1) International Day of Peace: 21 September
•International Day of Peace is observed globally on 21st September every year. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.
•The 2020 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Shaping Peace Together.” Celebrate the day by spreading compassion, kindness and hope in the face of the pandemic. Stand together with the UN against attempts to use the virus to promote discrimination or hatred. Join us so that we can shape peace together.
2) International Coastal Clean-Up Day 2020
•The International Coastal Cleanup Day is traditionally held on the third Saturday in September. In 2020, the day is being held on 19 September. This year theme for International Coastal Cleanup Day 2020: “Achieving a trash-free Coastline”.
•The first International Coastal Cleanup Day was observed in 1986. The day aims to increase public awareness about the accumulation and negative impacts of litter in oceans, on coastlines and on beaches.
3) World Alzheimer’s Day: 21 September
•The World Alzheimer’s Day is observed globally on September 21 every year. The day aims to raise awareness about the stigma that runs around Alzheimer disease and related dementia. The theme for World Alzheimer Day 2020 is ‘Let’s talk about dementia’. World Alzheimer’s Day was launched at the opening of ADI’s annual conference in Edinburgh on 21 September 1994 to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
4) Indian Railways observes “Swachhta Pakhwara”
•Indian Railways is observing “Swachhta Pakhwara” from 16th to 30th September 2020. During the inaugural day of Pakhwara, Swachhta pledge was administered to Railway employees at all Zonal Railway HQs, Divisional Offices and other establishments. During the Pakhwara, intensive cleaning and sanitization of stations, trains, tracks, colonies and other railway establishments is being carried out with special focus on plastic waste management.
•Railway Board through Northern Railway, in partnership with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), organised a webinar on “Swachhata and Environment”. The Webinar was held to flag off the “Swachhata Pakhwada” beginning from September 16 and ending on September 30, 2020.
5) 8 Indian beaches recommended for ‘Blue Flag’ eco-label
•In a first-of-its-kind initiative, eight beaches of India have been recommended for the Blue flag certification. The selection of the beaches was made by an independent national jury composed of eminent environmentalists and scientists. This announcement was made by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Prakash Javadekar on 18 September during a virtual event.
6) PM Modi to inaugurate VAIBHAV Summit on 2nd October 2020
•Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Vaishwik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit on 2nd October’2020 through video conferencing. The month-long Summit will provide a platform to leverage the expertise and knowledge of global Indian researchers for solving emerging challenges and create an ecosystem of Knowledge and Innovation in the country through global outreach.
•The VAIBHAV Summit is a joint initiative of all S&T and Academic Organisations of India (working in Research, Academic and Scientific fields) to enable deliberations on thought processes, practices and R&D culture with a problem-solving approach for well-defined objectives.
7) Anil Dhasmana becomes new chief of NTRO
•Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief, Anil Dhasmana has been appointed as the chief of the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). Dhasmana succeeds former Intelligence Bureau officer Satish Jha, who demitted office.
•Dhasmana, a 1981 batch IPS officer, is a Pakistan expert and was the lead planner of the Balakot airstrikes in February 2019. He had stepped down a few months later when his extended term due to the general elections ended in June 2019.
8) India ranked 116th in the World Bank’s Human Capital Index
•World Bank released the report titled “The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19”. The Human Capital Index (HCI) 2020 is a collaboration between the Human Development Practice Group and the Development Economics Group of the World Bank. India has been ranked at the 116th position among 174 countries in the Human Capital Index 2020.
9) Fitch Solutions projects India’s GDP growth at -8.6% in FY21
•Fitch Solutions has revised downward its forecast for Indian economic growth and now estimates that India’s GDP will contract by 8.6% in 2020-21 (FY21). Earlier this was estimated at -4.5%. It has also forecasted a 5% year-on-year growth in 2021 and 2022.
10) Ministry of AYUSH partners with Ministry WCD to control Malnutrition
•A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Women and Child Development to control Malnutrition as a part of POSHAN Abhiyaan. The MoU will see some time-tested and scientifically proven Ayush-based solutions being adopted for controlling malnutrition in the country.
•The MoU will help in tackling the problem of malnutrition in mothers and children in the country. The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of WCD will work together towards integrating Ayush in POSHAN Abhiyaan and management of malnutrition through the principles and practices of Ayurveda, Yoga and other Ayush systems.
11) President inaugurates Visitor’s Conference on Implementation of NEP 2020
•The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind virtually inaugurated the Visitor’s conference on Implementation of National Education Policy 2020 in Higher Education. During the session, President stated that the National Education Policy aims to reorient the education system towards meeting the needs of the 21st century by achieving the twin objectives of inclusion and excellence. It also sets the vision of developing an equitable and vibrant knowledge society by providing quality education to all.
•During the conference, various sessions on Multidiscipline and Holistic Education, Research & Innovation in Higher Education, Digital Transformation in Higher Education, Internationalisation and Global Rankings, Equity, Inclusion and Capacity Building for Outreach and Excellence were organized to take New Education Policy forward.
12) Barack Obama announces his memoir ‘A Promised Land’
•Former US President, Barack Obama has announced his first presidential memoir titled “A Promised Land.” The 768-page book will be published in November 2020 by Penguin Random House and is scheduled to be released on November 17, 2020, in 25 languages.
•A Promised Land is the first of two volumes of the book. This volume tells about his early political life, his presidential campaign in 2008, and ending with the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.
