News in Short

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington for a three-day visit during which he will participate in the first in-person Quad Summit with the US, Australia and Japan.
• He will also have his first bilateral meet with President Joe Biden. Modi will also address the UN General Assembly.
• The PM, visiting the US for the 7th time since assuming office in 2014, would review the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

• The Karnataka High Court upheld the Arms Act exemption granted to every person of Coorg by race, and Jumma tenure landholders in Coorg (Kodagu district).
• A petition was filed before the court challenging a 2019 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) granting such exemption to every person of Coorg by race, and Jumma tenure landholders in Kodagu District under the Indian Arms Act, 1959.
• The Centre had decided to continue the British-era rule of exempting Kodavas and Jamma land holders in the hill district of Kodagu from obtaining licence for firearms such as pistols, revolvers and double-barrelled shotguns. The exemption has been given for 10 years, till 2029.

• The Centre has started the process to revise school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Kasturirangan as the head of a 12-member steering committee responsible for developing a new National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
• Dr. Kasturirangan also chaired the drafting committee for the National Education Policy, 2020 which recommended the development of a new NCF. The steering committee has been given a tenure of three years to complete its task.
• The last such framework was developed in 2005. It is meant to be a guiding document for the development of textbooks, syllabi and teaching practices in schools across the country.

• A menhir, an upright standing stone, has been found at Basrur in Udupi district of Karnataka. The stone has a height of seven feet above the ground level.
• The discovery takes back the antiquity of Basrur to between 1,000 BC and 800 BC, which is the Megalithic period.
• Menhirs are also called pregnancy stones because they resemble a pregnant woman. Basrur is a medieval trading city in coastal Karnataka.

• Ajay Banga, one of the topmost Indian-American corporate leaders, and a strong advocate of India-US relationship, would retire from Mastercard at the end of the year.
• Mastercard Board unanimously elected Merit Janow, currently lead independent director, to serve as non-executive independent chair of the Board of Directors.
• Following a successful decade as CEO, Banga transitioned to the Executive Chairman role at the beginning of this year. Among his responsibilities during the transition were serving as a counselor to the CEO and facilitating a smooth transition of key external relationships.