Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 4th July 2024

National News 

1.Maharashtra CM extends Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana age limit to 65 Years 

• Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde has raised the upper age limit to 65 years for the “Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin” scheme, under which women will get Rs 1,500 per month. 
• The state government had set the upper age limit at 61 for benefits to be available to women under the scheme. 

About Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana 

• Eligible women aged 21 to 65 years will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 under this scheme. 
• The scheme aims to provide financial relief and empower women by supporting their health, nutrition, and overall well-being. 
• This initiative reflects the government’s commitment to supporting women and fostering self-reliance. 

About Maharashtra 

• Capital – Mumbai 
• Chief Minister – Eknath Sindhe 
• Deputy Chief Minister – Devendra Fadnavis & Ajit Pawar 
• Governor – Ramesh Bais 

2.Center issues advisory for ads on food and health products only 

• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on Wednesday issued a fresh advisory, asking advertisers and advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to the food and health sectors to upload an annual self-declaration certificate on the platforms made available for the purpose. 
• According to a senior Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) office bearer, the advisory supersedes all previous advisories issued by the Ministry. It is limited to the food and health sector only, meaning these sectors are only required to provide the self-declaration certificate annually. 
• According to the new advisory, the facility for uploading the self-declaration certificate by the advertisers/advertising agencies has been made available on the Broadcast Seva Portal for TV/radio advertisements and on the portal of the Press Council of India for the advertisements on print media/internet. 
• Accordingly, in view of the Supreme Court order dated May 7, 2024, and in suppression of the previous advisories dated June 3, 2024, and June 5, 2024, the advertisers/advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to food and health sectors have been advised to upload an annual self-declaration certificate on these platforms, as applicable. 

3. India to host 46th UNESCO heritage panel session 

• The 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, being hosted by India from July 21-31, will be held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. 
• The event will be attended by over 2,500 delegates from State Parties, advisory bodies, senior diplomats, heritage experts, scholars, and researchers from 195 countries, a senior official said. State Parties are countries which have adhered to the World Heritage Convention. 
• Sources said the event, being organized by the Archaeological Survey of India, is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. UNESCO has already released a provisional agenda and timetable for the meeting. 
• The World Heritage Committee has representatives from 21 State Parties to the World Heritage Convention (1972) elected by the General Assembly.

 4. No Indian industry presence in Board of National Research Foundation 

• The Executive and Governing Boards of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) a high-level body conceived to give strategic direction to scientific research in India has no representation from Indian industry, suggests a perusal of the list of members made public by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) earlier this week. 
• There is also no presence of State universities, which the ANRF had said would be among the major beneficiaries of the new structure. 
• The absence of Indian industry is glaring as the ANRF Act, passed in August 2023, was expected to galvanize research by having close to ₹36,000 crore or 70% of its five-year outlay of ₹50,000 crore from "non-government sources, industry & philanthropists, from domestic as well as outside sources". 
• Science Minister Jitendra Singh had said this in discussions surrounding the passage of the Bill in Parliament last year. 
• Appoint members 
• To this end, the text of the Act specifically empowered the President of the Governing Board, in this case the Prime Minister of India to nominate or appoint up to "...five members from business organization or industry", into the Board. 
• The 15-member Governing Board, as notified by the MOST, however, has only one industrialist Romesh Wadhwani, an American billionaire of Indian origin and former CEO and chairperson of the Symphony Technology Group. There are two other Americans with Indian roots Manjul Bhargava, Profes- sor, Princeton University, U.S.; and Subra Suresh, Professor at Large, Brown University and former head of the U.S. National Research Foundation, from which the ANRF draws inspiration. 
• Only two universities are represented in the Body by the Directors of the Indian Institute of Science, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. 
• Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union government, is the Member Secretary of the governing body, with the rest of the members being the Ministers of Science, and Education, and the Secretaries of the departments under the MOST. 
• The ANRF is a significant reform in that it proposes a more expansive definition of research, which includes science, engineering, Information Technology, Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and the Humanities the ANRF Board has among its members Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chair, Indian Council of Historical Research.

5. Smart Cities Mission period extended till March 2025 

• The Centre has extended the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) under the Union Urban Development Ministry till March 31, 2025. 
• Under the SCM, launched in June 2015, 100 cities were chosen through a competition to be developed as smart cities. The mission envisions developing areas within selected cities in the country as model areas based on an area development plan, which is expected to have a rub-off effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns. 
• More than 8,000 multi sectoral projects are being developed by the 100 cities amounting to around ₹1.6 lakh crore under the SCM. 
• As on July 3, the 100 cities have completed 7,188 projects (90% of total projects). 

6. 3 new criminal laws named only in English: ASG 

• The three new criminal e laws, which have replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act from July 1, have been named only in English and not in Hindi or Sanskrit since the English e alphabet had been used in the nomenclature, argued Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) AR. L. Sundaresan before the Madras High Court on Wednesday. 
•  Appearing before Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, the ASG denied the charge of public interest litigant B. Ramkumar Adityan that the names Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam violate Article 348, which mandates the authoritative texts of all laws to be in English. "Here, Your Lordships may see that everything is only in English. My respectful submission is that the English alphabet has been used to describe the names. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is only in English. These are all proper nouns. It is a name. This does not affect the fundamental right of anyone... By passage of time, people will get used to these names," he said. 
• He went on to state that "the names reflect the wisdom of the Parliament. The parliamentarians, being our elected representatives, have decided to give these names. Therefore, the name given by the law-makers who represent the will of the people, cannot be questioned. Around 70% of the people may like it and 30% may not like it but the will of the Parliament is reflected in these. 
• He agreed that a case could be filed by any citizen questioning the nomenclature if it was against any provision of the Constitution.

 International News 

7. Japan launches advanced Earthobservation satellite ‘ALOS-4’ on third flight of H3 rocket 

• Japan launched the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-4 (ALOS-4; also known as DAICHI-4) on H3 from the Tanegashima Space Center. 
• ALOS-4 was deployed into low Earth orbit as planned about 16 minutes after liftoff, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said on a webcast provided by the agency. 
• The two-stage H3 was developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It is considered Japan’s workhorse medium-lift rocket, taking over from the H-2A, which is set to retire later this year after more than 20 years of service. Japan’s new H3 rocket failed on first test flight. 
• The 3-tonne ALOS-4 is an advanced successor to Japan’s ALOS-2 satellite, which has been studying Earth using synthetic aperture radar since its launch in 2014. 
• The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, primarily performs Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapping. It is also capable of monitoring military activity such as missile launches with an infrared sensor developed by the Ministry of Defence. 

8. 'U.K.s migration policy has to change to match the times’

 

• U.K.-born Eric Sukumaran, who is running in the new London parliamentary constituency of Southgate and Wood Green on the Conservative Party ticket, says the U.K,'s migration policy should change to fit the times. "We are looking for productive members of our society. We are not anti-immigration, we are just anti uncontrolled immigration," Mr. Sukumaran, an entrepreneur and consultant with the World Bank, told The Hindu in an interview, referring to the Conservative Party's promise to put an annual cap on migration. 
• Mr. Sukumaran is a child of immigrants, has spent time in India as a child and speaks Malaya- lam. 

9. South African scientists make rhino horns radioactive under ‘Rhizotope Project’ 

• South African scientists injected radioactive material into the horns of live rhinos in the Limpopo Rhino Reserve under the Rhizotope Project to make them easily identifiable at border checkpoints, which aims to curb poaching. 
• The country is home to most of the world’s rhinos and is thus a hotspot for poaching due to demand from Asia, where the horns are used in traditional medicine for their alleged therapeutic effects. 
• James Larkin, director of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Radiation and Health Physics Unit, who led the initiative, said they had implanted “two tiny radioactive chips in the horn” while applying the radioisotope to one of the big animal’s horns.
•  Nithya Chetty, professor and dean of science at the same university, said the radioactive substance “will render the horn useless… essentially toxic for human consumption.” 
• A total of twenty surviving rhinos are part of the pilot 'Rhizotope' project. Rhino horns are highly sought after in black markets, where they are worth as much as gold and cocaine by weight. 
• The environment ministry said in February that despite government efforts to tackle illegal trade, 499 mammoths were killed in 2023, mostly in state-run parks, an 11% increase over 2022 figures. 
• About 15,000 rhinos live in the southern African country, according to an estimate by the International Foundation. The material will last five years on the horn, resulting in lower costs compared to removing horns every 18 months. 

State News 

10. Champai quits to make way for Hemant's return

•  Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren resigned on Wednesday, paving the way for his predecessor Hemant Soren to stake his claim to form the government and return to the State's top post after being unanimously elected leader of the ruling alliance's legislators at a marathon meeting in Ranchi. 
• Mr. Hemant Soren, son of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren, had resigned as Chief Minister in January shortly before he was taken into custody by the En- forcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He was released on bail on June 28. 
• Ending his five-month term, Mr. Champai Soren met Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening and tendered his resignation in the presence of Mr. Hemant Soren, who staked his claim soon afterwards. 
• The outgoing CM is said to be "upset" over the development, though he has denied this, and is likely to be given a new responsibility as the chairman of INDIA bloc coordination committee in the State or as executive president of the JMM, sources said. "I have resigned on my own," Mr. Champai later told press persons. 
• Alliance partners from the Congress, including Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the party's in-charge for the State, and State Congress chief Rajesh Thakur, were present at the meeting of legislators from the INDIA coalition who reached a consensus on the change of guard. 
• Reacting to the development, BJP spokesperson Vinay Singh said: "It is clear that once a dynasty, always a dynasty. The momentary transition of power to Champai Soren was nothing but a façade.” 

11. Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train expected to begin operations in Gujarat by 2027 end 

• The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, is expected to begin operations in Gujarat by 2027 and will later be extended to Maharashtra, according to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL). 
• The first phase of operations is likely to begin ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election, which is due in 2027 with the term of the House expiring on December 19, 2027. 
• "Trial runs are expected to start in 2026 between Surat and Bilimora (a 50-km stretch). Since the project is in a more advanced stage in Gujarat, it is prudent to start commercial operations here first and then expand services to Maharashtra as construction work gets completed there," an NHSRCL spokesperson told The Hindu. 
• Out of the 508-km-long rail corridor, 90% is elevated. Twelve stations dot the corridor eight in Gujarat (Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora, and Vapi) and four in Maharashtra (Boisar, Virar, Thane, and Mumbai). Plans are afoot to begin operations between Vadodara and Vapi by 2027. The NHSRCL aims to complete the project by the second half of 2028. The service is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to three hours. Currently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharata is the fastest train on the route, with a travel time of five and a half hours. Travel by air takes about 95 minutes. 
• 44% progress 
• As of May 2024, overall progress of 44% has been made, with 53% of the work completed in Gujarat, and 25.6% in Maharashtra. As of June, of the 508-km route, 183 km of viaduct and 313 km of pier work have been completed. Of the 1,390 hectares earmarked for the project, 960 are in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 430 in Maharashtra. Land acquisition has been completed for the rail corridor. 
• Laying of tracks has begun in Gujarat, with over 35,000 metric tonnes of rails and three sets of track construction machinery at Surat and Vadodara. The assembly, testing, and commissioning of the machinery is in progress. 
• In Maharashtra, construction of India's first undersea rail tunnel, a 7-km stretch part of the project's 21-km tunnel between Bandra Kurla Complex and Shilphata, is under way. The undersea tunnel is expected to be completed by mid-2028. Excavation to build five mountain tun- nels in Palghar is on. 
• When the bullet train project was launched in 2017, the initial deadline was December 2023. The timeline had to be revised owing to land acquisition challenges in Maharashtra and restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through an Official Development Assistance (ODA), the project's total cost is estimated at ₹1.08 lakh crore. It is yet to be revised owing to delay in completion. The last tranche was signed between JICA and the Union government in December 2023, with an ODA of 400 billion Japanese yen or approximately 22,627 crore. 

Defence News 

12 India-Mongolia joint military exercise 'Nomadic Elephant' begins in Meghalaya 

•  The 16th edition of the IndiaMongolia joint military exercise Nomadic Elephant began at the Foreign Training Node, Umroi (Meghalaya). The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 03 to 16 July 2024. 
• The Indian contingent comprising 45 personnel is being represented by a battalion of Sikkim Scouts along with personnel from other arms and services. The Mongolian contingent is being represented by personnel from the 150 Quick Reaction Force Battalion of the Mongolian Army. 
•  Exercise Nomadic Elephant is an annual training event held alternately in India and Mongolia. The last edition was held in Mongolia in July 2023. 
• The opening ceremony of Exercise Nomadic Elephant was attended by His Excellency Mr. Dambajavin Ganbold, Ambassador of Mongolia to India and Major General Prasanna Joshi, General Officer Commanding, 51 Sub Area, Indian Army. 
• The aim of the exercise is to enhance the joint military capability of both sides to conduct counter-terrorism operations in sub-conventional scenarios under Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate. The exercise will focus on operations in semi-urban and mountainous terrain. 
• India established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955 and was the first country outside the Soviet Union to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia. The Indian Resident Mission was opened in Ulaanbaatar in 1971. 
• India also actively participates in Mongolia's biennial 'Khaan Quest', a week-long joint training exercise. Mongolia is the second largest landlocked country in the world and the most sparsely populated country in the world. 

Appointment 

13. Dick Schoof becomes next prime minister of Netherlands 

• More than seven months after elections, newly appointed Prime Minister Dick Schoof was sworn in by Dutch King Willem-Alexander along with 15 other ministers. Dick Schoof, a former head of Dutch intelligence who has no party affiliation and was not on the ballot in November's election, is replacing Mark Rutte as prime minister. 
• The formation of this right-wing coalition government ends the 14- year tenure of previous Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The swearingin ceremony marked the official transfer of power and the start of a new political era for the country. 
• Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom, which won the most seats in last year's elections, led coalition talks that lasted 223 days. Although Wilders did not become prime minister due to opposition from his allies, his party's influence is evident in the policies of the new government. 
• The four parties in the coalition are Wilders' Party for Freedom, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte's center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the populist Farmer Citizens' Movement and the centrist New Social Contract party. 
• The coalition agreement, titled "Hope, Courage and Pride", introduces tougher measures on asylum seekers, ends family reunification for refugees, and aims to reduce the number of foreign students in the Netherlands. 
• For the first time since World War II, the Netherlands is now led by a prime minister who is not affiliated with a political party. Before serving as the head of the country's top intelligence agency, Mr Schoof was the counterterrorism chief and the head of the country's Immigration and Naturalisation Service. 

14. Sujata Saunik appointed Maharashtra’s first Woman Chief Secretary 

• Sujata Saunik, a 1987 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, has been appointed as the first woman Chief Secretary (CS) of Maharashtra. 
• The appointment of Sujata Saunik comes after the retirement of Nitin Kareer, who had served as the CS of Maharashtra since January 2024.
•  Saunik will serve a one-year term, retiring in June 2025. 
• She becomes the 45th CS of Maharashtra since the state’s establishment in 1960. 
• Before this role, she held positions including Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department and ACS in the General Administration Department.

 Recent Appointment

• Chairman of CBDT – Ravi Agrawal (replace Nitin Gupta) 
•  Director in Department of Consumer Affairs – Mrinal Kumar Das 
• President of the Professional Golf Tour of India – Kapil Dev 
• VP of India Bullion Jewellers Association – Aksha Mohit Kamboj 
• Director in the Department of Consumer Affairs – Mrinal Kumar Das 

15. Rajinder Khanna appointed as Additional NSA; TV Ravichandran named Deputy NSA 

• Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Rajinder Khanna was appointed as the additional NSA. 
• While Intelligence Bureau special director TV Ravichandran was named deputy NSA. 
• This marks the first time the post of additional NSA has been filled, despite its longstanding existence. 
• Khanna, a 1978-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, served as the chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from December 2014 to December 2016. He was appointed deputy NSA in January 2018, overseeing the Technology and Intelligence section. 
• Ravichandran’s appointment as deputy NSA comes as he replaces Vikram Mistry, who was named foreign secretary last month. 
• The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with NSA Ajit Doval as its secretary, serves as the apex body for all internal and external security-related matters in India. 

Recent Appointment in Defence Sector 

•  Vice Chief of Army Staff – NS Raja Subramani 
• Chief of Intelligence Bureau – Tapan Kumar Deka (reappointment for 1 year) 
• Chief of the Army Staff – Upendra Dwivedi (replace Manoj C Pande) 
• First Woman Helicopter Pilot – Anamika B. Rajeev 
• Additional Directors in CBI – A.Y.V. Krishna and N. Venu Gopal 

16. B.N. Gangadhar appointed as Chairperson of the National Medical Commission 

•  Dr BN Gangadhar has been appointed as the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (NMC) while appointing Dr Sanjay Behari as president of Medical Assessment and Rating Board. 
• Dr Gangadhar, former director of NIMHANS, was also the president of the autonomous Medical Assessment and Rating Board. 
•  Dr Behari is the director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. 

Other appointments 

•  Dr Anil D’Cruz, Director for oncology of Apollo Hospital, Mumbai has been appointed as the whole-time member of the PG Medical Education Board. 
•  Dr Rajendra Achyut Badwe, Professor Emeritus, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai has been appointed a part-time member in the UG Medical Education Board. 

Science 

17 Russia approves schedule for creation of Russian Orbital Station by 2033 

• Russia has approved the schedule for the creation of a Russian orbital station by 2033. 
• The scientific and energy modules will be launched first in 2027, and three other core modules, namely the universal nodal, gateway, and base modules, will be launched by 2030. and two other target modules are scheduled to be launched by 2033. 
• A total of 608.9 billion rubles has been allocated to finance the project. The creation of the Russian orbital station would ensure the continuity of Russia’s space programme and address issues of national security and scientific and technological development. 
•  Roscosmos, Russian Federal Space Agency, which was formed in 1992. About Russia 
• Capital – Moscow 
• Currency – Rubel 
• President – Vladimir Putin (5th time)
•  Prime Minister – Mikhail Mishus 

18. ‘Nirman Portal’ launched to provide Rs 1 lakh bursary to qualified UPSC candidates 

• Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Shri G Kishan Reddy launched the “Nirman Portal” to reward the main examinees of the National Civil Services Examination in New Delhi. 
•  In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Mission Karmayogi”, it is a unique CSR scheme by Coal India Limited for meritorious youth of districts who have cleared the preliminary round of UPSC examination (for Civil Services and Forest Services) in 2024.
•   The scheme aims to provide assistance of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) to candidates who qualify the preliminary examination, whose annual family income is less than Rs. 8 lakhs and who belong to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, female or third gender. 
• These candidates must be permanent residents of any one of the 39 operational districts of the Company. These include Dhanbad and Ranchi in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and Nagpur in Maharashtra. 
• The entire application process is through a dedicated portal to ensure complete transparency and seamless scrutiny of applications, thereby fulfilling the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India. 
•  Coal India Limited, a CPSE of the Ministry of Coal, is a Maharatna company which is not only the backbone of the country's energy security but also plays a vital role as a socially responsible corporate in promoting education in coal bearing areas. 

Award News 

19 N Balram, CMD of Singareni Limited, honored with the “Tree Man of Telangana” 

• N Balaram, Chairman and Managing Director of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has been honored with the “Tree Man of Telangana” award by the Green Maple Foundation. 
• The award has been given to him for personally planting more than 18,000 saplings and helping develop 35 mini forests in six districts. The award was presented to Mr. Balram at an event organised by the Foundation. Foundation Chairman Ashutosh Verma, officials of NTPC and other public sector undertakings presented the award to Mr. Balram. 
•  Green Maple Foundation confers this award every year to encourage environmental conservation measures by public sector and private companies. 
•  This year as part of ‘Van Mahotsav’ he is planning to personally plant 2,000 more saplings and the organisation (Singareni) is planning to plant 40 lakh saplings.

20. Shah Rukh Khan - Lifetime Achievement Award at Locarno Film Festival 

• Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming 77th Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland. The young star will be honoured for proving his versatility as an actor in over 100 films across various genres. 
•  The Bollywood star will be honoured with the award on August 10 at the festival's Piazza Grande.esides, the festival will also screen the 2002 hit costume drama "Devdas". 
• Some notable past recipients of the award include Tsai Ming-liang, Claudia Cardinale, Johnnie To, Francesco Rossi, Harry Belafonte and Jane Birkin. Important day 

21.4 July – Jackfruit Day 

•  Jackfruit Day is celebrated on 4 July every year. 
• The tropical fruit is a popular meat substitute for those who are trying to follow a plant-based diet. It is high in vitamins and antioxidants, making it a great addition to any diet.
•   The fruit has a spiky outer skin and is native to parts of South and South-East Asia. It is mostly produced in Asia, but attempts were made to grow it in Hawaii before 1888. 
• The word “jackfruit” is thought to have been derived from the Portuguese “jaca,” which can also be translated to “chakka.” 
• The word was used in a book written by Portuguese naturalist and scholar Garcia da Orta in 1563. 

22.4 July – US Independence Day 

• The US celebrates Independence Day on July 4 every year, which is a national holiday commemorating the country’s declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776. 
• On this day, Americans together honour bravery and remember the sacrifices made by the founding fathers of the United States, who fought for the principles of liberty, equality and self-governance. 

23. China builds new presidential palace in Pacific Ocean's Vanuatu 

• On July 2, 2024, Vanuatu's Prime Minister Charlotte Salwai and Hu Chunhua, Vice Chairman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, inaugurated the new presidential palace in Pacific Ocean's Vanuatu. 
• China's embassy said the project gifted Vanuatu "another landmark building", while it marked a new "milestone" in their increasingly warm relations. 
• Australia's Lowy Institute think tank estimated China spent more than $21 million on the construction, a significant sum for an aid project in a developing country with a population of less than 300,000. 
• According to the Lowy Institute, Vanuatu is heavily indebted to China: about 40 percent of its external debt is owed to China's Exim Bank. But there are fears that Vanuatu and other Pacific countries such as Tonga and the Solomon Islands are becoming increasingly vulnerable to what critics describe as China's "debttrap diplomacy". 

Ranks and Reports News

 24. Air pollution spikes may raise death rates in cities with cleaner air, says study 

• A spike in air pollution in Indian cities that have cleaner air may raise death rates higher than in cities that have higher pollution loads. Thus, the same increase in air pollution in, say, Bengaluru, can raise death rates more than in Delhi, which has much higher background levels of air pollution. 
•  Overall, however, cities that had high pollution loads saw a greater fraction of annual deaths attributable to air pollution, with 11.5% of Delhi's annual deaths attributable to air pollution, and 4.8% in Bengaluru. The latter's population had 30% the exposure to daily air pollution that an average Delhi resident is subjected to, says a first-of- its-kind multi-city analysis in India that studied the health effects of short-term exposure to air pollution, published in the peer-reviewed Lancet Planet 
•  Delhi had about 12,000 deaths linked to air pollution per year. 
• Health on Thursday. The scientists analyzed pollution and death registry data from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi. 
• Nearly 30,000 deaths, or 7.2% of the annual deaths in the 10 cities, were due to short-term PM 2.5. The total daily deaths in these cities rose by 1.42% for every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in the average PM 2.5 exposure over a two-day period, the study found. 
• From air pollution, Delhi had about 12,000 deaths per year and Shimla 59 a year, the lowest among the 10 cities between 2008 and 2019. In the same period, Bengaluru had 2,102 deaths. 
• "Our findings confirmed that the risk of mortality rose more quickly at lower PM 2.5 levels but plateaued as levels increased. Significantly, we found mortality risk to be very high (2.65%) even when analyzing days with PM 2.5 levels below the current Indian national air quality standard of 60 microgram per cubic meter," the authors, from multiple institutes in Europe and India, reported. 
• The variation in mortality in different Indian cities mirrors findings from similar studies in other countries. A 272-city study in China reported a 0.22% increase, per 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM 2.5. However, death rates were higher in Greece (2.54%), Japan (1.42%), and Spain (1.96%), which had lower base pollution levels. 

Banking News 

25. ICICI Bank launches pre-paid ‘Sapphiro Forex’ card for international students 

• ICICI Bank announced the launch of its ‘Student Sapphiro Forex Card’, a premium forex prepaid card designed specifically for students who are going abroad for higher education. 
• Powered by Visa, the card offers exclusive benefits and convenience to students as well as their parents to manage their education-related expenses abroad such as admission fees, course-related charges and other day-to-day expenses including travel, food and groceries. 
•  The ICICI Bank Student Sap phiro Forex Card comes with a host of benefits worth up to Rs 15,000, along with exclusive features. It comes with a welcome kit with two cards – a primary and a replacement card – which can be activated digitally using iMobile Pay, Internet Banking or by calling the bank’s customer care in case the primary card is lost/damaged. 
•  You can store multiple currencies on a single card if you are travelling to different countries. Unlike credit and debit cards, there are no additional charges associated with POS and ecommerce transactions made using forex prepaid cards. 
•  ICICI Bank became the sixth Indian company to achieve a market capitalisation of $100 billion after the stock rose 2.48% to close at a record high of ₹1,199.05.
•   The private lender is India's second-largest bank by market capitalisation after HDFC Bank. It is also the fifth-largest entity by market value. ICICI Bank shares have jumped 20% so far this year, while the Nifty and Bank Nifty have gained 9% during the same period. 
•  The other five companies that have reached the $100 billion market capitalisation milestone are Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Infosys.