1) Justice Uday Umesh Lalit takes oath as 49th Chief Justice of India
•Justice Uday Umesh Lalit took oath as the 49th Chief Justice of India. Newly elected President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers were present at the ceremony. Justice Lalit’s predecessor, Justice NV Ramana, was also present at the oath-taking ceremony.
2) Army Speeds Up Procurement Of Zorawar For LAC
•With the experience of deploying armour at an altitude of 15,000 ft. to out-manoeuvre the movement of Chinese forces during the stand-off in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army is prioritising the procurement of the indigenous Indian light tank, aptly named ‘Zorawar’, for deployment in the mountains. In addition, the armoured corps and mechanised forces are inducting swarm drones as well as counter drone systems as part of the overall modernisation process, official sources said.
3) Indian Navy’s AK-630 gun gets first made in India ammunition
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India in the defence sector received a major boost as the Indian Navy received the first-ever completely made-in-India 30mm ammunition. The ammunition will be used in AK-630 guns, which is fitted on warships. This is a major achievement for the country that private industry has developed fully indigenous ammunition. It has been done in 12 months, and all components are indigenous.
4) GoI carries out the “One Nation One Fertilizer” program
•One Nation One Fertilizer: The government issued an order requiring all businesses to market their goods under the brand name “Bharat” in order to standardize fertiliser brands across the nation. According to the One Nation One Fertilizer order, irrespective of the company that manufactures it, whether in the public or private sector, all fertiliser bags, whether containing urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of ootash (MOP), or NPK, will sport the brand name “Bharat Urea,” “Bharat DAP,” “Bharat MOP,” and “Bharat NPK.”
5) Nagaland gets its 2nd railway station in 119 years
•North-east state, Nagaland got its second railway station after a gap of more than 119 years with the commissioning of a new facility at Shokhuvi. Dimapur Railway Station, in the heart of the commercial hub of the state, was inaugurated in 1903. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio flagged off the Donyi Polo Express from Shokhuvi Railway Station during the day.
•The Donyi Polo Express ran daily between Guwahati in Assam and Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh. The train service has now been extended till Shokhuvi, a few kilometres from Dimapur. Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh will be directly connected by train service with the extension of Donyi Polo Express till Shokhuvi Railway Station.
•Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) General Manager Anshul Gupta said it is a proud moment for the Indian Railways and NFR which is working to connect all the capitals of the northeastern states with railways in a time-bound manner. The foundation stone for the 90-km-long broad gauge route from Dhansiri in Assam to Zubza in the Kohima district of Nagaland was laid in 2016, and work is underway. The deadline was extended from 2020 to 2024.
6) South Korea breaks its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate
•South Korea has once again shattered its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate. South Korean women were estimated, based on 2021 data, to have an average of just 0.81 children over their lifetimes, down from 0.84 a year earlier. The number of newborns declined in 2021 to 260,600, which equates to about 0.5% of the population.
•According to the United Nations’ global population projections and World Bank’s data, the report further stated that Korea is the world’s fastest-ageing nation among economies with a per capita GDP of at least $30,000. By 2100, its population will fall by 53% to 24 million, up from a 43% decline forecast in 2019. Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-Yong, who took office earlier this year, warned in April that the nation’s economy is on the verge of secular stagnation as the population ages and productivity slows.
•In fact, Korea is behind all OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries in fertility rates at 0.8 babies per woman. The report reveals that a reducing workforce is one of the major factors impacting its growth rate. The working-age population maxed out at 37.3 million in 2020 and is now expected to drop by almost half by 2070, according to Statistics Korea.
7) Achieving 2070 Net-Zero Target Could Boost India’s GDP
•Achieving net zero emissions by 2070 could boost India’s economy by as much as 4.7 per cent above the projected baseline growth in GDP terms by 2036 worth a total of $371 billion, illustrates modelling and research commissioned by the High-level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero. it could boost GDP by 7.3 per cent ($470 billion) and create almost 20 million additional jobs by 2032.
8) Google announced a programme for 100,000 developers in India
•IT giants, Google has unveiled a programme to upskill 100,000 Indian developers and researchers in cyber security. The campaign will be part of the company’s Cyber Security Roadshow, which will cover multiple cities across India and offer tools, tutorials, and mentorship on security practices for building consumer apps, as well as enterprise programmes.
•The upskilling programme will cover two major programme areas, Android and Google Cloud, and will be aimed at upskilling 100,000 lakh engineers in India. The Google Cloud upskilling programme will focus on commercial developers and security administrators, while the Android upskilling programme will serve developers creating apps for consumer use. Google’s move comes as industry players have called attention to the need for better upskilling requirements among developers in the country.
9) Taurus Sainik Aramgrah Inaugurated by Indian Army and DMRC
•The Taurus Sainik Aramgrah was inaugurated by Lt Gen Nav K Khanduri, AVSM, VSM, GOC-in-C, Western Command at Delhi Cantt. The Taurus Sainik Aramgrah is the first of its kind project which is constructed by the collaboration of the Indian Army and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The event was also facilitated by the officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
10) FIFA Council remove ban on Indian football
•The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence. The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.
•Notably: FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner.
