News in Short

• India defeated South Africa by 113 runs to win the first Test match of the  Test Series at Centurion.
• India became the first Asian team to win a Test match at Centurion and now take a 1-0 lead in the three match series.
• The year 2021 is the second time India has won four Tests outside Asia in a calendar year (Brisbane, Lord's, Oval, Centurion). The previous instance was in 2018 (Johannesburg, Nottingham, Adelaide, Melbourne).

• Senior diplomat Anupam Ray has been appointed as India’s next permanent representative to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
• Mr. Ray, a 1994-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as a joint secretary in the MEA’s headquarters in Delhi.
• Mr. Ray will succeed Pankaj Sharma, who has been appointed as India’s next ambassador to Mexico.

• The Union Home Ministry extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the whole of Nagaland for another six months.
• The Act, which has been in force in the northeast since 1958, gives unbridled powers to the armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces deployed in “disturbed areas”.
• Both the Central and State governments have concurrent powers to issue a notification under Section 3 of the Act.

• Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren announced to provide ?25 per litre in subsidy to all ration card holders in the state if they buy the fuel for their two-wheelers.
• Each family holding a ration card would be entitled for the subsidy up to 10 litres of petrol every month.
• There has been repeated demands in the state to reduce VAT (value-added tax) on petrol and diesel, especially after the Centre reduced excise duty on these fuel.

• The Pakistani government has confirmed the purchase of at least 25 Chinese J-10C fighter jets for the Pakistan Air Force.
• The latest acquisition of weaponry comes almost a month after the cabinet approved an agreement that would pave the way for a USD 3 billion loan from Saudi Arabia.
• China has been using the J-10C multirole fighter aircraft to replace its much older J-7E fighters at the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF’s) brigades.