The 2016 report of the prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings in the fourth week of July 2016 ranked the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as the 12th Best Government Institutions in the world.
•    CSIR is the only Indian organization to have found a place among the top 100 global institutions.
•    The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established in 1942.
•    It is an autonomous body and the largest research and development organisation in India.
•    It runs 37 laboratories and 39 field stations or extension centres spread across the nation.
•    It is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
•    It operates as an autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.

The Union Cabinet on 27 July 2016 approved the establishment of an All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Bhatinda in Punjab under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
•    It will provide super specialty health care to the population while creating a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions/facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM).
•    The cost of the project for establishment of the AIIMS in Bhatinda shall be 925 crore rupees. 
•    This cost estimate does not include recurring costs (wages & salaries and operation & maintenance expenses). 
•    In addition, there will be an Administration Block, AYUSH Block, Auditorium, Night Shelter, Hostels and residential facilities. 
•    It will also conduct research on prevalent regional diseases and other health issues and provide for better control and cure of such diseases. 
•    The project will be completed in a period of 48 months from the date of the approval by the Union Government.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has setup a seven-member expert committee for exploring the other possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons. 
•    The Committee will be headed by T V S N Prasad, Joint Secretary in the MHA. 
•    It will submit its report within two months. Other members of the committee: Atul Karwal (IG, CRPF), Rajeev Krishna, (IG Operations, BSF), Tushar Tripathy (DDG, Small Arms, Ordnance factory Board) and Naresh Bhatnagar (Professor at IIT, Delhi). 
•    Earlier Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced in Lok Sabha that an expert committee will be set up to recommend alternatives to pellet guns. Pellet guns have been categorised as non-lethal weapon. 
•    In this gun, pellets are loaded with lead balls and once fired disperse into huge numbers. They may not kill the person they hit, but penetrates skin tissue and cause serious injuries. 
•    Pellet guns are being used since 2010 in Kashmir to disperse and control crowd i.e as deterrence to antisocial elements. 
•    The use of pellet guns is blamed for causing fatal injuries and blindness among protestors in Kashmir.

Union Government has decided to reduce the number of Maoist-affected districts by about a fifth.

•    As per reports, about 20 out of 106 districts described as being Maoist-affected and part of the Red Corridor may soon no longer be part of the list.
•    Dropping of these districts from the list will result in drying of the financial aid given to the districts. The aid was being provided to the tune of 30 crore rupees annually for various developmental work.
•    The red corridor expands in 106 districts of 10 states of the country. The ten states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
•    These districts are described as those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and constitute the Red Corridor.
•    44 districts of these 106 are said to be the worst affected districts. In total India constitutes of 683 districts.

In order to contribute to mission ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ launched by Prime Minister of India, Ministry of Railways have taken up a mammoth task of providing human discharge free bio-toilets in all its coaches and the same would be completed by September 2019. With provision of bio-toilets in all its coaches’ discharge of human waste from trains on to the ground would be completely stopped which in turn would help in improving cleanliness and hygiene. Ministry of Railways has already provided 40,750 bio-toilets in its coaches till 30th June, 2016 and in the current financial year, it is planned to fit additional 30,000 bio-toilets. 

•    To mark the beginning of this journey towards ‘Swachh Bharat’, Ministry of Railways is inaugurating ‘First Green Train Corridor-Rameswaram-Manamadurai’ free from human waste discharge from trains tomorrow i.e. 24.07.2016. The inauguration will be done from Chennai station by Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu through video conferencing between Chennai and Rameswaram station. 
•    The Rameswarm-Manamadurai (114 Kms) track was identified to make it Green Train Corridors- free from human waste discharge from trains. Accordingly, 10 passenger trains consisting of 286 coaches moving over this section have been provided with bio-toilets. 
•    After Rameswarm-Manamadurai, Okha-Kanalas Junction(141 Kms), Porbandar-Wansjaliya (34 Kms) and Jammu-Katra(78 Kms) would also be taken up for making them free from human waste discharge from trains. For this around 35 trains consisting of nearly 1110 coaches would be further provided with bio toilets and the work is underway. These sections and stations were chosen, because the number of trains originating and terminating at these stations and sections are few, thus making it operationally easier and faster to make them human-discharge free. 
•    Indian Railways in its commitment to provide hygienic environment to passengers and to keep station premises/tracks clean, have developed environment-friendly Bio-toilets for its passenger coaches. The technology has been developed jointly by Indian Railways (IR) and Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) for railway passenger coaches through an MoU. This environment friendly, low cost and robust technology, is the first of its kind in Railway Systems in the world. In the bio-toilet fitted coaches, human waste is collected in tanks below the toilets and the same is decomposed by a consortium of bacteria.

BJP Lok Sabha member Ganesh Singh on 22 July 2016 was appointed the new Chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Land Acquisition Bill.
After the appointment, Singh will have to move a resolution in the Lok Sabha seeking the seventh extension of the term of the panel.
•    Ganesh Singh is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India.
•    He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political party.
•    He represents the Satna constituency of Madhya Pradesh.
•    The Bill amends the principal Act passed in 2013.
•    The Bill enables the government to exempt five categories of projects from the requirements of: (i) social impact assessment, (ii) restrictions on acquisition of multi-cropped land, and (iii) consent for private projects and public private partnerships (PPPs) projects.
•    The five categories of projects are defence, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors, and infrastructure.
•    The Act deemed the head of a government department guilty for an offence by the department.  The Bill removes this, and adds the requirement of prior sanction to prosecute a government employee.

Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 25 projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme worth Rs. 2048 Crore so far to 21 States and Union Territories since its launch of in January 2015. These States and UTs include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.
•    For North Eastern States, the Ministry has sanctioned 9 projects worth Rs. 821 Crores covering all the 8 states.
•    For Tribal areas, the Ministry has sanctioned 3 projects for Rs. 282 Crores to the SG of Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
•    For Buddhist Circuit, the Ministry has sanctioned 2 projects worth Rs. 108.11 Crore to the SG of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
•    The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15 with an objective to develop theme based tourist circuits in the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. Under this scheme, 13 Thematic Circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.
•    The aim of the scheme are: 
•    To position tourism as a major engine of economic growth and job creation;
•    To promote India as a global brand and a world class tourist destination;
•    To develop world class infrastructure in varied thematic circuits and pilgrimage sites;
•    To showcase full potential of wide range of unique products;
•    To provide complete tourism experience by enhancing tourist attractions;
•    Responsible Tourism Initiative- active involvement of local communities , pro-poor approach in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 20 July 2016 approved construction of a new dry dock within Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
•    The dock at CSL will be developed at an estimated cost of 1799 crore rupees.
•    The project will augment the shipbuilding/ship repair capacity essentially required for tapping the market potential of building specialized and technologically advanced large vessels.
•    Large vessels include Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vessels, Indigenous Aircraft Carriers of higher capacity, Jack up Rigs, Drill ships, large Dredgers and repairing of offshore platforms and larger vessels.
•    This big sized dry dock is a critical requirement of CSL to promote ship building and is a step in the direction of "Make in India" initiative of the Government.
•    Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is one of the major shipbuilding and maintenance facilities in India. 
•    It is part of a line of maritime-related facilities in the port-city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India.

The NITI Aayog on 19 July 2016 signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Intel India to start the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative as a part of its flagship programme Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).
•    The aim of setting up Atal Tinkering Laboratories is to build relevant skill sets among youngsters and to provide access to technology that will enable solutions. 
•    These laboratories intend to impact 250000 youth with innovation skills & skills for the future across 500 communities & schools. 
•    The initiative will enable the creation of millions of child innovators who will bloom into young entrepreneurs, thus enabling India’s unprecedented growth. 
•    Intel will co-lead the creation and management of ten ATLs as State Hubs. 
•    Intel will support NITI Aayog in building capacities of mentors and developing linkages with Maker ecosystem for quality improvement of projects made by youth, facilitating ideation, design thinking.
•    Intel will co-lead an innovation festival which reaches out to 500000 young innovators.

The Union Cabinet on 20 July 2016 approved The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 to protect transgenders from discrimination.
•    Through this Bill, the Government aims to evolve a mechanism for social, economic and educational empowerment of the transgenders.
•    The Bill will benefit a large number of transgender persons, mitigate the stigma, discrimination and abuse against this marginalized section and bring them into the mainstream of society. 
•    It will lead to greater inclusiveness and will make the transgender persons productive members of the society. 
•    It will make all the stakeholders responsive and accountable for upholding the principles underlying the Bill. 
•    It will bring greater accountability on the part of the Union Government and State Governments for issues concerning Transgender persons.
Transgender community is among one of the most marginalized communities in the country because they don't fit into the stereotypical categories of gender of men or women.