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📰 Centre identifies 75 tribal districts for focused TB interventions. • After having run an active case-finding campaign to detect instances of Tuberculosis (TB) among tribal populations over the past six months, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have now zeroed in on 75 tribal districts, where focused interventions will be run over the next few months with the aim to make them TB-free. • The campaign to detect TB cases across 174 tribal districts started this January under the Aashwasan Campaign, under which door-to-door screening was done in over 68,000 villages. • Both the Health and Tribal Affairs ministries have decided on a three-pronged strategy to address the high incidence of TB in the selected 75 tribal districts, keeping with the Union government’s mission to make India TB-free by 2025, a government statement said. • The Aashwasan Campaign was undertaken by the Tribal Affairs and Health Ministries and supported by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) as a technical partner and Piramal Swasthya as the implementing partner. 📰 Army speeds up procurement of light tank 'Zorawar' for LAC. • With the experience of deploying armour at an altitude of 15,000 ft. to outmanoeuvre the movement of Chinese forces during the stand-off in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army is prioritising the procurement of the indigenous Indian light tank named 'Zorawar', for deployment in the mountains, official sources said. • In addition to the light tank, the Army will induct niche technologies such as loitering munitions, anti drone capabilities and next generation Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnais sance (ISR) capabilities, officials added. 📰 Vishnugadh project likely to face inquiry. • The 444-MW Vishnugadh Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project (VPHEP) is being built by the Tehri Hydropower Development Corporation (THDC), a partially State-owned enterprise. • The project is primarily funded by the World Bank and was sanctioned in 2011. It is proposed to be completed in June 2023. • About 40% of the funds for the $792 million project (₹64,000 crore approx.) had already been disbursed. • Residents in their complaint to the bank panel have said muck dumping from the dam threatens the local Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which is deemed to be of historical and cultural importance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). 📰 Achieving 2070 net zero emissions target can boost India’s GDP: report. • Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2070, a target that Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to in Glasgow in 2021, could boost India’s economy by as much as 4.7% above the projected baseline growth in GDP terms by 2036, worth a total of $371 billion, a report said. • The report said that the target could create as many as 15 million new jobs by 2047. • Beyond this, maximising viable policy options to decarbonise its energy system and economy could lead India to net zero emissions by mid-century. • Ending new coal as soon as possible by 2023 and transitioning from unabated coal power by 2040 would be particularly impactful to get India to net zero emissions sooner. • By reaching net zero by 2050, India could boost annual GDP by as much as 7.3% ($470 billion) and create nearly 20 million additional jobs by 2032, compared with the current policies, the report finds. • Net zero emissions by 2070 would require an economy-wide investment of $10.1 trillion from now; 2050 calls for $13.5 trillion, the research finds.

📰 Plea filed against delay in forming BC panel. • The Madras High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition which sought a direction to constitute the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) and appoint the chairperson, vice-chairperson and members at the earliest. • K. Balu, president of Advocates' Forum for Social Justice, had filed the petition contending that the commission had not been constituted for the last six months. • He also sought a direction to the Ministry to establish State or regional benches of the commission. • Representing him, Senior Counsel N.L. Rajah said the first NCBC was constituted in 1993 and about seven such commissions were constituted till 2016 when they were just legal entities without any constitutional validity. • A constitutional status was given to the NCBC only on August 14, 2018. • Article 338B of the Constitution was amended through the 102nd amendment. • Thereafter, the Centre constituted an NCBC on February 28, 2019, and its three-year tenure lapsed on February 28, 2022. Though nearly six months had passed since then, the next commission had not been constituted yet, he said. □ About National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC): • The NCBC is a constitutional body. It is tasked with monitoring safeguards provided for socially and educationally backward classes, giving advice to the government on their socio-economic development and evaluating their progress. • In 1992, the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney case had directed the government to create a permanent body to entertain, examine and recommend the inclusion and exclusion of various Backward Classes for the purpose of benefits and protection. • Towards this, the parliament passed National Commission for Backward Classes Act in 1993 and constituted the National Commission for Backward Classes as a statutory body. • So far the Commission had been reconstituted 7 times up to 2016. • To safeguard the interests of these classes more effectively, there was a need to give constitutional status to NCBC. • The Central Govt has repealed the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 and gave Constitutional status to NCBC by inserting Article 338B through the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018. • The Commission consists of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other Members in the rank & pay of Secretary to the Govt of India. 📰 Vikrant, India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier, to be commissioned on September 2. • Commissioning of the country’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will enhance peace, security and stability in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific Region, Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral S.N. Ghormade said. • The carrier is set to be commissioned on September 2, 2022 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. • It was designed by the Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), INS Vikrant, with a displacement of 42,800 tonnes, is powered by four General Electric engines and can carry an air wing of 30 helicopters, fighters, and UAVs.

🔭 India’s first commercial space situational awareness observatory: • India’s first commercial space situational awareness observatory, to track objects as small as 10 cm in size orbiting the earth, will be set up in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand by Digantara, a space sector start-up. • The space situational awareness (SSA) observatory will help India track any activity in space including that of space debris and military satellites hovering over the region. • Currently, the United States is a dominant player in monitoring space debris with observatories in multiple locations and commercial companies providing additional inputs from across the world. • The observatory would be able to reduce the potential for collisions between satellites and other spacecraft by making more accurate predictions of their location, speed, and trajectory. • The observatory will also give India indigenous capabilities to monitor space activity over the subcontinent.

■ Mithila Makhana gets GI tag: • Bihar's Mithila Makhana gets GI tag. • Mithila Makhana is locally known as Makhan in Mithila. Its Botanical name is Euryale Ferox Salisb. • This special variety of Aquatic Fox Nut is cultivated in the Mithila region of Bihar and adjoining areas of Nepal. • Fox Nuts are rich in protein and fiber and have various micro-nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorous and iron. • This is fifth product from Bihar which is awarded the GI Tag. Bhagalpur’s Jardalu Mango, Katarni Dhaan (rice), Nawada’s Magahi Paan and Muzaffarpur’s Shahi Litchi have got GI tag prior to this. • Once a product gets this tag, any person or company cannot sell a similar item under that name. • This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed. • The other benefits of GI registration include legal protection to that item, prevention against unauthorised use by others, and promoting exports.

■ Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy: • Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy was born on July 30, 1886 in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu. • The Government of Tamil Nadu announced that Government hospitals in the State will celebrate her birth anniversary as ‘Hospital Day' every year. • She was the first Indian girl student in the Department of Surgery at Madras Medical College. • She completed her studies in 1912 and became India's first female doctor. • She co-founded the Women's Indian Association in 1918, and as the first woman member (and vice president) of the Madras Legislative Council and became the first woman legislator in India. • In the year 1926, she attended the Paris International Congress of Women as a delegate. • She helped raise the minimum age for marriage for girls and pushed the Council to pass the Immoral Traffic Control Act, and the Devadasi system abolishment Bill. • Dr. Reddy also recommended to the government to raise the age of marriage to 21 for boys and 16 for girls. • The Madras Devdasi (Prevention of Dedication) Bill was eventually passed by the Madras Legislative Assembly in December 1947. • She resigned from the Council in 1930 protesting Mahatma Gandhi’s arrest after the Salt March. • When three young devadasi girls knocked on her door in 1930, she established the Avvai Home to shelter and educate girls like them. • As part of her work with the Hartog Education Committee, she travelled extensively across the country to study the progress of women’s education. She was the only woman member of the committee. • In 1954, she opened the Cancer Institute in Chennai. • Muthulakshmi Reddi was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of the government of India, in 1956. • He wrote a book "My Experience as a Legislator". • She passed away in 1968 at the age of 81.

■ Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD): • Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a contagious viral disease that affects cattle. • The lumpy skin disease virus, as it is called, belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus, from the same family as the smallpox virus and monkeypox virus (Poxviridae). It is genetically related to the goatpox and sheeppox virus family. • An official mentioned that the mortality rate of LSD is 1-2% and it does not infect humans. • The major diseases observed in cattle, over the last three years, are FMD, Brucellosis, Hemorrhagic Septicemia (HS), Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). □ Origin and transmission: • Scientists reported the first case of LSD from Zambia in 1929. • The disease has been endemic in most African countries, and since 2012 it has spread rapidly through the Middle East, Southeast Europe and West and Central Asia. • In India, LSD was first reported in cattle in 2019 in West Bengal. • It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as certain species of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks. It causes fever, nodules on the skin and can also lead to death. □ Does LSD affect humans? • The disease is not zoonotic, meaning it does not spread from animals to humans, and humans cannot get infected with it. • While the virus does not spread to humans, “milk produced by an infected animal will be fit for human consumption after boiling or pasteurisation as these processes will kill the viruses, if any, in the milk”, said Prof J B Kathiriya, Assistant Professor with the department of veterinary public health and epidemiology of Kamdhenu University’s College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry in Junagadh. □ Vaccine for LSD: • Indian government has launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVac to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease. ° The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Hisar (Haryana) in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar (Bareilly). • Currently, a vaccination drive is underway and 17.92 lakh cattle have been vaccinated so far in these states/UT. • Vaccination against these diseases is covered under the Livestock Health and Disease Control programme. • Animal Husbandry is a State subject and there is no central scheme which reimburses farmers for expenses incurred by them in the course of caring for ailing cattle. [India, the world’s largest milk producer, had a cattle population of 192.5 million in 2019, as per the 19th Livestock census].