National
India Leads-2021 Summit
⇒ Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the India Leads-2021 Summit on “Future of India-Oceania Space Technology Partnerships” on 15 September.
Organized by:
The India Leads-2021 Summit was organized by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry).
Addressing the India Leads-2021 Summit, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said:
- India is fast emerging as World Space Hub for cost-effective launch of satellites.
- India has earned worldwide recognition for launching lunar probes, building satellites, ferrying foreign satellites up and has even succeeded reaching Mars with Mangalyaan being there continuously for a number of years.
- India is all set to become the hub for the small satellite launch market, which is estimated to be valued at around $38 billion by 2027.
- He highlighted some of the key achievements of Indian Space industry such as:
- India’s first space observatory, ASTROSAT four years in space and has more than 900 registered users from 24 countries.
- A major milestone in 2017 with a successful record-setting launch of 104 satellites on a single rocket.
- India’s most powerful launch vehicle, GSLV-MK III capable of launching 4 tons of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) was successfully launched in July, 2019.
- India has to its credit – 109 spacecraft missions, 77 launch missions, 10 student satellites, 2 Re-entry missions and 319 foreign satellites.
LEADS (Leadership, Excellence, Adaptability, Diversity, Sustainability) 2021 was held in New Delhi from September 14-15, 2021.
Participants & discussions:
The second edition of LEADS: “Future of Partnerships”, brought together global leaders from Asia, Europe, Africa, CIS, Americas & the Pacific.
They deliberated on how the tenets of Leadership, economic Excellence, and Adaptability to change, can be built on pillars of Diversity and Sustainability.
Swachhata Hi Seva 2021
⇒ The Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti organised Swachhata Hi Seva 2021 from 15th September 2021 to 2nd October 2021 across India.
The Inaugural ceremony of Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS), 2021 was held on 15th September, 2021 at NEDFi Convention Centre in Guwahati. The event was organized as a part of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebration.
Aim:
Swachhata Hi Seva, an initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission, aims to generate greater public participation reinforcing the concept of sanitation as everyone’s business.
This year, the aim of SHS was to encourage people to understand the importance of a clean environment and inculcate the practice of a systematic management of solid and liquid waste.
Discovery of New Species of Hybodont Shark From Jurassics of Jaisalmer
⇒ In a rare discovery, teeth of new species of hybodont shark of Jurassic age have been reported for the first time from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan by a team of officers from the Geological Survey of India, Western Region, Jaipur.
The newly discovered crushing teeth from Jaisalmer represent a new species named by the research team as Strophodusjaisalmerensis.
The genus Strophodus has been identified for the first time from the Indian subcontinent and is only the third such record from Asia, the other two being from Japan and Thailand.
Published:
This finding has been published in Historical Biology, a Journal of Palaeontology of International repute, in its August, 2021, 4th issue.
The new species has recently been included in the Shark references.com, an international platform operating in association with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Species Survival Commission (SSC), and Germany.
International
9th EAS-EMM (East Asia Summit-Economic Ministers’ Meeting)
⇒ The 9th EAS-EMM (East Asia Summit-Economic Ministers’ Meeting) was held on 15 September 2021.
Participants:
ASEAN Member States (AMS), Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States met virtually for the Ninth East Asia Summit (EAS) Economic Ministers’ Meeting.
Chair of ASEAN:
The Meeting was chaired by Mr Dato Dr Amin Liew Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Brunei Darussalam.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Smt Anupriya Patel attended 9th EAS-EMM.
Addressing the meeting, the Minister said:
- World Trade Organisation (WTO) had observed that the strong monetary and fiscal policies introduced by many governments in response to pandemic helped to sustain the global demand and trade. Considering the encouraging trend, WTO had also revised its projection for global trade volume growth in 2021 to 8% compared to the 7% earlier.
- India willing to collaborate with East Asian partners in the production of generic drugs and medical technologies used for treatment of COVID-19 patients, as also in the area of vaccines production.
- India looks forward to an early outcome on the TRIPS Waiver proposal for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
- India endorses the concept of working towards ensuring transparent, trustworthy, dependable & reliable supply chain. India is a part of the “Supply Chain Resilience Initiative” launched in September, 2020, as a firm step towards building resilient supply chains in the region.
Highlights of Joint Media Statement of the 9th EAS-EMM:
- The Meeting acknowledged with great concern the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that contributed to the downturn in the global economy; and underscored the essential role of trade and investment in tackling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and in enabling a strong economic recovery for all our people.
- The Meeting noted that the full-fledged post-pandemic recovery as well as restoration of economic growth are inextricably linked with achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- The Meeting underscored the important role of a rules-based multilateral trading system in catalysing the region’s economic growth and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Meeting commended Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) for its significant contribution, through the studies and research activities that support regional economic issues.
Important Day
Engineers' Day
⇒ Engineers’ Day is celebrated every year on 15 September in India.
About Engineer’s Day:
In 1968, the Indian government declared Sir M Visvesvaraya’s birth anniversary as Engineers’ Day.
About M Visvesvaraya:
In 1903, Sir M Visvesvaraya designed and patented automatic barrier water floodgates. Also called Block System, it had automated doors that close in the event of water overflow. It was first installed at the Khadakvasla reservoir in Pune.
The government of India awarded Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya with the highest possible civilian honour – Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his outstanding contributions to industrial, economic, and social projects.
World Engineering Day:
World Engineering Day is celebrated worldwide on 4th March of each year since 2020.
Theme:
The theme of World Engineering Day 2021 (WED2021) was “Engineering for A Healthy Planet- Celebrating the UNESCO Engineering Report”.
About World Engineering Day:
The World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development was proclaimed by UNESCO at its 40th General Conference in 2019.