Karnataka

1. Ease of Living index – Bengaluru ranked 58

• Bengaluru has been assigned an overall rank of 58 among 111 cities assessed across the country. Pune, Navi Mumbai, Greater Mumbai, Tirupati, and Chandigarh are in the top five slots. In the top 50 overall ranking, only one city in the State — Mangaluru — has found place; it is ranked 41st.
• The ease of living framework comprises four “pillars” — Institutional, Social, Economic, and Physical — which are further broken down into 15 categories and 78 indicators.
• The city has scored poorly in various categories, such as health (109th), safety and security (107th), power supply (95th), reducing pollution (91th), housing and inclusiveness (87th), and identity culture (75th).

General

1. Pollution & Life expectancy of Indians

• Delhi might be paying the steepest price for its air pollution with life expectancy dropping by 6.4 years while Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are likely to account for the highest number of premature deaths in India, a study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has revealed.

2. Coral reef survival chance during global warming

• The micro-algae, commonly called zooxanthellae, lives inside the cells of corals, allowing them to acquire energy from sunlight and to build the massive, economically valuable reef formations upon which countless marine organisms rely for habitat.
• Corals on Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016
• When corals bleach from a heatwave, they can either survive and regain their colour slowly as the temperature drops, or they can die

3. India rejected UK proposal on DNA tests for illegal migrants

• India has rejected a proposal of the United Kingdom to use DNA sampling to establish the nationality of illegal migrants living there, citing “privacy issues”.
• Although a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on return of illegal migrants was initialled, after the due approval of the Union Cabinet in January, by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju while leading a delegation to the U.K the same month, India refused to sign the final pact during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to England in April.
• As per the original MoU, security agencies in India were to verify the antecedents of illegal migrants without documents in the U.K. within 72 days and those with documents within 15 days. If no report was given within the stipulated time frame, the illegal migrant would be deported automatically.
• The agreement was put on indefinite hold after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval conveyed that the 15-day limit was unworkable.
• In one of the meetings, the U.K. authorities suggested that the nationality of document-less illegal migrants suspected to be Indians could be established by matching DNA samples of their family members living here.
• India raised objections, saying this was a breach of privacy and unethical.
• According to the British government’s estimates, there are around 1,00,000 Indians overstaying their visa in the U.K.
• India has contested this, saying that as per their estimate, the number will not be more than 2,000.