• India and the US will conduct a fortnight-long mega military exercise in Uttarakhand’s Auli in October 2022.
• The 18th edition of exercise “Yudh Abhyas” is scheduled to take place from October 14 to 31.
• The exercise is aimed at enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the two armies. The last edition of the exercise took place in October last year in Alaska in the US.
• The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing for the past few years. In June 2016, the US designated India a “Major Defence Partner”.
• The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).
• The agreement that allows militaries of two countries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation.

• The indigenously developed Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Guided Missiles ATGM were successfully test-fired from Main Battle Tank MBT Arjun by Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO and Indian Army at KK Ranges with support of Armoured Corps Centre and School Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.
• The missiles hit with precision and successfully destroyed the targets at two different ranges. Telemetry systems have recorded the satisfactory flight performance of the missiles.
• The all-indigenous Laser Guided ATGM employs a tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank HEAT warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour ERA protected armoured vehicles.
• The ATGM has been developed with multi-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from the 120 mm rifled gun of MBT Arjun.

• External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar participated in the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
• He said, there was strong convergence on Indo-Pacific, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea connectivity, COVID-19, terrorism, cyber security, Ukraine and Myanmar. He added that digital, health, agriculture education and green growth will drive the ASEAN-India partnership.
• On the sidelines of the event, Dr. Jaishankar met his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry. He reaffirmed India’s commitment, as a dependable friend and reliable partner, to the economic recovery and well-being of Sri Lanka.
• The External Affairs Minister also met his Vietnamese counterpart and agreed to keep working to maintain the momentum of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

• The Government has set a target of increasing Natural Gas in the primary energy mix by 15 per cent by 2030.
• Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameshwar Teli said, at present, the use of Natural Gas is only 3 percent.
• To increase the Natural Gas usage, Mr. Teli said initiatives like the expansion of National Gas Grid to 33 thousand 500 kilometres, expansion of City Gas Distribution network, setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas terminals and allocation of domestic gas to CNG for transport and PNG for domestic purposes are taken.
• He said, by the end of May this year a total of Four thousand 531 CNG stations have been established by the authorised entities.

• Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPAU), Palampur, has identified 368 landraces of rajmash (kidney beans) that are grown in the state.
• VC of the university HK Chaudhary, said the institute had decided to get the GI tag for all varieties of Himachali rajmash.
• Prof Chaudhary has contributed to developing 20 important crop varieties, including rajmash variety ‘triloki rajmash’.
• The VC said he had collected 368 rajmash landraces from the tribal belt and other areas of the state, including Kukumseri (Lahaul & Spiti), Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi and Chamba districts. These were called the hotspot regions for the landraces of rajmash cultivation.
• He said, “We evaluated, purified, characterised and developed a popular rajmash variety ‘triloki rajmash’ following the pure line selection method of breeding. The university has initiated a process to get Geographic Indicators for the rajmash landraces in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE), Shimla. This will get it national and international recognition benefiting local farmers.
• He said the rajmash variety “triloki” had been released for the cultivation in dry temperate zone hilly region. It had bold and creamish yellow seeds with good cooking quality and excellent organo-leptic taste, resistant to diseases like bacterial blight, angular leaf spot and anthracnose and provides 20-22 quintal per hectare average seed yield.
• It was ready for harvesting 10-20 days earlier than other varieties of rajmash. Creamish yellow rajmash, grown by the farming community in the hilly regions, possesses many health-related nutrients. Such light-coloured rajmash contains a good amount of carbohydrates, fibers and anti-oxidants which has the ability to fight against diseases. Apart from this, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, mineral elements as potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium and iron are also found to increase the immune system and control blood pressure.
• Phytohaemoglutin, a harmful toxic element, is found in lesser amounts in creamish yellow rajmash than in red rajmash, which prevents many stomach-related problems like diarrhoea, colic and indigestion. Creamish yellow colour-seeded rajmash has a thin seed coat and takes less time for cooking.
• The VC said this variety had become very popular among the farming community and efforts were under way to promote it further by way of branding and attractive packaging.

• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur dedicated to public 18 taxis for residents of Shimla under the “Ride with Pride” scheme of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC).
• The vehicles worth Rs 2.91 crore have been provided under the Smart City Shimla project for the convenience of the public.
• The addition of taxis to the existing fleet will benefit residents, including the elderly, women, physically challenged people and the tourists,”.
• CM said “Ride with Pride” taxis were already being operated by the HRTC and more than 3,000 commuters were using the service in Shimla every day.
• Apart from 18 taxis, 12 tempos and 20 electric buses had also been sanctioned to the HRTC, which would be dedicated to the public the next month.

• Nayanmoni Saikia, Pinki, Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey script history as they beat South Africa in the women’s four lawn bowls final to won a gold medal.
• This is India’s first medal in the sport.
• Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey hail from Ranchi. Ms Lovely is presently posted in Jharkhand Police and Ms Rupa is the District Sports Officer of Ramgarh district in Jharkhand.
• Ms Rupa rolled the bowls wide in the final match attempt to level the score for India.
• Lawn Bowls Association President is Madhukant Pathak.

• The government has made a free entry for the visitors and tourists to all its protected monuments and sites across the country from 5th to 15th August.
• Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said, the decision has been taken under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the 75th Independence -Day celebrations.
• The Director General of Archeological Survey of India has said that no fee will be charged at all the ticketed centrally protected monuments and Archaeological sites from 5th to 15th August this year.                                                   

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.
• Its activities include carrying out surveys of antiquarian remains, exploration and excavation of archaeological sites, conservation and maintenance of protected monuments etc.
• There are over 3,600 ASI-protected monuments in the country. Out of these, 116 monuments across 19 states are ticketed, including 17 in Uttar Pradesh, 16 in Maharashtra, 12 in Karnataka, 10 in Delhi, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Tamil Nadu, and six in Gujarat.
• It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham-the first Director-General of ASI. Alexander Cunningham is also known as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”.

• The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Roads and Highways department in Dhaka for the emergency supply of petroleum goods via Bangladesh territory to India.
• This is an interim set up to facilitate urgent supply of petroleum products due to damage caused by the flood in Assam this year.
• The petroleum tankers will enter from Meghalaya and will go to Tripura crossing through the Bangladesh territory.
• The IOCL will bear all the administrative fees, charges and local taxes including road usage fee for use of the Bangladeshi territory.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bangladesh in a statement said that the MoU has been signed in a spirit of good neighbourly relations to allow Indian vehicles for transportation of the fuel from Assam to Tripura by Road which has been severely disrupted due to the recent floods in Assam and Tripura.

• The Union Cabinet has approved India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution, NDC to be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
• The updated NDC seeks to enhance India’s contributions towards the achievement of the strengthening of the global response to the threat of climate change, as agreed under the Paris Agreement.
• Such action will also help India usher in low emissions growth pathways. It will protect the interests of the country and safeguard its future development needs based on the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC.
• India at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UNFCCC held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, expressed to intensify its climate action by presenting to the world five nectar elements (Panchamrit) of India’s climate action.
• This update to India’s existing NDC translates the ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26 into enhanced climate targets.