NATIONAL
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Jaishankar to travel for ASEAN and Quad meetings this week
- Amid the ongoing budget session, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be busy with a flurry of bilateral and multilateral meetings this week, including some with his counterparts from U.S., U.K., Japan, Australia, China and Russia shortly after hosting the U.K. Foreign Secretary in Delhi, Mr. Jaishankar will travel to Vientiane on as Laos hosts the annual outreach meetings of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from July 25 to 27, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced.
- In Vientiane, the External Affairs Minister will attend ASEAN-India meet, as well as the East Asia Summit (EAS), which will include Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
- He will also attend ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), with more than 25 countries, including south Asian countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and hold a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines.
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Union Budget 2024-25
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a solution will be evolved with respect to the New Pension Scheme (NPS) that will address relevant issues and ensure fiscal prudence.
- Last year, the finance ministry had set up a committee under Finance Secretary T V Somanathan to review the pension scheme for government employees and suggest any changes, if needed, in the light of the existing framework and structure of the National Pension System.
INTERNATIONAL
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Slovakia gets first two US-made F-16 fighter jets
- Slovakia has received its first two US-made F-16 fighter jets, which the government said would "significantly" boost the NATO and EU member's defence capabilities.
- Bratislava will ultimately get a total of 14 jets according to the deal worth some 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion), its largest-ever military purchase.The aircraft are to replace the former communist country's ageing fleet of Soviet-designed, Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets.Last year, Slovakia donated its grounded MiG warplanes to Ukraine, becoming the second NATO member -- following Poland -- to pledge the aircraft.
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Air forces in Indo Pacific unite to counter Chinese threat
- Once, China was invited to large multilateral military exercises, with RIMPAC in Hawaii being an obvious example. However, China's belligerent approach to regional territorial disputes has seen it banished from Western-led military exercises.
- Nonetheless, China is "contributing" to such exercises in other ways, primarily by encouraging concerned nations to get together and train, so as to present a united front against Chinese aggressive behaviour.This is being demonstrated in an air force exercise currently ongoing in Australia. Exercise Pitch Black 2024, held from July 12 to August 2, is the largest-ever exercise in the 43-year history of the exercise series.
- A total of 140+ aircraft and 4,435 personnel from 20 countries descended upon Australia, primarily at air bases in its Top End. The unprecedented scale of the exercise speaks of mounting alarm over Chinese intentions in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
SPORTS
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Principal Sponsor of Indian Olympic Association
- The Indian Olympic Association named Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) as its official sponsor for four years, starting with the Paris Olympics till the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
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Palermo clay court tennis tournament
- Zheng Qinwen, the top-seeded player from China, emerged victorious in the Palermo clay-court tournament.
