Remove COVID restrictions on airlines in India-IATA

TOP NEWS IN NUTSHELLS (30 July 2021)

**NATIONAL NEWS**

• Modi Govt approves 27% Reservation for OBC, 10% for Economically Weaker Section in  All India Quota Medical College Admissions.
• A website dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the occasion of the first anniversary of the National Education Policy 2020 launched by PM Modi. He expressed hope that the website would make our youth future-oriented.
• India’s 3^rd lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 is now likely to be launched in the 3^rd quarter of 2022. Union minister of state for the department of space Jitendra Singh said that Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the fabrication of the spacecraft.
• Due to spike in COVID cased in Kerala, Complete lockdown will be imposed from 31 July   to 01 August.  The average daily cases being reported in the state are above 17,443.
• ASSAM-MIZORAM BORDER DISPUTES: In view of border tensions with Mizoram, the Assam Govt. on Thursday advised the citizens to refrain from travelling to its neighbouring state. Six Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and over 50 others including a superintendent of police were injured when the Mizoram Police opened fire on a team of Assam officials Monday.
• The chief secretaries and police chiefs of Assam and Mizoram at a meeting called by the Union Home Ministry in Delhi agreed to the deployment of a neutral central armed police force along National Highway 306, headed by a senior central police officer to keep peace along the border of the two states.
• Basic reason for dispute is land encroachment near Hailakandi, Cachar and Karimganj districts sharing of border between two states.
• Mizoram shares about 164 km long border with Assam. The hill state Mizoram was part of Assam until 1972 when it was carved out as a Union Territory. It became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987 with Aizwal as its capital.
• In Kerala a major fire breaks out at Poultry Feed Manufacturing Unit in Palakkad; 30 Injured.
• The Delhi Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution urging the Centre to immediately withdraw the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police commissioner.
• Himachal Pradesh High Court says that a   pregnant women need bail, not jail. The   high court allowed   the petition of a pregnant woman accused in a Narcotic Drugs case. Justice Anoop Chitkara also said that temporary bail or suspension of sentence, extending to a year after delivery, must be allowed even when the offences are very grave and accusations very severe.
• Indian Railways introduces new Rules for booking online train tickets for those passengers who have not booked tickets for a long time due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. Such users will have to first undergo the verification process before they buy tickets from the IRCTC portal. Passengers cannot skip this process by any means. However, those who have booked tickets regularly will not have to go through the drill.
• IndiGo will start direct flights between Jabalpur and Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Indore from August 20.
• Aviation, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said that India has so far received 26 Rafale aircraft out of the 36 it has ordered from Dassault.
• The Eurofighter Typhoon will soon be equipped with a new electronic warfare system, SPEAR-EW, capable of neutralizing the “most sophisticated air defences”. Multinational defence company MBDA is now working on a new electronic warfare version of the SPEAR weapon system.

 *INTERNATIONAL NEWS*

• PM Modi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken   discuss efforts to deepen US-India global partnership. They discussed regional challenges & cooperation on COVID-19 response efforts, climate change, regional security and shared values & democratic principles.
• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged the Indian government to remove COVID-19 related restrictions on airlines in the country. The body of 290 global airlines wants India to resume operation of international flights along with an end to capacity restrictions and fare capping for domestic airlines.
• Army Chief General MM Naravane held talks with Commander of US Special Operations Command General Richard D Clarke on Thursday, focussing on various key aspects of bilateral defence and security cooperation.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has now deployed recently acquired Rafale fighter jets close to China on the eastern front before the next round of military talks between both the countries, likely to be held soon. 
• China's foreign minister met   with a delegation of high-level Taliban officials as ties between them warm ahead of the US pull-out from Afghanistan. A photo posted on the ministry's website showed Wang Yi posing with senior Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his delegation in the city of Tianjin.
• The U.S. Congress on Thursday approved emergency funding to replenish the Capitol Police and bolster security after the January 6 riot by supporters of the then President Donald Trump and to evacuate Afghans who helped American forces from their country.
• Israel will roll out a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to older people, citing a drop in protection against severe disease driven by the Delta variant.
• Tsunami alert issued for Hawaii after 8.2 magnitude earthquake hits Alaska Peninsula.
• Israeli authorities have inspected the offices of surveillance outfit NSO Group in response to the Pegasus project investigation into abuses of the company’s spyware by several government clients. Officials from the Defence Ministry visited the company’s offices near Tel Aviv.