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The Hyderabad-based defence public sector undertaking, Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) has recently signed a contract worth Rs 1,187.82 crores for supply of heavy weight torpedoes – Varunastra – to the Indian Navy. The execution of the contract will be in the next 42 months. The weapon will be manufactured at BDL Visakhapatnam Unit under collaboration with DRDO. The Heavy Weight Torpedo (or the Varunastra) is a ship launched, electrically propelled underwater weapon equipped with one of the most advanced automatic and remote-controlled guidance systems. The weapon system uses its own intelligence in tracing the target. The BDL is the main producer of the country’s range of missiles and missile defence systems.

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Zuzana Caputova, a liberal environmental activist and a political newcomer, has been sworn-in as the first female President of Slovakia in Bratislava on 15th June 2019. She is also the youngest president in the history of Slovakia, at the of age 45. She first became known by prevailing in a decade-long struggle against the situating of a toxic landfill in her hometown of Pezinok. For this, Caputova was awarded the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize. Caputova succeeded Slovak President Andrej Kiska.

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The armies of India and Myanmar carried out a 3-week-long coordinated operation, named ‘Operation Sunrise 2’, from May 16 in their respective border areas & targeted several militant groups operating in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. As part of the operation, the armies coordinated with each other to bust camps of militant outfits, including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the NSCN (Khaplang), the United Liberation Front of Assam (I) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB). As per sources, at least six dozen militants belonging to these groups were nabbed and several of their camps destroyed during the operation. Myanmar is one of the strategic neighbours of India and shares a 1,640-km border with a number of north-eastern states, including the militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur The first phase of this operation was launched in February 2019 in which Indian Army targeted members of the Arakan Army (an insurgent group in Myanmar), who were opposed to the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project. The Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project is viewed as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia.

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Twenty-three Indian Institutions have been ranked among the best global universities in the latest 2020 QS World University ranking. In it, IIT Bombay has become India’s best institute & secured 152nd rank globally. IIT Delhi and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore have also been figured in the top 200. Other Indian universities included in the top 500 list are IIT-Madras (271), IIT-Kharagpur (281), IIT- Kanpur (291), IIT-Roorkee (383), University of Delhi (474)and IIT-Guwahati (491). World-class MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has made a history by topping the QS World University Rankings for the 8th consecutive year. According to QS, no other university has managed such a long run at the top. Stanford University, Harvard University and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) — all retain their positions at second, third and fourth in the world, respectively.

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The Bangalore-based electronics engineer, Nitesh Kumar Jangir has won the 2019 Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Award in London, United Kingdom (UK). He received his award in the ‘People’ category alongside 14 other innovators from across the 53 member-countries of the Commonwealth. Jangir created Saans as a breathing support device to tackle avoidable deaths of premature babies from respiratory distress syndrome due to a lack of immediate access to complex medical equipment. His low-cost neonatal breathing device has saved the lives of new-born babies across small towns of India. Jangir is the co-founder of Coeo Labs, a medical device company with a vision to prevent preventable deaths in the field of emergency and critical care. Each of the 15 winners of the inaugural Commonwealth Innovation Awards receive a trophy, a certificate and 2,000 pounds in prize money.

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In Nepal, thousands of people came onto roads in capital Kathmandu against controversial “Guthi Bill” on 19th June 2019. The local residents of Kathmandu valley, especially ethnic Newar community members are protesting against the controversial bill, claiming that the bill had provisions in favour of land mafias and could be a threat to the centuries-old culture and traditions of Nepal. Guthis are socio-economic institutions (trusts), both public and private, that fund their obligations from incomes from cultivated or leased land assets. Depending on their obligations, Guthis fulfil religious, public service or social roles and could either involve members from a common lineage, or several. The Government of Nepal had tabled the Guthi Bill in National Assembly, the Upper House of Parliament in April to amend Guthi Act and nationalise both public and private Guthis or trusts and regulate all religious sites under a powerful commission. Though the Guthi Bill was withdrawn by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation but protesters are demanding that it should be completely scrapped.

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In a bid to boost India’s relations with its neighbours, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has signed agreements with Bangladesh and South Korea to make DD India available to viewers in the two countries respectively. Under this agreement, Bangaldesh’s BTV World and South Korea’s KBS World will also be made available on DD Free Dish, which has nearly 35 million subscribers across the country. The move is in line with India’s strategy to strengthen its relationships with neighbouring countries and other Asian nations and will help promote robust cultural exchange.

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Indian Navy has recently launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to reassure Indian flagged vessels transiting through the area. The development has come in the wake of the suspected attacks on two merchant ships in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman region. Both the attacks took place at Strait of Hormuz, which is a major conduit for global oil supplies. The US has blamed Iran for the attack. The Navy has deployed stealth guided missile destroyers INS Chennai and patrol vessel INS Sunayna in the region for maritime security operations. In addition, aerial surveillance in the area is also being done by IN aircraft. The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region of the Indian Navy is also keeping a close watch on the movement of ships in the Gulf region. Both the attacks took place at Strait of Hormuz, which is a major conduit for global oil supplies.

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The National Freight Index (NFI) has been launched by a technology-enabled logistics company Rivigo, which owns a fleet of over 3,000 trucks. The index aims to bring transparency and boost efficiency in the market. The NFI is the barometer of the road freight market in India and is based on Rivigo rate exchange, which gives a live spot rate on over 7 million lane and vehicle type combinations in the country. The move is aimed at bringing transparency to the road freight market place and transforming the logistics sector. The NFI offers an aggregated picture of both live rates and historical trends of spot price movements in the road freight industry. The index is represented in two main forms: in terms of actual freight rates condensed to Rupees per tonne-km and in terms of relative movement with respect to a base month.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 14th G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan on 28th and 29th of June 2019. Former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu will be India’s sherpa at the summit. More than 20 countries will be participating in the G20 Summit. Informal meeting of the BRICS leaders and bilateral meetings with other leaders would also take place on the sidelines of the summit. The theme of the summit is “Human-centred future society”. India has participated in all the G20 Summits held so far. It will host the G20 summit in 2022 for the first time.