Daily Current Affairs 12th July 2023

National Law University of Delhi has launched a program called Eklavya.

• The National Law University (NLU) in India’s capital New Delhi has recently launched a pioneering research and education initiative called ‘Eklavya’.
• The initiative aims to further strengthen Delhi’s commitment to collaboration and to gain diverse perspectives through the expertise and skills of individuals without traditional law degrees.

International news

Turkey accepts Sweden’s concession agreement to join NATO.

• Turkey on July 10 ended its months-long opposition to Sweden’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), allowing Sweden to join the organization without opposition.
• Finland became the latest country to join the alliance on 4 April 2023, after 30 countries were already members of the organization. If Sweden joins with this approval, the number of NATO member states will increase to 32 and this will be a huge setback for Russia, according to world security experts.

State news

A product design center and MeitY supported e-quality detection system have been set up.

• Shri Bhuvanesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has inaugurated a product design center for system designing, prototyping and MeitY supported e-quality detection system at Advanced Computer Development Center (C-DAC) in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• Shri Bhuvanesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, said that the facility has been launched to be of great benefit to entrepreneurs, startups and MSMEs in the North and North-Eastern regions of the country.

The Union Minister inaugurated CBC’s Multimedia Exhibition in Srinagar.

• Science & Technology; Union Minister of State for PMO, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the “Multimedia Exhibition of Central Bureau of Communications (CBC)” on July 10 in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu & Kashmir.
• The 5-day exhibition will be held till July 14, 2023 and is organized with the aim of highlighting to the general public the methods for nine years of Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan (prevention of accumulation of wealth).

Medical scientists from Tamil Nadu and Japan have discovered a treatment method to control muscular dystrophy.

• Muscular dystrophy is a very rare genetic disorder that can affect children. As a result, the movement of the muscles becomes paralyzed and it becomes completely immobilized.
• In order to prevent this condition in which the protein ‘Dystrophin’ of children suffering from this disease decreases, it has been revealed in a medical study that the food product ‘Beta Glucose’ increases the level of Dystrophin protein in the blood by 32 percent through some medicinal food products. Accordingly, research has shown that consumption of this beta-glucose produces some changes in immunity and increases muscle strength within 45-50 days.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for development projects worth Rs 871 crore in Kadapa.

• Various development projects worth ₹871.72 crore, including a ₹567.72 crore drinking water project from the Brahmam Sagar reservoir in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, to Kadapa Central City, have been approved by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone on July 10.
• The chief minister said that through this project, the people and farmers in the surrounding areas will get maximum benefit and the supply of drinking water to the municipal workers will be strengthened.

Science and Technology

Odisha TV has introduced India’s first AI news anchor.

• Odisha Television Corporation (OTV) launched Lisa, the Country’s first artificial intelligence (AI) based news anchor, in the state capital Bhubaneswar on July 09.
• It is reported that this AI Lisa, powered by AI and machine learning, will now deliver messages in Odia and English. It is also notable that two months ago, Kuwait News Agency also launched their own AI new anchor, ‘Fedha’.

Awards

India’s Prime Minister Modi is to be conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Award for the year 2023.

• It has been announced that Indian Prime Minister Modi will be conferred with this year’s prestigious Lokmanya Tilak Award on August 1, the anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak, at the hands of Dr. Deepak Tilak, President of the Tilak Smarak Foundation.
• The official announcement was made by Dr. Deepak Tilak and Rohit Tilak, Chairman of Tilak Smarak Foundation on July 10 in Pune, Maharashtra.

Appointments 

Preeti Aghalayam has been appointed as the first woman director of IIT.

• She will be in charge of the expansion chapter of IIT Madras in Zanzibar, Tanzania, the central government announced.
• With this appointment, Dr. Preethi Agalayam becomes the First woman director to lead an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT’s) campus. With this appointment, it is said that he will lead well through his excellent handling.

Sports news

Gold for India at World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Cup.

• India’s Rudransh Khandelwal and Nihal Singh won gold and silver respectively in the P4 mixed 50m shooting SHI category at the World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Cup on July 10.
• The 16-year-old Rudransh scored 231.1 points in the final to break the world record of 2020 Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist and Khel Ratna awardee Manish Narwal. At the same time, Nihal Singh has secured the second position with 222.2 points.

Taarini Suri won the Under-17 Girls’ Singles title at the GMBA Championship.

• Taarini Suri won the Under-17 girls’ singles and doubles titles at the Greater Mumbai Badminton Association (GMPA) Championship.
• It is notable that Taarini won the final match with  Nishika Gokhe of Nagpur by 21-11, 21-23, 21-17 points.

Gold for India in recurve category at Junior World Championships.

• India’s Parth Salunkhe has won gold in the recurve category at the 2023 World Junior Championships.
• With this, he became the First male archer to win gold in the recurve category at the Junior World Championships. India finished the last game of the championship with a maximum of 11 medals. Notably, Salunkhe defeated seventh seed Song Injun 7-3 in this tough five-round match.

Economic News

ONGC has become the first PSU in the country to receive the Anti-Bribery Management System certification.

• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has become the country’s first Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to receive Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) certification from InterCert USA, an international certification body.
• It is also notable that earlier in 2005, the company was the first organization to adopt the Integrity Pact (IP) through “Transparency International”.

Agreement between AWS and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories for supply of affordable and innovative medicines.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) on July 10 Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, it chose the company and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for business development was signed between the two companies.
• The deal is aimed at improving its digital platform and helping healthcare providers better monitor services to help deliver faster services to more than 1.5 billion patients worldwide by 2030.

Dell Technologies and Intel are planning to join forces to launch an AI-capable lab in India.

• Dell Technologies and renowned chipmaker Intel signed an agreement on July 10 to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) capable development lab in India.
• Through this joint collaboration, the agreement aims to make college and school students industry ready and bridge their digital skills gap.

Important day

World Paper Bag Day 2023

• World Paper Bag Day is observed every year on 12th July to raise awareness about the pollution and impact of plastic and encourage the use of environmentally friendly alternatives.
• Since it uses paper bags that are easily recyclable, the day has been observed over the years with an aim to reduce biodegradable plastic waste and reduce environmental pollution. “If you’re ‘fantastic’, do something ‘dramatic’ to cut ‘plastic’ and use ‘paper bags’ is the theme for this year.