1. Foreign Office consultations between India and Ghana held in New Delhi
Tags: International Relations
The third round of Foreign Office consultations between India and Ghana was held in New Delhi on 22 July.
Important facts
Both sides discussed the bilateral relations related to political, economic, defence, cultural and capacity building.
The two sides also discussed further strengthening of bilateral ties between India and Ghana.
The two countries exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and agreed to enhance cooperation in multi-level fora.
Both sides agreed to hold the next round of talks in Accra, Ghana on a date as per mutual convenience.
The second edition of the India-Ghana Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) was held on 2 July, where both sides agreed to take steps for mutual benefit.
Bilateral trade between India and Ghana
Bilateral trade and Indian investments in Ghana have been steadily increasing.
Bilateral trade between India and Ghana stood at US$ 2.60 billion during 2021-22.
India is one of the largest investors in Ghana.
Indian companies have invested more than USD 1.7 billion in Ghana in over 730 projects in various sectors like construction, manufacturing, manufacturing, trade, pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, tourism, etc.
About Ghana
President - Nana Akufo-Addo
Capital - Accra
Official Language - English
Official Name - Republic of Ghana
Currency - Ghana Cedi
2. Russia, Ukraine sign historic grain deal with Turkey
Tags: International News
For the first time since the war, Russia and Ukraine signed a historic deal with the United Nations and Turkey on July 22 to restart grain shipments, which could ease the global food crisis.
What is the deal about?
The agreement has been reached through the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey.
The aim is to reopen the Black Sea delivery routes that are important for grain exports.
The deal, agreed through UN and Turkish mediation, establishes secure corridors along which Ukrainian ships can move in and out of three designated Black Sea ports in and around Odessa.
Both sides also promised not to attack ships en route or outside.
What is the grain export deal?
The deal provides for the safe passage of ships.
Ships must undergo inspection to ensure that they are not carrying weapons.
Ukraine has said that no Russian ships will guard the ships and that there will be no Russian representatives at Ukrainian ports.
Significance of the deal
It will provide relief to developing countries on the verge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable on the brink of famine.
The five-month Russia-Ukraine war has already displaced millions and claimed thousands of lives.
Huge quantities of wheat and other grain have been blocked by Russian warships and landmines in Ukraine's ports.
Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but a naval blockade of Russia's ports has halted shipments.
Ukraine is expected to export 22 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products that are stuck in Black Sea ports because of the war.
3. Law panel to examine simultaneous elections
Tags: National News
The Union Law Minister told the Lok Sabha that the Law Commission had been sent to prepare a workable road map for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections and a roadmap in this regard could be prepared.
Important facts
A parliamentary committee had examined the issue of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in consultation with various stakeholders, including the Election Commission (EC).
The committee has made some recommendations in this regard.
The 21st Law Commission in its draft report had said that it is feasible to hold simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislatures which need to be conducted.
What are simultaneous polls?
At present, elections to state assemblies and Lok Sabha are held separately.
Simultaneous Poll is about structuring elections in India in such a way that elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be held simultaneously.
The idea of "One Nation, One Election" envisages a system where elections to all the states and the Lok Sabha should be held simultaneously.
The matter has been referred to the Law Commission for further investigation to prepare a practical roadmap for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
Need of simultaneous election
It minimizes labour, time and expenditure in the conduct of elections.
There is duplication of expenditure in preparing a separate electoral roll.
This reduces the burden on the administrative system and the security forces.
The Law Commission in its 255th report in 2015 had recommended simultaneous elections for a single electoral roll.
This ensures timely implementation of the policies of the government.
4. 68th National Film Awards : Soorarai Pottru wins Best Film award
Tags: Awards National News
Tamil movie “Soorarai Pottru” got national awards for the Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Background Score and the Best Screenplay at the 68th National Film Awards-2020 announced on 22 July.
Important facts
The movie also won the prize of Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
The film is inspired by the real-life story of GR Gopinath, the founder of India's first low-cost airline.
The story of this film focuses on the dream of providing low cost air travel to common people.
Soorarai Pottru is produced by Suriya and Guneet Monga under their 2D Entertainment and Sikhya Entertainment banners.
Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn shared the best actor title with Suriya for his performance in the period drama 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'.
This year, the winners were selected from 305 feature films in 30 languages and 148 non-feature films in 28 languages that were received as entries.
The winners were selected by a 10-member jury headed by Hindi filmmaker Vipul Shah.
The awards were announced by jury member Dharam Gulati.
All the notable awards are as follows-
Best Feature Film - 'Soorarai Pottru'
Best Actor (shared) - Suriya for 'Soorarai Pottru' Ajay Devgn for 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'
Best Actress - Aparna Balamurali for 'Soorarai Pottru'
Best Popular Film - Providing Wholesome Entertainment 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'
Best Director (posthumous award) - KR Sachidanandan, better known as Sachy, for 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'
Best Supporting Actor Award - Biju Menon for 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'
Best Supporting Actress - Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli for 'Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum' (Tamil)
Best Screenplay - Shalini Usha Nair and Sudha Kongara for 'Soorarai Pottru'
Best Music Direction (Background Score) - GV Prakash Kumar for 'Soorarai Pottru'
Best Action Direction (Stunt Choreography) - 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'
Best Playback Female Singer - Nanchamma for 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'
Best Playback Singer Male - Rahul Deshpande for 'Mi Vasantrao' (Marathi)
Best Editing - Sreekar Prasad for 'Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengallum'
Best Hindi Film - 'Toolsidas Junior'
Best Music Direction (Songs) - Thaman S for 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo' (Telugu)
Best Lyrics - Manoj Muntashir for 'Saina' (Hindi)
Best Make-up Artist - TV Rambabu for 'Natyam' (Telugu)
Best Choreography - Sandhya Raju for 'Natyam'
Indira Gandhi Award - Best Debut Film of a Director Madonne Ashwin for 'Mandela' (Tamil)
Best Dialogue Writer - Madonne Ashwin for 'Mandela'
Best Cinematography - Supratim Bhol for 'Avijatrik' (Bengali)
Most Film-Friendly State - Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
Best Book on Cinema - Kishwar Desai for 'The Longest Kiss'
About National Film Awards
It was established in 1954.
This Awards is one of the most prestigious and much looked-forward-to events in the country.
Awards are given in three categories - Feature, Non-Features and Best Writing on Cinema.
The winners of the awards are decided by a jury consisting of eminent persons in the fields of cinema, other allied arts and humanities.
5. Indian embassy to organise second edition of North-East India Festival in Bangkok
Tags: International News National News
The second edition of the Festival of Northeast India is being organised by the Embassy of India in Bangkok Central World in association with Trend MMS of India from July 29 to July 31, 2022.
Important facts
The first edition of this festival was held in February 2019.
This has opened up business opportunities for the Indian business community of the North East.
Trade has got a boost especially in the fields of tourism, agriculture and food processing.
This year's Northeast India Festival will focus more on promoting trade, investment and tourism.
In addition, there will be more opportunities for culture, education and people-to-people exchanges.
The three-day festival will be inaugurated on July 29, 2022.
Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs will be the Chief Guest for the festival.
6. Indian embassy to organise second edition of North-East India Festival in Bangkok
Tags: International News National News
The second edition of the Festival of Northeast India is being organised by the Embassy of India in Bangkok Central World in association with Trend MMS of India from July 29 to July 31, 2022.
Important facts
The first edition of this festival was held in February 2019.
This has opened up business opportunities for the Indian business community of the North East.
Trade has got a boost especially in the fields of tourism, agriculture and food processing.
This year's Northeast India Festival will focus more on promoting trade, investment and tourism.
In addition, there will be more opportunities for culture, education and people-to-people exchanges.
The three-day festival will be inaugurated on July 29, 2022.
Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs will be the Chief Guest for the festival.
7. Jawaharlal Nehru Port becomes first full landlord port of India
Tags: National News
Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) has become India's first major 100% landlord port, with all the docks operating on the 'Private-Public Partnership' (PPP) model.
Landlord Model
In this model, the publicly governed port authority (owner)acts as a regulatory body and a 'landlord', while all other functions relating to port operations are performed by private companies.
In return, the 'landlord port' receives a portion of the revenue from the private entity.
Earlier, the government had proposed to set up a major port at Wadhawan (India's 13th major port) near Dahanu in Maharashtra based on the 'Landlord Model'.
About 'Jawaharlal Nehru Port'
Mumbai's 'Jawaharlal Nehru Port', is one of the leading container ports in the country and ranked 26th among the top 100 global ports - as per Lloyd's List Top 100 Ports 2021 report.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT), is currently handling 9000 TEU capacity vessels and with the upgrade, it can handle 12200 TEU capacity vessels.
At present, there are 12 major ports in India – Deendayal (formerly Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).
8. Dinesh Gunawardena sworn in as 15th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Tags: Person in news International News
Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in as the 15th prime minister of Sri Lanka by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on 22 July along with 17 other cabinet ministers.
Important facts
Gunawardena is parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.
Gunawardene was appointed Home Minister by the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in April.
Gunawardena, 73, earlier served as the foreign minister and education minister for the nation.
The Sri Lankan economic and political crisis, resulted in economic mismanagement and conflict in Ukraine, sparked months of mass protests and eventually forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country.
Wickremesinghe was elected as the new president of Srilanka on 20 July and was sworn in as Sri Lankan president on 21 July.
Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency, demanding a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
About Sri Lanka
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent. It is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Munnar and the Palk Strait.
Capitals: Colombo (Executive and Judicial) and Sri Jayawardenepura (Legislative).
Official Languages: Sinhala and Tamil
Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
9. Russia resumes Nord Stream natural-gas supply to Europe
Tags: International News
Russia has started sending natural gas to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline system after a pause, bringing relief to Europe, whose economy is wobbly under pressure from short supplies.
Important facts
Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russia’s gas, had feared that Moscow would not reopen the pipeline after the scheduled work.
Germany believes Russia is reducing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions on the Ukraine war.
Nord Stream Pipeline
Nord Stream has two pipelines, each containing two lines.
Nord Stream 1
It was completed in 2011 and runs from Vyborg in Leningrad (Russia) to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
Nord Stream 2
In 2015, Russian energy major Gazprom and five other European firms decided to form Nord Stream 2.
It runs from Ust-Luga in Russia to Greifswald in Germany through the Baltic Sea and was completed in September 2021.
It will carry 55 billion cubic metres of gas every year.
Nord Stream 1 and 2 together will supply an aggregate of 110 billion cubic metres of gas to Germany per year.
The pipeline falls in the territory of EU members Germany and Denmark.
In December 2019, work on the project was suspended due to the threat of US sanctions.
In January 2021, the US sanctioned a Russian ship carrying out pipe laying work for the project.
An agreement was reached between the US and Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Top 5 Natural Gas producing Countries
United States - 914.6 billion Cubic Meters
Russia - 638.5 billion Cubic Meters
Iran - 250.8 billion Cubic Meters
China - 194 billion Cubic Meters
Qatar 171.3 billion Cubic Meters
Top 5 Countries that Consume the Most Natural Gas
United States
Russia
China
Iran
Canada
Top 5 Countries with the Largest Natural Gas Reserves
Russia
Iran
Qatar
Turkmenistan
United States
10. Unmarried women have right to safe abortion : Supreme Court
Tags: National News
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The Supreme Court, in an order on July 21, held that denying an unmarried woman the right to a safe abortion is a violation of her personal autonomy and liberty.
Important facts
Justice Chandrachud was hearing an appeal by a woman who wanted to abort her 24-week pregnancy as she had become pregnant before marriage and was abandoned by her partner.
The Delhi High Court had dismissed her plea saying that abortion of an unmarried woman was not covered under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Judgement of Supreme Court
The bench said that the live-in relationship has already been recognized by the Supreme Court.
There are a large number of people in the social mainstream who do not see any harm in having premarital sex.
A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
A woman has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity.
A woman's right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of 'personal liberty'.
The court said that forcing a woman to continue with her pregnancy would not only violate her physical integrity but would also aggravate her mental trauma.
The Supreme Court directed that the AIIMS director should constitute a medical board to conduct a medical examination of the woman and see whether the abortion of the woman poses any threat to her life.
If the medical board comes to the conclusion that there is no risk of termination of pregnancy at 24 weeks, then the pregnancy of the woman should be terminated.
