National

• · About: The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme from 01-04-2021 to 31-03-2026 with financial implication of Rs. 4607.30 crore.
• · National AYUSH Mission was launched on 15-09-2014.
• · The basic objective of NAM is to promote AYUSH medical systems through cost effective AYUSH services, strengthening of educational systems, facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy (ASU &H) drugs and sustainable availability of ASU & H raw-materials.

2. Cabinet approves increase in Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief

About: The Cabinet Committee has approved increase the Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners with effect from 01.07.2021 to 28% representing an increase of 11% over the existing rate of 17% of the Basic Pay/Pension.

3. ‘COVID Teeka Sang Surakshit Van, Dhan aur Uddyam’ campaign

• · About: Arjun Munda, Minister of Tribal Affairs virtually launched the nationwide campaign “COVID Teeka Sang Surakshit Van, Dhan aur Uddyam” to accelerate the pace of COVID vaccination among tribals, in India.
• · The campaign will leverage the 45,000 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVK) of the Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), a national level cooperative body under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• · The campaign will highlight the three key Js:
• · ⦁ Jeevan (Life), Jeevika (Livelihood) & Jaagrookta (Awareness)

4. Narendra Modi inaugurates PRASHAD projects in Varanasi

About: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated various development projects in Varanasi which includes Tourist Facilitation Centre under the Project “Development of Varanasi Under PRASHAD Scheme”.

‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD):

• · It is a Central Sector Scheme fully financed by the Government of India launched by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014-15 with the objective of integrated development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destinations.
• · The scheme aimed at infrastructure development such as entry points (Road, Rail and Water Transport), last mile connectivity, basic tourism facilities like Information/ Interpretation Centers, ATM/ Money exchange, eco-friendly modes of transport etc.

5. School Innovation Ambassador Training Program

· About: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda will jointly launch the ‘School Innovation Ambassador Training Program’ for 50,000 School Teachers on 16th July 2021.

• Tt aims at training 50,000 school teachers on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, IPR, Design Thinking, Product development, Idea generation etc.
• Designed by: Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education and AICTE for School Teachers based on its “Innovation Ambassador Training Program for Higher Educational Institution’s faculty members”.

6. International Cooperation and Convention Centre – Rudraksh in Varanasi

• · About: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Cooperation and Convention Centre – Rudraksh in Varanasi, which has been constructed with Japanese assistance.
• · Narendra Modi remembered recalled the moment when he had a discussion with the then Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe on the idea of ​​Rudraksh when he came to Kashi.
• · The international cooperation and convention centre has been named "Rudraksh" and has as many as 108 Rudraksha at the Centre. Its roof is shaped like a 'Shiva Linga'.
• · The objective is to provide opportunities for social and cultural interactions between people at the international convention Centre.

7. Rajnath Singh launches

• · About: Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched an Artificial Intelligence-powered grievance management application in New Delhi.
• · The system was developed by Ministry of Defense with the cooperation of IIT-Kanpur.
• · This is the first Artificial Intelligence-based system developed to improve grievance redressal in the Government. The system can identify repeat complaints or spam automatically.
• · It enables geographical analysis of complaints in a category including analysis of whether the complaint was adequately addressed or not by the concerned office.

8. Piyush Goyal will be the Leader of House in Rajya Sabha

• · About: Union minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as the leader of the house in Rajya Sabha. He will replace Thaawarchand Gehlot, who is now the Governor of Karnataka.
• · He holds key portfolios in the cabinet including commerce and industry, food and consumer affairs.

9. India’s first monk fruit cultivation exercise begins in HP’s Kullu

• · About: The Palampur-based Council of Scientific Research and Industrial Technology Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) in Kullu initiated the first field trial for ‘monk fruit’ in Himachal Pradesh.
• · The field trials have begun three years after the CSIR-IHBT imported its seeds from China and grew it in the house.
• Monk fruit:
• · The ‘monk fruit’ is originated in China and is widely known for its properties as a non-caloric natural sweetener.
• · The Monk fruit is “a perennial crop having a life span ranging between four to five years and its fruiting starts eight to nine months after germination”.
• · The plant prefers mountainous area with an annual mean temperature of about 16–20 °C and humid conditions

10. NTPC to build country’s largest solar park in Rann of Kutch

• · About: State-run power producer NTPC has received approval from the Union ministry of new and renewable energy to set up a 4,750 mega-watt (MW) renewable energy park in the Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat.
• · This will be the largest solar park in the country, and the company plans to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale from the electricity generated by the solar panels to be installed there.
• · NTPC’s park is part of the central government’s plan of making state-run companies build massive clean energy parks to help developers achieve economies of scale and further bring down solar and wind power tariffs.

11. Navy Receives 10th Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft P-8I

• · About: The Indian Navy has received the 10th anti-submarine warfare aircraft P-8I from the US-based aerospace company Boeing.
• · The Defence Ministry had first signed a contract for eight P-8I aircraft in 2009. Later, in 2016, it signed a contract for four additional P-8I aircraft.
• · In addition to unmatched maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the P-8I has been deployed to assist during disaster relief and humanitarian missions

12. Ladakh Becomes First UT To Achieve 100 Per Cent First Dose Vaccine

• · About: Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh has emerged as the first UT in the country to have inoculated all its residents and the "guest population" against COVID-19 with the dose of the vaccines.
• · The feat comes in less than three months since the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination covering the 18-44 age group was launched in the country.
• · As per official data, a total of 89,404 people of all eligible groups have been administered the first dose in the UT.

13. Bihar with maximum deaths due to lightning strikes since 2019

• · About: According to India's second annual Lightning Report, Bihar has reported the most deaths due to lightning between April 1, 2020- March 31, 2021 (401 deaths), followed by Uttar Pradesh ( 238 deaths), Madhya Pradesh (228), Odisha (156), and Jharkhand (132), respectively.
• · Among the states, Punjab reported a 331% rise in thunderbolt strikes as per the annual lightning report 2020-21.
• · Bihar saw a 168% increase in lightning strikes in 2020-21, followed by Haryana 164%, Puducherry 117%, Himachal Pradesh 105%, and West Bengal 100%, respectively.
• · According to the report, the most number of deaths are due to people standing under isolated tall trees.
• · It is recommended that states should undertake lightning micro-zonation for geographical region-wise precise handling of the risk.
• · Lightning is a huge spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. There are three kinds of lightning--Inter-cloud; Intra-cloud, and Cloud-to-ground. Humans are killed because of cloud-to-ground lightning.

14. Delhi govt collaborates with Google to provide real-time bus tracking

About: The Delhi government has collaborated with Google to launch a system to enable commuters to track bus locations, arrival and departure times, and routes on a real-time basis on their smartphones.

15. India's first national dolphin research Centre

• · About: India's and Asia's first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will come up on the bank of the Ganges in the premises of Patna University, Bihar.
• · The Gangetic river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal. It is a Schedule I animal under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. It has been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• · The Gangetic river dolphin is one of four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The other three are found in the Yangtze river in China (now extinct), the Indus river in Pakistan and the Amazon river in South America.
• · Dolphins blind and finds its way and prey in river waters through echolocation. Bihar is home to around half of the estimated 3,000 Gangetic dolphins in India.

International

1. Cabinet approves (MoU) between India and Russian Federation

· About: The Union Cabinet has approved the MoU between the Ministry of Steel of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation on cooperation regarding coking Coal, which is used for Steel making.

· The MoU will provide an institutional mechanism for co-operation in the coking coal sector between India and Russia.

2. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Kingdom of Denmark

· About: The Union Cabinet has approved MoU between the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Denmark on Cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine.

· The bilateral Memorandum of Understanding shall encourage cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the India and the Ministry of Health of Denmark through joint initiatives and development of research in the health sector.

3. BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Declaration adopted

• · About: In the BRICS Labor & Employment Ministers’ Meeting under India’s Presidency, the BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Declaration was adopted.
• · The Ministerial Declaration recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the efforts made to address unemployment, decent work deficits and inequality.
• · It also illustrates the strong determination of BRICS Member countries to recover with stronger national economies, inclusive labour markets and social protection systems.

4. Cuba Develops World's First Conjugate Vaccine

• · About: BioFarma, Cuba’s state-run corporation, recently announced that its indigenously produced Soberana 2 vaccine was 91.2 percent efficacious in Phase-3 trials.
• · The Soberana 2 vaccine is said to be the first conjugate vaccine against COVID-19.
• · If approved, Cuba will become the first Latin American country to manufacture and produce a vaccine against COVID-19.
• · Soberana 2: This vaccine is considered unique as it is the only conjugate vaccine that combines the virus’ receptor-binding domain with a deactivated form of tetanus in order to boost the immune response.
• · A conjugate vaccine is developed or made by combining a weak antigen with a strong antigen so that the immune system has a stronger response to the weak antigen.
• · Soberana 2 requires a three-dose regimen.

5. SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting

• About: Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) began a key meeting of the grouping in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe with a focus on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
• India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

· External Affairs Minister: S Jaishankar

SCO:

• It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017.
• India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005.
• Headquarters: Chaoyang District, Beijing

Special days

1. World Youth Skills Day 2021

• · About: The United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day in 2014.
• · The day was marked to achieve the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030, which is a part of Sustainable Development Goal 4 that urges to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
• · Theme: 'Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic'