Daily Current Affairs and GK | 25 July 2024

Topic: National News

1. Department of Post has released the beta version of the digital National Addressing Grid.

• DIGIPIN (Digital Postal Index Number), a beta version of the National Addressing Grid, has been released by the Department of Post.
• DIGIPIN will use one of the 16 alphanumeric symbols (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,G,J,K,L,M,P,W,X).
• The entire country will be divided into 16 regions (4X4), including the maritime EEZ.
• The first character for the DIGIPIN will identify one of these 16 regions.
• The second character in DIGIPIN will give the location of a place in the first region.
• The postal department and IIT Hyderabad have developed this system.
• This code will then be used as the “offline addressing reference” for any specific location within the DIGIPIN system.
• DIGIPIN can also be used for emergency rescue operations and national disasters such as floods.
• It will act as a robust pillar of Geospatial Governance.

Topic: Reports and Indices

2. According to the FAO report, China, Australia and India registered most increased forest areas.

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report titled “The State of the World’s Forests”.
• In 2020, the global forest covered approximately 4.1 billion hectares (ha), or 31 per cent of the land area.
• India secured the third position among the top 10 countries with the most forest area gains.
• Between 2010 to 2020, India gained 2,66,000 hectares of forest area annually.
• As per the FAO report, China secured the first spot with a maximum forest area gain of 19,37,000 hectares, followed by Australia with 4,46,000 hectares.
• Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the United States, France, Italy and Romania are among the top 10 countries with the maximum forest area gain.
• Indonesia witnessed an 8.4% decline in deforestation from 2021 to 2022.
• In 2023, Brazil's Amazon registered a 50% reduction in deforestation.
• The report highlighted that climate change has increased the vulnerability of forests to various stressors, including wildfires and pests.
• The global mangrove area was recorded to be 14.8 million ha.
• The rate of gross global mangrove loss decreased by 23 per cent between the two recent decades (2000-2010 and 2010-2020).

Topic: Reports/Indices/Rankings

3. India's ranking has dropped to 82 in the World's Most Powerful Passport 2024.

• The Henley Passport Index has released the 2024 ranking of the world's most powerful passports.
• India is ranked 82nd globally, allowing Indian passport holders to travel to 58 countries without requiring a visa.
• This represents a drop of two places compared to last year, when India was ranked 80th.
• In the 2024 Index, Singapore's passport has reclaimed its title as the world's most powerful, granting visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 195 countries.
• Afghanistan ranked last with visa-free entry to only 26 destinations.
• Henley Passport Index:
  • It was launched in 2006.
  • The index covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
  • It is based on the data collected from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
  • The Index's scoring system was developed to give users a nuanced, practical and reliable overview of the power of their passport.
  • Each passport is scored on the total number of destinations the holder can access visa-free.
• Top most powerful passports for 2024:

Topic: State News/ Telangana

4. Assistance of Rs 1 lakh to UPSC candidates who qualify preliminary exam announced by Revanth Reddy.

• Recently, the Rajiv Gandhi Civils Abhayahastam scheme has been launched by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
• The aim of the initiative is to provide assistance to youth preparing for the UPSC Mains exam by providing Rs 1 lakh to candidates who qualify the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary exam.
• As a part of the Nirmaan program, the financial assistance is being provided by Singareni Collieries.
• In order to eligible for the program, candidates must be Telangana permanent residents and fall within one of the following categories: General (EWS), BC, SC, or ST.
• Apart from this, they have to clear the UPSC preliminary exam and their family income should be less than Rs 8 lakh.
• The financial assistance can be availed only once during the attempt to clear the Civil Services Examination.
• Candidates working on permanent posts in Central, State or Public Sector Organizations are ineligible for this scheme.

Topic: Defence

5. Second stage Ballistic Missile Defence System successfully tested by DRDO.

• On July 24, the Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence System was successfully tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• This target missile was launched from LC-IV Dhamra imitating the opponent ballistic missile.
• It was detected by land and sea based weapon system radars and AD interceptor system was activated.
• The Stage-II AD endo-atmospheric missile was launched from LC-III at ITR, Chandipur.
• The flight test fully met all the test objectives, validating the complete network centric warfare weapon system consisting of long range sensors, low latency communication system, MCC and advanced interceptor missiles.
• The test demonstrated the nation's indigenous capability to defend against 5000 km range ballistic missiles.
• The performance of the missile was monitored from the flight data captured by range tracking instruments like electro-optical systems, radars and telemetry stations deployed by ITR, Chandipur at various locations including the ship.
• Stage-II AD Endo-Atmospheric Missile is an indigenously developed two-stage solid propelled ground-launched missile system.
• Its purpose is to neutralize a variety of enemy ballistic missile threats in the altitude bracket of outer-atmospheric regions lower than endo.

Topic: International News

6. On July 24, 2024, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited New Delhi.

• He had meetings with S Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The announcement of the Technology Security Initiative was a major highlight of the meetings.
• The goal of the Technology Security Initiative is to improve cooperation in a number of important sectors.
• These sectors include semiconductors, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and telecommunications.
• It seeks to advance the two nations' strategic partnership to a next level.
• India and the UK also agreed to increase defence and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. 
• Lammy also held a meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
• The two nations' NSAs will oversee and manage the Technology Security Initiative.
• The Technology Security Initiative will facilitate the development of an expanded "Future Telecoms Partnership" between India and the UK.
• During their discussion, Jaishankar and Lammy, reviewed the Roadmap 2030 for bilateral relations. 

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. 2024 World Leaders Summit was held in the UK Parliament's House of Lords.

• Global diplomacy has reached a pivotal point with the 2024 World Leaders Summit at the House of Lords.
• It offers the perfect setting for talks that will determine global policy.
• This summit shows a commitment to collaboration among world leaders.
• Key topics discussed at the summit were sustainable development, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on society, health care access and technology’s role in shaping future policies.
• Throughout these discussions, the effect of digital revolution on public participation and governance emerged as a major theme.
• Notable attendees were Dr Vivek Lall, Osama Ben Saleh Bukhari and others.
• Baroness Sandy Verma, a well-known British politician and member of the House of Lords, was the Guest of Honour.
• Vikash Sorout, the founder of VS International Limited, was significantly involved in organizing the summit.
• The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Topic: MoUs /Agreements

8. C-DOT joined hands with IIT Roorkee and Mandi for the “Development of ‘Cell-Free’ 6G Access Points”.

• IIT Roorkee and IIT Mandi are collaborating for the development of ‘Cell-Free’ 6G Access Points.
• The agreement has been signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Department of Telecommunications.
• This fund has been designed to provide funding support to domestic companies, Indian startups, academia and R&D institutions involved in technology design, development, commercialization of telecommunication products and solutions.
• This scheme aims to provide affordable broadband and mobile services.
• This 6G project will focus on developing APs for enabling the upcoming 6G radio access networks.
• C-DOT is a telecom R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications.

Topic: International Appointments

9. Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing became acting president.

• Min Aung Hlaing became acting president of Myanmar after Myint Swe has taken medical leave.
• Myint Swe has transferred his official duties to the military chief Min Aung Hlaing.
• Myint Swe is suffering from psychomotor retardation and malnutrition.
• Myint Swe was the vice president under Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government. He was later appointed as acting president by the military government.
• Myanmar has been under a military regime since 2021. After the coup, more than 4,000 people have been killed by the military.

Topic: Important Days

10. Income Tax Day 2024 (Aaykar Diwas): 24 July

• Every year on 24 July, Income Tax Day is celebrated.
• It is celebrated to spread awareness around the importance of taxes and encourage more and more people to pay taxes for the development of the nation.
• This year, the 165th Income Tax Day was celebrated.
• On 24 July 1860, Sir James Wilson introduced income tax in India to compensate the British government for the losses incurred at the time of the First War of Independence in 1857.
• In 2010, Income Tax Department decided to mark 24 July as Income Tax Day.
• Income Tax Department works under Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance. It is headed by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Income tax is a direct tax.
• Personal income tax collections including STT had risen to an impressive ₹12.01 lakh crore by 2023-24 (provisional till April 21, 2024).
• Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT):
  • It is a statutory body under the Central Revenue Act, 1963. It is the administrative body of the Income Tax department.
  • It deals with matters related to levy and collection of direct taxes like personal income tax, corporate tax, etc.
  • Its headquarters are in New Delhi.
  • Current Chairman: Ravi Agrawal

(Source: PIB)

Topic: India and Its Neighbor

11. On July 24, a Saurya Airlines plane crashed while taking off from Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport, killing 18 people.

• Saurya Airlines flight number 9N AME carrying 19 people was heading to Pokhara with staff and technicians for repair work.
• The pilot of the plane survived the accident and was taken to Kathmandu Medical College Hospital for treatment.
• The crash was Nepal's deadliest accident since 1992, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed near Kathmandu airport, killing all 167 people on board.
• Saurya Airlines Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Kathmandu, launched its first operation on 17 November 2014.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Bihar

12. Bihar government passed a bill to curb paper leaks and malpractices in government recruitment exams.

• The Bihar Public Examinations (PE) (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 has been passed in the assembly.
• It was presented by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
• Its main aim is to curb malpractices in competitive examinations, including the leak of question papers.
• The Bill proposed severe punishment for those involved in such malpractices, including a prison term of three to five years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
• If any service provider is found involved in malpractice, it will face a fine of Rs 1 crore and a four-year termination of its services.
• A portion of the total cost of conducting the examination will also be recovered from the offending service provider.

Topic: Personality in News

13. A renowned economist, C.T. Kurien, passed away.

• C.T. Kurien is a distinguished economist and former professor at Madras Christian College.
• He died at the age of 93 due to age-related ailments.
• He pursued a Master’s degree in Economics from Madras Christian College in 1953.
• He served as a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies from 1978–1991 and as its Director from 1978–1988.
• He served as president of the Indian Economic Association in 2000.
• He has written 15 books on various aspects of economics and approaches economics from the viewpoint of fighting poverty.