National
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT-2.0
⇒ To celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and its glorious history, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs organized special events and programmes throughout India from 27th September to 3rd October, 2021, as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
- The main feature of the week was the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban 2.0 and AMRUT-2.0 by the Prime Minister.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and AMRUT-2.0:
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)-2.0 on 01 October 2021.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said:
- Now the goal of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0’ is to make the cities Garbage-Free, completely free of garbage.
- He underlined the scope of the country’s target in the next phase of Mission AMRUT as ‘Improving sewage and septic management, making our cities water safe cities and ensuring that no sewage drains anywhere in our rivers’.
» During the week, the Ministry organised “Swachhata Se Sampannata—Celebrating 7 years of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban” Programme on 27th September, 2021, where ‘Swachhata App 2.0’ and ‘Swachh Survekshan 2022’ were launched.
» Under National Urban Livelihood Mission, Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Module and online transfer of Revolving Fund (RF) to Area Level Federations (ALF) through PAiSA Portal were launched.
11th All India Corporate Collateral Awards 2021
⇒ Recently, Public sector mining major NMDC (National Mineral Development Corporation) bagged the overall Champion of Champions runners-up position and 13 Corporate Communication Excellence Awards at the 11th All India Corporate Collateral Awards 2021.
The award was presented at the Global Communication Conclave of the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) in Goa.
International
First in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the first in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in Washington D.C., USA on 24 September 2021, along with Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of Japan, and President of the United States of America.
President of the United States of America Joseph Biden hosted Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan at the White House for the first-ever in-person Leaders’ Summit of the Quad.
Highlights of the Quad Summit:
Discussion:
The Leaders discussed affirmative actions towards climate change, decarbonization efforts in shipping and port operations, deployment of clean hydrogen technology, the need for responsible and resilient clean energy supply chains.
Discussed Afghanistan:
The Leaders shared their respective perspectives on Afghanistan and the regional situation in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
On Afghanistan, they agreed to deepen their cooperation in counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and called on the Taliban to abide by UN Security Council Resolution 2593.
Quad Principles:
Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance, and Use were issued.
It will guide not only the region but the world toward responsible, open, high-standards innovation.
Fellowship program:
Announced Fellowship program for 100 students per year to pursue Masters and Doctoral degrees in STEM fields in USA.
The Fellowship program is meant to facilitate and strengthen people to people linkages.
Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group:
A Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group was launched to share assessments of regional infrastructure needs and coordinate approaches, technical assistance and capacity-building efforts.
Climate:
To tackle Climate Change, Quad countries has envisaged to establish:
- Form a Green-Shipping Network:
Quad countries are uniquely situated to deploy green-port infrastructure and clean-bunkering fuels at scale.
- Establish a Clean-Hydrogen Partnership:
To strengthen and reduce costs across all elements of the clean-hydrogen value chain, leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral hydrogen initiatives in other fora.
- Enhance Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Preparedness:
Quad countries commit to increasing the Indo-Pacific region’s resilience to climate change by improving critical climate information-sharing and disaster-resilient infrastructure.
Space Cooperation Working Group:
The Leaders also setup a space cooperation working group to exchange satellite data for monitoring and adapting to climate change, disaster preparedness, and responding to challenges in shared domains.
Sports
Indian Men’s National Boxing Championships 2021
⇒ The Indian men’s national boxing championships 2021 was held from September 15 to 22, 2021 at the Inspire Institute of Sports in Vijaynagar, Karnataka. It was hosted by Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
Competitions were held in 13 weight classes instead of 10, after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) introduced new weight divisions.
Indian men’s national boxing championship 2021 winners:
Govind Sahani (48kg), Deepak Kumar (51kg), Akash (54kg), Rohit Mor (57kg), Varinder Singh (60kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Akash (67kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Sumit (75kg), Sachin Kumar (80kg), Lakshya (86kg), Sanjeet (92kg) and Narender (92+kg) were the gold medallists on the final day.
- All the gold medallists had booked their place for the World Boxing Championships.
2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships
⇒ The 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia from 25 October to 6 November.
India won a total of one medal at the World Boxing Championships.
Winner:
Akash Kumar won the bronze medal in the weight category of 54kg.
The 21-year-old Akash became only the seventh Indian male boxer to secure a medal.
Previous medal winners of India in World Boxing Championships:
Vijender Singh (Bronze, 2009), Vikas Krishan (Bronze, 2011), Thapa (Bronze, 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (Bronze, 2017), Panghal (Silver, 2019) and Kaushik (Bronze, 2019)
Important day
World Rhino Day
⇒ Since 2011, World Rhino Day has been celebrated internationally on 22 September.
World Rhino Day is a day of awareness for all five rhino species and the work being done to save them.
Theme:
The theme of the World Rhino Day 2021 was ‘Keep the five Alive’.
Five rhino species:
- White Rhino
- Greater One Horned Rhino
- Sumatran Rhino
- Black Rhino
- Javan Rhino
- The five rhino species are very different from each other in biology, behavior, environments, and conservation needs.
- All rhino species are under threat of extinction, and one – the Sumatran rhino – is on the verge of disappearing.
Rhino in India:
At 71%, Assam is home to the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinoceros. According to a 2018 census, there are nearly 2,650 rhinos in the state with around 2,400 of them in the Kaziranga National Park.
Protection Act:
- Rhinoceros are listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as endangered animals.
- There is an international ban on trade of rhino horns under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
- The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 allows for destruction of wildlife parts (including rhino horn) under Section 39 (3).
