Ten relevant news updates from across the world, useful for examinations
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Headlines - 26 - 06 - 2021
- Terrorism - India's first ever 'drone terror attack' - At Dushanbe, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval underlined the need to monitor new technologies used by terrorists, including drones, at a meeting with his counterparts at the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation group. Immediately thereafter, the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Jammu was hit on 27th June, with two low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs), allegedly dropped from two drones. There was no damage to equipment, and an investigation was in progress along with civilian agencies. Goal is to ascertain the flight path of the two drones. The location is 14 km (as the crow flies) from Jammu Airport, a civilian facility with the runway and air traffic control under the IAF, to the international border. The IAF station at Jammu is an important base for helicopters operating along the Western Front and in the Himalayas.
- Healthcare and Medicine - India surpasses US in vaccination - India surpassed the United States in the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered so far, as per the Union Health Ministry. While India has administered a total of 32,36,63,297 doses till date, the US has given 32,33,27,328 doses. A total of 17,21,268 vaccine doses were administered in India on 27th June. Indian government has promised to vaccinate all eligible adults by 31st December 2021. It informed the Supreme Court that ample quantities were being procured to ensure the same.
- World Politics - FATF retains Pakistan on "Grey List" - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decided to retain Pakistan on its 'increased monitoring list’, another name for the 'Grey List'. The FATF issued the 27-point action plan after placing Pakistan on the ‘Grey List’ in June 2018. The action plan pertains to curbing money laundering and terror financing. During the October-2020 Plenary, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pakistan was given an extension for full compliance with the 27-point action plan till February 2021. It had then not fully complied with 6 of the 27 directives. In February 2021, FATF acknowledged Pakistan’s significant progress in combating terrorism, however it was still to fully comply with three of the 27-point action plan. The three points pertained to effective steps in terms of financial sanctions and penalties against the terror funding infrastructure and the entities involved.
- Agriculture - Digital push in agriculture via Agristack - The Ministry of Agriculture signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft to run a pilot programme for 100 villages in 6 states. The MoU requires Microsoft to create a ‘Unified Farmer Service Interface’ through its cloud computing services. This comprises a major part of the ministry’s plan of creating ‘AgriStack’ (a collection of technology-based interventions in agriculture), on which everything else will be built. It is a collection of technologies and digital databases that focuses on farmers and the agricultural sector. AgriStack will create a unified platform for farmers to provide them end to end services across the agriculture food value chain. It is in line with the Centre’s Digital India programme, aimed at providing a broader push to digitise data in India, from land titles to medical records. The government is also implementing the National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NRLMP). Under the programme, each farmer will have a unique digital identification (farmers’ ID) that contains personal details, information about the land they farm, as well as production and financial details. Each ID will be linked to the individual's digital national ID Aadhaar.
- Polity and Governance - Ladakh's jobs reseravation - All jobs in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh have been reserved for the residents of the region, according to an order issued by Lieutenant-Governor R.K. Mathur. No person shall be qualified for appointment to the service unless the person is a resident of the UT of Ladakh. The new recruitment rules are mentioned in the Clause 11 of the Union Territory of Ladakh Employment (Subordinate) Service Recruitment Rules, 2021. This was a long-pending demand of the people of Ladakh, after it was carved out as a UT on August 5, 2019. The population of Ladakh, which comprises the districts of Leh and Kargil, is around 2.8 lakh as per the last census. In 2020, J&K introduced the domicile certificate as eligibility criteria for appointment to government services.
- Defence and Military - Defence Industrial Corridors - During a webinar on India-Sweden Defence Industry Cooperation, DM Rajnath Singh invited Swedish firms to invest in Defence Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. To support the growth of the Defence sector and enhance manufacturing capacity in the sector, these are being set up. Promoting Make in India, the Corridors will catalyse indigenous production of defence and aerospace-related items. This will reduce imports needs, and promote the export of these items to other countries. The Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor consists of the following six nodal points - Agra, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow. The Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor (by the Government of Tamil Nadu) consists of five nodal points - Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur, Salem and Tiruchirappalli.
- Social Issues - LGBTQIA+ community gets support from Madras HC - Empathising with the LGBTQIA+ community, the Madras High Court directed the Union Ministry of Social Justice to enlist NGOs that could provide counselling, monetary support, legal assistance and protection to them until a law could be enacted to protect them. Ministry should upload the details of the NGOs on its website within eight weeks and revise the information periodically. Any person who faced an issue because he/ she/ they belonged to the LGBTQIA+ community could approach any of the enlisted NGOs for safeguarding their rights. NGOs should also coordinate with the police with respect to offences committed against them. Appropriate changes should be made to the existing government short stay homes, anganwadi shelters, Garima Greh (shelter home for transgender persons) for providing accommodation, food, medical care facilities to those from the community in need of such assistance. Sensitisation programmes could also be conducted for stakeholders, including police and prison authorities, judges, physical and mental health professionals, educational institutions, health workers, public and private workplaces. LGBTQIA+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and such others’ (LGBTQIA+) community.
- Religion - Uttarakhand High Court objects to Yatra - Calling the BJP state government’s decision to start the Char Dham Yatra “impractical if not foolhardy” as “such a scenario would not only endanger the lives of the local population but could also spread the virus,” the Uttarakhand High Court has directed the government to review its decision to commence the Yatra from July 1. “Perhaps the yatra needs to be postponed or canceled, as in the case of the Amarnath Yatra,” said the order. The court also referred to infections caused by large gatherings like the Mahakumbh in May, where lakhs of people were allowed to congregate at Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar for a dip in the Ganga without caring about consequences. “The court is of the firm opinion that a catastrophe like Covid should not be re-invited by allowing the Char Dham Yatra,” read the order.
- Defence and Military - Iran’s nuclear sites. Iran’s parliament speaker said the country would not hand over recordings from nuclear sites to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors as a temporary agreement to do so has expired, complicating ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna. Iran will also turn off the IAEA cameras if the United States fails to remove all sanctions. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a failure to extend the monitoring agreement would be a “serious concern” for Vienna negotiations. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that it would only make the decision on whether to extend the IAEA monitoring agreement once it had expired.
- Indian Politics - Covid Update - (a) Noting that India's Covid vaccination drive "keeps gaining" momentum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on June 28, 2021, that "vaccines for all, free for all" remains the government's commitment. While India launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, and has administered over 32.36 crore doses till date, the US which started its inoculation drive on December 14, 2020 has given over 32.33 crore doses. (b) The Supreme Court on June 28 paid tribute to 77 advocates of the apex court lawyers’ body, who lost their lives due to COVID-19. (c) Drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has announced the commercial launch of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), an oral drug for use as an adjunct therapy for hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
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