Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 28th July 2024

 National News 

PM may visit Ukraine, rst time since war, on Aug. 23 

• Planning is under way for a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uk- raine, likely on August 23, for what would be his rst trip to the war-torn country, ocial and diplomatic sources conrmed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had reacted sharply to Mr. Modi’s visit to Moscow earlier this month, even as India asserted its “freedom of choice” and “strategic au- 
• tonomy” on foreign relations. “It is quite possible that [the visit] could be on August 23,” an ocial in the know said, while another said that the modalities are being worked out. Ocials from the Ministry of External Aairs declined to comment on the proposed visit. Diplomatic 
• sources said that “nothing is conrmed at present”.Noting the great interest about the “potential visit” of the Prime Minister to Ukraine, the spokesperson of the Ukraine Embassy in India Volodymyr Prytula said that at this stage, there will be “no additional information” on 
• the issue.“When we have the offcial information to share, I will communicate immediately,” he said in response to queries on the matter. Reports about the impending visit come after weeks of bitter criticism of Mr. Modi’s visit to Russia on July 8 and 9, which coincided with a major Russian missile attack against Ukrainian targets,including a children’s hospital in Kyiv. A special NATO summit in Washington, attended by Zelenskyy, also took place at the same time. 

Agreement news

 India-Australia trade pact yielding great results, says envoy

• Trade between India and Australia is on a great trajectory owing to the recently oated free trade agreement — Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) — and exports from India to Australia have gone up substantially, Australian High Commissioner Philip Green said on Saturday. He also said that Australia was actively exploring possibilities in building 
• Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s capital city.Speaking to The Hindubefore a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Amaravati, Mr. Green said,“In the last ve years, India’s exports to the world have gone up by about 37% but in the same period, India’s exports of goods to Australia were up by 66%, nearly twice as much.” The signing of the ECTA has resulted in a 77% utilisation rate by traders and key sectors in the last four months of this year; Indian exports of apparel reportedly went up more than 20%, iron and steel by 25% and agriculture exports by 30%. Opportunities in India Mr. Green was visiting Amaravati to congratulate Mr. Naidu on his landmark victory. The visit was also aimed at exploring deve- 
• lopment opportunities in Amaravati.“We can talk about a number of sectors where Australia has interest in engaging — education, agriculture, water management, green energy supply chain etc. You may know,Canberra, the capital of Australia, was developed from three sheep farms. And it’s now one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. I’ll be listening very carefully to what 
• Chief Minister Mr. Naidu has to say on the plans for Amaravati,” he said. Australia was also focused on export of clean coal, critical minerals for green hydrogen, green battery manufacture, green steel, iron ore and solar panels needed for rooftops, he said. “Mr. Modi wants over ten million roofs with solar panels across the country, which is a huge opportunity for Australia,” Mr. Green said. He lauded the contribution of the Indian diaspora in Australia in the elds of IT, business and other service sectors. The Indian community constituted over one million of the 26 million population of Australia. “It’s the fastest growing community in our 
• country. Last year, over 1,00,000 visas were issued to people from India,” he said. He also wished for the diaspora to play a positive role in bilateral ties. Russian-Ukraine war 
• Commenting on the geopolitical scenario, Mr.Green said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a clear breach of international law by a country in the United Nations Security 
• Council (UNSC). “Russia has signed multiple treaties with Ukraine to protect its territorial integrity. Rules based world is worried about larger countries invading smaller countries. So, what Russia has done in Ukraine is for us unconscionable and we will continue our strong support to Ukraine,” he stressed. When asked about India.accessing cheaper oil from.Russia, he said it was a bilateral arrangement between the two countries and part of traditional relations between them. Mr. Green said Australia backed India’s ambition to be a permanent member of the UNSC. 

Science and technology news 

Gaganyaan astronaut to travel to ISS in mission with NASA 

• One of the four astronauts undergoing training for the Gaganyaan mission will travel to the International Space Station as part of a collaborative eort with NASA, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has informed the Lok Sabha.In a written reply, Mr.Singh said NASA has identied Axiom Space, a private entity, while the ISRO had signed a space ight agreement with the U.S. rm for the joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS).During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last year, President Joe Biden announced that India and the U.S. were collaborating to send an Indian astronaut to the ISS in 2024.India’s Astronaut Selection Board had picked four astronauts from the group of test pilots from the Indian Air Force for the Gaga-
• nyaan mission, India’s rst manned space mission planned to take place next year. “All four astronauts have undergone trainingon a space right basic module in Russia. Currently, 
• astronauts are undergoing training at the ISRO’s Astronauts Training Facility (ATF) in Bengaluru for the Gaganyaan Mission,” Mr. Singh said.The Minister said two out of three semesters of 
• the Gaganyatri training programme have been completed while independent training simulators 
• and static mock-up simulaors have been realised. Mission update Sharing an update on the Gaganyaan mission, Mr.Singh said ground testing of propulsion systems stages, including solid, liquid and cryogenic, towards human rating of the launch vehicle has been completed. Design and realisation of ve types of crew escape system solid motors has been completed, he said.
•  The Union Minister said static testing of all vetypes of solid motors too has been completed. Also,the rst Test Vehicle mission (TV-D1) for performance validation of crew escape system and parachute deployment has been successfully accomplished, he added.He said characteridsation of the Thermal Protection System was also complete.