# Gupkar alliance

• Responding to the invitation from the union home secretary to meet Prime minister Narendra Modi, senior leader of the Gupkar alliance including National conference’s Dr. Farooq abdullah and PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti decided to attend the meeting on June 24 in New Delhi.

• The announcement followed a meeting of People’s alliance of Gupkar declaration (PAGD), chaired by Dr. Abdullah at his residence.

• The PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also called for a dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

# Four theatre commands

• PM Modi is expected to make an announcement on the proposed four theatre commands in near future.

• CDS general Bipin Rawat said that theatrisation process is going on well.

• Several officials had said the IAF has major reservations over the creation of the commands.

# Genetically modified rubber

• A rubber board research farm on the outskirts of Guwahati now sports the world’s first genetically modified(GM) rubber plant tailored for the climatic conditions in the north-east.

• The GM rubber has additional copies of the gene MnSOD, or Manganese containing Superoxide dismutase, inserted in the plant.

• It is expected to tide over the severe cold conditions during winter – a major factor affecting the growth of young rubber plants in the region.

• The plant was developed at the Kerela based rubber research institute of India (RRII).

# Vaccination drive

• Over 53 lakh doses of covid-19 vaccines were administered in India on Tuesday.

• It is only the second instance when the number of doses crossed the 50 lakh mark.

• Between June 1 and 21, 34.6 million doses were administered daily in India on an average.

# China targeting cryptocurrencies

• The price of the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency Bitcoin has more than halved in the last two months after hitting a peak in Mid-April.

• The second most valuable cryptocurrency, Ether has seen a similar fall from its peak last month.

• China has reportedly cracked down on crypto mining operations.

• China has over the years accounted for a large percentage of the total crypto mining activity that takes place.