• The centre was inaugurated by Brigadier (retd) Madan Sheel Sharma, chairman of Himachal Pradesh Ex Servicemen Corporation, at ACC cement factory at Barmana in Bilaspur district.
• The centre would also create awareness about Agniveer selection process and encourage more youth to join defence services.
• In the first group, 35 boys have been enrolled for the training.

• National Mango Day is annually observed on July 22^nd.
• The roots of the International Mango Festival can be traced back to 1987when the National Horticulture Board of India decided to celebrate mango.
• Mangoes were first grown in India over 5,000 years ago.

• National Flag Adoption Day is celebrated on July 22^nd, to commemorate Constituent Assembly’s adoption of Tricolour in 1947.

• Max Verstappen has won the Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring, by a comfortable 33.731 secs margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris.
• Sergio Perez from Red Bull got third place.

• The Health Ministry has launched an online portal to facilitate reporting of violations under the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act (PECA).
• PECA was introduced as an Ordinance and later formalised into an Act in 2019.
• The portal, violation-reporting.in , will allow faster action against any reported violations.
• All forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems including e-cigarettes are prohibited under PECA.
• Electronic cigarettes and similar devices are battery-operated systems that heat a substance (in liquid or solid state), which contains nicotine and often flavours, to create an aerosol for inhalation.
• E-cigarettes’ aerosols have harmful substances such as nicotine, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead, chemicals causing lung diseases such as diacetyl.

• Australia’s ‘seahorse hotels’ are set up aimed to save endangered species.
• Made from biodegradable metal, the eight new hotels installed will provide much needed homes for the endangered seahorses.
• Designed to mimic discarded crab traps, a common home for seahorses, the hotels are installed at least a month before the release, to allow the accumulation of algae, sponges and other marine fouling.
• Over the years, the metal breaks down and disappears, leaving behind a semi-natural reef, benefiting not only the seahorses but the broader ecosystem of the harbour.
• The Sydney Seahorse Project is a collaboration between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, the University of Technology Sydney and the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries, which focuses on the conservation of the species.

ABOUT WHITE’S SEAHORSES

• White’s Seahorses are endemic to the waters surrounding Australia’s east coast and were classified as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List in 2017 due to loss of habitat.
• The species was named after John White, Surgeon General to the First Fleet.
• Seahorses are often considered a flagship species for conservation.

• India has voiced support for the U.N.’s efforts in continuing the Black Sea Grain initiative and expressed hope for an early resolution to the present impasse.
• Russia had announced it was terminating its implementation including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for navigation in the North-Western part of the Black Sea.

ABOUT BLACK SEA GRAIN INITIATIVE

• Black sea grain initiative was brokered by UN and Turkey in July 2022 between Russia and Ukraine.
  • Ukraine is among the world’s biggest exporter of foodgrains, such as wheat and corn, and a major contributor to the UN’s food aid programmes.
• It allows for commercial food and fertiliser (including ammonia) exports from three key Ukrainian ports in Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi/Yuzhny.
• A Joint Coordination Centre, including representatives from Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine and UN, was established to monitor its implementation.
• JCC Centre is hosted in Istanbul.
• The UN acts as the Secretariat for the Centre.

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) held a Logistics Data Bank Project (LDB) Meeting today to review the measures taken by Port Authorities to improve port performance.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• LDB project aims to make India’s logistics sector more efficient through use of Information Technology.
• It was launched in 2016 at JNPT, Mumbai.
• It is a joint effort of India and Japan conceived during planning of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It is being implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle called Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Logistics Data Services
  • (DLDSL) – that is jointly (50:50) owned by the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Trust and Japanese IT services major NEC Corporation.
• LDB handles 100% of India’s EXIM container volume.

• July 21^st marks the 116^th anniversary of the passing of Womesh Chandra Banerjee.
• He was one of the pioneer leaders of the nationalist movement.
• He also played a significant role in establishing a Congress branch in London and also served as the general secretary of the London Indian Society, an organization founded by Dadabhai Naoroji.
• Notably, Bonnerjee became the first Indian to contest a seat in the British Parliament as a representative of the Liberal Party, although he was unsuccessful in the election.
• He became the first Indian to be appointed as a permanent lawyer.
• One of his notable cases was defending Surendranath Banerjee in a contempt of court case in the High Court of Calcutta in 1883.
• He holds the distinction of being the co-founder and inaugural president of the Indian National Congress at Bombay in 1885, with 72 members in attendance.
  • He was elected as Congress President once again during its Allahabad session in 1892.
• He was a strong supporter of the Swadeshi movement. Among other things, he dejected the salt tax, calling it completely unjust.

• Chhattisgarh Forest Department has so far arrested 39 persons for poaching in Indravati Tiger Reserve.

ABOUT INDRAVATI TIGER RESERVE

• The tiger reserve is located in the Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh.
• The perennial river ‘Indravati’ forms the boundary of the reserve on the Northern and Western side.
• Indravati TR attained the status of a national park in 1981 and a tiger reserve in 1983 under Project Tiger.
• It is home to one of the last remaining populations of the ‘endangered’ wild water buffalo.
• The topography of the park mainly comprises undulating hilly terrain.
• The vegetation is mainly of the tropical moist and dry deciduous type with common species including teak, achar, karra, kullu, shisham, semal, haldu, arjun, bel and Jamun.
• Fauna- It is home to gaur (Indian bison), nilgai, blackbuck, chausingha (four-horned antelope), sambar, chital, Indian muntjac, Indian spotted chevrotain, wild boar, tigers, leopards, sloth bears, dholes (wild dog) and striped hyenas.