Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 July 2023

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

1. FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH launched research agenda to increase research and investment in AMR.

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have released the One Health Priority Research Agenda on Antimicrobial Resistance through a webinar.
• These organizations work specifically in the areas of human, animal, plant and environmental health.
• The agenda will act as a guide for countries, research institutes and funding bodies to support One Health AMR research.
• It will also allow policymakers, researchers, and the multidisciplinary scientific community to collaborate.
• It defined ‘One Health’ as a unifying approach, which aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
• Similarly, on June 22, 2023, WHO launched a global research agenda on AMR in human health.
• It also aims to guide stakeholders in generating new evidence to address antimicrobial resistance.
• With the mixed method approach, global experts have identified five key pillars as well as three cross-cutting themes.
• The five key pillars are- Transmission, Integrated surveillance, Interventions, Behavioural insights and change and Economics and policy.

Topic: State News/ Chhattisgarh

2. PM Modi laid the foundation stone of ten projects worth around rupees 7,600 crores in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

• He dedicated to the nation two National Highway projects built at a cost of about rupees thirteen hundred crores.
• He laid the foundation stone of three other National Highway projects.
• He also dedicated to the nation the LPG bottling plant of Indian Oil located in Korba.
• He also dedicated to the nation doubling of the Raipur-Khariar road rail line and Kevti-Antagarh new rail line project.
• Shri Modi inaugurated the new train service between Antagarh to Raipur.
• He started the distribution of 75 lakh cards to the beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

3. World Swahili Language Day: 07 July

• Swahili language from sub-Saharan Africa is among the world’s 10 most widely spoken languages.
• This language is spoken by over 200 million people across Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda and along the East coast of Africa.
• Swahili is also the official language of the African Union.
• 07 July was declared as World Kiswahili Language Day in November 2021.
• Swahili is also known by its local name Kiswahili. It is a Bantu language.
• Bantu is a language family spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern and Southeast Africa.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

4. 67th Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Convention began on 06 July 2023 in Colombo.

• Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremasinghe and High Commissioner of India Gopal Baglay attended the three-day convention’s inaugural ceremony.
• The convention is a premier travel event with 500 participants and 50 Indian media personnel.
• The convention’s agenda includes discussions on India’s tourism vision for 2047 and the growing significance of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions).
• The convention aims to strengthen ties between India and Sri Lanka.
• India has been the largest source market for tourism in Sri Lanka last year. 
• Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) is the representative body of the travel industry of India. It was established in 1951. It is headquartered in Mumbai.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. MoU for the establishment of the IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar- Tanzania was signed on 06 July 2023.

• The MoU was signed between the Ministry of Education (MoE), Govt. of India, IIT Madras and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) Zanzibar- Tanzania.
• This is the first ever IIT campus to be established outside India.
• Union Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that National Education Policy 2020 is paving the way for making knowledge a key component of bilateral relations.
• NEP 2020 recommends that “High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries”.
• IIT Madras will provide academic programs, curricula, student selection aspects and pedagogical details.
• The government of Zanzibar-Tanzania will meet the capital and operating expenditure.
• IIT Madras degrees will be awarded to the students enrolled in this campus.
• The campus will include students from Tanzania and other countries as well. It can also have Indian students.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

6. Meta launched Instagram Threads, a text-based messaging app.

• Threads looks very similar to Twitter. People can use their Instagram usernames on Threads.
• Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the launch of Threads on 05 July 2023.
• Threads is a text-based social messaging app. In this, users are able to post short messages.
• Others can share, like and comment upon the messages.
• The Threads is available for free on Apple App Store and Google Play online store in more than 100 countries.
• People can publish 500 characters long Threads posts. They can also share links, photos and videos that can be 5 minutes long.
• Threads will use decentralized technology, called ActivityPub.
• BlueSky, a rival social messaging app is built on the decentralized networking technology called the AT Protocol.
• Meta (formerly Facebook) is an American multinational technology conglomerate. It is based in Menlo Park, California.
• Instagram was released in 2010. It is owned by Meta. It is a photo and video-sharing social networking service.

Topic: Personality in News

7. Renowned painter Namboothiri passed away at the age of 97 years old.

• On July 6, he passed away at a private hospital in Kottakkal in Malappuram district.
• Noted litterateur Namboothiri, famous for his line art and copper relief works, illustrated for many leading Malayalam writers including Thakazhi Sivasankar Pillai, MT Vasudevan Nair, Urub and SK Pottakkad.
• His works blended tradition with modernity, seamlessly blend the past and the present.
• He was a chairman of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.
• He was awarded the Raja Ravi Varma Award of the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy in 2003.
• He was also awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Art Director.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: MoUs and Agreements

8. India signed a Protocol document with Singapore to enhance cooperation till 2028.

• On 6 July, India and Singapore signed a Protocol document to extend the existing MoU on enhancing cooperation in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration for five years.
• It was signed by Secretary V Srinivas on behalf of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Simon Wang, High Commissioner of Singapore to India.
• It aims to strengthen the partnership between the two countries by enhancing cooperation between civil service officers of India and Singapore.
• The MoU provides for cooperation in the areas of administrative reforms and public sector transformation, leadership and talent development, e-governance, capacity building and training.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

9. PM Modi to attend Gita Press Centenary Celebrations in Gorakhpur.

• PM Modi has begun his two day visit to Uttar Pradesh. He will attend the centenary celebrations of the Gita Press and flag off two Vande Bharat trains.
• He will also inaugurate a special issue of Shiv Puran, with 200 colour pictures of Shiva Lila.
• He will address a public rally at Wajidpur of more than 50,000 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers.
• He will also lay the foundation stone of schemes worth Rs 1,800 crore and inaugurate projects worth about 10,000 crore at Varanasi.
• PM Modi will flag off two Vande Bharat Trains — the Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express and the Jodhpur-Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express.
• Gita Press:
  • It is the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts.
  • It was founded on 29 April 1923 by Jaya Dayal Goyanka and Ghanshyam Das.
  • Geeta Press has published more than 1800 types of books in 15 languages.
  • Gita Press has been recently named for the prestigious Gandhi peace prize.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

10. FDI in developing countries stood at $662billion: World Investment Report 2023.

• The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its World Investment Report 2023.
• During 2022, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing countries remained at $662 billion.
• Among developing countries, 80% of FDI inflows of the region went to China, Singapore, India and UAE.
• In 2022, FDI inflows to India rose by 10% ($49 billion) while China registered a 5% yearly growth.
• Developing countries including India attracted FDI worth $544 billion in clean energy in 2022.
• FDI to Singapore and UAE grew by 8% and 10%, respectively.
• FDI inflows to ASEAN member countries grown by 41% to $222 billion.
• FDI in the Gulf region has declined and inflows to smaller developing countries remain stagnant.
• Overall global FDI has declined by 12% to $1.3 trillion in 2022. The decline in global FDI is due to the lower volumes of financial flows and transactions in developed countries.
• According to the World Investment Report 2023, developing countries are facing a growing annual investment deficit to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
• The gap in investment deficit has now increased to $4 trillion per year.
• The report calls for urgent support to developing countries for attracting more investment for their transition to clean energy.

Topic: Sports

11. Indian pair of Priyansh and Avneet Kaur won gold at the World Youth Archery Championships in Ireland.

• Indian archers Priyansh and Avneet Kaur have won the gold medal in the junior mixed event in the compound event at the World Youth Archery Championships.
• In a nail-biting contest on 5 July, the Indian players defeated Israel in the final in Limerick, Ireland by 146 points to 144.
• India's pair of Manav Jadhav and Aishwarya Sharma also won the bronze medal after defeating Mexico in the Cadet Mixed Compound event.
• The World Youth Archery Championship is being held at the University of Limerick in Ireland from July 3 to 9.
• The World Archery Youth Championships, an international competition in archery. It is being organized once in two years since 1991.

(Source: News on AIR

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

12. An MoU has been signed between Sri Lanka's Jaffna University and IIT Madras.

• The MoU has been signed to foster academic collaboration and promote research initiatives.
• The agreement provides for several opportunities for benefits including the exchange of students and faculty between the two institutions.
• Initially, there will be an exchange of about ten students and faculty at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• The goal of this collaboration is to learn from the cultural experiences of both countries and to promote educational diversity.
• Joint research will involve cooperation in specific areas, with a special focus on renewable energy.
• IIT Madras has offered its expertise in creating a platform for joint research in this area.
• Jaffna University also proposed setting up an incubation cell as in IIT Madras.
• The partnership between the two institutions will prove to be a milestone toward academic excellence and innovation in research.

Topic: International News

13. Taiwan to open third Taipei Economic Cultural Centre in India.

• Taiwan has decided to open Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in the commercial capital, Mumbai.
• Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) are present in New Delhi and Chennai.
• The main aim of opening the Cultural Centre is to enhance cooperation between both countries.
• India and Taiwan do not maintain formal diplomatic ties.
• Many companies in Taiwan are looking to relocate their production bases to India from China.
• At present, India has the India-Taipei Association (ITA) office in Taipei.
• India and Taiwan’s cooperation has increased in the area of trade, critical supply chains, science and technology, culture, and education in recent years.
• Trade volume between both countries has increased from USD 2 billion in 2006 to USD 8.9 billion in 2021.
• India has expressed interest in setting up manufacturing facilities of top Taiwanese companies, especially world's largest chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) in India.

Topic: Defence

14. India and US navies participated in Salvage and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise to boost interoperability.

• The Seventh edition of Indian Navy – US Navy (IN – USN) Salvage and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise, SALVEX was conducted from 26 Jun – 06 Jul 23 at Kochi.
• It was focused on boosting interoperability and operational coordination.
• Both navies are participating in the Salvage and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) exercise since 2005.
• Frontline warship and specialist diving and EOD teams took part in the exercise.
• Diving teams of both the countries shared experiences on Maritime Salvage and trained together in various facets of EOD Operations on land as well at sea.
• The exercise was conducted to enhance cohesiveness and share best practices in maritime salvage and EOD operations.

(Source: PIB)