Today's Current Affairs 10th July 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Latvia swears in Edgars Rinkevics as EU's first openly gay president

• Edgar Rinkevics, 49, has been sworn in as Latvia’s first openly gay head of state, and the first openly gay president of an EU member state, reported Deutsche Welle (DW). Rinkevics vowed to uphold Latvia’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, as he was sworn in as president.
• “Russia’s war and genocide in Ukraine have created a new, harsh reality,” the German news agency DPA quoted Rinkevics as saying. He warned of the threats of “imperial Russia and the [Belarus leader Alexander] Lukashenko regime” against the region, Europe and the whole world, as per DW.
• Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster and media outlet. The speech of the former foreign minister came days before the NATO summit in Vilnius.
• Latvia will stand for a strong and effective NATO, the European Union, a law-based international order and close cooperation with our friends and allies.
• The 49-year-old has held the highest diplomatic position for Latvia since 2011 and has long backed Ukraine against Russian aggression, as per DW.
• After his predecessor, Egils Levits, opted not to seek re-election, the parliament elected Rinkevics to the mostly ceremonial position of president in May. He is now the first openly gay president of an EU member state and the first head of state of Latvia. After being sworn in, Rinkevics gave a speech in which he vowed to work for inclusiveness and equality in Latvia.
• Every person in Latvia, its citizens, must feel that they belong, legally protected and safe,” the new president said, DW reported. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

India-US conduct 'Operation Broader Sword' to prevent illegal drugs shipment

• In a joint multi-agency operation carried out by the law enforcement agencies of the US and India, more than 500 shipments of "illicit and unapproved prescription" drugs were stopped from reaching US consumers.
• Operation “Broader Sword”, which was carried out in June 2023, targeted shipments of illicit, potentially dangerous, unapproved prescription drugs, combination medical devices, and synthetic drug precursors shipped through International Mail Facilities (IMF), the US Embassy said on Friday.

NATIONAL

3rd Trade and Investment Working Group Meeting begins in Kevadia, Gujarat

• As part of India's G20 presidency, the third Trade and Investment Working Group Meeting began in Kevadia today. More than 75 international delegates from various G20 countries are taking part in the three-day meeting at Kevadiya. The delegates are participating in a seminar on ‘Trade Infrastructure’. Later in the day, the international representatives will visit the famous Statue of Unity.
• The focus of the meeting is to build consensus among G 20 countries on adopting proposals put forward by the Indian Presidency on global trade and investment-related issues.
• The meet will formally be inaugurated tomorrow. There will be a series of technical sessions tomorrow and day after tomorrow during which G 20 members will give their comments on Indian presidency proposal.

These tools of IIT-Kharagpur can check loco pilot’s alertness before and during duty

• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, has come up with a tool that will check the alertness of locomotive pilots, both before and while they are at the wheel.
• The tool is a tamper-proof device that will measure the drowsiness of the loco pilot in real-time and create alertness based on the analysis of normal and near-infrared facial images.
• The device will use the camera to capture images of the loco pilot’s face to compute a metric of drowsiness by observing the dynamics of eyelid motion.
• “In the event of loss of attention, it will sound an alarm and can also send an alert to the control room. The algorithm residing on the processor computes the percentage of eye closure over time, and based on a predetermined threshold, the driver is declared as drowsy,” said IIT-Kharagpur electrical engineering professor Aurobinda Routray.

SPORTS

Lakshya Sen staves off Li Shi Feng challenge to win Canada Open title

• Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen dished out a badminton masterpiece to notch up his second BWF Super 500 title with a straight-game win over Li Shi Feng of China in the final of the Canada Open.
• The 21-year-old from Almora, who had claimed his maiden Super 500 title at the 2022 India Open, mixed incredible speed and power to outshine reigning All England champion Feng 21-18, 22-20 in a thrilling summit clash.
• “Coming into the Olympic qualification year, it was tough as things didn’t go my way. So this win will be a big boost to my confidence,” Sen told PTI after the win.
• “I had to dig deep in some matches, the conditions were different and getting used to it was important,” the ace shuttler said.
• This was Sen’s first title since claiming his maiden gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in August last year. He is also the second singles player from the country to win a title this year, following HS Prannoy’s victory at Malaysia Masters in May.

Parth Salunkhe became the first male archer to win a gold medal in the recurve event

• Parth Salunkhe has become the first male archer to win a gold medal in the recurve event at the World Youth Archery Championships to be held in Ireland from 3 to 9 July 2023. India finished with its highest ever medal tally of 11 medals in this championship.
• The 19-year-old from Satara in Maharashtra won the gold medal on July 9 after defeating a Korean in the Under-21 men's recurve individual final. Salunkhe, who topped the ranking round, defeated seventh seed Song Injun 7-3 in a hard-fought five-set match. India also won a bronze medal in the Under-21 women's recurve individual event when Bhaja Kaur defeated Su Hsien-yu of Chinese Taipei 7-1.
• India finished with six gold, one silver and four bronze medals, the highest in terms of total medal tally. In terms of rankings, they were second only to Korea, which took the pole position with six gold and four silver medals.

APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman to take charge as IFSCA chairman

• The government has appointed Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman as the new chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA). Injeti Srinivas, the first chairperson of the regulatory authority appointed in 2020, will be succeeded by Rajaraman.
• According to a gazette notification, Rajaraman's appointment will be effective for a period of three years from the date he assumes charge, or until he reaches the age of 65, or until further orders, whichever occurs earliest. The IFSCA was established in April 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
• The IFSCA serves as a unified authority for developing and regulating financial products, financial services, and financial institutions within the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India. Currently, GIFT IFSC is India's first international financial services cent.

C-DOT CEO Rajkumar Upadhyay Receives 2-Year Extension

• Rajkumar Upadhyay, the CEO of C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics), has been granted a two-year extension to his tenure. This decision aims to provide continuity and stability to C-DOT, an organization dedicated to driving innovation and research in the field of telecommunications. Under Upadhyay's leadership, C-DOT has made significant contributions to the development of telecom infrastructure and solutions in India.
• In October 2020, Upadhyay joined India's telecom technology research organisation C-DoT as the executive director. Last December, he was promoted to the newly-created rank of the CEO, and had become C-DoT's board chairman

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

India, Panama signs MoU on electoral cooperation

• The Election Commission of India and Electoral Tribunal (ET) of Panama on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Panama City to establish the institutional framework for their ongoing cooperation in the field of election management and administration, the government said in a press release.
• A three member ECI delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar held interactions with Presiding Magistrate, Electoral Tribunal of Panama Alfredo Juncá Wendehake on strengthening collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two Election Management Bodies (EMBs). Eduardo Valdes Escoffery, first vice presidential magistrate and Luis A. Guerra Morales, second vice presidential magistrate, ET of Panama were also present.
• ECI has been expanding its links and cooperation with foreign Election Management Bodies (EMBs) through its ‘International Cooperation Programme’. Having signed MoUs with Mexico, Brazil and Chile in the past years, this is the fourth MoU signed by ECI with an EMB in the Latin Americas region, with an overall 31 MoUs with EMBs and international organisations across the world.

National Water Mission Inks Pact with Indian Plumbing Association To Improve Water Use Efficiency

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between Bureau of Water Use Efficiency (BWUE), National Water Mission (NWM), Ministry of Jal Shakti and Indian Plumbing Association (IPA) for a Water Positive India by awareness creation & promotion of rain water harvesting structures, low flow fixtures & sanitary ware, treatment of grey & black water, water audit of built environment. The MoU was signed by Ms. Archana Varma, Additional Secretary & Mission Director, on behalf of National Water Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Shri Gurmit Singh Arora, National President, Indian Plumbing Association based in Okhla, New Delhi.
• Shri Gurmeet Arora, National President, Indian Plumbing Association added that his organization would give full cooperation for increasing water use efficiency in domestic sector by 50-60% (reducing water use from 135 lpcd to 60 lpcd). He further stressed water audit for built environments (residential buildings, hotels etc.) to achieve the target of Net Zero Water Buildings.

India, Panama signs MoU on electoral cooperation

• Tribunal (ET) of Panama on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Panama City to establish the institutional framework for their ongoing cooperation in the field of election management and administration, the government said in a press release.
• A three member ECI delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar held interactions with Presiding Magistrate, Electoral Tribunal of Panama Alfredo Juncá Wendehake on strengthening collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two Election Management Bodies (EMBs). Eduardo Valdes Escoffery, first vice presidential magistrate and Luis A. Guerra Morales, second vice presidential magistrate, ET of Panama were also present.