NewsBytes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with Namibia's highest civilian award, the 'Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis'. The award was presented by Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Addressing a gathering after being conferred with the honour, PM Modi said, "Namibia's Welwitschia, after which this award is named, is not an ordinary plant. It is like an elder in the household, one who has witnessed the passage of time. It symbolises Namibia's struggle, courage, and culture. "It stands as a witness to the unbreakable friendship between India and Namibia. I feel proud to be associated with it. I dedicate this award to the people of India and Namibia, who continue to progress together, and to the friendship between our two nations."          India and Namibia have stood by each other since the time of their independence, he said. PM Modi is the first Indian leader to be given this award, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.

The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear the challenge against Election Commission of India's decision for a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The updated cause list shows a bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi has over 10 related matters listed for hearing on July 10. On Wednesday, it agreed to hear a fresh plea of two social activists, Arshad Ajmal and Rupesh Kumar,  challenging the decision of the poll panel to undertake extensive revision of electoral rolls in the state. The activists have said the exercise undermines the principles of free and fair elections and representative democracy, both integral features of the Constitution's basic structure by introducing arbitrary, unreasonable and disproportionate documentation requirements related to birth, residence and citizenship.

A new study has projected that for every fractional increase in global warming, the duration of heatwaves could extend by a greater amount than previously observed. This suggests that as the planet continues to warm, heatwaves will last longer at an accelerating rate. The longest heatwaves will see the greatest acceleration in extending in duration, and the frequency of the most extreme heat waves will increase the most, the study found. Climate change has been consistently linked to hotter, longer, more intense and frequent heatwaves. However, the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, found a "non-linear" increase in heatwave duration concerning an increase in warming by a fraction of a degree. The research team from the US and Chile analysed historical and projected temperatures using publicly available climate models and those from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Britain's former prime minister Rishi Sunak has rejoined the banking world as he took charge of a new role as Senior Adviser at the Goldman Sachs Group, with plans to donate his earnings to the education charity he recently set up with his wife Akshata Murty. The US-headquartered multinational investment bank where Sunak worked prior to entering politics made the announcement on Tuesday after the requisite 12-month period lapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial office term concluded, following a defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.  The UK Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which is required to sign off on jobs taken on by former ministers for at least two years after they leave office, gave its nod with a series of conditions “to mitigate the potential risks to the government” over the access of privileged information Sunak would have as a former PM. It also noted that the salary from his new job would go towards the Richmond Project, a charity announced earlier this year as a joint initiative with Murty focussed on improving the mathematics and numeracy skills among children and young people in England.