• Trade between India and the UK is expected to double by 2030 driven by the proposed free trade pact, investment in technology, diversification of global supply chains and ease of doing business.
• India’s trade in goods and services with the UK increased to USD 31.34 billion in 2022 from USD 19.51 billion in 2015.
• The second edition of the Britain Meets India Report 2022, launched by Grant Thornton Bharat in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), supported by the UK’s Department of International Trade, also revealed that 618 UK companies have been identified in India that together employ approximately 4.66 lakh people and have a combined turnover of Rs 3,634.9 billion.
• “The UK remained the sixth-largest investor in India, with a cumulative investment of approximately USD 31.92 billion in 2000-22. This constituted around 5.4 per cent of the total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India,” according to the report.
• In June, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal expressed hope that the free trade agreement between India and the United Kingdom will be concluded by Diwali.
• “The FTA is also expected to result in significant benefits for both countries through tariff concessions on alcoholic beverages and the movement of professionals,” the report said, adding that the proposed pact is expected to boost Indian exports in labour-intensive sectors such as leather, textile, jewellery, processed agri-products and marine products, IT/ITES, education, pharma and healthcare (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy).
• According to the report, the UK is likely to look at reducing tariffs on products such as apples, UK-manufactured medical devices and machinery.
• “The report has highlighted several new emerging sectors and I hope we will derive qualitative outcomes that nurture opportunities for companies in India and the UK.
• “Trade between India and the UK is expected to double by 2030 from current levels – based on dynamic connections between people of both countries, investment in technology, diversification of global supply chains and overall ease of doing business,” said Vishesh C Chandiok, CEO, Grant Thornton Bharat.

• Meghalaya is all set to host the upcoming 2nd edition of the North East Olympics from October the 30th to November the 6th in Shillong.
• A joint meeting of the North East Organising Committee, Meghalaya Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, and the North East Olympic Association was held last evening to finalize the list of sports disciplines.
• The first edition of Games was held in Manipur in 2018, with 12 disciplines.
• Following the meeting, Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh stated that the disciplines selected were decided based on the availability of infrastructure and on the advice of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association.
• He said this edition of the Games will be special as Meghalaya is celebrating the 50th year of its Statehood.
• In this edition, about 4,000 participants from eight North Eastern States will be competing in 18 disciplines at 13 venues spread across Shillong. Participants will be competing in disciplines, such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, judo, karate, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, wushu, cycling (Mountain Bike), golf, weightlifting and wrestling.

• The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E’s recently approved heterologous Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the COWIN App in both public and private vaccination centres .
• The company said. Corbevax was approved as India’s First Heterologous COVID-19 Booster Shot for 18 Years and above after the six months of administration of the primary vaccination doses of Covaxin or Covishield.

Who can take Corbevax booster shot?

• People who have taken Covaxin or Covishield can be administrated a Corbevax booster shot in “emergency use authorisation”. The Union Health Ministry approved Corbevax for emergency use on the basis of a recently made recommendation by the COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
• This approval came after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the vaccine for emergency use as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose for individuals aged 18 years on June 4, 2022.
• The Corbevax had received emergency use authorization as a primary two-dose vaccination regimen in Adults, Adolescents and Children aged 5 years and above, in a series of approvals from December`21 to April`22.

What is the price of Corbevax vaccine? 

• The price of Corbevax for private COVID-19 vaccination centres is Rs 250, inclusive of the Goods and Sales tax. For the end-user, the price of the vaccine is Rs 400, including taxes and administrative charges. Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the CoWIN App in public and private vaccination centres.

• Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) – Housing for All Mission up to 31st December 2024. Financial assistance is being provided for the completion of already sanctioned over 122 lakh houses till 31st March 2022.
• The scheme is one of the major flagship programmes being implemented by Central Government to provide all-weather pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in the urban areas of the country through States, Union Territories, and Central Nodal Agencies.
• The continuation of the scheme based on the request of States and UTs upto 31st December 2024 will help in completion of already sanctioned houses under Beneficiary Led Construction, Affordable Housing in Partnership, and In-situ Slum Redevelopment verticals.
• Central Assistance approved since 2015 is two lakh three thousand crore rupees against 20 thousand crore rupees in 2004-2014.

• As many as 42 writers from 14 cities of the country will participate in the 4th Bhalkhu Smriti Literary Yatra being organised by the Himalaya Sahitya Sanskriti Avam Paryavaran Manch on August 13 and 14.
• It’s a unique event to be held in a moving Shimla-Kalka train in which the sessions on stories, memoirs, poetry and music will be organised in the name of stations falling on this route.
• The journey will start from the Shimla railway station in the morning up to Barog (Solan) and return in the afternoon, said chairman of the manch and convener of the yatra SR Harnot.
• Harnot said this is a national event of two days. On August 14, the author will visit Jhajha, which is 8-km from Chail.
• At the village, a literary seminar will also be organised with the local panchayat and artists will meet family members of Bhalkhu.

• The Himachal Agriculture Department’s pilot project to introduce coffee cultivation in the hill state has failed to yield the desired results.
• The cold climate conditions have marred the prospects of coffee plantation as an alternative cash crop as the survival rate of the plants is very low, ranging only between 5 and 10 per cent.
• The department had launched the project in 2014. The plants were sown on a trial basis on 7.34 hectares in Kangra, Mandi, Una and Bilaspur districts. The area under coffee plantation initially increased four times to 30.12 hectares in 2018-19.
• The department provided one lakh plants to over 500 farmers since 2014, aiming to augment their income as raw coffee seeds fetch Rs 150-200 per kg.
• The Central Coffee Research Institute, Chikmagalur, Karnataka, had recommended two varieties for cultivation in Himachal — arabica and robusta. During the trial, it was observed that the robusta variety required more water as compared to arabica and the farmers were told to go for the latter.
• Under the ideal conditions, coffee plants should be raised under the shade, protected from frost and cold, and the temperature should range between 4 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius. Specific locations were identified in certain districts to grow coffee plants.
• The idea was to grow coffee on the pattern of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as the plants start bearing fruit in four years, while commercial production starts after 10 years. A single plant produces 500 gm to 1 kg of coffee and 100 saplings are planted in one kanal (500 sq yards).

• India competed in the tournament with three teams in the Men’s Section and three teams in the Women’s section.
• India ‘B’ team comprising D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwaniand and Adhiban won the bronze medal beating Germany.
• In women’s section, India ‘A’ team have won the bronze medal. The team comprising Vaishali and Koneru Humphy, Tania Sachdev and Bhakti Kulkari were headed for a gold medal on the final day but a defeat to USA by 1-3 dented their chances as they eventually finished third.
• The Uzbekistan team, which was seeded 14th in the tournament, won the gold medal in the men’s section. Armenia clinched the silver medal.
• It was the first time that the Chess Olympiad was held in India, the place where the game began.
• The 2022 edition was historic as the tournament was contested between 188 teams from about 187 nations.

• The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated every year on 9th of August to acknowledge the contributions and achievements of the indigenous communities around the globe.
• The United Nations General Assembly on 23rd of December in 1994 decided to observe International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples annually on 9th of August in recognition of the inaugural session of the UN working body on Indigenous Populations held on this day in
• This year, the theme for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is ‘The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge’.
• This theme emphasises the role that women of indigenous communities play in carrying forward their traditions and cultures.
• Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures. Indigenous peoples’ conceptualization of health and well-being is generally broader and more holistic, with health frequently viewed as both an individual and a collective right, strongly determined by community, land and the natural environment.

• The exports of agricultural and processed food products have risen by 31 per cent in the first three months of the current financial year.
• According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, the overall export of agricultural and processed food products increased to seven thousand 408 million US dollar in April-June this year from 5663 million US dollar over the same period of the last fiscal.
• The export target for April-June this year was fixed at five thousand 890 million US dollar. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, APEDA’s various initiatives have helped the country in achieving 31 percent of the total export target in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
• APEDA has set an export target of 23.56 billion US dollar for agricultural and processed food products basket for this fiscal year.

About

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985.
• It functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• The Authority has its headquarters in New Delhi.

• Russia has temporarily suspended on-site inspections of its strategic nuclear weapons, under an arms control treaty known as New START.
• The Russian foreign ministry in a statement said, the US was seeking advantages and had deprived Russia of the right to carry out inspections on US territory. It also said, US sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine had changed conditions between the countries.
• The treaty came into force in 2011. It is the last remaining arms reduction agreement between the two countries. It caps at 1,550 the number of long-range nuclear warheads that each country can deploy.
• The suspension comes a week after US President Joe Biden said that US was ready to work on new nuclear arms deal with Russia. The current one will expire in 2026.