29TH JULY
Contents
1ST STATE TO RESERVE JOBS FOR TRANSGENDER
ALPHABET LAUNCH NEW ROBOTICS COMPANY ‘INTRINSIC
NAJIB MIKATI AS LEBANON’S NEW PRIME MINISTER
1ST EVIDENCE OF WATER VAPOUR IN JUPITER’S MOON
MARUTI SUZUKI TIES UP WITH SAVITRIBAI PHULE UNIVERSITY
INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY OBSERVED ON 29TH JULY
1ST STATE TO RESERVE JOBS FOR TRANSGENDER
- Karnataka has become the first state in the country to provide one per cent reservation for the ‘transgender community in all the government services.
- The government submitted a report to the High Court in this regard informing that a notification had already been issued after amending the Karnataka Civil Service (General Recruitment) Rule, 1977.
- The specifies one per cent reservation in all general as well as reserve categories for the third gender.
- Whenever a notification is published inviting applications for government jobs, the ‘others’ column must be added along with male and female columns.
- The notification also underlines that there should not be any discrimination against transgenders in the process of selection. In case of non-availability of transgender candidates, the job could be given to male or female from the same category, the notification notes.
(SOURCE: THE WIRE)
ALPHABET LAUNCH NEW ROBOTICS COMPANY ‘INTRINSIC’
- Google-parent Alphabet will launch a new robotics company, Intrinsic which will focus on building software for industrial robots.
- The segment comes out of X, Alphabet’s Moonshot factory that houses futuristic firms such as Waymo, Wing and Verily.
- About the Intrinsic: Intrinsic is developing software tools with an aim to make industrial robots easier to use, less costly and more flexible.
- While the company did not share much detail about the software, it noted that the software is being developed so that more people use them to make new products, businesses and services.
- CEO of Intrinsic: Wendy Tan White, Alphabet CEO: Sundar Pichai.
- Google Founded: 4 September 1998, California, United States.
- Google Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin.
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
NAJIB MIKATI AS LEBANON’S NEW PRIME MINISTER
- Billionaire businessman Najib Mikati was appointed as Lebanon’s new prime minister-designate following binding parliamentary consultations with President Michel Aoun.
- He ran virtually unopposed, receiving 72 votes, with former ambassador Nawaf Salam receiving just one vote. Forty-two MPs voted blank, and three MPs did not vote at all.
- His appointment comes just 11 days after Saad Hariri resigned as prime minister-designate, following nine months of political deadlock and dispute with President Aoun and his son-in-law MP Gebran Bassil.
- Lebanon’s economy continues to crumble with half the population living below the poverty line and a spiralling local currency that lost more than 90 per cent of its value.
- The country has been without a full-fledged government for almost one year and is struggling to reform its economy to unlock international aid.
(SOURCE: AL JAZEERA)
1ST EVIDENCE OF WATER VAPOUR IN JUPITER’S MOON
- For the first time, astronomers have uncovered evidence of water vapour in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
- This water vapour forms when ice from the moon’s surface sublimates that turns from solid to gas. Scientists used new and archival datasets from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to make the discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
- In 1998, Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph took the first ultraviolet (UV) images of Ganymede, which revealed colourful ribbons of electrified gas called auroral bands, and provided further evidence that Ganymede has a weak magnetic field.
- The similarities in these UV observations were explained by the presence of molecular oxygen (O2). But some observed features did not match the expected emissions from a pure O2 atmosphere.
- At the same time, scientists concluded this discrepancy was likely related to higher concentrations of atomic oxygen (O).
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
MARUTI SUZUKI TIES UP WITH SAVITRIBAI PHULE UNIVERSITY
- Maruti Suzuki India Limited has announced a partnership with Maharashtra’s Savitribai Phule Pune University to train youth in automobile retail.
- The aim is to offer a customised three years “Bachelor of Vocational Studies in Retail Management” course to students.
- The three-year curriculum will comprise one-year classroom training followed by two-year on-the-job training at Maruti Suzuki authorised dealerships.
- The course is based on the concept of ‘Earn while you Learn’ where students will receive a stipend during their on-the-job training. The course will allow the students to build a promising career in automobile sales in India.
- CEO: Kenichi Ayukawa (1 Apr 2013–).
- Founded: 1982, Gurugram.
- Maruti Suzuki Headquarters: New Delhi.
(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)
ASTHANA APPOINTED AS DELHI POLICE COMMISSIONER
- Border Security Force (BSF) Director General (DG), Rakesh Asthana has been appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner, with immediate effect. His appointment comes just three days before his superannuation on July 31, 2021.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has extended Asthana’s service initially for a period of one year beyond the date of his superannuation or until further order, whichever is earlier.
- Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, had earlier served as the Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
- He was the Narcotics Control Bureau chief when actor Rhea Chakraborty was arrested in a drugs case in Mumbai. During his stint in the CBI in 2018, Ashtana was engaged in an unsavoury spat with the then CBI Director Alok Verma.
- Both the officers were removed from the central probe agency and Asthana was subsequently cleared of the charges.
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY OBSERVED ON 29TH JULY
- Global Tiger Day or International Tiger Day is observed on 29th July every year to raise awareness about the declining population of wild cats and making efforts to conserve them.
- The goal of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues. This year marks the 11th International Tiger Day.
- The theme/Slogan for the 2021 International Tiger Day celebration is “Their Survival is in our hands”.
- History of International Tiger Day: The Global Tiger Day came into being during the signing of the Saint Petersburg declaration by 13 tiger range countries in 2010 in Russia.
- The governments of these tiger range countries had resolved to encourage the conservation, protecting natural habitats and double the number of tigers by 2022.
- Poaching and the illegal trade of tiger body parts like bone, the skin has posed the biggest threat to wild tigers. The demand for tiger body parts has increased the poaching and trafficking of wild cats.
(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH)