and 2019.

World Bank Country Classifications by Income Level 2020-2021

According to the New World Bank country classifications by income level 2020-2021, India remains in the classification, Lower-Middle-Income Economy. In total 218 countries have been included in this classification.

The World Bank classifies countries into four income groups namely: low income, lower-middle income, upper-middle income, and high-income economies.

The classifications are updated each year on July 1 and are based on Gross National Income(GNI) per capita in current USD(using the Atlas method exchange rates) of the previous year.




India to attend G20 Digital Ministers Meet

The Union Minister of Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad is to attend G20 Digital Ministers’ Meet.

Highlights The Digital Economy Ministers Meet

is hosted by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabia Presidency has chosen the theme as Theme: Realizing Opportunities of the 21st century for all Under the theme, the ministers representing the G20 member countries will discuss the following.

Empowering people by creating conditions where all people especially the youth and women can live, work and thrive.

Turkmenistan became 25th country with Observer Status in World Trade Organization

Turkmenistan became the 25th country who was granted observer status in the World Trade Organization (WTO) enabling the nation to establish permanent residence at WTO headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland and monitor it’s proceedings.

Turkmenistan also became the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body.

This observer status was granted during the 5th virtual session of WTO General Council which was held from WTO headquarters and attended by representatives of its member-states.

About World Trade Organization (WTO):

f Director-General – Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo (Retire on August 31, 2020).

f Members– 164 countries and 25 Observer nations.

‘COVID-19 Law Lab’ Initiative launched to provide legal information worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) along with other key bodies had launched COVID-19 Law Lab (www.COVIDLawLab.org).

It is a database of laws that countries had implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lab is a joint project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

About WHO:

f Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland f Director-General – Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus

22 million children from South Asia missed out on early childhood education due to COVID-19: UNICEF

In accordance with the new research titled “Childcare in a global crisis: The impact of COVID-19 on work and family life” by the United Nations International




Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 22 million children from South Asian countries, including India, have missed out on early childhood education in their pre-school year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic closure. This report was produced by UNICEF’s Office of Research – Innocenti.

In the South Asia region, UNICEF covered Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the research.

At least 40 million children worldwide, of which nearly 22 million are from South Asia, have missed out on early childhood education in their critical pre-school year

Prolonged school closure and limited access to distant learning have deprived children of their universal right to education.

About UNICEF:

f Headquarters– New York, United States of America (USA)

f Executive Director– Henrietta Holsman Fore

Harsh Vardhan Participated Virtually in the SCO Health Minister’s Digital Meet

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan participated digitally in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Health Minister’s Digital Meet at Nirman Bhawan, Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Health of the Russian Federation.

The key topic discussed in the meet was about the ongoing COVID crisis.

About SCO:

f Headquarters– Beijing, China f Secretary-General- Vladimir Norov

UNICEF Publishes First of its kind report on Health crisis:

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Pure Earth, international non-profit organization authored and published the first of kind report on the health crisis titled “The Toxic Truth: Children’s Exposure to Lead Pollution Undermines a Generation of Future Potential” states that around lead poisoning affects large number of children all across the globe.

The Toxic Truth: The Toxic Truth, is an analysis of

childhood exposure to lead conducted by the Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation.

It was verified with the study approved for publication in Environmental Health Perspectives.

According to a new study, one in three children worldwide are threatened by unacceptably high lead levels in the blood. One of the major contributors to lead poisoning is an increase in the recycling of lead in automotive batteries to satisfy the increasing usage of cars and trucks, especially in the developing world.

The study notes that lead recycling is often done haphazardly in poor and middle-income countries where industrial pollution safeguards are poorly enforced or nonexistent.

Lead can be found almost everywhere, in dust and fumes from fires and smelters,




vehicle batteries, old water pipes, old peeling paint, electronic junkyards, and even cosmetics and lead-infused spices.

This represents a huge risk to the mental and physical development of a generation of children, warns the study that released on July 29, 2020. The study also found that almost 1 million adults a year die prematurely because of lead exposure.

About UNICEF:

f Executive Director– Henrietta Holsman Fore

f Headquarter– New York, United States of America




1.4 Eminent PersonsLt Col Bharat Pannu Becomes First Indian To Secures Podium Position

Lt Col Bharat Pannu, Indian Army officer, secured the 3rd position on the leaderboard at the first edition of the Virtual Race Across America (VRAAM) 2020 held from 16th June to 28th June 2020 and became the first ever Indian to secure a podium position in the international ultracycling race.

Lt Col Pannu finished with a total distance of 4086km in 12 days and a total elevation gain of 71,000 meters in a stationary bicycle in Pimple Nilakh, Pune.

VRAAM 2020: Due to the current global pandemic, the

organisers of the Race Across America (RAAM) (a 5000Km transcontinental race from the west coast to east coast of the United States of America) cancelled the events of 2020 and adopted the virtual format Virtual Race Across America (VRAAM) 2020.

The cyclist will use the FulGaz, an indoor trainer application.

Around 22 cyclists participated in the VRAAM 2020.

India’s first transgender woman working on tele-medicine wins praise from Ravi Shankar Prasad

Zoya Khan, India’s first transgender woman to operate a Common Service

Centre for tele-medicine consultation in Gujarat, has won the praise of Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Khan is India’s f i r s t t r a n s g e n d e r operator of C o m m o n Service Centre from Vadodara district of Gujarat and is working with a vision to support the transgender community in making them digitally literate & give them better opportunities.

The Common Service Centre is a special vehicle of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, and features a host of services that can be accessed remotely including social welfare, healthcare, agriculture and more. It falls under the ambit of the ‘Digital India ‘Programme.

Full-figured bronze statue of novelist Nedunchezhiyan

Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy has announced that Navalar Nedunjeriyan will have a full-scale bronze statue and his birthday will be celebrated as a state festival.

The novelist Ira Nedunchezhiyan was born on 11.7.1920 in Thirukkannapuram, Nagapattinam district. He holds a Masters Degree in Tamil Literature from Annamalai University, Chithambaram .

Malala Day 2020 – July 12 The United Nations (UN) designated

12th July of every year as Malala Day, to commemorate the birthday of Malala

Eminent Persons



Yousafzai, Pakistani activist and the youngest recipient of the Nobel prize for peace. In 2013 first “Malala Day: An Education for All Children” was celebrated.

Top Indian mathematician CS Seshadri passes away

India’s renownedmathematician and Padma Bhushan awardee Conjeevaram Srirangachari Seshadri passed away in Chennai. He was 88.

CS Seshadri founded the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) as part of the SPIC Science Foundation in 1989 and was its director-emeritus until his demise. The mathematician was known for his work in algebraic geometry, the Seshadri Constant, which is named after him. Among his notable works are the Narasimhan–Seshadri theorem, proved together with fellow Mathematician MS Narasimhan in 1965.

Eminent danseuse & choreographer Amala Shankar passes away

Eminent danseuse and choreographer Amala Shankar passed away. She was honored with the West Bengal government’s Banga Bibhusan award in 2011 for her contributions to art.

First performance of Amala Shankar was in Kaliya Daman which was staged in Belgium in 1931. She also acted in the film “Kalpana” which was released in 1948. She gave her last performance at the age of 92, in the dance drama Sita Swayamvar, where she played the role of King Janaka.

Renowned writer, literary critic Kovai Gnani passes away at 85

Kovai Gnani, famous Tamil writer and literary critic, passed away at his house in Coimbatore. He was 85 years old.

According to reports, Gnani died due to age-related illnesses. A writer who authored around 50 books, Gnani was born K Palaniswami in 1935. He studied Tamil literature in Annamalai University and worked as a teacher for over 30 years. He was one of the greatest Tamil Marxist critiques of his times, and researched and wrote about Marxism for over 40 years. He was also a mentor for several Tamil writers of modern times.

Shantharam is India’s first legislator from African-origin Siddi community in Karnataka

Shantharam Budna Siddi, one of the five newly nominated MLCs by Karnataka’s BJP government, is from the Siddi community a

Eminent Persons



Sports and Games

small group of the community believed to be descendants of the Bantu people from Southeast Africa.

The Siddis are spread along the coast of Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. According to Shantaram, the Siddi community is an ethnic African group brought to India in the early seventh century by

the Portuguese, to work for them. The community is included in the list of the Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka. About 50,000 Siddi people reside in India today, of which, more than a third live in northern Karnataka. Their mother tongue is called Siddi Basha and many are fluent in Kannada.

1.5 Sports and GamesNitin Menon Becomes the 3rd Indian & Youngest Umpire to Enter ICC Elite Panel

Nitin Menon (36 years old) from India became the youngest member of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Elite Panel of Umpires.

He replaces Nigel Llong (England) for the upcoming 2020-21 season.

He becomes the 3rd Indian umpire to be included in the ICC’s after former captain Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Sundaram Ravi.

Ravindra Jadeja named India’s ‘most valuable player’ by Wisden

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was named as the country’s ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) of the 21st century by Wisden. He made his debut in 2009 and

represented India in 49 test matches, 165 ODIs and 49 T20Is as of 2020.

Akash Become India’s 66th Grandmaster

The 23 year-old G. Akash from Chennai, Tamil Nadu become the country’s 66th Grandmaster with rating of 2495. The title was confirmed at the recent meeting of International Chess Federation (FIDE) Council

f He has won the national title in 2012. f He is coached by K. Visweswaran, a

former National Champion.



1.6 Books & AuthorsM Venkaiah Naidu Virtually Releases a Book “Future of Higher Education – Nine Mega Trends”

Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu virtually released a book, “Future of Higher Education – Nine Mega Trends“. The book is authored by CA V Pattabhi Ram, a Public Speaker, author and Teacher. The Virtual event was hosted by ICT Academy.

Essence of the book The book covers the new norms in the key

areas of higher education such as Student-Teacher relationship, Learning methods, Laboratories & Examinations among others which has taken a paradigm shift during this COVID pandemic.

The book is based on a survey of about 5000 educators across India who were part of ICT Academy’s “SkyCampus” Digital Knowledge Series.

Urjit Patel pens book ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’

Former RBI governor, Urjit Patel has written a book titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’. The book focuses on the non-performing assets (NPAs) issue that has afflicted Indian banking in recent years. It will be published by Harper Collins India.

“Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India” authored by R C Bhargava

The Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, RC Bhargava has authored the book “Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India” from his experience as a policymaker and a leading industrialist. The book published by HarperCollins India.

A Book Titled ‘Mahaveer: The Soldier Who Never Died’ Authored by A.K. Srikumar & Rupa Srikumar

The book, titled ‘Mahaveer: The Soldier who never died’ is authored by award winning author A.K. Srikumar and his wife, Rupa Srikumar. The book is a patriotic story about the courage and selfless love of Jaswant Singh Rawat who is one of the legendary Garhwali soldiers fought in Indo-Chinese battle of Nuranang in 1962. The book is published by Rupa Publications and represented by The Book Bakers.

A book on Dalai Lama’s biography to release in 2020

A book titled ‘His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: An Illustrated Biography’ will be released in 2020.

The book is published by Roli Books. The book is authored by

Books & Authors



Books & Authors

one of the Dalai Lama’s closest aides and advisor of over 40 years, Tenzin Geyche Tethong.

The biography is a memorable portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

The book gives a glance of an important part of the history before he was forced to flee to India in March 1959.

A Book Titled ‘A Song of India’ Authored by Ruskin Bond to be Released

The book titled ‘A Song of India’ authored by Ruskin Bond to be released on July 20, 2020, which will mark the 70th year of the author’s literary career. The book is the 4th installment in his memoir series (a written record of a person’s own life and experiences). The book portrays his unknown life before he became a successful author. It is published by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House India.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu releases book on endangered tribe

The book titled ‘The Tangams: An

Ethnolinguistic Study Of The Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal

Pradesh’ was released by Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

Book is based on the Tangams, a critically endangered speech community of Arunachal Pradesh domiciled at Kugging village, Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The book has been published by Centre for Endangered Languages, Rajiv Gandhi University and Himalayan Publishers, New Delhi.

A new book “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World”

The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World, a book authored by External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, argues about the standards of India in the global order. The book was published under the HarperCollins India publications. The book centers about the three burdens that India’s foreign policy carries.

He insisted that India should not only visualise its interest but also try to communicate effectively.

A new book titled “Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India”

The book titled “Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India” authored by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Viral V.Acharya. The book portrays his quest to restore financial stability in India and offers a concrete



plan for sustained improvement. The book is published by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd.

Indian Origin Author Avni Doshi’s ‘Burnt Sugar’ on 2020 Booker Prize

A debut novel ‘Burnt Sugar’ authored by Avni Doshi has been published in the United Kingdom (UK) and it was one among the 13 authors longlisted for the prestigious 2020 Booker Prize. A version of the same novel has been published in India under the title Girl in White Cotton.

Books & Authors



1.7 Awards & HonoursIndia’s AI enabled “MyGov Corona Helpdesk” wins two global award at 4th Annual CogX 2020

India’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled “MyGov Corona Helpdesk” won two awards under the categories “Best Innovation for Covid-19 Society” and “People Choice Covid-19 Overall Winner” in 4th CogX, the annual Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI and Emerging Technology held in London from June 8th to 10th.

The theme of CogX 2020 is “How do we get the next 10 years right?”

CogX 2020: Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic

the CogX team has prepared the Virtual CogX to ensure the participation of the people all around the world.

All the 16 Topics will be streamed online including the virtual meet-the speaker and Q&A sessions.

MyGov Corona Helpdesk: The AI enabled Helpdesk was designed,

developed and deployed by JioHaptik Technologies Limited in collaboration with the WhatsApp team in 5 days.

MyGov is the World’s largest citizens enabled platform which demonstrates the Public, Private and Public Partnership (PPPP).

MyGov provides two-way communication between the government and citizens.

MyGov was factored in on a daily basis based on the public opinion about the

Awards & Honours

platform to enhance the provided service and solutions.

Former RBI Governor C Rangarajan conferred with 1st P C Mahalanobis Award

Chakravarthi Rangarajan has been conferred with the first Prof. P C Mahalanobis Award in Official Statistics for lifetime achievements for his contribution in providing solutions in the issues related to the estimation of national income. The award has been instituted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) from 2020, and will henceforth be awarded annually for the outstanding and meritorious contribution of an individual for the development and promotion of official statistics.

Mon District Administration received 3 SKOCH Awards in 65th SKOCH Summit

The District Administration of Mon, Nagaland received 2020 SKOCH awards under three categories in the 65th SKOCH summit from Sameer Kochar, Chairman of SKOCH group.

Mon’s SKOCH Awards: SKOCH Crucible award for the district’s

initiatives on skill development, financial inclusion and COVID-19 response.

The SKOCH Crucible Award for its



focus on mission mode implementation of opening bank accounts through the Indian post Payment Bank (IBBP).

SKOCH Order of Merit for its quick and innovative response to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its initiative to home deliver the essentials to assist the citizens.

About SKOCH Award: The highest civilian award of the

country for public service by non a non-governmental organisation SKOCH Group Established– 2003.

‘PRERAK DAUUR SAMMAN’ NEW CATEGORY OF AWARDS INTRODUCED

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), while launching the toolkit for Swachh Survekshan 2021, the sixth edition of the annual cleanliness survey of urban India conducted by MoHUA has stated that, “Every year, the Swachh Survekshan is redesigned innovatively, to ensure that the process becomes more robust, with focus on sustaining the behaviour change.

Sh Puri announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional sub- categories

-Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) - with top three cities being recognized in each. In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

f Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories

f Processing capacity against wet waste generated

f Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste

f Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing

f Percentage of waste going to landfills f Sanitation status of cities

Global Tamil Award in the Name of the Novel author Nedunchezhiyan at the University of Toronto, Canada

Consisting of world-renowned tradition of 193 years of Canada’s University of Toronto, Navalar Nedunchezhiyan name Global Tamil Award One chamber has established. The ‘Hindu Tamil Direction’ exclusively announces the signing of an official agreement with the Tamil community in Canada .

The University of Toronto is proud to have created 4 Prime Ministers, 14 Supreme Court Justices for Canada, 10 Nobel Prize-winning Governors and 4 other leaders. Moreover, it is a university dedicated to teaching and research, providing ample opportunities for higher education, study students and linguistic

Awards & Honours



scholars. The university is giving high importance to Tamil language.

Canada’s January 2016 declared January as Tamil Heritage Month. Accordingly, January 2017 is celebrated as Tamil Heritage Month across Canada .

First Global Award It has decided to award a Lifetime

Achievement Award to a person who has spent most of his life promoting the greatness of Tamil. The agreement has been signed with the Canadian community and the Tamil doctor (who did not wish to be named) who has donated a large sum of money to establish the award.

To Remember the Century Man When the Anna DMK saw it, Anna was

the General Secretary, then the General Secretary, the Editor of the Party, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, the Leader of the Party, the big successor in the Cabinet.

WHD identifies & honours a well-known Indian Association in Kuwait

The Covid stars serve as the best example for this phrase. These stars got into action and are helping humanity to fight against the deadly Covid-19. “Stars of Covid” is a part of World Humanitarian Drive (WHD) founder Mr. Abdul Basit Syed, initiative called “Honouring The Honourable”. Since the initiative started in 2018 it has inspired millions across the world as a mode to encourage, recognise and felicitate popular figures to common men who have contributed for the welfare of the society and the world.

WHD takes pride in honouring these stars who are promoting the best for humanity. The major objective of this event was to show gratitude and honour to the incredible volunteers who have always been contributing to the betterment of humanity especially during this crisis of Covid-19. When the entire world was shut down and afraid to step out, these stars lend a helping hand to the world out there that was battling against Corona.

2020 Great Immigrants’’: Indian-American Pulitzer Winner, Harvard Professor Honoured In US

Two renowned Indian-Americans who have contributed towards the efforts in mitigating the COVID-19 health crisis are among the 38 immigrants honoured by a prestigious American foundation ahead of US Independence Day commemoration this year.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Professor of Economics at Harvard University Raj Chetty have been named by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as ‘’2020 Great Immigrants’’ honourees.

Indian battalion wins UNIFIL environment award

Indian battalion (INDBATT) has stationed with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has won an environment award for a project that

Awards & Honours



aims to decrease waste generation, reuse plastic, build greenhouses and compost pits.

The second-place award was shared by the Mission’s Sector West Headquarters for the Sector West Infrastructure Management Centre (IMC) for the generation of compost from food waste and Irish-Polish Battalion (IRISHPOLBATT) for its project in supporting the host communities by reducing the environmental hazards.

French-led Force Commander’s Reserve, Indonesian Battalion, Republic of Korea Battalion and Italian Battalion are the other units of UNIFIL who received the awards and recognitions.

IAA named ISRO Chief K Sivan As the Recipient of 2020 Von Karman Award

The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has announced Dr.K a i l a s a v a d i v o o Sivan, Chief of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as the recipient of the 2020 Von Karman Award, the highest distinction of the IAA.

The award will be presented to Dr.K.Sivan in March 2021 at Paris.

IAA’s Von Karman Award: The premier award of IAA was instituted

in 1982 in the memory of Dr. Theodore Von Karman, renowned aerospace scientist and the founder and the first

President of IAA. The Award is annually presented to

recognise the distinguished contributions and lifetime achievements in any branch of science.

About International Academy of Astronautics (IAA):

f Founder– Dr Theodore Von Karman f Headquarters– Paris, France

Chhattisgarh awarded “Elites Excellence Awards 2020”

Chief Minister Darpan website and mobile app prepared for monitoring Chhattisgarh Government’s ambitious Suraji Gaon Scheme and other flagship schemes, has been awarded “Elites Excellence Awards-2020” at the national level.

Chhattisgarh has been awarded this honour by the country’s prestigious IT institution Elites Technomedia, New Delhi under the ‘Digital India initiative’.

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa named as the new VP of Asian Development Bank

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, who was next in line to head the poll panel, was named as the new vice-president of the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) - a position he can take only after resigning from his current job.

Lavasa, who would have retired as the

Awards & Honours



Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in October 2022, would be the second election commissioner to step down from the poll panel before the completion of his term.

The ADB has appointed Ashok Lavasa as Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships.

Narendra Singh Tomar declared the 2019 ICAR Awards in 92nd ICAR Foundation Day

Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurated the Virtual celebration of the 92nd Foundation day of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and declared the 2019 ICAR Awards from Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

The National Academy of Agriculture Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad, received 4 awards in different categories.

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg won 1st edition Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity

A 17 years old climate activist from Sweden namely Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg became the first recipient of the inaugural (1st edition) Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, awarded by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The award in the amount 1 million euro

($1.15 million) recognized her ability to mobilize younger generations for the cause of climate change.

The entire prize amount would be donated by Greta Thunberg to the project and organisations who are working to help people on the front lines affected by the climate crisis and ecological crisis.

TNAU researcher bags ICAR-Nehru award

Dr. Vinod Kumar Selvaraj of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University was conferred the ICAR-Jawaharlal Nehru award under the crop protection category for his research work on “Emergence of tobacco streak virus infecting cotton: Investigations on symptom expression, transmission, spread and management”

He has published his research works in Peer reviewed high impact journals.

The ICAR awards for the year 2019 were announced through live stream in the presence of Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Ministers of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala and Kailash Choudhary.

India’s first solar ferry “Aditya” wins Gustave Trouve Award

India’s first solar-powered ferry, Aditya has won the prestigious Gustave Trouve Award for Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating.

Awards & Honours



The ferry was adjudged the world’s best electric boat in the category of ferries designed for paid passenger service.

The Aditya, from Navalt Boats, is a sun-powered commuter ferry that is one of the great stories of the future of electric marine propulsion.

The ferry belongs to the Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD) and has been playing on the Vaikkom-Thavanakkadavu route in Alappuzha district since January 2017.

NIOT director honoured with National Award of Excellence in Ocean Technology

Dr M A Atmanand, the director of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai has been honoured with National Award of excellence in Ocean Technology of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

Atmanand is known for being a pioneer in the area of deep sea technologies in India which include leading a team in design and development of underwater crawler for deep sea operation. He and his team also developed the in-situ soil tester which was tested at a depth of 5200 m in the Central Indian Ocean Basin for the first time in the country.

It was under his supervision that India’s first Polar under water mooring observatory and the Polar Remotely Operable Vehicle (PROV) were developed and tested. The mooring was established at Kongsfjorden in the Arctic region.

Sunil ydv SS honoured with Karamveer Chakra Award from UN and ICONGO

The founder of SS Motivation, Sunil ydv SS was honoured with “Karamveer Chakra Award” by Global Fellowship Award instituted by United Nations and International Confederation of NGO (iCONGO) at the ReX ConcLIVE hosted in IIT Delhi.

He received the award for his relentless contribution to society through his Telegram channel “SS Motivation.”

He addresses social issues and motivates people every day through his channel. The awards he won last year include Rastra Prerna, Iconic Personality of India, Incredible Indian Icon and Humanitarian Excellence.

Awards & Honours



1.8 Cultural PanoramaGujarat Coral Coal Detection in Kodumanal

A Large number of objects, including the Gujarat stone quarry, have recently been excavated during the excavation process at Kodumanal near Chennimalai.

There were many objects, including green stones and moss beads.

The cemetery known as the Great Emblem, we found 10 bowls for the ritual, five jars, 41 pots, five steels with an iron sword and three small knives. Each tomb has a different set of objects.

‘Aalangankulam’ is the source of foreign trade

Archaeological excavations at Azhakankulam in Ramanathapuram district confirmed that the place was a port and a trading center with various countries of the world over 2,400 years ago.The foreign co-operation of the house with the coins found in a house in Azhagankulam has proved to be very recent.

The ancestors of the former Azhagankulam former councilor, lawyer Asokan, traded overseas, including Sri Lanka. There were old coins in a box. The most important of these were the Rajaraja Josan era Eelam, India, Sri Lanka, UK silver, copper coins and money released by Travancore.

Discovery of Weight stones in Underground Excavation

Wight stones were found in the following excavations near Thirupuvanam in Sivagangai district .

The sixth phase of archaeological work on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Survey has been going on since 19th February. The work is being done in four locations - Adakaram, Akaram, Kondagai and Manalur.

Weights are in orbital shape. Their underside is flat. They each weigh 8 g, 18 g, 150 g and 300 g respectively.

The discovery of the inscription on the inscription near Avinashi

The archaeological Survey of Archeology Center at Ramanathapuram Village near Karuvalur in Avinasi circle, Tirupur district. The inscription was found . Researchers Monarasu and Sivakumar announced: The Kongu region is an important industry for cattel grazing.

The intial year 1760, 1820, 1880, 1940. There is a good chance that the inscription is dated 1820 with a specific pattern of writing and date.

Ministry of Culture Released the First five Re-printed Volumes of Mongolian Kanjur Manuscripts

Under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of re-printing 108 volumes of Mangolian Kanjur. A set of First Five manuscripts were presented to Shri Ram Nath Kovind,

Cultural Panorama



the President of India on Guru Purnima (Dharma Chakra Day) on 4th July 2020.

Mangolian Kanjur The Bhuddhist Canonical text in 108

volumes is the most important religious text in Mongolia.

‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’, the words of Lord Buddha.

The ‘Mongolian Kanjur’ is a source of providing a cultural identity to Mongolia.

The ‘Mongolian Kanjur’ in 108 volumes was published by Prof. Lokesh Chandra (Former MP of Rajya Sabha) in India in the 1970s.

The present edition is being published by the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).

Objective of Mission To publish rare and unpublished

manuscripts, as the knowledge enshrined in them can be spread to researchers, scholars and the general public.

Note- It is expected that all the 108 volumes of the Mangolian Kanjur will be published by March 2022.

‘Smriti Van’ on Harela festival Uttarakhand Chief Minister (CM)

Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated ‘Smriti Van’ at Asthal village of Dehradun district in memory of late Jeet Singh Negi, famous folk singer of the state on the occasion of Harela festival.

To mark the celebration of Harela festival 2020 CM urged to plant a sapling each.

Tamil Nadu CM lays foundation stone for Keeladi museum

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami laid the foundation stone

for a museum at Konthagai village near Keeladi in Sivagangai district. The museum will showcase the artefacts unearthed from the Keeladi ancient site.

The museum will be built by the heritage wing of public works department at Rs 12.21 crore on 81 cents of land.

The first excavation was carried out at Keeladi from 2014 to 2015.

In 2014, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started excavating the 110 acres site located 13km away from Madurai on the Rameswaram road.

Kavanthappadi written as Kamunthappadi in 13th century Inscriptions

Research on a thirteenth century inscription has revealed that it was Kavanthappadi alias Kamunthappadi.

There is a famous Nedumkanni Udanam Andamuluthudaya temple near Kavanthappadi in Erode district. The temple has recently undergone renovations. Asokan, who was in charge of the work at the time, informed us about the inscription.

Inscriptions were engraved on both sides of the inscription. It had 17 lines on one side and 24 lines on the other. It dates back to the 13th century Hoysala King Veeravallalan.

On the 12th of Avani 1332 AD, it is mentioned that Sandhya had paid 10 rupees to light a lamp for a temple in Kanchikuval, one of the 24 Kongu countries.

Cultural Panorama



1.9 Appointments – Who is who?KK Venugopal Reappointed as Attorney General of India

The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet has approved the re-appointment of senior advocate K.K. Venugopal as Attorney General of India for a year, whose 3 year tenure ends in June 2020.

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta as Solicitor General for a period of three years. K.K. Venugopal succeeded Mukul Rohatgi on June 30, 2017. He is the 15th Attorney General of India.

About Appointment Committee: Members of the committee-Prime

Minister(PM) of India, Narendra Modi (who is the Chairman) and the Union Home Affairs minister, Amit Shah

Pak Army appoints Nigar Johar as 1st female Lt. General

Pakistan Army has appointed Major General Nigar Johar as 1st female lieutenant general. She is the 1st female officer to be promoted as Lieutenant General. The officer has been appointed as 1st female Surgeon General of Pak Army.

Govt Appoints Injeti Srinivas as the 1st Chairman IFSC Authority

Government appointed former corporate affairs secretary and IAS officer, Injeti Srinivas as the 1st chairman of the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) for a 3 years term.

In addition to the chairman, IFSCA has other members who have been nominated from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and two members from the Centre.

Sijo George appointed to Centre’s committee on STIP 2020

Sijo Kuruvilla George has been appointed to the Central Government’s committee on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020 (STIP 2020). He is a founding CEO of Startup Village and founder of Re-think Foundation. With this, he has become the part of the eight-member panel which is led by Harkesh Mittal, who also heads the Department of Science and Technology. The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020 (STIP 2020) was formulated by the Department of Science and Technology and Principal Scientific Advisor of the Union government.

Appointments – Who is who?



UK India Business Council appoints Jayant Krishna as Group CEO

The UK India Business Council announced Jayant Krishna will take over as its new Group Chief Executive Officer from August 3.

Krishna has previously led key initiatives of the Skill India mission as CEO, and Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the National Skill Development Corporation.

He will be the first Indian CEO of UKIBC and the first CEO of the Council to be based in India.

Indian-American Scientist Appointed Acting Head of Top US Agriculture Research Organisation

Prominent Indian-American scientist Dr Parag Chitnis has been appointed as the Acting Director of the p r e s t i g i o u s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which drives all federally funded agricultural research in the US.

Chitnis was named Associate Director for Programmes earlier this year and leads implementation of NIFA’s approximately USD 1.7 billion research projects.

In his new position, Parag Chitnis will replace Dr Scott Angle, who has accepted the position of Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Gyanendro Ningombam elected as new Hockey India President

Hockey India Executive Board held an Emergent Executive Board meeting naming Manipur’s Gyanendro Ningombam as the Officiating President of Hockey India.

This was following the resignation letter of Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad received by Hockey India due to his personal and family commitments.

Justice U U Lalit to become part of Supreme Court collegium

The Supreme Court collegium will have Justice U U Lalit as its new and fifth member, with Justice R Banumathi superannuating as a judge of the top court. Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde and Justices N V Ramana, Arun Mishra and R F Nariman are part of the collegium.

The apex court collegium, which comprises the five senior-most judges as its members, selects and recommends names for the appointment of judges in




the Supreme Court. Justice Lalit, who was directly made a judge of the top court from the Bar on August 13, 2014, will remain part of the collegium till he demits office as the CJI on November 8, 2022.

Mr. Sahil Seth appointed as honorary advisor for BRICS CCI

The Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Customs and a 2011 batch Indian Revenue Service Officer, Mr. Sahil Seth, has been appointed as an honorary advisor for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) for the period 2020 to 2030.

The Role is a non-financial, voluntary basis, zero – remuneration appointment.

About BRICS CCI

f Parent Organization of BRICS nation f Chairman – Mr. Vishwas Tripathi f Theme for 2020 – “BRICS Partnership

for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.

Arun Kumar nominated as Vice-Chairman of UIC

The Director General of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Arun Kumar has been nominated as the Vice-Chairman of UIC (Union Internationale Des Chemins/International Union of Railways), Security Platform from July 2020 to July 2022. He will take over as

Chairman of the Security Platform from July 2022 to July 2024. The decision to nominate Arun Kumar was taken during the 96th UIC General Assembly.

International Union of Railways (UIC) develops and formulates analysis and policy positions on account of the rail sector in various matters related to security of persons, property and installations. It encourages the exchange of information as well as experience among the security agencies of UIC members.

IAS Officer P Amudha Appointed Joint Secretary in Prime Minister’s Office

Senior bureaucrat P Amudha has been appointed as Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after a b u r e a u c r a t i c reshuffle. Amudha is a 1994 batch India Administrative Services (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre and she will be joining the PMO with 15 other senior officials of elite services from different categories, according to the Business Standard.

Govindan Rangarajan appointed as new IISc Director

Professor G o v i n d a n Rangarajan is appointed as the new director of the 111-year-old Indian Institute of




Science (IISc) located in Bengalur. According to an official statement from the premier institution, the new appointment is in the wake of incumbent Director Prof. Anurag Kumar superannuating from his service on July 31.

Prof. Govindan Rangarajan has been formally appointed by the Governing Council of the Institute as the next Director of IISc with effect from August 1, 2020, after obtaining approval from the Visitor, the Honourable President of India.

New Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres named Archana Soreng among 7 members to his new Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.

They will advise him regularly on accelerating global action and also provide solutions to tackle the worsening climate crisis.

This is to mobilize climate action as part of the COVID-19 recovery efforts.

The members are between the ages of 18 and 28 years old.

TN govt appoints Special Senior Counsel

Senior advocate A L Somayaji has been appointed ‘’Special Senior Counsel for Government’’ by the Tamil Nadu government to deal with cases of ‘’special importance and complicated nature.’’

The appointment which has been made with immediate effect is based

on a government order dated July 29 sanctioning the creation of ‘’one temporary post’’.

Mr. Somayaji was the Advocate General between March 2013 and August 2016, when J. Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister. He was succeeded by Senior Counsel R. Muthukumaraswamy, who resigned on health grounds in August 2017.




1.10 India and its NeighboursIndia-Bangladesh form 50:50 Joint Venture Company for LPG Business in Bangladesh

India and Bangladesh signed an agreement for formation of 50:50 Joint Venture Company (JVC) of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) business in Bangladesh.

Joint Venture Company:- It helps to reduce the cost of import of

LPG for customers of Bangladesh. The JVC takes the ‘neighborhood first’

policy of Indian Government. The JV intends LPG export

New trade route opens between India & Bhutan

India and Bhutan have u n a n i m o u s l y opened a new trade route to e a s e c o n n e c t i v i t y between both the countries. The route stretches from Pasakha in Bhutan to West Bengal’s Jaigaon. The Indian Government has opened up an additional Land Customs Station at Ahllay, Pasakha to pave way for movement of trucks.

First-ever container train from India arrives in Bangladesh

Indian Railways will be handing over 10 locomotives to its Bangladeshi counterpart

as part of a previous commitment. The India-Bangladesh container train service on the other hand, will lower import-export costs and improve trade between the two countries.

The first-ever container train from India arrived at Benapole in Bangladesh, indicating furtherance of the Indian foreign policy that has come to be known as ‘neighbourhood-first’.

Concor India had signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Container Company Ltd in 2017. A trial run of the first container train was staged in April 2018 from Kolkata to Bangabandhu Setu West railway station.

India to set up Solar Power Plant in Sri Lanka

Under the aegis of International Solar Alliance (ISA) NTPC Ltd, Largest power generation utility of India plans to establish solar power plants in Sri Lanka as a part of the strategy to exhibit the presence of India in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) amid China’s attempt to attract nations into the “Belt and Road” initiative.

About International Solar Alliance(ISA):

f Director General– Upendra Tripathy f Headquarters– Gurugram, Haryana

India and its Neighbours



1.11 Latest Historical EventsKargil Vijay Diwas

India marked Kargil Vijay Diwas. The Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid tribute at National War Memorial. The day marks India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil war.

Highlights On July 26, 1999, Indian Government

culminated “Operation Vijay” and declared victory after three-month long battle in Kargil.

Kargil War The Kargil War is an armed conflict

between India and Pakistan that took place along Line of Control. India used its air power on a large scale for the first time in Kargil war after India-Pakistan War in 1971. Kargil is located very close to Line of Control.

Operation Vijay The operation was launched by the Indian

Army twice in Indian history. The first Operation Vijay was launched in 1961 that led to the capture of Goa, Anjediva islands and Daman and Diu.

Latest Historical Events



POLITICAL SCIENCE2.

Govt – Welfare oriented...

2.1 Govt – Welfare oriented Govt schemes, their utility

5 years of PMAY (U), Smart Cities Mission (SCM) and AMRUT completed

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organized an online event to mark the 5th Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U), Smart Cities Mission (SCM) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The event addressed by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs(I/C) organized to celebrate the achievements and boost implementation of the urban missions.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Launched on June 5, 2015, AMRUT aims at ensuring universal coverage of drinking water supply and substantial improvement in coverage and treatment capacities of sewerage across 500 cities, covering more than 60% of urban population.

Smart Cities Mission (SCM) Launched on June 25, 2015, its objective

is to promote cities that provide core

infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens. ClimateSmart Cities and DataSmart Cities are two important programs under the Smart Cities Mission.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U)

Launched on June 25, 2015, the objective of PMAY-U is to provide pucca house to all eligible beneficiaries of Urban India by 2022 with the vision of ‘Housing for All’. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has received a validated demand of about 1.12 Cr houses under PMAY (U).

New scheme will generate investment of Rs 35,000 crore

The “PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PM FME)” will generate investment of Rs 35,000 crore and employment for 9 lakh skilled and semi-skilled workers, Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal announced officially launching the scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a part of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” during the Coviid-19 crisis.

To be implemented over a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore, the expenditure will be shared in 60:40 ratio between



the Central and State Governments, in 90:10 ratio with North Eastern and Himalayan states, 60:40 ratio with UTs with legislature and 100% by Centre for other UTs.

SERB Launches ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ Scheme

The ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ (AV) scheme for research internships, was launched by the Union Government’s Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).

Objective: - To encourage high-end scientific research and prepare scientific manpower which leads to research careers and knowledge based economy.

Portal:- www.acceleratevigyan.gov.inFeatures:-

It identifies research potential, mentors and helps in training on national scale.

It will organise about 10,000 High-end Workshops to provide opportunities to about 25000 doctoral PG students in another 5 years

The SERB will launch an application to attain early success.

It has started to call applications for the process under ABHYAAS scheme for winter.

Odisha Government to Implement an Initiative ‘Sabuja Odisha’

Odisha government in a high-level meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy decided to implement a

new initiative ‘Sabuja Odisha’. The initiative will increase green cover

through extensive plantations over 1,30,264 Hectares of land.

A web-based system will be set up or real-time monitoring and supervision of the programme.

Rajya Sabha Launches Employees Welfare Scheme in Arun Jaitley’s Name

The Rajya Sabha Secretariat launched “Arun Jaitley Financial Assistance for Group C Employees”, an Employees Welfare Scheme in the name of former Union Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley funded by his pension to his family. The scheme was formulated and approved based on the decision of Sangeeta Jaitley, wife of Arun Jaitley.

Arun Jaitley Financial Assistance for Group C Employees:

After the demise of Former Finance minister Arun Jaitley on 24th August 2019, Sangeeta Jaitley, submitted a request to the chairman of rajya sabha, M Venkaiah Naidu, to utilise the family pension (Rs 3 lakhs at present) entitled to her for the benefit of Group C employees of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat with low salaries.

Home Minister to launch “Vriksharopan Abhiyan” in New Delhi

“Vriksharopan Abhiyan” will be launched by the Union Home Minister




Shri Amit Shah in New Delhi. Ministry of Coal will organize the abhiyan

along with all Coal/Lignite PSUs. Under the “Vriksharopan Abhiyan”, large scale plantation would be carried out in mines, colonies, offices and other suitable areas of Coal/Lignite PSUs in order to promote “plantation by the society”.

SWAMIH funds The Union Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitaraman recently reviewed the performance of Special Window for Affordable and Mid Income Housing (SWAMIH).

Highlights Around 81 projects have been approved

under the SWAMIH funds with an investment of Rs 8,767 crores. The fund was formed to complete stalled construction, mid-income housing projects, RERA-registered affordable projects. The fund has a target corpus of Rs 12,500 crores. The green shoe option of the fund is Rs 12,500 crores.

The fund was cleared to be set up in November 2019. The Secretary of Ministry of Finance is the sponsor of the fund on behalf of Government of India. SBICAP Ventures of the investment manager of the funds.

Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana

The Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah

distributed 100 electric potter wheels under Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana of KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission).

Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana The scheme was launched by KVIC.

It reaches out to potters in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, West Bengal, Haryana, West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Bihar, and Gujarat.

TRIFED signs MoU with IIT Delhi under govt’s ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’

The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has entered into a partnership with IIT Delhi under the HRD Ministry’s flagship ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ (UBA) to boost livelihood opportunities and income generation for tribal communities.

The UBA connects higher education institutions with villages for the economic and social betterment of rural communities.

To cement and formalise this partnership, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between TRIFED, IIT Delhi and Vijnana Bharati, a swadeshi science movement. TRIFED functions under the Tribal Affairs Ministry.

Under TRIFED’s ‘Van Dhan’ programme, tribal entrepreneurs will now be able to get access to the expertise of the entire network of more than 2,600 academic and research institutions under the UBA.




3. GEOGRAPHY3.1 Policy on Environment and EcologyIndian Railways Plans Transformation to Net Zero Carbon Emission by 2030

Indian Railways takes decisive steps to transform itself as ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Mass Transportation Network by 2030.

It has already floated tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands.

Pilot project in Bina getting operationalised soon and under extensive testing and trial.

Mission Atma Nirbhar Bharat remains the driving force.

Solar Energy to make Indian Railways a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’.

“Golden Birdwing” from Uttarakhand surpassed “Southern Birdwing” to become India’s largest butterfly after 88 years

The Himalayan butterfly named “Golden Birdwing (Troides aeacus)” has surpassed the “Southern Birdwing (Troides minos)” after 88 years to become the largest butterfly in India. The female species of the Golden Birdwing has a wingspan

of 194 mm that is 4 mm larger than that of the Southern Birdwing with 190 mm wingspan while the largest wingspan in the male species of the Golden Birdwing is 106 mm. The largest female Golden Birdwing’s forewing length is 90 mm.

f The female Golden Birdwing was recorded from Didihat in Uttarakhand, the largest male was from the Wankhar Butterfly Museum in Meghalaya capital Shillong.

f The new measurements of Golden Birdwing and 24 other species, are published in the latest issue of Bionotes, a quarterly newsletter for research on life forms.

About Southern Birdwing: Southern Birdwing (190 mm) was

recorded in 1932 by Brigadier Evans, a British military officer and lepidopterist (a person who studies or collects butterflies and moths).

Mean Average Global Temperature could rise by 1.5° Celsius in 5 years: WMO

The United Nations (UN) weather Agency, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its “Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update for 2020-2024” has forecasted that the annual mean global temperature is likely to be

Policy on Environment and Ecology




at least 1° Celsius above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) in each of the coming five years (2020-2024) and there is a 20% chance that it will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) in at least one year. Overall, it is very likely to be within the range 0.91 – 1.59°C.

The 1.5 C mark is the level to which countries have agreed to try to limit global warming as per 2015 Paris accord. The agreement sets a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally no more than 1.5 C.

The earth’s average temperature is already over 1.0 C above the pre-industrial period. The last five-year period (2015-2019) has been the warmest five years on record.

About World Meteorological Organization (WMO):

f Secretary-General (SG) – Petteri Taalas

f Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland f Members – 187 Member States and 6

Member Territories

India’s 2018 Tiger Census - Largest Camera Trap Wildlife Survey sets Guinness Record

The 2018 tiger Census of India entered the Guinness Record book as the largest camera trap wildlife survey following the application sent to the Guinness Book of World Record.

Guinness Book of World record cited that the fourth iteration of the survey conducted in 2018-2019 was the most comprehensive to date in terms of

resources and data. The population of the tiger has increased

33% since 2014 that is from 2,226 in 2014 to 2967 in 2018 making India the safest and biggest habitat for the wild cats in the world.

Key Points: The website of Guinness Book of World

record cited that the fourth iteration of the survey conducted in 2018-2019 was the most comprehensive to date in terms of resources and data.

The All India Tiger Estimation survey conducted every four years is guided by the National Tigers Conservation Authority with the technical support of Wildlife Institute of India implemented by the State Forest Departments.

More than 1492 tigers are found in the forest areas of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

UNODC’s World Wildlife Crime Report The United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime (UNODC) released its World Wildlife Crime Report stating that the Seizure of the scales of the Pangolins, the most trafficked wild animal in the world has increased 10 times between the year 2014 and 1018.

The report states that the number of legally imported pangolin scales went from zero to around 13 tonnes between 2013 and 2017.

About UNODC:

f Director-General/ Executive Director– Ghada Fathi Waly

f Headquarters– Vienna, Austria



Poba Reserve Forest in Assam”s Dhemaji to be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary

The chief minister (CM) of Assam has announced the upgradation of Poba Reserve Forest, a vital biodiversity hotspot in Dhemaji district of Assam, as a wildlife sanctuary. The announcement was made during a meeting with senior officials of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Majuli districts at Jonai.

Declared in 1924 as Poba Reserve Forest, it has an area of 10,522 hectares and is home to a large number of flora and fauna.

CM also visited the Outer Jonai and Bera Sapori areas in the district and took stock of the devastation caused by the flood.

‘Bathynomus raksasa’ in Indian Ocean

A team of researchers from Singapore confirmed the discovery of a new species called ‘Bathynomus raksasa’ (Described as “cockroach of the sea”).

The scientists reported their findings in the biodiversity research journal ‘ZooKeys’.

The researchers found the new species in 2018 during a deep-sea survey off of the coast of Banten, Western Java, Indonesia (Indian Ocean).

‘Bathynomus Raksasa’ is the second-largest isopod species known to researchers to date and is the sixth “supergiant” species from the Indo-West Pacific.

Rare yellow turtle spotted in Odisha’s Balasore district

A rare yellow turtle was discovered and rescued by villagers in Odisha’s Balasore district .The whole shell and the body of the rescued turtle is yellow.

India to Have 60% Renewable Energy by 2030

Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State (MoS) (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy stated that India will have around 60% of the installed capacity of the electricity generation from renewable resources by 2030, in the webinar on Energy Transition at the second p r e - e v e n t hosted by The W o r l d Susta inable Development S u m m i t (WSDS) 2021 in collaboration with Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) India on 21st July 2020.

Gist of the Webinar: Prime Minister Modi announced that

India will increase the renewable energy




target to 450 GW by 2030 from 175 GW by 2022, in the United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit held in September 2019.

R K Singh highlighted the progress of India on clean energy and stated that including the projects under development and hydroelectric power the clean energy capacity of India is around 190 GW which is higher than the targeted 175 GW by 2022.

By 2030, the renewable energy capacity of India would reach 510 GW with around 450 GW of power generation capacity from renewable sources like solar and wind and 60 GW from Hydroelectric power.

Global Forest Resources Assessment of FAO: India ranks third in raise in forest cover

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently released Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) report. According to the report, India ranked third among top 10 countries where forest cover has increased in the last decade.

Highlights The Food and Agriculture Organization

bring out the report once in every five years. The report assesses state of forests in the member countries, their conditions and management.

According to the report, the following 10 countries have gained forest area between 2010 and 2020.

f China f Australia f India

f Chile f Vietnam f Turkey

Nitrogen Dioxide levels fell by more than 70 percent in New Delhi during lockdown: UN

The nitrogen dioxide levels fell by more than 70 per cent in New Delhi during the lockdown, as per a UN policy brief.

The UN Secretary-General’s Policy Brief on ‘COVID-19 in an Urban World’ though highlighted that the environmental gains made could be temporary if the cities re-open without policies to prevent air pollution and promote de-carbonisation.

An estimated 90 percent of all reported COVID-19 cases, urban areas have become the epicentre of the pandemic. The size of the population of the areas and their high level of global and local interconnectivity make them particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus.

New scientific studies suggest that poor air quality is correlated with higher COVID-19 mortality rates.

Regarding COVID-19 outbreaks in informal settlements, the brief stated that in Mumbai, as of mid-April 2020, 30 percent of designated containment zones were in slums, while 60 percent were within 100 metres of an informal settlement.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that the state of public services in many cities requires urgent attention, especially in informal settlements. The brief also recommends that nations must pursue a green, resilient and inclusive economic recovery.




4. ECONOMICS4.1 New Economic Policy & Govt. SectorFitch Slashes India’s Growth Forecast For FY22 to 8%

Fitch Ratings Inc., an American credit rating agency in Global Economic Outlook (GEO), has lowered India’s growth forecast for FY 2021-22 to 8% from 9.5 % projected in may 2020 due to the toughest lockdown imposed by the central government to prevent the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

However, Fitch has not made any change in its previous estimate of a 5% decline in the economy during the current financial year (FY 2020-21).

f Global Projections: Fitch has also predicted growth in the global economy at 4.9 % in 2021& in 2022 it is estimated to be 3.4 %.

About Fitch Ratings:

f Headquarters– New York, US f President– Ian Linnell

India’s Forex Reserves 5th largest in the world

The foreign exchange reserves of India is the fifth largest in the world at more than USD 500 billion. The first four Forex Reserves on the list are China, Japan,

Switzerland and Russia, as per the report released by IMF - International Monetary Fund.

The foreign exchange reserves of India are almost equal to one fifth of India’s GDP.

India’s GDP Likely to Contract by 6.4% in 2020-21

CARE Ratings Limited ( formerly Credit Analysis and Research Limited) in its report, ‘Revised GDP growth projections for FY21’ has projected a 6.4 % contraction (or -6.4%) in India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for the current financial year FY 21 (2020-21) due to the continuous lockdown imposed for prevention of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

About CARE Rating:

f Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

New Economic Policy & Govt. Sector



Income tax department amends TDS rules, seeks more disclosure in form

After introducing new TDS (tax deducted at source) rates for high-value cash withdrawals from banks, the income tax department has now amended TDS rules further to tighten the noose and seek more disclosures.

In its latest notification, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has amended TDS forms to give effect to the new withholding provisions under Finance Act, 2020.

The new forms are more comprehensive and require payers to report not only those cases where TDS is deducted, but also cases where TDS is not deducted for any reason. Separate codes have been provided to cover different situations of deduction of TDS at lower rate/ non-deduction of TDS

The income tax department has revised format of Form 26Q and 27Q, where details of TDS deducted and deposited on various resident and non-resident payments is required to be deposited.

Global economy to contract by 5.2 pc in 2020: Report

In accordance with the Dun and Bradstreet’s (D&B) Country Risk and Global Outlook Report, which has covered 132 countries, the global economy is likely to contract by 5.2% in 2020. This is the biggest decline since the Second World War and a far stronger contraction than the 1.7% recorded in 2009 during the global financial crisis. As per report,

the global economy will not reach pre-pandemic levels of activity again before 2022.

About Dun & Bradstreet (D&B): Dun & Bradstreet’s Country Risk

Indicator provides a comparative, cross-border assessment of the risk of doing business in a country. The risk indicator is divided into seven bands, ranging from DB1 to DB7, with DB1 being lowest risk.

Headquarter– New Jersey, United States (US)

Location in India– Mumbai, Maharashtra

India Moves up a Rank, Becoming the Second-Largest Foreign Investor in UK

According to the United Kingdom’s government’s figures released on 10 July 2020, India has become the second largest Foreign Direct Investor in the United Kingdom (UK) after the United States in 2019, by investing in 120 projects and creating 5,429 new jobs in the UK.

Top Foreign Direct Investors in UK 2020:

The United States of America remains as the top source of Forign Direct Investment (FDI) of the UK, delivering 462 projects and 20,131 jobs.

The List is followed by India, Germany, France, China and Hong Kong.

Improvisations: India increased with a 4% FDI increase for

the UK on 2018-19 with 1,852 new inward investment projects in the 2019/2020 financial year.




India’s annual median GDP growth in FY21 to contract 4.5%

In accordance with the latest round of Economic Outlook Survey of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), India’s annual median Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for FY2020-21 has been declined to (-) 4.5% with a minimum and maximum growth estimate of (-) 6.4% and 1.5% respectively, as compared to January 2020 estimate of 5.5%.

As per the survey, there is a possibility of V-shaped recovery with government expenditure as in the current situation; it is the only helping hand for the financial position of the economy.

Economic activity-wise annual forecast indicated a median growth of 2.7% for agriculture and allied activities for 2020-21.

About FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry):

f Secretary General– Dilip Chenoy f President– Sangita Reddy f Headquarter– New Delhi

Govt aims to increase public health expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by 2025

In a meeting with the 15th Finance Commission, the Union Health Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan, highlighted that the government aims at gradually increasing the public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the nation’s GDP by the year 2025.

The Minister asserted that the outlay for primary health expenditure will also be made nearly two third of the total public health expenditure in the country.

The Health Ministry has also revised its requirement of around 4.9 lakh crores to 6.04 lakh crores in view of the COVID pandemic.

Indian Government launches implementation guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund

The Union Government launched the implementation guidelines for Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund on July 16, 2020. The AHIDF fund worth Rd 15000 crore was approved by the Union Cabinet last month under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan economic package to boost growth in several sectors.

The fund has been set up to promote and incentivise MSMEs and Private companies to encourage their involvement in processing and value addition infrastructure. India is increasingly engaged in ensuring breed improvement to increase milk production and taking care of the processing sector.

ICRA projects India’s GDP to contract by 9.5% in FY21 from earlier 5%

ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency) projects India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to contract by 9.5% (-9.5%) in




FY2021 from 5% earlier forecasted as ongoing lockdowns in some states have affected the recovery seen in May and June.

India’s economy to contract by 25% in the 1st quarter of FY21, in the 2nd quarter to contract by 12.4%, in the 3rd quarter to contract by 2.3% and in the 4th quarter to contract by 1.3%.

FM Sitharaman attends 3rd G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meeting

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Saudi Arabian Presidency through Video Conferencing.

The main aim of the meeting is to discuss the global economic outlook amid evolving COVID-19 pandemic crisis along with other G20 Finance Track priorities for the year 2020.

The FM discussed regarding the progress of G20 Action Plan against COVID 19. This plan laid out in detail a list of collective commitments under the heads of health response, economic response, strong and sustainable recovery and international financial coordination aimed at coordinating a committed effort on the part of the G20 countries.

FamPay launched India’s 1st numberless card, Famcard

FamPay, India’s first Neobank for teenagers, in partnership with IDFC First Bank launched India’s 1st numberless

card, FamCard. FamPay with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed this card.

This card is accepted across the RuPay payment network of merchants. It is similar to a debit card which enables teenagers to transact in a cashless manner.

Teenagers can use the card independently without the intervention of the parents.

India’s GDP to contract by 6.1% in FY21: Nomura

As per the report of Nomura Holdings, Inc, a japanese brokerage firm, India’s Gross domestic Product (GDP) is likely to contract by 6.1%(-6.1%) as economic activity continues to be weak due to COVID-19 pandemic.

India’s economy to contract by 15.2% in the June quarter. For the rest of this fiscal year, GDP will never be positive.

It estimated contractions of 5.6% in the September quarter, 2.8% for the December quarter and 1.4% in the March quarter.

About Nomura Holdings, Inc:

f Headquarters– Tokyo, Japan

India’s GDP to contract by 6% in FY21: DBS

As per the report of DBS (Formerly, Development Bank of Singapore), Singaporean brokerage, India’s Gross domestic Product(GDP) will contract by 6% (-6%) in FY21 as the economy is yet to stabilise the COVID -19 infection curve and the due to the caseload in the economically key states.

This will affect the economy badly. In




its earlier forecast, the brokerage had forecasted the growth as -4.8%.

About DBS Group:

f Headquarters– Singapore f CEO– Piyush Gupta

RIL becomes world’s second most valuable energy company

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the world’s second most valuable energy company, overtaking American oil giant ExxonMobil after its market capitalization (m-cap) reached over Rs 14 lakh crore (14.1 trillion or USD 189.3 billion). Aramco tops the list. ExxonMobil has an m-cap of USD 184.7 billion.

It is to be noted that no Indian company has ever crossed the m-cap of Rs 14 trillion.

India’s GDP boosts to 2.5% by AI : Report by ICRIER, Google & NASSCOM

According to The report titled, ‘Implications of AI on the Indian Economy’ by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) along with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and Google stated that:

A unit increase (measured as the ratio of AI to total sales) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) intensity can result in a 2.5% increase in India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the immediate term.

About Nasscom:

f Headquarters – New Delhi, India f President– Debjani Gosh.

About ICRIER

f Headquarters – New Delhi, India f Chairperson, Board of Governors –

Isher Judge Ahluwalia




5.1 Latest Inventions on Science & Technology

5. SCIENCE

Indian Space Mission Shukrayaan-1 The Indian Venus Mission Shukrayaan-1,

the Swedish Institute of Space Physics will explore Venus for the second time. The Shukrayaan-1 is scheduled for launch at the end of 2023 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Key Points:- Venusian Neutrals Analyzer (VNA), the

satellite instrument of IRF will study the interaction between the charged particles of the sun and the atmosphere and exosphere of the planet.

Plasma properties around Venus are measured intimately through the satellite TV for pc instruments.

The primary technology SARA was launched on Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 that explored the Moon in 2008-2009.

About Indian Venus Mission:

f Operator: ISRO f Launch: 2023

Indian Air Force & CSIO Have Develops Indigenous ‘Airborne Locust Control System’

Chandigarh based 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the Indian Air Force (IAF)

and Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) have indigenously developed an Airborne Locust Control System (ALCS) for two Mi-17 helicopters for spraying atomised pesticide malathion to arrest locust breeding.

f These helicopters will spray 800 liters of pesticide in 750 hectare area in just 40 minutes.

The Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has flagged off a Bell206-B3 helicopter for effective control of crop threatening locusts in the worst affected areas in Rajasthan.

About Mi-17 Helicopter: Mi-17 Helicopter made in Russia is

considered very powerful. This two-engine chopper can fly at a maximum speed of 260 kilometers per hour. It can carry 24 jawans in addition to two pilots simultaneously. It is capable of carrying 4000 kg.

Latest Inventions on Science & Technology



Mangalyaan captures Image of Mars Biggest Natural Satellite “Phobos”

The Mangalyaan Mission (also known as Mars Orbiter Mission) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has captured the image of Phobos (the largest Moon or Natural Satellite of Mars) on 1st July 2020. The image was shared by ISRO on 3rd July 2020.

The image of Phobos was captured from a distance of 4200 kilometres by the Mars Orbiter Mission on 1st July. At that time, the Mars Orbiter Mission was at a distance of 7200 kilometres from Mars. ISRO has further stated that 210 metres is the spatial resolution of the captured image.

ISRO to release Space policy, Space Activities Bill soon

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan announced recently that the space policy and space activities bill are in the final stages. A dedicated space policy was in making for some time now for legislation of space activities.

The policy was fast-tracked after the government announced major reforms in the space sector, allowing the private sector to use ISRO’s services to carry out space activities such as building rockets and satellites.

The space policy and the Space Activities Bill will help address legal issues in the space sector. A new navigation policy is also being proposed along with necessary changes in the Remote Sensing Data Policy and SATCOM policy.

India’s 1st NPNT compliant Drone flight successfully completed

India’s First No-Permission No-Takeoff (NPNT) compliant drone flight on the A200 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) has been completed successfully by Quidich Innovation Labs and Asteria Aerospace. This NPNT drone flight is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation MoCA & DGCA comprehensive policy on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), which came into effect on 1st Dec 2018.

IIT Roorkee researchers develops disinfection box “Unisaviour”

“Unisaviour”, a disinfection box has been developed by the researchers at IIT Roorkee. The disinfection box “Unisaviour” can be used to sterilize personal belongings, apparels, PPE, medical equipment among others form the COVID-19. The disinfection box can also be installed easily at the public spaces such as cinema halls, malls etc to ensure the highest standard of hygiene.

Study reveals secret life of lithium in Sun-like stars

It is the key ingredient in the batteries of our mobile phones and electric vehicles.

Lithium is a special element - it was the only metal produced in the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. While other elements were produced in copious amounts by stars over the eons (by factors of mil-lions in some cases), lithium has only increased




by a relatively small amount. The source of even this small amount of lithium is still a matter of scientific debate. About half is thought to come from high-energy cosmic rays breaking up the heavier elements, like carbon and oxygen, in interstellar space.

Recently, a team of researchers, led by Prof. Gang Zhao and Dr. Yerra Bharat Kumar from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), studied Lithium (Li) content in hundreds of thousands of Sun-like stars, using large spectroscopic surveys of GALAH and LAMOST.

NASA Astronaut observed comet “Neowise” from ISS

The images of the comet Neowise(C/2020 F3), were captured by NASA astronaut Bob Behnken from International Space Station (ISS) camera, which was discovered by the Neowise space telescope, short for the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.

IIT-H collaborates with NVIDIA to establish India’s 1st NVIDIA AI Technology Centre

Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IIT-H) collaborates with NVIDIA to establish India’s first ‘NVIDIA Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology Centre’ (NVAITC) to speed up the research work on AI and its commercial purpose.

The collaboration focuses on improvising AI research in the aspects of agriculture, smart cities and language understanding.

Key Info NVAITC will also accelerate the research

of faculty at IIT-H. IIT-H has 2 systems namely, NVIDIA DGX-1TM systems and NVIDIA DGX-2TM system, which are dedicated to the research carried out at the institute.

About NVIDIA:

f NVIDIA is a multinational technology company,

f Headquarters- California, United States

‘Compact XL’ system for covid-19 tests lauched by MyLab

Mylab Discovery Solutions has launched the ‘Compact XL’ system for conducting a wide range of tests, including RT-PCR tests for COVID-19.

This is India’s first machine to automate the manual processes of molecular diagnostic tests such as RNA/DNA-based tests including COVID-19 RT-PCR tests.

UAE to be first Arab nation to send probe to Mars

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced to send probe to Mars to capture comprehensive image of the weather in the atmosphere of Mars. With this, the UAE will be the first Arab nation to achieve the milestone. The UAE’s probe will help pave the way for scientific breakthroughs in studying the Mars Atmosphere.




ISRO to Launch Brazil’s Amazonia-1 Earth Observation Satellite on PSLV

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the Amazonia – 1 onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) as a primary payload by August 2020. Amazonia -1 is Brazil’s first satellite for Earth observation – designed, assembled and tested in Brazil.

Purpose of Amazonia -1: Amazonia – 1 will help in observing and

monitoring the deforestation in the region of Amazon through the satellite images.

The importance of this satellite has increased due to the recent forest fire in amazon.

The images from the Brazilian satellite will also help in the agriculture and vegetation sector.

Key Points: The launch of Amazonia -1 is one of the

36 space and satellite missions of ISRO that has been scheduled over the next two years including the Chandrayaan-3, uncrewed mission for Gaganyaan.

Countries like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Bolivia have space cooperation agreements with ISRO at different levels because of ISRO’s commercial consideration.

The cost effective programmes of ISRO have attracted multiple countries all over the world.

Boeing delivers final Apache & Chinook helicopters to IAF

Boeing India has delivered the last of the five AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Hindan Air Force Station.

Boeing has c o m p l e t e d delivery of all 22 new AH-64E Apache to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The Apaches were deployed at the Leh airbase as part of the forward movement of assets, amid the stand-off with China in Ladakh.

Boeing also handed over the last five of the 15 CH-47F (I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the IAF.

India contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015 under a $3 billion deal.

Telecommunication Satellite “APSTAR-6D” Successfully Launched

China’s 1st Kuaizhou-11(means ‘Fast Ship’), solid-fuelled carrier rocket launch was failed. The rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. On July 9, 2020 China launched its new commercial telecommunication satellite “APSTAR-6D” by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Center.




During the failed launch, Kuaizhou-11(KZ-11) carried Jilin-1 Gaofen-02E or BilibiliSat and the CentiSpace-1 S2 – also designated Xiangrikui 2.

Kuaizhou-11 & APSTAR-6D was developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) and commercialized by the China Space Sanjiang Group Corporation (Expace).

JNCASR spinoff launched molecular probes used in COVID-19 test kits

VNIR Biotechnologies Private Limited, a spinoff by Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India launched indigenous fluorescence probes and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mix for Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection which are molecular probes used in COVID-19 test kits. VNIR Biotechnologies Private Limited is incubated at Bangalore Bio-innovation Centre (BBC) of Government of Karnataka.

This initiative of developing products locally is in line with our Prime Minister’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.

Russia first nation to complete clinical trials of COVID vaccine

Russia has s u c c e s s f u l l y completed the human trials of C o r o n a v i r u s vaccine. With this, Russia has become the first country to complete the trials of COVID vaccine. The volunteers who took part in the trials will be discharged soon. The trials were aimed at showing the safety of vaccine for human health.

Turmeric may help in treating blood cancer

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) researchers have shown that curcumin the active principle from turmeric may enhance cancer cell death, said a statement from the institution.

The study showed that curcumin significantly increased the sensitivity of leukemia cells to a protein that causes death of cancer cells. The research however showed these results in-situ (in a test tube) and the outcome may vary in the human body. This doubt arises because curcumin is known to be poorly absorbed into the blood from the gut and its bioavailability for therapeutic purposes is generally poor.




There have been considerable efforts in developing therapeutic agents that trigger death of cancer cells. One such agent that has been found promising is a protein called ‘TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand’ (TRAIL).

IIT Kanpur develops UV sanitizing device ‘SHUDH’

IIT Kanpur has developed an Ultraviolet (UV) sanitizing device named Smartphone operated Handy Ultraviolet Disinfection Helper (SHUDH).

Features of SHUDH SHUDH has 6 UV lights each of 15 Watts,

which can be monitored individually from a distance.

The product’s location, speed, on/off can be remotely controlled by installing an android application using the smartphone.

On its full operation it can disinfect a 10×10 square feet room in about 15 minutes. This was proven in the initial testing.

IIT Delhi develops COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit “Corosure”

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi has developed the world’s most affordable


COVID-19 Diagnostic Kit “Corosure”. The kit has been e-launched by the Union

Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

The kit has also received the approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) as well as the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

The launch of this kit is expected to significantly bring down the cost of COVID-19 RT-PCR testing.

India’s 1st Fully Indigenously Developed Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) informed that, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to India’s first fully indigenously developed vaccine against pneumonia, Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine. The vaccine has been developed by M/s. Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, Pune.

DCGI has also granted permission to manufacture the vaccine domestically.

About Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine

The Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine is used for active immunization against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by ‘Streptococcus pneumonia’ in infants.



It is administered in an intramuscular manner (intramuscular injection is a technique used to deliver a medication deep into the muscles).

Department of Biotechnology supported COVID 19 Vaccine begins Adaptive Phase I/II clinical trials

Vaccine D i s c o v e r y P r o g r a m m e supported by the Department of Bio t e c h n o l o g y , Govt. of India under the National Biopharma Mission, implemented by BIRAC moves into clinical trials

BIRAC has announced that ZyCoV-D, the plasmid DNA vaccine designed and developed by Zydus and partially funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has initiated Phase I/ II clinical trials in healthy subjects, making it the first indigenously developed vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered in humans in India.

The adaptive Phase I/II dose escalation, multi-centric study will assess the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine. The human dosing of the vaccine marks a key milestone since the launching of the accelerated vaccine development programme for COVID-19.

IIT Madras start-up developed a portable hospital called “MediCAB”

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) start-up Modulus Housing, has

developed a portable hospital unit called ‘MediCAB’.

MediCAB can be installed anywhere within two hours by four people. It has been launched recently in Wayanad District of Kerala where the units are being deployed to treat COVID19 Patients.

The Medicab is foldable and is composed of four zones: a doctor’s room, an isolation room, a medical room/ward and a twin-bed ICU, maintained at negative pressure. It aims to decentralize the approach to detect, screen, identify, isolate and treat COVID-19 patients in their local communities through these portable microstructures.

Long March-5 rocket in position for China’s first Mars probe

China has taken another major step toward its first Mars probe mission, Tianwen-1. The Long March-5 Y4, the carrier rocket commissioned for the probe, was vertically transported to the launch area at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China’s Hainan Province on Friday morning ahead of the launch scheduled to take place between the end of July and the beginning of August, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA.)

According to a CNSA press release the Global Times attained on Friday, the Long March-5 Y4 rocket arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in late May this year, and has completed preparation work including assembly and pre-launch tests.




COPS: COVID-19 Protection System unveiled by CSIR-CSMERI

CSIR-CMERI unveiled COVID-19 protection System (COPS) for workplaces.

Highlights The COPS include contactless solar based

intelligent mask automated dispensing unit cum thermal scanner (IntelliMAST), 360-degree car flusher and touchless faucet. These sub units are now available for technology transfers. The COPS is the conglomeration of the above listed technologies.

UAE launches ‘Hope’ mission to Mars from Japan’s space center

The United Arab Emirates launched its first-ever interplanetary Hope Probe mission to Mars from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre.

The Hope probe launched on an H2-A rocket from Tanegashima spaceport, and is now on a 500-million-km journey to study the planet’s weather and climate.

The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet’s atmosphere.

Lightning advance detection technology

Lightning strikes more than 2,500 people a year across the country. These casualties can be prevented if lightning is predicted in advance.

States including Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Assam are using the technology of the US ‘Earth Dot Net’ to detect lightning in advance. With this technology it is

possible to predict the path of lightning and predict the impact of lightning in this village 45 minutes in advance.

Lightning detection technology will be introduced within the next one year. The next Geo satellite to be launched into space will be equipped with lightning detection sensors.

If the path of the lightning is predicted by the sensors fitted in the satellite, it is possible to accurately calculate the time of thunder and lightning in any village before 3 o’clock. People in the area can be alerted immediately through cell phone text messages or other media. Can prevent casualties.

In the interest of farmers and the public, we have already introduced a processor called Tamini.

Nano-sanitiser developed by SNBNCBS can help in combatting COVID 19

An active respirator mask with attached exhalation valve and suspended particulate matter filter for comfortable and hygienic breathing while wearing masks has been developed by Professor Samir K. Pal & his group under the leadership of Professor Samit Kumar Ray, Director S.N. Bose National Centre For Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, an autonomous research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

A nano-sanitizer with a Dispensing Antimicrobial Layer has also been developed by the institute. The Long-Lasting Nano-sanitiser innovation is a




solution to the problems caused by the use of the general sanitisers like dehydration of skin due to frequent use, and nature of instantaneous antimicrobial action of common sanitisers without protective role. This innovative sanitiser technology assures comfortable and hygienic hand sanitisation for a longer duration.

IIT Madras develops technology to remove haze in surveillance camera images

Indian Institute of Technology Madras has developed enhanced image processing techniques to mitigate the impact of haze on images captured by surveillance cameras. This can prove crucial in helping law enforcement agencies solve crimes and help the common public as many communities are now installing CCTVs to safeguard themselves.

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine ‘AZD1222’ early trial shows positive result

The human trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford and backed by AstraZeneca Plc has shown a positive result. Officially known as AZD1222, the vaccine has prompted a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

The researchers said that they found their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.

The vaccine uses a weakened version of chimpanzee adenovirus as a vector, infused with the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

Comet NEOWISE The comet NEOWISE will be making its

closest approach to Earth, passing by at a distance of 103 million kilometres.

The comet will be visible after sunset around the world in the north west direction. In India, it will be visible until around 9:30pm. Before 12 July, the comet was visible in the early hours of the morning.

This passage increases the comet’s orbital period from about 4400 years to about 6700 years. Its closest approach to Earth occurred on July 23, 2020.

COVISHIELD: India to take up clinical trials of OXFORD Vaccine

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization announced that it will take up clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine, COVIDSHIELD developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Highlights The trials are being considered by CDSCO

after the request from Serum Institute of India. The phase III of the trials is to be conducted in India. During phase III, around 4000-5000 people shall be tested. The Vaccine is already being tested in UK, South Africa, and Brazil. The cost of the vaccine is estimated to be less than Rs 1000.

IIM-Kozhikode start-up develops wearable device ‘Veli Band’

Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) based incubated startup Qual5 India Pvt. Ltd, has developed a wearable device called ‘Veli




Band’ which helps in maintaining social distancing by sending out an alarm in case of proximity with another person.

PM Modi launches 3 high-volume Covid test labs

PM Modi launched three high-throughput labs in Noida, Kolkata and Mumbai for testing of samples to detect Covid-19. The facilities, which will enable testing of over 10,000 samples a day and reduce turnaround time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical material, will not remain restricted to testing for Covid-19 but will be expanded for testing of many other diseases including Hepatitis B and C, HIV and dengue in future.

China launched new high-resolution mapping satellite Ziyuan-III 03 from Shanxi

China sent a new high-resolution mapping satellite namely “Ziyuan III 03”, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, into space through Long March-4B carrier rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the Northern Province of Shanxi, China.

It was the 341st flight mission by the Long March rocket series.

Along with high-resolution mapping satellite, there were two small satellites used for dark matter detection and commercial data acquisition were also sent which were developed by the Shanghai ASES Spaceflight Technology Co. Ltd.

Guwahati gets “BANDICOOT” the first manhole cleaning robot in Northeast

Siddhartha Bhat tacharya , Minister of G u w a h a t i D e v e l o p m e n t D e p a r t m e n t i n a u g u r a t e d Guwahati’s first m a n h o l e cleaning robot n a m e d “BANDICOOT”, an automatic sewer cleaning device. Guwahati became the first city in the Northeast region to get a manhole cleaning robot.

BANDICOOT: BANDICOOT was developed by

Genrobotics, an Indian startup company under the Make in India initiative.

The funding for the development of BANDICOOT was provided by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

The robot supports easy removal of sludge from the underground drain and will help the elimination of manual scavenging.

NASA launches its Mars Mission; to reach Mars by February 2021

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has its Mars mission named Mars Perseverance Rover 2020 on July 30. The Mars Rover aims to reach the Red Planet by the year 2021. The rover was launched aboard Atlas




V-541 in Florida. The Mars Perseverance rover is a robot that will deploy first-ever interplanetary helicopter.

DIAT developed ‘Aashray’, the Medical Bed Isolation System to Combat COVID-19

The Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed ‘Aashray’, the Medical Bed Isolation System to fight against COVID-19 pandemic by controlling the spread of infection released by the patient. It is a low cost, reusable solution.

The model of Aashray was manufactured by M/s Cleancore Solutions Pvt Ltd. Bhosari, Pune.

About Aashray It will maintain proper isolation by

creating suction (negative pressure) near exhale of COVID-19 patients and further filtering and disinfecting the aerosol.

Bed Isolation System envelopes are made up of specialized material and manufacturing process with transparent and translucent (7.5(l) ×7 (w) ×6.5 (h) ft3) size supported on medical grade materials structures.

ICMR Study” India likely to miss AIDS target by 2030

The Indian Council of Medical Research has warned that India is likely to miss the national target of ending AIDS in the country by 2030. According to the council, this is mainly due to the halted progress of several health programmes due to COVID-19.

Highlights According to ICMR, the annual decline

of annual new HIV infections between 2010 and 2017 was 27%. Under the new target, GoI intended to reduce AIDS in the country by 75% by 2020. This seems highly ambitious and now has become challenging with COVID-19 crisis.




Government bans 59 Chinese mobile apps prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), invoking its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 has decided to ban 59 apps due to their activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

f It should be noted that all of the blocked apps are Chinese including popular ones such as TikTok, Helo, WeChat, UC Browser, Shareit and CamScanner.

f This move comes at a time of rising tensions between India and China following clashes at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

f This decision also followed the exhaustive recommendations of the

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for blocking these malicious apps.

Rijiju Launches NADA App to Help Athletes Stay Updated on Banned Substances

The first mobile app for the National Anti-Doping Agency was released by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. The initiative is an important step towards dope free sports, providing updates about the banned substances and their use.

Key Points:- It acts as a bridge between athletes and

the NADA by providing easy accessible information about sports and banned substances and their use which affects the career of athletes.

The app allows doping control officers to record their availability to conduct a test through this app for quicker process of dope test for athletes.

HDFC Bank Launches ‘e-Kisaan Dhan’ App for Farmers

HDFC Bank has launched ‘e-Kisaan Dhan’ App for Farmers in India. This app provides information and knowledge to farmers which will help them to meet the needs of the rural ecosystem.

With this app, farmers can access a bouquet of services in banking and agriculture, through their mobile phones.

The app provides the users information in regard to new government schemes and ways to access them.


5.2 Mass Media &

Communication



“COPAL-19”app to track plasma donors launched

AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) doctor along with a team of IIT-Delhi students have developed an app “COPAL-19” which enables users to track willing plasma donors who have recovered from Covid-19.

Banning apps digital strike to protect data

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced New Delhi’s decision to ban 59 China-linked apps days after violent brawl between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley was a “digital strike”.

This is the first time a minister has described the ban as a “strike” against China. On social media, many drew a comparison with India’s air strike, carried out in response to the Uri attack, against Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot.

IIT Kanpur develops teaching setup ‘Mobile Masterjee’

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has developed a virtual classroom aid, ‘Mobile Masterjee’.

It is a classroom-to-home teaching setup, which enables students to record teachers’ lectures/instructions while using smartphones. It is developed by the Imagineering Lab of IIT Kanpur.

Purpose of the setup– To help rural schools overcome the teaching and learning challenges caused by the pandemic.

Prime Minister launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation

For building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat using Digital Technologies, an App Innovation Challenge was launched on 4th July 2020 by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. In partnership with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission, the App Innovation Challenge is an initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Objective of the App Innovation Challenge

The objective is to explore the vibrant tech and startup ecosystem that India has by identifying those existing Applications from each respective category (that are already in use in the country), those have the potential to become a world-class application.

The Innovation Challenge will further provide a platform for providing momentum and mentorship to the innovative efforts made by an individual or entity.

Delhi Govt Launches an E-Portal, ‘LEAD’ for its Students

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and education minister Manish Sisodia launched an e- portal, ‘Learning through E-Resources Made Accessible for Delhi’ (LEAD) for its students to strengthen the children’s online education.

The e- portal contains 10,000 instructional materials and course content for Classes I to XII.

It is developed by the State Council of Educational Research and Training




(SCERT), the Delhi government. The state government will upload its

curriculum and share teaching-learning material on the ministry of Human Resource Development’s (HRD) online platform, DIKSHA through this portal.

Elyments – India’s First Social Media Super App Launched by the Vice President of India

Vice President of India Shri Venkiah Naidu launched India’s first social media super a p p l i c a t i o n : Elyments virtually on 5th July 2020. The app provides free audio/video calls, and private/ group chats through vibrant feed.

Key Points: Around 1,000 IT professionals worked to

create a homegrown application, which is a massive boost to ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The app is available in eight Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and English.

The date of the users will be stored in India and will not be shared without permission of user.

Maharashtra government launches “Maha” Job portal

“Maha” Jobs Portal has been launched by the Maharashtra government. The job portal has been rolled out to

offer remployment opportunities to local residents. The portal will help in recruitment of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled employees by bridging the gap between employers and local wokers. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation will run the Maha job portal.

MSDE launches AI-based “ASEEM” digital platform

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based “Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)” digital platform has been launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The platform aims to bridge demand-supply gap of skilled workforce across sectors and to improve the information flow.

The details of workers will be mapped by the portal on the basis of regions and local industry demands.

It will also help the skilled workforce in attaining the industry-relevant skills and explore emerging job opportunities especially in the post COVID era.

ASEEM has been developed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with Bengaluru-based company Betterplace.

The platform will be managed by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).




The portal comprises of three IT based interfaces namely:Employer Portal , Dashboard and Candidate Application.

Google Launches $10 Billion Digitization Fund in India

Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai announced an investment of $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India which will be utilised in another five to seven years to digitize the Indian Economy.

Key Points: The fund will be used to accelerate Google’s

effort through a mix of Investments, partnerships, operations, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments.

Google will partner with CBSE and provide new initiatives to digitize classrooms.

It partners with Prasar Bharti, a public broadcasting agency for edutainment series for small and medium-sized business in the country.

HRD Minister releases ‘Pragyata’ guidelines for online education

Union Human Resource Development Ministry has released ‘Pragyata’ guidelines for Digital Education.

As per the guidelines, online classes for pre-primary students should not be for

more than 30 minutes. It further mentions that two online

sessions of up to 30-45 minutes each should be conducted for classes 1 to 8 and four sessions for classes 9 to 12.

‘CybHER’, Virtual Awareness Campaign to Tackle Cyber Crime against Women & Children

Women Safety Wing (WSW), Telangana Police along with T e l a n g a n a Director General of Police (DGP) M a h e n d e r Reddy, IPS launched ‘CybHER’, a month-long virtual awareness campaign to make cyberspace safe for women and children. The campaign is organised by WSW in collaboration with Legal Aid Centre, Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.

Note– Cyber Expert Rakshit Tandon, will lead the campaign.

About CybHER The campaign covers a wide range of

themes related to cyber safety. It will be held on multiple online platforms,

including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and other mediums.

GoI hails KURMA mobile app to conserve Indian turtles

The Union Environment and Information Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar hailed “KURMA” application to track and report Indian turtles.




Highlights The KURMA app was launched in

May 2020 on World Turtle Day. The application was developed by Indian Turtle Conservation Action Network (ITCAN), The ITCAN was joined by Wildlife Conservation Society-India. The application provides database to identify a species. Also, it helps to locate the nearest rescue centre for turtles across the country.

ICAT launched automotive technology e-portal ASPIRE

The International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT) has launched an automotive technology e-portal, Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education (ASPIRE).

The key objective of this portal is to enhance the technological capability of Indian automotive sector through exchange of knowledge & expertise.

It was launched to facilitate the initiative of the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), Govt. of India to promote Research and Development (R&D) and product development in India for various sectors.

Mobile App of “PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi” launched

The mobile application of PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) has been launched to offer user friendly digital interface to the Lending Institutions (LIs) as well as to their field functionaries in order to source and process loan applications to the street vendors under the scheme.

The launch of the mobile app is a step towards boosting the use of digital

technology and will ensure maximum coverage of the scheme.

The mobile app will promote paper-less digital accessing of micro-credit facilities by the Street Vendors and will give impetus to the implementation strategy of the PM SVANidhi scheme.

The application have various features such as vendor search in the survey data, e-KYC of applicants, processing of applications, as well as real time monitoring.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the PM SVANidhi scheme to provide affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors in order to enable them resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Researchers develop PROSIT app that tracks mental health by studying phone usage

The researchers of Dalhousie University have come up with a new app that can detect mental conditions like anxiety and depression based on how you use your phone.

The app is called PROSIT and includes tracking features like exercise, sleep, call frequency, message histories and music tastes

Also, the app will ask the users to record a 90-second audio clip to talk about their best and exciting part of the week and they will be asked to self-report their feelings on a five-point scale.




‘Pravasi Rojgar’ app to help workers find jobs

Actor Sonu Sood launched an app to offer support to workers in finding right job opportunities in various sectors across the country.

Sood, who catapulted to the national spotlight for his work in helping migrants reach their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has come out with a free of cost online platform called ‘Pravasi Rojgar’, which will provide all the necessary information and right linkages to find jobs.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari Launches Mentoring Platform ‘RestartIndia’ to Support MSME Sector

Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MoMSME), launched www.restartindia.com, a mentoring platform. It was initiated jointly by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks to support the MSME sector to restart the business across the nation.

The RestartIndia platform provides global management information and expertise to the common people and connects them to the experts and professionals from various fields, that are in line with the self-dependent India (Atmanirbhar Bharat) project.

Check-in- Master app In a bid to contain the spread of

Coronavirus, the Central Railway Mumbai Division launched an App called the ‘Check-In Master’ for contactless ticket checking at the Chhatrapati Shivaji

Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai. The app, to be used by the ticket checking staff at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, would help them discharge their duties without any fear, as the app has OCR and QR code scanning features to check PRS and UTS tickets from a safe distance. Hand-held thermal guns were also provided for the thermal screening of passengers.

Delhi government launches portal “Rozgar Bazar”

Delhi government has launched the portal named as “Rozgar Bazar”, a sort of marketplace for job seekers and the people recruiters.

The portal will proved to be a boon for the employers as well as the job seekers.

The recruiters can visit the website and update their requirements, similarly job seekers are also required to visit the portal and update their qualification, experience and requirement.

The “Rozgar Bazar” portal is an effort of the Delhi Government to revive the lockdown-hit economy of Delhi.

There are many people who want jobs and there are traders, businessmen, professionals, contractors who are not getting the right person for their work. This portal will fill the gap by bringing them together on one platform.

Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Harsh Vardhan launched “Mausam” App

In the event of celebration of 14th Foundation day of the Ministry of Earth




Sciences (MoES), Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Earth Sciences launched the mobile app “Mausam” designed and developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

BIS-Care mobile app launched The Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas

Paswan launched the Bureau of Indian Standard’s (BIS) Mobile App BIS-Care. The Consumer Affairs Minister launched three portals on Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training of e-BIS.

The BIS-Care mobile app can be operated on any Android phone. Consumers will be able to check the authenticity of the

ISI-marked and hallmarked products through this Application.

The consumers can also lodge complaints using the app. The government has taken several steps to protect the interests of consumers in the country. Certification and surveillance are important aspects of BIS functioning.

The Bureau of Indian Standard is strengthening its capacity of enforcement by the implementation of e-BIS.

Atmanirbhar Bharat – Swatantra Bharat

As part of forthcoming Independence Day Celebrations 2020, the concept of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is being promoted in a big way. An online quiz competition on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Swatantra Bharat’ is being conducted by Ministry of Defence (MoD) in coordination with MyGov during July 29 - August 10, 2020 in order to create patriotic feeling among youth and masses.




6. NATIONAL – DIARY OF EVENT

Maharashtra launches largest plasma therapy trial “Project Platina”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has launched the world’s largest plasma therapy trials “Project Platina” for COVID-19 patients. The state government has approved Rs 16.65 crore for the project from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. There are 21 centres have been picked for the trial, including 17 medical colleges under the department of medical education and drugs, the government of Maharashtra and four BMC medical colleges in Mumbai.

Asia’s First Continuous Rebar Production Facility in Punjab

Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Steel & Petroleum and Natural Gas virtually inaugurated the Asia’s first Continuous Rebar Production Facility near Gobindgarh, Punjab launched by Madhav KRD Group in association with International Zinc Association (IZA) with the support of Hindustan Zinc Limited.

Facility: The facility will produce the new

Continuously Galvanized Rebar (CGR). The annual capacity of the facility is over

30,000 tonnes. Under the brand “JYOTI”, the facility

will manufacture ZNCOAT TEMPCORE TMT bars.

Jyoti is the first of its kind in Asia to apply CGR technology with enhanced life and low maintenance cost.

Arvind Kejriwal Launched India’s First Plasma Bank for COVID-19 Treatment

Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal launched India’s first Plasma Bank for the treatment of the patients tested positive for coronavirus.

Plasma Facility: The Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences

(ILBS) will house the plasma bank facility which will be available to government and private hospitals.

The facility will coordinate the donors and recipients and helps in connecting the donors and recipients.

The plasma bank will start its operation by 2nd July 2020.

National – Diary of Event



Key Points: The government will bear the conveyance

for people to commute to the facility to donate plasma.

The helpline to answer the queries regarding the plasma donation is to be set up by the government of Delhi.

Madhya Pradesh launches “Hamara Ghar-Hamara Vidyalaya” scheme

Principal Secretary Rashmi Arun Shami launched “Hamara Ghar-Hamara Vidyalaya” over a virtual platform to maintain academic regularity of the students during the Lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme will start from 6th July 2020.

Giriraj Singh launches the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter “Matsya Sampada”

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh todaylaunched the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter “MATSYA SAMPADA” published by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India and the Operational Guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

He Newsletter “MATSYA SAMPADA” is an outcome of the endeavours of the Department of Fisheries to reach out to the stakeholders especially fishers and fish farmers through various means of communication, and toinform and educate them about the latest developments in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. It would be published on a quarterly basis starting from the first quarter of the year 2020-21.

The Newsletter “MATSYA SAMPADA” is likely to serve as an effective tool and platform in disseminating the intent and initiatives of PMMSY for crystalizing public opinion in the collective effort towards reaching the envisaged goals. It would also enable to showcase the best practices in fisheries and aquaculture undertaken by the fishers, fish farmers and entrepreneurs including the latest developments and success stories.

Infant mortality rate highest in Madhya Pradesh, lowest in Kerala; Bihar has highest birth rate

Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest infant mortality rate of 48 for every 1,000 live births while Kerala has registered the lowest just seven, according to the latest data of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

The data showed the infant mortality rate in India has improved, albeit slightly, from 33 in 2017 to 32 in 2018. The infant mortality rate is highest in Madhya Pradesh and stood at 48 per thousand live births in 2018 while Kerala has the lowest with just seven deaths.

Bihar has the highest birth rate at 26.2




and Andaman and Nicobar Islands has a birth rate of 11.2. Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and Delhi has a death rate of 3.3. These data were released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner in its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin based on information collected for 2018.

The rates are calculated per 1,000 of the population. The death rate in India has witnessed a significant decline over the last four decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018. The decline has been steeper in rural areas. In the last decade, death rate at an all-India level has declined from 7.3 to 6.2.

The corresponding decline in rural areas is 7.8 to 6.7 and in urban areas, 5.8 to 5.1. Birth rate is a crude measure of fertility of a population and a crucial determinant of population growth. India’s birth rate has declined drastically over the last four decades from 36.9 in 1971 to 20.0 in 2018.

The birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas in the last four decades. There has been about 11 per cent decline in birth rate in the last decade, from 22.5 in 2009 to 20.0 in 2018. The corresponding decline in rural areas is 24.1 to 21.6, and in urban areas, it is 18.3 to 16.7.

HRD Ministry Launches the World’s First Online B.Sc Degree

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development (HRD) launched the world’s first online B.Sc Degree in Programming

and Data science through the webinar, the programme was prepared by Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-Madras).

The programme is prepared with a focus on Data Science which is predicted to grow and provide 11.5 million job opportunities by 2026.

Students who have enrolled in any on campus Undergraduate course can also apply. Diploma graduates and working professionals can also apply to the course.

Covaxin, India’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate

India’s top drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, has allowed Bharat Biotech India (BBIL) to conduct human clinical trials for ‘Covaxin’, making it the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate to receive this approval.

What is ‘Covaxin’? Covaxin is a vaccine candidate to

developed by BBIL against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology (NIV).

As part of this collaboration, NIV isolated a strain of the virus from an asymptomatic Covid-19 patient and transferred it to BBIL early in May. The firm then used it to work on developing an “inactivated”




vaccine, a vaccine that uses a the dead virus at its high containment facility in Hyderabad.

The Drug Controller General of India, who heads CDSCO, has given Bharat Biotech approvals to begin testing its vaccines on humans through phase I and II clinical trials.

Delhi Govt to Launch ‘Podhe Lagao Prayavaran Bachao’

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai informed that a 17 day campaign ”Podhe Lagao, Paryavaran Bachao” (Plant Trees, Save Environment) will be launched from July 10 to July 26 from the National Highway(NH) 20 near ITO to reduce air pollution. During the campaign 31 lakh saplings will be planted.

Key Info Gopal Rai will inaugurate the plantation

drive at ITO nursery near the Yamuna Bank on July 10.

In addition to him, all the ministers, Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the MLAs will also be present in the inauguration.

NHAI to set up India’s 1st govt sponsored InvIT

National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is undertaking the establishment of India’s first government or semi government promoted Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) under the Indian Trust Act, 1882 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014

to facilitate investment in the highway sector.

In this regard, a new company will also be set up to act as the Investment Manager to the proposed NHAI InvITto have a professional management structure.

Therefore, NHAI has constituted a search-cum-selection committee under the chairmanship of Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (Chairman of NHAI) for the appointment of two independent Directors and one Chairman for the Investment Manager Board.

About National Highway Authority of India (NHAI):

f Administrator– Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

f Headquarter– New Delhi

e-Learning Technology by NSDC NSDC’s Learning Resources and

Technology (LRT) team catalyzes skilling initiatives by facilitating the availability of instructional material and learning resources, thus enabling structure and consistency in skilling content. It supports aggregation and delivery of instructional content such as textbooks, digital aids, apps etc. through various media platforms to provide a wide array of innovative learning material.

LRT Team facilitates the creation of content and resources aligned to Qualification Packs (QPs) in association with other stakeholders from the skilling ecosystem. These resources include Model Curriculum, Instructional Material for Short Term Training and Apprenticeship Training, Skilling




Content such as Participant Handbooks, Facilitator Guides, etc.

NSDC presents e-skills India Portal, a unique initiative by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, which aggregates best of content available with leading content providers, training partners, and professionals (also known as Knowledge Partners) across the skilling ecosystem.

This eLearning platform provides opportunities to training partners and skill seekers to choose resources from a catalogue that aggregates material from various partners’ platforms.

AIR starts its First-Ever Sanskrit News Programme “Sanskrit Saptahiki”

From 4th July 2020, All India Radio (AIR) FM news channel will be broadcasting its first-ever news programme in Sanksrit language for 20 minutes duration. All India Radio has named the news programme ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’.

Sanskrit Saptahiki will be broadcasted every Saturday. Repeat broadcast will be available on Sundays. The news program will have the following components:

f Sukti: This will be the opening segment. It will be in the form of a shloka, a quote from Sanskrit literature will be explained in this segment as a shloka.

f Prasang: A story from Indian epics, history or from the art and culture field of India.

f Saptahiki: Top news of the week. f Sanskrit Darshan: News from the

world of Sanskrit.

f Gyan Vigyan: An interview with a prominent Sanskrit language literate.

f Ek Bharat- Shreshtha Bharat: Sanksrit to Hindi translation of five commonly used words.

f Anvikshiki: This will be the closing segment in which with focus on India’s culture and tradition, Major historical events of the week will be covered.

President Inaugurates Dhamma Chakra Day 2020 Celebrations

In partnership with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), the Union Ministry of Culture will be organizing the celebrations for the Dhamma Chakra Day on Asadha Poornima on the 4th of July 2020. The celebrations for the day were inaugurated from the Rashtrapati Bhawan at New Delhi by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.

Every year on the first full moon day in the month of July is celebrated as Dhamma Chakra Day. The first full moon day of July is called Asadha Poornima in India, Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand.

Dhamma Chakra Day The day is celebrated all over the world

to commemorate the first sermon that Gautama Buddha gave to his five ascetic disciples (five monks). Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon on the day on the full moon in the month of Asadha (Asadha means the month of July). The first sermon by Gautama Buddha is recorded in Buddhist text- Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.




Gautama Buddha gave the first sermon at the Deer Park in Rsipatana (present-day Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh).

‘Dhanvantari Raths’ used as mobile OPDs

Dhanvantari Arogya Raths, the scheme launched for well-being of the construction workers in Gujarat, are being deployed across the state as mobile OPDs for the hotspots .

In Ahmedabad, 12 such vehicles are deployed around hotspots and isolation zones.

The diagnosis also served as screening mechanism, especially near the hotspots, to identify potential Covid-19 cases.

MGNREGA : Chhattisgarh secures second spot in providing jobs during lockdown

During the lockdown period, Chhattisgarh accomplished 37 percent of its annual target on offering various rural employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The state yet again emerges on top, achieving 37 percent of its annual MNREGA target by generating employment of 5.03 crore person-days of work during the month of April and May for 25.97 lakh rural labourers. In all, Rs 1114.27 crore has been paid as wages so far.

Odisha launches ‘Balram’ scheme to provide credit to 7 lakh landless farmers

The Odisha state government has launched ‘Balram’ scheme to provide agricultural credit worth Rs 1,040 crore to landless farmers who are facing hardships due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The scheme is expected to benefit around 7 lakh landless cultivators in the next two years. The decision regarding the same was taken during a high-level meeting chaired by Chief secretary AK Tripathy on July 2, 2020.

Under the scheme, the landless farmers, who were not able to avail farm credit earlier, will get loans through joint liability groups that will act as ‘social collateral’.

The scheme has been developed in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The village agriculture workers will implement the programme at the field level.

‘Fit Hai to Hit Hai India’ webinar & ‘Fit India Talks’ Sessions for School Students

“Fit Hai To Hit Hai India” webinar program was launched, under the India’s flagship Fit India campaign, by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and Minister of State (MoS) for Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju. This webinar marked the launch of ‘#FitIndiaTalks’, which will see a series of




talks and interactive sessions being held by leading sports celebrities for students. The first session was held on 3rd July itself with the participation of P.V. (Pusarla Venkata) Sindhu and Sunil Chhetri.

There will be a total of six sessions under “Fit India Talks” which are being organized by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) till July 14, 2020.

India opens one of the world’s largest hospitals to fight coronavirus

India has opened one of the largest hospitals in the world to help fight coronavirus, as health authorities announced the country’s biggest one-day increase in the number of new infections.

The Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre, the largest facility of its kind in India, became partly operational on Sunday, with 2,000 of its 10,000 beds available, according to the Delhi government.

The remaining 8,000 beds at the facility, which is located in the Chattarpur area of Delhi, will be in use

The opening of the hospital coincided with the release of India health ministry data on Sunday which showed the largest rise in the daily number of new Covid-19 cases.

The country reported 19,906 new infections and 410 new deaths from the virus, bringing the total to 528,859 positive cases and 16,095 fatalities.

Delhi became the country’s worst-hit city on Wednesday, surpassing Mumbai’s coronavirus tally. Only the west India state of Maharashtra with 159,133 cases has had more infections than the capital.

Large projects on to augment India’s border infrastrcuture

To augment India’s border infrastructure, a large number of highway projects are underway including in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, both by the BRO as well as NHIDCL, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

Work is also progressing on 17 strategic highway-cum-airstrips, three of which have been completed

Besides, work is on in full swing on the Rs 12,000 crore ambitious Chardham project for providing all-weather connectivity to Gangotri, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Badrinath.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has achieved a major milestone in the project by successfully digging a 440-metre long tunnel below the busy Chamba town on the Rishikesh-Dharasu national highway.

Corona Environment: Emergency Control Center in Delhi

The Delhi government will set up a control center to monitor the coronavirus situation in Delhi 24 hours a day and to




take appropriate measures to control it. There are 25 professionals engaged in

surveillance. The Control Center will monitor the coronary examination, bed rest, medical equipment, critical areas and ambulance facilities.

The Control room will identify which areas need additional attention and make recommendations for speeding up operations in those areas. While the district’s corporations are in the process of preventing coronation, the center will also work to coordinate him.

India Ranked 31st in INFORM Risk Index 2020 for Humanitarian crises & Disasters

In accordance with the “INFORM Report 2020: Shared evidence for managing crises and disasters” released by research centre INFORM, operating under European Commission (EU), India has ranked at 31st place with an inform risk of 5.4, means risk of humanitarian crises and disasters . The report ranked the countries based on “INFORM Risk Index” which has been topped by Somalia with an inform risk of 8.9. The report has analyzed 191 countries.

Notably, this report is produced by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) on behalf of all INFORM Partners.

About INFORM Risk Index: It is the first global, objective and

transparent tool for understanding the risk of regions based upon crises and

disasters. A higher figure means more exposure to risks. The report considers the following while framing the index.

NHRC Constitutes 11-Member Committee Headed by K S Reddy to Assess Covid-19 Impact on Human Rights

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has set up an 11-member expert committee headed by Dr K S Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India to study impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) on human rights of individuals, particularly marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society, together with migrant labourers & will also study the future response of the government.

About National Human Rights Commission (NHRC):

f Headquarters– New Delhi f Chairman– Justice H. L. Dattu

Karnataka launches Weavers’ Sammaan Yojana

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa launched Weavers Sammaan Yojana. Under the scheme, the state government will provide annual financial assistance worth Rs 2000 to around 19,744 handloom weavers in the state through Direct Benefit Transfer.

A total of 40,634 handloom weavers were registered in the Seva Sindhu software. Among them, 37,314 applications for financial assistance have been approved by the state.

Karnataka state government has allocated




Rs 10.98 crore under the programme. The state CM had earlier stated that one-time financial assistance worth Rs 2000 has been approved for 8,897 workers out of the total 1.25 lakh workers in this sector.

New Building of IARI, Jharkhand named after Dr.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

The new administrative and academic building of the Indian Agricultural research Institute (IARI), at Gouria Karma in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand is named after Dr.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee the founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, on the event of his birth anniversary.

Key Points: In the 2020-2021 Budget, The government

has allocated Rs.2.83 lakh crores (highest allocation ever) for activities related to agriculture, irrigation and rural development.

The 16 point action plan announced in the budget is targeted to double the income of the farmers by the end of 2022.

For the development of rural and agriculture sector, new schemes under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan like the Rs.1 lakh crore infrastructure fund for the agricultural sector and the growth packages for fisheries, animal husbandry, herbal farming, beekeeping etc. were announced.

HP becomes first state where everyone possess LPG connection

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has announced that the Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in India

where 100% households have LPG gas connections. The feat was achieved by the state with the help of ‘Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana’ with the help of which the state government covered the left out families in the state, who were not covered under the Central government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurates “Mission Vriksharopan-2020”

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh inaugurated “Mission Vriksharopan-2020” in Kukarel Forest, Lucknow, on account of Guru Purnima, under which around 25 crore saplings of medicinal, herbal, environmental, fruit producing, shady, fodder plants of around 201 species will be planted across the state.

Mission Vriksharopan-2020: The drive focuses on the prevention of

malnutrition, conservation of biodiversity and plantation on the banks of Ganga and its tributaries.

Under this scheme geo-tagging of all the plantations sites will be done. Around 5crore saplings were planted under this scheme on 5th July 2020.

The 201 species of plants include: Ficus Religiosa, Pipal, Ficus Virens,-Pakad, Mulvari, Neem, Jamun, Arjun, Sahjan and Banyan.

Indian Railways’ plan behind ‘Super Anaconda’ and ‘Sesh Naag’

Indian Railways’ South East Central Railway (SECR) zone has recently operated two freight trains which




garnered a lot of eyeballs due to their massive length. The two freight trains were named as ‘Super Anaconda’ and ‘Sesh Naag’

The first was a fully loaded three rake combined frieght train which was named ‘Super Anaconda’ and it was followed by a 2.8km long four empty BOXN rakes train combined together which was named ‘Sesh Naag’.

‘Sesh Naag’ also earned the distinction of being the longest railway train to run on the Indian Railways network.

Yotta Data Centre Near Mumbai – World’s 2nd Largest & Asia’s Largest Data Centre

Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications, Electronics and informational technology inaugurated the World’s 2nd Largest & Asia’s Largest Data Center, NM1, of Yotta Infrastructure of Hiranandani Group at Panvel data centre park, Mumbai over a virtual platform.

In a first in the world, Indian Railways sets up solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh to run trains

In a significant development, Indian

Railways has set up a solar power plant in Bina in Madhya Pradesh to power the Railway overhead lines that power the electric locomotives. This is the first time in the world that solar power will be used to run trains.

It can produce 1.7 megawatts of electricity and is ready to run trains with this power.

BHEL has framed the complete design of the plant

PM Modi to inaugurate 750 MW Madhya Pradesh Solar Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the 750 MW Solar Project set up at Rewa, Madhya Pradesh via video conferencing. This project adds momentum to our commitment of increasing renewable energy capacities by 2022.

f The Project comprises of three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500-hectare plot of land situated inside a solar park (total area 1500 hectare).

f The Solar Park was developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a joint venture company of Madhya Pradesh UrjaVikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central Public Sector Undertaking.

f The Rewa Solar Project was the first solar project in the country to break the grid parity barrier.

f This project will reduce carbon emission equivalent to approx. 15 lakh ton of CO2 per year.




f The project has also received World Bank Group President’s Award for innovation and excellence and was included in the Prime Minister’s “A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings”.

Nadaun Police Station of Himachal Pradesh declared as one of the best in India

Amit Shah, The Union Minister of Home Affairs announced the Annual Ranking of Police Stations for 2019 prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India in the Director General of Police’s (DGP’s) conference.

Nadaun Police Station of Hamirpur District in Himachal Pradesh is ranked as one of the best Police Stations of India.

Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs presented the Certification of Excellence to Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh during the ceremony on 9th July 2020 which was handed to Sanjay Kundu, IPS, the Director General of Police (DGP), Himachal Pradesh.

Annual Police station ranking: The ranking system of Police Stations

was introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2018.

The ranking is made through data analysis, direct observation and public feedback.

The ranking is a two stage process, shortlisting the police stations – 3 stations are selected from the states having more than 750 police stations, 2 stations from other states and Delhi and 1 station from each Union Territories (UT).

The Survey, based on the Note on Performance measurements which includes, Crime prevention and proactive measures, Execution, Disposal of cases, Law and Order etc.

The best performing police station is based on the addressing of Property offence, crime against women and weaker sections.

41,000 Ayushman Bharat centres provided healthcare services to 8.8 cr people amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Centre has announced that over 41,000 Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) ensured that people get both COVID-19 and non-essential health services amid the coronavirus outbreak in India, thereby catering to over 8.8 crore people in the past five months.

Testing and treatment for COVID-19 will be free of cost for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries at private laboratories and empanelled hospitals. Hospitals empanelled under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) can use their authorised testing facilities or tie up with an authorised testing facility.

Ayushman Bharat is the world’s largest health insurance scheme and was launched by the Narendra Modi government in 2018. PM Modi in May said that the number of people who have benefited from the scheme crossed the one crore-mark. The scheme aims to cover more than 500 million beneficiaries and provide coverage of Rs 500,000 per




family per year. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan

Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a part of the Indian government’s National Health Policy which aims to provide free health coverage at the secondary and tertiary level to its bottom 40% poor and vulnerable population. PM-JAY is the world’s largest and fully state sponsored health assurance scheme which covers a population of the combined size of USA, Mexico and Canada. It was launched in September 2018, under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India.

NITI Aayog Launches ATL App Development Modules

‘ATL App Development Modules’ was launched for school children across the country in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative to transform school students from smartphone-based applications users into innovative smartphone-based applications developers. The ‘ATL Device Development Modules’ are launched by NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under its Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative, in partnership with Plezmo- a mobile application(lndian Startup Company-Gunakar Private Limited).

Modules for the Development The Modules are part of an online course

that is available to everyone at no cost. The online course consists of a total of 6 project-based learning modules which allow school children to learn how to

create mobile apps. Virtual mentoring sessions will be given to the kids during the Modules learning course.

Chhattisgarh organises India’s first E-Lok Adalat

Chhattisgarh State Legal Service Authority and the high Court organised India’s first e-Lok Adalat to ensure the administration of justice and to solve the financial crisis of the parties and lawyers amid COVID-19 pandemic. The high court Chief Justice P R Ramchandra Menon inaugurated the e-Lok Adalat through video conferencing.

What is Lok Adalat? Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute

grievance mechanisms or a forum where pending cases or disputes in the court of law are settled or compromised whereas e-lok adalat will be handled virtually.

E-Lok Adalat: Lok Adalat is moved to a virtual platform

as e-Lok Adalat to handle the pending cases amid COVID-19.

This is aimed to settle over 3000 pending cases through more than 200 benches in various districts across chhattisgarh including the Bilaspur high court.

E-Lok Adalat will be continued further following the success of the first experimental trial.

MP govt to run ‘Roko -Toko’ campaign The Madhya Pradesh government has

decided to run a Roko -Toko campaign for those who do not wear masks. Under the campaign, the district collector will select voluntary organizations, which




will provide masks to those who don’t wear masks in public places and charge them Rs 20 per mask.

The number of people available, credibility and efficiency of the organization will be taken into consideration while making the selection.

The collectors will then make suitable places available to these organizations for the distribution of masks. The selected organizations will be provided 100 masks created under ‘Jeevan Shakti Yojana’ on credit.

Indian Railways will be the largest Railway in world to have 100 per cent electrification by 2030: Piyush Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said that Indian Railways will be the largest Railway in the world to have 100 per cent electrification replacing diesel at the India Global Week-2020.

It will be the world’s first Green Railways running on 100 per cent clean energy by 2030.

The government has opened up for bidding for additional 151 trains inviting private participation so the passengers can enjoy world-class facilities and high speed journeys.

Smart City Mission opens the registration for India Cycles4Change Challenge

The Smart City Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs opened the registration for India Cycles4Change Challenge launched by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State Housing and Urban Affairs on 25th June 2020.

During the event a brief description of the challenge was given and the online portal for application submission of the participating cities was launched.

India Cycles4Change Challenge: Aim: To connect the cities with citizens

and experts to develop a vision to promote cycling.

The eligible cities can register through the portal from 10th July 2020 to 21st July 2020.

Rajasthan launches campaign ”Pure for Sure” to ensure purity of milk & dairy products

A week-long campaign ”Pure for Sure” has been launched in Rajasthan to ensure purity of milk and its products.

Samples of milk and dairy products will be collected under the campaign ‘Pure for Sure’ from July 8-July 14.

Under the campaign samples of milk and dairy products will be collected for testing at Food Testing Laboratory available at the divisional level.

MP govt begins ‘Mera Ghar Mera Vidyalaya’ scheme to facilitate students

Trying to facilitate learning among public school children amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Madhya Pradesh government has started Mera Ghar Mera Vidyalaya Scheme.

The scheme aims to provide students with a school-like atmosphere at home. After the launch of the scheme, several teachers and staffers of the schools were seen delivering books and study material to the children.




Indian Railways’ 1st cable-stayed rail bridge, to connect Katra and Reasi in J&K

The Minister of Railways, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal, has announced that the India’s first cable-stayed Indian Railways bridge namely “Anji Khad Bridge” being developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), a Government of India undertaking, is all set to connect Katra and Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

The cable-stayed railway bridge is a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, which passes through the Young Himalayas.

Notably, the USBRL project also involves the Chenab river bridge. The Chenab Bridge once completed, will become the world’s highest rail bridge.

Hyderabad International Airport Introduces India’s First Fully Contactless Car Parking

The GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL), introduced India’s first ever fully contactless airport car parking with contact less toll transaction for their passengers and visitors to provide a safe airport amid COVID-19. The NETC FASTag Car Park is a part of the “One Nation One Tag” – NETC FASTag programme of Indian Government.

NETC FASTag Car Park: The GMR airport introduced the first

ever National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) FASTag Car Park in India in November 2019.

GHIAL updates the existing NETC

FASTag Car Parking in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), integrating with 10 NETC FASTag issuing banks.

The parking payment is done using the Reloadable Electronic Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag linked to a prepaid account which enables the automatic deduction of the parking charges.

Construction bids for new Parliament to close on July 14, work to begin after winter session

The pre-qualification bids to construct the new Parliament building, an integral part of the Central Vista’s redevelopment project, will close on July 14 and its construction is likely to begin after the Parliament’s winter session.

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) began the process to select a firm to construct a new Parliament building which will come up adjacent to the existing Parliament.

CPWD invited pre-qualification bids in a two-bid system to construct the new building, which will comprise halls with greater seating capacity for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, a foyer, offices for members of Parliament, as well as a courtyard, dining facilities and a lounge for lawmakers.

The proposed work is of very prestigious nature and is required to be completed strictly within the prescribed time limit of 21 months with the highest standards of quality and workmanship.




India ranks among top ten nations in intellectual property filings

India is ranked among the top ten nations in the total (resident and abroad) Intellectual Property (IP) filing activity, as per World Intellectual Property Indicators-2019 Report.

India’s IP filing and grant activity is likely to increase with the government’s increasing push to a scheme like ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’ and now ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

India’s Industry 4.0 is witnessing new inventions and breakthroughs as it faces challenges in providing the right environment to stimulate innovation, especially in AI and machine learning.

IP-intensive industries have been identified as an important and integral part of a country’s economy and account for more jobs and a larger share of its GDP.

INCOIS Hyderabad observes Swachhata Pakhwada

The Indian N a t i o n a l Centre for O c e a n I n f o r m a t i o n S e r v i c e s ( I N C O I S ) , H y d e r a b a d o b s e r v e d “Swachhata Pakhwada”.

During the event, several activities were conducted to aware people about the mission objectives such as to eradicate open defecation, efficient management of

solid and liquid waste, overall cleanliness etc.

It also included plantation of trees at ITCOocean campus, single-use plastic avoidance pledge, campus sanitization etc.

Vallarpadam Terminal, Cochin Port Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya,

Minister of State (I/C) for the Ministry of Shipping reviewed the development activities of the Vallarpadam Terminal of Cochin Port which is proposed to develop as India’s first and Asia’s leading trans-shipment port to ensure that Indian cargoes are trans-shipped through Indian Port.

Key points: Mansukh Mandaviya directed the

officials to outline a strategy to solve the challenges in achieving the vision of Trans-Shipment hub of India.

Resolving the issues faced in the development of the Trans-shipment terminal is considered as one of the top priority of the Ministry.

Vallarpadam Terminal: The Kochi International Container Trans-

shipment Terminal (ICTT), is known as the Vallarpadam Terminal is located in the Indian Coastline which satisfies the criterias required for the development of trans-shipment hub.

First on-line NISHTHA programme launched in Andhra Pradesh

First on-line NISHTHA programme has been launched by the Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’




and Minister of State for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre in Andhra Pradesh.

Online NISHTHA programme has been launched for 1200 Key Resources Persons of Andhra Pradesh, hence making it the first ever state in the country.

NISHTHA has been customized for online mode because of COVID-19 pandemic situation which has affected the conduct of this programme in face-to-face mode.

Online NISHTHA programme would be conducted through DIKSHA and NISHTHA portals by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) is a capacity building programme that was launched by the government of India on 21st August, 2019 to improve the quality of school education through Integrated Teacher Training.

Global Skills Index 2020 Report The report of Global Skills Index 2020,

an in depth view at the state of the skills across the world prepared by “Coursera”, World’s largest online learning platform shows that India Surges ahead of the peers in the business and technology skill sets because of the growing young population.

About Coursera: Founders– Daphne Koller and Andrew

Ng CEO– Jeff Maggioncalda Headquarters– Mountain View,

California

Rank Country

Date Science Domain51 India1 Russia2 Switzerland3 BelgiumBusiness Domain

34 India1 Switzwerland2 Austria3 Denmark

Technology Domain40 India1 Russia2 Belarus3 Switzerland

1st container ship from Kolkata Port to Agartala via Chattogram port (Bangladesh)

Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) Mansukh Mandaviya flagged off the first trial container ship from Kolkata (West Bengal) to Agartala (Tripura) through Chattogram Port of Bangladesh in a virtual ceremony.

This will not only provide an alternative and shorter route for India to connect it’s North East Region (NER) through Bangladesh but will also further boost India-Bangladesh maritime relations.

This has been done under the Agreement on use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of India’s transit cargo through Bangladesh, the standard operating procedure (SOP) for which was signed and exchanged between both




nations during the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit to India in October 2019.

Apple iPhone assembler joins wave of tech investment in India

Pegatron, Apple’s second-largest contract manufacturer, has registered a subsidiary in India, setting the stage for expanding the manufacturing capacity of iPhones in the country, amid heightened US-China tensions.

Pegatron has registered its India subsidiary in Chennai,” a person familiar with the development told ET. “Currently, the company’s officials are in discussions with multiple state governments to find land to set up factories after which they would import plant and machinery.

Doubt yourself; Not the others: New Corona Awareness

As the corona epidemic spreads across the country, a new awareness campaign has been launched in the northeastern state of Nagaland “Do Not Doubt Yourself”.

A new kind of awareness campaign has started in Mon district of Nagaland. In it, it is announced that instead of doubting whether the corona will come to us from others, let us doubt whether it may have spread from us to others.

Capitals of NE states to be connected through rail network by 2023

During a virtual interaction with the media, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav has announced the connectivity of all capitals of North-

Eastern states through rail network by 2023. Railways is already implementing a project in this regard.

As of today, the capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected. The work to connect capitals of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya is in progress.

The capitals of Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are already connected. In Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the capital connectivity work is in progress. Manipur will be connected in March 2022, Mizoram in March 2023, Nagaland in March 2023, Meghalaya in March 2022 and Sikkim in December 2022.

‘Manodarpan’, Education Ministry mental health initiative, to be launched

Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal will launch ‘Manodarpan’ initiative. It is an initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being.

The platform will act as a sustainable psychosocial support system for all students, teachers & families.

The ‘Manodarpan’ initiative has been included in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, as a part of strengthening human capital and increasing productivity and efficient reform and initiatives for the education sector.




Maharashtra becomes the 1st State to use drones to inspect power lines

Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) has started to use drones for aerial surveillance and inspection of extra high voltage (EHV) power transmission lines and towers. Maharashtra becomes the 1st state to do so. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave approval for this purpose.

MSETCL becomes the 1st power utility to get approval from DGCA for powerline inspections with drones in the country

MSETCL will use 16 drones that will fly at a maximum height of 50 metre.

EESL, New Delhi Municipal Council open EV charging plaza

The state-run Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) in collaboration with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has set up a public EV charging plaza at Chelmsford Club, New Delhi. The EV plaza was inaugurated by R K Singh, the Minister for Power, New & Renewable Energy, government of India.

The EV charging plaza is a new avenue for making e-mobility ubiquitous and convenient in India. Such innovative

initiatives are imperative for the creation of a robust e-mobility ecosystem in the country.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of public service undertakings (PSUs) under the administration of Ministry of Power, has been a key part of India’s EV revolution and development of the appropriate infrastructure for EVs, including EV charging infrastructure, across the country. Furthermore, it has also started demand aggregation to obtain EVs and determine novel business models for implementation of Public Charging Station (PCS).

Harsimrat Kaur Badal E-Inagurates First Operationalized Mega Food Park of Mizoram: Zoram Mega Food Park

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) e-inaugurated the First operationalized mega food park of Mizoram, Zoram Mega Food Park, in Khamrang Village in Kolasib District, Mizoram, promoted by M/s Zoram Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd, which will provide direct and indirect employment to more than 5000 people.

Benefits: The park will leverage an additional

investment of Rs. 250 Crore in about 30 food processing units and will lead to a turnover of Rs.450-500 crores annually.

The modern infrastructure for food processing will benefit the around 25,000 farmers in the Core Processing Centre (CPC) and PrimaryProcessing Centre (PPC), processors and consumers of Mizoram.




UP Govt launches “Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana” for SCs

Uttar Pradesh government has launched ”Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana” for all-round development of the Scheduled Castes.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath transferred financial assistance of 17.42 crore online to 3,484 people under the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana’ and interacted with some beneficiaries from Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur, Basti, Meerut, Azamgarh and Moradabad districts through video conferencing.

The state government has extended the financial help to make people self-dependent.

Rajasthan Cabinet Approved ‘One-Stop Shop’ Scheme to Fast-Track Investments

Rajasthan Cabinet has approved ‘One-Stop Shop’ Scheme – OSS (earlier known as single window clearance system) to fast track investment and capacity expansion proposals by facilitating time-bound approvals and clearances.

This will help revive industries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the scheme, entrepreneurs who invest above Rs 10 crore will be able to get 98 types of clearance under one roof at OSS under the Bureau of Investment Promotion (BIP) of the State Industries Department.

Delhi Cabinet approves “Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana”

Delhi Cabinet has approved ‘Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana’, which

will be launched in six to seven months and will be linked to Centre’s ‘one nation, one ration card’ scheme.

The scheme will help the beneficiaries get ration delivered at home. They will not have to come to the ration shops.

The scheme is expected to benefit lakhs of people in the national capital through 2016 PDS shops.

At present subsidised ration is provided under the National Security, 2013 Act and this new programme would add to the benefits of the Act.

One more unit at Kakrapar achieves criticality, ready to produce atomic power

The third unit of Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant (KAPP) in Gujarat is ready to generate electricity, with the 700 MWe reactor achieving ‘criticality. A nuclear reactor reaches ‘criticality’, when it is ready for ongoing nuclear reaction or fission that generates energy.

Criticality of Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant-3 is indigenously designed 700 MWe KAPP-3 reactor is a shining example of Make in India.

Chhattisgarh govt launches ‘Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana’ to combat malnutrition in state

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched Mukhyamantri Suposhan Abhiyan with an aim to tackle the menace of malnutrition and anemia.

The CG Mukhyamantri Suposhan scheme will benefit mothers and children.




The scheme will be implemented by the Women and child welfare department of the state.

Chandigarh to introduce ambulances to treat sick trees

Chandigarh Environment Department has decided to launch ambulances for the treatment of sick trees in the Union Territory.

The announcement was made by Debendra Dalai, Director of Environment Department, who said that this will be an emergency service to treat trees affected by termites & other insects.

Dalai also stated that the Department will be issuing a dedicated phone number where people can inform the department if they come across any such sick tree. The department will then send experts for the treatment of the tree.

Covid 19 testing lab Ladakh As Covid cases continue to rise, a testing

centre for human coronavirus samples has been established at the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh.

Apart from utility during the ongoing pandemic, the infrastructure set up can play a pivotal role in enhancing capability to address future bio-threats and also in research activities pertinent to agro-animals diseases.

AIIMS Nagpur launched smart wristband to tracks Covid-19 patients

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Nagpur has designed and developed a ‘smart wristband’ for

effective tracking and monitoring of Covid-19 positive and suspect patients.

The new device, a wristband is designed in collaboration with IIT Jodhpur and IIT Nagpur, looks to overcome the limitations of existing online mobile apps used for tracking and monitoring coronavirus patients.

The device will operate on a technology that is more effective than the GPS system.

The data collected through wristband will be collected and archived on cloud facilitating monitoring by health workers from a distance.

India’s maternal mortality ratio declined to 113 in 2016-18

In accordance with the “Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18”, released by the Office of the Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and 130 in 2014-2016 and almost 100 deaths lesser than in the period of 2007-2009.

States have been categorized into three groups namely, Empowered Action Group (EAG) States, Southern States and Other States during the survey.

The southern States registered a lower MMR — Andhra Pradesh (65), Telangana (63), Karnataka (92), Kerala (43) and Tamil Nadu (60) as compared to states of Assam & EAG.

In the category of other status Punjab has a maximum MMR of 129.




About Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (ORGI):

The Office of the Registrar General, India works under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Registrar General & Census Commissioner– Dr. Vivek Joshi.

Central Water Commission: 155% more water in reservoirs than 2019

The Central Water Commission (CWC) recently announced that reservoirs have 155% more water as compared to that of 2019.

Highlights According to CWC, around 123 reservoirs

were monitored. There are 66.372 billion cubic metres of water currently available in the reservoirs. This is 39% of total live storage capacity of the reservoirs.

The states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh had the highest live storage of all the states.

First in the World: India builds electrified rail tunnel capable to run double-stack containers

India builds one kilometer (km) long World’s first electrified rail tunnel that fits double stack containers. It cuts through Aravali mountain on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) near Sohna, Haryana.

The project is implemented by the DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited).

The tunnel Breaking was completed on 24, July 2020. The project is expected to

complete by the next 12 months. About the tunnel

About 2500 to 500-million-year-old proterozoic rocks were broken to build the tunnel.

The tunnel is capable of running 25 tonne axle load electric goods train with double stack containers that runs at a speed of 100 km per hour (kmph).

The tunnel connects Mewat and Gurgaon districts, Haryana.

One end of the tunnel is at Rewari, Haryana and the other end is at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

First by Indian Government: World Class State of the Art Honey Testing Lab

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the ‘World Class State of Art Honey Testing Laboratory’ virtually. This is considered to be the first Government Honey Testing lab in India.

The testing lab was established by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Anand, Gujarat with support of NBB (National Bee Board).

Lt. Governor, G.C Murmu announced the ‘Macadamisation Program’

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Girish Chandra Murmu launched the ‘Macadamisation program’ to improve the roads across Jammu and Kashmir.

The program covers 100% macadamisation of all roads along with 11,000 Km of fair-weather roads.




Members of the committee A committee has been constituted to

prepare the road map and financial plan that will be submitted on August 10, 2020.

The committee comprises, Financial Commissioner, Principal Secretary, Public Work (PW (R&B)), Secretary of Planning and Rural Development.

Centre to convert ravines of Chambal region into arable land with World Bank support

The Centre, in collaboration with the World Bank, has decided to convert large area of ravines in Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into arable land, and a preliminary report for the same will be prepared in a month, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

India will be looking at a demand drop in electricity between 7-17 percent by 2025: TERI

According to TERI’s new report, demand for electricity in India will be lower by 7 to 17% due to covid-19 by 2025.

The report, titled ‘Bending the Curve: 2025 Forecasts for Electricity Demand by Sector and State in the Light of the COVID Epidemic’, also suggests policy-makers, developers, distribution companies, and investors need to be better prepared for the future, if the decline in demand growth persists.

All 10 of India’s largest power-consuming states will see a demand drop between 5 to 15%.

ILBS organises “2nd Empathy e-Conclave” with AAI

Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) has organised “2nd Empathy e-Conclave” in collaboration with Airport Authority of India (AAI).

The conclave was held on the occasion of “World Hepatitis Day”. The theme of 2nd Empathy e-Conclave is “Keep your Liver Safe in COVID times”.

During the conclave, ILBS highlighted the importance of healthy liver as well as the features of “Empowering People Against Hepatitis: The Empathy Campaign” which has undertaken several innovative initiatives across India to reach out to diverse populations.

Event featured the participation of Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla; Union Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad; and Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan.

India accounts for 70% of world’s tigers

India now accounts 70 percent of the world’s total population of tigers, the environment ministry announced while releasing its fourth detailed national tiger estimation report.

Despite India’s constraint of 2.5 percent of global land, four per cent of rainfall and 16 percent of world’s human population, India is home to eight percent of world’s biodiversity which includes 70 percent of world’s tiger population

There are currently 13 tiger range countries — India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR,




Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

LIDAR based survey technology will be used for the first time. Lidar is a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor.

HRD Ministry renamed as Ministry of Education, National Education Policy 2020 launched

The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) has been renamed as Ministry of Education. The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An official announcement regarding the same was made by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal during a press conference after the cabinet meeting. The Union Cabinet has also approved a new education policy- National Education Policy 2020.

National Education Policy 2020 The Union Cabinet under the

chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a new education policy for the 21st century. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar revealed the new policy stating that it is important, as there were no changes in the education policy for almost 34 years.

The National Education Policy 2020 comprises major reforms in the higher education sector including a target of 50% gross enrollment ratio by 2035 and a provision for multiple entry and exit.

Major Reforms Enrollment: 50% gross enrollment ratio

by 2035. UGC-AICTE merged: The cabinet has

approved merger of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission.

Smart India Hackathon 2020 Prime Minister will

address Grand Finale of the world’s largest ever online hackathon- Smart India Hackathon 2020- on August 1, 2020. The Human Resource Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank made the announcement on July 28, 2020.

The Human Resource Minister had chaired a high-level meeting on Smart India Hackathon (SIH) and discussed achievements of the already conducted hackathons. The grand finale of the Smart-India Hackathon 2020 will be held till August 3, 2020.

Key Highlights The Grand Finale for Smart India

Hackathon will be held from August 1-3 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the participants on the first day on August 1 through video-conference.




Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur tops Niti’s delta ranking of Aspirational districts

In accordance with the delta rankings for aspirational districts by government think-tank Niti (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of aspirational districts in Overall Delta Ranking for the February-June 2020 period.

Bijapur has been followed by Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya) and Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh) at 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.

The delta rankings for aspirational districts considers an incremental progress in six developmental areas viz. Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure .

What is an aspirational districts programme?

The aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.

Trilingual policy The New Education Policy (NEP)

approved by the Union Cabinet proposes the setting up of an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) while also laying significant emphasis on Sanskrit and other Indian languages.

As per the NEP and IITT will be established that will make extensive use of technology to aid in its translation and interpretation efforts.

Helicopter service from Dehradun to Gauchar begins

A helicopter service from Dehradun to New Tehri, Shrinagar and Gauchar began.

Marking the beginning of the new service, a private helicopter took off from the Jolly Grant Airport here for New Tehri after an online flag-off by Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

The service has been started under the UDAN Yojana and regional connectivity scheme.

New Track Construction (NTC) Machine Used for the First Time by Indian Railways

Indian Railways has, for the first time, used the New Track Construction (NTC) machine in order to construct the Khurja-Dadri Section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. At present, seven such machines have been deployed along the Dedicated Freight Corridor alignment.

Four out of these seven machines are deployed in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor whereas the rest are deployed in the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.

The Khurja-Dadri Section is the link between the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors on which




freight trains run at a speed of 100 kmph ensuring fast logistics movement.

Mauritius SC building inaugurated by PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi and Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the new Supreme Court Building of Mauritius on July 30 through video conferencing. In his address during the launch of building, PM Modi stated that Mauritius is the centre of India’s approach towards the Indian Ocean region.




7. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Uganda, First African Country to Submit Results of REDD+ to UNFCCC

Uganda became the first African country to submit the results for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which has opened the way for potential results based payments to Uganda.

The submitted documents will help Uganda to claim the funds through the Green Climate Fund’s forest conservation scheme

About REDD+: UNFCCC developed the Redd+

mechanism to reduce the emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation.

About UNFCCC: Executive Secretary– Patricia Espinosa

(Mexico) Headquarters– Bonn, Germany

International Affairs

L&T delivers single section of world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor

The 1250-MT cryostat base manufactured by L&T Heavy Engineering the single largest section of the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor was successfully lifted and placed into a reactor building in France

ITER is a first of its kind futuristic global project. The cryostat is the largest vacuum vessel ever built with 29.4 meter in diameter, 29 meter in height weighing 3,850 MT. Successful delivery of such complex projects is ingrained in L&T’s culture

The cryostat forms the vacuum-tight container surrounding the reactor vacuum vessel and the superconducting magnets, and acts essentially as a very large refrigerator. The reactor base the single largest and heaviest Tokamak component of the world’s largest stainless-steel, high-vacuum, pressure chamber cryostat will eventually contain the rest of the reactor.

Tamil Nadu to provide Rs 3000 monthly stipend to lawyers

Tamil Nadu has announced to provide Rs 3000 as monthly stipend to the lawyers in state for next two years. The move will help the lawyers in dealing



with the financial difficulties during this COVID-19 crisis situation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin records victory in Presidential polls

President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has recorded a victory in the recently held Presidential polls. With a victory, he is set to stay in power until the middle of the next decade i.e. until 2036. Russians citizens went to the polls to cast ballots in a nationwide referendum on Constitutional Amendments. A preliminary tally of results was released by the Central Election Commission of Russia after processing 50% of ballot, and stated that 76.24% of the citizens voted in support of the amendments.

Israel launches a new spy satellite Israel’s Defence Ministry announced

that it has successfully launched a new spy satellite. The satellite is expected to serve as an additional tool to keep tabs on many threats across the region.

The spy satellite, “Ofek 16” will join other Israeli spy satellites that have been launched in the past two decades.

The satellites are being used to monitor any threats on the state of Israel, including arch-enemy Iran.

India Global Week 2020 For the first time since the outbreak of

Coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi is set to deliver an inaugural address on Day-1 of the India Global Week 2020 beginning in UK.

A three-day virtual conference themed “BeThe Revival: India And a Better New Word”, the India Global Week 2020 will have more than 5,000 global participants from over 30 nations being addressed by 250 global speakers across 75 sessions.

Maldives & Sri Lanka are the 1st two countries in South-East Asia

According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) South East Asian Region (SEAR) office, Maldives and Sri Lanka were verified to eliminate both measles and rubella, making them the first two countries in the WHO South-East Asia region to achieve beyond their 2023 target.

It is to be noted that, a country is considered to have eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission of the viruses for more than three years and there is a better surveillance system.

About Measles: It is a highly contagious viral disease and is

particularly dangerous for children from the economically weaker background, as it attacks malnourished children and those with reduced immunity.

Symptoms: It can cause serious complications, including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea, ear infection and pneumonia.

Rubella (also called German Measles): It is a contagious, generally mild viral

infection that occurs most often in




children and young adults. Rubella infection in pregnant women may cause fetal death or congenital defects known as Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), which causes irreversible birth defects.

About World Health Organisation’s (WHO):

f Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland f Director-General- Tedros Adhanom

India-EU summit to be held on July 15 through video conference

The 15th India-EU summit will be held through video conference on July 15, 2020. During the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold detailed talks with Europea Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on a wide range of issues.

The leaders are expected to reiterate their determination to promote multilateralism and a rules-based multilateral order with the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation at its core.

The summit is expected to help strengthen the EU-India strategic partnership based on shared principles and values of democracy, freedom and rule of law. It will aim to deliver concrete benefits for the people in the EU and India.

Iran drops India from Chabahar rail project

Iran has dropped India from Chabahar rail project which comprises rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan.

The Iranian government cited delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project, for its decision of dropping India from the project.

Now, Iranian Railways will go ahead without India’s assistance and utilize around $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund.

World Population Day 2020: India set to overtake China by 2027

India’s total fertility rate fell from 5.9 children per woman in 1950 to 2.2 children per woman in 2020. This is very close to the replacement level fertility of 2.1 children per woman

The United Nations (UN) began observing World Population Day every year from 1989 to bring attention to the increasing global population and the associated factors. The date was chosen to commemorate 11 July, 1987, the day when the global population hit the 5 billion mark.

India also enjoys one of the youngest global population with average national age at around 29 years, while 41 percent of our population is under 18 years of age, according to the last census. This means that most Indians are yet to hit




their peak wages and have a majority of their working years ahead of them. This population can contribute to nation-building and economy, if equipped with the right skills, training and jobs.

11th edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2020; UK tops According to the 11th edition of the ‘Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2020’, which

covers 99 countries and territories and 163 cities, released by Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL), India has improved by one place to 34th with a total score of 2.69 under ‘semi-transparent’ zone. Regulatory reforms, better market data and sustainability initiatives led to a one-point improvement in the nation’s ranking.

While, the United Kingdom (UK) has topped the list with a score of 1.31 followed by United States, Australia.

Here’s the list of top 3 nations at Global Real Estate Transparency Index 2020:

RankCountry /

TerritoryScore

Investment

Performance

Market

Fundamentals

Listed

Vehicles

Regulatory

& Legal

Transaction

Processes

Sustainability

34th India 2.69 3.55 2.35 1.92 2.63 1.92 3.18

1United

Kingdom1.31 1.00 1.80 1.00 1.17 1.00 2.36

2United

States1.35 1.15 1.41 1.00 1.24 1.28 2.45

3 Australia 1.39 1.18 1.64 1.00 1.51 1.13 2.00

India at Real Estate Transparency Index : Government’s efforts are paying off: A major reforms by the government and the effect of

continuous improvement in Indian real estate has excited global investors. Institutional investment created a new norm of $ 5 billion annually over the last three years.

Major structural reforms such as the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act 2016 (RERA), GST, Benami Transaction Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and digitisation of land records in the realty sector have brought more transparency. This was a largely irregular area a few years ago.




World population in 2100 could be 2 billion below UN forecasts

Global population growth may peak sooner than expected if the lot of women continues to improve, according to a study that says the world’s population could be 2 billion below UN forecasts by the end of the century.

Such a fall would remove some of the projected strain on natural resources but would present governments with stark policy choices over migration and the economy.

The world’s population will peak at 9.7 billion in 2064 and decline to 8.8 billion by the end of the century, according to research led by the University of Washington in the US and published in the Lancet.

It says some countries, including Japan, Spain and Italy, will see their populations halve, while sub-Saharan Africa’s population will triple in the next 80 years.

India Ranked 3rd in 2020 Global Manufacturing Risk Index; China Tops: Cushman & Wakefield

In accordance with the “Cushman & Wakefield’s 2020 Global Manufacturing Risk Index (MRI)” India ranks third in the list of most-suitable locations for global manufacturing among 48 countries in terms of cost competitiveness and operating conditions.

The index has been topped by China and followed by the United States (US) at 2nd rank.

As per property consultant Cushman & Wakefield India is an upcoming manufacturing hub globally from an operating conditions and cost-competitiveness perspective.

About Cushman & Wakefield:

f President– John Forrester f Headquarter– Chicago, Illinois,

United States (US)

India looking forward to partner Italy in food processing sector

Food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal announced India is looking forward to partner Italy in the area of food processing which has a huge market potential in the country. The opening session of ‘Digital Indo-Italian Business Mission on Food Processing’, held virtually.

ICWA-RIAC conference: India & Russia explores Active Joint Projects in Asia and Africa

India and Russia explores the active joint projects in Asia and Africa in the webinar on “India-Russia Relations in the Context of Post-Pandemic Global order” chaired TCA Raghavan, Director General of ICWA and organised by Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA).

The potential of digital technologies to activate economic relations and the reforms on the current negative trends.




India Established Individual Bilateral ‘Air Bubbles’ with France, Germany and US

Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed that India has established individual bilateral ‘air bubbles’ with France and the United States(US). In addition to this, a similar arrangement with Germany has been established and Lufthansa will be operating the flights. This agreement allows countries’ airlines to operate international flights.

India is planning to establish such agreements with the UK, under which 2 flights a day will be operated between Delhi and London. The similar arrangements with the United Arab Emirates(UAE) till 26th July, 2020.

Air India will operate flights to France, Germany and the US under bilateral air bubbles.

India ranked among 10 worst countries for working people: ITUC Global Rights Index 2020

In accordance with the 7th edition of “International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index 2020-The World’s Worst Countries for Workers”, India became the new entrant in the 10 worst countries for working people in the world, with a rating of 5 that states “No guarantee of rights”. The index ranked 144 countries on the basis of respect for workers’ rights.

The other countries among the worst ten are- Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe along with Egypt & Honduras being other two new entrants apart from India.

On the region front, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the worst region with 4.44 rating followed by Asia-Pacific with 4.09 in the world for working people for seven years (2014-2020).

International Trade Union Confederation The ITUC established in 2006. It is

based in Brussels, Belgium. It was formed on the merger of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and World Confederation of Labour. India is a member of ITUC.

India Business Council to host India Ideas Summit 2020

India Business Council will host the 45th India Ideas Summit 2020 on July 22nd.

The Summit convenes business and government leaders for discussions on the future of the U.S.-India Partnership and the trends shaping globalization, trade and investment, and the future of work in the COVID-era and beyond. This year’s focus is on “Building a Better Future”.

India-EU Summit renews agreement on scientific and technological cooperation

India and the European Union have renewed their agreement to expand scientific and technological cooperation aimed at strengthening their collaboration in this area in the next five years.

The two sides agreed to renew the agreement on scientific cooperation till 2025 at the 15th India-EU Summit, which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Indian side.

The European Union delegation was




headed by European Council President Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement was initially signed on November 23, 2001, and renewed in 2007 and 2015.

Hyderabad Ranked 16th in World’s most Surveilled Cities & China tops: Comparitech

As per the new analysis by Comparitech on the World’s Most Surveilled Cities, in 150 major cities across the globe, Hyderabad has positioned in 16th rank among the list of top 20 cities with the maximum number of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras. It has most CCTV surveillance in India. The List was topped by Taiyuan, China.

Chennai (21st rank) and Delhi (33rd rank) made into the top 50 list.

The research is based on the number of cameras per 1,000 people.

Ranking List

Top 20 Cities in the World

Rank Cities Cameras per 1,000 people

16 H y d e r a b a d , India

29.99 cameras

1 Taiyuan, China 119.57 cameras2 Wuxi, China 92.14 cameras3 London, England

(UK)67.47 cameras

Other Indian cities in top 50

21 Chennai 25.52 cameras33 Delhi 14.18 cameras

About Comparitech:

f Headquarters– England

INDIA-UK’s 14th Joint Economic and Trade Committee meeting 2020 held virtually

The 14th Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) 2020 was held virtually for the first time amid COVID-19 between India and United Kingdom (UK), which was co-chaired by Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Vedprakash Goyal and UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Elizabeth Mary Truss.

Both nations have affirmed their shared commitment towards Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In this regard, the two sides will engage in early harvest schemes or limited trade agreements in a staged manner as steps towards FTA.

It should be noted that the Early Harvest Programme basically consists of those projects which are to be implemented within a short timeline.

India-Indonesia Defence Ministers’ Dialogue held in New Delhi

Defence Ministers’ Dialogue between India and Indonesia was held in New Delhi.

The Indian delegation was led by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while the Indonesian delegation was led by Defence Minister General Prabowo Subianto.

During the defence ministers dialogue, General Subianto was honored with ceremonial Guard of Honour.




8. TAMILNADU AFFAIRS

Tamilnadu Affairs

GoI and World Bank Sign Agreement to Increase Access to Affordable Housing in Tamil Nadu

The World Bank and the government of India signed an agreement along with the Government of Tamil Nadu to help the low-income groups in the state of Tamil Nadu to get access to affordable housing.

Agreements signed:- Legal agreements of two projects

were signed to strengthen the state’s housing sector policies, institutions, and regulations.

First Tamil Nadu Housing Sector Strengthening Programme worth $200 million (Rs 1,510 crore),

Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development Project worth $50 million (Rs 377 crore).

Indian marine fish landings raise 2.1% to 3.56mt in 2019

In accordance with the report “ A n n u a l Marine Fish Landings in India for 2019” by Central M a r i n e

Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), India’s marine fish production has increased marginally by 2.1% to 3.56 million tonnes (mt) in 2019 as compared to 3.49 mt in 2018.

f As per the report, Tamil Nadu grabbed the top in annual fish production with 7.75 lakh tonnes followed by Gujarat (7.49 lakh tonnes), which had been holding the first position earlier, and Kerala (5.44 lakh tonnes) which retained the third position.

f The estimated value of fish landings in the country last year was Rs 60,881 crore with 15.6% increase over 2018.

f It should be noted that the term “Landing” in the report means getting fish out of the water and brought to the land.

f Notably, in the global front, India is ranked 3rd after China and Indonesia in marine fish production.

IIT-Madras launches online diploma, BSc in programming and data science

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras the best Indian institute in India, as per the NIRF ranking has launched an online diploma and BSc programme in data science and programming. The course will be imparted online while


Vetrii's Current AffAirs, July - 2020Tamilnadu Affairs

its assessment including the exams will be done in an offline mode. The course has no age limit and students who have passed class 12 can also take it up.

The institute aims to reach a larger number of students. The course comes with multiple entries and exit points. Students can get a certificate, diploma, and degree based on when they exit the course. After completing class 12, students will have to pursue a foundation course while those who have a college-level degree can directly enroll at the diploma level.

Students can exit with a certificate after completing a foundation-level course and after a year, one can get a diploma, and on completing three years, a degree will be awarded.

Tamil Nadu Tops Market Borrowings among States in India with a Collection of `30,500 crore for 2020-21: RBI

According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Tamil Nadu (TN) has topped market borrowings among States in India with a collection of Rs.30,500 crore in the fiscal 2020 2 (FY 21).

TN, which has accounted for 17% of the borrowings done through the issue of bonds (known as state development loans), has been followed by Maharashtra `25,500 crore (14%), Andhra Pradesh `17,000 crore (9%), Rajasthan `17,000 crore (9%).

TN’s borrowing: Earlier on July 7, 2020, Tamil Nadu raised `1,250 crore at the low interest rate of 6.63% for the 35-year bonds and `1,250 crore at the rate of 4.54% for the three-

year bonds in the auction conducted by RBI.

The Finance Secretary projected that the TN will witness a shortfall in revenue of about `12,000-`13,000 crore a month.

The GST (Goods and Services Tax) collection of TN has sharply reduced by 15% in June 2020, higher than the 3% fall in national GST collections due to the continuous lockdown.

About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

f Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra f Governor– Shaktikanta Das

Rotary Foundation Honours TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami with Paul Harris Fellow Recognition

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Chicago, has honoured Tamil Nadu (TN) Chief Minister (CM) Edappadi K Palaniswami with Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

About Paul Harris Fellow recognition The recognition is in the honor of Rotary

founder, Paul Harris who contributed to The Rotary Foundation.

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition is conferred to honour the efficient service of people who provide drinking water, sanitation, prevention of diseases, environment, world peace etc. to its people.

It also acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of USD 1,000 to The Rotary Foundation.

The person recognised as the fellow will receive a certificate along with a lapel pin. They are also eligible to buy a Paul Harris Fellow medallion.



Tamil Nadu’s case Count The Chief Minister laid the foundation

for an international flower auction centre, which will come up at Moranapalli village in Hosur at a cost of `20.20 crore. The centre, to be spread over 7.68 acres, envisages 3,702 ha under flower cultivation, with a production capacity of 39,383 tonnes. The export turnover is estimated to be `150 crore - `200 crore.

Reservation to Government School Students in Admission to Medical Studies

The Postgraduate Teachers’ Association has thanked the Cabinet for approving 7.5 per cent internal quota for government school students in medical admissions .

The Government of Tamil Nadu for approving the Tamil Nadu Cabinet meeting to provide 7.5 per cent internal quota for students studying in government secondary schools for admission to medical courses.

Through this initiative, about 500 poor and simple students studying in government high schools in Tamil Nadu will get a place to join the medical course.

The Government of Tamil Nadu should come forward to pay the application fee for NEET examination for government school students.

TN govt to set up turmeric research institute

The Tamil Nadu govt has proposed to establish a Turmeric Research Institute at Modakurichi in the district to enhance production and help the growers realize more income.

The Institute will be established at a cost of Rs 30 crore.

Turmeric is currently cultivated on 13,955 acres in Erode, Kodumudi, Modakurichi, Bhavani, Anthiyur and Gobichettipalayam areas.

Tamil Nadu Government Signed 8 MoUs worth Rs 10,399 crore with Industrial Groups for Employment Creation

The Tamil Nadu government signed 8 Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) worth Rs 10,399 crore with companies to create employment opportunities for over 13,507 people. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in the Secretariat at Fort St George in Chennai.

Out of these 8 projects, MoUs were signed for 5 projects directly and for 3 projects through video display.

Industry Minister M.C. Sampath, Chief Secretary Shanmugam, senior government officials and representatives of industry among others were also present on the occasion.

Proposed Projects– The proposed projects include the following: production of solar cells and modules, air compressors, ductile iron foundry, industrial parks,

Tamilnadu Affairs



cashew nut processing, data centre and a foundry expansion project.

LHB Introduction of freight train with boxes

In order to increase the carrying capacity of the freight train, the new LHB Chennai Railway has introduced a freight train with compartments.

The Railway Board has directed all the zones to improve the freight traffic in the railways. Various measures are being taken to improve freight traffic and increase revenue on the Southern Railway.

Accordingly, the new LHB in the Chennai railway line. Freight train with boxes introduced. This new LHB is designed to increase the carrying capacity of the basket and increase revenue. A freight train called the Posel Van has been introduced. This train is equipped with high capacity boxes. Designed under Joman technology. The first service of this freight train was launched from Chennai Egmore to Thiruvananthapuram.

TN government signed 16 MoUs worth Rs 5,137 crore with companies for employment creation

The Tamil Nadu (TN) government has signed 16 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 5,137 crore to create employment opportunities for over 6,555 people. The MoUs were signed by TN Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. The government has signed three tranches of MoUs worth Rs 30,664 crore within 2 months, which

will provide employment to over 67,212 persons.

Out of 16 MoUs, 6 were signed directly and 10 through virtual link.

7 MoUs have been signed in the technology space. Of these, 6 will come up in Chennai and one in Coimbatore.

A new portal HYPERLINK Launched The Chief Minister launched a

new portal HYPERLINK (https://investingintamilnadu.com/) for the government’s investment promotion agency.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami lays foundation for Rs. 2,368 worth projects

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has laid the foundation stone for the construction work on eight new industrial projects that would come up in the state for an investment of Rs 2,368 crore. Besides, he inaugurated 11 completed projects which fetched Rs 3,185 crore investment.

The projects for which the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone included International Tech Park Chennai (ITPC) promoted by the CapitaLand group-a Rs 1,500 crore project and TATA Chemicals’ silica manufacturing unit in Cuddalore SIPCOT Industrial Park with an investment of Rs 350 crore.

The companies have committed a total investment of Rs 2,368 crore and will create employment for 24,870 people, the release added. Further, the 12 completed projects in various sectors, including automobiles, would usher in Rs 3,185

Tamilnadu Affairs



crore of investment and job opportunities to 6,966 persons. As many as six of the eight projects for which the foundation stones were laid were signed in the Global Investors Meet held in 2019.

Tamilnadu Affairs



9. PRACTICE QUESTIONS1. “Nekar Samman Yojana” a scheme for the weaver’s community launched by which of the

following state?(A) Telangana (B) Andhra Pradesh (C) Odisha (D) Karnataka

2. The duties of Indian Prime Minister with respect to the furnishing of information to the President is mentioned in the Indian Constitution under _______.(A) Article 77 (B) Article 78 (C) Article 79 (D) Article 80

3. Which State becomes first State in India to have LPG connection to all households?(A) Gujarat (B) Rajasthan (C) Kerala (D) Himachal Pradesh

4. “Sakteng Wild life Sanctuary” recently seen in News disputed between which of the following two countries?(A) China-Bhutan (B) India-China (C) India-Bhutan (D) Nepal-Bhutan

5. The portable Hospital Named “Medicab” has been developed by_____________.(A) IIT Mumbai (B) DRDO (C) IIT Madras (D) IIT Kanpur

6. Which of the following countries signed “New Delhi” Declaration on Asian Rhinos -2019” to conserve rhinos?1. Malaysia 2. Bhutan 3. Nepal 4. Indonesia(A) 2, 3 (B) 2 only (C) 2, 3, 4 (D) All the above

7. Aarogyasri is a health care scheme of _________.(A) New Delhi (B) Andhra Pradesh (C) Telangana (D) Madhya Pradesh

8. Where Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is located?(A) Chandigar (B) Tanjavur (C) Kolkata (D) New Delhi

9. “Black Rock” recently seen in News it is a___________.(A) New Plant Variety (B) New Pest (C) New Variety of Fish (D) Malware

10. “ASPIRE” Portal Developed by the Ministry of_______________.(A) Ministry of HRD (B) Ministry of Finance (C) Ministry Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (D) Ministry of Aviation

11. World Chess Day is being celebrated on____________.(A) 19 July (B) 20 July (C) 21 July (D) 22 July

12. Which state added Transgenders community to getting pension under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana?(A) Madhya Pradesh (B) Maharashtra (C) Odisha (D) chattishgarh

13. Which country Hosted the 3rd G20 Finance ministers meet held recently?(A) UAE (B) Saudi Arabia (C) India (D) England

Practice Questions



14. The National Target of ending AIDS in the county by__________________.(A) 2025 (B) 2030 (C) 2032 (D) 2035

15. Which of the following organisation launched innovative contest “Dare to Dream” on the death Anniversary of Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam?(A) NITI Aayog (B) National Skill Development Council (C) ISRO (D) DRDO

16. Which Indian recently joined United Nations New Climate Change advisory group?(A) Archana Soreng (B) Jeyanthi Natarajan (C) Nandhini (D) Setha Lakhsmi

17. Nagarjuna Sagar – Srisailam Tiger Reserve is located in which of the following state?(A) Telangana (B) Andhra Pradesh (C) Karnataka (D) Maharshtra

18. The nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal tribel people are found in ______________region.(A) Karakoram ranges of Himalayas (B) Pir Panjal ranges of Himalayas (C) Western Ghats (D) Jaintia Hills

19. Which of the following Countries participating “Operation Breathing Space”?1. India 2. USA 3. UK 4. Israel(A) 1, 2 (B) 2, 3 (C) 1, 3 (D) 1, 4

20. Which of the following Ministry recently launched “BIS-care” mobile App?(A) Consumer Affairs (B) Road Transport (C) Finance (D) Home Affairs

21. Which state is going to host 4th edition of Khelo India Youth Games?(A) Punjab (B) Uttar Pradesh (C) Kerala (D) Haryana

22. Who is the Author of the book titled The Indian Way: Strategies for an uncertain world?(A) Ajith Doval (B) Jai Shankar (C) Sasi Tharoor (D) Arun Jaitley

23. The pobitora Wild Life sanctuary is located on the southern bank of river____________.(A) Krishna (B) Cauvery (C) Ganga (D) Brahmaputra

24. Who has been recently awarded the life time achievement award for his contribution to statistics ?(A) D.Sivaraman (B) Bimal Jalan (C) Y.V.Reddy (D) C.Rangarajan

25. Which State inaugurated India’s 1st Plasma Bank for COVID-19 treatment?(A) Maharashtra (B) Tamil Nadu (C) New Delhi (D) Karnataka

26. How many fruits and vegetables were added to operation Green Scheme recently?(A) 8 (B) 18 (C) 7 (D) 17

27. Which of the following Ministry launched Web Portal for Street vendors loan scheme PM SVANidhi?(A) Ministry of Finance (B) Ministry of Commerce and Industry (C) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (D) Ministry of Panchayat Raj

28. National Institute of Food Technologies Entrepreneurship and management (NIFTEM) is located at _______________.(A) Tamil Nadu (B) Haryana (C) Punjab (D) Bihar

Practice Questions



29. “PASSEX” Naval exercise recently seen in News conducted between which of the following two countries?(A) India-USA (B) India-Russia (C) India-Japan (D) India-Australia

30. Government of India recently enforced the Amendments to the India Stamp Act________.(A) 1899 (B) 1947 (C) 1919 (D) 1935

31. “Towards a clean Energy Economy” Report has been released by______________.(A) Ministry of Environment (B) NITI Aayog (C) IIT-Madras (D) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

32. AH-64E Apache Helicopters made by _______________.(A) Dassault Aviation (B) Rafael Advanced Defence Systems (C) Boeing (D) Hindustan Aeronautical Limited

33. Where Keelback snake has been spotted for the first time in 129 years?(A) Poba Reserved Forest (B) Pakke Tiger Reserve(C) Namdappha National Park (D) Kaziranga National Park

34. Which Indian American has been appointed as the Director of USA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture?(A) Abhijit Banerjee (B) Har Gobind Khorana (C) Subramanyan Chandrasekar (D) Parag Chitnis

35. APSTAR-6D Telecommunication satellite successfully launched recently which belongs to__________.(A) Japan (B) France (C) China (D) Israel

36. Solar Energy Corporation of India is functioning under which Union Ministry?(A) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (B) Ministry of Power (C) Ministry of Coal (D) Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

37. National Fish Farmers day was celebrated on______________.(A) 13 July (B) 12 July (C) 11 July (D) 10 July

38. Bhashan Char Island frequently seen in news which is located in________________.(A) Srilanka (B) Maldevis (C) India (D) Bangladesh

39. What is the Name of Haryana State Government’s one time loan settlement scheme?(A) Vivad se Vishwas (B) Sab ka Vishwas (C) Samadhan se Vikas (D) Vivad se Vikas

40. India’s Best Police Station “Nadaun Police Station” is located in the state of__________.(A) Arunachal Pradesh (B) Kerala (C) New Delhi (D) Himachal Pradesh

41. The Helicopter launched Nag missile HELINA Successfully test fired recently, The missile has now been renamed as_________________.(A) Trishul (B) Pinaka (C) Dhruvastra (D) QRSAM

42. Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant located in___________________.(A) Madhya Pradesh (B) Maharashtra (C) Rajasthan (D) Gujarat

Practice Questions



43. Who has won 1st edition of Gulbankian Prize for Humanity?(A) Malala Yousafzai (B) Greta Thunberg (C) Melinda Gates (D) Melinia Trump

44. Recently Global Multi dimensional Poverty Index 2020 was released by___________.(A) United Nations Development Programme (B) World Bank (C) Food and Agricultural Organisation (D) International Monetary Fund

45. “Julio Ribeiro” Committee on Police Reforms was created in the year of __________.(A) 1982 (B) 1992 (C) 1998 (D) 2002

46. Indian Army gets “Bharat drones” for accurate Surveillance belong border from which of the following organization?(A) DRDO (B) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(C) Indigo (D) Boeing Drones

47. “PASSEX” Naval exercise has been conducted between which of the following countries?(A) India-Japan (B) India-United Kingdom (C) India-USA (D) United Kingdom-USA

48. A rare yellow turtle rescued recently in which of the following state?(A) Andhra Pradesh (B) Tamil Nadu (C) Odisha (D) Chattigarh

49. Which state has launched Navin Rojgar Chhatri Yojana?(A) Uttar Pradesh (B) West Bengal (C) Punjab (D) Himachal Pradesh

50. Which of the following country’s Railways created world’s first solar power plant to directly power overhead line?(A) USA (B) France (C) United Kingdom (D) India

51. Asia’s largest tier IV Data Centre has been inaugurated in _____________.(A) Tamil Nadu (B) Maharashtra (C) Gujarat (D) Kerala

52. The Dudhwa National Park is recently seen in News located in which of the following state?(A) West Bengal (B) Uttar Pradesh (C) Uttarkand (D) Maharashtra

53. New species of “Fan-throated Lizard” Sitana Dharwarensis” Discsovered from________.(A) Kerala (B) Assam (C) Karnataka (D) Megalaya

54. According to National Centre for Biological Sciences which state has the highest count of inbreed tigers in the country?(A) Rajasthan (B) West Bengal (C) Karnataka (D) Madhya Pradesh

55. Who has been recently appointed by the Central Government to the committe on Science, Technologies and innovation policy 2020.(A) S.K.George (B) Nandhan Nilakeni (C) Y.S.Reddy (D) K.S.Shivan

56. Jharkhand Indian Agricultural research institute’s New Administrative Building named after whom?(A) B.R.Ambedkar (B) Lal Bahadur Shastri (C) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (D) Jawaharlal Nehru

Practice Questions



57. Name the company which in collaboration with ICMR-NIV developed India’s 1st COVID-19 vaccine?(A) SANOFI (B) Biogenomics (C) Bharat Biotech (D) Hindustan Uniliver Labs

58. Indian Railways 1st Cable stayed rail bridge “ANJI KHAD BRIDGE” being developed in which of the following state?(A) Ladakh (B) Jammu & Kashmir (C) West Bengal (D) Uttarkhand

59. World wildlife crime Report has been released by_______________.(A) IUCN (B) United Nations General Assembly (C) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (D) International Animal conservation

60. Who has been honoured with “Top publicist” award in the Global Humanitarian Awards 2020 in London?(A) Sachin Awasthi (B) Vandana Shiva (C) Sunita Narain (D) Chandi Prasad Bhatt

61. What is the name of robotic helicopter that is going to be deployed in mars 2020 mission of NASA?(A) Persevarance (B) NASA copter (C) Red copter (D) Ingenuity

62. Who has been appointed as New Vice president of Asian Development Bank?(A) T.S. Krishna Murthy (B) Sunil Arora (C) Ashok Lavasa (D) Om Prakash Rawat

63. Which International Airport introduces India’s first fully contactless car parking?(A) New Delhi (B) Chennai (C) Hyderabad (D) Bengaluru

64. “Decade of Action: Taking SDG’s from Global to local” Report has been released by_____________.(A) Statistical Survey of India (B) NITI Aayog (C) Ministry of Finance (D) Ministry of Human Resource Development

65. Which year critical information Infrastructure protection centre was setup under Information Technology Act 2000?(A) 2001 (B) 2004 (C) 2012 (D) 2014

66. Which article under the constitution of India places a limit on the strength of the Council of Ministers?(A) Article 72 (B) Article 75 (C) Article 164 (D) Both B and C

67. The Tiwa Tribes recently seen in news is an indigenous community habiting in the states of ______________.1. Assam 2. Megalaya 3. Manipur 4. Nagaland(A) 1, 2 (B) 2, 3 (C) 1, 2, 3 (D) All the above

Practice Questions



68. Which of the following Ministry implements the “PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana” Scheme?(A) Ministry of Rural Development (B) Ministry of Finance(C) Ministry of Food and Public Distribution(D) Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

69. Which of the Indian American honoured as “2020 Great immigrant” recently?(A) Thumpa Lahiri (B) Fareed Zakaria(C) Sanjay Gupta (D) Sidhartha Mukherjee

70. What is the length of Indian Railways recently introduced “Shesh Naag Train”?(A) 1.4 km (B) 2.8 km (C) 3.2 km (D) 3.5 km

71. Miyawaki method of forest creation was originated from_____________.(A) South Korea (B) Japan (C) China (D) Russia

72. India’s first accredited honey testing lab is inaugurated in ___________.(A) Himachal Pradesh (B) Assam (C) Sikkim (D) Gujarat

73. What is the India’s Rank in the recent Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) report released by Food and Agriculture Organization?(A) 3 (B) 10 (C) 15 (D) 21

74. The Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana was launched by___________.(A) Ministry of Finance (B) Ministry of Culture(C) Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) (D) Ministry of MSME

75. When Kargil Vijay Diwas observed in India?(A) July 25 (B) July 26 (C) July 27 (D) July 28

76. Which of the following Hurricane, recently affected USA recently?(A) Dorean (B) Katrina (C) Hanna (D) Michael

77. India collaborated with which country to develop 30 second rapid testing kit for covid-19?(A) Germany (B) Israel (C) France (D) South Korea

78. “Serological Survey” has been conducted recently in which of the following state?(A) Maharashtra (B) New Delhi (C) West Bengal (D) Odisha

79. Maternal Mortality Rate has been considered on the basis of _____________live Births.(A) 100 (B) 1000 (C) 10000 (D) 100000

80. Which of the following state topped on attracted fresh investment in the first quarter of 2020-21 financial year?(A) Maharashtra (B) Tamil Nadu (C) Rajasthan (D) Gujarat

81. Animal Welfare Board of India was established under the prevention of cruelty to Animals Act__________.(A) 1950 (B) 1960 (C) 1962 (D) 1972

Practice Questions



82. India’s only Golden Tiger was spotted in which of the following region?(A) Kanha National Park (B) Sathiyamangalam Tiger Reserve (C) Manas Tiger Reserve (D) Kaziranga National Park

83. Who is the Head of Defence Planning Committee recently seen in news ?(A) Home Minister (B) Defence Minister (C) Prime Minister (D) National Security Advisor

84. Commerce and Industry young leaders institution (CII) has been launched by_________.(A) ASEAN (B) BRICS (C) G20 (D) G-7

85. The Pasakha trade route is seen in news recently between which of the following Two countries?(A) India-Nepal (B) India-Bhutan (C) India-Pakistan (D) India-Bangladesh

86. What is the Rank of India in recent Global manufacturing Risk Index?(A) 1st (B) 2nd (C) 3rd (D) 4th

87. The Azad Pattan hydel power project to be implemented on which river ?(A) Beas River (B) Chenab River (C) Ravi River (D) Jhelum River

88. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) Pension Scheme is for ___________.(A) Widow Womens (B) Physically Challenged (C) Senior Citizens (D) Army Soldiers People

89. The ministry of skill development and Entrepreneurship has launched ASEEM portal to help skilled people, what is the correct expansion of “ASEEM”.(A) All India skilled Employee Employer mapping (B) ATAL skilled Employee Employer mapping (C) Associated skilled Employee Employer mapping (D) Aatmanirbhar skilled Employee Employer mapping

90. Who has won 2020 Dada Saheb Phalke award for documentary name “chi lupo”?(A) Vinod Khanna (B) Manoj Kumar (C) Mrinal Sen (D) Kazang D Thong dok

91. The UN’s World Population Day is observed annually on ___________.(A) July 11 (B) July 12 (C) July 13 (D) July 14

92. Recently Researchers found ophiocordycepsnutans fungus for the first time in “Kanger Valley National Park” is located in _________________.(A) Assam (B) Gujarat (C) Chhatisgarh (D) Gujarat

93. Which country world first successfully tested New Vaccine against to Covid-19 on Human Trials?(A) USA (B) Japan (C) India (D) Russia

94. Who was the first writer to translate the Great Epic of Ancient India “Ramayana” from Sanskrit to Nepali?(A) Dhayanantha Saraswati (B) Eshwar Chandra Vidhya Sahar (C) Bhanu bhakta Acharya (D) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

Practice Questions



95. “Zardozi Metal Zari Art works on silk patronized by which of the following Kings?(A) Delhi Sultanate (B) Mughals (C) Marathas (D) Scindhiyas

96. Bubonic Plague is recently seen news cost by ______________.(A) Bacterium (B) Virus (C) Fungus (D) Some type of Pests

97. What is the theme of International Day of cooperatives 2020(A) Cooperatives across the globe (B) Cooperatives and their challenges (C) Cooperatives and SDG (D) Cooperatives for Climate Action

98. The World’s Largest COVID care centre has been inaugurated in______________.(A) Maharashtra (B) Tamil Nadu (C) New Delhi (D) Gujarat

99. “Over draft : Saving the Indian Saver” book authored by__________.(A) Rangarajan (B) Raguram Rajan (C) Urjit Patel (D) Amartya Sen

100. What is the Rank of India in Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI)?(A) 34th (B) 40th (C) 77th (D) 117th

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

D B D A C D B D D C

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

B C B B D A B B D A

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

D B D D C B C B C A

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

B C A D C A D D C D

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

C D B A C A C C A D

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

B B C A A C C B C A

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70

D C C B D D D C D B

71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

B D A C B C B B D B

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

B D D B B C D C D D

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

A C D C B A D C C A

Practice Questions

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