National
DRDO successfully flight-tested MPATGM for Minimum Range
⇒ The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) on July 21, 2021.
The missile was launched from a man portable launcher integrated with thermal site and the target was mimicking a tank. The test has validated the minimum range successfully. The missile has already been successfully flight tested for the maximum range.
The missile is incorporated with state-of-the-art Miniaturized Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics. The test brings the development of indigenous third generation man portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile close to completion.
Deputy leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha
⇒ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 19 July 2021 announced the appointment of Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as the deputy leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha.
Naqvi takes over from Piyush Goyal who has been elevated as the leader of the house in the Upper House.
Book on Indian Startup Ecosystem
⇒ Recently, Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, released the book ‘Shifting Orbits: Decoding the Trajectory of the Indian Start-up Ecosystem’, co-edited by Joffi Thomas, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.
Co-editor:
Mr. Joffi has co-edited the book with three other faculty members, Srivardhini K.Jha (IIM, Bangalore), Rohan Chinchwadkar (IIT, Bombay) and Thillai Rajan (IIT, Madras).
About Book:
The book ‘Shifting Orbits’ chronicles the spectacular rise of the start-up landscape in India in four different sections- innovation, incubation, funding and industry perspectives.
Launch Event:
The virtual book launch was organized by ‘Innovation, Venturing and Entrepreneurship in India Network’ (iVEIN). The iVEIN is a consortium of leading IIMs and IITs, of which IIM-K is a founding member.
International
World Universities Summit 2021
⇒ Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressed the World Universities Summit as a Chief Guest on 21 July 2021. Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also addressed the summit.
Addressing the Summit, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu asked universities to become thought leaders in finding solutions to global challenges such as climate change, poverty and pollution.
Theme:
The theme of the summit was “Universities of the Future: Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility and Community Impact”.
Organized by:
The three-day World Universities Summit was organized by O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), an Indian Institution of Eminence.
Participants:
The summit witnessed 150+ Thought leaders from 6 continents and 25+ Countries from United States of America to Ghana to Russia to South Korea to Israel to Italy.
Discussion:
The O. P. JGU hosted intense discussions and debates on how the education environment has changed forever, how the future will need to account for new realities, and how to address the limitations that have emerged during the pandemic.
The Summit defined the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on higher education and on learning environments worldwide.
The Summit also brought into focus the sharp gaps in higher education that were exposed as rapid changes had to be implemented and there were issues of the digital divide preventing access to continued education for many.
Miss India USA 2021
⇒ Recently, American Indian Vaidehi Dongre from Michigan was crowned Miss India USA 2021. A 25-year-old Vaidehi Dongre is the University of Michigan graduate.
Vaidehi, who has majored in international studies, won the ‘Miss Talented’ title when she gave a flawless performance of Indian classical dance form Kathak.
Runner ups:
Arshi Lalani from Georgia was declared the first runner up and North Carolina’s Mira Kasari was declared the second runner up.
About Beauty Pageant:
Diana Hayden, Miss World 1997, was the chief guest and chief judge for the pageant. As many as 61 contestants from 30 states participated in three different pageants – Miss India USA, Mrs India USA and Miss Teen India USA.
New President of Peru
⇒ Recently, Pedro Castillo, Leftist rural teacher, has been sworn as the President of Peru.
Castillo was officially declared the winner of the presidential election after the country’s longest electoral count in 40 years. Castillo received 44,000 more votes than right-wing politician Keiko Fujimori.