Defence Ministry approves arms procurement proposals worth ₹28,732 crore

• The procurement proposals were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
• Among the proposals approved by DAC in the meeting are three proposals of the Indian Army, viz. Guided Extended Range Rocket Ammunition, Area Denial Munition Type I and Infantry Combat Vehicle – Command have been designed and developed by DRDO.
• The DAC also approved Navy’s proposal to procure upgraded 1250KW capacity Marine Gas Turbine Generator for power generation application onboard Kolkata class of ships through Indian Industry.
• The approval to the new procurement proposals came amid India''s over two-year-long border row with China in eastern Ladakh.

Russia to drop out of International Space Station after 2024

• Borisov’s statement reaffirmed previous declarations by Russian space officials about Moscow’s intention to leave the space station after 2024 when the current international arrangements for its operation end.
• NASA and other international partners hope to keep the space station running until 2030, while the Russians have been reluctant to make commitments beyond 2024.
• The space station is jointly run by the space agencies of Russia, the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada. The first piece was put in orbit in 1998, and the outpost has been continuously inhabited for nearly 22 years.
• It is used to conduct scientific research in zero gravity and test out equipment for future space journeys. It typically has a crew of seven, who spend months at a time aboard the station as it orbits about 400 km from Earth.

India Designates 5 New Ramsar Sites.

• India has designated five (5) new wetlands of International importance, which include three wetlands (Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest & Pichavaram Mangrove) in Tamil Nadu, one (Pala wetland) in Mizoram and one wetland (Sakhya Sagar) in Madhya Pradesh, making a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country.
• The Ramsar sites have been increased from 49 to 54 Ramsar sites.
• India’s Ramsar wetlands are spread over 11,000 sq.km — around 10% of the total wetland area in the country — across 18 States. No other South Asian country has as many sites, though this has much to do with India’s geographical breadth and tropical diversity.
• The U.K. (175) and Mexico (142) — smaller countries than India — have the most Ramsar sites, whereas Bolivia spans the largest area with 1,48,000 sq.km under the Convention protection.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy implements Suryamitra Skill Development Programme

• Objective is to train youth of age above 18 years as solar PV technicians for installation, operation and maintenance of solar power projects.
• Up to June 2022, a total of 51331 number of candidates have benefited from the skill development training provided under Suryamitra programme, out of which 26967 number of candidates gained employment.
• This information was given by Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

ONGC inks MoU with Greenko to manufacture green hydrogen

• This MoU is in line with the National Hydrogen Mission launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister in making India a global green hydrogen hub.
• The activities envisaged under this MoU will contribute towards India’s target of producing of 5 million tonnes of Green hydrogen per annum by 2030.
• This MoU will also act as a stepping stone for ONGC to achieve renewable energy targets as per its Energy Strategy 2040.

The Lok Sabha passed the Family Courts’ Amendment Bill, 2022 by voice vote.

• It validates the existence of the three family courts in Himachal Pradesh and Two in Nagaland with retrospective effect. The bill also seeks validation of the decisions taken by the two states and the family courts.
• The family courts located at Shimla, Dharmashala, and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh will come into force, with a retrospective effect of February 15th 2019.
• The Family Courts located at Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland will come into force with retrospect effect from November 12th 2008 on enactment of the Bill.
• The enactment was necessitated as it came to light in connection with a case that the central Government notifications were not existing with respect to these five family courts.

Spending on ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign declared CSR activity under Companies Act.

• Corporate Affairs Ministry has said that companies can spend their Corporate Social Responsibility CSR funds for activities related to the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
• The Ministry said spending of CSR funds for the activities related to this campaign such as mass scale production and supply of the national flag, outreach and amplification efforts and other related activities are eligible CSR activities under Schedule VII of the Companies Act pertaining to promotion of education relating to culture.
• Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable companies are required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards CSR activities.
• Har Ghar Tiranga campaign is being organised by the Government as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring home the national flag and hoist it to mark the 75th year of India''s independence.

Droupadi Murmu assumes office, with a johar greeting

• ‘Johar’, which essentially means ‘salutation and welcome’, is used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• According to several tribal leaders from Jharkhand, the word ‘Johar’ also means ‘paying respect’.
• Tribal communities are nature worshippers and follow Sarna religion code, although it is not an official religion.
• There are 32 tribal communities in Jharkhand who speak different dialects. Almost all, including tribal Christians, use the word ‘Johar’ along with some other words for salutation.
• Johar, is predominantly used by Santhali, Munda and Ho communities that share some similarities. People belonging to the Oraon community use the word ‘Jai Dharam’, apart from Johar, as a salutation.

Protest over shortage of HIV drugs in capital

• The main shortage is of dolutegravir, used as part of the first-, second-, and third-line ART combinations.
• There is also a shortage of nevirapine syrup that is given to infants with HIV.
• While there is no cure for HIV infection, ART aims to reduce the replication of HIV and bring the viral load to undetectable levels.
• There has been a decline in mortality and illness resulting from HIV infection due to better availability of affordable and effective ART.

19 MPs sent out, Opp hits back: Suspension of democracy

• The general principle is that it is the role and duty of the Presiding Officer — Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Rajya Sabha — to maintain order so that the House can function smoothly. In order to ensure that proceedings are conducted in the proper manner, the Speaker/ Chairman is empowered to force a Member to withdraw from the House.

What are the Rules in Rajya Sabha under which the Presiding Officer acts?

• the Chairman of Rajya Sabha is empowered under Rule Number 255 of its Rule Book to “direct any Member whose conduct is in his opinion grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately” from the House.
• Under Rule 256, the Chairman may “name a Member who disregards the authority of the Chair or abuses the rules of the Council by persistently and wilfully obstructing” business.
• In such a situation, the House may adopt a motion suspending the Member from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session.
• The House may, by another motion, terminate the suspension.