11TH SEPTEMBER
Contents
PM NARENDRA MODI CHAIRED 13TH BRICS SUMMIT
VIJAY RUPANI RESIGNED AS GUJARAT CM
CHINA’S EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE ‘GAOFEN-5’
WORLD’S LARGEST PLANT TO CAPTURE Co2 FROM AIR
ADB USD 300 MN LOAN FOR RURAL ECONOMY IN MAHARASHTRA
ADB USD 112 MN LOAN FOR WATER SUPPLY IN JHARKHAND
NMCG ORGANISED HIMALAYAN DIWAS ON SEPTEMBER 9
PM NARENDRA MODI CHAIRED 13TH BRICS SUMMIT
- Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has chaired the 13th BRICS Summit, through video conferencing.
- The theme of the India-led Summit was “BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus.”
- The theme chosen by India reflects the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, being observed in 2021. PM Modi called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’.
- The Summit concluded with the adoption of the ‘New Delhi Declaration’. This was the third time that India hosted the BRICS Summit.
- Prior to this India held the Presidency of the BRICS in 2012 and 2016. Also, this is the second time that Prime Minister Modi has chaired the BRICS Summit. He had previously chaired the Goa Summit in 2016.
- Apart from this, as the President of BRICS in 2021, India has highlighted four priority areas for this year’s BRICS Summit, which were:
- reform of the multilateral system,
- counter-terrorism cooperation,
- using digital and technological tools to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),
- enhancing people-to-people exchanges
- All BRICS Leaders took part virtually in the Summit, including Brazil President-Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping of China, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
- BRICS is an association of five major emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
(SOURCE: THE PRINT)
VIJAY RUPANI RESIGNED AS GUJARAT CM
- Vijay Rupani has resigned as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. He submitted his resignation to governor Acharya Devvrat.
- The resignation comes following a flurry of developments in Gujarat following a meeting in Gandhinagar.
- He reached the Raj Bhavan shortly after PM Modi inaugurated Sardardham Bhavan in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad and performed ‘bhoomi pujan’ of Sardardham Phase-II Kanya Chhatralaya (girls’ hostel) through video conferencing.
- Mr Rupani is the fourth BJP chief minister to step down in recent months; in July BS Yediyurappa resigned as Chief Minister of Karnataka in July and the double whammy in Uttarakhand, where Tirath Singh Rawat quit barely four months after replacing Trivendra Rawat.
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
CHINA’S EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE ‘GAOFEN-5’
- China successfully launched a new Earth observation satellite, Gaofen-5 02, into space, aboard a Long March-4C rocket, from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in north China’s Shanxi Province.
- The Gaofen-5 02 satellite is the 24th in the series of Gaofen Earth-observation satellites of China, to monitor environmental protection efforts and boost its natural resources surveillance.
- About the Gaofen-5 02: Gaofen-5 02 is a hyperspectral satellite that will be used for comprehensive environmental monitoring, to improve the country’s hyperspectral observation capacity of the atmosphere, water and land.
(SOURCE: LIVE MINT)
WORLD’S LARGEST PLANT TO CAPTURE Co2 FROM AIR
- The world’s largest plant designed to capture carbon dioxide out of the air began its operations in Iceland.
- The plant is named Orca, which means ‘Energy’ in Icelandic word. It will suck out up to 4,000 tons of CO2 per year.
- About the plant: The carbon dioxide captured directly from the air will be deposited underground at a depth of 1,000 metres, where it would be turned into rock.
- The facility has been developed by Icelandic carbon storage firm Carbfix, in partnership with Swiss start-up Climeworks AG, which specialises in capturing carbon dioxide directly from the air.
- The technology launched may become a major tool in the fight against climate change.
(SOURCE: MONEY CONTROL)
ADB USD 300 MN LOAN FOR RURAL ECONOMY IN MAHARASHTRA
- The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a USD 300 million loan as additional financing to scale up the improvement of rural connectivity to help boost the rural economy in the state of Maharashtra.
- This is in addition to USD 200 million financings, approved by ADB in August 2019.
- The additional financing for the ongoing Maharashtra Rural Connectivity Improvement Project will help improve an additional 1,100 rural roads and 230 bridges for a total length of 2,900 kilometres (km) in 34 districts.
- The ongoing project with $200 million financings, approved in August 2019, is already improving and maintaining the condition and safety of 2,100 km of rural roads across Maharashtra.
- Maharashtra Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
- Maharashtra CM: Uddhav Thackeray.
(SOURCE: FINANCIAL EXPRESS)
ADB USD 112 MN LOAN FOR WATER SUPPLY IN JHARKHAND
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a USD 112 million loan to develop water supply infrastructure and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery in four towns in the state of Jharkhand.
- This is the first project of ADB in the state of Jharkhand.
- The project will be ADB’s first urban project in the state and help establish a model for continuous water supply combined with policy reforms for the sustainable operation which can be replicated by other low-income states for providing safe drinking water to urban households as envisaged under national Jal Jeevan Mission.
- President of ADB: Masatsugu Asakawa.
- Headquarters: Manila, Philippines.
(SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES)
NMCG ORGANISED HIMALAYAN DIWAS ON SEPTEMBER 9
- The National Mission for Clean Ganga organized Himalayan Diwas on September 09, 2021, in association with Naula Foundation.
- This year’s theme is ‘Contribution of Himalayas and our responsibilities’. The event was part of the ongoing celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
- Himalaya Diwas is celebrated every year on 9th September in the state of Uttarakhand. It is celebrated with the aim to conserve the Himalayan ecosystem and region.
- It was officially declared as Himalaya Day in 2015 by the then Chief Minister.
- Uttarakhand Founded: 9 November 2000.
- Uttarakhand Governor: Lt Gen Gurmit Singh.
- Uttarakhand Chief Minister: Pushkar Singh Dhami.
- Uttarakhand Capitals: Dehradun (Winter), Gairsain (Summer).
(SOURCE: FIRSTPOST)