NATIONAL  NEWS

PM Surya Ghar scheme

• Government offices in India have received a mandate to ensure 100 percent solarisation by 2025 under PM Surya Ghar scheme.

About Scheme

Bihar's first film promotion policy

• Bihar government approved its first film promotion policy, aiming to provide full institutional support to movie makers including grants up to Rs 4 crore for productions.

Bihar

National Communications Academy’ (NCA)

• The Minister of Communications (MoC) approved the merger of three training institutes of DoT- the National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT), the National Institute of Communication Finance (NICF) and Wireless Monitoring Training & Development Centre (WMTDC) have been merged into a single administrative entity, named  as ‘National Communications Academy’ (NCA). 

India Mobile Congress 2024

• The theme of the India Mobile Congress 2024, ‘The Future is Now’, was unveiled by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israeli occupation ‘illegal’

• The United Nation’s top court International Court of Justice (ICJ) presiding Judge Nawaf Salam, said in a “advisory opinion” that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory was “illegal” and needed to end as soon as possible. 

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

ECONOMY & BANKING

Taxnet 2.0 Project

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has awarded the Taxnet 2.0 project to M/s Bharti-Airtel Ltd for providing network connectivity, facility management services and video conferencing services to the Income Tax Department (ITD).
• The Taxnet 2.0 aims to revamp the Income Tax Department’s network system, provide enhanced security, improved reliability, and a seamless user experience for all stakeholders.

CBDT

4th NTRS 2024 report

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) released the 4th National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2024 report. The study found that 9 ports have seen a reduction in average release time in 2024.

CBIC

ONGC Videsh

• ONGC Videsh Limited, a schedule "A" Navaratna Central Public Sector Enterprise, has announced the signing of a definitive Sale Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire a stake in Azerbaijan's prestigious Offshore Azeri Chirag Gunashli (ACG) oil field from Equinor ASA.

Azerbaijan

BIS Standardization Chair Professor

• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, for the establishment of the ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’ at the IISc.

BIS

Assam’s Dirok Field

• Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced a significant milestone at Assam’s Dirok Field, where a new reservoir, Sand-9, tested at 6 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The field, operated by HOEC, OIL, and IOCL, is undergoing Phase II development to boost production capacity.

Assam

AWARDS & HONOURS 

Gandhi Mandela Award 2020

• Guatemalan human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum received the Gandhi Mandela Award 2020 on Nelson Mandela's 106th birth anniversary for promoting the values of Gandhi and Mandela, including community service and social development.

Guatemala

Param Vishisht Seva Medals

• Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi and Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi were presented the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service by President Droupadi Murmu at a defence investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan .

Science & Technology & ENVIRONMENT

GEP of natural resources

• Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country assign monetary value of it's natural resources like air, water, forest & soil termed as Gross Environment Product (GEP), along the lines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Uttarakhand

Indo-Japan Joint Crediting Mechanism

• India and Japan are planning to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation for setting up a Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) with emission- reduction credits being shared.
• Under the mechanism, carbon credits will be ‘allocated through a structured process’ and there will be a ‘registry to track these credits.

Japan

Landslide Forecast System

• Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the National Landslide Forecasting Centre at GSI, Dharitri Campus, Salt Lake City, Kolkata and also launched the Bhusanket Web Portal and Bhooskhalan Mobile App.

Geological Survey of India

MoU Between RRU & NSE IX

• A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) and the NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) for cooperation in the field of economic and financial security.

Rashtriya Raksha University

PERSON IN NEWS  

Manoj Soni

• Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson Manoj Soni has resigned due to “personal reasons,” almost five years before his tenure ends in 2029.

UPSC

Sanjeev Krishan

• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India announced that Sanjeev Krishan has been re-elected as its chairperson for a second term. He will also continue to serve on the PwC Global Strategy Council.

Vinay Kwatra

• Former Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has been appointed as India's new Ambassador to the United States.

IMPORTANT DAY

International Moon Day

• Every year Moon Day is celebrated on July 20 to commemorate man’s historic first landing on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
• India's Chandrayaan 3 mission, launched on July 14, 2023, marked a significant milestone in the nation's space programme making India the fourth country after the United States, the USSR and China, to achieve this feat.

Moon