10th BRICS Summit:
- The 10th BRICS Parliamentary Conference was held on July 11 and 12 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh participated in the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Meeting.
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who chaired the Indian Parliamentary Committee in this conference, addressed that sustainable development also includes environmental protection.
- The five new members of BRICS are: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- BRICS is an international association of five developing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as its member states.
Privatization of Public Sector Banks: Amendment Bill
- The central government has decided to pass the amendment bill to carry out reforms in the banking sector in order to privatize the public sector banks.
- The budget session of Parliament will be held from July 22 to August 12.
- The budget will be presented on July 23.
- The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition, Change of Management) Act, 1970 are being amended.
- These amendments are necessary for the privatization of public sector banks.
- This will reduce the central government’s stake in the privatized public sector bank to 51 percent.
- Privatization is being done with a view to improving bank governance and safeguarding investors’ money.
- The amendment bill to privatize public sector insurance companies has already been passed in 2021.
- In the year 2020, the central government merged 10 public sector banks and converted them into 4 banks.
- This reduced the number of public sector bodies in the country from 27 to 12.
India’s population to peak at 170 crores by 2060: UN report
- India’s population is projected to peak at 1.7 billion in the early 2060s and decline by 12 percent thereafter.
- According to a UN report, India will become the most populous country in the world throughout this century.
- India is said to be the most populous country in the world.
- China’s current population of 141 crores will decrease to 121 crore by 2054.
- China is currently the second most populous country in the world.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections:
- Elections were held for 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
- Of India’s 28 states, 6 states have legislative assemblies, namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
- The Upper House of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was abolished by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Bill of 1986.
- It received the assent of the President of India on 30 August 1986.
- The Act came into force on November 1, 1986 and dissolved the Legislative Council.
Sustainable Development Goal Index: Tamil Nadu ranks 2nd
- Tamil Nadu has been ranked 2nd in NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for the year 2023-24.
- NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index assesses the progress of states and union territories in social, economic and environmental aspects.
- In this case, India has scored an overall score of 71 in the NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for the year 2023-24.
- India has improved by scoring 66 points on the index for 2020-21.
- India’s score on the current index has increased due to significant progress in poverty alleviation, decent work and economic growth.
- As far as states are concerned, Kerala and Uttarakhand have topped the Sustainable Development Goals Index.
- Tamil Nadu is second and Goa is third.
- As far as Union Territories are concerned in this index, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Delhi are in the top 5 positions.
June 25 – Constitution Day:
- Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in India on June 25, 1975.
- The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has announced that 25th June will be observed as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ every year as Constitution Day.
Important Facts:
- The president of Swadeshi Parliamentary Association is Dhulia Aksan.
- A street in the United Arab Emirates is named after Indian-origin physician George Mathew (Kerala) in honour of his contribution to the country’s medical field.
- A conference of foreign ministers of ‘BIMSTEC’ member countries was held in Delhi.
- BIMSTEC Member States – The seven South and Southeast Asian countries bordering the Bay of Bengal are India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
- A decision was made to convert Sathangadu lake on Manali road into a bird sanctuary.
- The central government has approved the bifurcation of the Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGETCO), whereby ‘TANGETCO’ will operate as ‘Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation’ as one unit and ‘Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation’ as another unit.
- Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist Party leader KP Chamoli becomes the new Prime Minister.
- The world’s biggest sporting event, the Olympic Games, is set to begin later this month in Paris, the capital of France.