1) World Rabies Day: 28 September
•World Rabies Day is celebrated annually on September 28 to raise awareness about the impact of rabies on humans and animals, provide information and advice on how to prevent the disease and take efforts to control rabies. 2021 is the 15th edition of World Rabies Day.
•The theme for the WRD in 2021 is ‘Rabies: Facts, not Fear’. The day also marks the death anniversary of the French chemist and microbiologist, Louis Pasteur’, who developed the first rabies vaccine.
2) International Day for Universal Access to Information
•The International Day for the Universal Access to Information (commonly known as Access to Information Day) is observed globally on 28th September every year. Universal access to information means that everyone has the right to seek, receive and impart information for healthy and inclusive knowledge societies.
•The International Day for Universal Access to Information 2021 highlights the importance of expanding access to information laws, and their implementation worldwide to build back strong institutions for sustainable development and to uphold the vision of information as a public good, as well as to strengthen international cooperation in the field of implementing the right to information as a fundamental right. Furthermore, the global discussions on “building back better” remain context-adaptive to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3) 4th Indo-US Health Dialogue Held in New Delhi
•Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar has led the Indian delegation at the 4th Indo-US Health Dialogue, held in New Delhi. The US delegation for the dialogue is led by Ms Loyce Pace, Director, Office of Global Affairs at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The two-day Dialogue is a platform to deliberate upon multiple ongoing collaborations in the health sector between the two countries.
4) Cyclonic Storm ‘Gulab’ hits Andra and Odisha
•The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Odisha and Andhra Pradesh after the ‘Cyclone Gulab’ made landfall over Northwest and adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Gulab was named by Pakistan. The word “Gulab” refers to Rose in English. During the landfall, the wind speed could hover between 90 kmph and 100 kmph.
•The name Gulab is from the list of cyclone names that is maintained by the World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (WMO/ESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC). The panel comprises 13 countries namely, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, who choose the names of cyclones in the region.
5) DRDO conducts successful maiden flight test of Akash Prime Missile
•The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has carried a successful maiden test flight of a new version of the Akash Missile named ‘Akash Prime’ from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, Odisha. The success of the test flight demonstrates the competence of DRDO in the design and development of world-class Missile systems. The missile intercepted and destroyed an unmanned aerial target mimicking enemy aircraft, in its maiden flight test after improvements.
•In comparison to the existing Akash System, Akash Prime is equipped with an indigenous active Radio Frequency (RF) seeker for improved accuracy. Other improvements also ensure more reliable performance under low-temperature environments at higher altitudes. A modified ground system of the existing Akash weapon system has been used for the current flight test. The range stations of ITR comprising Radars, Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS) and Telemetry stations monitored the missile trajectory and flight parameters.
6) ICRA revise GDP growth of India to 9.00% in FY 2022
•ICRA has revised up the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of India for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to 9 per cent. Earlier this rate was 8.5%. It can be noted that after the 7.3 per cent contraction in 2020-21, there were expectations of a higher growth number in 2021-22.
•The key risk to its revised projection of 9 per cent GDP growth is a potential third wave and the existing vaccines being ineffective against newer mutations of the virus. ICRA is Gurgaon based credit rating agency, owned by Moody’s Corporation.
7) Lt Gen Gurbirpal Singh takes charge as DG of NCC
•Lieutenant General Gurbirpal Singh has taken charge as the 34th Director-General of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). He succeeds Lt Gen Tarun Kumar Aich. He was commissioned into the PARACHUTE REGIMENT in 1987.
•An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Indian Military Academy, Dehradun as well as NCC, he attended the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington and the National Defence College Course in New Delhi. Lt Gen Singh has been a Company Commander in the counter-insurgency environment in Nagaland and the Siachen Glacier.
8) Sania Mirza & Zhang Shuai Win Ostrava Open WTA Doubles Title
•India’s Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Zhang Shuai won the women’s doubles title in the women’s doubles final at the Ostrava Open in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The second-seeded Indo-Chinese duo defeated the third seeded pair of American Kaitlyn Christian and New Zealander Erin Routliffe 6-3 6-2 in the summit clash in one hour and four minutes.
•This was Sania’s second final of the season, following a runner-up finish at the WTA 250 Cleveland event in the US last month with Chirstina Mchale.
