Queen Elizabeth II
👉 Queen Elizabeth II’s reign of 70 years and seven months is the longest of any British monarch.
👉 She holds the record for the most countries visited by an individual monarch. She visited more than 120 countries on six continents. Canada is the country she traveled to more than any other country outside the United Kingdom.
👉 She may have been the queen, but she paid taxes too — at least since 1992.
👉 She was educated at home alongside her only sibling Princess Margaret who was born in 1930. They were taught lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music. Read more

PM-SHRI Yojana

👉 PM Narendra Modi recently announced that 14,500 schools across the country will be developed and upgraded under the PM-Shri scheme.
👉 The PM-SHRI schools will have a modern, transformational and holistic method of imparting education.
👉 They will be equipped with modern infra, including labs, smart classrooms, libraries, sports equipment etc.
👉 They will also be developed as green schools with water conservation and waste recycling provision.
👉 These are centrally sponsored schools. Read more

UNESCO Network of Learning Cities

👉 Recently, three cities in India have joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. These include two cities Thrissur and Nilambur in Kerala and Warangal in Telangana.
👉 This time, Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, South African city Durban and UAE city Sharjah have been included in this list of UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. Read more

Qimingxing-50 - China’s first fully solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

👉 This drone is a large machine powered entirely by solar panels.
👉 It has a wingspan of 164-ft.
👉 The high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV can stay airborne for long durations.
👉 It is also known as "Morning Star-50."
👉 This drone flies above 20-km altitude where there is stable airflow with no clouds.
👉 This helps these drones to make maximum use of solar equipment to stay functional for extended durations. Read more

Today's FREE Current Affairs PDF 👆

Job opportunities for the Transgender Persons

👉 The Supreme Court told the Centre to formulate a policy for giving employment to the third gender under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 within three months.
👉 The SC gave the order while hearing a petition of denial of job opportunity to a transgender by Air India.
👉 The Transgender Persons Act mandated that no person or establishment should discriminate against a transgender person in matters of employment, including recruitment or promotion or in any other related areas. Read more

Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP)

👉 BNP is located in Kendrapara district in Odisha.
👉 It is the second-largest mangrove forest in the country after the Sundarbans.
👉 The number of newborn saltwater crocodiles in BNP reached a record 3,700 this year during the nesting period.
👉 The area has been designated as the second Ramsar site in the State after Chilika Lake.
👉 It is surrounded by Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary. Read more

Gogra-Hotsprings area

👉 Patrolling points (PPs) are the areas where the Indian Army has been given to have access to patrol under its control.
👉 Barring certain areas, like Depsang Plains, these patrolling points are on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and troops access these points to assert their control over the territory.
👉 PP15 and PP17A are two of the 65 patrolling points in Ladakh along the LAC.
👉 PP15 is located in an area known as the Hot Springs, while PP17A is near an area called the Gogra post. Read more

Today's FREE Current Affairs PDF

Trees outside forests (TOF) Initiative

👉 TOF Initiative was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
👉 Its aim is to expand tree coverage outside of traditional forests by 28 lakh hectares.
👉 Generally, TOF is defined as “All trees growing outside recorded forest areas irrespective of the size of the patch”. Read More

Izium, Ukraine

👉 Izuim had fallen to the Russians on April 1 and has been recaptured over six months later.
👉 Izium is considered the gateway to the Donbas region. Donbas region is a Russian-speaking area whose complete capture has been Russia’s key war aim since the beginning of the conflict.
👉 It is considered a passage to the Black Sea, and thus referred to as the Izium passage by the Russians. Read more

Gayaji Dam - Country’s largest rubber dam

👉 Gayaji Dam is made of 17 mm thick rubber. This dam is 400 meters wide and 3 meters high. It will hold water up to three meters.
👉 After the construction of the dam, its water will be stored for about two and a half kilometres.
👉 It is bulletproof and experts claim that it will not deteriorate for 100 years.
👉 This rubber dam, built at a cost of about 312 crores, will keep water throughout the year in the Falgu river. Read more

Today's Current Affairs PDF by UPSC World

Reintroduction of Cheetahs at Kuno National Park

👉 The first batch of cheetahs is currently being brought from Namibia to be introduced into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
👉 Cheetahs would be released and monitored within 500 hectares of land that would be enclosed by an electrical fence.
👉 In about 15 years after the introduction, the cheetah population in India is expected to rise to a maximum of 21. Read more