National
Udhampur Railway Station was named as Martyr Capt. Tushar Mahajan Railway Station
⇒ Union Minister of State (I/C) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh unveiled the naming of Udhampur Railway Station as Martyr Capt. Tushar Mahajan (MCTM) Railway Station on 16 September 2023.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Nation is eternally indebted to the supreme sacrifices made by brave hearts like Martyr Capt. Tushar Mahajan who lay down their lives to give this nation the safe environs to live.
» Martyr Capt. Tushar Mahajan received Shaurya Chakra (posthumous) for sacrificing his life in a counter-terrorism operation.
Swachhata Pakhwada - Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2023 Campaign
⇒ The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the pan-India Swachhata Pakhwada – Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2023 campaign virtually from Jaipur, Rajasthan on 15 September 2023.
- The campaign was launched in line with the vision of ‘Swachh Bharat’ or Clean India, as envisioned by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, whose clarion call for Swachhata has rallied the entire nation towards this noble cause.
- The campaign was launched jointly along with Union Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, Shri Giriraj Singh and the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri through a virtual program.
Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2023:
As a run up to Swachh Bharat Diwas, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Dept of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti organized the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’, in collaboration with other Ministries, to celebrate 9 years of Swachh Bharat Mission.
- ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ 2023 was organized fortnight 15th September to 2nd October, 2023.
- Swachh Bharat Diwas is the day when the nation celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi i.e. October 2.
Theme:
The backbone of the Mission has been jan andolan for swachhata. The theme for SHS 2023 was “Garbage Free India”.
- The fortnight’s activities promoted cleanliness, with a focus on mobilizing citizen action through ‘sharamdaan’ and strengthening commitment towards building a ‘Garbage Free India’, which was the theme of the campaign.
Key Points:
- Both SBM-Grameen and SBM-Urban partnered with key Ministries and Departments to amplify participation and community mobilization in SHS 2023 themed Garbage Free India.
- SHS-2023 focused on achieving visibly higher order of cleanliness across local bodies through the spirit of voluntarism and shramdaan, as well as on the welfare of SafaiMitras.
- It was a massive community mobilization drive for cleaning up of legacy waste and activities for solid waste management.
- As part of this annual campaign, States organised activities with the objectives of (i) ensuring community mobilization and participation, a “jan andolan” towards Open Defecation Free (ODF)Plus villages (ii) reinforcing the concept of “Sanitation as everyone’s business” and (iii) commemorating Swachh Bharat Diwas at the village level.
» The Union Minister also launched a special SHS Portal for monitoring and documentation of the on ground SHS activities.
- For the first time, the actual man hours of ‘shramdaan’ were calculated on the portal, while capturing the number of activities and number of people participating in the activities.
» The fortnight of celebrations culminated on 2nd October with Swachhata Diwas.
» The second edition of the Indian Swachhata League was also launched.
- ISL 2.0 mobilized youth groups at scale to take sustained ownership for swachhata this fortnight. The swachhata league acted as a catalyst for youth action under Swachh Bharat Mission.
- More than 4,000 city teams won the battle against garbage on the 17th of September through youth-led citizen teams.
International
20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS)
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Jakarta, Indonesia on 06-07 September 2023 at the invitation of Mr. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia.
» Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 7 September 2023.
- The 20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit was hosted by Indonesia as current Chair of ASEAN.
20th ASEAN-India Summit:
» The ASEAN-India Summit was the first Summit since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. The Summit reviewed the progress of India-ASEAN relations and charted the future direction of co-operation.
» At the ASEAN-India Summit, Prime Minister held extensive discussions with ASEAN partners on further strengthening of ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and charting its future course.
- Prime Minister reaffirmed ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the synergies between India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean’s Initiative (IPOI) and ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
- He also emphasized the need to complete the review of ASEAN-India FTA (AITIGA) in a time bound manner.
» Prime Minister presented a 12-point proposal for strengthening India – ASEAN cooperation covering connectivity, digital transformation, trade and economic engagement, addressing contemporary challenges, people-to-people contacts and deepening strategic engagement, as follows:
- Establishing multi-modal connectivity and economic corridor that links South-East Asia-India-West Asia-Europe
- Offered to share India’s Digital Public Infrastructure Stack with ASEAN partners
- Announced ASEAN-India fund for Digital Future focusing on cooperation in digital transformation and financial connectivity
- Announced renewal of support to Economic and Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) to act as knowledge partner for enhancing our engagement.
- Called for collectively raising issues being faced by Global South in multilateral fora
- Invited ASEAN countries to join Global Centre for Traditional Medicine being established by WHO in India
- Called for working together on Mission LiFE
- Offered to share India’s experience in providing affordable and quality medicines to people through Jan-Aushadhi Kendras
- Called for collective fight against terrorism, terror financing and cyber-disinformation
- Invited ASEAN countries to join Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
- Called for cooperation in disaster management
- Called for enhanced cooperation on maritime safety, security and domain awareness
» Two Joint Statements, one on Maritime Cooperation, and the other on Food Security were adopted.
» In addition to India and ASEAN Leaders, Timor-Leste participated in the Summit as Observor.
18th East Asia Summit:
» The 18th East Asia Summit provided an opportunity for Leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance.
» At the 18th East Asia Summit, Prime Minister reiterated the importance of EAS mechanism and reaffirmed our support to further strengthening it. Prime Minister underlined India’s support for ASEAN centrality and called for ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
- Prime Minister highlighted synergies of visions for Indo-Pacific between India and ASEAN, and underscored that ASEAN is the focal point of Quad’s vision.
Key Points:
- EAS leaders reinforced their support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and discussed strategic issues including climate action, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the situation in Myanmar, destabilising activities in the South China Sea, and the Korean Peninsula.
- EAS Leaders agreed to a joint Statement on ‘Maintaining and Promoting the Region as an Epicentrum of Growth’.
- The 19th East Asia Summit will take place in late 2024 in Lao PDR ‒ the 2024 ASEAN and EAS Chair.
About ASEAN:
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- The First ASEAN Summit was held in Bali, Indonesia on 23-24 February 1976.
- Lao PDR assumed the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2024.