TITBITS:
1. The Border Security Force
(BSF) issued a high alert across all its formations along the 4,096-km
India-Bangladesh border and increased its troop strength in the area.
2. Between 70-85 per cent of currently employed youth
in rural areas desire to change their jobs, the 'State of Rural Youth
Employment Report 2024' has found. The report also indicated that agriculture
and self-employment, traditionally key sources of rural labour absorption, are
no longer seen as aspirational career paths by many young people in rural
India.
3. Marking the fifth Anniversary of the reading down
of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and
Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the step as a "watershed
moment in the nation's history" that started "a new era of
progress" in the Union Territory.
4. States can directly purchase rice from the Food
Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) from
1st August without participating in e-auction. The decision was taken to reduce
the huge surplus stocks ahead of the procurement after this Kharif season.
5. The World Craft Council’s (WCC) has included
Srinagar in the World Craft Cities list. Jaipur, Mamallapuram, and Mysore are
the other World Craft Cities in India.
6. Recent research published in Science reveals an
unprecedented retreat of glaciers in the Andes, surprising scientists who
thought these changes would take decades to become apparent. This rapid glacier
decline signals troubling climatic changes that could impact global
environments.