Why in news ?

• Following a 70-year effort, China has been awarded a malaria-free certification from WHO – a notable feat for a country that reported 30 million cases of the disease annually in the 1940s.
• China is the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than 3 decades. Other countries in the region that have achieved this status include Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei Darussalam (1987).
• Globally, 40 countries and territories have been granted a malaria-free certification from WHO – including, most recently, El Salvador (2021), Algeria (2019), Argentina (2019), Paraguay (2018) and Uzbekistan (2018)

WHY IN NEWS?

• India’s 1st indigenous drone defence dome ‘Indrajaal’has been developed by Hyderabad-based Grene Robotics.
• As per the company, the drone defence dome – ‘Indrajaal’ is capable of autonomously protecting an area of 1000-2000 sq kmagainst aerial threats. It protects the area by assessing and acting on aerial threats such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Low- Radar Cross Section (RCS) targets.
• The company said that cutting-edge technologies such as UAVs, Smart Swarms, etc. have been for the first time used in India to drop explosives next to the Mi-17 hangar at Jammu Air Base.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Israeli defence electronics company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has unveiled Sea Breaker, a 5th generation long-range, autonomous, precision-guided missile system, which can precisely target sea and land targets up to a range of 300 kilometres.
• Sea Breaker features an advanced imaging infra-red seeker, which can engage stationary or moving targets in a diverse range of land and marine environments.
• Sea Breaker can be launched from naval platforms, varying in size, and from fast attack missile boats to corvettes and frigates.
• The land version is a central part of the shore defence, based on Rafael’s highly mobile SPYDER launchers. The battery architecture supports standalone launchers, or operation as an integrated solution, with a command and control unit (CCU) and various sensors, based on customer requirements.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Researchers have discovered Black-bellied Coral snakes in the forests of Uttarakhand for the first time in history. The snake is related to the Elapidae family and Sinomicrurus genus. Its scientic name is S. nigriventer.
• It was found in the Bhadraj Block of Benog Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) in the Mussoorie Forest Division. There are currently 107 species of coral snakes in the world. In India, only seven coral snake species are found.
• As per the report of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on the management of snakebite, there are more than 2000 species of snakes in the world. About 300 of these species are found in India, of which 52 are venomous.
• India’s venomous snakes belong to three families ‘Elapidae’, ‘Viperidae’ and Hydrophidae’ (sea snakes).

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Justice (Retd.) Shambhu Nath Srivastava, a former judge of Allahabad High Court and former chief Lokayukta of Chhattisgarh, has been appointed the chairman of the Indian Federation of United Nations Associations (IFUNA).
• Indian Federation of United Nations Associations, a non-profit organisation to promote objectives of the United Nations and its specialised agencies. IFUNA enjoys special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The European Space Agency will hire and launch the world’s first physically disabled astronaut. It received 22000 applicants for this recruitment call. ESA is developing technologies for para-astronaut. It will give a message to the world that ‘Space is for everyone’.
• European Space Agency is facing tough competition from private players and other space agencies for launching commercial satellites. Amazon founder Bezos will become the first man to go into space on his own rocket in July 2021.

WHY IN NEWS ?

• On July 1, India’s oldest running newspaper, Mumbai Samachar, will enter its 200th year. The Gujarati newspaper, with its office located in an iconic red building at Horniman Circle in Mumbai’s Fort area, was first published in 1822.
• It was founded by a Parsi scholar Fardoonji Murazban, who had experimented with various other publishing options before landing on this successful print run.

Formerly called Bombay Samachar, in Gujarati, the paper has always run as Mumbai na Samachar. It started as a weekly edition, primarily covering the movement of goods across the sea and other business news, such as the sale of property, and passed through several hands until bankruptcy turned it over to the Cama family in 1933.

Why in news ?

• The Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar, the national award instituted in memory of late poet laureate Kuvempu, has been awarded to renowned Odia poet Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda for the year 2020.
• The prestigious award carries a cash award of Rs 5 lakh, a silver medal, and a citation. Founded in 1992, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Trust instituted this national annual literary award in 2013 in the name of Kuvempu to recognize litterateurs who had contributed in any language recognized by the Constitution of India.

Why in news ?

• Freelance filmmaker Deepti Pillay Sivan’s most touted documentary, “Decoding Shankar” about the life and career of the celebrated musician Shankar Mahadevan, recently won the Best Film Award in the Documentary section (Best Biographical) at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, 2021.
• The 52-minute docu-film released a few years ago is a sketch of the life of the prolific musician focusing on how he balances his career as a singer, music composer, and teacher. The film gives interesting titbits about his family life and shares interesting moments about his passion for cooking.

Why in news ?

• India stands at the 20th spot among the top 100 countries that have been ranked in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 by Startup Blink. The country was in the 17th spot in 2019, after which it slid six spots down and stood at 23 in 2020.
• According to the report, India needs to better its infrastructure and Internet speed in order to further strengthen its start-up ecosystem.
• India currently has 43 of its cities listed in the top 1000, globally, with Bengaluru(10th), New Delhi (14th) and Mumbai (16th) in the top 20.
• Like last year, the US, the UK, Israel, Canada and Germany are in the top five spots this year too and continue their lead.