According to the New World Bank country classifications by income level 2020-2021, India remains in the classification, Lower-Middle-Income Economy. In total 218 countries have been included in this classification.The World Bank classifies countries into four income groups namely: low income , lower-middle income, upper-middle income, and high-income economies.
The classifications are updated each year on July 1 and are based on Gross National Income(GNI) per capita in current USD (using the Atlas method exchange rates) of the previous year.
Low-income economies: GNI per capita, between USD 1,035 or less in 2019
Lower Middle-income economies: GNI per capita between USD 1,036 and USD 4,045
Upper middle-income economies:GNI per capita between USD 4,046 and USD 12,535
High-income economies:GNI per capita of USD 12,536 or more
Portland Protests: Mayor Demands Federal Troops Leave City
The mayor of Portland in Oregon renewed his call for federal troops to leave the US city, accusing them of abusive tactics against protesters.
There have been nightly protests against police brutality in the city since the killing of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
The federal government has said it is trying to restore order in Portland.
Mayor Wheeler said that there were "dozens if not hundreds of federal troops" in the city, added that their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism.
His comments echoed those of Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who described the presence of federal troops in the city as "purely political theatre" from the Donald Trump administration.
India Revives Initiative to Conclude Preferential Trade Agreement with S. African Customs Union
Discussions between Southern African Customs Union (SACU) (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini) and India to achieve a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) were revived with the two sides holding a virtual meeting last week to discuss various aspects of the PTA.
The Indian side was led by Srikar Reddy, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce while SACU was led by Amb. Steve Katjiuanjo, Executive Director, Ministry of Industrialisation,Trade and SME Development of Namibia.
Reddy underlined India's historically close ties with Southern Africa and its steadfast commitment to deepen economic engagement with this region. He informed that in 2019-20, trade between India and Africa as a whole stood at $ 66.7 billion, of which the India-SACU trade was $ 10.9 billion with an immense potential to expand further.
Amb Katjiuanjo called India as a strategic partner for SACU. Trade is currently in SACU's favour, thus showing that the region is benefiting from access to the vast Indian market.
The International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT) launched an automotive technology e-portal, Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education (ASPIRE). The key objective of this portal is to enhance the technological capability of Indian automotive sector through exchange of knowledge and expertise.
It was launched to facilitate the initiative of the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI), Govt. of India to promote, R&D and product development in India for various sectors.
In Regard to this, 5 other portals are being developed for specific sectors by different organisations namely:
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for power sector equipment, HMT (formerly Hindustan Machine Tools Limited) for machine tools, CMFTI for manufacturing technology, ICAT and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for the automotive sector.
UAE Launches 'Hope' Mission to Mars
The United Arab Emirates launched its first-ever interplanetary 'Hope' probe mission to Mars from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet`s atmosphere. Once it enters Mars` orbit in the first quarter of 2021, the Hope probe will mark the UAE`s 50th anniversary.
The Hope probe will be the first to study the Martian climate throughout daily and seasonal cycles.
The newly enacted Consumer Protection Act comes to force from 20th July, replacing more than three decades old Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
The new Consumer Protection Act 2019 seeks to revamp the process of administration and settlement of consumer disputes, with strict penalties, including jail term for adulteration and misleading ads by firms.
The bill, among other things, proposes setting up of a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class. The CCPA would make interventions to prevent consumer detriment arising from unfair trade practices. The agency can also initiate class action, including enforcing recall, refund and return of products.
OP Dhankar BJP's Haryana Unit President
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President J. P. Nadda appointed Om Prakash Dhankar as the head of party Haryana unit. Dhankar's appointment is with immediate effect.
By appointing Dhankar, the BJP has continued with a Jat face, the most dominant caste in the state. The appointment is also seen as an attempt to balance the caste equations in the state, where politics revolves around Jats and non-Jats. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is also a non-Jat.
The Indian Air Force could deploy its new Rafale fighter jets in the Ladakh sector as part of an overarching plan to strengthen India's military posture in the region, where Indian and Chinese forces are locked in a tense border confrontation, and disengagement has turned out to be a challenging process, ahead of a key IAF commanders' meeting this week.
Acting on a special request by the IAF, France is speeding up the deliveries of Rafale fighters and six jets are likely to land in Ambala on July 27 — instead of four that were originally planned. "Air and ground crews have undergone full training, over the last one year in France.
Indian Navy Conducts Naval Exercises in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Indian Navy conducted major Naval exercise in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands led by Sanjay Vatsayan, Chief Rear Admiral of Eastern naval fleet as a display of strategic intents against China amid the current military conflicts in the Northeastern borders in Ladakh.
The exercise was conducted with warships and aircrafts from the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), is India's only theatre command with all the assets and manpower of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.
The International Chess Day is celebrated annually on July 20, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924.
The idea to celebrate this day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO, and it has been celebrated as such since 1966, after it was established by FIDE. FIDE, which has 181 chess federations as its members, organises chess events and competitions around the world on this day. As recently as 2013, the International Chess Day was celebrated in 178 countries, according to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. On December 12, 2019, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution recognising the day.
Narendra Singh Tomar Declares the 2019 ICAR Awards
Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare inaugurated the Virtual celebration of the 92nd Foundation day of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and declared the 2019 ICAR Awards.
Books on Calves of Cloned Buffaloes, Technological Products, Diagnostic Kits, ICAR Publication and Rajbhasha Magazines were released during the virtual event.
Around 161 awards under 20 categories were presented during the virtual event.
The National Academy of Agriculture Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad, received 4 awards in different categories
Under the Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering category, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for outstanding Research in Agricultural Sciences and Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Director, NAARM received the awards in the virtual ceremony.
Dr. Bharat Shankar Sontakki, Head, Extension Systems Management Division, NAARM received the Swamy Sahajananda Saraswati Outstanding Extension Scientist Award.
Under the Cash Awards Scheme 2019 Administrative Category, N. Vijayalakshmi received the award.
Under the Cash Awards Scheme 2019 Support Staff Category, S. N. Rasool received the award.
Andhra Pradesh Announces Renewable Energy Export Policy 2020
The Government of Andhra Pradesh announced the Andhra Pradesh Renewable Energy Export Policy 2020, which permits the sale of power to the other states of India. The policy will be in force for the five years.
The policy aims to utilise the unused potential and to attract private investments to boost the economy and to generate additional revenue to the government.
The Export policy of 2020 facilitates the establishment of solar, wind and solar-wind hybrid projects of capacity up to 120 Giga Watts(GW) and renewable energy equipment manufacturing facilities in the state.
The power generated from these projects will be exported to other states.
Colleges Win Immigration Battle but Fear for US Reputation as Education Destination
Even with a fresh victory on behalf of international students, U.S. universities fear they're losing a broader fight over the nation's reputation as a place that embraces and fosters the world's best scholars.
University leaders see it as a steady erosion. They say the Trump administration's repeated attempts to curb immigration have sent students a message that they aren't welcome in the United States. Colleges say foreign students are listening: Since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the number of new international students coming to the U.S. has fallen by 10% after years of growth.
Already, there's concern that the coronavirus pandemic and a slowdown of visa processing could prevent thousands of students from returning this fall. Foreign students now face even more uncertainty after seeing how quickly policies can change, and on nothing more than a political whim, said Kim Wilcox, chancellor of the University of California, Riverside.
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