Expresso Top National and International Headlines of the Week on 21 July 2024 Transcript
In top national news: With the Jammu division seeing a rise in militant attacks over the last three years, many in the security establishment believe that bad roads have been one of the major challenges in the fight against the militant threat. A senior officer in the Jammu and Kashmir Police said that between Rajouri and Poonch districts, both National Highway 144A and the alternate defence road looked after by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are in poor condition given ongoing road-widening works. Significantly, he pointed out, the private contractor hired by the BRO for widening the defence road abandoned the work after the entire stretch from Thanamandi to Buffliaz and then Surankote was dug up.
The government on Tuesday reconstituted the NITI Aayog, increasing the number of special invitees from five to 11, including five ministers from the BJP’s allies — H D Kumaraswamy (JD-S), Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM), Rajiv Ranjan Singh (JD-U), K R Naidu (TDP) and Chirag Paswan (LJP-Ram Vilas). Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the Chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to the notification. Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also continue to be full-time members of the government think-tank. BVR Subrahmanyam will also remain the CEO.
In other news: In keeping with the plan to conduct board exams twice a year, as recommended by the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE), the Government is considering scheduling a second Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam for Class 12 students in June from 2026, The Indian Express has learnt. Currently, a Class 12 student appears for the CBSE board exam in February-March. After the results are declared in May, she has the option to improve her performance in one subject through “supplementary exams” held in July. Students who have not cleared their papers and whose results have been declared as “compartment” can also sit for the “supplementary exams”.
Next up: Dr Prashant Narnaware, Commissioner of Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Department has recommended disciplinary action against two non-judicial members of the Juvenile Justice Board for various procedural lapses in granting bail to the minor accused in the Pune Porsche car crash case. It has been almost two months since the May 19 incident in which a minor boy allegedly collided a Porsche with a motorcycle at Pune’s Kalyani Nagar, leading to the deaths of two techies, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. The minor accused was initially granted bail by the JJB with a direction to write an essay on road accidents. Several arrests were later made in the case.
In top international news: Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the accession of Ukraine to NATO would be a declaration of war against Moscow and only “”prudence”” on behalf of the alliance could prevent the planet being shattered into pieces. The leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation pledged at their summit last week to support Ukraine on an “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership,” but left open when that membership could happen. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and a leading voice among the Kremlin’s hawks, told the news outlet Argumenty I Fakty that Ukraine’s membership would go beyond a direct threat to Moscow’s security.
In news from Ukraine: A number of Ukrainian startups and firms are taking to AI-powered drones, in the midst of a growing conflict with Russia. The key to this approach is deploying these drones along the front lines, to resist Russian signal jamming and allow large-scale operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Ukrainian firms are concentrating on three main areas: terrain mapping, visual systems for target recognition and navigation, and sophisticated AI algorithms that allow drones to fly in coordinated swarms. Drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming more and more necessary as Russian and Ukrainian troops are able to disrupt drone-to-drone communication and enhance their electronic warfare (EW) capabilities.
In news from the UK: Westminster witnessed a moment of traditional British pomp and ceremony on Wednesday as King Charles III delivered the first King’s Speech under a Labour government since 1950. The speech outlined Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new legislative agenda following Labour’s landslide victory in the July 4 general election. Written by the government, the King’s Speech aimed to set a new tone in British politics, emphasising service over self-interest, contrasting with the often chaotic Conservative Party rule of the past 14 years. King Charles declared, adorned in a crimson and white robe and the Imperial State crown, “My government will serve the country faithfully.”
Lastly: Conservationists in Cambodia have made a significant discovery with the finding of 106 eggs from the critically endangered Siamese crocodile species in a western Cambodian wildlife sanctuary. Officials announced Thursday that this is the largest find in the past two decades, providing renewed hope for the survival of this rare crocodile species. The eggs were discovered in Cardamom National Park in May. Between June 27 and 30, 60 of these eggs successfully hatched, as reported by the Associated Press, citing a joint statement from the ministries of agriculture and environment along with the conservation group Fauna & Flora.
