17TH SEPTEMBER
Contents
AUSTRALIA, UK & US TO FORM NEW PARTNERSHIP
UNION MINISTER NITIN GADKARI LAUNCHED ‘IRASTE’
NITI AAYOG LAUNCHED SHOONYA CAMPAIGN
PART OF BANGLADESH COULD BE SUBMERGED BY 2050
NMDC AWARDED WITH ‘RAJBHASHA KEERTHI PURASKAR’
UNSC HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ON N. KOREA
WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY: 17TH SEPTEMBER
AUSTRALIA, UK & US TO FORM NEW PARTNERSHIP
- A week before a meeting of Quad leaders in Washington DC, the Biden administration, on September 15, announced a new trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific, between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. (AUKUS).
- As part of this, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines with help from the U.K. and the U.S.
- The trilateral grouping was formally announced by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who joined U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House via video-link.
- About the AUKUS: The first project of AUKUS will be to help Australia acquire a nuclear-powered conventionally-armed submarine fleet.
- The three heads of state reaffirmed their intention to continue to work with their allies and groupings in tandem with AUKUS, with the Quad being mentioned by Morrison and Biden.
- AUKUS will also involve a new architecture of meetings and engagements between the three countries, as well as cooperation across emerging technologies (applied AI, quantum technologies and undersea capabilities).
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
UNION MINISTER NITIN GADKARI LAUNCHED ‘IRASTE’
- The government will make airbags compulsory for all cars, Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday as he launched iRASTE — a two-year pilot project aimed to enhance road safety in Nagpur and reduce fatality.
- A collaborative initiative developed by Intel India, IIIT Hyderabad, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Mahindra & Mahindra and Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), iRASTE — an acronym for Intelligent Solutions for Road Safety through Technology and Engineering –leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve the desired goal.
- The project has been launched on a pilot basis in Nagpur, Maharashtra with the aim of reducing accidents by 50 per cent in the city.
- The main focus of the project will focus on vehicle safety, mobility analysis and road infrastructure safety to move towards a ‘Vision Zero’ accident scenario.
(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)
NITI AAYOG LAUNCHED SHOONYA CAMPAIGN
- NITI Aayog, RMI, and RMI India Launch ‘Shoonya’ Campaign. It is an initiative to promote zero-pollution shipping vehicles by working with customers and industry.
- The marketing campaign aims to speed up the adoption of electric powered automobiles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment and create customer attention about the advantages of zero-pollution delivery.
- Industry stakeholders such as e-commerce companies, fleet aggregators, unique gear manufacturers (OEMs) and logistics corporations have been scaling up their efforts towards final-mile shipping electrification.
- As part of the campaign, a corporate branding and certification programme is being launched to realise and promote industry’s efforts toward transitioning to EVs for final-mile deliveries.
- An online tracking platform will share the campaign’s impact through facts such as car kilometres electrified, carbon savings, criteria pollutant savings and other advantages from easy delivery vehicles.
(SOURCE: HINDUSTAN TIMES)
PART OF BANGLADESH COULD BE SUBMERGED BY 2050
- 17 percent of Bangladesh could be submerged by the rising sea level by 2050, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet quoted a report of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
- Quoting the WEF report, 20 million people in Bangladesh will be deprived of their homes by 2050 due to the rising sea levels. At least 1.2 billion people could be displaced due to rising sea levels by 2050.
- Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar are other countries that could face damaging disaster displacements due to high tides that could affect more than 48 million people by 2050.
- As per the WEF report, Bangladesh has the 3rd largest number of more than 4 million people who got displaced from their homes during disasters in 2019.
- Other countries that witnessed disaster displacement in 2019 include India, China, and Philippines.
(SOURCE: JAGRAN JOSH)
NMDC AWARDED WITH ‘RAJBHASHA KEERTHI PURASKAR’
- The highest and the most prestigious ‘Rajbhasha Keerthi Puraskar’ award was given to National Mineral Development Ltd. (NMDC) under the Ministry of Steel during the Rajbhasha Diwas Samaroh in New Delhi.
- NMDC got the 3rd prize in the category of Undertakings situated in the ‘C’ region during 2019-20.
- NMDC has been winning the Rajbhasha Keerthi Puraskar award for the past three years in a row. The award is presented to recognize the efforts towards the implementation of Hindi as the official language.
- Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant was also presented with the Rajbhasha Keerthi Puraskar (first prize) for the effective implementation of Hindi as the official language during 2020-21.
- Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the Hindi Diwas Samaroh. Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai presented the awards during the National Hindi Day celebrations in New Delhi on September 14, 2021.
(SOURCE: THE HINDU)
UNSC HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ON N. KOREA
- The UN Security Council (UNSC) will hold an emergency meeting regarding the recent ballistic missile launches.
- North and South Korea launched ballistic missiles within hours of each other. The UN resolutions ban North Korea from conducting any tests of ballistic missiles.
- North Korea launched a successful test-fire of a new type of long-range cruise missile in the East Sea on September 12.
- South Korea tested its first submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) hours later after North Korea fired ballistic missiles.
(SOURCE: THE WEEK)
WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY: 17TH SEPTEMBER
- World Patient Safety Day is observed on September 17 to create a global awareness for patient safety and urge people to show their commitment to making healthcare safer.
- The Day brings together patients, families, caregivers, communities, health workers, health care leaders and policy-makers to show their commitment to patient safety.
- The theme for 2021 WPSD is ‘Safe maternal and newborn care’.
- History of the day: World Patient Safety Day – established by the World Health Assembly in 2019 through resolution WHA72.6 on “Global action on patient safety” is observed annually on 17 September. It was adopted at the 72nd World Health Assembly on 25 May 2019.
(SOURCE: FIRSTPOST)
