Russia has delivered two AL-55I turbojet engines to HAL

TOP NEWS IN NUTSHELLS (31 July 2021)

**NATIONAL NEWS**

• Ruckus by the opposition over Pegasus snooping and Farm laws continued to disrupt the proceedings of the Parliament in the 2^nd week of Monsoon session. And both the Houses adjourned for the day.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to offload part of Govt's stake in public sector general insurance companies. The bill will amend the General Insurance Business (Nationalizations) Act, 1972. Although the bill has a provision to enable the Govt to bring down its shareholding below 51%, Sitharaman clarified that this bill is not for privatization.
• The Govt   introduced the DICGC (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill aims to provide timely support to depositors of stressed banks. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad introduced the Bill, which seeks to provide immediate relief to thousands of depositors who have their money parked in stressed lenders.
• The Union Health Ministry Report: More than 45.60 crore COVID vaccine doses administered so far; National Covid-19 recovery rate stands at 97.38%.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday visited the Bharat Biotech Limited in Hyderabad. The BBL is manufacturing Covid vaccines.
• Kerala recorded more than 20,000 fresh cases for fourth successive day, with the test positivity rate (TPR) rising to 13.61%.
• Tamil Nadu Govt. extended lockdown till August 9, without further relaxations. Other lockdown norms will continue to be in effect till the next announcement.
• India has covered 92.8 per cent seeding of ration cards with Aadhaar numbers. The States and Union Territories have completed the Aadhaar seeding of about 21.91 Crore ration cards and around 71 Crore beneficiaries at the national level.

• Assam-Mizoram border dispute: A Day after Assam advised its people not to travel to the neighboring state, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that North East India will always remain one. Both Assam and Mizoram claim land on the border between Assam's Cachar and Mizoram's Kolasib district. Both states accuse each other of encroachment.
• A series of cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides reported in Himachal Pradesh. In a major chunk of the hillside falling, about 100 meters of the road slides down and vanishes in moments at Sirmaur  Luckily there are no reports of casualties.

• PM Modi assures full support for development of Karnataka during his meeting with CM Basavaraj Bommai.
• The Assam Board Class X result for the year 2021 has been declared yesterday. The Secondary Education Board of Assam said that 93.1% of students have passed the examination.
• The Punjab School Education Board has also declared the Class 12 exams result. 96.48% students cleared the exams.
• To commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence, “Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav”, an awareness campaign for youth will  be launched in Chhattisgarh from August 12.
• Ordnance factory in Tamil Nadu launches high-tech carbine 'TriCa' :. A high-tech, low sound carbine named 'TriCa' with a range more effective than a typical sub-machine gun and small enough to be packed in the jacket of security personnel was unveiled at the Ordnance Factory in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu.
• Terrorists hurl grenade in North Kashmir's Baramulla district, 2 CRPF Jawan, 1 civilian injured.
• The Indian Army needs 20 new avalanche rescue radars on a fast-track basis from abroad to ensure quick location of buried soldiers under snow during natural calamities in high-altitude areas along the borders with China and Pakistan.

* *INTERNATIONAL NEWS**

• Senior military commanders of India and China will be meeting for another round of talks today on July 31 to make yet another attempt to diffuse tensions and ‘pull back’ from the military posturing along the 832-km long Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.
• China has made it mandatory for every Tibetan family to send one member to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in a bid to strengthen its military deployment along the LAC with India.
• Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf met with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington during which the two leaders discussed the urgent need for reduction in violence and a "negotiated" political settlement in Afghanistan.
• India, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan are likely to hold a meeting under a quadrilateral framework later this year on the joint use of the Chabahar port, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
• The 12th edition of Indo-Russia joint military exercise INDRA 2021 will be held this year at Volgograd, Russia from 1 to 13 August. The exercise will entail conducting counter-terror operations under the United Nations (UN) mandate by a joint force against international terror groups.
• India said it has consistently called upon Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments to protect the interests of the Tamil community & supported efforts to preserve the island nation’s character as a multi-ethnic & multi-religious society.

• Russia's United Engine Corporation (UEC ) has delivered two AL-55I turbojet engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

• India extends international flight ban till August 31.
• United Emirates extends suspension of flights from India until August 7.
• Nearly 12,000 Rohingyas affected, 11 killed in flash floods & landslides in Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh has extended the closure of all educational institutions till Aug 31 in view of the continuing COVID 19 pandemic in the country.
• Solar Eclipse 2021. After 10 June 2021, the 2nd and last solar eclipse is falling on 4 December 2021.