National Current Affairs
- The Supreme Court in a 2:1 majority verdict upheld the validity of the 97th constitutional amendment that deals with issues related to effective management of cooperative societies but struck down part IX B inserted by it which relates to the Constitution and working of cooperative societies.
- The change in the Constitution has amended Article 19(1)(c) to give protection to the cooperatives and inserted Article 43 B and Part IX B, relating to them.
- Girls who had access to free lunches provided at government schools had children with a higher height-to-age ratio than those who did not, said a new study on the inter-generational benefits of the midday meal scheme, published in Nature Communications.
- The paper was authored by a researcher from the University of Washington and economists and nutrition experts at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
- It found that the midday meal scheme was associated with 13%-32% of the improvement in the height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) in India between 2006 and 2016.
- The midday meal scheme was launched in 1995 to provide children in government schools with a free cooked meal with a minimum energy content of 450 kcal.
- More than two years after the Lokpal came into being, the Centre is yet to appoint a director of inquiry for conducting preliminary inquiry into graft complaints sent by the anti-corruption ombudsman, according to a Right to Information reply.
- The Lokpal, the apex body to inquire and investigate graft complaints against public functionaries, came into being with the appointment of its chairperson and members in March 2019.
- According to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, there shall be a director of inquiry, not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, who shall be appointed by the Central government for conducting preliminary inquiries referred to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) by the Lokpal.
- Indian journalists, Indian ministers, government officials and opposition leaders also figure in the list of people whose phones may have been compromised by the spyware, The Wire, which conducted the investigation along with international partners, claimed. The spyware Pegasus is apparently sold to governments around the world by NSO group, an Israeli company. It can be used to snoop on phones that run on Android and iOS systems.
- Amazon has shut down cloud infrastructure linked to Israeli firm NSO.
- As the country reported the first confirmed case of human death due to Avian influenza, AIIMS chief Dr. Randeep Guleria on July 21 said that human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus is very rare and there is no need to panic.
- The H5N1 is usually transmitted to poultry through migratory birds.
- According to the WHO, almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments.
States Current Affairs
- The Kerala Police are all set to launch a pink protection project that aims at tackling problems faced by women, including domestic violence, dowry-linked atrocities and cyberbullying.
International Current Affairs
- U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II.
- China introduced its emissions trading system, a key tool in its quest to drive down climate change-causing greenhouse gases and go carbon neutral by 2060.
- The scheme was unveiled with China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, seeking to take a global leadership role on the climate crisis in the lead up to a crucial UN summit in November.
- The U.S., Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity.
- Afghanistan’s strategic location has for a long time been touted as a competitive advantage for the country. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, and China to the northeast.
- Located at the heart of the historic Silk Road, Afghanistan was long the crossroads of commerce between Asian countries connecting them to Europe, and enhancing religious, cultural, and commercial contacts.
- The formation of the new quad group is important amid China’s desire to extend its Belt Road Initiative (BRI) to Afghanistan.
- The BRI, a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013, aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
- The Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said he “strenuously favours” a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, even as the hardline Islamist movement pursues a sweeping offensive across the nation.
- Amid the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the nation’s Army chief Lt. Gen. Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai is scheduled to visit India on a three-day visit from July 27.
- Afghanistan has long requested India for offensive military hardware.
- India has gifted it four Mi-24 attack helicopters and three Cheetal utility helicopters.
Business Current Affairs
- Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian said that India was on course to grow at about 11% and meet the fiscal deficit target of 6.8% of gross domestic product this year.
- According to realty advisory firm Savills India, Bengaluru continued to lead office space leasing among top six cities in India.
Environment
- Climate change has dramatically altered the Swiss Alp landscape — at a quicker pace than expected — as melting glaciers have created more than 1,000 new lakes across the mountains.
Current Affairs of Person in NEWS
- Wally Funk became the oldest person to reach space – some 60 years after first undergoing astronaut training.
- Ms. Funk was one of the so-called Mercury 13 group of women trained to become NASA astronauts in the 1960s but was passed over because of her gender.
- Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and three others (Jeff’s brother Mark, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemen) landed after Blue Origin’s first flight to space with passengers aboard, a key milestone in the company’s effort to make space tourism viable.
- 18-year-old Dutchman Oliver Daemen will become the youngest astronaut.
- Julia Ducournau, the 37-year-old French director of Titane , a freaky and provocative body-horror drama has become the first female director in 28 years to win the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’or.
- She becomes the second woman director to receive the Palme d’or.
Also refer :
- Download the pdf of Important MCQs From the History Of Ancient India
- List Of Important Inscriptions In India
- Know All About Jainism
