1 PM Modi addressed the ‘Summit of the Future’
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi addressed the ‘
Summit of the Future ‘ on the night of 23 September . It was organized at
the United Nations, New York . The theme of this summit was ‘
Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow ‘. A large number of world leaders participated in the ‘Summit of the Future’. The purpose of this summit is
to save the future of the earth from the upcoming dangers . Issues like global peace, sustainable development, climate change, human rights and gender are being discussed in the summit. In 2021, UN Chief
Antonio Guterres had demanded a meeting to be called, in which these challenges could be discussed. This summit is being held with a delay of 3 years. In fact,
in 2015, the UN, recognizing the dangers of the world, had set 17 goals in front of the world leaders . Almost 10 years are about to be completed, out of which only
17% goals have been achieved .
Between 1970 and 2021, more than 2 million people have died in
11,778 disasters due to climate change . The UN wants to stop these at all costs. Antonio Guterres believes that if the world does not take any action now, it will be too late to save the earth. That is why the Summit of the Future was held in the UN on 22 and 23 September.
2 Finance Minister Sitharaman to attend AIIB Annual Meeting in Uzbekistan
Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman is on an official visit to Uzbekistan from 24 to 28 September 2024. During this, she will attend the 9th Annual Meeting of
the Board of Governors of
the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on 25 and 26 September. Apart from this, she will also hold important bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Uzbekistan, Qatar, China and the AIIB President . The Union Finance Minister will participate in the Annual Meeting of AIIB as the Indian Governor of AIIB. India is the second largest shareholder of this bank. The meeting will discuss important global issues related to the development agenda. During the visit, the Finance Minister is expected to meet Uzbekistan President Shaukat Mirziyoyev. During this, the Finance Minister will sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BET) between India and Uzbekistan. The Union Minister will also participate in the discussion of the India-Uzbekistan Business Forum which will be jointly organized and will also be represented by the heads of industry of both the countries. Apart from this, Sitharaman will also visit Samarkand State University and Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial in Tashkent. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank aimed at improving socio-economic outcomes in Asia. It was established through a multilateral agreement called ‘AIIB Articles of Agreement’ (effective from December 25, 2015). It had 57 founding members. Its headquarters is in Beijing,
the capital of China and its operations started in January 2016.
3 Pune airport will be renamed as ‘Jagadguru Santshrestha Tukaram Maharaj Pune International Airport’
The Maharashtra government on Monday, September 23 approved the proposal to rename
the Pune airport . The airport will now be called
Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj Pune International Airport . Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier recommended the renaming of Pune airport. The proposal was approved in a cabinet meeting chaired by
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday. Sant Tukaram was a great saint and poet of the seventeenth century . He was a major pillar of the long-running
Bhakti movement in India. Tukaram was born in a village called Dehu in Pune district . He was also known as ‘
Tukoba ‘. Tukaram was preached the ‘
Ramakrishna Hari ‘ mantra in a dream by a saint named Chaitanya. He was an ardent devotee of
Vitthal i.e. Vishnu .
4 Indian Railways and Wabtec joint venture’s Marhaura plant will start exporting Evolution series locomotives to Africa from 2025
Wabtec Locomotives Pvt Ltd , a joint venture of
Indian Railways and
Wabtec , is expanding the capacity of its plant to
export locomotives (engines) to
Africa . For the first time, the plant will manufacture locomotives for export to a global customer. The plant will supply
Evolution Series ES43ACmi locomotives to global customers. The ES43ACmi is a locomotive with a 4,500 HP Evolution Series engine , which offers the best fuel efficiency and performance in high-temperature environments.
The Marhowa plant will start exporting these locomotives
in 2025. Spread over 70 acres in
Marhowa, Bihar
, the Marhowa plant was set up in 2018 to indigenously manufacture 1,000 state-of-the-art locomotives for the Indian Railways. The plant employs around 600 people and is delivering 100 locomotives annually to the Indian Railways.
5 India becomes member of International Big Cat Alliance
Recently, India has officially
joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) which was launched
in the year 2023 to protect big cats and their habitats. Although India launched the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) as a global body , it will still have to ratify it by
signing its framework agreement as it has done with other international agreements and institutions such as the Paris Agreement, Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) is
a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of 96 big cat range countries and non-range countries that aims to
conserve the 7 big cats and their habitats . The idea was first
proposed by the Prime Minister of India in the year 2019 and was officially launched
in April 2023 on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger .
6 Gingee Fort nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site
Recently,
Gingee Fort in
Villupuram district of
Tamil Nadu has been nominated for
UNESCO ‘s
World Heritage Site list as part of the ‘
Maratha Military Landscape ‘, which includes
11 other forts . Gingee Fort is famous for its historical significance and strategic location atop three hills:
Rajagiri, Krishnagiri and Chandragiri . It is also called the ”
East of Troy ” as it is one of the most impregnable forts in peninsular India . Its strategic location and strong defences, which included a 60-foot wide rampart and an 80-foot wide moat, made it important during
the Carnatic Wars between
the French and the British . The fort was originally built by Ananta Kon of
the Konar dynasty in 1200 AD and was named
Krishnagiri . The Vijayanagara Empire rebuilt the fort. The fort was captured by Chatrapati Shivaji in 1677 and remained under the control of the Marathas until 1698, when it came under the Mughals. The fort became the last stronghold of the Marathas (Rajaram I, son of Shivaji) during their war against the Mughal army. After being ruled for some time by Raja Desingh (Tej Singh), it was taken over by the Nawabs of Arcot in 1714 and remained under their control till 1749. From 1750 to 1770, the fort was occupied by the French, after which it finally came under the control of the British.
7 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi signs a MoU with Intuitive
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Intuitive, a technology company, to set up
a new training centre for robotic surgery . The Da Vinci Robotic Surgery Training Centre at AIIMS will help surgeons and care teams to perform robotic surgery in urology, gynaecology, general surgery and other specialties.
8 National People’s Power MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya sworn in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
National People’s Power MP
Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has taken oath as
the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka . President Anura Kumara Dissanayake administered the oath to her at the Presidential Secretariat. A day before this, Mr. Dissanayake himself had taken oath as the President. Dr. Amarasuriya has become the third woman Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake
dissolved the Parliament of Sri Lanka . A notification related to this was issued that
elections will be held on 14 November this year. Nominations will be received between 4 and 11 October next month.
9 Shankh Air is ready to fly, got approval from Civil Aviation Ministry
Another airline of the country has got approval from
the Ministry of Civil Aviation for operations. The name of this airline is
Shankh Air . This will be the first aviation company of
Uttar Pradesh , which will have its hub in
Lucknow and Noida . However, before officially starting flights, it will need approval from
the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) . According to the approval letter of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the company has been directed to follow the relevant provisions as per the rules of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and capital market regulator SEBI etc. The No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to it for operations will be valid for three years.
10 Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth pair won the Hangzhou Open title in China
The pair of
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and
Vijay Sundar Prashanth have won
the Hangzhou Open title in
China . In the final, the Indian pair defeated Germany’s Konstantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 4-6, 7-6, 10-7. But, the pair of
Yuki Bhambri and France’s Albano Olivetti lost in the final of the Chengdu Open . This pair was defeated by France’s Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 4-6, 6-4, 4-10.
