CONTENTS

TNPSC BITS ...................................................................................................... 13

TAMIL NADU ..................................................................................................... 19
Kalloori Kanavu ............................................................................................. 19
Project Suria .................................................................................................. 19
Ease of Doing Business' Ranking .................................................................... 19
Solar manufacturing facility ........................................................................... 20
20 New colleges .............................................................................................. 20
India’s first rocket engine factory .................................................................. 21
TN colleges in NIRF ranking ........................................................................... 21
Smart City Fund utilization ........................................................................... 22
Chess Olympiad inauguration ......................................................................... 22
Breakfast scheme ........................................................................................... 22
NATIONAL ......................................................................................................... 23
Miss India Worldwide 2022 ............................................................................. 23
National Logistics Excellence Awards ............................................................. 24
One Nation, One Dialysis ................................................................................ 24
Pallonji Mistry ................................................................................................ 25
New Labour Codes in India ............................................................................. 25
Baal Swaraj Portal .......................................................................................... 26
Bengaluru One Health Pilot Project ................................................................ 26
NITI Aayog on gig workforce ........................................................................... 26
Uddhav Thackeray .......................................................................................... 27
Attorney General of India ............................................................................... 27
Performance Grading Index for Districts ........................................................ 27
Uranium Mining – Rajasthan .......................................................................... 28
National Highways Excellence Awards 2021 ................................................... 29
T-Hub ............................................................................................................. 29
PADMA ........................................................................................................... 29
Business Reform Action 2020 ........................................................................ 30
New Chairperson of GAIL ................................................................................ 30
GOAL Program................................................................................................ 30

1
Forest (Conservation) Rules - 2022 ................................................................. 31
‘Harnessing Green Hydrogen’ Report .............................................................. 31
Raising & Accelerating MSME Performance scheme ....................................... 32
Report on Take-Home Ration ......................................................................... 32
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure ................................................ 33
SBI Foundation Day ....................................................................................... 33
Issue of Electoral Bonds ................................................................................. 33
Fifth Global Film Tourism Conclave ............................................................... 34
Start-up ranking 2021 .................................................................................... 34
National Air Quality Resource Framework (NARFI) ......................................... 35
Operation “NARCOS”...................................................................................... 36
Digital India Bhashini..................................................................................... 36
School for sustainable science and tech ......................................................... 36
Ministerial Allocation ..................................................................................... 36
Nominated Members – Rajya Sabha ................................................................ 36
India's oldest Royal Bengal Tiger .................................................................... 37
Augmented reality screens ............................................................................. 37
Hariyali Mahotsav .......................................................................................... 37
Animal Health Summit 2022 .......................................................................... 37
Monument of National Importance ................................................................. 38
Cloudburst at Amarnath shrine ...................................................................... 38
Jute Mark India Logo ..................................................................................... 38
Akshaya Patra Midday Meal Kitchen............................................................... 39
Guidelines for Mission Vatsalya ...................................................................... 39
Child health in India ...................................................................................... 40
Varanasi Declaration on Higher Education ..................................................... 40
First Monkeypox Case .................................................................................... 41
Natural Farming Conclave .............................................................................. 41
SVANIdhi Mahotsav ........................................................................................ 42
6th National Conclave on Mines and Minerals ................................................ 42
Global Gender Gap Index ................................................................................ 42
Dragon Fruit Cultivation ................................................................................ 43
Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road Rail line .......................................................... 43
Agri Export Hub in North-East ........................................................................ 44

2
Longest double-decker bridge ......................................................................... 44
First floating LNG terminal ............................................................................ 44
Tenure of House committees .......................................................................... 45
BBBP extension .............................................................................................. 46
Nari Adalat ..................................................................................................... 46
Survey on proportion of unmarried persons ................................................... 47
NIRF Rankings 2022 ...................................................................................... 47
Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2022 ........................................................................... 48
SPRINT Challenges ......................................................................................... 48
Religious, and linguistic Minority status ........................................................ 48
First E-Waste Eco Park ................................................................................... 49
Made In India’ surgical robotic ....................................................................... 49
Jagriti mascot ................................................................................................ 49
Mountain warfare training facility .................................................................. 50
India Innovation Index 2021 .......................................................................... 50
List of Unparliamentary Words ....................................................................... 50
15th President of India .................................................................................. 51
51% completion of Jal Jeevan Mission ........................................................... 51
Committee on MSP......................................................................................... 51
Jawaharlal Nehru Port .................................................................................... 52
National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions .............................. 52
Basic Road Statistics in India 2018-19 ........................................................... 53
NAMASTE Scheme .......................................................................................... 53
Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan .............................................................................. 54
Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 ..................................... 54
Low Temperature Thermal Desalination ......................................................... 54
Study on India’s R&D expenditures ................................................................ 55
Oath - Draupadi Murmu .................................................................................. 56
Indian Bioeconomy Report 2022 .................................................................... 56
The Flag Code of India ................................................................................... 57
Indian Antarctic Bill – 2022 ........................................................................... 57
‘Johar’ greeting .............................................................................................. 58
Joint theatre commands ................................................................................ 59
GI tag for White Onion ................................................................................... 59

3
 Swadesh Darshan Scheme 2.0 ........................................................................ 60
Maritime Partnership exercise........................................................................ 60
National Anti-Doping Bill 2021 ....................................................................... 60
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island ............................................................... 60
Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant ............................................................................ 61
Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar.............................................................................. 61
Advancee enrolment for voters’ list ................................................................ 61
INTERNATIONAL ............................................................................................... 62
New Commonwealth Members ........................................................................ 62
UN Oceans Conference 2022........................................................................... 62
New countries – BRICS ................................................................................... 63
Law to Restore Nature .................................................................................... 63
Living Lands Charter ...................................................................................... 63
NATO forces ................................................................................................... 64
Partners in the Blue Pacific ............................................................................ 64
Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living assessment ....................................................... 64
UN-Habitat World Cities Report 2022 ............................................................. 65
UNESCO endangered world heritage ............................................................... 65
QS Best Student Cities Rankings .................................................................... 65
Covovax vaccine to US ................................................................................... 66
Lithium in Nigeria .......................................................................................... 67
India forum for Nature-Based Solution ........................................................... 67
Exhibition - Batsagaan Temple ....................................................................... 68
UN Report on Internet Shutdown ................................................................... 69
RIMPAC 2022 ................................................................................................. 69
The sixth Caspian summit .............................................................................. 69
Lisbon Declaration ......................................................................................... 70
Accession protocols with NATO ...................................................................... 70
World's most populous country in 2023.......................................................... 71
International Child Sexual Exploitation Initiative .......................................... 71
SOFI 2022 ...................................................................................................... 72
World Population Prospects (WPP) 2022 ......................................................... 73
I2U2 Leader's Summit 2022 ........................................................................... 74
Cost-of-Living Crisis in Developing Countries ................................................. 74

4
 Sea Guardians-2 ............................................................................................. 75
10th World Peace Forum ................................................................................ 75
Jerusalem Declaration.................................................................................... 76
Nepal’s first Citizenship Amendment Bill ....................................................... 76
First outbreak of Marburg virus ...................................................................... 76
BRICS Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meet 2022 ................................................ 76
Waiver to India on S-400 ................................................................................ 77
Sri Lanka 9th President.................................................................................. 78
Jeddah Summit for Security and Development ............................................... 78
G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting ..................................................................... 78
Monkeypox - global emergency ....................................................................... 78
Russia and Turkey Grain Export Deal ............................................................. 79
Sakurajima volcano ........................................................................................ 80
'Imanvex' For Monkeypox ............................................................................... 80
Electricity Market report ............................................................................... 80
European Investment Bank (EIB) in CDRI ....................................................... 81
World Airport Traffic Dataset 2021 ................................................................. 81
Russia quit ISS ............................................................................................... 82
ECONOMY ......................................................................................................... 82
Global Health Care ......................................................................................... 82
47th GST Council Meeting ............................................................................... 82
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies ............................................................. 83
Financial Services Institutions Bureau ........................................................... 84
Future Unicorn Index 2022 ............................................................................ 84
Gold import duty ............................................................................................ 85
Financial Stability Report .............................................................................. 85
Marine product exports .................................................................................. 86
GST collection in June ................................................................................... 86
Payment from abroad relatives ....................................................................... 87
India’s service sector ..................................................................................... 87
Global Findex database ................................................................................... 88
Mechanism for International trade in INR ...................................................... 88
TDC Fund ....................................................................................................... 89
Refinance Dollar-Denominated Bonds............................................................. 89

5
 New GST Rates ............................................................................................... 90
Remittance in India in 2020-21 ..................................................................... 90
Cut in Windfall Tax ........................................................................................ 91
4-tier regulatory framework ........................................................................... 92
Long-term resilient supply chains .................................................................. 92
Digital Banks.................................................................................................. 92
Top remittance recipient – 2021 .................................................................... 93
India economic growth ................................................................................... 93
5G spectrum auction ...................................................................................... 94
First international bullion exchange............................................................... 95
BSNL BBNL Merger ......................................................................................... 95
Suez Canal Economic Zone............................................................................. 95
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY............................................................................. 96
Energy Storage Platform ................................................................................ 96
Firefly-like light emitting robots .................................................................... 97
Estradiol to Treat Psoriasis ............................................................................ 97
Gennova mRNA Vaccine ................................................................................. 98
Nuclear-powered Flying Hotel ......................................................................... 99
Cosmic cannibalism ....................................................................................... 99
Anti-Tank Guided Missile of India (ATGM) .................................................... 100
New algorithm to study brain connectivity ................................................... 101
CAPSTONE mission ...................................................................................... 101
PSLV-C53 Mission ........................................................................................ 101
Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) .................................... 102
Loss of bone mass in space ........................................................................... 102
Salmonella Contamination ........................................................................... 103
Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demo ................................................. 103
Aphelion Phenomenon 2022 ......................................................................... 104
Regulating Nitrate absorption in Plants ........................................................ 105
New sub-atomic particles.............................................................................. 105
World’s first “sand battery” .......................................................................... 106
Autonomous Aircraft’s Maiden Take-Off ....................................................... 106
Particle Zoo 2.0 ............................................................................................ 106
Images of unseen Universe ........................................................................... 107

6
 Indigenous lithium-ion cell .......................................................................... 108
LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Detector................................................................ 108
Rocket fuel from Bacteria ............................................................................ 108
Anti-cervical cancer vaccine......................................................................... 109
ALH Squadron INAS 324 ............................................................................... 109
AI-based tool to detect Cancer ..................................................................... 109
Marburg virus Disease .................................................................................. 110
ARYABHAT-1 ................................................................................................ 111
IS4OM .......................................................................................................... 111
AI Mandarin translation ............................................................................... 111
India's First Unique Blood Group .................................................................. 112
Asteroid 2022 KY4 ....................................................................................... 113
Discovery of water on distant planet ............................................................ 113
Project 17A stealth frigate ........................................................................... 114
World's fastest graphics DRAM chip ............................................................. 114
New synthetic peptides ................................................................................ 114
Varroa Mite plague ....................................................................................... 115
India's first Human passenger drone............................................................. 115
Antimicrobial resistance vaccines ................................................................ 116
“Wentian” space station modules ................................................................. 117
Oldest galaxy in the universe ....................................................................... 117
Rainbow-colored planet ................................................................................ 118
Quick Reaction Fighting Vehicle .................................................................. 119
ENVIRONMENT................................................................................................ 119
New Biosphere Reserves ............................................................................... 119
Inventory of animal species ......................................................................... 120
New Discoveries 2021 .................................................................................. 120
World's Largest Waterlily Species ................................................................. 120
Membership of UNESCO Committee ............................................................. 121
Introduction of Red Pandas .......................................................................... 121
Eoscansor cobrensis ..................................................................................... 122
Sustainable Use of Wild Species .................................................................... 123
Ozone Hole 2022 .......................................................................................... 123
First carbon-neutral airport .......................................................................... 124

7
 Cheetah Restoration .................................................................................... 124
13th Petersburg Climate Dialogue ................................................................ 124
Heat Wave .................................................................................................... 125
World’s oldest male giant panda ................................................................... 126
First-ever red weather warning ..................................................................... 126
Karakoram Anomaly ..................................................................................... 127
Migratory monarch butterflies...................................................................... 127
New Ramsar Sites in India 2022 ................................................................... 128
Data on Tigers & Elephants .......................................................................... 129
ZSI Study on Snow Leopard .......................................................................... 129
Earth overshoot day ..................................................................................... 130
STATES ........................................................................................................... 131
Eknath Shinde ............................................................................................. 131
Aurangabad and Osmanabad Districts – Maharashtra .................................... 131
Jhansi Railway Station ................................................................................. 132
Largest floating Solar Power Project ............................................................. 132
'Project Surya' initiative ............................................................................... 132
Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra 2022 .................................................................. 133
Public Health Emergency ............................................................................. 133
GI tag for ‘Ant chutney’................................................................................ 133
Nari Ko Naman scheme ................................................................................ 134
State Ranking Index for NFSA ...................................................................... 134
Delta Ranking .............................................................................................. 135
Deoghar Airport............................................................................................ 135
Nation's first R&D policy .............................................................................. 135
NEP Implementation .................................................................................... 136
13 expressways in UP ................................................................................... 136
"Right To Health” bill ................................................................................... 136
India’s biggest shopping festival ................................................................... 137
Mother Teresa Memorial Award .................................................................... 137
State own internet service ........................................................................... 137
Digital Lok Adalat in India ........................................................................... 138
PMFBY - Andhra Pradesh .............................................................................. 138
Pacts to solve the border dispute ................................................................. 138

8
 First-ever blackbuck survey.......................................................................... 139
Vehicle Location Tracking Device fixing ....................................................... 139
Restoration of OBC quota ............................................................................. 140
e-FIR system ................................................................................................ 140
First Certified ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district ............................................................ 140
India’s first brain health clinic ..................................................................... 141
Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi ................................................................................ 141
PERSONALITIES, AWARDS AND EVENTS ......................................................... 141
Vijay Amritraj .............................................................................................. 141
Oscar Academy Members 2022 ..................................................................... 141
Eoin Morgan Retirement .............................................................................. 142
Varinder Singh ............................................................................................. 142
1st Black woman judge in US Supreme Court ............................................... 142
Saraswati Samman 2021 .............................................................................. 142
President of FATF ........................................................................................ 143
21st TIFF Edition Trophy ............................................................................. 143
Ayurveda Ratna award .................................................................................. 143
Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards 2022 .................................................. 143
Youngest Speaker in the country ................................................................. 144
Fields Medal 2022 ........................................................................................ 144
Force Commander of UNMISS ....................................................................... 145
Shiromani Award .......................................................................................... 145
“Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life” ............................. 145
P Gopinath Nair ............................................................................................ 145
Wall of former chief economists ................................................................... 145
Japan's PM ................................................................................................... 146
United Kingdom Prime Minister ................................................................... 146
Father of Indian Internet ............................................................................. 146
Kharchi festival ............................................................................................ 147
Archaeologist Enamul Haque ........................................................................ 147
Mrs Universe ................................................................................................ 147
Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum ........................................................ 148
Advisory committee for bishops ................................................................... 148
London Indian Film Festival......................................................................... 148

9
 Gautam Adani - fourth richest person........................................................... 148
68th National Film Awards 2022 .................................................................. 149
World’s Best SME Bank ................................................................................ 150
Global Energy Prize 2022 ............................................................................. 150
Golden Visa to Kamal Hasan ......................................................................... 150
Highest taxpayers ........................................................................................ 151
Winston Churchill Leadership Award ............................................................ 151
India’s richest woman .................................................................................. 151
SPORTS........................................................................................................... 152
Qosanov Memorial Athletics ......................................................................... 152
Adani Sportsline ........................................................................................... 152
National record of Neeraj Chopra .................................................................. 152
Jasprit Bumrah world record ........................................................................ 152
New Bowling Record ..................................................................................... 153
U-15 Asian Wrestling Championship ............................................................. 153
Test wickets in SENA Countries ................................................................... 153
Commonwealth Games 2022 ........................................................................ 153
Elorda Cup ................................................................................................... 154
World Masters Athletics Championships ....................................................... 154
Commonwealth Games – 2022 ...................................................................... 154
Wimbledon men's title .................................................................................. 155
Asian U-20 Wrestling Championships ........................................................... 155
ISSF World Cup ............................................................................................ 156
Singapore Open title .................................................................................... 156
36th National Games logo ............................................................................ 157
2025 World Athletics Championships ........................................................... 157
World Athletics Championships - world record ............................................. 157
World Athletics Championships – 2022 ........................................................ 158
IMPORTANT DAYS ........................................................................................... 158
National Doctors Day – July 1 ...................................................................... 158
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Day – July 01................................................. 159
Chartered Accountants Day – July 01........................................................... 159
World Sports Journalist Day - July 02 .......................................................... 160
International Co-operative Day – July 02 ..................................................... 160

10
 World UFO Day – July 02 .............................................................................. 160
International Plastic Bag Free Day – July 03 ................................................ 161
World Zoonosis Day – July 06 ....................................................................... 161
World Chocolate Day – July 07 ..................................................................... 161
World Kiswahili Language Day – July 07 ....................................................... 161
Van Mahotsav - July 01 to 07 ....................................................................... 162
National Fish Farmers Day - July 10 ............................................................ 162
World Population Day - July 11 .................................................................... 162
Dhammachakra Day 2022 ............................................................................ 163
Tamil Nadu Day – July 18 ............................................................................. 163
World Youth Skills Day – July 15.................................................................. 164
National Plastic Surgery Day – July 15 ......................................................... 164
World Day for International Justice – July 17 .............................................. 164
International Moon Day - July 20 ................................................................. 164
Nelson Mandela International Day - July 18 ................................................. 164
International Chess Day - July 20 ................................................................ 165
National Flag Day - July 22 .......................................................................... 165
World Brain Day - July 22............................................................................. 165
World Fragile X Awareness Day - July 22 ...................................................... 166
Pi Approximation Day - July 22 .................................................................... 166
National Broadcasting Day - July 23 ............................................................. 166
Income Tax Day - July 24 ............................................................................. 167
World Drowning Prevention Day - July 25 .................................................... 167
World IVF Day - July 25 ............................................................................... 168
Kargil Vijay Diwas - July 26.......................................................................... 169
World Hepatitis Day - July 28 ....................................................................... 169
International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem - July 26
.................................................................................................................... 170
World Nature Conservation Day - July 28 ..................................................... 170
International Tiger Day - July 29 ................................................................. 170
CRPF 84th Raising Day - July 27 ................................................................. 171
MISCELLANEOUS ............................................................................................ 171
2022 Resilient Democracies Statement ........................................................ 171
Asia Pacific Sustainability Index 2021.......................................................... 172

11
World Drug Report 2022 ............................................................................... 172
Alluri Sitarama Raju statue .......................................................................... 173
8th Edition - Digital India Week 2022 .......................................................... 173
Dinosaur Skeleton Auction ........................................................................... 174
Oldest European human fossil ...................................................................... 174
World's Greatest Places of 2022.................................................................... 175
AIDef symposium and exhibition .................................................................. 175
Expat Insider Rankings for 2022 .................................................................. 176
Henley Passport Index 2022 ......................................................................... 176
Opium production and processing ................................................................ 177
Diamond - Lulo Rose .................................................................................... 177

12
 TNPSC BITS

 IRS officer Nitin Gupta has been appointed as the new Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT) chairman.
 India International Centre's President is now former foreign secretary and Prime
Minister's Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change Shyam Saran.
 Nasscom, an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group,
claims that an integrated AI and data use plan could boost India’s GDP by $500
billion by 2025.
o The Nasscom, in collaboration with EY and with backing from Microsoft, EXL,
and Capgemini, has introduced an AI Adoption Index to track sectoral
progress on AI adoption in the nation.
 The Iraqi official Mohammed Jalood was elected president of the International
Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
o He is the first permanent president since Tamás Aján stepped down in 2020
after controlling the IWF for 44 years.
 India's Gurunaidu Sanapathi from Andhra Pradesh won Gold at International
Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth Weightlifting Championships held in
Mexico.
o He has become India's first weightlifter to win gold in this tournament.
 The four-day-long Ambubachi Mela has kickstarted at the famous Kamakhya
temple atop the Nilachal Hills in Assam's Guwahati.
 South Korea sent its first satellite into orbit using a domestic Nuri rocket.
 The Prime Minister recently inaugurated the Pragati Maidan Integrated Transit
Corridor project.
o The project aims to provide hassle-free and smooth access to the exhibition
and convention centre being developed at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
 Mukesh Ambani has resigned from Reliance Jio.
o His son Akash Ambani is announced as the Chairman of Reliance's telecom.
 The National Insurance Awareness Day is observed on 28 June.
o The Nicholas Barbon, an English economist, set up the first fire insurance
company in 1666.
 Novak Djokovic of Serbia became the first player in the tennis history to win 80
matches in all four Grand Slams.
 India gave the international community the reassurance that it will keep to its
goal of protecting at least 30% of "our" lands, waters, and oceans by 2030

13
 The United Kingdom government has announced a partnership with leading
businesses in India to offer 75 fully funded scholarships for Indian students to
study in the UK from September, 2022.
 In the first Punjab budget, the Aam Aadmi Part govt announces 300 units of free
electricity to every household every month from July, 2022.
 The Olympic gold medallist, Sydney McLaughlin of USA broke her own women’s
400 metres hurdles world record at the U.S. championships in Eugene, Oregon,
winning the final in 51.41 seconds.
 The Delhi-based leading Drone enterprise platform company IG Drones has been
felicitated with the “Best Drone Organization – Start-up Category” by Airwards.
o Airwards is the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated
to identifying, recognising and championing the breadth of positive drone use
cases from around the world.
 Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia won a bronze medal in the 86 kg freestyle weight
category at the U23 Asian wrestling championships 2022 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
 The daughter of Mukesh Ambani, Isha Ambani is set to be named chairman of
the Reliance Retail Industries.
o Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio are subsidiaries the Reliance Industries
headed by Mukesh Ambani.
 The May month in India saw credit card spending reach an all-time high of $1.14
trillion, indicating that the retail sector is doing well.
o According to Reserve Bank of India data, the Credit card spending in India
increased 118 percent annually.
 Yair Lapid has officially become the 14th Prime Minister of Israel after Naftali
Bennett.
 Turkey has given the nod to NATO hopefuls Sweden and Finland after signing a
trilateral memorandum that addressed Ankara’s security concerns.
 The European Union approves a plan to end the sale of vehicles with combustion
engines by 2035 in Europe, in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions.
 Ashok Soota, founder and Executive Chairman of Happiest Minds Technologies,
has been conferred with CII Quality Ratna Award 2021.
 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) decided to permit foreign
portfolio investors (FPI) to participate in the exchange-traded commodity
derivatives market.
 The Desert Corps of the Indian Army organised the “Suraksha Manthan 2022”,
on aspects of Border & Coastal Security at Jodhpur (Rajasthan).
 France and Costa Rica jointly bid to host the next UN Ocean Conference in 2025.

14
 Sini Shetty from Karnataka wins Femina Miss India 2022 tittle.
o It was held at Mumbai.
 The Women and Child welfare representatives from six Indian States - Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, were signed an
Inter-State Declaration of Intent to work in collaboration to combat trafficking in
persons.
 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur is the First Arab Woman, also the North African Women, to
Reach the Semi-Finals in a Grand Slam Single Tournament.
o She reached this position in Wimbledon in 2022.
 The Indian Air Force Father and daughter pair, Flying Officer Ananya Sharma,
and Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma, made aviation history by flying in the same
jet formation.
 R.Dinesh, Executive Vice-Chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions, has been
chosen as the Confederation of Indian Industry’s President Designate for the
years 2022–2023.
 Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is set to become the country’s Sherpa for
the G20 months ahead of India assuming the presidency.
 India observed one day State Mourning on July 9th, throughout the country as a
mark of respect for former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.
 The Indian boxer Alfiya Pathan and Gitika won gold medals in the Elorda Cup in
Kazakhstan.
 Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has become the first captain in the history of cricket
to win 13 successive T20 Internationals.
 Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the Gijon Chess Masters title at Gijon,
Spain.
 The Senior bureaucrat R.K Gupta was appointed as the deputy election
commissioner.
 In honour of India’s first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Award in
Public Administration has been established.
 Ernakulam dairy plant is set to become nation’s first fully solar powered plant.
 World Malala Day is observed on July 12 to honour the young woman Malala
from Pakistan, who has been advocating for female education.
 Arjun Babuta of India won his first gold medal in shooting at the Changwon,
South Korea in International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup event.
 The former CPM MLA from Piravom M.J. Jacob (82) has won two bronze medals
in the 200-meter hurdles and 80-meter hurdles competitions at the World
Masters Athletics Championship 2022 held at Tampere, Finland.

15
 Prime Minister unveils the centenary memorial pillar of the Bihar Assembly
building to mark the conclusion of the one-year centennial celebration of the state
legislature building.
 The Union home minister Amit Shah virtually unveiled the ‘Statue of Peace’ of
Swamy Ramanujacharya in Srinagar, located in a temple in the Sonwar region.
 Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi has
launched a book ‘Swadhinata Sangram Na Surviro’ which celebrates 75 freedom
fighters and shares the stories of the sacrifices made by them for the country
 The National Conference of State Agriculture & Horticulture Ministers was
organised by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in Bengaluru.
 The Government has now launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme Bid
Round-VIII, offering 10 oil blocks, for International Competitive Bidding.
 Abhishek Verma, and Jyothi Surekha Vennam took home bronze at the World
Archery Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA.
 The Western Railway opened longest skywalk (314m) from the Khar Road railway
station to the nearby Bandra Terminus at Mumbai.
 International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has appointed Spain’s
Alvaro Lario as new President for four-year term.
 Monty Norman, a British composer who wrote the theme tune for the James Bond
films, has passed away recently.
 The first elevated urban expressway in India, Dwarka Expressway connecting
Delhi to Haryana, will be operational in 2023.
 Union Minister and BJP MP Piyush Goyal was reappointed as the Leader of the
House in Rajya Sabha.
 South Korean rapper Psy's ‘Gangnam Style’ song became the first-ever video to
cross one billion views of YouTube in 2012.
 A mobile-first credit card company-OneCard, raised $100 million and became the
104th unicorn in India.
 India first underwater metro in Kolkata will be functional by the year 2023.
 Facebook owner Meta released its first annual human rights report.
 India has crossed the 200-Crore milestone in its cumulative COVID19
vaccination campaign.
 The nation's first 5G private network was successfully tested by Bharti Airtel at
Bosch Automotive Electronics' plant in Bengaluru.
 Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram has emerged winner in the 41st
Villa De Benasque International Chess Open in Spain.

16
 Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa wins Paracin Open Chess title in Serbia.
 The Famous Ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh of Punjab passed away recently at
Mumbai.
 Varanasi become the 1st “Cultural and Tourism Capital” of the SCO for 2022-23
under a new rotating initiative.
 Murali Sree Shankar from Kerala becomes first ever Indian to qualify for men's
long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at USA.
 The Indian Bank has bagged the best performing bank award in Tamil Nadu for
the FY 2021-22 under SHG Bank Linkage Programme category from NABARD.
 Rishabh Pant of India has created a new world record by becoming the first Asian-
wicket keeper batsman to score a century in both ODI and Tests in England.
 INS Sindhudhvaj, acquired from Russia, was decommissioned from Navy after
serving for 35 years at Vishakhapatnam.
 L&T Technology Services has become the first tech company to express its
interest in the government's direct allocation of spectrum for captive 5G
networks.
 Prime Minister inaugurated the 296 km-long Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar
Pradesh recently.
 Former Supreme Court judge Vineet Saran has taken over as the BCCI's ethics
officer and ombudsman.
 Ashish Kumar Chauhan has appointed as the new managing director and CEO
of National Stock Exchange.
 The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management has bagged the
Sardar Patel Outstanding ICAR Institute Award 2021 for its overall performance.
 Filmmaker K.P. Kumaran has been chosen for the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award
for 2021.
o It is conferred by the Kerala government annually in recognition to an
individual’s contributions to Malayalam cinema.
 Elon Musk terminates the $44 billion offer to buy Twitter after the company failed
to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts.
 Kotak Mahindra Bank has completed its technical integration with the Income
Tax department’s e-filing portal.
o This will allow the customers of Kotak Mahindra Bank to pay their direct taxes
online through the e-pay tax page of the portal.
 EU gives Croatia final approval to adopt euro currency in 2023.

17
 o Thus, Croatia will become the 20th country to join the eurozone on January
1, 2023.
 Each year National Mango Day is observed on July 22 to celebrate the fruit.
 Eldhose Paul becomes first Indian to qualify for triple jump final in World
Athletics Championship 2022, held at USA.
 Neeraj Chopra makes history by winning silver medal in the javelin throw for the
first time ever at the World Athletics Championships 2022, held at USA.
o He becomes first-ever Indian to win silver at World Athletics Championships.
 The CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-
NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, will host an International Conference on Chemistry
and Applications of Soft Materials (CASM).
 Mountaineer Wasifa Nazreen became the first person from Bangladesh to climb
the second-highest mountain peak K2.
 The first Khelo India Fencing Women’s League will be hosted by Talkatora Indoor
Stadium in New Delhi.
 NTPC has been recognized as one of the “Most Preferred Workplaces of 2022" in
the premier edition, organized by Team Marksmen in association with India
Today.
 Vodafone Idea has appointed Akshaya Moondra as its chief executive officer for a
period of three years.
 Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the new and 15th Prime Minister of
Sri Lanka, by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
 AR Rahman unveils anthem ‘Vanakkam Chennai’ for 44th International Chess
Olympiad.
 Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) at IIT Kanpur has launched
"NIRMAN" Accelerator Programme.
 The International Cricket Council, inducted Mongolia, Switzerland, and
Tajikistan as its new member countries at the ICC’s 78th Annual General
Meeting.
 The World Bank has appointed Indermit Gill as the chief economist and senior
vice president for development economics.
o Gill will be the second Indian, after Kaushik Basu, to become the chief
economist of this international financial institution.
 The Union Cabinet approved the Rs. 1.64 lakh crore revival package for Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
 TRAI has been testing the 5G network at four different sites – Bengaluru, Gujarat,
New Delhi and Bhopal.

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  India gave the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East USD 2.5 million.
 Wildfire near Yosemite National Park at USA burned out of control
o It has grown into one of California's biggest blazes of the year.
 Indian wrestler Suraj Vashishth wins first-ever gold medal in the Greco-Roman
U-17 World Championship in Rome, Italy.
 PV Sindhu and Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh were on
named the country's flagbearer for the opening ceremony of the upcoming
Commonwealth Games held at Birmingham in England.

TAMIL NADU
Kalloori Kanavu
 Chief Minister MK Stalin launched the Kalloori Kanavu (College Dreams)
programme
 It was inaugurated under the ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ programme.
 It will offer higher-education guidance to students who have cleared Class 12
 The Naan Mudhalvan programme is a plan to further refine this and make Tamil
Nadu the best in education.

Project Suria
 The Singapore-based IGSS signs MoU with Tamilnadu to set up 300-acre
semiconductor park in Tamil Nadu with an investment and grants of ₹25,600
crore.
 This hi-tech industrial park will come up near Chennai.
 IGSS Ventures will launch its semiconductor fab under the name ‘Project Suria’.

Ease of Doing Business' Ranking

 Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) of 2020 was recently released by the union
finance ministry.
 The BRAP 2020 includes 301 reform points covering 15 business regulatory
areas.

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  Tamil Nadu has been ranked among the top seven achievers based on the
implementation of the business reform action plan (BRAP).
 TN's rank jumped to three from the earlier ranking of 14.
 Andhra was ranked top with 98%, followed by Gujarat at 97.7% and Tamil Nadu
at 97%.

Solar manufacturing facility

 Tata Power signed a deal with the Tamil Nadu government to invest Rs. 3000
crores in the construction of a new solar cell and module manufacturing facility
in Tirunelveli district.
 It aims to promote the switch to renewable energy and the creation of jobs in the
state.

20 New colleges
 M K Stalin inaugurated 20 arts and science colleges, through video conference.
 Now all the 20 colleges will function in temporary buildings.
 After the buildings are constructed, the colleges will be shifted to permanent
buildings.
 The announcement to establish 20 arts and science colleges in the State was
made in the State Assembly by Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy.

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  According to the announcement made in 2021-22, the State government had
planned to establish 10 colleges.
 Later in the announcement made in 2022-23, the State government had planned
to establish 10 more arts and sciences colleges.

India’s first rocket engine factory

 Agnikul Cosmos has inaugurated India’s first-ever factory to manufacture 3D-
printed rocket engines in Chennai.
 It will be used to produce engines for its own in-house rockets.
 The manufacturing facility has a capacity to make two rocket engines per week
and thereby one launch vehicle every month,
 It builds the number of engines required to launch Agnibaan.
 It is a customizable, 2-stage launch vehicle.
 It is capable of taking up to 100 kg payload to orbits around 700 km high (low
Earth orbits)
 Also, it enables plug-and-play configuration.

TN colleges in NIRF ranking

 The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has been ranked the best higher
education institution in the country in the overall category.
 As many as 38 institutions from the State feature among the top 200 institutions
in the overall category.
 Presidency College reclaimed its position as the third best college.
 Loyola College is ranked fourth.

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  The Madras Christian College is ranked 17.
 Four women’s colleges — Queen Mary’s (47), Ethiraj (65), Women’s Christian (72)
and Stella Maris (76) — are among the top 76 colleges.
 As many as 73 colleges in the State feature among the top 200 institutions in the
country.
 Thirteen of the best engineering institutions in the country are in Chennai.
 The State is home to 11 best MBA programmes.

Smart City Fund utilization

 Tamil Nadu tops the list of states so far as utilisation of funds under the
government’s flagship Smart City Mission is concerned.
 Uttar Pradesh is in the second position.
 The Centre has released Rs 30,751.41 crore for 100 Smart Cities, out of which
90% has been utilised.
 The Central government launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25 June 2015.
 The Central government will provide financial support to the extent of Rs 48,000
crore over five years which is on an average Rs 100 crore per city per year.

Chess Olympiad inauguration

 Prime Minister inaugurated the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai.
 This is the first time the chess Olympiad is being held in India.
 It has the highest number of countries, number of teams, and number of female
chess players participation.
 Originally this Olympiad was scheduled is Russia.
 But due to Russia- Ukraine conflict it was cancelled.
 Out of the 73 Indian grandmasters, 26 were from Tamil Nadu.
 Olympiad’s veshti-clad mascot Thambi was a symbol of brotherhood.

Breakfast scheme
 Tamil Nadu government on July 27 issued an Order to implement the first phase
of the ‘Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme’.
 This is to be a “first-of-its-kind’ in the country.
 Every student is to be provided a cooked meal of 150-500-gram breakfast with
sambar with vegetables.

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  This will be implemented at 1,545 government primary schools.
 It will benefit more than 1.14 lakh children in Classes I-V across the State during
2022-23.
 Total cost of the scheme for this year is ₹33.56 crore.

NATIONAL

Miss India Worldwide 2022

 Khushi Patel, has been declared the winner of the Miss India Worldwide 2022.
 It is the longest-running Indian pageant outside of India
 She is a biomedical student from the United Kingdom.
 Roshani Razack from Guyana was declared Miss Teen India Worldwide 2022.
 This year’s pageant was held after a gap of three years with the last one being
organised at the Leela Hotel in Mumbai in September 2019.

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National Logistics Excellence Awards
 The First National Logistics Excellence Awards was hosted by Government of
India in New Delhi.
 Union minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state for commerce and industry
Som Parkash presented awards in 12 categories.
 It was instituted to provide due recognition to various players involved in logistics
supply chain in India.
National Logistics Excellence Awards 2021 - List of Winners

 Best Cargo Airline & Terminal Operator – FedEx Express Transportation and
Supply Chain Services (India) Pvt. Ltd.
 Best Road Freight Service Provider – DHL Supply Chain India Pvt. Ltd.
 Best Rail Freight Service Provider – Adani Logistics Ltd.
 Best Shipping & NVOCC service Provider – Maersk India Pvt. Ltd.
 Best Port Service Provider – DP World
 Best Warehouse service provider – Transport Corporation of India Ltd.
(Through TCI Supply Chain Solutions)
 Best Cold Chain/Refrigerated service provider - Transport Corporation of
India Ltd. (Through TCI Supply Chain Solutions)
 Best Express Logistics Service Provider – Safe express Pvt. Ltd.
 Best Logistics infrastructure and service provider – Adani Logistics Ltd.
 Best Freight Forwarders – Kuehne + Nagel Pvt. Ltd.
 Best Customs House Agent/Customs broker – International Clearing &
Shipping Agency (India) Pvt. Ltd.
 Industry Excellence Award – Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

One Nation, One Dialysis

 It will be launched by the Government under Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis
Programme under the National Health Mission.
 Under this Scheme, any patient in India can get a dialysis facility from anywhere
in the country.
 With approximately 4,950 dialysis centres, largely in the private sector in India,
the demand is less than half met with the existing infrastructure.

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Pallonji Mistry
 Pallonji Mistry, Shapoorji Pallonji Group Chairman, passes away at 93 in
Mumbai.
 Mistry's family controls the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, an Indian construction and
real estate empire.
 It was established more than 150 years ago.
 And it employs more than 50,000 people in over 50 countries today.
 Some of the company's landmark projects include the Reserve Bank of India and
the blue-and-gold Al Alam palace for the Sultan of Oman.
 Pallonji Mistry's son Cyrus Mistry was ousted as Tata Sons Chairman in 2016.

New Labour Codes in India

 A set of 4 New Labour codes in India will be introduced by the Central
Government.
 They come into effect from July 1, 2022.
 The rules under the Four Labour Codes have been finalized by the Ministry of
Labour and Employment.
 The four broad rules of new labour code are on wages, industrial relations, social
security and occupational safety, health and working conditions.
 The regular working hours can become 12 hours in a day from 9 hours at present.
 The working days will have to be capped at 4 days a week with 3 mandatory offs.
 This means that the week’s total working hours will remain unchanged at 48
hours.

 The take-home salary of the employees will go down as the PF contributions of

the employees and employers will increase.

25
  The Provident Fund contribution is required to be a proportion of 50 per cent of
gross pay
 Earlier, the law required to have worked for a minimum of 240 working days in
a year to ask for leave.
 It has now been reduced to 180 working days

Baal Swaraj Portal

 The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has
launched a “CiSS application” under the Baal Swaraj portal.
 It is to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations (CiSS).
 It has been developed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

Bengaluru One Health Pilot Project

 The Ministry of dairying and animal husbandry launched ‘One Health’ pilot
project in Bengaluru.
 It will be in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation as implementation partners.
 It will bring stakeholders from human, animal, and environment health on single
platform.
 It aims to formulate solutions for preventing outbreak of zoonotic disease like
covid-19 pandemic in future.
 The department of animal husbandry & dairying is implementing the pilot
projects in Uttarakhand, besides Karnataka.
 The department of animal husbandry and dairying would develop a national One
Health roadmap.
 This will help in preventing future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

NITI Aayog on gig workforce

 NITI Aayog has recommended steps to provide social security for the country’s
gig workforce.
 It is expected to grow to 2.35 crore by 2029-30.
 According to a study released by NITI Aayog, the number of gig workers is
estimated to be 77 lakhs in 2020-21.
 The report broadly classified gig workers into Platform workers and non-platform
gig workers.

26
  Platform workers are those whose work is based on online software applications
or digital platforms.
 Non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers and own-account
workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full-time.
 NITI Aayog recommended introducing a ‘Platform India initiative’ on the lines of
the ‘Startup India Initiative’.
 It proposed to provide incentives for companies having one-third of their
workforce people with disabilities and women.

Uddhav Thackeray
 Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced his resignation
from the Chief Minister post.
 He has also resigned from the Member of Legislative Council post.
 The announcement came right after the Supreme Court refused to order a stay
on the floor test or majority proving test.
 The court has also allowed two jailed MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to
participate in the floor test.
 Since the two elected MLAs are in judicial custody in cases registered by
Enforcement Directorate/CBI, both the agencies have been directed to escort
them for the vote.
 Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had earlier called for a special
session of the Maharashtra State Assembly on June 30 to conduct trust vote
against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Attorney General of India

 KK Venugopal was appointed as the Attorney General of India in July 2017 in
place of Mukul Rohatgi.
 Now, KK Venugopal's term was extended for 3 more months in 2022 June.

Performance Grading Index for Districts

 The Department of School Education and Literacy, under the Ministry of
Education released the Performance Grading Index for Districts for the reference
years 2018-19 and 2019-20.
 As per the 2019-20 report, around 3 districts of Rajasthan have scored over 80
per cent in school education performance.

27
  These districts have achieved ‘Utkarsh’ grade (second highest grade).
 It assesses the performance of school education system at the district level by
creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
 It comprises of total weightage of 600 points across 83 indicators.
 These 83 indicators are grouped under 6 categories.
o Outcomes
o Effective Classroom Transaction
o Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements
o School Safety & Child Protection
o Digital Learning
o Governance Process

Uranium Mining – Rajasthan

 Rajasthan has entered the field of uranium mining in the country.
 The huge reserves of uranium have been found at Rohil in Khandela tehsil of
Sikar district in Rajasthan.
 According to initial estimates, the reserves of about 12 million tonnes of uranium
are likely to be in the region.
 Uranium is currently being excavated in the country in Jajagoda of Singhbhum
in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
 The highest uranium production globally takes place in Kazakhstan, Canada and
Australia.
 Uranium minerals have been found in Russia, Namibia, Uzbekistan, USA and
Ukraine.

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National Highways Excellence Awards 2021
 It was organised by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) at Vigyan
Bhavan in Delhi.
 It was organised under the theme “Innovation and Excellence in Road
Construction”.

T-Hub
 Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated the new facility
of business incubator T-Hub, an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler, in
Hyderabad.
 It has been constructed with total built-up area of more than 5.82 lakh square
feet.
 It is considered the World’s largest innovation ecosystem.

PADMA

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  The Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) Rajnish Kumar, Ministry of
Defence, inaugurated the “Pay Roll Automation for Disbursement of Monthly
Allowances” (PADMA).
 It is an automated Pay & Allowances module, launched for the Indian Coast
Guard.
 This module has been developed under the Defense Accounts Department.
 The launch of PADMA is marked the start of Centralized Pay System (CPS).

Business Reform Action 2020

 It was presented by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
 According to this, 7 states have been named as the top achievers.
 Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, and Tamil
Nadu are the top achiever states.
 The survey also noted that the Achievers group includes Himachal Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
 The Aspirers category includes Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala,
Rajasthan, and West Bengal.

New Chairperson of GAIL

 Sandeep Kumar Gupta of Indian Oil Corporation, has been picked to head India’s
largest gas utility Gas Authority of India Ltd or GAIL.
 He will replace Manoj Jain, who is scheduled to retire on August 31.
 The recommendation will be vetted by the Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 It will be done after the go-ahead of anti-corruption bodies such as the CVC and
CBI.

GOAL Program
 Meta (formerly Facebook) with its collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs
launched the second phase of the 'Going Online as Leaders' (GOAL) program.
 GOAL is a digital literacy and mentorship initiative.
 It is an initiative of Facebook in partnership with Digital Empowerment
Foundation (India).
 It aims to digitally upskill, connect and empower 10 lakh youth and women from
the tribal communities of the country.

30
Forest (Conservation) Rules - 2022
 The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued
the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022.
 It is conferred by Section 4 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
 Also, it is the supersession of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2003.
Provisions
 It aims to constitute an advisory committee, a regional empowered committee and
a screening committee at the State/UT.
 It will examine all the linear projects (e.g., roads, highways, etc) involving land up
to 40 hectares and the use of forest land up to 0.7 canopy density.
 A fixed time for quicker review of each project.
 States are given the responsibility of settling forest rights of forest dwellers (Forest
Rights Act, 2006) and allowing diversion of forest land.
 For projects involving a larger area, the committee gets some more time — 120
days for non-mining projects involving more than 100 hectares and 150 days for
mining projects.

‘Harnessing Green Hydrogen’ Report

 The NITI Aayog published its report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen-
Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India”.
 This report has been prepared in collaboration with Delhi-based think tank RMI
India.
 NITI Aayog has recommended to reduce or exempt the GST & Custom duties on
production of green hydrogen, in order to boost the production in India.
 Green hydrogen is hydrogen gas, which is produced through electrolysis of water.
 Electrolysis is an energy intensive process to split water into hydrogen and
oxygen.
 As per this report, Hydrogen demand in India will grow over four-times by 2050,
accounting for 10% of global hydrogen demand.
 In February 2022, Central government has notified the green hydrogen and green
ammonia policy.
 This policy aims to increasing domestic production of green hydrogen to 5 million
tonnes by 2030.

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Raising & Accelerating MSME Performance scheme
 The Prime Minister inaugurated the ‘Raising and Accelerating MSME
Performance’ (RAMP) scheme.
 The scheme aims to scale up the implementation capacity and coverage of
Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) in the states.
 Also, it impacts enhancement of existing MSME schemes.
 It will complement the Atma Nirbar Bharat Abhiyan.
 He also inaugurated the
o ‘Capacity Building of First-Time MSME Exporters` scheme and
o New features of the `Prime Minister`s Employment Generation Program`
(PMEG).

Report on Take-Home Ration

 NITI Aayog recently launched a report titled ‘Take Home Ration-Good Practices
across the State/Union Territories’.
 The World Food Programme also part of this survey.
 It presents a set of good and innovative practices adopted in the implementation
of the Take Home Ration value chain by the States and UTs.
 The Government of India provides Take Home Ration under the Supplementary
Nutrition component of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to fulfill
the gap in nutrition among children as well as pregnant and lactating women
(PLW).

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Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
 Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the categorization of the Coalition for
Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) as an ‘International Organization’.
 It also approved the signing of the Headquarters Agreement (HQA) with CDRI for
granting it the exemptions, immunities and privileges.
 It was done under the United Nations (Privileges & Immunities) Act, 1947.
 This will provide CDRI an independent and international legal personality.
 So that it can efficiently and effectively carry out its functions internationally.
 CDRI was first proposed by Prime Minister during the 2016 Asian Ministerial
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in New Delhi.

SBI Foundation Day

 The oldest commercial bank in the country, State Bank of India, is celebrating
its 67th year on 1st July.
 SBI descends from the Bank of Calcutta founded in 1806 through the Imperial
Bank of India.
 The Bank of Madras merged into the bank of Calcutta and the bank of Bombay
to form the Imperial Bank of India
 Later it became the SBI in 1955.
 The Bank of Madras was established on 2nd June 1806.
 The Bank of Bombay was incorporated on 15 April 1840.
 The Bank of Madras was incorporated on 1 July 1843.

Issue of Electoral Bonds

 The Union Government authorised the SBI for issue of and encashing Electoral
Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches.
 The Electoral bonds are instruments through which anyone can donate money
to political parties.
 Electoral Bonds are valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue.
 No payment is made to any payee Political Party, if the Electoral Bond is deposited
after expiry of the validity period.
 The expired bonds values are deposited by the SBI into the Prime Minister’s Relief
Fund.
 The electoral bonds do not comprise of name of the donor.

33
  So, political party may not know about donor’s identity.

Fifth Global Film Tourism Conclave

 The Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurated the
fifth Global Film Tourism Conclave (GFTC) at Mumbai.
 In collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) organised
the fifth GFTC.
 It was organized with the subject “Unleashing the Power of Cinematic Tourism.”

Start-up ranking 2021

 The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has
announced the start-up rankings 2021.
 This study that included 24 states and 7 UTs in total, and ranked them in the
categories of
o Best performers
o Top performers
o Leaders
o Aspiring leaders and
o Developing start-ups
 Gujarat was recognised as having the best performance for the third time in a
row.
 The top performing states included Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra,
Odisha, and Telangana.

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  The leader’s category includes Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, and Goa.
 Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and
Nagaland are among the states and UTs that fall under the category of aspiring
leaders.
 Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram, and Ladakh are among the states in the
category of developing start-up ecosystems.

National Air Quality Resource Framework (NARFI)

 The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India has inaugurated the
National Mission on National Air Quality Resource Framework of India.
 It has been developed by the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS),
Bengaluru. 
 It will enable knowledge creation, developing infrastructure and industrial
structures and studying its effects on human health in the country.
 The NARFI will evolve around the following five modules:
o Theme-1: Emission Inventory, Air Shed, and Mitigation
o Theme-2: Impacts on Human Health and Agriculture
o Theme-3: Integrated Monitoring, Forecasting and Advisory Framework
o Theme-4: Outreach, Social Dimension, Transition Strategy and Policy
o Theme-5: Solutions, Public-Industry Partnership, Stubble Burning & New
Technologies.

35
Operation “NARCOS”
 The Railway Protection Force was launched an operation under code name of
“NARCOS” in the month of June, 2022.
 It is a month-long pan India drive against smuggling of narcotics through rail.
 The RPF intensified its checks in trains and in identified black spots across the
country.

Digital India Bhashini

 The Ministry of Electronics and IT conducted a brainstorming session with
Researchers and Start-ups aimed to shape strategy for Digital India BHASHINI.
 BHASHINI stands for BHASHa INterface for India.
 It is India’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) led language translation platform.
 Bhashini Platform is a part of the National Language Translation Mission
 The mission aims to ensure that as more Indians connect to the internet, they
are able to access global content in their own languages.

School for sustainable science and tech

 Greenko has joined hands with IIT-Hyderabad to set up an institution.
 The students will be educated towards sustainable goals like climate change
mitigation, circular economy, energy transition among others.
 This institute is to be India’s first dedicated school for sustainable science and
technology.

Ministerial Allocation
 Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been assigned
additional charges of Minority Affairs and Ministry of Steel respectively.
 The two Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh
resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.
 Post their resignations, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by
PM Modi, accepted the resignations.
 This is the first time two sitting ministers are out of both Houses of Parliament.

Nominated Members – Rajya Sabha

 The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated four noted personalities
from the southern states to the Rajya Sabha.

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  Sports icon PT Usha, music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, spiritual leader Veerendra
Heggade, and screenwriter KV Vijayendra Prasad were the four picks for the Rajya
Sabha.

India's oldest Royal Bengal Tiger

 Raja, the oldest living tiger in the world in captivity died recently.
 It died at the South Khairbari rescue centre in Kolkata.
 Raja was 25 years and 10 months old.
 As against the normal life span of 18 years for tigers, Raja lived for 25 years.

Augmented reality screens

 The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai has become the first
railway station in India to be equipped with augmented reality screens.
 Passengers at the station can now meet animals, witness snowfall, magic tricks
and visit around the world virtually.
 It is aimed at generating revenue for the railways and offering commuters some
fun and infotainment.
 Augmented reality (AR) is an enhanced version of the real physical world.
 It is achieved through the use of digital visual elements, sound, or other sensory
stimuli delivered via technology.

Hariyali Mahotsav
 The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change organized “Hariyali
Mahotsav” at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi.
 Hariyali Mahotsav is the “Tree Festival”.
 It is being organized to create awareness about the importance of sustainable
trees.

Animal Health Summit 2022

 India’s first ever “Animal Health Summit 2022” was organised in New Delhi.
 This summit was organised by Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) in
collaboration with the Agriculture Today Group.
 It is a two-day event and hosted many panel discussions on topics including
o Animal Health policy initiatives
o Business environment in Animal Health Sector
o Investment opportunities in Animal Health sector.

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Monument of National Importance
 The National Monuments Authority called for the Mangarh hilltop in Rajasthan
to be designated as a national monument.
 The hillock is situated at the Gujarat-Rajasthan border.
 It is a site of a tribal uprising where a massacre of over 1500 Bhil tribal freedom
fighters took place in 1913.
 The place is also known as the Adivasi Jallianwala, and there has been a demand
to build a memorial.
 The National ancient Monuments are defined under the Ancient Monument and
Archaeological Sites and Remains Act,1958.
 The Central Government is authorised to maintain, protect and promote the
monuments.
 Bhils are commonly referred to as Rajasthan's bowmen.
 They are South Asia's largest tribe.

Cloudburst at Amarnath shrine

 On July 8, 2022, a cloudburst took place near Amarnath shrine in Jammu and
Kashmir.
 If there is a rainfall of 100 mm in one hour, then it is called as cloudburst.
 That particular day forecast for this area was on “yellow alert”.

Jute Mark India Logo

 The Central government launched “Jute Mark India logo”.
 It will act as “certification of authenticity” for jute products.
 It will help in strengthening domestic market and exports of jute products from
India.

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  Jute Mark label will be attached with the jute products.
 It will contain a unique QR code.
 Customers can get to know about producers by scanning the QR code.

Akshaya Patra Midday Meal Kitchen

 The Prime Minister inaugurated the Akshaya Patra midday meal kitchen in
Varanasi.
 The Akshaya Patra Foundation runs one of the world’s largest school feeding
programmes in collaboration with the government’s Pradhan Mantri Poshan
Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme.
 The kitchen will feed over one lakh children in a bid to ensure that they don’t
miss out on education due to poverty.

Guidelines for Mission Vatsalya

 The central government issued guidelines to states about the Mission Vatsalya
child protection scheme.

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  States cannot change the original name of the scheme in order to gain access to
funding granted by the central government.
 It will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with state
governments and UT administrations.
 The Fund-sharing pattern is in a 60:40 ratio.
 For the eight Northeast states & Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the UT of
Jammu and Kashmir share will be 90:10.

Child health in India

 It was released in the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022
report.
 The number of undernourished people in India has declined in the last 15 years
to 224.3 million in 2019-2021.
 The number of children under 5 years of age who are stunted declined to 36.1
million in 2020 from 52.3 million in 2012.
 The number of children under five years of age who are overweight declined to
2.2 million in 2020 from three million in 2012.
 The number of children up to 5 months of age exclusively breastfed touched 14
million in 2020 from 11.2 million in 2012.
 The number of obese adults in India, which has a population of over 1.38 billion,
grew to 34.3 million in 2016 from 25.2 million in 2012.
 The number of women aged 15 to 49 years affected by anaemia also grew to 187.3
million in 2019 from 171.5 million in 2012.

Varanasi Declaration on Higher Education

 PM inaugurated the “Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samaham” in Varanasi.
 The Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samaham was held by Union Ministry of Education.

40
  During this 3-day conclave, “Varanasi Declaration on Higher Education” was
adopted.

First Monkeypox Case

 India confirmed its first monkeypox case in Kerala.

 A majority of these cases have been reported from the European region (86 per
cent) and the Americas (11 per cent).
 Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals).
 Its symptoms are similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients.
 With the eradication of smallpox in 1980 and the subsequent cessation of
smallpox vaccination, monkeypox has emerged as the most important
orthopoxvirus for public health.

Natural Farming Conclave

 The Natural Farming Conclave was organised in Surat, Gujarat.
 PM has asked at least 75 farmers from each village to switch to natural farming.
 Thus, under an initiative in Surat, 75 farmers were identified in every village
panchayat and were trained to do natural farming.
 A Training was given in 90 different clusters.
 A total of 41000 farmers were trained across the district.
 Now, PM urged to adopt this “Surat Model of Natural farming” across India.

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SVANIdhi Mahotsav
 On the occasion of second anniversary of the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma
Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, the ‘SVANIdhi Mahotsav was launched.
 The festival will be organized in 75 cities across all states and Union Territories,
and showcase various cultural activities, digital training activities and loan
melas.
 It will also have functions for felicitation of distinguished Street vendors.

6th National Conclave on Mines and Minerals

 The 6th National Conclave on Mines & Minerals was held recently in New Delhi.
 The highlights of the conclave were
o The launch of three modules of the Mining Tenement System (MTS).
o Awards for 5-Star rated mines for the years 2020–21, and
o The National Geo Science Awards–2019.

Global Gender Gap Index

 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 was released recently.
 It ranks India 135 out of 146 countries.
 India ranks poorly among its neighbours and is behind Bangladesh (71), Nepal
(96), Sri Lanka (110), Maldives (117) and Bhutan (126).
 Only the performance of Iran (143), Pakistan (145) and Afghanistan (146) was
worse than India in South Asia.

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  This report says that it will now take 132 years to reach gender parity.
 In 2021, India was ranked 140 out of 156 countries.
 India is the worst performer in the world in the “health and survival” sub-index
in which it is ranked 146.
 Iceland is ranked 1 and Bangladesh is ranked 9 in Political Empowerment.
 India ranks 107th out of 146 in Educational Attainment.
 And its score has marginally worsened since last year.
 In 2021, India was ranked 114 out of 156.

Dragon Fruit Cultivation

 The Centre has decided to promote the cultivation of dragon fruit, known as a
“super fruit” for its health benefits.
 The Gujarat Government recently renamed dragon fruit as kamlam (lotus) and
announced an incentive for farmers who cultivate it.
 The Haryana Government also provides a grant for farmers who are ready to plant
this exotic fruit variety.
 The fruit is usually grown in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Israel, and Vietnam.
 But is now slowly gaining traction in India.

Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road Rail line

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the construction of

116.65-km long Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road rail line.
 It will link two states and three religious places.

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  The railway line will provide easy travel to Ambaji.
 The Taranga Hill have Ajitnath Jain Temple (one of the 24 Tirthankaras).
 It will pass through Sirohi district in Rajasthan and Sabarkantha, Mahesana &
Banaskantha, districts in Gujarat.
 It will act as an alternative route to existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line.

Agri Export Hub in North-East

 The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development and Authority
formulated a Strategy for the “promotion of Export of Agricultural and
Horticulture products” from North-Eastern states of India.
 It has launched a platform in Assam, which will help the exporters to get products
from producer group and processors, directly.
 This platform will be linked among the producers & processors of Assam and
exporters from across India.
 This move will expand the base of export pockets in NE states.

Longest double-decker bridge

 The National Highways Authority of India and Maharashtra Metro achieved the
world record for constructing the longest double-decker bridge.
 It has a length of 3.14 km in Nagpur.
 The maximum metro stations constructed on a double-decker flyover are
recognized by the Asia Book of Records & India Book of Records.

First floating LNG terminal

 India’s First floating terminal of India for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is to be
operationalised at Jaigarh in Maharashtra.

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  Another floating terminal at Jafrabad in Gujarat will also begin operations in this
year.
 Both are expected to add 11 million tonnes per annum of regasification capacity.

Tenure of House committees

 A first ever comprehensive study of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, a panel, has
presented its recommendations to the chairman.
 This panel is headed by former General Secretary and adviser P.P.K.
Ramacharyulu and made recommendation.
 Parliamentary committees are appointed or elected by the House or nominated
by the Speaker/Chairman.
 They work under the direction of the Speaker/Chairman.
Recommendations
 Increase in tenure of Parliamentary Standing Committees from 1 year to 2 years
to ensure stability and continuity.
 Field visits should also be increased from the present two visits for a maximum
of 10 days in a year to three visits and 15 days.
 Merging existing committees on Industry and Commerce into one.
 Setting up a new committee on tourism and culture.

45
  Examine the issue of enabling virtual meetings of Departmental related Standing
Committees, given the technological advances and legislatures in other countries.

BBBP extension
 The Ministry of Women and Child Development extended Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao (BBBP) Scheme to all Districts.
 The ministry now targeted improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth by 2 points
every year.
 It aims improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above.
 It also aims for increasing girls’ participation in sports by identifying talent and
linking them with appropriate authorities under ‘Khelo India’.
 It aims at strengthen One-Stop Centres, set up to help women facing violence,
including domestic violence and trafficking.
 BBBP was launched in January 2015.
 It aims to address sex selective abortion and the declining child sex ratio which
was at 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
 The programme is being implemented across 405 districts in the country.

Nari Adalat
 The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry introduced a new component
called ‘Nari Adalat’.
 It aims to providing women with an alternate grievance redress mechanism to
resolve cases of petty nature at gram panchayat-level.
 It redresses harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements cases.
 It will be implemented in a phased manner.

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Survey on proportion of unmarried persons
 The Social Statistic Division of National Statistical Office released a report on
proportion of Unmarried person in India.
 The percentage share of unmarried young people is increasing.
 This number is commonly increasing among men and women.
 Percentage of 15–29-year age of youth who are never married witnessed an
increase among male population by 26.1 percent in 2019.
 It was 20.8 percent in 2011.
 In 2019, highest percentage of youth share who never married was witnessed
across Jammu & Kashmir.
 It was followed by Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab.
 Lowest percentage share was witnessed across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

NIRF Rankings 2022

 The Ministry of Education has released the National Institutional Ranking
Framework (NIRF) rankings for this year.
 Jamia Hamdard of New Delhi has once again taken the top rank in the pharmacy
category.
 It is followed by National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research,
Hyderabad at second place.

 IIT Madras was declared the best university in the overall category this year.
 It is followed by Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru at a second.

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  With the above list IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur as the top five institutes
in the overall category.
 This year, IITs dominated the list as IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati
have followed IIT Kanpur to complete the top 8 ranks.
 AIIMS-Delhi has secured the ninth rank and JNU is ranked tenth.

Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2022

 Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2022 is being held from July 16, 2022 to August 14, 2022
in New Delhi.
 This year is making the 22nd edition of the Bharat Rang Mahotsav.
 It aims to showcase incidents and raise awareness about unsung heroes of India’s
freedom struggle who have not made to India’s history.
 The National School of Drama (NSD) started the Bharat Rang Mahotsav two
decade ago.
 The NSD was established in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi as one of its
constituent units.
 In 1975, it became as an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture.

SPRINT Challenges
 The “SPRINT Challenges” were launched for Indian Navy.
 The seminar was organised by Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation.
 It aims to increase the usage of indigenous technology in Indian Navy.

Religious, and linguistic Minority status

 The Supreme Court stated that ‘The minority status of religious and linguistic
communities is “State-dependent”.
 One can be a minority outside of his/her State.
 Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Parsis have been notified as
minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for
Minorities Act, 1992.
 As per the Census 2011, the percentage of minorities in the country is about
19.3% of the total population of the country.
 The Parliament has the legislative powers and the Centre has the executive
competence to notify a community as a minority.

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First E-Waste Eco Park
 21 acres would be used to create India’s first e-waste eco-park in Holambi Kalan,
Delhi.
 Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) will
be the project’s implementing agency.

Made In India’ surgical robotic

 Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre of New Delhi have installed
the first-ever Made-in-India Surgical Robotic System.
 The device named “SSI-Mantra”.
 It is a brainchild of World-renowned robotic cardiac surgeon Dr Sudhir P
Srivastava.

Jagriti mascot
 Jagriti Mascot was launched by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
 It aims to empower consumers and generate awareness on their rights.
 It will help in empowering consumers and generating awareness among them
about “consumer rights”.
 It would be displayed along with tagline “Jago Grahak Jago” across all the media
campaigns.
 Consumer right is defined as the “right to have information regarding quality,
quantity, potency, price, purity, and standard of goods or services”.

49
Mountain warfare training facility
 The Indo Tibetan Border Police has established its first mountain warfare training
facility in northeast at Sikkim.
 It is the first mountain warfare training facility in northeast India and its second
overall.
 The first institution of its kind is the Mountaineering and Skiing Institute (M&SI),
was opened in Auli, near Joshimath of Uttarakhand in 1973–74.
 The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is tasked with securing the Line of Actual
Control with China.

India Innovation Index 2021

 Third edition of India Innovation Index was released by NITI Aayog.
 It ranks the states and the union territories on their innovation performance.
 Karnataka, Manipur and Chandigarh topped in the index.
 Manipur topped in the ‘North East and Hill States’ category.
 Chandigarh was the top performer in the ‘Union Territories and City States’
category.
Ra nk Sta tes
1 Ka rna ta ka
2 Tela ng a na
3 Ha rya na
4 Ma ha ra shtra
5 Ta m il Na d u

List of Unparliamentary Words

 Lok Sabha Secretariat released a list of “unparliamentary words” recently.
 Some of the unparliamentary words include ‘Jumla jeevi, Covid spreader, Snoop
gate, Baal buddhi”.
 It also includes expressions like “ashamed, betrayed, hypocrisy. Abuse, drama,
and incompetent”.
 This list has been released in 1954, 1986, 1992, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2010 in the
past.
 In year 2010, it was started releasing on yearly basis.

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15th President of India

 Draupadi Murmu has been elected as the 15th President of India.

 Murmu becomes India’s first woman tribal (Santhal) president.
 She also becomes the second woman to hold the post after Pratibha Patil.
 Murmu is the second person belonging to a scheduled tribe, to be nominated as
a candidate for the post of President of India.
 She is the first tribal woman governor of India.
 She served as the ninth Governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021.

51% completion of Jal Jeevan Mission

 Jal Jeevan Mission hit 51% completion of the project.
 It aims to supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household
through Functional Household Tap Connections by 2024.
 It has enabled reach to more than 34% now in less than 3 years from 17%.
 Around 1.4 million soak beds have been constructed in schools and Anganwadis
to use recycled water in tap connections.
 Haryana, Telangana and Goa, the three states have declared that they have
completed the project.

Committee on MSP
 The Union Government has constituted a committee on “Minimum Support Price
(MSP)”.
 It aims to make it more effective and transparent.
 The committee will be headed by Sanjay Agarwal.

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  This committee will make suggestions to provide greater autonomy to
“Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices”.
 Other members of the committee
o Ramesh Chand- Member of NITI Aayog
o Sukhpal Singh - Professor of IIM Ahmedabad,
o Dilip Sanghani - Chairman of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative,
o Secretary of Food and Consumer Affairs
o Secretary of Cooperation and Textiles
o Secretary of Department of Agriculture
o Secretary of Department of Indian Council of Agricultural Research
o Representatives from the state governments of Karnataka, Sikkim, Andhra
Pradesh, and Odisha.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port

 Jawaharlal Nehru Port has become the first 100 per cent Landlord Major Port of
India having all docks being operated on the PPP model.
 The PPP model of investment in Indian ports has made remarkable progress in
the last 25 years.
 As per Lloyds List Top 100 Ports 2021 Report, it is one of the leading container
ports in the country.
 And it is ranked 26th among the top 100 global ports.

National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions

 The Union government unveiled the “National Standards for Civil Service Training
Institutions (NSCSTI)”.
 India has become the world’s first country to launch a unique model for creating
a national level standard for civil service training institutions.

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  It aims to raising their quality and capacity.
 Capacity Building Commission was created as a part of Mission Karmayogi for
civil servants.
 The Mission Karmayogi is a “National Programme for Civil Services Capacity
Building’’.

Basic Road Statistics in India 2018-19

 Ministry of Road Transport & Highways released its annual publication “The
Basic Road Statistics of India 2018-19”.
 India has a network of more than 63,31,757 kilometres of roads, as on March
2019.
 This is second highest worldwide.
 Road transport dominated the transport sector in India.
 It contributed 3.06% to GVA as compared to total transport sector contribution
of 4.58% for 2019-20.
 Share of Railways stands at 0.74%.
 Air Transport Share is 0.125 and Water Transport stood at 0.08%.
 National Highways accounts for 2.09 % of total road network in India.
 Maharashtra with 13.4% of highways network stands at top position.
 It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 8.9% highways network and Rajasthan with
7.8 % of highways network.
 State Highways accounts for 2.8 percent of total road network in India.
 Maharashtra (17.83%) has largest State Highways network.
 It is followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
 Together, these 5 states accounted for 53.9% of total State Highways network in
India.

NAMASTE Scheme
 The Government has formulated NAMASTE scheme for cleaning of sewers and
septic tank.
 NAMASTE stands for National Action Plan for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem.
 The Objectives of the schemes are
o Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India
o No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter

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 o All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers have access to alternative
livelihoods
 It is a joint venture of
o Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation,
o Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and
o The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan

 Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan is a movement launched by the central government
under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
 It aims to encourage people to bring the hoist the Tiranga to mark the 75 th year
of India’s independence.

Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011

 The Department of Consumer Affairs vides the Legal Metrology (Packaged
Commodities), (Second Amendment) Rules 2022.
 It has allowed electronic products to declare certain mandatory declarations
through the QR Code for a period of one year, if not declared in the package itself.
 This amendment will allow the industry to declare the elaborated information in
digital form through the QR Code.
 Earlier, all the pre-packaged commodities including the electronic products were
required to declare all the mandatory declarations as per the Legal Metrology
(Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 on the package.

Low Temperature Thermal Desalination

 A Desalination Plant has been developed by National Institute of Ocean
Technology of Chennai.
 It will convert the saline or saltish seawater into drinking water.
 This technology has been successfully demonstrated in Lakshadweep islands.
 The Desalination Plant is based on Low Temperature Thermal Desalination
(LTTD) technology
 Three Plants have been installed and demonstrated at Kavaratti, Agati and
Minicoy Islands of Lakshadweep.

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Study on India’s R&D expenditures
 India Innovation Index was recently released by NITI Aayog.
 It is providing ranks to states and union territories based on their innovation
performance.
 As per NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index 2021, gross expenditure on research
and development in India is lowest in the world.
 India spends USD 43 per capita on R&D.
 Russia spends USD 285 per-capita, Brazil spends USD 173, while Malaysia
spends USD 293.
 India’s expenditure is lower as compared to Brazil (1.16%) and South Africa
(0.83%).
 Only Mexico (0.31%) had a lower share of GERD as percentage of GDP, than
India.

55
Oath - Draupadi Murmu
 Draupadi Murmu was sworn in as India’s 15th President at the Central Hall of
Parliament in Delhi.
 She was sworn in by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana.
 She was given a 21-gun salute after which she signed the oath register.
 The new commander-in-chief of the armed forces inspected a tri-services guard
of honour in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
 She created history by being the first tribal President and the second woman to
occupy the country’s highest constitutional post.
 She is India’s youngest President at 64 and the first to be born after
Independence.
 She was born to a Santali family on June 20, 1958, in Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj
district, Odisha.
 Her name given by her family was Puti Tudu.
 She was renamed by her school teacher to Draupadi.
 Murmu was sworn in as the Governor of Jharkhand in 2015.
 Thus, she became the first woman governor to that state.
 She was the first female tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as a Governor
of the Indian State.

Indian Bioeconomy Report 2022

 The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) recently
released its “India Bioeconomy Report 2022”.
 India’s bioeconomy is expected to reach USD 150 billion by 2025 and more than
USD 300 billion by 2030.
 In 2021, India’s bioeconomy has touched USD 80 billion, accounting for a growth
of 14.1 per cent growth.

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  It was 70.2 billion USD in 2020.
 Three biotech start-ups were set up every day, on an average, in 2021.
 Thus, 1128 biotech start-ups were set up in 2021.

The Flag Code of India

 The Flag Code of India is a set of laws and conventions concerning the use,
display, and hoisting of the Indian national flag in the country.
 It was brought into effect on January 26, 2002.
 On July 20, 2022, the Centre amended the Flag Code of India.
 This is allowing the national flag to be flown both in the day and at night if it is
displayed in the open or on the house of a member of the public.
 Earlier, the tricolour could be hoisted only between sunrise and sunset.
 In an earlier amendment dated December 30, 2021, the government had allowed
the use of machine-made and polyester flags.
 Previously, such flags were not allowed to be used.

Indian Antarctic Bill – 2022

 The Lok Sabha passed the Indian Antarctica Bill, 2022 under its obligations as a
signatory to the Antarctic Treaty.
 It aims to demilitarise Antarctica, establish it as a zone free of nuclear tests and
the disposal of radioactive waste, and ensure that it is used for peaceful purposes
only.
 It also encourages to promote international scientific cooperation in Antarctica
and to set aside disputes over territorial sovereignty.
 The Antarctic treaty was signed in 1959 and implemented in 1961.
 India signed the treaty in 1983.

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‘Johar’ greeting
 The 15th President of India, Droupadi Murmu, assumed office on 25th July
Monday with a ‘Johar’ greeting to the country.

 ‘Johar’ essentially means ‘salutation and welcome’.

 It is used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts of
Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
 The word ‘Johar’ also means ‘paying respect’.
 It is predominantly used by Santhali, Munda and Ho communities that share
some similarities.

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Joint theatre commands
 Joint theatre commands of tri-services would be set up to enhance coordination
among armed forces.
 It is a concept which seeks to integrate the capabilities of the three services -
army, air force and navy.
 It aims to optimally utilise their resources for wars and operations.
 The Theatre Commander will be a three-star general, drawn from any of the three
services, depending on the function assigned.
 At present, there are two joint services commands in India, the first one is
Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and the second, being Strategic Forces
Command (SFC).
 ANC is considered to be the only one of its kind in the country that amalgamates
the army, navy and air force.
 Set up in 2001, ANC is based in Port Blair.
 SFC takes care of the nuclear assets of India and is not related to any specific
theatre of war.

GI tag for White Onion

 Alibag’s white onion from gets GI tag.
 Alibag is located in the Raigad district of Maharashtra.
 The GI Tag for this onion, characterised by its sweetness, has been accepted.
 The GI tag gives a unique identity to the white onion.
 It has medicinal qualities and is being cultivated in a traditional way for a long
time.

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Swadesh Darshan Scheme 2.0
 Ministry of Tourism has revamped its Swadesh Darshan scheme as Swadesh
Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0).
 It aims to develop sustainable and responsible infrastructure at destinations.
 It was launched in 2014-15 for integrated development of theme-based tourist
circuits.
 It is 100% centrally funded and efforts are made to achieve convergence with
other schemes of Central and State Governments.

Maritime Partnership exercise

 A Maritime Partnership Exercise was conducted between Japan Indian Navy in
the Andaman Sea.
 The two countries have been carrying out regular exercises in the Indian Ocean
Region (IOR) aimed towards reinforcing maritime association.
 The exercises conducted were aimed at enhancing interoperability and
streamlining seamanship and communication procedures.

National Anti-Doping Bill 2021

 This will provide a statutory framework in the form of legislation, to stop doping
in sports in India.
 Currently, the National Anti-Doping Agency has been performing anti-doping
measures in accordance with the norms of World Anti-Doping Agency.
 This Bill would help in establishing National Board of Anti-Doping in sports.
 It will be comprising of competent and independent personnel.
 It also seeks to achieve time-bound justice for athletes.
 It will also enhance cooperation among agencies to fight against doping.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island

 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island was transferred Andaman and Nicobar
Administration.
 It aims to further development of the island’s infrastructure and tourism.
 Previously, it was administered by the Andaman and Nicobar Command.

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Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
 Indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was handed over to the Indian Navy and
will be commissioned on August 15.
 This has an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent,
 It is named after India’s first aircraft carrier.
 The Indian Naval Ship Vikrant played a significant role in the 1971 war.

Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar

 Union Ministry of Mines introduced the Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar.
 It is a national award to promote and facilitate mining all over the country.
 The Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar 2022 is introduced to encourage the states that
take the initiative in the exploration, auction, and operationalization of mineral
blocks.
 There are three categories of minerals to which the Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar
will be awarded.
 Gujarat received the 1st prize in Rashtriya Khanij Puraskar for the auction of
Minor Minerals.

Advancee enrolment for voters’ list

 Those above the age of 17 can now apply in advance for getting enrolled in the
voters’ list.
 Now no need to wait until fulfil the pre-requisite criterion of attaining the age of
18 years on January 1 of a year.
 The Election Commission also ordered annual summary revision with reference
to January 1, 2023.

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 INTERNATIONAL

New Commonwealth Members

 The West African states Gabon and Togo joined as the members of the
Commonwealth of Nations.
 They are the latest nations with no historic ties to Britain to enter the English-
speaking club headed by Queen Elizabeth II.
 They were never having been under the British rule.
 They are inducted in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2022
held in Kigali, Rwanda.
 Now the total members of this organisation are 56 members.
 These French-speaking West African states are the first new members to join the
Commonwealth since Rwanda in 2009.
 Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, became the first Commonwealth
member without historic links to Britain when it joined in 1995.

UN Oceans Conference 2022

 The UN Ocean Conference 2022 kicked off in Lisbon, Portugal.
 It is being co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya.
 The Minister of State Jitendra Singh attends this conference.
 It is aligned to SDG 14 'life below water'.
 India will address on the topic of Scaling up Ocean Action based on Science and
Innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: Stock taking, Partnerships and
Solutions.
 India is on track for advancing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development, 2021–2030.
 At the conclusion of the Conference, the leaders will also reiterate the statement
titled Our ocean, our future: call for action.

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  The popular actor and ocean activist Jason Momoa of USA has been named UN
Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Advocate for Life Below Water.

New countries – BRICS

 Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging
economies known as the BRICS.
 Russia also said separately that Argentina had also applied to join the group.

Law to Restore Nature

 The European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law is the first
continent-wide, comprehensive law and part of the Biodiversity Strategy.
 It calls for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems.
 It includes reducing chemical pesticide use by 50% (by 2030), increasing tree
canopy (by at least 10%) and allowing free-flow of rivers.

Living Lands Charter

 All 54 Commonwealth members have agreed to voluntarily dedicate a ‘living land’
in their respective countries to future generations.
 It is in line with the strategy set for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration (2021-2030).
 It is non-binding in nature
 It mandates that member countries will safeguard global land resources and
arrest land degradation while acting against climate change, biodiversity loss and
sustainable management.

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  It recognizes the “critical guardianship” provided by indigenous peoples and local
communities in protecting land and vital ecosystem services.

NATO forces
 The NATO will increase the strength of its rapid reaction force (RRF) nearly eight
fold to 3,00,000 troops.
 The NATO reaction force currently numbers around 40,000.
 The alliance is also expected to address for the first time the security challenges
posed by China.

Partners in the Blue Pacific

 The US and its allies - Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United Kingdom -
have launched this new initiative.
 It is for “effective and efficient cooperation” with the region’s small island nations.
 It is a five-nation “informal mechanism” to support Pacific islands and to boost
diplomatic, economic ties in the Pacific region.

Mercer’s 2022 Cost of Living assessment

 According to a survey, Kolkata is the least costly city in Asia.
 Mumbai is the most expensive city in India for foreign employees.
 Hyderabad is the most expensive Indian city in the ranking.
 It is followed by New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

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  The least expensive Indian cities are Pune and Kolkata.
 Hong Kong is the most expensive for foreign employees in the world.

UN-Habitat World Cities Report 2022

 It highlights that, rapid urbanisation in India was delayed temporarily due to
covid-19 pandemic.
 Urban population in India is estimated to reach at 675 million in 2035.
 It will be the second highest figure, behind China’s one billion.
 After covid-19 pandemic, global urban population is growing again.
 It will grow by another 2.2 billion by 2050.
 Percentage of population in urban areas pf India will be 43.2 percent, by 2035.

UNESCO endangered world heritage

 The UN's cultural agency (UNESCO) has inscribed the culture of cooking borshch
soup in Ukraine as an endangered cultural heritage.
 Ukraine has welcomed UNESCO's decision to recognise the beetroot soup
borshch as Ukrainian cultural heritage.
 The move was urged by Ukraine but vehemently opposed by Russia.
 Russia also claims the beetroot soup borshch as its national dish

QS Best Student Cities Rankings

 The QS Best Students Cities Rankings 2023 was published recently.
 In the ranking, London has been ranked as the best city.

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  It is followed by Seoul and Munich at second and third place.
 India’s highest-ranked student city is Mumbai.
 At global level, it has been ranked at 103rd.
 Mumbai is followed by Bengaluru at 114 ranks.
 Chennai and Delhi made their entries in the list and have been ranked at 125th
and 129th ranks, respectively.

Covovax vaccine to US

 The government has allowed Serum Institute of India to supply 32.4 lakh doses
of its COVID-19 jab Covovax under the brand name Nuvaxovid to the US.
 It will be the first vaccine to be exported to the country by any Indian
manufacturer.

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  On December 28, 2021, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had
approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults.

Lithium in Nigeria

 Recently, a High-grade Lithium has been discovered in Nigeria.

 Greenbushes mine in Western Australia is the largest hard-rock Lithium mine in
the world.
 The largest importers of lithium are South Korea, China, Japan, US and Belgium.
 Lithium is an element and in nature tends to concentrate sufficiently in the two
minerals, spodumene and lepidolite.

India forum for Nature-Based Solution

 India Forum for Nature-Based Solutions was launched at the 11th World Urban
Forum in Poland.
 The forum was collectively launched by
o National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
o World Resources Institute India (WRI India)
o Climate Centre for Cities (NIUA C-Cube) and their partners.
 It is India’s first national coalition platform for urban nature-based solutions
(NbS).
 It has been launched under Cities4Forest initiative.
 It is aimed at creating a collective of NbS entrepreneurs, like-minded
organizations and government entities to help in scaling urban nature-based
solutions.

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Exhibition - Batsagaan Temple

 In honour of Mongolian Buddha Purnima, the12-day exhibition at the Batsagaan

Temple was held on the grounds of Gandan Monastery, Mongolia.
 The four holy relics of Lord Buddha came back to India after being displayed for
12 days at the exhibition.
 The Union minister Arjun Meghwal received the holy relics at Ghaziabad.
 The duration of display of the relics had to be extended by a few days on popular
demand from Mongolian people.
 The relics are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’.

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  They are from a site in Bihar, which was first discovered in 1898.
 It is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.
 They were accorded the status of a state guest.

UN Report on Internet Shutdown

 The OHCHR report has highlighted that shutting down the internet affects
people’s safety & well-being, hampers information flow and harms the economy.
 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
is commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or
the United Nations Human Rights Office.
 Internet shutdowns are measures taken by a government or on behalf of a
government, to intentionally disrupt access to and the use of information and
communications systems online.
 As per #KeepItOn coalition, it documented 931 shutdowns in 74 countries from
2016-2021.
 #KeepItOn coalition monitors internet shutdown episodes across the world.
 India blocked or disrupted internet connections 106 times.
 At least 85 of India’s internet shutdown episodes were in Jammu & Kashmir.

RIMPAC 2022
 The RIMPAC-22 exercise was held near the Hawaiian Islands and Southern
California in the pacific.
 27 countries are participating in the current edition of the multi-dimensional
exercise.
 It's one of the largest biennial multilateral Naval Exercises led by US.
 The RIMPAC started in 1971 as an annual exercise by the US, Australia, and
Canada.
 But from 1974, this maritime exercise became a biennial event.
 India first participated in RIMPAC in 2014.
 The theme of RIMPAC 2022 is “capable, adaptive, partners”.

The sixth Caspian summit

 The sixth summit of the heads of the Caspian states took place in the capital of
Turkmenistan.

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  The meeting was attended by the leaders of the Caspian “five” countries -
Presidents of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and the Russian
Federation.

Lisbon Declaration
 The 2nd UN Ocean Conference ended with Lisbon Declaration.
 This Declaration titled as ‘Our Ocean, Our Future: call for action’.
 It was co-hosted by Kenya and Portugal in Lisbon.
Components
 Protecting at least 30% of national maritime zones by 2030.
 Achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.
 Allocating funds to research on ocean acidification, climate resilience and
surveillance.
 Scale-up Science-based and innovative actions to address ocean emergency.
 Support implementation of SDG14 (life below water) by empowering women and
girls- recognising their participation is crucial to building a sustainable ocean-
based economy.
 Protect biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, which lie outside the
200-mile (322-kilometre) exclusive economic zones of countries.

Accession protocols with NATO

 Sweden and Finland signed the accession protocols.
 At the last trilateral conference in Madrid, Turkey agreed to drop its objections
under specific circumstances.
 It is with 30 members—28 European and 2 North American.

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  It is an intergovernmental military alliance.
 It is often known as the North Atlantic Alliance.

World's most populous country in 2023

 India will surpass China as the world's most populous country in 2023, with each
counting more than 1.4 billion residents this year.
 The world's population is estimated to reach 8 billion by November 15 this year.
 This could grow to 8.5 billion in 2030, and 10.4 billion in 2100.
 The world's population was growing at its slowest pace since 1950.
 It has fallen below 1% in 2020.
 In 2021, the average fertility of the world's population stood at 2.3 births per
woman over a lifetime.
 It has fallen from about 5 births in 1950.
 Global fertility is projected to decline further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.

International Child Sexual Exploitation Initiative

 India’s CBI has joined the Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation
(ICSE) initiative.
 With this, it gained access to its image and video database.
 ICSE is an image and video database are an intelligence and investigative tool.
 It allows specialized investigators to share data on cases of child sexual abuse.
 It analyses Child Sex Exploitation Material and make connections between
victims, abusers and place.

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  India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software.
 On average, the database of the ICSE initiative helps identify 7 child victims
everyday globally.

SOFI 2022

 FAO, International Fund for Agriculture Development, UNICEF, UN world food

Programme and WHO have jointly released SOFI 2022.
 SOFI stands for “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World”.

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  India has high undernourishment (about 16% of the population), wasting (about
17%), stunting (about 31%) and low exclusive breastfeeding practice (only 58%).
 The world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, food insecurity
and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.
 Over 828 million were affected by hunger in 2021.
 Over 8% will still face hunger by 2030 even if the global economic recovery is
taken into consideration.
 The gender gap in food insecurity continued to rise in 2021.
 31.9 per cent of women in the world were moderately or severely food insecure,
compared with 27.6 per cent of men.

World Population Prospects (WPP) 2022

 The UN has been publishing the WPP in a biennial cycle since 1951.
 More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be
concentrated in just eight countries.
 They are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria,
Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
 The share of the global population aged 65 years or above is projected to rise from
10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050.
 Over the next few decades, migration will be the sole driver of population growth
in high-income countries.
 India has attained the Replacement Fertility Rate.
 It is the rate at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to
the next.

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  In India, Population of 0-14 years and 15-24 years will continue to decline.
 Age of 25-64 and 65+ will continue to rise for the coming decades.
 Those who are already in the 25-64 age bracket, there is a need for skilling, which
is the only way to ensure they are more productive and have better incomes.

I2U2 Leader's Summit 2022

 Indian Prime Minister participated in the first I2U2 Leaders' Summit.
 The I2U2 group is being projected as the QUAD grouping for West Asia.
 The grouping was proposed with the aim of encouraging investments in six
mutually identified areas including water, food security, energy, health,
transportation and space.
 An agricultural park project worth USD 2 billion was announced during the
Summit.
 The project will be partly funded by the UAE with support from US private sector
and technical expertise will be provided by Israel.

Cost-of-Living Crisis in Developing Countries

 United Nations Development Programme published its “Cost-of-Living Crisis in
Developing Countries” report.
 The Global cost-of-living crisis is forcing another 71 million people in poorest
countries of world, into extreme poverty.

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  Increase in key commodity prices in 2022 is already disturbing parts of Sub-
Saharan Africa, Asia and the Balkans.
 The cost-of-living crisis is forcing millions of people into poverty and starvation
at alarming speed.

Sea Guardians-2
 It was organized by Pakistan Navy and Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.
 It was the second edition of exercise.
 The first edition was organised in northern Arabian Sea off Karachi, in January
2020.
 This navel exercise focuses improving joint response towards maritime security
threats.
 It is aimed at promoting the defence cooperation and enhance naval capabilities
of navies from both the country.

10th World Peace Forum

 Tenth World Peace Forum 2022 was organized by Tsinghua University in Beijing,
China.
 As a part of the World Peace Forum, panel discussion on “BRICS Cooperation:
Opportunities and Challenges” was held.

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Jerusalem Declaration
 US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid inked a joint
strategic declaration in Jerusalem.
 It is officially called as “Jerusalem US-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint
Declaration”.
 US pledge to use all elements under its national power, to ward off Iran from
getting nuclear weapons.
 USA and Israel have committed to continue discussions regarding challenges and
opportunities in Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nepal’s first Citizenship Amendment Bill

 Parliament of Nepal passed the first ever “Citizenship Amendment Bill” recently.
 The citizenship amendment bill was being discussed since 2020.
 It will amend the Nepal Citizenship Act 2006.
 This will make provisions to provide citizenship in line with the Constitution.

First outbreak of Marburg virus

 Ghana, a country in West Africa, has officially confirmed two cases of the deadly
Marburg virus.
 The two patients, both deceased, were tested positive for the highly infectious
virus.
 The Marburg virus disease is an extremely infectious haemorrhagic fever that
belongs to the same family as Ebola virus.

BRICS Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meet 2022

 The First BRICS Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meet was organised under the
chairman ship of China.

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  Member countries signed a communiqué of “BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Anti-
Corruption”.

Waiver to India on S-400

 The United States has decided not to impose sanctions on India for purchasing
S-400 missile systems from Russia.
 India is exempted from Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
(CAATSA) now.
 Already, Turkey faced US sanctions under the law for purchasing S-400 from
Russia.
 India had signed the $5 billion deal with Russia for purchase of five units of the
S-400.
 The first unit has been handed over to the Indian Air Force and deployed along
the Western front in the Punjab sector.

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  The S-400 is a mobile long-range surface to air missile system.
 It is considered one of the most lethal in the world.
 It can take down multiple targets up to a range of 400 km.
 With four different kinds of missiles, it has beyond visual range capabilities.
 It can engage multiple targets, which includes tracking of 160 objects in a 600
km range and hit 72 targets up to 400 km.

Sri Lanka 9th President

 Sri Lankan politician Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the 9th President
of the Island nation by the Parliament.
 He will replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country and resigned after
public anger over the country’s worst economic crisis.
 Ranil was the prime minister during the crisis.
 After Rajapaksa fled, Ranil becomes an interim president.

Jeddah Summit for Security and Development

 The Jeddah Security and Development Summit was organised in Jeddah city of
Saudi Arabia.
 It aimed at boosting the countries’ joint cooperation across all the areas.
 They applauded the “Saudi Green Initiative” and “Middle East Green Initiative”.
 The setting up of Combined Task Force 153 and Task Force 59 were discussed.

G-20 Foreign Ministers Meeting

 G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting 2022 was hosted by Indonesia recently.
 They “deliberated on issues of contemporary relevance, such as-Strengthening
multilateralism and Current global challenges including food and energy
security”.
 India will assume the G20 Presidency for 2023.

Monkeypox - global emergency

 The World Health Organisation has declared the global monkeypox outbreak as
a 'public health emergency of international concern' (PHEIC).
 It is one step below that of a 'pandemic.'

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  On January 30, 2020, the organisation had categorised COVID-19 as a PHEIC.
 On March 11 that year, the agency elevated it to 'pandemic.'
 The PHEIC declaration is to be "temporary" and reviewed every three months.
 In the past, Ebola (2014), Zika virus (2016), H1N1(2009), the polio virus (2014)
and Covid-19 have been declared a PHEIC.

Russia and Turkey Grain Export Deal

 The Russian and Ukrainian ministers signed separate but identical agreements
with UN and Turkish officials.
 With this, grain shipments could ease a global food crisis in which millions face
hunger.
 The deal was signed in Turkish capital Istanbul.

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Sakurajima volcano
 Japan's Sakurajima volcano erupted recently.
 It is located on the island of Kyushu near the Pacific Ocean.
 It is one of Japan’s most active volcanoes and eruptions of varying levels take
place on a regular basis.
 It is an active stratovolcano.
 The largest historical eruptions of Sakurajima took place during 1471-76 and in
1914.

'Imanvex' For Monkeypox

 The European Commission has approved a smallpox vaccine for use against
monkeypox.
 Imvanex has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox.
 It is considered a potential vaccine for monkeypox because of the similarity
between the monkeypox virus and the smallpox virus.
 Monkeypox is less dangerous and contagious than smallpox, which was
eradicated in 1980.
 Recently, WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak as a global health emergency.
 It has affected nearly 16,000 people in 72 countries.

Electricity Market report

 International Energy Agency (IEA) released its early 2022 edition of the bi-annual
Electricity Market Report.
 The Global electricity demand increased by 6% year-on-year in 2021.

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  It was the steepest year-on-year increase recorded by the IEA since 2008 financial
crash.
 The Global energy intensity decreased by 1.9% year-on-year.
 This drop was only half as compared to the level required to lay foundation for
net-zero by 2050.
 In 2021, the electricity generation from renewables increased by 6% year-on-year.
 Generation from coal was increased by 9%.
 This increase was led by markets like China and India, where coal served as
greater than half of the increase in demand.
 There was an increase of 2% in gas-fired generation.

European Investment Bank (EIB) in CDRI

 European Investment Bank recently joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient
Infrastructure.
 CDRI is led by India.
 This coalition is aimed at limiting the destruction caused due to climate change.
 EIB will provide advisory and financial support to members of CDRI.
 EIB will work as “EU climate bank” within the CDRI.
 The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) was launched by India
in 2019, at the UN Climate Action Summit.
 It allows the members to share knowledge and resources as well as help countries
in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals’.
 EIB is the investment bank of European Union.
 It is possessed by the EU Member States.

World Airport Traffic Dataset 2021

 The Airports Council International World has released the annual World Airport
Traffic Dataset.
 It listed the global air traffic rankings of the top 20 aviation industries for the full
year 2021.
 From India, the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi (13th) has been
ranked among the top 20.
 It is the industry’s most comprehensive airport statistics dataset featuring airport
traffic for over 2,600 airports in more than 180 countries and territories.

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Russia quit ISS
 Russia has announced that it will quit the International Space Station after 2024.
 Russia's withdrawal from the Space Station will open a new door for private
companies to enter the Space Station.
 China is building its own space station, Tiangong, and nearing its completion by
the end of this year.

ECONOMY

Global Health Care

 Bajaj Allianz General Insurance announced the launch of its unique Global
Health Care health insurance programme.
 It offers seamless coverage to the policyholder for both domestic and international
(outside of India) medical providers for both planned and emergency treatment
(within India).
 It is Indian insurance industry first global health care product.

47th GST Council Meeting

 It was held in Chandigarh.
 In a two-day meeting GST Council headed by the Union Finance Minister,
recommended rate changes on certain items.

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  Every decision of GST Council is to be taken by a majority of not less than three-
fourths of the weighted votes of the members present.
 Central government’s vote has a weightage of one-third of total votes cast.
 While the votes of state governments all together have a weightage of two-thirds
of total votes cast in the meeting.

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies

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  The Union Cabinet has approved computerisation of primary agricultural credit
societies (PACS).
 It has proposed computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over a period
of five years.
 It will become delivery point for various services and provision of inputs like
fertilizers, seeds etc.
 The project will help in making PACS as outlets for banking activities and also
non-banking activities.
 PACS is the smallest unit in cooperative sector which works with farmers and
aim at development of rural economy.
 It is the lowest tier of the three-tier short-term cooperative credit (STCC).
 The other two tiers i.e State Cooperative Banks (SCBs) and District Central
Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) already work on Common Banking Software (CBS).

Financial Services Institutions Bureau

 The Union government has transformed the “Banks Board Bureau (BBB)” into
“Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB)”.
 The ACC has approved the appointment of Bhanu Pratap Sharma as initial
chairperson of FSIB.
 He has been appointed for two years.
 He was the former Chairman of BBB.
 The FSIB will make recommendations for appointments of full-time directors as
well as non-executive chairman of banks and financial institutions.
 Guidelines to select general managers and directors of public sector general
insurance companies is also a part of FSIB now.

Future Unicorn Index 2022

 The Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2022 was released by Hurun Research
Institute
 As per index, India will have 122 new unicorns in next two to four years.
 Gazelles are the companies, which are likely to become unicorns in following two
years.
 Gazelles are expected to be worth between USD 500 million and USD 1 billion.
 Cheetahs are the start-ups that could turn into unicorn in next four years.

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  A unicorn is a privately held start-up company, with value of more than USD 1
billion.
 This term was first published in 2013.
 It was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee.

Gold import duty

 The government has hiked gold import duty to 15 per cent from 10.75 per cent.
 It aims to check the current account deficit (CAD) and rising import of the yellow
metal.
 Earlier, the basic customs duty on gold was 7.5 per cent, now it will be 12.5 per
cent.
 Along with the agriculture infrastructure development cess (AIDC) of 2.5 per cent,
the effective gold customs duty will be 15 per cent.

Financial Stability Report

 The Reserve Bank of India released its bi-annual Financial Stability Report (FSR).
 The asset quality of the banking system has improved with the gross non-
performing assets (GNPA).
 Its ratio is declining from 7.4 per cent in March 2021 to a six-year low of 5.9 per
cent in March 2022.
 Provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) improved to70. 9 per cent in March 2022 from
67.6 per cent a year ago.
 PCR is the percentage of funds that a bank sets aside for losses due to bad debts.

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Marine product exports

 During the FY 2021-22, India shipped 13,69,264 MT of seafood worth US$ 7.76
billion.
 The export improved in rupee terms by 31.71%, in USD terms by 30.26%, and in
quantity terms by 19.12%.
 Frozen shrimp remained the major export item in terms of quantity and value.
 The USA tops the list for the import of frozen shrimp.
 It is followed by China, the European Union, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the
middle east.

GST collection in June

 The Gross GST collection in June 2022 is the second-highest collection next to
the April 2022.
 The collection GST collection crosses Rs 1.40 lakh crore mark 5th time since the
inception of GST.

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  It is also the 4th month at a stretch since March 2022.
 The gross GST collection in June 2022 is the 2nd highest collection subsequent
to the April 2022 GST collection of Rs 1,67,540 crore.

Payment from abroad relatives

 The Union Home Ministry has amended certain rules related to the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) of 2010.
 It is allowing Indians to receive up to ₹10 lakh in a year from relatives staying
abroad without informing the authorities.
 The earlier limit was ₹1 lakh.
 If the amount exceeds, the individuals will now have 90 days to inform the
government, instead of 30 days earlier.
 The amended rules have given individuals and organizations or NGOs 45 days to
inform the home ministry about the bank accounts that are to be used for the
utilization of such funds.

India’s service sector

 In June, the services industry in India had its highest level of activity in 11 years.
 The results demonstrate a solid rebound in the services sector, which is reflected
in good GST receipts.
 The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for services increased to 59.2
in June from 58.9 in May.
 That is the highest level since April 2011.

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Global Findex database
 The World Bank released Global Findex database 2021.
 It surveyed how people in 123 economies use formal and informal financial
services e.g., cards, ATMs, mobile phones, and the internet.
 Globally, in 2021, 76 per cent of adults had an account at a bank or regulated
institution.
 It includes a credit union, microfinance institution, or a mobile money service
provider.
 About two-thirds of unbanked adults said that if they opened an account at a
financial institution, they could not use it without help.
 Low access to formal banking in India and there is a lack of trust.
 Aadhar contributed to account ownership in about 80% of adults (from 35% in
2011).
 Transitioning from cash to biometric smart cards has reduced leakage by 47% in
pension payments.

Mechanism for International trade in INR

 RBI notified new measures to settle down “international trades in rupee”.
 This move will promote global trade and emphasise on exports from India.
 Under this, invoicing, payment, as well as settlement of exports or imports in
rupee.
 Thus, all the exports and imports can be denominated and invoiced in rupee.
 However, to make payment in rupees, banks will need to take prior approval from
foreign exchange department of RBI.

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TDC Fund
 SBICAP Ventures Limited (SVL) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) joined
hands to set up the “Trilateral Development Cooperation Fund (TDC Fund)”.
 TDC Fund will help in routing India’s commitment of around Rs.175 crore to
Global Innovation Development Fund (GIP Fund).
 The fund will be administered and advised upon by SVL.
 SVL will also be facilitating the GIP program for MEA.

Refinance Dollar-Denominated Bonds

 ReNew Energy Global plc recently refinanced its bonds worth USD 525 million.
 It was scheduled to get mature in 2024.
 These were refinanced with amortising project debt from Indian non-banking
financial company.
 ReNew Energy Global Plc has become the first renewable energy company in
India, to refinance the dollar-denominated bonds.

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New GST Rates

 The new GST rates came into effect from July 18, 2022.
 Several food items have become costlier including products like paneer, rice,
wheat, jaggery, curd and lassi that are pre-packaged and labelled.
 These day-to-day household items will attract 5 percent GST from July 18.
 Dried makhana, puffed rice, meslin flour, labelled meat and fish will also attract
5 percent GST.
 All these items were exempted from GST tax earlier.
 Besides this, 12% GST will now be charged on all forms of mango including
mango pulp.
 However, loose, unbranded and unlabelled goods will continue to be remain
exempted from GST.
 The GST rates for hotels and bank services have also been hiked.
 The new GST rates for Bank services including the fee charged by banks for
issuing cheques will now be 18 %.
 12 per cent GST will be levied on hotel rooms.
 Current they have exempted from GST.

Remittance in India in 2020-21

 The RBI conducted the fifth round of the survey on remittances for the year 2020-
21.
 The share of India’s inward remittances from Gulf countries declined from more
than 50% in 2016-17 to about 30% in 2020-21.

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  Remittances from the US have surpassed that of UAE.
 The USA accounting for 23% of total remittances in 2020-21.
 Remittances from UAE now account for 17-18% of India’s total inward
remittances.
 The share of the traditional remittance recipient states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka, has almost halved in 2020-21.
 They accounting for only 25% of total remittances compared to over 42% in 2016-
17.
 Maharashtra has emerged as the top recipient state surpassing Kerala.
 The report shows Maharashtra now accounts for almost 35% of the total
remittances in 2020-21.

Cut in Windfall Tax

 The Union government reduced the windfall tax on petrol, diesel, crude oil and
jet fuel, following the cut in international rates.
 India imposed the windfall tax on refiners and oil producers on July 1, 2022.
 Windfall tax is a one-off tax, which is imposed by a government on a company.

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  The tax targets those who are gaining from something they were not responsible
for.
 This tax is a higher tax rate on sudden huge profits.
 It is a one-time tax more than the normal rates of tax, imposed on profits.

4-tier regulatory framework

 Four-tiered regulatory framework was adopted by the Central Bank for Urban
Co-operative Banks.
 It aims to strengthening the financial soundness of the existing urban cooperative
banks.
 A committee was created under S. Vishwa Nathan, to make recommendations on
strengthening the Urban Co-operative Banks.
 The committee has recommended to adopt four-tiered regulatory framework, on
the basis of size of deposits of banks and area of operations.

Long-term resilient supply chains

 A partnership of 18 economies has unveiled a four-point roadmap for building
collective, long-term resilient supply chains.
 It is including steps to counter risks arising from supply dependencies and
vulnerabilities.
 The countries include India, the US and the European Union (EU).

Digital Banks
 NITI Aayog has released a Report titled 'Digital Banks: A Proposal for Licensing
& Regulatory Regime for India'.

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  It suggested setting up Digital Banks and a licensing and regulatory framework
for such Banks.
 India has made rapid strides in furthering Financial Inclusion, catalysed by the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and India Stack.
 But credit penetration remains a policy challenge, especially for the nation’s 63-
million-odd MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).

Top remittance recipient – 2021

 The first WHO World report on the health of refugees and migrants released
recently.
 As per the report, one in eight people in the world, around one billion, are
migrants.
 With USD 87 billion, India was the top remittance recipient among low and
middle-income countries.
 The top five remittance recipients in 2021 were India, China, Mexico, the
Philippines and Egypt.
 The United States was the largest source country for remittances in 2020,
 It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland.

India economic growth

 The International Monetary Fund slashed India's economic outlook for financial
year 2022-23 to 7.4%.
 The outlook has been revised down by 0.8 percentage point.
 The forecast is sharply lower than IMF's previous estimate of 8.2% for FY23.

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  But it is higher than Reserve Bank of India's latest estimate of 7.2% growth rate
for FY23.
 In latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF projected India's economy to
grow by 6.1% in FY23-24.

5G spectrum auction
 5G spectrum auction drew bids totalling ₹ 1,49,855 crore after four days.
 Over 70 per cent of the spectrum on the block was sold.
 The bids for 5G airwaves are being led by Reliance Jio, followed by Bharti Airtel,
Vodafone-Idea and a Gautam Adani company.

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First international bullion exchange
 India launched its first international bullion exchange.
 India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX), is based at Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City in Gujarat.
 IIBX is a platform that not only enrols jewellers to trade on the exchange, but has
also set up necessary infrastructure to store physical gold and silver.

BSNL BBNL Merger

 The Union Cabinet recently approved the merger of Bharat Broadband Network
Limited (BBNL) with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
 BSNL will work as government’s executive arm and the ownership of assets will
be with the government.
 Bharat Broadband Network Limited is also known as BharatNet.
 It is owned by government and provides broadband infrastructure.
 BSNL is the largest government-owned, wireless telecommunications service
provider in country.

Suez Canal Economic Zone

 Egypt and an Indian company have signed a MoU to construct a green hydrogen
factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
 Indian ReNew Power Private Limited (RENE.BO) will invest $8 billion to construct
a facility that will create 20,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

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 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Energy Storage Platform

 The Scientists at Indian Institute of Science have found nanoscopic refractory
metal layers like Tungsten.
 It could improve the performance of these batteries which are crucial for purposes
like electrical mobility.
 This will enable fast charge-discharge rates in solid-state lithium metal batteries.
 Conventional Li-ion batteries employ a graphite anode, a liquid electrolyte, and a
transition metal cathode.
 However, the liquid electrolytes are flammable and degrade at high temperatures
leading to poor battery life.
 And in extreme cases they lead to battery fires.
 Replacing the liquid electrolyte with a ceramic solid electrolyte could enable safer
Li-ion batteries that also last longer on a single charge.

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Firefly-like light emitting robots

 Researchers from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) have created robots,

capable of emitting light while flying, motion tracking and communications.
 These robots weigh barely more than a paper clip.
 And they can be tracked using the light they emit and three smartphone cameras.
 Fireflies use their luminescence for communication to attract a mate, ward off
predators, or lure prey.

Estradiol to Treat Psoriasis

 Researchers have found that the female hormone estradiol suppresses psoriasis.
 It is a skin condition that causes rashes and leads to itchiness.
 The presence of this hormone in women is the reason why compared to men,
women have a significantly lower incidence of severe psoriasis.

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  Estradiol or oestradiol is a form of the female sex hormone estrogen.
 Also called 17-beta-estradiol, estradiol is an estrogen steroid hormone.

Gennova mRNA Vaccine

 The Gennova mRNA-based vaccine, GEMCOVAC-19, is India's first homegrown

mRNA COVID- 19 vaccine.
 It is the first mRNA vaccine that remains stable during storage even at 2-8
degrees Celsius.
 While most of the other mRNA vaccines have to be stored at sub-zero
temperatures.
 It has got emergency use authorization in emergency situations for all adults aged
above 18 years.

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  The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave its approval.
 It was developed by Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals.
 mRNA is short for messenger RNA, a type of RNA found in cells that is used for
the production of proteins.
 The mRNA vaccine teaches our cells how to make a protein that will trigger an
immune response inside our bodies.
 The mRNA vaccines protect us from infectious diseases by activating cells to fight
against invading virus.
 The immune response leads to the creation of antibodies that are required to fight
the foreign virus by targeting that particular piece of protein.
 The mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines send instructions to the cells to create a
piece of protein known as spike protein.
 It is the same as the one found studded on the surface of the novel coronavirus.
 These proteins have been engineered to stop them from replicating.
 The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are both mRNA vaccines.
 The children are being administered Corbevax COVID-19 vaccine manufactured
by Hyderabad-based Biological E.

Nuclear-powered Flying Hotel

 The Sky cruise is a futurist sky hotel.
 It is a nuclear-powered flying hotel that never lands in the Earth.
 It will remain suspended above the clouds.
 It has 20 nuclear-powered engines.
 It is big enough to accommodate over 5000 guests.
 It will always be airborne throughout the scheduled travel.
 It has been designed by a Yemeni producer Hashem Al-Ghaili.

Cosmic cannibalism
 Astronomers have observed for the first time a phenomenon, called, “cosmic
cannibalism”.
 In this, a dead star is sucking in debris from both the inner and outer reaches of
its planetary system.
 A white dwarf is formed when a low-mass star like our sun exhausts most of its
nuclear fuel.

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  It is usually very dense, dim and about the size of a planet.
 It is the last observable stage of evolution for low- and medium-mass stars.

Anti-Tank Guided Missile of India (ATGM)

 As per the Defence Ministry, the ATGM hit the target with precision and
successfully tested the target at the minimum ranges.
 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian
Army successfully tested the indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile at
the KK range in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
 It was successfully test-fired from the Arjun battle tank.
 It employs a tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead for defeating the
Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles.

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New algorithm to study brain connectivity

 Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a new Graphics Processing Unit
(GPU) based machine learning algorithm.
 It is called RaAl-LiFE (Regularized, Accelerated, Linear Fascicle Evaluation).
 It can help scientists in understanding and predicting connectivity between
different regions of brain, in a better manner.
 It can rapidly analyse the enormous data generated from diffusion Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (dMRI) scans of human brain.
 Using the new algorithm, this team was able to evaluate dMRI data 150 times
faster as compared to existing state-of-the-art algorithms.

CAPSTONE mission
 The NASA researchers successfully launched CAPSTONE spacecraft to the moon
from New Zealand.
 Mission CAPSTONE stands for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System
Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment.
 It will verify that a specific type of moon orbit is suitable for the lunar Gateway
space station that the agency aims to launch later this decade.

PSLV-C53 Mission
 The PSLV-C53 mission was launched from the second launch pad at Satish
Dhawan Space Centre, Srihari Kota.
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched three satellites from
Singapore on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

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  It was launched to deploy the three satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
 This was the second launch mission for ISRO in the year and was the second
commercial launch for the Indian space agency.
 The PSLV-C53 is the 55th mission of the launch vehicle.
 And it is the 15th mission using the PSLV-Core Alone variant.
 The PSLV is ISRO's workhorse and has been its most successful launch vehicle
developed indigenously.
 It has been launched 54 times in the past.
 It was also responsible for launching India's highly successful Chandrayaan-1
mission in 2008 and the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013 that later travelled to
Mars.
 The launch vehicle is capable of taking up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-
Synchronous Polar Orbits of 600 km altitude.
 It has also been used to launch various satellites into Geosynchronous and
Geostationary orbits, like satellites from the IRNSS constellation.

Abhyas High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT)

 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-
tested Abhyas.
 It is a high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT).
 This was flight-tested from Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, off the Bay
of Bengal coast in Odisha.
 Abhyas has been designed and developed by Aeronautical Development
Establishment (ADE), of DRDO.
 It is powered by a small gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at
high subsonic speed.

Loss of bone mass in space

 Researchers have found that astronauts lose a huge amount of bone mass when
travelling in space.
 It takes more than a year for them to recover it after coming back from their
missions.
 Wrists and ankles of astronauts during and after a stay at the International Space
Station and found that they lost around 1 to 2 per cent of bone density every
month.

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  That is basically the same amount of bone density that people lose in almost
decades.

Salmonella Contamination
 Salmonella bacteria were found in the world’s largest chocolate production unit,
managed by Barry Callebut.
 Barry Callebaut's Wieze factory in Belgium has ceased its manufacturing due to
this.
 Also, Salmonella was found in 31% of the samples of ground chicken that tested
in US.
 Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause food-borne illnesses known as
salmonellosis.

Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demo

 The DRDO carried out the maiden test flight of a new unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
 It is an Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator.
 The test of the demonstrator is also known as the ‘Stealth Wing Flying Testbed’
(SWiFT).
 It is an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) or a combat drone that is a
flying wing type.
 The UCAV will be capable of launching missiles and precision-guided munitions.

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  Its applications are
o Mapping of Landslide Affected Area
o Infested Crop Damage Assessment
o Large Scale Mapping
o Traffic Monitoring and Management
o Logistics support

Aphelion Phenomenon 2022

 Aphelion is a position where the distance between the Sun and Earth is the
longest.
 The two objects hanging in space are separated by nearly 152.1 million kilometres
on July 4, 2022.
 It is nearly 1.67 per cent farther from the sun than the mean Earth-sun
separation.
 The mean Earth-Sun separation is known as the Astronomical Unit (AI).
 1 AU is equal to 149.6 million kilometers.

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Regulating Nitrate absorption in Plants
 Researchers discovered a new pathway that regulates nitrate absorption in
plants.
 They investigated a miR444 target gene called MADS27, a transcription factor
that has previously received little attention.
 The micro-RNA, miR444, activates the Gene MADS27.
 That regulates nitrate absorption, root development, and stress tolerance.
 Thus provides a way to control these plant properties.
 The gene MADS27 appears to be an excellent candidate for modification in order
to improve nitrogen use efficiency.

New sub-atomic particles

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  The LHCb collaboration has observed a new kind of pentaquark and the first-ever
pair of tetraquarks.
 The new particles called as “beauty quark”, or “b quark”.
 These three particles are unknown till date.

World’s first “sand battery”

 A battery that stores heat energy in sand has been installed in western Finland.
 Electricity from renewable sources is used to heat the sand to around 932°F.
 The heat energy then warms water that can be circulated around local buildings.
 It can store energy from sources that work intermittently, like wind and solar.
 It can hold renewable energy for up to months at a time.

Autonomous Aircraft’s Maiden Take-Off

 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully
carried out the Maiden flight of Autonomous Flying Wing Technology
Demonstrator.
 It is tested from Aeronautical Test Range in Chitra Durga, Karnataka.
 The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) powered by a small turbofan engine.

Particle Zoo 2.0

 Scientists have discovered three never-seen-before subatomic particles while
working to unlock building blocks of the universe at the Large Hadron Collider
(LHC).

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  The scientists have observed a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair
of “tetraquarks”.
 This was informed by the European nuclear research centre CERN.
 The Large Hadron Collider is the machine that found the elusive ‘God particle’ or
Higgs Boson.
 It is thought to be vital for the formation of the universe after the big bang, 13.7
billion years ago.
 It is a 27 km long LHC at CERN.
 It is located in Geneva, Switcherland.
 CERN is an official United Nations Observer.
 CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

Images of unseen Universe

 NASA has released the next wave of images from James Webb Space Telescope.
 The image shows the deepest view of the universe that has never been seen
before.
 The galaxy cluster is shown in the picture as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.
 The new images will include the Carina Nebula, WASP-96b, the Southern Ring
Nebula and Stephan’s Quintet.
 The Carina Nebula is a stellar nursery where more stars larger than our sun
reside.
 It is more than 9,600-light years away.
 The exoplanet WASP-96b and its atmosphere’s images will also be released.
 The planet is 1,150 light-years away from Earth.
 It has half the mass of Jupiter.
 And it orbits around its sun in just 3.4 days.

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Indigenous lithium-ion cell
 OLA Electric recently produced India’s first indigenously developed lithium-ion
cell called “NMC 2170”.
 NMC 2170 is a high nickel cylindrical Ola cell.
 It comprises of Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) on cathode side while graphite &
silicon on anode side.

LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Detector

 This next-generation dark matter detector has started operations and delivering
its first results.
 It is the most sensitive machine of this type on Earth.
 It has been installed deep down the Black Hills in South Dakota in Sanford
Underground Research Facility, USA.
 The Dark matter particles have never been detected earlier.
 Initial results from the first 60 days live days testing of LZ have generated positive
results.

Rocket fuel from Bacteria

 POP-FAME, a newly developed biofuel based on an antifungal molecule made by
Streptomyces bacteria ⁠could be used in future rocket launches.
 POP-FAME stands for ‘Polycyclopropanated Fatty Acid Methyl Ester’.

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  It may also have significantly more energy density than rocket fuels used now.
 It significantly reduces the amount of added greenhouse gas relative to any fuel
generated from petroleum.
 Molecular structure of POP-FAME is similar to Syntin.
 However, the challenge is to remove the two oxygen atoms with each molecule, in
order to avoid weight in the rocket.

Anti-cervical cancer vaccine

 Serum Institute of India plans to roll out its indigenously-developed vaccine for
the prevention of cervical cancer among women.
 It will be the first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) in India,
to prevent cervical cancer.
 Cervical cancer is the second most common cancers among women in India, even
though it is preventable.
 This cancer is commonly diagnosed among women aged 15 to 44 years of age.
 National Cancer Control Programme was first started in India in 1975.

ALH Squadron INAS 324

 Indian Naval Air Squadron 324 (INAS 324) was commissioned into the Indian
Navy at INS Dega in Visakhapatnam.
 This is the first Naval Squadron on the Eastern Seaboard operating the
indigenously designed and built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) MK III (MR)
helicopters.
 The first ALH Squadron INAS 324 has been named “KESTRELS”.
 It has good sensory capabilities.
 It symbolizes the envisaged role of the Aircraft and the Air Squadron.

AI-based tool to detect Cancer

 An Artificial Intelligence-based tool called ‘PIVOT’ has been developed by IIT
Madras.
 PIVOT is capable of predicting cancer-causing genes in patients.
 This AI-based tool will help in formulating strategies for personalized cancer
treatment.
 It has been designed to predict genes which are responsible for causing cancer.

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  It uses different data, including mutation & gene expression, to foresee the
cancer-causing genes.

Marburg virus Disease

 Two suspected cases of Marburg virus disease were reported in Ghana recently.
 The Marburg Virus disease is an infectious haemorrhagic fever.
 It belongs to same family as Ebola.
 The virus is transmitted to people via fruit bats.
 People to people transmission also takes place.

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  It spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected person or surfaces.
 It has an incubation period of 2-21 days.
 This disease is potentially very harmful and deadly.
 Fatality rates in previous outbreaks have ranged from 24% to 88%.

ARYABHAT-1
 The Indian Institute of Science of Bengaluru researchers recently developed a
prototype of an analog chipset called “ARYABHAT-1”.
 ARYABHAT-1stands for “Analog Reconfigurable Technology and Bias-scalable
Hardware for AI Tasks”.
 These chipsets may operate faster.
 It will use less power as compared to digital processors used in different electronic
gadgets.
 Such chipsets can be beneficial for applications based on Artificial Intelligence.

IS4OM
 The “ISRO System for Safe & Sustainable Operation” (IS4OM) at ISRO Control
Centre, in Bengaluru inaugurated recently.
 S4OM is a facility that is conceived with a holistic approach towards ensuring
safety and sustainability.
 S4OM will bring a prompt, accurate and efficient information on on-orbit
collision, fragmentation, atmospheric re-entry risk, space based strategic
information, hazardous asteroids and space weather forecast.

AI Mandarin translation

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  Using this, Indian soldiers patrolling on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will be
able to understand Mandarin and reply back instantly.
 It is a 600gm Artificial Intelligence-based device developed by an Indian start-up.
 It is an offline handheld language translation system which works based on AI.
 It is bidirectional with a range of 5-10 feet.
 And it converts Mandarin to English.

India's First Unique Blood Group

 A man from Gujarat who is a heart patient has been identified with EMM negative
blood group.
 It is India's first and world's tenth case of unique blood group.
 It cannot be categorized into the existing groups of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘O’ or ‘AB’.
 There are four types of blood groups in the human body.
 It further consists of 42 types of systems, like A, B, O, Rh and Duffy.
 There are also 375 types of antigens in which EMM is high.
 However, there are only 10 such people in the world who do not have EMM high-
frequency antigen in their blood.
 It makes them different from normal humans.
 People with such rarest blood groups can neither donate their blood to anyone,
nor can they acquire it from anyone.

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Asteroid 2022 KY4
 The closest approach of asteroid 2022 KY4 to Earth was occurred on July 17.
 The 2022 KY4 space rock is almost as big as a 50-storey building.
 It is around 290 feet wide and will approach Earth after 100 years.
 The estimated speed of the asteroid 2022 KY4 is 16,900 miles per hour.
 It had previously come very close to Earth in 1959 and 1948.
 This asteroid won't come this near to Earth again until May 2048.

Discovery of water on distant planet

 James Webb Telescope will help in discovery of water on distant planet.
 This telescope will help the researchers in measuring the chemical makeup of
atmospheres of planets across other stars.
 It is a space telescope, that has been designed specifically to conduct infrared
astronomy.

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  It is the largest optical telescope in space.
 Its improved sensitivity and infrared resolution allow it to look too old, distant,
or faint objects for Hubble Space Telescope.

Project 17A stealth frigate

 The Union Defence Minister launched the fourth P17A stealth frigate ‘Dunagiri’
recently.
 The P-17A class is a follow-on of the P-17 Shivalik Class with improved stealth
features & advanced weapons.
 The first two ships of the P17A Project were launched in 2019 and 2020.
 The third ship-Udaygiri was launched this year.

World's fastest graphics DRAM chip

 Samsung has developed a new graphics dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)
chip with a faster speed and improved power efficiency.
 The new DRAM chip can process graphic images at a rate of up to 1.1 terabytes
per second.
 Samsung’s claim is the fastest in the world and is equivalent to processing 275
full HD movies in a second.
 Graphics DRAMs are widely used in high-powered 3D games, personal
computers, notebooks or devices that play videos with a high resolution.

New synthetic peptides

 Indian researchers developed novel method to render SARS-CoV-2 inactive.
 New synthetic peptides can both prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering
cells.
 It also, clump the virus particles together to lessen their capacity to infect living
cells.

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  With the help of this innovative technique, viruses like SARS-CoV-2 can be
rendered dormant, opening the door for a new family of peptide antivirals.

Varroa Mite plague

 Australia killed millions of honeybees in a bid to stop the spread of catastrophic
parasite to its south-eastern part.
 Honey-sector in Australia is under huge threat from recent outbreak of deadly
varroa mite.
 It is a sesame seed-sized parasite, discovered at a port in near Sydney.
 It involved in attacking and feeding on honeybees.
 They are known to destroy entire colonies of honeybees.

India's first Human passenger drone

 India’s first human carrying platform pilot-less drone made its debut in New
Delhi.
 This ‘Varuna’ drone has been designed and developed by a start-up, Sagar
Defence Engineering.
 It has the capacity to carry one person inside.
 It has a range of 25 kms with a payload of 130 kgs and around 25-33 minutes of
endurance.

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Antimicrobial resistance vaccines
 The WHO released the first-ever report on the pipeline of the vaccines currently
developing to prevent infections by AMR bacterial pathogens.
 Resistant-bacterial infections are associated with nearly 4.95 million deaths per
year.
 In that, 1.27 million deaths are directly attributed to AMR.
 There are already vaccines available against four priority bacterial pathogens:
o Pneumococcal disease (Streptococcus pneumoniae),
o Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b)
o Tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis) and
o Typhoid fever (Salmonella Typhi).
 Except TB vaccine, the remaining three vaccines are effective.

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“Wentian” space station modules
 China launched Wentian, the second of the three modules needed to complete its
new space station.
 This was the most recent development in China’s ambitious space programme.
 In April 2021, Beijing launched the main module of the Tiangong space station,
which is Chinese for “heavenly palace.”
 Tiangong should have a lifespan of at least 10 years.

Oldest galaxy in the universe

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  James Webb Space Telescope, the world's most powerful telescope, has
discovered the oldest galaxy in the universe.
 It has spotted galaxy candidates that existed when the universe was just 300
million years old, an infant stage in cosmic terms.
 It spotted two candidates to be the oldest galaxies in the universe GLASS-z11 and
GLASS-z13.
 GNz11 remains the only galaxy to have been confirmed to exist in the first few
hundred million years after the Big Bang, the moment when our universe came
to life.
 The light from GLASS-z13 has taken about 13.4 billion years to hit the mirrors
of the spacecraft.
 This is located nearly 15,00,000 kilometres away from Earth.

Rainbow-colored planet

 NASA shared a Rainbow coloured picture of the dwarf planet Pluto.

 These images showcase different areas of the planet in various psychedelic
colours.
 Pluto does not naturally look this flamboyant.
 This image was actually created by New Horizons scientists to highlight the
planet’s distinct regions.
 Pluto is located in the Kuiper belt of the solar system.
 It is a doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune.

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Quick Reaction Fighting Vehicle
 Tata Advanced Systems successfully delivered the locally developed Quick
Reaction Fighting Vehicle to the Indian Army.
 These armoured vehicles will increase the nation’s protector’s ability to fight in
all weather and terrain situations and will offer protection while moving.

ENVIRONMENT
New Biosphere Reserves
 UNESCO has approved the designation of 11 new biosphere reserves in 9
countries.
 It includes three countries for the first time: Chad, Georgia and Zambia.
 Two existing biosphere reserves in Spain have also been extended.
 With the new designations, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves totals 738
sites in 134 countries.
 These additions were decided by the 34th session of the International Co-
ordinating Council.
 It is the governing body of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.
 It is composed of 34 representatives of UNESCO Member States.
 The Council was meeting from 13 to 17 June at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris.
 The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme pioneered the idea of sustainable
development.
 It was established by UNESCO in 1971 as an intergovernmental scientific
programme.

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Inventory of animal species
 In 2021, India’s faunal database gained 540 new species.
 It is bringing the overall number of animal species to 1,03,258.
 Additionally, in 2021, 315 taxa were added to the Indian flora.
 It is bringing the total number of floral taxa in the nation to 55,048.
 Of the 540 species of fauna, 134 are new records for India, while 406 are new
finds.
 Also in 2021, thirteen new genera were found.
 One mammal species, 35 reptile species, and 19 species of fish are among the
newly identified species.
 India makes for 6.1% of the world’s total faunal variety with its 1.03 lakh species.

New Discoveries 2021

 The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) had contributed to 68% of the animal
discoveries in 2021.
 Crocidura narcondamica, a white-toothed shrew from the Andaman and Nicobar
group of islands, is the newly identified mammal species.
 Boiga whitakeri, also known as the Whitaker’s cat snake, was one of the
remarkable reptiles found in 2021.
 It was found in Tamil Nadu’s Western Ghats.
 The order of insects known as the Hymenoptera was the source of the most new
discoveries.
 It is accounting for 80 species, including one new genus.
 Hymenoptera includes sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.
 According to the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), regions such as the Western
Ghats and the north eastern regions have contributed 28% of the total
discoveries.
 In State-wise analysis, the most number of discoveries were made from Kerala
with 51 taxa.
 It is followed by Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh.

World's Largest Waterlily Species

 Victoria Boliviana is now the world’s largest water lily.
 It usually grows in freshwater rivers, floodplains and ponds in north-eastern
Bolivia.

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  This is the third species in the Victoria genus.
 Victoria Amazonica and Victoria Cruziana are the other two species of water lilies.

Membership of UNESCO Committee

 India has been elected to the intergovernmental committee of UNESCO's 2003
convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
 The Intergovernmental Committee of 2003 Convention includes 24 members.
 India will be a member for a period of 2022-2026.
 In past, India has been a member of ICH Committee for two times viz., during
2006-2010 and 2014-2018.
 The main functions of “Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of
Intangible Cultural Heritage” include
o Promoting the objectives of the convention
o Providing directions on best practices and
o Recommending on measures to safeguard intangible cultural heritage.

Introduction of Red Pandas

 Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park of West Bengal has started a
programme to release 20 Red Pandas in about five years to the forests.
 The Singalila National Park, the highest protected area in West Bengal, will soon
get new denizens.
 It is located at the Singalila Ridge in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
 In 1994, it was declared a major wild habitat for red pandas.
 Two species of Panda are found worldwide, namely, Giant Pandas and Red
Pandas.

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  They are also regarded as an indicator species for ecological change.
 In India, two subspecies of Panda are found viz, Himalayan red panda and
Chinese red panda.
 Red panda is endemic to the forests of India, Bhutan, Nepal, north Myanmar and
south China.
 Red Pandas are categorized in “Endangered” category of IUCN Red list.
 Giant Pandas are Vulnerable in IUCN Red List.

Eoscansor cobrensis
 New Fossil of Eoscansor cobrensis was discovered from New Mexico.
 Eoscansor cobrensis is a reptile, belonging to Pennsylvanian subperiod of
Carboniferous period.
 It lived around 305 million years ago in area around present-day New Mexico.
 The species belongs to Varanopidae, which is an extinct family of reptiles.
 They were similar to monitor lizards.

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Sustainable Use of Wild Species
 The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services (IPBES) released a report recently.
 This report has found that with the accelerating global biodiversity crisis, a
million species of plants and animals are facing extinction.
 The assessment shortlisted five categories of practices used for wild species -
Fishing, Gathering, Logging, Terrestrial animal harvesting.
 About 70% of the world’s poor population is directly dependent on wild species.
 20% source their food from wild plants, algae and fungi.
 About 34% of marine wild fish stocks are overfished and 66% are fished within
biologically sustainable levels.
 The survival of an estimated 12% of wild tree species is threatened by
unsustainable logging.
 Illegal trade in wild species represents the third largest class of all illegal trade.

Ozone Hole 2022

 The scientists discovered a new large ozone hole in the lower stratosphere.
 It is seven times larger than the one over Antarctica.
 The new ozone hole was discovered over the tropics.
 This is the area between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn.
 It has reportedly been there for over 30 years.

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  The Ozone layer is a gas layer in the Earth's stratosphere
 That envelops the planet and protects it from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.
 It is generally found in the lower portion of the stratosphere, about 15-35
kilometres above Earth.

First carbon-neutral airport

 Leh airport is being built as a carbon-neutral airport.
 This is the first of its kind in India.
 A “Geothermal system” in hybridization with Solar PV Plant will be provided in
the new airport Terminal Building for heating and cooling purposes.
 This system works by exchanging heat between the air and the ground as its heat
pumps are used for space heating and cooling, as well as water heating.

Cheetah Restoration

 India and Namibia signed a MoU to reintroduction cheetahs in historical range

in India.
 8 Cheetahs (4 males and 4 females) will reach India in August 2022.
 They will be reintroduced in Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh.
 They are extinct species in India now.
 India has planned to introduce 8 to 10 cheetahs each year.
 In next five years, a total 50 cheetahs will be relocated to India from Namibia,
South Africa and other African countries.

13th Petersburg Climate Dialogue

 The 13th Petersburg Climate Dialogue held at Berlin, Germany.
 The two-day informal ministerial meet was chaired by Germany and Egypt.

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  They are the hosts of this year’s annual climate meet (COP-27).
 This informal ministerial meeting proposes to build consensus and provide
political direction to resolve divergences aimed at improving the implementation
of climate action.

Heat Wave

 Over 2,000 people have died in Spain and Portugal due to an unprecedented heat
wave moves through Europe.
 Spain was gripped by a heatwave affecting much of Western Europe.
 It increased the temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees
Fahrenheit).
 It is the third most intense heatwave in terms of its geographic extension and
duration" since modern records began in 1975.
 Only two other heatwaves lasted longer: one in July 2015 (26 days) and another
in August 2003 (16 days).

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World’s oldest male giant panda
 World’s oldest male giant panda in captivity dies at the age of 35 in Hong Kong.
 The panda, called An An, was euthanized at the age of 35.
 This is equivalent of a human living till 105.
 An An, together with its mate Jia Jia, was gifted to Hong Kong from China's
central government in 1999.
 His female mate Jia Jia died in 2016 at the age of 38.
 It became the oldest female panda in captivity.
 The average life expectancy of the species is below 20 years in the wild.

First-ever red weather warning

 The UK’s Meteorological Office issued a first-ever red extreme heat warning for
parts of England, including London.
 A red warning is the highest alert used by the Met Office under its alert system.
 It means a risk to life is likely as temperatures could hit 40 degrees Celsius.
 The hot weather is being treated as a national emergency with contingency plans
in place

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Karakoram Anomaly
 Large number of glaciers are melting and are decreasing around the world.
 But the glaciers of central Karakoram in Himalaya have surprisingly remained
unchanged or slightly increased in the last few decades.
 This phenomenon has been puzzling glaciologists and providing climate deniers
with a very rare straw to clutch at.
 This is peculiar because the behaviour seems to be confined to a very small
region.
 Kunlun ranges is being another example of showing similar trends in the whole
of Himalaya.
 Recent studies revealed that western disturbance has been instrumental in
triggering and sustaining the Karakoram Anomaly since the advent of the 21st
century.

Migratory monarch butterflies

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  The migratory monarch butterfly, has been classified ‘endangered’ in the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened
Species.
 It is a sub-species of the monarch butterfly that travels around 4,000 kilometres
across America each year.
 The number of the western monarchs, which live west of the Rocky Mountains,
reduced 99.9 per cent.
 Its Population is falling to only 1,914 butterflies in 2021 from 10 million in the
1980s.
 The population of the eastern monarchs that migrate from eastern United States
and Canada also shrunk 84 per cent from 1996-2014.

New Ramsar Sites in India 2022

 Five more wetlands of India have got international importance tag of Ramsar
sites.
 Now totally, 54 such Ramsar sites are in the country.
 The newly designated sites are
o Karikili Bird Sanctuary - Tamil Nadu,
o Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest - Tamil Nadu
o Pichavaram Mangrove - Tamil Nadu
o Pala wetland - Mizoram
o Sakhya Sagar - Madhya Pradesh.

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Data on Tigers & Elephants

 Data on tigers & Elephants was presented in Lok Sabha recently.

 As per the data, 29 tigers got lost in India in past 3 years.
 In 2019, India had lost 96 tigers.
 In 2020, it lost 106 tigers while 127 tigers were lost in 2021.
 Currently, 197 tigers have been put to scrutiny.
 125 people got killed in “tiger attacks” in last three years.
 61 deaths occurred in Maharashtra and 25 in Uttar Pradesh.
 India lost 307 elephants in the same period.
 222 elephants lost their life to electrocution in part 3 years.
 41 cases were reported in Odisha, 34 in Tamil Nadu and 33 in Assam.
 45 elephants have died in train accidents.

ZSI Study on Snow Leopard

 The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) conducted survey on Snow Leopard recently.
 There is a strong link between habitat use by Snow Leopard and its prey species
like blue sheep and Siberian ibex.
 The chances of detecting a snow leopard were high if that site was used by its
prey species.

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  In case of prey species, the chances of detection were low when the snow leopard
was present and detected.
 Snow Leopard has been categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ in IUCN Red list.
 In India, it is found in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.

Earth overshoot day

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  From January 1 to July 28, humanity has used as much from nature as the
planet can renew in the entire year.
 Thus, July 28 is Earth Overshoot Day.
 It would take 1.75 Earths to provide for the world's population in a sustainable
way.
 Global Footprint Network said Earth Overshoot Day has fallen ever sooner over
the last 50 years.

STATES

Eknath Shinde
 Eknath Shinde, a rebel Shiv Sena MLA, sworn in as the new chief minister of
Maharashtra.
 He is the 20th Chief Minister of Maharashtra replacing Uddhav Thackeray.
 Devendra Fadnavis of BJP got the deputy Chief minister of the state.

Aurangabad and Osmanabad Districts – Maharashtra

 Osmanabad has been renamed Dharashiv and Aurangabad’s name has been
changed to Sambhaji Nagar.
 The Navi Mumbai’s airport’s name will also be changed to DB Patil International
Airport.

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  Aurangabad was founded in 1610 by Malik Ambar, the Siddi General of the
Nizamshahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar.
 Aurangabad was named Khirki or Khadki at the time.
 And its name was later changed to Fatehpur by Malik Ambar’s son Fateh Khan
after Malik Ambar’s death in 1626.
 The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb invaded the Deccan in 1653 and set up his
capital in the city.
 He also renamed it as Aurangabad.

Jhansi Railway Station

 Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi Railway Station is to be renamed as Veerangana Laxmibai
Railway Station.
 The move comes after the state government got the approval to rename the
railway station from the central government.
 Earlier, the Yogi government has renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya, Allahabad as
Prayagraj and Mughalsarai station as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction.

Largest floating Solar Power Project

 India’s largest floating solar power plant was made fully operational by NTPC at
Ramagundam, Telangana.
 The capacity of solar plant is 100 MW.
 It is powered with advanced technology and environment friendly features.
 The presence of floating solar panels will reduce evaporation rate from water
bodies.
 Thus, it will serve the purpose of water conservation.

'Project Surya' initiative

 ReNew in partnership with UNEP and SEWA launched 'Project Surya' will train
1,000 low-income women salt-pan workers to work in the renewable industry.
 ReNew is providing financial support and familiarization with its renewable
facility in the area.
 SEWA or Self-Employed Women's Association is the lead implementation partner.
 UNEP or United Nations Environment Program will be responsible for monitoring
and evaluating the project.

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  SEWA is a National Trade union with a membership base of over 1.5 million poor,
self-employed women workers from the informal economy across 16 states in
India.

Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra 2022

 The Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra, also known as the Festival of Chariots
commenced on July 1 in Puri, Odisha.
 This Yatra is believed to be the oldest and largest chariot procession in the world.
 Lord Jagannath’s chariot is named Nandighosh.
 Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra’s chariots are called Taladhwaja and
Darpadalana respectively.

Public Health Emergency

 The Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services of Puducherry, declared a

public health emergency in the Karaikal region.
 This is due to an outbreak of acute diarrhoeal cases over the last few days.
 Large number of people were found to be suffering from ADD (Acute Diarrhoeal
Disease).

GI tag for ‘Ant chutney’

 In Odisha, scientists are fine-tuning their analysis for making presentation for GI
tag of Kai Chutney.
 This Dish is fabricated from weaver ants offer a treatment to many sicknesses for
Odisha tribes.

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  The Kai Chutney is wealthy in treasured proteins, zinc, calcium, iron, diet B-12,
potassium, magnesium, copper, sodium, fiber and 18 amino acids.
 It is considered healthy for boosting the immune device and stay sicknesses at
bay.
 Weaver ants are scientifically called as Oecophylla smaragdina.

Nari Ko Naman scheme

 The Himachal Pradesh government has launched ‘Naari Ko Naman’ scheme.
 It aims to provide 50 % concession on fares in Himachal Road Transport
Corporation (HRTC) buses to women commuters within the state boundaries.
 Seema Thakur, the first woman bus driver in the state, drove him in a state
transport bus to the event venue.

State Ranking Index for NFSA

 State Ranking Index for National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2022 was released by
recently.
 Odisha was ranked first, for bringing resilient food systems in state, in a bid to
optimise the delivery of benefits.
 It is followed by Uttar Pradesh at the 2nd spot and Andhra Pradesh at 3rd
amongst the General Category States.
 Among the Special Category states/UTs, Tripura stood first followed by Himachal
Pradesh and Sikkim respectively.
 Among the 3 UTs where Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) – Cash is operational,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu is the top ranked UT.

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Delta Ranking
 Jharkhand has secured the first position in the Delta Ranking for the month of
June under the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission Scheme.
 This was Released by NITI Aayog.
 Jharkhand has also improved in overall performance and has earned 8th place
in the country.

Deoghar Airport
 An upgraded Deoghar International airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister.
 Deoghar International Airport will be the 68th destination.
 It will be connected to Kolkata, Patna and Ranchi under UDAN scheme.
 It will be the second international airport in Jharkhand after Ranchi.

Nation's first R&D policy

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  The Karnataka state government is set to become the first state in the country to
have an exclusive Research and Development (R&D) Policy.
 The new policy would boost research and innovations taking place in the state at
all levels from garage-level innovations to those in major institutions.
 Even individuals would be encouraged.

NEP Implementation
 Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to initiate the process of
implementing the Centre’s New Education Policy.
 The implementation of the New Education Policy marks the beginning of culture-
based education in the country.
 It is focusing on the overall personality development of students.

13 expressways in UP
 Uttar Pradesh become the first state to have 13 expressways.
 Six of the 13 expressways totaling 3200 km are in use while the other seven are
under construction.

"Right To Health” bill

 Rajasthan government will enact a law on "right to heath".
 This will be the “first of its kind in India”.
 It aims to commit to quality and affordable health care services through
government and private health care providers.

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India’s biggest shopping festival
 Delhi will host its first ever government-backed shopping festival from January
2023.
 The festival will have 200 concerts for entertainment, food walks and will also
offer huge discounts on products.
 This will be the biggest ever shopping festival in India.

Mother Teresa Memorial Award

 The UNEP National Goodwill Ambassador Ms Dia Mirza, and Environmental

Activist Mr Afroz Shah were presented with the prestigious Mother Teresa
Memorial Awards for Social Justice 2021.
 Both were awarded for their commendable and notable achievements in
Environmental Sustainability.
 Harmony Foundation hosts the Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social
Justice.

State own internet service

 Kerala is now the first and only state in the country to have its own internet
service.
 The Department of Telecommunications’ granting of an Internet Service Provider
licence to the IT infrastructure project of the Kerala Fibre Optic Network Ltd (K-
Fon).
 Kerala Fibre Optic Network Ltd is a state government initiative that aims to
eliminate the digital gap.

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Digital Lok Adalat in India
 The NALSA Chairman Uday Umesh Lalit unveiled the first digital Lok Adalat
driven by Artificial Intelligence.
 Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority’s (RSLSA) digital Lok Adalat was created
by Jupitice Justice Technologies.

PMFBY - Andhra Pradesh

 The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to rejoin the Pradhan Mantri Fasal
Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
 It decided to implement the PMFBY from Kharif-2022 season.
 PMFBY and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) have
been successfully implemented in Andhra Pradesh from Kharif-2016 to Kharif-
2019.

Pacts to solve the border dispute

 Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Arunachal’s CM Pema Khandu held their
third meeting on the border disputes.
 They jointly issued the ‘Namsai Declaration’.
 The first two meetings held between the two CMs on January 24 and April 20
this year.
 The boundary line delineated and signed on the 29 toposheets by the High-
Powered Tripartite Committee as notified boundary during the year 1960.
 Both states decided to constitute 12 “regional committees”.

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  Each covering 12 districts of Arunachal and the counterpart districts of Assam
for joint verification of 123 villages.
 The final decision will be made based on the recommendations of the regional
committees.
 28 villages, which are within the constitutional boundary of Arunachal, will
remain with it.
 3 villages, on which claims were withdrawn by Arunachal, will remain with
Assam.

First-ever blackbuck survey

 The Andhra Pradesh State Wildlife Department has begun the first-ever study of
blackbucks.
 It conducted along a length of islands in the Godavari between Dowleswaram and
Yanam.
 Indian Blackbuck is an antelope.
 It is the only living species of the genus Antilope.
 It is considered to be the fastest animal in the world next to Cheetah.
 It has been categorised least concerned in IUCN Red Data Book.
 The Bishnoi community of Rajasthan is known worldwide for their conservation
efforts to blackbuck.

Vehicle Location Tracking Device fixing

 Himachal Pradesh has become India’s first state to connect the Vehicle Location
Tracking Device (VLTD) with the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS).

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  All the registered commercial vehicles equipped with VLRD will be connected with
ERSS
 Thus, these vehicles can be tracked anywhere in India
 It would help in detecting the theft of vehicles and vehicle accidents easily.
 The Government of Punjab has also decided to introduce the VLTD system in all
the passenger service vehicles.

Restoration of OBC quota

 The six-member commission, headed by Jayant Kumar Banthia, was set up by
the Maharashtra government.
 The panel submitted its report to the Supreme Court recently.
 This report has paved way for candidates who belong to Other Backward Classes
in Local Bodies’ Elections in Maharashtra.
 This Commission has recommended to provide 27% reservation in local bodies
 However, this reservation should not affect the statutory reservation for
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
 It is also, subject to reservation limit of 50%.

e-FIR system
 Gujarat Government offers e-FIR service for the crimes like mobile or two-wheeler
theft.
 Taking a step towards digital governance, the “e-FIR system” was launched in
State.
 The e-governance initiatives and e-FIR system has been launched as a part of “e-
GujCop project”.
 The e-FIR system is currently offering 16 Police-related services in online mode.
 The eGujCop Project was launched on September 2013.

First Certified ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district

 Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur became the first Certified ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district in
the Country.
 This is the only district in the country, people from each of 254 villages in
Burhanpur have declared their villages as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ through a resolution
passed by Gram Sabhas.

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  Jal Jeevan Mission was launched on August 15, 2019.
 Under this scheme, 55 litres of water per person is being provided to every rural
household.

India’s first brain health clinic

 Karnataka health minister inaugurated India’s first brain collaborative health
clinic in Bengaluru.
 It has been established by the state health dept under the Karnataka Brain
Health Initiative (KaBHI) in association with NIMHANS.

Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi

 Rajasthan Government signed a MoU with Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative
Federation of Telangana government.
 It aims to set up first ever all women-run cooperative bank called “Rajasthan
Mahila Nidhi”.
 It will promote women’s empowerment by extending support to their enterprises.
 It will be operated by all women staffs.

PERSONALITIES, AWARDS AND EVENTS

Vijay Amritraj
 Indian tennis great, Vijay Amritraj has been named the 2021 recipient of the
Golden Achievement Award in London.
 It is given by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Tennis
Federation.
 He is first recipient from India to receive this award.
 He joins including Brian Tobin of Australia, Eiichi Kawatei of Japan, and Peachy
Kellmeyer of the United States.

Oscar Academy Members 2022

 Bollywood actor Kajol and Tamil actor Suriya have been invited to join the Class
of 2022 of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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  It hosts the Oscars every year.
 The two Indian actors are among the 397 distinguished artists and executives
from around the globe to be invited to join the organisation in 2022.

Eoin Morgan Retirement

 The England's cricket team captain Eoin Morgan announced his retirement from
the International Cricket.
 Under his captaincy, England lifted their first-ever ODI World Cup in 2019
 He is also the most successful T20I captain, with his team winning 42 out of the
total 72 matches.

Varinder Singh
 Indian hockey stalwart and member of the gold medal winning 1975 World Cup
team, Varinder Singh passed away.
 He was part of the gold medal-winning Indian team at the 1975 men’s Hockey
World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
 It was India’s only World Cup crown.
 In 2007, Varinder was conferred with the prestigious Dhyan Chand Lifetime
Achievement Award.

1st Black woman judge in US Supreme Court

 Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman judge of the Supreme
Court of America.
 She is also its first former public defender.
 This is the first time in the history of United States that a black woman has
become a judge of the country's highest court.

Saraswati Samman 2021

 Prof Ramdarash Mishra will be awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman,
2021.
 This is awarded for his collection of poems ‘Mein to Yahan Hun’.
 Saraswati Samman award was Instituted in 1991 by KK Birla Foundation.
 It is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the country.

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  It is given every year to an outstanding literary work written in any Indian
language by an Indian citizen and published within the last 10 years.

President of FATF
 T. Raja Kumar from Singapore has been appointed as the president of Financial
Action Task Force (FATF).
 FATF the anti-money laundering watchdog.
 He has replaced Marcus Pleyer, and will discharge his service for next two years.

21st TIFF Edition Trophy

 The 21st edition of the Transylvania International Film Festival was held at Uniri
Square in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
 Utama, the debut film director Alejandro Loayaza Grisi, was the winner and
awarded the 10,000-euro Transylvania Trophy.
 Best Director Award – Filmmaker Guomundur Arnar Guomundsson.
 Best Performance Award – Laura Muller & Schemci Lauth.

Ayurveda Ratna award

 Tanuja Nesari, Director of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) was awarded with
the Ayurveda Ratna Award by the UK Parliament.
 The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Indian Traditional Sciences (ITSappg)
conferred the award.
 It is recognising her contribution for promoting the growth of Ayurveda in India
and abroad.

Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards 2022

 HCL Technologies was recognised at Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards
2022, for innovation and implementing customer solutions based on Microsoft
technology.
 HCL Tech bagged Microsoft Partner of the Year Award for Healthcare and Life
Sciences (global winner) and the 2022 UK Microsoft Partner of the Year Award
(country winner).
 The IT company was also named a finalist in the 2022 Microsoft Partner of the
Year Award for Internet of Things (domain finalist).

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Youngest Speaker in the country
 Mumbai lawyer and first-time legislator, Rahul Narwekar has been elected as the
youngest Speaker of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
 He belongs to the BJP.
 Thus, he becomes the youngest ever in India to hold this Constitutional post.
 He creates a history to become the youngest legislator to be elected as the 16 th
Speaker (since 1960).

Fields Medal 2022

 Four mathematicians have been awarded the prestigious Fields Medals.

 It is dubbed as the Nobel prize in maths.
 It is awarded by the International Mathematical Union (IMU).
 It is an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organisation.
 It is awarded to mathematicians under 40.
 The four awardees of the prize include
o France’s Hugo Duminil-Copin - Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
o US-based June Huh – Princeton University
o Britain’s James Maynard – University of Oxford
o Ukraine’s Maryna Viazovska – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
 Ukraine’s Maryna is only the second woman to receive the award.
 The other female laureate was Iran’s Maryam Mirzakhani in 2014.

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Force Commander of UNMISS
 India’s Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian has been appointed the Force
Commander in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
 Almost 20,000 peacekeepers serve with the United Nations Mission in South
Sudan.
 They work to protect civilians and build durable peace in the conflict-affected
country.
 A total of 1,160 peacekeepers from India are currently serving in South Sudan.

Shiromani Award
 Michelle Poonawalla has received the Shiromani Award at NRI World Summit
2022, held at United Kingdom.
 The Shiromani Award was also awarded to Shri Sadhu Bhramvihari, Lord Rami
Ranger, Rita Hinduja Chhabria.

“Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life”

 Hachette India has announced the expanded paperback edition of this book.
 It is about five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.
 It is written by Anand with author-journalist Susan Ninan.

P Gopinath Nair
 Freedom fighter P. Gopinathan Nair has passed away at the age of 100.
 He was known for following Gandhian ideology in his life and was honoured with
the Padma award.
 He had participated in the freedom struggle.
 He had taken part in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
 He had worked alongside Vinoba Bhave to promote Bhoodan and Gramdan
movements.
 The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of
Padma Shri in 2016 for his contributions to society.

Wall of former chief economists

 India-born Gita Gopinath features on the ‘wall of former chief economists’ of
the IMF.

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  She became the first woman and second Indian to get this honour.
 The first Indian to achieve the honour was Raghuram Rajan.
 He was Chief Economist and Director of Research of IMF between 2003 and 2006.
 Gopinath was appointed as IMF Chief Economist in October 2018.
 Later promoted as the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director in December last
year.

Japan's PM

 Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was passed away recently.
 He was reported shot at while delivering a campaign speech.
 Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.
 He was initially serving from 2006-2007 and then again from 2012 to 2020.

United Kingdom Prime Minister

 United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced his resignation
as Conservative Party.
 Johnson will remain in charge until the process of electing a new leader is
completed.

Father of Indian Internet

 Brijendra K Syngal, the former Chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL),
passed away.
 He has been acknowledged as the father of the Indian Internet.

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  He was known for his strong views and fearlessness in taking on the
establishment.

Kharchi festival
 A week-long traditional Kharchi festival began on the eastern outskirts of
Tripura.
 During the festival prayer offered to 14 gods and goddess.
 Kharchi Puja is predominantly a tribal festival.
 But it owes its origins to Hindu religion.

Archaeologist Enamul Haque

 Dr. Enamul Haque, a well-known archaeologist, historian, expert in art, and
former director general of the Bangladesh National Museum passed away.
 He received the Ekushey Padak in 2016, the Swadhinata Padak in 2020.
 He was honoured with the Indian Padma Shri award for his contributions.

Mrs Universe

 India’s Pallavi Singh has won the Mrs Universe Divine Title at the finals held at
Yeosu City, South Korea.
 She won the title of Mrs India held in Jaipur in 2020.
 She then won the title of Mrs Indo-Asia Universe in the Asia-level competition
held in Delhi in 2021.

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Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum
 Japan decided to honour its former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with Supreme
Order of the Chrysanthemum, posthumously.
 This is the highest order in Japan.
 Emperor Meiji of Japan had established the Grand Cordon of the Order in 1876.
 He is the fourth former prime minister to get the Japan’s highest order.
 This order can also be conferred posthumously, unlike European orders.

Advisory committee for bishops

 Pope Francis has appointed three women two nuns and a laywoman committee
that assists him in choosing the world’s bishops.
 The three women are Argentine laywoman Maria Lia Zervino, French nun Yvonne
Reungoat and Italian sister Raffaella Petrini.
 About twice a month, the committee’s international members convene in Rome
to discuss their suggestions.

London Indian Film Festival

 Filmmakers Aparna Sen and Nandita Das have been awarded the Icon Award at
this year's London Indian Film Festival.
 This is for their contribution to Indian and global cinema.
 Director Pan Nalin's poignant ode to cinema 'Chhello Show' (Last Film Show) was
the winner of this year's audience-voted Best Film Award.
 In the annual Satayjit Ray short film category 'Jaagran', won the LIFF Jury Prize.

Gautam Adani - fourth richest person

 Gautam Adani become the world’s fourth richest person, by replacing Microsoft
founder Bill Gates.
 Mukesh Ambani ranks 10th in the Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List.
 Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk tops the list.

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68th National Film Awards 2022
 This year’s awards ceremony honoured films from 2020 as well due to COVID-
19-related delays.
 Soorarai Pottru won three of the four biggest awards.
 ‘Tanhaji The Unsung Warrior’ also got major trophies.
 The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India
from 1954.
 Some Important awardees
o Best Feature Film: Soorarai Pottru
o Best Director: Sachidanandan KR for Ayyappanum Koshiyum
o Best Actor: Suriya for Soorarai Pottru and Ajay Devgn for Tanhaji
o Best Actress: Aparna Balamurali for Soorarai Pottru
o Best Background Score: Soorarai Pottru (Tamil) - GV Prakash Kumar
o Best Supporting Actress: Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli for Sivaranjaniyum
Innam Sila Pengallum
o Best Editing: Sreekar Prasad for Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum
o Best Screenplay: Soorarai Pottru (Sudha Kongara), and Mandela (Madonne
Ashwin)
o Best Feature Film in Tamil: Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum.

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 o Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Mandela (Tamil) -
Madonne Ashwin
o Most Film Friendly State: Madhya Pradesh

World’s Best SME Bank

 Development Bank of Singapore Limited (DBS Bank) has been recognized as the
‘World’s Best SME Bank’ by Euromoney.
 The bank has established its position as a global industry leader in association
with Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance growth and development.
 DBS’ latest global best SME bank accolade comes from leading UK-based
financial publication Euromoney.
 It got this title for the second time since 2018.
 It also got following three first-time awards
o World’s Best Financial Innovation of the year 2022
o Asia’s Best Bank for Wealth Management 2022
o Asia’s Best Bank for SME award 2022

Global Energy Prize 2022

 Kaushik Rajashekara, an Indian-origin professor, has won the prestigious Global
Energy Prize.
 This is for his outstanding contributions to transportation electrification and
energy efficiency technologies while reducing power generation emissions.
 The awarding ceremony will be held during Russian Energy Week in Moscow.

Golden Visa to Kamal Hasan

 Tamil actor Kamal Haasan has been given the prestigious Golden Visa by the
United Arab Emirates.
 The UAE Golden Visa is an extended resident visa programme which lasts
between five and ten years.
 The visa is perpetually extended.
 It is given to high performers in a variety of industries, as well as to professionals,
investors, and those with potential skills.

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Highest taxpayers
 Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar were honoured by the Income Tax Department
in recognition of their contribution towards nation-building.
 Rajinikanth was felicitated for paying his taxes regularly.
 The highest taxpayer in India, Akshay Kumar, was honoured with ‘samman
patra.’

Winston Churchill Leadership Award

 Winston Churchill Leadership Award was presented to President of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky.
 This is awarded for his standing against Russian invasion of Ukraine on February
24, 2022 and fighting back.
 The situation was similar to what Churchill had faced in 1940.
 The Winston Churchill Leadership award was first given in 2006.
 Winston Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during Second
World War, and from 1951-1955.

India’s richest woman

 HCL Technologies' chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra has retained her position
as the richest woman in India.
 Falguni Nayar, founder of Nykaa, has emerged as the 2nd richest woman
 Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar has moved down one rank to be the third richest
woman in the country.

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 SPORTS

Qosanov Memorial Athletics

 Dhanalakshmi becomes 3rd fastest Indian woman in 200 meters.
 She ran her personal best time to win 200m gold at the Qosanov Memorial
Athletics in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
 She is only the third Indian woman to run in 23 second after national record
holder Saraswati Saha (22.82s) and Hima Das (22.88s).
 Dhanalakshmi Sekar is an Indian athlete from Tamil Nadu.
 Indian women’s discus thrower, Navjeet Dhillon from Punjab won the gold medal.

Adani Sportsline
 It is the sports arm of the Adani Group
 It has inked a long-term principal sponsorship deal with the Indian Olympic
Association (IOA).
 It will be the official partner of the Indian contingent during the upcoming
Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022,
and the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
 It had earlier been associated with the Indian contingent during the Tokyo
Olympics in 2021.

National record of Neeraj Chopra

 Neeraj Chopra created a new national record for the second time in a month with
a throw of 89.94 metres at the Stockholm Diamond League, Sweden.
 Chopra finished second after Anderson Peters of Grenada, who threw 90.31
metres on his third attempt.
 Recently, Chopra broke his previous record by throwing at 89.30 metres.

Jasprit Bumrah world record

 Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah got 35 runs to create a world record for maximum
runs off a single over in Test cricket.
 He hit 29 runs and 6 runs added as extras in the over of Stuart Broad of England.
 Thus, he breaks the West Indies Brian Lara's feat by one run.
 Lara hit South African Robin Peterson for 28 runs in a Test match in 2003-04.
 Former Australian player George Bailey had also scored 28.

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New Bowling Record
Player Season Matches Wickets
Jasprit Bumrah 2021/22 5 21
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2014 5 19
Zaheer Khan 2007 3 18
Ishant Sharma 2018 5 18
Subhash Gupte 1959 5 17

 Jasprit Bumrah has set a new record for the most wickets (21) taken by an Indian
bowler during a test series in England.
 The new record set by Jasprit Bumrah has surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s
record of 19 wickets during a five-match series in 2014.

U-15 Asian Wrestling Championship

 India has won the title of Asian Wrestling Championship
 Indian male wrestlers won seven medals including 4 gold in the Under-15 Asian
Wrestling Championship being held in Bahrain.
 These include four gold medals, two silver and one bronze.
 Earlier, Indian women wrestlers had won 6 gold and three silver.

Test wickets in SENA Countries

 Jasprit Bumrah became the 6th Indian bowler and 5th pacer to take 100 wickets
in SENA counties.
 Thus, he joining the league of legends like Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Ishant
Sharma, Mohammed Shami, and Anil Kumble.
 The SENA Countries include South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.

Commonwealth Games 2022

 Women's cricket will be making its debut in the Birmingham Commonwealth
Games 2022.
 This would be the second-ever time that cricket will be played in the
Commonwealth Games.
 It has only been played once before in Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games
1998 when men's ODI cricket was included in the schedule.

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  Birmingham 2022 will see T20 Cricket make its debut in Commonwealth Games.
 This will also mark the first appearance of the women's cricket in the event.

Elorda Cup
 The Youth World Boxing champions Alfiya Pathan and Gitika have won gold
medals at the Elorda Cup in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
 Two other Indian female boxers Kalaivani Srinivasan and Jamuna Boro won
silver medals.
 This tournament witnessed players from countries such as India, Uzbekistan,
and hosts Kazakhstan, Cuba, China, and Mongolia.

World Masters Athletics Championships

 The 94-year-old Bhagwani Devi Dagar from Haryana won a gold and 2 bronze for
India at the World Masters Athletics championships 2022.
 She got a gold medal in 100m sprint event held at the World Masters Athletics
Championship 2022, Tampere of Finland.
 She won a bronze medal in shot put as well.

Commonwealth Games – 2022

 Harmanpreet Kaur is all set to lead Team India in the upcoming Commonwealth
Games in Birmingham, England.
 This will be the first time that Women’s T20 International will be featured in this
multi-sport event.
 India is in Group A with Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan.

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Wimbledon men's title

S.No Category Winner

1 Men’s Singles N. Djokovic
2 Women’s Singles E. Rybakina
3 Men’s Doubles M. Ebden & M. Purcell
4 Women’s Doubles K. Siniaková & B. Krejčíková
5 Mixed Doubles D. Krawczyk & N. Skupski
 Serbia Novak Djokovic won a seventh Wimbledon men’s title and 21st Grand
Slam.
 The Wimbledon Championships 2022 is a Grand Slam tennis tournament that
takes place at London.

Asian U-20 Wrestling Championships

 The Indian team won as many as 22 medals in Asian U-20 Wrestling
Championships, held at Manama, Bahrain.
 It won 4 gold medals, 9 silver and 9 bronze medals.
 It includes both the men’s and women’s wrestling.

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ISSF World Cup

 Veteran Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan made history by becoming the first
person to ever win a men’s skeet gold medal at an ISSF World Cup held at Baku,
Azerbaijan.
 Minsu Kim from Korea got second place, and Ben Llewellin from Britain got third
place.

Singapore Open title

 P V Sindhu clinched the women's singles title at the Singapore Open 2022 BWF
Super 500 tournament.
 This is Sindhu’s first 500 title, since she won the world championship in 2019.
 In 2022, she has won two titles of Super 300.
 Singapore Open badminton event has been held every year from 1929.

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36th National Games logo
 The 36th National Games will be held in Gujarat from September 28-October 10.
 The logo for the 36th National Games 2022, featuring the Asiatic lion, was
unveiled recently.

2025 World Athletics Championships

 The World Athletics Council has selected Japan’s Tokyo to host the 2025 World
Athletics Championships.
 The 18th edition of the World Athletics Championships of 2022 begins in Oregon
USA.
 Budapest in Hungary will host the 2023 event.
 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships will be held in Medulin and
Pula in Croatia.
 The 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships will be held in
Tallahassee, Florida, USA.

World Athletics Championships - world record

 Tobi Amusan won the 100 metres hurdles gold at the World Athletics Champion
ships.
 This is the Nigeria's first gold medal in this competition.
 After breaking the world record in her semifinal heat with a time of 12.12 seconds,
she even made a faster time for the final.
 Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won his gold medal in the pole vault with new world
record.

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World Athletics Championships – 2022
Rank Country Medals
1 United States 33
2 Ethiopia 10
3 Jamaica 10
33 India 1
 The World Athletics Championships were held in America for the first time.
 In terms of medals, Team USA made the most of their time over the last 10 days.
 India came up at number 33 overall and fourth in Asia, just behind China, Japan,
and Kazakhstan.
 Algeria, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Greece, and South Korea have tied with India in
33rd position on the medal tally with 1 silver medal each.

IMPORTANT DAYS

National Doctors Day – July 1

 It was first observed in 1991.
 It is to recognize the contribution of the Second Chief Minister of Bengal, Dr.
Bidhan Chandra Roy.
 On July 1, 1882, he was born, and on the same date in 1962, he died.
 Family Doctors on the Front Line is the theme for 2022.

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Goods and Services Tax (GST) Day – July 01
 GST was launched on intervening night of June 30 and July 1, 2017, in a
ceremony held in the central hall of Parliament.
 It was first observed on July 1, 2018 marking the one-year anniversary of
implementation of the new tax regime.
 It was introduced with the idea of “One Nation-One Market-One Tax”.
 GST is an indirect, multi-stage, consumption-based tax system.
 However, items including petroleum, liquor, and stamp duty have not been added
to GST.
 These items follow the old tax system.

Chartered Accountants Day – July 01

 It is also known as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
Foundation Day.
 It is marked to commemorate the foundation of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India (ICAI) on July 1, 1949.
 ICAI is among the oldest professional institutions in the country.
 It is also the second largest professional accounting and finance body in the world
in terms of members.
 It is country’s first national professional accounting body created by the Indian
Parliament.

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World Sports Journalist Day - July 02
 It aims to celebrate the services of sports journalists for the promotion of sports.
 Sports journalism is a form of reporting that focuses on matters pertaining to any
subject or topic related to sports.
 Sports journalists work on various media platforms including print, broadcast,
and the internet.
 The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) established the World Sports
Journalist Day in 1994.

International Co-operative Day – July 02

 In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this day.
 The date was chosen as it marked the centenary of the International Cooperative
Alliance’s establishment.
 The Cooperatives celebrated the 100th International Day of Cooperatives this
year.
 This marks a decade from the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives
2012.
 The 100th International Day of Cooperatives in India is jointly organized by the
Ministry of Cooperation, Government of India and National Cooperative Union of
India (NCUI) on July 4 at Vigyan Bhawan, in New Delhi.
 The NCUI is an apex organization of the cooperative movement in India with a
focus on cooperative education and training.
 The theme of 100th International Cooperative Day is “Cooperatives Build a Better
World”.
 The cooperative movement in India is the largest in the world.
 AMUL, IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, etc. are some of the well- known success
stories of the cooperative movement in India.

World UFO Day – July 02

 It is a day dedicated to the undoubted existence of Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFO) by World UFO Day Organization (WUFODO).
 It commemorates two important days which are the first widely reported UFO
sightings in the world.
 The first sighting was reported on June 24, 1947, when an aviator named
Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen what looked like a flying saucer.

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International Plastic Bag Free Day – July 03
 The day is an initiative by Bag Free World for the purpose of getting rid of the
single-use of plastic bags around the world.
 The first International Plastic Bag Free Day was observed on July 3, 2008, when
Rezero, a member of Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), initiated it.
 The theme for this year is ‘Zero Bags – Zero Waste’.

World Zoonosis Day – July 06

 It is marked to commemorate the first vaccination administered against a
zoonotic disease like influenza, Ebola and West Nile virus.
 Zoonotic diseases are caused by viruses, parasites, bacteria and fungi.
 This day was instituted on 6 July 1885 to educate and raise awareness about
zoonotic diseases that can transmit from animals to humans.
 It commemorates French biologist Louis Pasteur, who administered the first dose
of the first vaccine against rabies.

World Chocolate Day – July 07

 It was the day when chocolate was first introduced to Europe in 1550.
 The first recorded chocolate consumption happened in Mesoamerica.
 In ancient Mesoamerica, which is present-day Mexico, people would perceive
cocoa beans as “food of the Gods”.
 It is believed that chocolate was consumed as a way to symbolize marital fidelity.

World Kiswahili Language Day – July 07

 It is observed following a declaration led by UNESCO member states.
 This year marks the 1st observance of this day.
 It was adopted during 41st session of UNESCO in 2021.
 The theme for this year is ‘Kiswahili for peace and prosperity’.
 Kiswahili language is widely spoken in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
 It is the only African language, to become the official language of African Union.
 It is also the first African language that United Nations has recognized in this
manner.

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Van Mahotsav - July 01 to 07
 Van Mahotsav was started in 1950 by K.M.Munshi.
 It aims to create enthusiasm among masses for forest conservation and planting
trees.
 Also, awareness campaigns about benefits and protection of trees and the harm
caused by cutting down of trees are held.

National Fish Farmers Day - July 10

 It aims to demonstrate solidarity with all fisher folk, fish farmers and concerned
stakeholders throughout the country.
 This Day is celebrated in the memory of scientists Dr K. H. Alikunhi and Dr H. L.
Chaudhury.
 Both of them successfully demonstrated Hypophysation (technology of induced
breeding) in Indian Major Carps on 10th July 1957.
 The fisheries sector plays a vital role in economic and overall development of the
country.
 It is also referred as the “sunrise sector”.

World Population Day - July 11

 The day seeks to raise awareness on global population issues.
 It was celebrated under the theme “A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future
for all – Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all”.

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  The UNDP started observing the “World Population Day” in 1989.
 This decision was taken after the global population reached 5 billion-mark on
July 11, 1987.
 The UNGA has recognized this day in December 1990.

Dhammachakra Day 2022

 Dhammachakra Day 2022 celebrations held at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh.
 This Celebrations were organised on “Ashadha Purnima”, by Ministry of Culture,
in coordination with “International Buddhist Confederation.
 Ashadha Purnima is regarded as the second most significant sacred day for
Buddhists, after the Vaishakha Buddha Purnima.
 The day is observed to commemorate First Sermon by Buddha.
 This is regarded as event of First Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma”.
 During his first sermon at Sarnath, Buddha taught Dharmachakra pravartana
Sutra.

Tamil Nadu Day – July 18

 Tamil Nadu Day is celebrated to commemorate the formation of the state.
 Tamil Nadu was created on 1 November 1956 with the name Madras State.
 A resolution was passed unanimously in the Madras State Legislative Assembly
by the Annadurai government seeking to rename the state as Tamil Nadu.
 On 18 July 1967, Madras State was officially renamed to Tamil Nadu.
 In 2019, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that 1st November of every
year will be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day to mark the formation of the state.
 In July 2022, Government of Tamil Nadu announced that 18 July of every year
will be celebrated as Tamil Nadu Day.

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World Youth Skills Day – July 15
 In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth
Skills Day.
 This day aims to commemorate, acknowledge and celebrate the importance of
equipping young people with skills for employment and entrepreneurship.
 The theme for 2022 is ‘Transforming youth skills for the future’.

National Plastic Surgery Day – July 15

 The concept of National Plastic Surgery Day was introduced in 2011 by
Association of Plastic Surgeons in India (APSI).
 Across the country, it performs free operations and conducts awareness
programmes on this day.

World Day for International Justice – July 17

 It aims to commemorate the organisations that work to bring justice to the
victims of international criminal acts.
 On July 17, 1998, 120 countries came together to sign a treaty titled the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court.
 The establishment came to be known as the International Criminal Court.
 It came into force on July 1, 2002.
 To celebrate the signing of the Rome Statute, World Day for International Justice
has been celebrated every year ever since.

International Moon Day - July 20

 This year will mark the inaugural celebration of International Moon Day.
 The UNGA, on December 9, 2021, recognised the proposal submitted by the Moon
Village Association.
 The day will celebrate one of the most memorable moments in human history.
 On July 20, 1969, US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the
first humans to reach the lunar planet.
 It was the first time that a human had set foot on the Moon’s surface.

Nelson Mandela International Day - July 18

 This day remember the first democratically elected President of South Africa and
his long years of struggle for justice against apartheid.

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  It is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela.
 Theme for 2022 is “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”.
 The United Nations officially designated Mandela Day in November 2009.
 The UNGA instituted the Nelson Mandela Prize in 2014 to honour those who have
dedicated their lives to serving humanity.

International Chess Day - July 20

 This day marks the date of establishment of the International Chess Federation
in Paris in the year 1924.
 The Day started as the founding day of the same day in 1966.
 In December 2019, the General Assembly proclaimed 20 July as World Chess
Day.

National Flag Day - July 22

 It was the day that the tricolour was adopted in its present form in 1947 as India’s
national flag.
 The members of the Indian Constituent Assembly met in the Constitution Hall in
Delhi for this on July 22, 1947.
 A motion to adopt the national flag for free India was introduced by Jawaharlal
Nehru.

World Brain Day - July 22

 It aims to create awareness on brain health.
 The World Federation of Neurology which was established on the same day in
1957.

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  It had proposed to observe the day as World Brain Day in the year 2014.
 The theme of the day is “Brain Health for all”

World Fragile X Awareness Day - July 22

 It aims to celebrate families impacted by Fragile X and highlight the progress of
research to find a cure.
 Fragile X syndrome causes mild to severe intellectual disability.
 The World Fragile X Day was initiated by the US-based FRAXA Research
Foundation.

Pi Approximation Day - July 22

 The process of calculating the value of pi was a never-ending and non-terminating
value.
 July 22 is observed as Pi Approximation Day, also called Casual Pi Day.
 Pi is also referred to as the Archimedes constant, which implies an infinite
constant.
 The decimal value of pi is 3.14was initiated by the physicist Larry Shaw in the
year 1988.

National Broadcasting Day - July 23

 It was on July 23,1927 that All India Radio began its journey as a private
company called Indian Broadcasting Company ltd (IBC).
 Later, it was taken over by the British and transformed into All India Radio (AIR)
on June 8, 1936.
 The name Akashvani (voice or announcement from the skies) was formally
adopted for the national broadcaster in 1956.

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Income Tax Day - July 24
 This date was chosen because income tax was first levied as a duty in India in
1860 on this very day.
 In 2010, the I-T department for the first time decided to celebrate this day to
mark 150 years of levy of the tax.
 This year, it will be the 162nd occasion of National Income Tax Day.
 The first income tax was imposed in India in 1860 by Sir James Wilson.
 The Income Tax Act 1922 was introduced it laid a proper framework for the direct
tax administration in the country.
 In 1924, the Central Board of Revenue was constituted as a statutory body with
functional responsibilities for administering the Income Tax Act.
 In 1963, the Central Board of Revenue was bifurcated, and a separate Board for
Direct Taxes known as Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) was constituted
under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.

World Drowning Prevention Day - July 25

 This day aims to collectively start action towards drowning prevention with the
objective of making the world sustainably-developed.
 Drowning is among the major causes of death for people aged 1 to 24 years.
 It is the third leading cause for unintentional injury death.
 It accounts for 7% of all injury-related deaths.

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World IVF Day - July 25
 On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown became the first baby to be born through in
vitro fertilisation (IVF) method.
 Robert Edwards received a Nobel Prize in 2010 for the development of IVF.
 IVF refers to a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in
vitro (meaning in glass).

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Kargil Vijay Diwas - July 26

 The day is celebrated to mark India’s victory in Kargil War against Pakistan.
 Year 2022 marked the 23rd anniversary of India’s victory.
 Kargil war was fought between Mat 1999 to July 1999 in Kargil-Drass sector of
Jammu & Kashmir.
 The Pakistan troops had illegally invaded the mountain tops of Northern Kargil
District in Ladakh.
 The Indian Army launched the “Operation Vijay” and regain its control over the
region.

World Hepatitis Day - July 28

 It aims to create awareness among people about the viral disease.
 This year’s theme is “Bringing hepatitis care closer to you”.
 In 1967, American Physician Baruch Samuel Blumberg discovered the Hepatitis
B virus.
 In order to honour the Nobel Prize-winning scientist his birthday, July 28, was
chosen as World Hepatitis Day.
 The hepatitis virus has five primary strains, known as types A, B, C, D and E.
 The World Hepatitis Alliance was founded in the year 2007.
 The first community-organised World Hepatitis Day was observed in 2008.

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International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem - July
26
 It seeks to raise awareness on importance of mangrove ecosystems.
 Mangroves are considered as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem”.
 UNESCO had adopted this day in 2015.
 As per Forest Survey Report 2021, Mangrove cover in India has increased by 17
square km as compared to 2019 assessment.
 It is now spread to 4,992 square km.

World Nature Conservation Day - July 28

 The day is celebrated to spread awareness to preserve our natural resources.
 The purpose of this day has always been to make people aware of the importance
of nature.
 The theme is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet".

International Tiger Day - July 29

 The purpose of observing this is to create awareness among the people to
conserve tigers and save their natural habitat.
 Asia was home to 100,000 tigers a century ago.
 Less than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild as of today.
 To double that amount by 2022 is one of the objectives for the day.
 This year's theme is “India launches Project Tiger to revive the tiger population”.

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CRPF 84th Raising Day - July 27
 The day celebrates the immense and unparalleled contribution of the force in
upholding the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of the nation.
 CRPF is India’s largest Central Armed Police Force.
 It operates under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
 It created as the ‘Crown Representative’s Police’ on 27 July 1939.
 It became the Central Reserve Police Force on the enactment of the ‘CRPF Act’ on
28 December 1949.

MISCELLANEOUS

2022 Resilient Democracies Statement

 The “2022 Resilient Democracies Statement” was signed after Prime Minister
attended a summit of the G7 countries.
 Apart from India, the signatories to the statement were Germany, Argentina,
Canada, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union.
 The signatories said that democracies enable “open public debate, independent
and pluralistic media” and the “free flow of information online and offline”,
fostering legitimacy, transparency, responsibility and accountability for citizens
and elected representatives alike.

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Asia Pacific Sustainability Index 2021

7
 The Asia Pacific Sustainability Index 2021 was recently launched by Knight
Frank, a Global property consultant.
 This Index has been topped by Singapore.
 It is followed by Sydney, Wellington, Perth, and Melbourne.
 These are the top five green-rated cities in commercial real estate in Asia-Pacific
region.
 Among the Indian cities, Bengaluru was ranked first.
 While in the Asia-Pacific region, it has been ranked 14th.
 Bengaluru is the only Indian city to achieve ‘Gold’ standard category.
 Delhi has been ranked 17th in the ASIA Pacific Region.
 Hyderabad has been ranked 3rd in India and 18th in Asia-Pacific region.
 Mumbai is ranked 4th among Indian cities and 20th in Asia-pacific region.

World Drug Report 2022

 The World Drugs Report 2022 was recently released by UN Office on Drugs and
Crimes.
 As per this report, legalization of Cannabis has increased its daily use and the
related health impacts.
 In Africa and Latin America, majority of the people aged under 35 are being
treated for drug use disorders.
 2 million people globally were injecting drugs.
 About half of this number suffered with hepatitis C, 1.4 million with HIV, and 1.2
million with HIV & hepatitis C.

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  Cocaine manufacturing has increased from 11 percent in 2019 to 1,982 tons in
2020.
 Opium production have increased by seven per cent worldwide, during 2020-
2021.
 This predominantly due to rise in production in Afghanistan.

Alluri Sitarama Raju statue

 Prime Minister unveiled the statue of legendary freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama
Raju on his 125th birth anniversary celebrations in Andhra Pradesh.
 It is the 30-feet tall bronze statue located in the Bhimavaram region of Andhra
Pradesh.
 Alluri Sitarama Raju, the legendary freedom fighter, is remembered for his fight
against the Britishers in order to safeguard the interests of the tribal
communities in the Eastern Ghats Region.
 Alluri Sitarama Raju had led the Rampa Rebellion against the British army back
in 1922.
 He is also referred to as ‘Manyam Veerudu’ (Hero of the Jungles) by the local
people as he waged an armed campaign against the British.

8th Edition - Digital India Week 2022

 Prime Minister has inaugurated the Digital India Week 2022 under the Digital
India Programme at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat.
 The theme of this Digital India Week is ‘Catalysing New India’s Techade’ to
transform the nation into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
 It aims to strengthen Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living.

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Dinosaur Skeleton Auction

 A 76 million-old fossilized skeletons of a dinosaur will be auctioned end of this

month in Newyork.
 The fossils became known for forming one of the most intact dinosaur skeletons
ever discovered.
 This remains were discovered in 1987.
 The size of skeleton is 10 feet tall and 22 feet long

Oldest European human fossil

 A jawbone fragment was discovered in northern Spain recently.
 This could be the oldest known fossil of a human ancestor found to date in
Europe.
 This fossil was found at an archaeological site in the Atapuerca mountain range
was about 1.4m years old.
 Until now, the oldest hominid fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the
same site in 2007.
 It was determined to be 1.2m years old.

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World's Greatest Places of 2022

 “50 extraordinary destinations to explore” this year was released by TIME

Magazine.
 Kerala and Ahmedabad, were the two Indian entries into the list of the world’s
greatest places of 2022.
 Kerala is one of India's most beautiful states, with spectacular beaches and lush
backwaters, temples, and palaces.
 As India's first UNESCO World Heritage City, Ahmedabad boasts both ancient
landmarks and contemporary innovations that make it a mecca for cultural
tourism.

AIDef symposium and exhibition

 The first ever “Artificial Intelligence in Defence (AIDef) symposium and exhibition”
was held recently at New Delhi.
 It was organised by Department of Defence Production under Ministry of Defence.
 It showcased AI-enabled solutions that have been developed by Services,
industry, research organisations, and start-ups & innovators.

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Expat Insider Rankings for 2022
 Mexico has topped the Expat Insider Rankings for 2022.
 It was released by the InterNations.
 India has been ranked on 36th position out of the 52 countries.
 Kuwait is the worst country for expats in the ranking.
 The top 5 countries are: Mexico, Indonesia, Taiwan, Portugal, Spain.

Henley Passport Index 2022

 Japan, Singapore and South Korea have top 3 places in the Index.
 India is placed 87th place in the list.
 A Japanese passport provides visa-free access to 193 countries.
 Ukraine is ranked 35th with access to 144 nations

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  China is placed 69th with access to 80 countries.
 Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are at the bottom of the ladder.
 Afghanistan’s passport offers access to only 27 countries.
 The index is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport
Association.
 The index is validated by a research team Henley and Partners.

Opium production and processing

 India has opened up the highly regulated sector of producing and processing
opium to private players.
 Bajaj Healthcare has become the first company to win tenders for producing
concentrated poppy straw.
 It would use to derive alkaloids that are the active pharmaceutical ingredient in
pain medication and cough syrups.
 The Central Bureau of Narcotics, Gwalior, licenses farmers to cultivate opium
poppy; supervises and controls the cultivation; and procures the opium produced
by the licenced cultivators.

Diamond - Lulo Rose

 A rare pink diamond has been unearthed in Angola.
 It is claimed to be one of the largest ever recovered in the world.
 The 170-carat precious stone is called the “Lulo Rose”.
 Lulo Rose is believed to be the biggest pink diamond recovered in the last 300
years.
 It is the fifth-largest diamond ever discovered at the Lulo alluvial mine.

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