Prime Minister''s Visit to Japan for Quad Leaders'' Summit

• They announced the formation of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which will build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters.”
• It will allow tracking of “dark shipping” and other tactical-level activities, such as rendezvous at sea, as well as improve partners’ ability to respond to climate and humanitarian events and to protect their fisheries.
• The grouping would enhance the sharing of data as a part of the “Quad Satellite Data Portal” that would enhance cooperation among the satellites of the member countries.
• The summit welcomed the progress made regarding the J&J vaccine production at the Biological E labs in India under the Quad Vaccine Partnership.
• The Quad is an informal multilateral grouping of India, the U.S., Australia, and Japan aimed at cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Qutub Minar not a place of worship: ASI

• It said this while opposing a plea challenging the dismissal of a civil suit seeking “restoration” of Hindu and Jain temples on the premises.
• The original suit, which claimed that 27 temples were demolished to build the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex, was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
• The Qutub Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty.
• It was continued by his successor Iltutmish, and finally completed much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1412) in 1368 AD.
• Apart from the Qutb Minar and the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, other structures in the complex include the Alai Darwaza gate, the Alai Minar and the Iron pillar. Inside the complex lie the tombs of Iltutmish, Alauddin Khalji and Imam Zamin.
• The iron pillar of Delhi was constructed by Chandragupta II (reigned c. 375–415 CE). It is famous for the rust-resistant composition of the metals used in its construction.

Environment Ministry brings out draft EPR notification

• India has a formal set of rules for electronic waste management, first announced these rules in 2016 and amended them in 2018. The latest rules are expected to come into effect by August.
• According to it, Consumer goods companies and makers of electronics goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is collected and recycled by 2023 with targets to increase them to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
• The rules bring into effect a system of trading in certificates, akin to carbon credits, that will allow companies to temporarily bridge shortfalls. Draft notification says companies will have to pay ‘environmental compensation’ for missed targets.
• Along with specifying targets, the rules lay out a system of companies securing extended producer responsibility (EPR) certificates.
• The chief entity that will coordinate the trade of EPR certificates and monitor if companies are meeting their targets is the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Antiviral drugs could reduce monkeypox symptoms, says Lancet study

• The study documents patients’ response to two antiviral medications – brincidofovir and tecovirimat. These were developed to treat smallpox, and have previously demonstrated some efficacy against monkeypox in animals.
• The study found little evidence that brincidofovir was of clinical benefit, but concluded that further research into the potential of tecovirimat would be warranted.
• Monkeypox, a rare disease, is caused by a virus that is a close relative of the smallpox virus. There are currently no licensed treatments.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Monkeypox can be contained in countries outside of Africa where the virus is not usually detected.
• According to media reports, more than 100 cases of the virus, which causes a rash and a fever have been confirmed in Europe, Americas, and Australia.
• The virus is most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa.

World Economic Forum launches alliance to supercharge India’s climate action

• Part of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Action Platform, the alliance will continue efforts to achieve the vision outlined in the white paper released last year, ‘Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net Zero India’, on India’s low-carbon transition by 2070.
• It will bring together the government, businesses, and other key stakeholders to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Panchamrit’ pledge, which includes the country’s net-zero target by 2070.
• A collaboration between the management consultancy Kearney and the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation, the alliance will serve as a high-level platform to support business leaders in planning and implementing plans and programmes to achieve climate targets, including net-zero economic growth.

China Building Second Bridge On Pangong Tso, MEA Confirms

• The second bridge, which is still under construction, is a permanent structure. A previous bridge, which came up around January, seemed to have been built to facilitate work on the new one.
• After completion, this second bridge will allow swift movement of armoured vehicles between the north and the south banks of Pangong Tso.
• The site of the bridge is around 20 km east of Finger 8 on the lake’s north bank – which is where the Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes.
• The construction site is just east of an old ruin called Khurnak Fort, where China has major frontier defence bases. China calls it Rutong Country.
• Although it is being built in territory that is under China’s control since 1958, the exact point is just west of India’s claim line, which means India considers it its own territory.
• Pangong Tso is a 135-km long landlocked lake. India has around 45 km of Pangong Tso under its control, while China has more than two-thirds. The site of the new bridge is near the halfway mark of the lake.

India’s first Olympic Values Education Programme launched in Odisha

• OVEP will be integrated into the school education system of Odisha. It will be a values-based curriculum, to be implemented initially in 90 schools of Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, catering to about 32,000 children.
• The OVEP is a practical set of resources designed by the IOC to introduce young people to the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship.
• The OVEP was developed in 2006 to adddress the challenges of sedentary lifestyles, lack of concentration and adolescents dropping out of school.

Secretary, MoHUA launches Swachh Survekshan 2023

• In SS 2023, additional weightage has been given to source segregation of waste, enhancement of waste processing capacity of cities to match the waste generation and reduction of waste going to the dumpsites.
• Indicators have been introduced with additional weightage on emphasizing the need for phased reduction of plastic, plastic waste processing, encourage waste to wonder parks and zero waste events.
• Ranking of Wards within the cities is also being promoted through Swachh Survekshan 2023.
• The cities would also be assessed on dedicated indicators on the issues of ‘open urination’ (Yellow Spots) and ‘open spitting’ (Red Spots), being faced by the cities.
• Further, this year MoHUA is also promoting cleaning of back lanes of the residential and commercial areas.
• Swachh Survekshan was introduced by MoHUA in 2016 as a competitive framework to encourage cities to improve the status of urban sanitation while encouraging large scale citizen participation.

National Health Authority launches revamp Ayushman Bharat Health Account mobile app

• The ABHA app was previously known as NDHM Health Records app.
• The ABHA mobile application enables an individual to create an ABHA address, an easy-to-remember username that can be linked with the 14-digit randomly generated ABHA number.
• The mobile application also enables users to link their health records created at Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission compliant health facility and view them on their smartphones.
• The application also allows self-uploading of physical health records, along with sharing of digital health records such as diagnostic reports, prescriptions, CoWIN vaccination certificates after the consent of an individual.

Akshay Kumar''s ''Prithviraj'' Lands Into Controversy Over The King''s Clan In Rajasthan

• Prithviraj belonged to the Chauhan or Chahamana dynasty of Ajmer which emerged after the decline of the Pratihara empire in the 11th century AD.
• He ascended the throne in 1177 or 1178, and very quickly expanded his kingdom, defeating many of the smaller Rajput states.
• However, he struggled against the Chalukyas of Gujarat, and was forced to look towards the Ganga valley instead.
• While Prithviraj’s army was able to decisively defeat the invading Ghurids in the First Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) in 1191, he was defeated in the Second Battle of Tarain in the following year.
• The battle marked a watershed moment in the history of medieval India, paving the way for the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and the beginning of Muslim rule.
• Prithviraj was depicted in ‘Prithviraj Raso’, a poem in Brajbhasha attributed to Chand Bardai, which is thought to have been composed in the 16th century.