1. NATIONAL MISSION ON CULTURAL MAPPING (NMCM)
The National Mission on Cultural Mapping (NMCM) has now been handed over to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), which is gearing up for a trial run in 75 villages in October 2021.
About:
- The Culture Ministry had approved the mission in 2017 with a ₹469 crore budget from 2017-18 to 2019-20, according to the administrative approval for the project. However, the project had been slow to take off.
- Culture Ministry was working on the cultural mapping mission to build a comprehensive database of artists, art forms and other resources from organisations under the Ministry.
- So far 14.53 lakh artists/artisans have been registered on NMCM portal through secondary sources State/Union Territory-wise. However, no direct benefit or assistance has been extended through this Mission to the registered artists/institution.
- The work on creating a database for folk arts and mapping of heritage of villages would be carried out over five years.
- Volunteers from the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghathan, the National Service Scheme and students of sociology and social work would be deputed to collect such data from villages, he said.
- While the entire project would take five years and a budget of ₹89 crore had been approved for it, the IGNCA would aim to complete mapping in 5,000 villages by the end of financial year 2021-2022.
Source : The Hindu
2. CYCLONE GULAB
The Odisha government sounded a warning for the cyclonic storm Gulab, which is expected to cross the coast between its southern districts and north Andhra Pradesh with wind speeds of 75-85 kmph on Sunday evening.
About:
- The India Meteorological Department informed the National Crisis Management Committee that the cyclone was likely to hit Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh, and Ganjam and Gajapati districts of Odisha.
- The deep depression over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal moved nearly westwards with a speed of seven kmph in last 6 hours, intensified into Cyclonic Storm ‘Gulab’ (pronounced as Gul-Aab) and lay centered over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal.
Source : The Hindu
3. SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS AND PARAMEDICAL WORKERS
The Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called for addressing the shortage of trained human resources in the health sector on a war footing.
About:
- Noting the low doctor to population ratio at 1:1,511 in India against the WHO norm of 1:1,000, he stressed the need for creating more medical colleges in line with the government’s intention of setting up one medical college and hospital in every district of the country.
- Referring to the paucity of paramedical staff in the country, Shri Naidu called for improving the nurse to population ratio (1:670 in India, compared to the WHO norm of 1:300) in a mission mode.
- He referred to the 15th Finance Commission recommendations, which said that states should increase spending on health to more than 8% of their respective budgets by 2022 and the public health expenditure of the Centre and States together should be increased in a progressive manner to reach 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025.
- Referring to the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission for allocating more than Rs.13,000 crore to train allied health workers, he said it is expected to create an additional 15 lakh workforce.
Source : PIB
4. SAUBHAGYA
SAUBHAGYA completes FOUR years of successful implementation.
About:
- SAUBHAGYA is one of the largest household electrification drives in the world.
- Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - Saubhagya was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th September 2017.
- It is implemented by Ministry of Power.
- The objective of the scheme was achieving Universal Household Electrification in the country, through last mile connectivity and providing access to electricity to all un-electrified households in rural areas and poor households in urban areas.
- The journey started with Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) which envisaged the creation of basic electricity infrastructure in villages.
- The focus of the scheme was on strengthening & augmentation the existing infrastructure and metering of existing feeders/distribution transformers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural areas.
- 82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA. These figures are till March 31st of this year.
Source : PIB
5. USB TYPE-C
The European Commission has proposed a plan to harmonise charging ports and fast charging technology for electronic devices — something that could force original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to adopt a single technology for most of their devices.
About:
- The executive arm of the European Union (EU) has proposed that USB Type-C will be the common port, and this move is expected to hit iPhone maker Apple the most given that it uses its proprietary Lightening connector for iPhones and most iPads.
- The proposal, however, only covers wired chargers and excludes wireless charging from its ambit, meaning that only if a device uses a cable to be charged will it need to have a USB-C port. In case the device is only to be charged wirelessly, there is no compulsion to have a USB-C port in the device.
- USB-C (formally known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical connector.
Source : Indian Express
6. GLOBAL CITIZEN LIVE
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered a video address at ‘Global Citizen Live’.
About:
- Global Citizen Live is a 24-hour global event starting on September 25 to unite the world to defend the planet and defeat poverty.
- Hailing from 6 continents, the broadcast will feature artists, celebrities and world leaders coming together to create change and impact climate and poverty.
- The event will feature performances from all over the world, including: Lagos, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, and Sydney.
- Additional locations and event-specific details will be announced in the weeks ahead, in accordance with local health and safety restrictions.
- Global Citizen Live is part of Global Citizen’s 2021 global campaign, a Recovery Plan for the World. The Recovery Plan focuses on five key objectives: ending COVID-19 for all, ending the hunger crisis, resuming learning for all, protecting the planet, and advancing equity for all.
Source : PIB
7. U.S.-INDIA JOINT LEADERS’ STATEMENT
President Joseph R. Biden welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for their first in-person Leaders’ engagement, renewing their close relationship.
About:
- The Leaders hailed the finalization of the overarching Memorandum of Understanding on Health and Biomedical Sciences to bolster cooperation on key areas affecting global health, including pandemic preparedness and biomedical research, to reduce the risk of future pandemics.
- Prime Minister Modi welcomed President Biden’s initiative to convene the Global COVID-19 Summit on Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better to Prepare for the Next, given our shared commitment to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Through the two main tracks of the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) and the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD) under the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, the United States and India will accelerate clean energy development and deployment of critical technologies to advance a clean energy transition.
- India welcomed the United States joining the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT).
- The Leaders resolved that the Taliban must abide by UNSC Resolution 2593 (2021), which demands that Afghan territory must never again be used to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists.
- The Leaders looked forward to reconvening the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum before the end of 2021, to enhance the bilateral trade relationship by addressing trade concerns.
- The Leaders looked forward to reviving the High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) in early 2022, with the objective of accelerating high technology commerce in key areas.
- The Leaders looked forward to the finalization of a Space Situational Awareness Memorandum of Understanding that will help in sharing of data and services towards ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities by the end of the year.
Source : PIB
8. KAMLA BHASIN
Feminist icon, poet, author and a pioneer of the women’s rights movement in South Asia, Kamla Bhasin, died in Delhi due to liver cancer. She was 75.
About:
- Bhasin's work, that began in 1970, focused on gender, education, human development and the media.
- She was best known for her work with Sangat - A Feminist Network and for her poem Kyunki main ladki hoon, mujhe padhna hai.
- She resigned from her job at the U.N. in 2002, to work with Sangat, of which she was a founder member and adviser.
- She was also the South Asia coordinator of One Billion Rising.
- The founder of women’s organisation Jagori, her energies were initially focussed on smashing the patriarchy responsible for the dismal state of women.
Source : The Hindu
9. QUAD
On September 24, President Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House for the first-ever in-person Leaders’ Summit of the Quad.
Key highlights:
- Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group: A senior Quad infrastructure coordination group will meet regularly to share assessments of regional infrastructure needs and coordinate respective approaches to deliver transparent, high-standards infrastructure.
- Climate: To address the climate crisis with the urgency it demands, Quad countries will focus their efforts on the themes of climate ambition, including working on 2030 targets for national emissions and renewable energy, clean-energy innovation and deployment.
- Clean-Hydrogen Partnership: The Quad will announce a clean-hydrogen partnership to strengthen and reduce costs across all elements of the clean-hydrogen value chain, leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral hydrogen initiatives in other fora.
- Enhance Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Preparedness: The Quad countries will convene a Climate & Information Services Task Force and build a new technical facility through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure that will provide technical assistance in small island developing states.
- Quad Fellowship: The Quad will launch the Quad Fellowship which will sponsor 100 students per year—25 from each Quad country—to pursue masters and doctoral degrees at leading STEM graduate universities in the United States.
- Publish a Quad Statement of Principles: After months of collaboration, the Quad will launch a statement of principles on technology design, development, governance, and use that we hope will guide not only the region but the world towards responsible, open, high-standards innovation.
- Establish Technical Standards Contact Groups: The Quad will establish contact groups on Advanced Communications and Artificial Intelligence focusing on standards-development activities as well as foundational pre-standardization research.
Source : PIB
10. PURATCHI THALAIVAR DR. M.G. RAMACHANDRAN CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed happiness over the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station for being Fully Powered by Solar Energy.
About:
- Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, commonly known as the Chennai Central, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- It is the busiest railway station in South India and one of the most important hubs in the country.
- To honour the AIADMK founder and the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran, it was renamed as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station on 5 April 2019.
Source : PIB