National
India’s first indigenously developed vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; Minister of State (I/C) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh announced India’s first indigenously developed vaccine, “CERVAVAC” for the prevention of cervical cancer.
Key Points:
‘CERVAVAC’ is an outcome of a partnership of DBT and BIRAC with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, supported by Serum Institute of India Private Limited for the indigenous development of quadrivalent vaccine through its partnership programme ‘Grand Challenges India’.
India’s first vaccine against cervical cancer–Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV), has been developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- According to the Serum Institute, the vaccine is likely to cost 200-400 per dose.
Cyber Security Exercise “Synergy”
⇒ Indian Computer Emergency Response Team in collaboration with Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, on 31 August 2022, successfully designed & conducted the Cyber Security Exercise “Synergy” for 13 Countries as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative- Resilience Working Group.
- The Resilience Working Group is being led by India under the leadership of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
- The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), under Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents.
Theme:
The theme of the exercise was “Building Network Resiliency to counter Ransomware Attacks”.
- The exercise scenario was derived from real life cyber incidents, in which a domestic level (limited impact) ransomware incident escalates to a global cyber security crisis.
Key Points:
- Exercise “Synergy” was hosted by CERT-In on its exercise simulation platform.
- Each State participated as a National Crisis Management Team having composition from different government agencies including National CERTs/CSIRTs, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA), Communication & IT/ICT Ministry and Security agencies.
- The specific objective of the exercise was to Assess, Share and Improve strategies and practices among Member-States to build network resiliency against ransomware & cyber extortion attacks.
International
G20 4th Education Working Group Meeting & Education Ministers’ Meeting
⇒ Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the G20 4th Education Working Group Meeting & Education Ministers’ Meeting in Bali from 31 August-1 September 2022.
» Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with HE Victor Godoy, Minister of Education, Brazil, in Bali on 30 August 2022.
Discussion:
- The Ministers had fruitful discussions on deepening the bilateral engagements in education, entrepreneurship, research and innovation.
- They agreed to revive the Joint Working Group engagements in the areas of education and skill development between our two countries.
» Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with HE Dr. Bonginkosi Emmanuel “Blade” NZIMANDE, Minister of Higher Education, Science & Innovation, Republic of South Africa, in Bali, Indonesia, on 31 August 2022.
Discussion:
- The Ministers had fruitful discussions on strengthening the academic & skill development partnerships and bilateral education cooperation.
- The Ministers agreed to develop institutional mechanisms for tie-ups between HEIs & skill institutions, mutual recognition of skill qualifications & capacity building in skill development.
- They also decided to set up a Joint Working Group on Education between two countries to further extend the cooperation that already exists and also to realise the full potential of bilateral cooperation in education.
Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan as a troika co-chair delivered the opening remarks at the G-20 Education Ministers’ Meeting and put forward interventions on the theme ‘Recovery, Re-imagine and Rebuild Stronger.’
- He spoke about the importance of sharing mutual experiences & working together to create a new world in which education remains the nodal point for addressing common challenges.
» On the sidelines of the G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting, Shri Pradhan held a series of bilateral meetings with various ministers, including- Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Education & Foreign Affairs, Singapore, Dr Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education and MoS for Entrepreneurship and SME, the UAE and Dr Hamad MH Al Sheikh, Minister of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Discussions in the bilateral meetings centered around deepening engagements in education and skill development.
Sports
2022 Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship
⇒ The 2022 Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship was held in Riffa, Bahrain from 22 to 29 August, 2022.
- It was the 21st edition of the Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship.
Key Points:
- It was organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA).
- Since 1980, this international volleyball tournament is held biennially.
- The Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship is an international volleyball competition in Asia and Oceania contested by the under 20 men’s national teams of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).
- This tournament served as the qualification tournament for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship.
Winners:
» Iran finished its campaign at the Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship with a gold medal after a 3-1 win against India. It was the 7th title of Iran.
» India won silver at Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship in Bahrain.
» South Korea clinched the bronze medal after thumping Thailand. Thailand, bronze medallists in 2018, finished fourth.
Important Day
World Coconut Day 2022
⇒ World Coconut Day is celebrated every year on 2 September.
The purpose of celebrating Coconut Day is to raise awareness and highlight the importance of coconut and to draw national and international attention to this crop.
24th World Coconut Day:
The Gujarat State Center of Coconut Development Board organized the celebration on 2nd September 2022 to mark the 24th World Coconut Day.
- The main theme of this year was – “Cultivate coconut for a happy life and future”.
History:
- All coconut producing countries of the Asia-Pacific region celebrate World Coconut Day, coinciding with the Foundation Day of the International Coconut Community (ICC). ICC is an intergovernmental organization.
- The day came about following an initiative by the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia.
- The APCC was formed in 1969 in order to support Asian countries to grow, produce, sell and exporting coconuts.
- Some of the members of the APCC include India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Kenya and others.