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■ The Gulf of Aden: • The Gulf of Aden lies within the territories of 3 different nations. • The Gulf of Aden is majorly shared between 3 neighbouring nations- Djibouti to the East, Somalia to the South, and Yemen to the North.

🐜 Odisha's Red Ant chutney gets GI Tag: • Odisha's Red Ant chutney (Kai Chutney) is renowned in the region for its medicinal and nutritional properties. • Red weaver ants, scientifically known as Oecophylla smaragdina, are notable for their extremely painful sting, capable of causing blisters on the skin. • These ants are commonly found in the forests of Mayurbhanj, including the Similipal forests, which constitute Asia's second-largest biosphere.

The Badaga community of the Nilgiris celebrate their annual Hethai Habba to pay obeisance to their presiding deity Hethai.

■ Bills replacing Colonial era laws: • Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita 2023. • Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita 2023. • Indian Evidence Act, 1872 - Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Act 2023.

💉 Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP): • The Universal Immunisation Programme is one of the largest vaccination projects in the world aimed at protecting children and pregnant mothers from preventable diseases. • The Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) was launched in 1985. • Launched as Expanded programme on Immunization in 1978 and it was renamed as Universal Immunization programme in 1985 when it was expanded beyond urban areas. • Under UIP, immunization is being provided free of cost against 12 vaccine preventable diseases: Nationally against 11 diseases Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Rotavirus diarrhea, Hepatitis B, Meningitis & Pneumonia caused by Hemophilus Influenza type B and Pneumococcal Pneumonia and sub-nationally against 1 disease - Japanese Encephalitis (JE vaccine is provided only in endemic districts).

📰 Tamil Nadu tops in number of accidents on National Highways: • Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents on its network of National Highways in 2022 with 64,105 accidents. • The State saw 17,884 fatalities due to road accidents, according to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) statistics. • The State retained its top position in 2022 for the fifth consecutive year. • Tamil Nadu stood second when it came to number of fatalities due to road accidents with 17,884 deaths amounting to 10.6% of the total lives lost. Uttar Pradesh with 22,595 deaths topped this dreary chart when it came to casualties. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tn-tops-in-number-of-accidents-on-national-highways/article67517733.ece

📰 India, U.S. in agreement on strategic issues: Rajnath. • Mr. Austin welcomed India’s decision to become a full member of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multilateral construct headquartered in Bahrain. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-us-in-increasing-agreement-on-strategic-issues-including-countering-chinas-aggression-rajnath/article67521531.ece

🍲 Global Hunger Index 2023: • The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels, reflecting multiple dimensions of hunger over time. • The GHI is intended to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions, and call attention to those areas of the world where hunger levels are highest and where the need for additional efforts to eliminate hunger is greatest. • India ranks 111 out of a total of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023, with its progress against hunger nearly halted since 2015, reflecting a global trend. • The Union government, though, contested India’s performance for the third year in a row, citing flawed methodology. • Afghanistan, Haiti and 12 sub-Saharan countries perform worse than India on the GHI. • India’s ranking is based on a Global Hunger Index score of 28.7 on a 100-point scale where 0 is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. This categorises India’s severity of hunger as “serious”. • While India made significant strides between 2000 and 2015, with its score improving from 38.4 in 2000 to 35.5 in 2008 and 29.2 in 2015, over the past eight years, the country has advanced on the GHI by only 0.5 points. • The 2000, 2008 and 2015 GHI scores are the only data that can be used for valid comparisons over time. • India’s performance mirrors a global trend. The 2023 GHI score for the world is 18.3, which is considered moderate. However, it is only one point below the world’s 2015 GHI score of 19.1. • South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara are the world regions with the highest hunger levels, with GHI scores of 27.0 each, indicating serious hunger. • West Asia and North Africa is the region with the third-highest hunger level with a score of 11.9 indicating “moderate” hunger level. • Latin American and the Caribbean is the only region in the world whose GHI scores have worsened between 2015 and 2023. • East and Southeast Asia, dominated by populous China, has the second-lowest 2023 GHI score of any region in the report. China, for example, is among the top 20 countries that each have a GHI score of less than 5. • The region with the lowest 2023 GHI score is Europe and Central Asia, whose score of 6.0 is considered “low”. □ Methodology: • The GHI score is based on a formula which combines four indicators that together capture the multi-dimensional nature of hunger, including under-nourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality. ○ Undernourishment: The share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient. ○ Child stunting: The share of children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition. ○ Child wasting: The share of children under the age of five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition. ○ Child mortality: The share of children who die before their fifth birthday, reflecting in part the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

🪖 Operation Ajay: • India launches "Operation Ajay" to bring home citizens from Israel. • This will be the second evacuation this year, after "Operation Kaveri" that brought back several thousand Indian citizens from conflict-torn Sudan in April-May.

G20 OUtCOMES • The African Union joined the G20 as a permanent member. • A new organisation called the Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA) was launched, to promote the development and adoption of sustainable biofuels, and set relevant standards and certification. • The New Delhi Leaders Declaration was adopted with consensus. • A group of countries made a joint agreement to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. The group comprises India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union. • The 2023 summit in contrast to the previous year significantly resulted in no mention of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the final document. Join @upscscaleup

🛰 National Space Day: • On 23rd August 2023, when India landed on the moon, unfurled the tiranga, that day will now be celebrated as "National Space Day".

■ Shivashakti & Trianga: • Chandrayaan-3 landing point to be named "Shiv shakti". • Chandrayaan-2 lander impact place as "Tiranga".

• India's Chandrayaan-3 successfully lands on the moon. • India becomes the first country to land a spacecraft on the South Pole of the moon.

💶 Income Tax day, July 24: • Income Tax in India was introduced by Sir James Wilson on 24th July 1860. • However, a comprehensive Act was introduced in 1922 to deal with various aspects of tax structure. • The Income-tax Act, 1922, gave, for the first time, a specific nomenclature to various Income-tax authorities. The foundation of a proper system of administration was thus laid. • In 1924, Central Board of Revenue Act constituted the Board as a statutory body with functional responsibilities for the administration of the Income-tax Act. •.Commissioners of Income-tax were appointed separately for each province and Assistant Commissioners and Income-tax Officers were provided under their control

■ National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023. • ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’ report was released by the Niti Aayog. • It is prepared based on the latest National Family Heath Survey of 2019-21 and is the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). • The broad methodology followed is in consonance with the global methodology,” the statement said adding that 12 parameters of health, education and standard of living are examined in the report. “These include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts,”. • The report claims that about 13.5 crore people came out of multidimensional poverty during the period, assessed by identifying “acute deprivations in health, education and standard of living” using United Nations-approved parameters. • The report said rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty from 32.59% to 19.28%, primarily due to decrease in the number of multidimensionally poor in States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan. • Delhi, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have the least number of people facing multidimensional poverty along with the Union Territories. • Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh top the chart where the percentage of total population who are multidimensionally poor is high. • Multidimensional poverty in urban areas, during the same period, saw a decrease from 8.65% to 5.27%. • Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in number of poor with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty. • According to the report, between 2015-16 and 2019-21, the MPI value has nearly halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty has reduced from 47% to 44%.

■ Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2022: • NITI Aayog released the third edition of the report titled ‘Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2022’ for States/UTs of India. • Tamil Nadu has been ranked the No. 1 State in Export Preparedness Index (EPI) for 2022. It is followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka. Gujarat has been pushed to the fourth slot this time. • Tamil Nadu has been in the top 5 list among Large/Coastal States’ categories in the past two years. • According to the report, the top three exporting districts of Tamil Nadu are Kanchipuram, Chennai, and Tiruppur. Other than its top export which is engineering goods, Kanchipuram is the leading exporter of silk and its finished products. • The report aims to facilitate competitive federalism in the country which creates a spirit of healthy competition among the states and encourage peer-learning among the states. • The EPI 2022 Report evaluates the performance of the states across four pillars – Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem, and Export Performance. The index uses 56 indicators which holistically capture the export preparedness of States and UTs in terms of exports at both the state and district-level. • These pillars are further based on ten sub-pillars – Export Promotion Policy; Institutional Framework; Business Environment; Infrastructure; Transport Connectivity; Export Infrastructure; Trade Support; R&D Infrastructure; Export Diversification; and Growth Orientation. • The EPI 2022 Report observed that most ‘Coastal States’ have performed well, with the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat being the top-performers in the Export Preparedness Index across the country, in all categories of states.