NATIONAL NEWS

Five New Ramsar Sites

• On 26 July 2022, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav announced that India has designated five new wetlands of international importance.

• The new sites are Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu, Pala wetland in Mizoram and Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

• With this, there are now a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country.
• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty aims at the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It was named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, the convention was signed in 1971.

ONGC Ties Up with Greenko

• State-run ONGC signed a memorandum of understanding with Greenko Group, to enhance opportunities in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen.

• Under the partnership, the companies will jointly develop a 1-MMTPA green ammonia production and storage facility in the country for export purpose.

• The green ammonia produced from the project is intended to be sold at international markets where there is high demand for alternative molecules derived from green energy as the source.

Bal Raksha Mobile App

• Union Minister of Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal launched the Bal Raksha mobile app at the All-India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA).

• App is aimed at creating awareness of paediatric preventive healthcare through Ayurveda intervention amongst parents. The app will also collect feedback from parents regarding the impact of the kit on their children’s health and immunity.

• Mr Sonowal also inaugurated ‘Vaccination Centre for children’ at the All -India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA).

• The All India Institute of Ayurveda, an autonomous organisation under Ministry of Ayush, aims at bringing synergy between the traditional wisdom of Ayurveda and modern tools and technology.

'Smart e-beat’ System for Gurugram Police

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched an app-based system for police attendance and real-time monitoring of patrolling by personnel in Gurugram.

• He also launched the 'Smart E-Beat' system.

• This app-based system has been introduced in Gurugram under the 'Smart Policing Initiative' (SPI) and it will help policemen to mark their attendance and in monitoring of their rides.
• The ‘Smart E-Beat' system would cover the area of all the 33 police station located in the urban area of Gurugram.

Center Modifies Flag Code of India 2002

• As the federal government launches its Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, the Ministry of Home Affairs changed the Flag Code of India 2002 to allow the flying of the national flag even at night.

• Previously, the flag could only be flown from dawn till sunset.
• The flag may be flown day and night when it is exhibited in the open or on a member of the public’s home which replaced clause XI of paragraph 2.2 of the Flag Code.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Russia Decides to Quit ISS

• On 26 July 2022, Moscow's space agency Roscosmos's newly-appointed chief Yury Borisov announced that Russia has decided to quit the International Space Station after 2024.

• ISS is a multinational collaborative project involvinf 5 participating space agencies namely NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe) and CSA (Canada).

• Russia and the United States have worked side by side on the space station which has been in orbit since 1998.

• In spite of this decision, Yury Borisov also announced that space programme will continue to get top priority and Russia will start putting together a Russian orbital station before 2024.

India Contributes $2.5 Million for Palestine Refugees

• India contributed USD 2.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

• Director of the West Asia and North Africa Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Sunil Kumar presented the cheque for USD 2.5 million to the UNRWA Director of Partnerships of the Department of External Relations, Mr. Karim Amer at UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, Palestine.

• The UNRWA services for Palestinian refugees involve education, health care, relief, infrastructure, camp improvement and protection

• India is a dedicated donor to UNRWA having given USD 20 million to UNRWA services to Palestine refugees across the Middle East since 2018.

SPORTS

ICC 2025 Women’s World Cup

• International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that India will host the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup.
• India, Bangladesh, England and Sri Lanka were named as the four hosts for ICC women’s white-ball events from 2024 to 2027.
• The hosts were selected through a bidding process overseen by an ICC Board sub-committee which included BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.
• Bangladesh will host the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup while the 2026 edition will be held in England.

SAI Starts ‘Create for India’ Campaign

• Sports Authority of India (SAI) has started a new initiative to cheer for Team India with the campaign "Create for India” in the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG).

• Participants can submit their creative entries by 26 July 2022, using the hashtags #create4India and #cheer4India.

• The 2022 CWG are scheduled to be held in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022.

• A 215-member Indian athlete contingent across 16 disciplines is all set to participate in the Commonwealth Games.

44th Chess Olympiad

• The 44th Chess Olympiad kicks off in Chennai, India. It starts on the 28th of July and ends on the 9th of August.

• 188 Federations from around the world will participate in the event.

• The competition which is being organized since 1927, is being hosted in India for the first time and after 30 years in Asia.

• ‘Thambi’ is the official Mascot of the 44th Chess Olympiad.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Chief Economist of World Bank

• World Bank President David Malpass has appointed Indermit Gill as the Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics.

• Mr Gill will succeed American economist Carmen Reinhart and his appointment will be effective from 01 September 2022.

• An Indian national, Gill is currently Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions where he led work on macroeconomics, debt, trade, poverty and governance.

CEO of Paytm Payments Services

• The parent company of the unicorn fintech company Paytm, One97 Communications has appointed Nakul Jain as the CEO of Paytm Payments Services Ltd (PPSL).
• He replaced Praveen Sharma.
• Nakul Jain holds over 22 years of experience in retail banking and has worked in sub-fields including branch banking, wealth management, product and segmentation, distribution, retail assets and acquisition.
• Earlier, he served as managing director of private banking, priority banking, deposit, and branch banking at Standard Chartered Bank.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

‘Dilip Kumar: In the Shadow of a Legend’ Book

• A book titled ‘Dilip Kumar: In the Shadow of a Legend’ has been released.
• The book has been authored by Faisal Farooqui.
• It is based on the life of Actor Dilip Kumar, also known as Yusuf Khan.
• The author paints an intimate portrait of the actor, throwing light on some little-known tales from his illustrious life.
• He was one of the few actors who could carry a whole movie by himself.
• He was a natural actor who excelled in every character he portrayed.

OBITUTARY

Padma Shri Awardee Sushovan Bandyopadhyay

• Sushovan Bandyopadhyay, famous as Bengal's 'one rupee doctor', passed away in Kolkata. He was at the age of 84.

• A doctor and a politician, Bandyopadhyay treated patients for close to 60 years.

• He had treated people for just one rupee and is fondly known as 'Ek Takar Daktar' (one rupee doctor).
• He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020. The same year, his name was recorded in the Guinness World Records for treating the maximum number of patients.