International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace is observed globally on September 21. The United National General Assembly marks the day by promoting ideals of peace among nations and people by observing non-violence and a ceasefire for 24 hours. This year’s theme is “End racism. Build peace.” The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, by observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.
World Alzheimer’s Day 2022
World Alzheimer’s Day is observed annually on September 21 to raise awareness about neurological disorders. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects the person’s memory, mental ability, and ability to carry out simple tasks.
This year’s theme for World Alzheimer’s Month is ‘Know Dementia, know Alzheimer’s’. It is in continuation with the last year’s campaign which focused on warning signs and diagnosis of dementia and also the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dementia community around the world. However, this year, special emphasis will be laid on post-diagnosis support for dementia.
Gujarati film ‘Chhello Show’ becomes India’s official entry for Oscars 2023
Gujarati film “Chhello Show”, a coming-of-age drama about a young boy’s love affair with cinema in a village in Saurashtra, is India’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards or Oscar awards, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced. Titled “Last Film Show” in English, the Pan Nalin directorial will release in theatres countrywide on October 14. The 95th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place on March 12, 2023, in Los Angeles.
National logistics policy 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 72. To mark the occasion, he welcomed eight cheetahs that had been transported to India from Namibia and unveiled India’s National Logistics Policy 2022.
- The road, rail, customs, aviation, international trade, and commerce ministries are among the seven departments whose 30 distinct systems will be digitally integrated as part of the IDS.
- The shorter cargo movement will be improved.
- ULIP, or the Unified Logistics Interface Platform, will facilitate easy cargo transfer.
- There will be Ease of Logistics (ELOG) present. The policy will be put into place to streamline the regulations and make the logistics industry easier.
- The System Improvement Group (SIG) is tasked with periodically assessing all logistics-related projects and removing any barriers.
- The goal of the policy is to give young people the opportunity to work and develop their talents.
Aim
- The primary areas of this National logistics policy 2022 will be process re-engineering, digitization, and multi-modal transportation.
- It is a key decision since excessive logistical costs affect how competitive domestic products are on the global market.
- The National logistics policy 2022 was deemed necessary because India has higher logistics costs than other industrialised nations.
- India must drastically cut its logistics costs if it wants to increase the competitiveness of its exports and domestic products.
- The goal of lower logistics costs is to increase economy-wide efficiency, allowing for value addition and business.
- The policy lays out an extensive interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, and multijurisdictional framework for the growth of the entire logistics ecosystem in an effort to solve concerns of high cost and inefficiency.
8 IITs to have directors appointed by President Droupadi Murmu
The appointments of Directors of eight Indian Institutes of Technology have been approved by President Droupadi Murmu (IITs).
Seshadri Sekhar, an IIT, Madras professor, has been named the new director of IIT, Palakkad, while Shreepad Karmalkar, another IIT, Madras professor, will take over as the new director of IIT, Bhubaneshwar.
India and Egypt sign MoU to bolster defence cooperation in mutual interest sectors
India and Egypt have signed an MoU to bolster defence cooperation and decided to enhance joint military exercises, training, co-production, and maintenance of equipment. The MoU was signed by Defence Ministry of India Rajnath Singh and General Mohamed Zaki from Egypt at a meeting in Cairo.
About
- The MoU will enhance defence cooperation across all the sectors of mutual interest.
- The ministers of both countries exchanged views on regional security and acknowledged the contribution of their countries to peace and stability.
- The Egyptian counterparts were also invited to the India-Africa Defence Dialogue and Indian Ocean Region Defence Ministers’ conclave to be held as part of the 12th DefExpo in Gandhinagar.
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh acknowledged Egypt as it is among the most important trading partners of India in Africa and that the bilateral trade has expanded.
- Egypt is among the several countries that have shown interest in acquiring arms produced by India, including the Akash Missile System capable of intercepting hostile aircraft, helicopters, drones, and subsonic cruise missiles at a range of 25 km.
Bihar govt is set to introduce ‘no-bag day’ in schools
The Bihar government is set to introduce a “no-bag day” rule in schools and a mandatory games period at least once a week to reduce the burden on students. The weekly ”no-bag day” will have task-based practical classes.
- School authorities must prepare a curriculum for such activities. This step will certainly bring positive changes among students, which will also improve their learning ability. Encouraged by the impressive performance of our students in regional, national and international sporting events, we will introduce a mandatory games period in schools.
- The initiative is in line with the National Education Policy 2020 and will be implemented in both state-run and private schools. The government will accordingly prepare them for the state, national and international sporting events.
Indian Army activates internet service on Siachen Glacier
The Indian Army has achieved a remarkable achievement, activating satellite-based Internet service on the Siachen Glacier, which is the world’s highest battlefield. On the same day, the domestic defence industry was invited to offer critical equipment for emergency procurement in consonance with its commitment to ‘fight future wars with Indigenous solutions’.
Siachen Glacier is very important for the Indian Army as it is a place of concern and a constant target of attacks from both enemy countries, which is China and Pakistan.
Indian Army and BBNL
- The Indian Army has collaborated with Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), which is a fully government-owned broadband infrastructure provider company. BBNL helps in providing internet services to the soldiers.
- BBNL is working on Bharat Net scheme which aims to provide internet connectivity using satellites to rural remote areas including 7000-gram panchayats. More than 4000 of these gram panchayats have already connected to the internet with BBNL.
- The internet is wireless internet, beamed down from satellites orbiting the earth.
- A few private companies are providing different satellite-based Internet services to the Indian Army in sensitive places in border areas like Eastern Ladakh.
SAFF Women’s Championship 2022
Bangladesh won a historic victory at the SAFF Women’s Championship to lift the maiden title at the Dashrath Rangshala Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bangladesh skipper Sabina Khatun, who was the top scorer of the tournament netting eight goals in five games, dedicated the trophy to the people of Bangladesh.
Goalkeeper Rupna Chakma from Bangladesh was named the best goalkeeper.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar addresses the Leeds-2022 conference
The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually addressed the Leeds-2022 conference organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.
- The agricultural export of India crossed Rs 4 lakh crore mark.
- Shri Tomar said that with the world population projected to be around 900 crores by the year 2050 and the demand for food will increase rapidly.
- This will increase in demand for agricultural land, grazing land for livestock and fertilizers, and genetically modified crops.
- In the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agriculture has expanded significantly in the country.
- India has emerged as the second largest food producer in the world and has the highest cropping density in the world.
- Shri Tomar said that the government is continuously working for the growth of small farmers to make India Self-reliant and internationally competitive.
Maharashtra to establish an institution similar to NITI Aayog
The state’s deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, revealed in a meeting that the Maharashtra government intends to create an organisation along the lines of Niti Aayog.
- The Chief Minister of Maharashtra met with representatives from NITI Aayog to discuss a number of issues, including asset monetisation and blockchain in agriculture.
- The discussion covered topics in the meeting are alternative fuels, electric automobiles, drone healthcare, and agribusiness among others.
- According to Devendra Fadnavis, the NITI Aayog has also conducted a thorough investigation into connection issues and created a technology that allows for the analysis of interrelated data from many departments in order to improve decision-making.
- Devendra Fadnavis used the circumstance where the first department has information on a disease outbreak and another department has information on contaminated water as an example. He said that if the two departments shared data, things would be much simpler.
