1) World Chocolate Day celebrated on 7th July
•World Chocolate Day or International Chocolate Day is observed on 7th July every year. The day celebrates the existence of chocolate in our lives. It is marked by eating chocolates and sharing with dear ones.
2) India’s 1st NPNT compliant Drone flight successfully completed
•India’s First No-Permission No-Takeoff (NPNT) compliant drone flight on the A200 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) has been completed successfully by Quidich Innovation Labs and Asteria Aerospace. This NPNT drone flight is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation MoCA & DGCA comprehensive policy on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), which came into effect on 1st Dec 2018.
•Quidich, in collaboration with the Drone Federation of India (DFI), has extended its services to Police Departments across multiple states, providing drones for crowd monitoring and surveillance operations during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
3) World Bank approves $400 mn for rejuvenation of river Ganga
•The World Bank has signed a loan agreement of $400 million with Government of India to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme. The loan agreement aims to make the Ganga a clean and healthy river. The loan amount of $400 million comprises a loan of $381 million and a proposed Guarantee of up to $19 million. The new project will aim to stem the pollution levels in the iconic river and work towards strengthening the management of the river basin which is home to more than 500 million people.
•The World Bank has been supporting the efforts of Government of India since 2011 via the currently active National Ganga River Basin Project. This project has helped in establishing the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river.
4) Karnataka government launches “Nekara Samman Yojane”
•Karnataka government has launched a relief scheme “Nekara Samman Yojane” for weavers. The state government has allocated a sum of Rs 10.96 crore under the programme. As per the state government, the Silk, cotton, wool and other handloom weavers have been made eligible under the scheme.
•In the first phase of the “Nekara Samman Yojane”, a financial aid of Rs 2,000 will be transferred to 19,744 handloom weavers through Direct Benefit Transfer. The state Government also announced that the workers employed in the powerloom sector would also get a one-time payment of Rs 2,000 each.
5) HP becomes first state where everyone possess LPG connection
•Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has announced that the Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in India where 100% households have LPG gas connections. The feat was achieved by the state with the help of ‘Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana’ with the help of which the state government covered the left out families in the state, who were not covered under the Central government’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna.
•According to the Himachal Pradesh government, about 1.36 lakh families of the state have been benefitted under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojna while the remaining 2,76,243 families in the state were provided free gas connections under the Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana.
6) Israel successfully launches “Ofek 16” spy satellite into space
•Israel Defence Ministry has announced the successful launch of a new “Ofek 16” spy satellite into orbit by using a locally-developed Shavit rocket from a launch pad at Palmachim airbase in central Israel. This was the first launch of an Israeli spy satellite into space since the Ofek-11 which entered orbit in September 2016.
7) Injeti Srinivas appointed as chairman of IFSCA
•A 1983-batch IAS officer, Injeti Srinivas has been appointed as 1st chairman of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) for a period of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment.
•Besides the Chairman, IFSCA has a member each nominated from RBI, IRDAI, SEBI and PFRDA. There are also two members from the Central Government and full-time or part-time members in the Authority.
8) Railways, BHEL tie up for solar power generation
•Indian Railway in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has set up a 1.7 Megawatt solar power plant at Bina, Madhya Pradesh. The project involves the adoption of innovative technology for converting Direct Current to single-phase Alternating Current for feeding directly to Railway’s overhead traction system.
•The solar power plant has been established near the Bina Traction Sub Station (TSS). It can produce approximately 25 lakh units of energy annually and will save around ₹1.37 crore for Railways every year. The project was undertaken by BHEL under its Corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme.
9) Valtteri Bottas wins F1 Austrian Grand Prix
•Mercedes’s, Valtteri Bottas (Finland) has won the Austrian Grand Prix 2020 at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. This was the first race of 2020 Formula One season. Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari while McLaren’s Lando Norris came third.
