1 India-Mongolia joint military exercise Nomadic Elephant begins in Meghalaya
The 16th edition of India-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise Nomadic Elephant began at the Foreign Training Node of Umroi ( Meghalaya ). The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 03 to 16 July 2024. The Indian contingent comprising 45 personnel is being represented by a battalion of Sikkim Scouts and other branches and military personnel. The Mongolian contingent is being represented by personnel from the 150 Quick Reaction Force Battalion of the Mongolian Army. The Nomadic Elephant exercise is an annual training event held alternately in India and Mongolia. The last edition was held in Mongolia in July 2023.
2 Committee for amendment in base year
Recently, a committee was constituted by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) to review the revision of the base year for national accounts . This 26-member committee will be headed by Biswantah Goldar and this committee will recommend a new base year for national accounts, which will probably be aligned with indices like Wholesale Price Index, Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index. Currently, the base year is 2011-12 but it has been proposed to revise it to the year 2020-21 . The aim of this initiative is to make economic analysis and policy-making more accurate by reviewing the existing database and incorporating new data sources. In India, the base year of GDP series was revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12 in the year 2015 after adapting the sources and methods in line with the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA), 2008. The SNA is a standard set of internationally accepted recommendations for compiling measures of economic activity.
3 International Steel Slag Road Conference
Dr VK Saraswat, Member (Science), NITI Aayog released guidelines for the use and processing of steel slag as processed steel slag aggregate in road construction at the First International Conference on Steel Slag Road jointly organised by CSIR-CRRI and PHDCCI in New Delhi . This technology uses steel slag (metal waste) obtained during steel production to build stronger and more durable roads. The process involves removing impurities and metal from the slag obtained and using it as an aggregate for road construction.
4 TV Ravichandran became Deputy NSA
On June 2, the central government appointed TV Ravichandran as the new Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) . Ravichandran was appointed in place of Vikram Mistry , who has been made the Foreign Secretary . TV Ravichandran is currently the Deputy Chief and Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) . Along with Ravichandran, Pawan Kapoor was also made Deputy NSA. Pawan Kapoor is a 1990 batch IFS officer. Pawan has experience of working in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office. There was no change in the responsibilities of Pankaj Singh, who was already working as Deputy NSA. Former RAW Chief Rajinder Khanna was appointed Additional NSA . This is the first time that an appointment has been made to the post of Additional NSA. This is a post that always existed but no one was appointed to it till now. 1978 batch officer Rajinder Khanna has been the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Chief from 2014-2016. Ajit Doval is the current NSA of India, whose team includes 3 Deputy NSAs and one Additional NSA .
5 Ministry of Education will provide ICT labs and smart classrooms in all Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and hostels
The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has decided to provide ICT (Information and Communication Technology) labs and smart classrooms in all functional Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and hostels as per ‘ Samagra Shiksha ’ norms to empower the girl children, make them digitally competent, and enhance their knowledge and skills. This will also bridge the existing digital knowledge gap. This initiative with an estimated cost of about Rs. 290 crore will benefit 7 lakh girl children in KGBVs. KGBVs are residential schools for girls from disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minorities, and Below Poverty Line (BPL) from Class VI to Class XII. KGBVs are opened in educationally backward blocks with the objective of ensuring access and quality education to these girls and to reduce the gap in knowledge between boys and girls at all levels of schooling. At present there are 5116 KGBVs functioning in 30 States/Union Territories of the country.
6 Dr. B.N. Gangadhar appointed Chairman of National Medical Commission
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Dr BN Gangadhar as the chairman of the National Medical Commission . A former senior professor in the department of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Medications (NIMHANS) , Bangalore, he has served as the director of NIMHANS. Dr Sanjay Bihari, director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, has been appointed as the chairman of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board. Their appointments are for a term of four years, until they attain the age of 70 years.
7 Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren has resigned
Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren has resigned. Mr. Soren sent his resignation to Governor CP Radhakrishnan. Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s working president Hemant Soren will again become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Mr. Hemant Soren will meet the Governor along with the MLAs of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal and stake claim to form a new government in the state. Hemant Soren resigned from the Chief Minister’s post after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case on January 31 this year.
8 Smart Cities Mission extended till March 2025
The Smart Cities Mission is a novel experiment in India’s urban development. Since its launch in June 2015 , the Mission has tried to implement several innovative ideas such as competition among cities for selection of 100 smart cities , stakeholder-driven project selection, formation of Smart City Special Purpose Vehicles for implementation, effective use of technology and digital solutions to improve urban governance, third-party impact assessment by leading academic and professional institutions, etc. Each of the 100 cities has developed a diverse set of projects, many of which are very unique and are being implemented for the first time, thereby improving the capacity and experience of cities and achieving major transformational goals at the city level. Over 8,000 multi-sector projects are being developed by the 100 cities at a cost of about ₹ 1.6 lakh crore. As of 03 July 2024 , 100 cities have completed 7,188 projects ( 90 percent of the total projects ) amounting to ₹ 1,44,237 crore as part of the Mission. The remaining 830 projects amounting to ₹ 19,926 crore are also in the final stages of completion. In terms of financial progress, the Mission has an allocated budget of ₹ 48,000 crore from the Government of India for the 100 cities.
9 NITI Aayog to launch ‘Sampoornata Abhiyaan’
NITI Aayog is launching a 3-month ‘ Sampoornata Abhiyan ‘ from 4th July to 30th September 2024 , which aims to make continuous efforts to achieve perfection in 6 key indicators in aspirational districts and 6 key indicators in aspirational blocks across the country. The objective of ‘Sampoornata Abhiyan’ is to achieve perfection in each of the 6 indicators identified in 112 aspirational districts and 500 aspirational blocks under the Aspirational District Program and Aspirational Block Program. Which includes percentage of pregnant women registered for antenatal care ANC, percentage of persons screened for hypertension / diabetes against the target population at the block level, percentage of pregnant women taking supplementary nutrition regularly under ICDS program, percentage of soil health cards generated against soil sample collection target and self-help groups receiving revolving fund against the total self-help groups in Badhra block have to achieve 100% target.
10 Russia approves program for building Russian orbital station by 2033
Russia has approved the program for the construction of the Russian orbital station by the year 2033. Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement that the program includes the design and construction of space modules, flight tests of new generation manned spacecraft, construction of launch vehicles from Earth and space infrastructure, and a timetable. Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov signed documents with the directors of 19 enterprises involved in the construction of the new station. The scientific and energy modules will be launched first in 2027 and three other main modules, namely the Universal Nodal, Gateway and Base modules, will be launched by 2030. Two other target modules are planned to be launched by 2033. Roscosmos said that 618.9 billion rubles have been allocated for this project.
11 National Payments Corporation of India’s International Payments Ltd in collaboration with Network International has facilitated QR-code-based Unified Payments Interface-UPI payments at points-of-sale in the UAE
National Payments Corporation of India’s International Payments Limited in collaboration with Network International has launched QR-code-based Unified Payments Interface-UPI payments at points-of-sale in the UAE . The initiative aims to facilitate seamless transactions for Indian tourists across Network International’s extensive network in the UAE. The UPI facility was officially launched in the UAE during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi. The agreements signed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit also include linking domestic debit/credit cards – Rupay from India and Jeven from the UAE, enhancing financial connectivity and cooperation. Adoption of UPI by more financial institutions will enhance the convenience of payments for Indians travelling to the UAE as well as NRIs with Indian bank accounts.
12 Japan introduces new banknotes
On July 3, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda launched new notes . These use 3D hologrammic technology to prevent counterfeiting. Japan has issued new bank notes for the first time in two decades . The new 10,000 yen (62 US dollars) note features Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931) . He was the founder of Japan’s first Mizuho Bank and Stock Exchange . He is also called the ‘ Father of Japanese Capitalism ‘. The new 5,000 yen note has a photo of teacher Umeko Tsuda (1864-1929) . She founded the first women’s university in Japan . The 1,000 yen note features a photo of leading medical scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato (1853-1931) .
13 Aditya L1 completes first orbit of halo orbit
On July 2, India’s first solar mission Aditya L1 spacecraft completed its first orbit around the sun . Aditya L1 was launched on September 2, 2023. Aditya L1 completed its first orbit around the sun in 178 days. ISRO has put Aditya L1 from the first orbit to the second orbit. It reached Lagrangean point L1 on January 6, 2024. This mission worth Rs 400 crore will now protect satellites of the whole world including India from solar storms. Lagrange point is named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange , which is colloquially known as L1. There are five such points between the Earth and the Sun, where the gravitational force of the Sun and the Earth balances. If an object is placed at this place, it easily starts revolving around that point. The first Lagrange point is at a distance of 15 lakh kilometers between the Earth and the Sun, the point at which the eclipse does not affect.
14 Hardik Pandya became the first Indian to get first rank in ICC T-20
On July 3, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the new T-20 ranking . In this, Team India’s star player Hardik Pandya has got the number one rank . Earlier, Hardik was at number three in this list. Hardik Pandya has come to the first position in the T-20 all-rounders ranking with a rating of 222. Sri Lanka’s Wanundu Hasaranga is also at the first position with a rating of 222. Australia’s Marcus Stoinis is at number three with a rating of 211. Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza is at the fourth position with a rating of 210. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (206 rating) is at number five.