National
'Kartavya Path'
⇒ The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated ‘Kartavya Path’ on 08 September 2022.
- It symbolises a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power, to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment.
The Prime Minister also unveiled the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate on occasion.
These steps were in line with Prime Minister’s second ‘Panch Pran’ for New India in Amrit Kaal: ‘remove any trace of colonial mindset’.
About Kartavya Path:
- Kartavya Path will exhibit beautified landscapes, lawns with walkways, added green spaces, refurbished canals, new amenity blocks, improved signages and vending kiosks.
- Further, new pedestrian underpasses, improved parking spaces, new exhibition panels and upgraded night lighting are some other features that will enhance the public experience.
- It also includes a number of sustainability features like solid waste management, stormwater management, recycling of used water, rainwater harvesting, water conservation and energy-efficient lighting systems, among others.
About Statue:
- The jet-black granite statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, measures a total of 28 ft. and is placed under the Canopy near India Gate.
- The grand statue of Netaji, has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 MT.
- After 26,000-man hours of intense artistic endeavor, the granite monolith was chiseled to produce a statue weighing 65 MT.
- The team of sculptors for executing the statue was led by Shri Arun Yogiraj.
- The statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which was unveiled by the Prime Minister, has been installed in the same place; where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled earlier this year on Parakram Diwas (January 23) by PM to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.
- The 28 feet tall towering statue of Netaji is one of the tallest, realistic, monolithic, handmade sculptures in India.
- A 100 feet long truck with 140 wheels was specially designed for this monolithic granite stone to travel the 1665 kms from Khammam in Telangana to New Delhi.
Sixth flight-tests of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system
⇒ Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Army have successfully completed six flight-tests of Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
- The flight tests were conducted as part of evaluation trials by the Indian Army.
Key Points:
- The flight-tests were carried out against high-speed aerial targets mimicking various types of threats to evaluate the capability of the weapon systems under different scenarios. The system performance was also evaluated under day and night operation scenarios.
- During these tests, all the mission objectives were met establishing pin-point accuracy of the weapon system with state-of-the-art guidance and control algorithms including warhead chain.
- The performance of the system has been confirmed from the data captured by a number of Range instruments like Telemetry, Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Systems (EOTS) deployed by ITR.
- These tests were conducted in the final deployment configuration consisting of all indigenously-developed sub-systems, including the missile with indigenous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker, mobile launcher, fully automated command and control system, surveillance and multi-function Radars.
- The uniqueness of the QRSAM weapon system is that it can operate on the move with search and track capability & fire on short halt.
International
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pays a state visit to India
⇒ Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, paid a State Visit to India from 05-08 September 2022 at the invitation of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi.
- During the visit, H.E. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu and the Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar.
- Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh called on the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 6, 2022.
- External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Shri G. Kishan Reddy called on her.
» Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also attended in the launch of the “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Student Scholarship” for 200 descendants of Indian Armed Forces personnel martyred and critically injured during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
List of Projects Inaugurated/Announced/Unveiled:
- Unveiling of Maitree power plant – The 1320 (660×2) MW super critical coal-fired thermal power plant at Rampal, Khulna is being set up at an estimated cost of approximately USD 2 billion with USD 1.6 billion as Indian Development Assistance under Concessional Financing Scheme.
- Inauguration of Rupsha bridge – The 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge is a key part of the 64.7 km Khulna-Mongla Port single-track broad-gauge rail project, connecting for the first time Mongla Port with Khulna by rail, and thereafter to Central and North Bangladesh and also to the India border at Petrapole and Gede in West Bengal.
- Supply of road construction equipment and machinery – The project consists of supply of road maintenance and construction equipment and machinery in 25 packages to Bangladesh Road and Highways Department.
- Khulna Darshana railway line link project – The project is upgradation of existing (doubling of Broad Gauge) infrastructure linking the current cross border rail link at Gede-Darshana to Khulna thereby augmenting the rail connections between the two countries, especially to Dhaka, but also in future to Mongla Port. The project cost is estimated at USD 312.48 million.
- Parbatipur -Kaunia railway line – The conversion of the existing Metre Gauge line to Dual Gauge line project is estimated at USD 120.41 million. The project will connect to the existing cross border rail at Birol (Bangladesh)-Radhikapur (West Bengal) and will enhance bilateral rail connectivity.
List of MoUs:
- MoU between the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and Ministry of Water Resources, Government of Bangladesh on withdrawal of Water by India and Bangladesh from common border river Kushiyara.
- MoU between the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), Government of India and the Ministry of Railways, Government of Bangladesh on training of Bangladesh Railway personnel in India.
- MoU between the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), Government of India and the Ministry of Railways, Government of Bangladesh on Collaboration in IT systems such as FOIS and other IT applications for Bangladesh Railway.
- MoU between the National Judicial Academy, India and the Supreme court of Bangladesh on Training and Capacity Building Programe for Bangladesh Judicial Officers in India.
- MoU on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India and Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh.
- MoU on Cooperation in the Areas of Space Technology.
- MoU between the Prasar Bharti and Bangladesh Television (BTV) on Cooperation in Broadcasting.
Important Day
World Water Week 2022
⇒ World Water Week 2022 took place in Stockholm, Sweden from 23 August to 1 September, 2022.
Organized by:
The World Water Week is an annual event organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to address the global water issues and related concerns of international development.
Theme:
This year more than 300 sessions were held on the theme “Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water”.
Within the overall theme of “Seeing the unseen: The value of water”, the sessions were grouped under three theme headings:
- The value of water for people and development
- The financial and economic value of water
- The value of water for nature and climate