Current Context : China has unveiled the world’s first dual-tower solar thermal powerplant (TPP), which boosts energy efficiency by 24%.

FEATURES OF THE SOLAR TPP

• The plant features two 650-foot-tall (200-m) towers have risen in China’s Gansu Province.
• Each surrounded by 30,000 mirrors arranged in concentric circles which automatically track the sun’s movement and achieve 94% reflection efficiency.
• Electricity Generation : expected to generate over 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year.
• The plant utilises molten salt storage as a thermal battery, allowing it to store excess heat collected during the day for continuous power generation at night.

ABOUT SOLAR THERMAL POWER

• Also, known as concentrated solar power (CSP),
• These systems rely on mirrors known as heliostats to bounce sunlight to a central gathering point.
• There, the concentrated beams heat a transfer fluid that in turn heats a working fluid.
• This fluid then evaporates, turns a turbine, and generates electricity.

Celebrated on July 22.

• It is also known as Casual Pi Day.
• The day is dedicated to the mathematical constant pi (π).
• π symbol was devised by British mathematician William Jonesin 1706 to represent the ratio and later it was popularised by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler.

Celebrated on 22nd July.

• Aim : to commemorate the adoption of India’s National Flag by the Constituent Assembly on 22 July 1947.
• Adoption of the tricolour was designed by Pingali Vekayya.

Current Context : Recently, Border Security Force (BSF) and State Bank of India (SBI) conducted a collaborative tree plantation drive in Srinagar.

• Aim : to create a green environment and promoting the importance of tree plantations.
• Emphasizing the importance of environmental consciousness and the role of trees in combating environmental issues.
• It involved BSF officials, jawans, SBI officials, and school children.

Current Context : Recently, Second phase of construction of the “world’s largest Ramayan temple” began in East Champaran district of Bihar.

About Temple :

• With a length of 1080 feet, Viraat Ramayan Mandir will be three times bigger than the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
• Being built at a cost of ₹500 crore.
• The architecture of the temple is inspired by the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Ramanathaswamy temple at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, and the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai.
• Area 3.76 lakh sq.ft.
• Temple will house a 33-foot-tall Shivling in the arghya (sanctum sanctorum) world’s largest shivling.
• The temple includes 22 sanctum sanctorums for different gods, showing how religious the temple is in a broad sense.
• The temple building will also have 22 smaller temples that are each dedicated to a different important character from the Ramayana.

Current Context : President of India unveils the Durand Cup trophies and Flags Off the Trophy Tour for the 133rd edition of the prestigious tournament.

• The 133rd edition is set to begin in Kolkata on July 27, with Kokrajhar (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) also hosting many of the 43 games this year.
• 132nd edition of the IndianOil Durand Cup was won by Mohun Bagan Super Giant (MBSG) football club of Kolkata, who defeated their city rivals East Bengal Football Club (EBFC).

ABOUT

• Durand Cup, is the Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest most prestigious football tournaments of India.
• Organized by the Indian Army on behalf of the three Services.
• It was inaugrated in Shimla in 1888 and then the tournament moved to New Delhi in 1940, where it was held till 2016.
• The winners get three trophies, two rotating (Durand Cup and Shimla Trophy) and one for permanent keep (President’s Cup).

Current Context :The regional military exercise “Birlestik-2024” of four Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan held in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau Region.

• Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part in the international exercisse.
• Focus was on enhancing regional cooperation and interoperability among the participating countries’ military forces, improving readiness and capabilities through joint operations, including ground and air reconnaissance, naval special forces, artillery, assault and tank units, aviation, and naval vessels.
• It involved nearly 4,000 servicemen and 700 units of military equipment.

Current Context : Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF), has won the 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity.

ABOUT PRIZE :

• Award instituted by Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (CGF).
• It is presented annually to individuals and organisations contributing to global food security, climate resilience and ecosystem protection.
• The total prize money is one million euros.

ABOUT ANDHRA PRADESH COMMUNITY MANAGED NATURAL FARMING (APCNF) :

• The APCNF is a Statewide programme supporting smallholder farmers to switch from chemically intensive agriculture to ‘natural farming’.
• Practices such as using organic residues and minimising tillage to improve soil health, reintroducing indigenous seeds and diversifying crops, including trees.
• Launched in 2016 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
• Andhra Pradesh is also supporting 12 other States in the country and this year (2024-25) the State plans to send its farmers to five different countries to take this seeding of natural farming to farmers there.

ABOUT NATURAL FARMING

It is a traditional methods of biomass mulching, round-the-year green cover, and Indigenous cow-based dung and urine formulations.

Four pillars of natural farming in India are :

• Jivamrita (farm-produced microbial formulation for seed treatment)
• Ghanjivamrita (farm-produced microbial inoculant used for soil enrichment)
• Bijamrita ( use of local seeds and local varieties)
• Whapasa (Whapasa means a mixture of 50% air and 50% water vapour in the cavity between two soil particles)

Current Context : EAM Jaishankar during Mauritius visit, joins PM Jugnauth in inaugurating 12 India-assisted community development projects.

• 12 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) implemented in Mauritius with Indian assistance were inaugurated virtually in St Louis.

VARIOUS JOINT PROJECTS

• Space cooperation between the two sides has also been translated into concrete action with the exchange of Project Plan Document between India’s ISRO and Mauritius MRIC.
• The Mediclinic in Grand Bois, built with Indian grant assistance.
• Indian assisted project, the Civil Service College in Moka.

ABOUT MAURITIUS:

• The Republic of Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean.
• Located off the eastern coast of Africa.
• It lies about 500 miles (800 km) east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
• Capital: Port Louis
• Religion: About half of the population is Hindu, about one-third is Christian.

Current Context : Justice N Kotiswar Singh took oath of office and became the first judge to the Supreme Court from Manipur.

• Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud administered the oath of office.
• Justice Singh is originally from Manipur.
• He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the HC for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in February 2023.