News in Short

• Tamil Nadu has made clear to the Supreme Court that it does not want the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) to be set up in a sensitive ecological zone in the Western Ghats.
• The State said the project would be a source of distress to the shy tigers and cause “enormous” irreversible damage to the already bogged down Western Ghats.
• The project in questions falls exactly on the hill slopes of this part of the Western Ghats, which align within it a significant tiger corridor.

• The Netherlands’ Prime Minister offered a full apology to Indonesia after a historical review found the Dutch had used “excessive violence” in a vain attempt to regain control of their former colony after World War II.
• On 17 August 1945, two days after Japan’s surrender brought an end to the second world war, the Indonesian revolutionaries Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declared independence.
• The government in The Hague rejected the move and between the independence declaration and the withdrawal of Dutch forces on 27 December 1949 an estimated 100,000 Indonesians were killed.

• The government notified the green hydrogen and ammonia policy in which it offers ammonia manufacturers to purchase renewable power from the power exchange.
• The policy grants open access or permission to power plants to procure electricity within 15 days. It also allows ammonia manufacturers to conserve their unconsumed renewable power for up to 30 .
• Production of these fuels by using power from renewable energy, termed as green hydrogen and green ammonia, is one of the major requirements towards environmentally sustainable energy security of the nation.

• France announced that it will no longer have troops in Mali by the summer amid tensions with the country’s ruling military junta, although Paris intends to maintain a military presence in neighboring West African nations.
• President Emmanuel Macron accused Mali’s authorities of neglecting the fight against Islamic extremists and said it was logical for France to withdraw.
• Tensions have grown between Mali, its African neighbors and the EU, especially after the West African country’s transitional government allowed Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to deploy on its territory.

• Former India footballer SurajitSengupta passed away in Kolkata after battling with Covid for 24 days. He was 70.
• The winger was part of the East Bengal squad that won the IFA Shield in 1975, hammering Mohun Bagan 5-0. He began his career with Mohun Bagan in 1973 before playing for Mohammedan Sporting and East Bengal.
• Sengupta was also part of India national football team which won a bronze in the Asian Games in 1970.