- ICJ orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive
- The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt military operations in Rafah immediately.
- This landmark ruling is likely to increase mounting international pressure on Israel more than seven months into the Gaza War.
- The International Court of Justice also ruled Israel must keep open the key Rafah crossing for unhindered humanitarian aid and urged the unconditional release of hostages.
- The rulings of the court are legally binding but the court has no concrete means to enforce them.
- The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the UN and began work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the UN, it is the only one not located in New York, United States
2. Oil poses risk, farm sector to Firewall
- The finance minister has flagged geopolitical tensions and volatile global commodity prices especially of petroleum products as substantial multifrontal challenges to the economy.
- The ministry also noted that positive indications for the farm sector from a normal monsoon should firewall India against such adverse pressures and also help food prices and retail inflation to ease.
- The retail inflation touched an 11-month low of 4.83 in April and food inflation was 8.7% which was the highest in four months.
- Retail inflation, also known as Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, tracks the change in retail prices of goods and services which households purchase for their daily consumption. CPI is calculated for a fixed basket of goods and services that may or may not be altered by the government from time to time.
3. Cyclone Remal likely to make landfall near Bengal
- The Cyclonic Storm Remal originating in the central Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Saturday.
- A study by the Council of energy environment and water (CEEW) analysing Occurrence of tropical cyclones over the last five decades found that the districts on the eastern coast of India are highly exposed to the impacts of Cyclones.
- The name ‘Remal’ in the list of tropical cyclones is given by Oman. It will be the first cyclone to hit the region this 2024 pre-monsoon season. The Bay of Bengal (BoB) experiences more cyclones than the Arabian Sea (A.S.) by a ratio of about 4:1. However, a 2022 study found that the frequency of cyclones in the A.S. has increased by 52% from 2001–2019, while the Bay of Bengal’s frequency has slightly decreased.
4. India must continue to oppose unregulated tourism in the Antarctica
- Delegates from over 60 countries have convened in Kochi to attend the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting.
- It is in essence, a meeting of the Consultative parties or the 29 countries that have a right to vote on affairs concerning the management of the continent.
- A group of like-minded countries that includes India pressed for a proposal to introduce a regulatory framework governing tourism in the continent.
- The number of tourists rose from 8000 in 1993 to 1,05,000 in 2022. This does not include all the scientific expeditions and the long-term presence of scientific personal at research stations maintained by different countries.
- ATCM is an annual meeting of the original 12 parties to the Antarctic Treaty, and other parties that have shown interest in Antarctica through research. The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 and established Antarctica as a region dedicated to peaceful purposes,
- scientific cooperation, and environmental protection. Over the years, the Treaty has garnered widespread support, with 56 countries currently party to it.
- India has been a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty since 1983.
5. Supreme Court declines to issue order on booth-wise voter data
- The Supreme Court refused to pass an interim order directing the Election Commission to upload authenticated and legible copies showing the account of votes recorded booth wise after each phase of polling in the Lok Sabha election.
- It said that it did not want to divert the attention of the Election Commission in the middle of the election.
- The interim relief was sought by Association for Democratic reforms in its application for publication of voter turnout data in form 17C.
- Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is an apolitical and non-partisan nonprofit Special interest organisation in India, working on electoral and political reforms for over 25 years. It was founded in 1999 by professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).
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- Tiruvananthapuram International Airport is the first airport in India to achieve the Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) accolade.
- 10th World Water Forum was held in Bali, Indonesia under the theme “Water for shared Prosperity”.
