NATIONAL:
1. Stapled Visa
Why in news - India withdrew its 8-athlete wushu contingent from the Summer World University Games (Chengdu).
Key Points –
• Reason - China issued stapled visas to 3 athletes who belong to Arunachal Pradesh.
• Official name of game - FISU World University Games.
About Stapled Visa –
• An unstamped paper attached to the passport and can be torn off or detached at will.
• Different from a regular visa that is affixed to the passport and stamped.
• China issues stapled visas to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh (since 2006) and Jammu and Kashmir (2008).
• China disputes India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh. It challenges the legal status of the McMahon Line (1914).
• China claims some 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh (Zangnan in Chinese or South Tibet).
2. Free Movement Regime (FMR)
Why in news – Amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur, questions have been raised about FMR.
Key Points –
• The illegal migration of tribal Kuki-Chin people from Myanmar is one of the key issues in the Manipur crisis.
• Kukis have blamed the Meiteis for making this a pretext for “ethnic cleansing”.
• Insurgent groups such as UNLF, PLA, ULFA, NSCN, etc have built camps in Sagaing Division, Kachin State and Chin State (in Myanmar).
• India suspended the FMR in September 2022.
About FMR –
• A mutually agreed arrangement between India and Myanmar.
• Allows tribes living along the border on either side to travel up to 16 km inside the other country without a visa.
• Indo-Myanmar border runs for 1,643 km in 4 states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Implemented in 2018 as part of Act East policy.
• Indo-Myanmar border was demarcated by the British in 1826. (Treaty of Yandabo, February 1826).
INTERNATIONAL:
1. 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution
Why in news - PM Modi urges Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe to implement the 13th Amendment.
Key Points –
• 13th Amendment flows from the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord (PM Rajiv Gandhi and President J R Jayewardene) signed on July 29, 1987, in Colombo.
• 1987 Accord aimed to transfer some powers to Northern and Eastern provinces where the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka was concentrated.
• It brought an end to the long and bloody civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government.
• The North and Eastern provinces were to be merged into one, temporarily, and later, a referendum was to be held to decide if they should stay together or have two separate provincial councils.
2. Ban on Smartphones
Why in news - UNESCO has called for prohibiting smartphones in schools to tackle classroom disruption and prevent cyberbullying.
Key Points –
• Report name - Global Education Monitoring Report,2023 (title - Technology in education: a tool on whose terms?).
• Supported by Netherlands (to ban mobile phones from classrooms in 2024) and Finland.
• Finding - there is a “negative link” between uncontrolled use of mobile phones and educational performance.
• India does not have a legal ban on smartphones in schools. State and school administrations take their own call on the matter.
• India is predicted to have more than one billion smartphone users in 2023.
3. Cambodia’s Election
Why in news - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to hand power to his son Hun Manet after latest election win.
Key Points –
• Party name - Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
• Hun Sen has ruled the Southeast Asian country for nearly 40 years.
ENVIRONMENT:
1. Marine Heat Waves
Why in news - Ocean temperatures have remained at record-high levels, giving rise to marine heat waves (MHWs) around the globe.
Key Points –
• In April, the temperature reached 21.1 O C. (previous record – 21O C in 2016).
• Affected region (As per Mercator Ocean International) - North-east Pacific, southern Indian Ocean and the Pacific, the north-east Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
• Consequences –
(a) deaths of marine species (fish kills),
(b) alter migration & weather patterns,
(c) coral bleaching (expel zooxanthellae and turn entirely white),
(d) stronger storms (increased evaporation escalates transfer of heat from oceans to air),
(e) destroy kelp forests (grow in cooler waters),
(f) growth of invasive alien species
About MHWs –
• Surface temperature of a particular region of the sea rises to 3 or 4 O C above the average temperature for at least 5 days.
• Can last for weeks, months or even years.
• Global mean sea surface temperature (Copernicus Climate Change Service) –
(a) increased by close to 0.9 O C since 1850.
(b) increased by around 0.6 O C in the last four decades.
BIHAR:
1. Enhancing Connectivity and Sustainability in Bihar Roads
Why in news - Asian Development Bank (ADB) and India signed an agreement for a $295 million loan.
Key Points –
• Aim - to upgrade around 265 km of state highways with climate and disaster-resilient design in Bihar.
• It will include –
(a) developing a road asset management system that includes climate change and disaster risk information.
(b) establishing research laboratories in the Bihar Road Research Institute (Mokama Patna) to enable the investigation of materials.
• Since 2008, ADB has provided 5 loans totaling $1.63 billion to Bihar, for upgradation of about 1,696 km state highways and the construction of a new bridge over the Ganga River.
• It supports the Bihar government program to upgrade all state highways to standard two-lane widths and improve road safety.
• Benefits –
(a) enhance connectivity in some of Bihar's poorest rural districts.
(b) promote access to health and education facilities.
(c) markets to improve people’s lives
(d) training in livelihood as well as awareness on road safety, health, hygiene, abuse and harassment will be offered to women from communities in the project areas.
POINTERS:
• Who has been appointed as the captain of the Junior Indian Hockey Team for the Hockey Tournament in Germany - Uttam Singh.
• Who has been elected as the new chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - James Skea.
• In which city of Ladakh the first women's police station has been opened - Kargil.
• Which medal has India's Kamaljit won in the ISSF Junior Shooting World Championship – Gold.
• In which city has the Army Postal Service corps inaugurated its first Permanent Aadhaar Enrollment Centre - New Delhi.
• Which day is celebrated all over the world on 29th July 2023 - International Tiger Day.
• Which ministry has launched RECEIC (Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition) in Chennai - Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• With whom has 'India AI' signed an MoU to promote Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies – Meta.
• India's first Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) in fisheries will be set up in state - Kerala (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies).
• National coal index released by whom - Ministry of Coal.