Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in the First I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) Leaders’ Virtual Summit on Thursday along with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the US President Joe Biden.

Leaders of India, Israel, UAE, and the US have said that the inaugural I2U2 Summit focussed on the food security crisis and clean energy. In a Joint Statement, I2U2 leaders said, innovative ways were discussed to ensure longer-term, more diversified food production and food delivery systems that can better manage global food shocks.

The UAE has announced to invest two billion dollars to develop a series of Integrated Food Parks across India. These parks will incorporate state-of-the-art climate-smart technologies to reduce food waste and spoilage, conserve fresh water and employ renewable energy sources. India will provide appropriate land for the project and will facilitate farmers’ integration into the food parks. US and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximize crop yields and help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East.

A two-day meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation got underway in New Delhi today. The meeting is based on the agreement made during the meeting of the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs held at Bangkok in March 2019 that the BIMSTEC Expert Group will formulate an Action plan to deal with Cyber Security challenges in the BIMSTEC region. The in-person meeting is being chaired by the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Rajesh Pant and will witness the participation of delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. All the delegates are experts in Cyber Security.
 
India, as a lead Country for Security Sector in BIMSTEC forum, has taken the initiative to organize this meeting on Cyber Security Cooperation and develop a Plan of Action on Cyber Security. The BIMSTEC Member States are being represented by the senior officials of their government organisations that deal with cyber security and incident response.

Phase one of Common University Entrance Test Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2022 will begin today in nearly 500 cities across India and 10 cities outside the country. Under Phase one, CUET UG Exam is scheduled to be conducted on 15th, 16th, 19th, and 20th July 2022.
 
National Testing Agency (NTA) highlighted that all examination centres are under surveillance of CCTV and equipped with Jammers to conduct fair exams. It said, masks will be provided to candidates at the Centre and their personal masks will be disposed of.
Nearly fourteen lakh 90 thousand candidates have registered for CUET UG 2022, out of which eight lakh 10 thousand have been allotted Phase one and six lakh 80 thousand have been taken in  second phase of the CUET-UG 2022 exam. The second Phase of CUET-UG exams will be conducted from 4th to 10th of next month.

The Govt. of Bangladesh has decided to appoint Md. Mustafizur Rahman, as the next High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India. He will be replacing Muhammad Imran in this capacity, said a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued on Wednesday.

Md. Mustafizur Rahman is currently serving as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and the Ambassador to Switzerland. 

Ambassador Rahman is a career foreign service officer belonging to the 11th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre. In his distinguished diplomatic career, he has served in various capacities in Bangladesh Missions in Paris, New York, Geneva and Kolkata. He has also served as the Bangladesh High Commissioner to Singapore. At the Headquarters, he occupied various positions primarily in the United Nations Wing.

Indian scientists have developed a new class of synthetic peptides that can not only block the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells but also clump the virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect the living cell.

This novel mechanism provides an alternative to make viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive, promising a new class of peptides as antivirals. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in collaboration with researchers from the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology have exploited this approach to design these peptides. 

Burn and Plastic Surgery Department of AIIMS, Delhi in collaboration with Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (APSI), will organize 'APSI Sushruta Film Festival' (ASFF 2022) to observe 12th National Plastic Surgery Day on 15th of this month.

Department Head of Burn and Plastic Surgery Dr. Professor Maneesh Singhal said that this film festival is on the theme of Changing lives with Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He highlighted that the film festival is envisioned to promote the best works done by plastic surgeons across the country.

Professor Singhal said that the best films based on plastic surgery will be shown during the festival. He said, the festival will help in changing the public perception of plastic surgery and its various domains.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will release India Rankings 2022 under National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) on the 15th of this month. The Education Ministry said the annual exercise outlines a methodology to rank Higher Education Institutions across the country in various categories and subject domains.

The parameters broadly cover teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practice, graduation outcome, outreach and inclusivity, and perception. In last year ranking, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras had topped in the overall category in National Institutional Ranking Framework. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru got the second spot and the Indian Institute of Bombay was at third place.

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala will launch Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund, AHIDF projects and felicitate 75 entrepreneurs at the AHIDF conclave being organized in New Delhi on Thursday. Ministers of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and Dr. L. Murugan will address the event. As part of the celebrations of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the Ministry is organizing AHIDF conclave.

The purpose of this conclave is to provide a platform for Knowledge Sharing, launch of AHIDF operational guidelines 2.0, revamped AHIDF online portal, Credit Guarantee Online Portal, inauguration of five major plants setup with the support of AHIDF scheme, facilitation of Entrepreneurs or lenders and Networking between all stakeholders and upcoming entrepreneurs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the First I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA) Leaders’ Virtual Summit on Thursday along with Prime Minister of Israel Yair Lapid, President of the UAE Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and President of the USA Joseph R. Biden.

The Leaders will discuss the possible joint projects within the framework of I2U2 as well as the other common areas of mutual interest to strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in the respective regions and beyond. These projects can serve as a model for economic cooperation and offer opportunities for businesspersons and workers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled the national emblem that has been placed atop the new Parliament building in a special ceremony also attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Housing Minister Hardeep Puri.

The ceremony, however, triggered a political row with opposition parties accusing the Prime Minister of making it a personal event and questioning the Constitutional propriety of the PM unveiling the emblem atop the Parliament building. Hitting back, the BJP said the allegations of the opposition parties are politically motivated.