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🐅 International Tiger Day (Global Tiger Day), July 29: • International Tiger Day was introduced in 2010 after it was discovered that 97 percent of tigers had disappeared in the past century, with only about 3,000 remaining. • International Tiger Day is observed every year all over the world on July 29. The objective of the day is to raise awareness among individuals, organisations, and governments about the importance of the conservation of tigers. • As per World Wildlife Fund, approximately 95 percent of the population of tigers has declined in the last 150 years.  • The current wild cat population is 3,900, according to the WWF. India is home to nearly 70% of the world’s tiger population. • A recent International Union for Conservation of Nature assessment suggests that tiger numbers have increased by 40% since 2005. • In 1973, Project Tiger was created in India with a novel idea to conserve the world's tigers. • Tiger reserves of India were set up in 1973 and are governed by Project Tiger, which is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. • Currently, there are 53 Tiger reserves in India. • Initially, only nine tiger reserves were covered under project tiger and now increased to 53. There were only 1411 tigers in 2006 and 1706 in 2011. The number reached 2,226 in 2014 and 2,967 are in India by the 2018 census. The number is expected to cross 3000 by the 2022 census. • The Tiger (Panthera tigris) is listed as 'Endangered' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. □ Threats: • Climate change is one of those factors that has posed a threat to the tiger population around the world. • The warming up of the planet and rising sea levels affect the habitat of tigers and can also impact the number of their prey species. • In addition, their shrinking habitat can also force these tigers to wander near human communities which can lead to animal-human conflict. • A recent study found Lantana camara has invaded more than 40 percent of India’s tiger ranges (reserves). • Lantana is one of the world's ten worst invasive species and a species of high concern for India. • Besides Lantana, some of India's most notorious invasive species like Keekar, Parthenium , Mexican Devil also kill indigenous vegetation. • To control invasive species, it is important to ensure that new weed species or parts of vegetatively breeding plants are not introduced into a new area. • Early detection and eradication of invasive species is the most economical and effective means of invasive plant management.

📰 Government initiates work on consumer spending survey. • The Centre has kicked off the process for conducting the quinquennial Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) this month, and the questionnaire for the survey has been tweaked to capture data about items received free from the government’s welfare programmes. • Field work for the survey that will, for the first time, involve three visits over a year to assess spending patterns in selected households, will begin soon. • Conducted every five years, the HCES is used to arrive at estimates of poverty levels as well as review key economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP). • The results of the survey are also utilised for updating the consumption basket and for base revision of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). • The survey was last conducted in 2017-18 but its findings were not published, citing data quality concerns, so the last publicly available official estimates on consumer spending are from 2011-12. • “The survey on Household Consumption Expenditure has been planned to collect disaggregated level information from the households on consumption of food and non-food items. • The process to conduct the HCES has been initiated in July, 2022. • While the 2011-12 survey data was collected in a single visit the latest HCES would entail da ta collection in three visits through a Computer Assist ed Personal Interview. □ Consumer Price Index (CPI): • CPI calculates the average change in prices of goods and services at the retail level. • CPI data is published by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). • The base year for CPI is 2012. • CPI takes into account the change in process of both goods and services. • In CPI, more weightage is given to food items. • The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) uses CPI data to control inflation. In April 2014, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had adopted the CPI as its key measure of inflation.

■ The President of India: • The President of India is the head of the Indian state and is also the first citizen of India. • The Chief Justice of India (CJI) administers the oath or affirmation of the office to the President and in the absence of the CJI, the seniormost Judge of the Supreme Court administers the oath. • The President is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India. He/She can declare war or conclude peace, subject to the approval of the Parliament. • President declares/proclaims National, State & Financial emergency. • When a vacancy occurs in the office of the President due to his resignation, removal, death or otherwise, the Vice-President acts as the President until a new President is elected. • In case the office of Vice-President is vacant, the Chief Justice of India (or if his office is also vacant, the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court available) acts as President. • The President is not answerable to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office. • The President can never be arrested or imprisoned and no criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against the President in any court during his term of office. □ Qualifications: • He/She should be a citizen of India. • He/She should have completed 35 years of age. • He/She should be qualified for election as a member of Lok Sabha. • The person will not be eligible if he/she holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority that is controlled by any of the state governments. □ Term of Office: • The President holds the office for a period of 5 years. • The President can hold office beyond his term of 5 years until his successor assumes charge. • He/She can resign from his office at any time by addressing the resignation letter to the Vice-President. • According to Article 61, the President can be removed from office by the process of impeachment only on the grounds of violation of the constitution. • A person is eligible for re-election to the office of President. • Disputes Regarding the Election of President are challenged in Supreme Court of India. □ Election: • The President is elected indirectly by an Electoral college. The election shall be done by a secret ballot. • The election shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.  • The Electoral College consists of the elected Members of Parliament of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha (MPs), and all the elected members of State assemblies (MLAs) including Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and the Union Territory of Puducherry. • Nominated members of the Parliament & State assemblies and members of legislative councils are not eligible to vote. □ Articles related to the President: • Article 52 - The President of India. • Article 53 - Executive power of the Union. • Article 54 - Election of President. • Article 55 - Manner of election of President. • Article 56 - Term of office of President • Article 57 - Eligibility for re-election. • Article 58 - Qualifications for election as President • Article 59 - Conditions of President’s office. • Article 60 - Oath or affirmation by the President. • Article 61 - Procedure for impeachment of the President. • Article 62 - Time of holding election to fill vacancy in the office of President. • Article 65 - Vice President to act as President or to discharge his functions. • Article 71 - Matters relating to the election of President. • Article 72 - Power of President to grant pardons etc., and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases. • Article 74 - Council of ministers to aid and advise the President. • Article 78 - Duties of Prime Minister in respect to furnishing of information to the President, etc. • Article 87 - Special address by President. • Article 111 - Assent to bills passed by the Parliament • Article 123 - Power of President to promulagate ordinances. • Article 143 - Power of President to consult Supreme Court.

■ India Innovation Index 2021: • Karnataka topped the list in the Major states category while Manipur topped in the North east and hill states category while Chandigarh scored over others in the Union territories and City category. • The states and the union territories have been divided into 17 ‘Major States’, 10 ‘North-East and Hill States’, and 9 ‘Union Territories and City States’, for effectively comparing their performance. • The index is Prepared by  NITI Aayog and the Institute for Competitiveness. • India Innovation Index 2021 is the third edition. First and second editions were launched in October, 2019 and January, 2021, respectively. • The India Innovation Index is a tool for the evaluation and development of the country’s innovation ecosystem. • It ranks the states and the union territories on their innovation performance to trigger competition amongst them. • The innovation index is based on 7 pillars: Human capital, Investment, Knowledge workers, Business environment, Safety and legal environment, Knowledge output, and Knowledge diffusion. • These pillars were divided across 66 indicators this time from 36 earlier to determine the innovation capacity of states/UTs. • The report has recommended measures such as such as increasing Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GDERD), promoting private sector participation in R&D and closing the gap between industry demand and what the country produces through its education systems. • The report went on to state that countries that spend less on GDERD fail to retain their human capital in the long run and the ability to innovate is dependent on the quality of human capital. • India's GDERD as a percentage of GDP stood at about 0.7%. • "Therefore, GDERD needs considerable improvement and should touch at least 2%, which would play an instru mental role in India achieving the goal of a 5 trillion economy and further influence its innovative footprint across the globe. • It has also recommended increased role of the private sector in R&D resulting in innovation. • The report has also recommended bringing growth human capital to also boost knowledge capital as the vast divide now was coming in way of large scale innovation. • The overall index score is about 14.56. This is arguably low but India is ambitious to enter into the top 25 nations on the Global Innovation Index (GII).