::NATIONAL::

PM inaugurates first session of International Solar Alliance

•  The Prime Minister, ShriNarendraModi, today inaugurated the first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance at VigyanBhawan. The same event also marked the inauguration of the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2nd Global RE-Invest (Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo).

•  In this context, he expressed confidence that in future, when people talk of organisations for the welfare of mankind established in the 21st century, the International Solar Alliance will be at the top of the list. He said this is a great forum to work towards ensuring climate justice.

•  The Prime Minister said that the effect of increased use of renewable energy is now visible in India. He added that India is working towards the goals of the Paris Agreement through an action plan. He said that the target is to generate 40 percent of India's total energy requirements in 2030, by non fossil fuel based sources. He said India is developing with a new self-confidence of "Poverty to Power.

::ECONOMY::

SIDBI launches National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign

•  Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), had launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign, UdyamAbhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States and reaching to around 15,000 youth.

•  The campaign would create and strengthen cadre of more than 800 trainers to provide entrepreneurship training to the aspiring youths across these districts thus encouraging them to enter the admired segment of entrepreneurs.

•  SIDBI is also taking-up with stakeholders including Banks, NABARD, NBFCs, SFBs, District Industries Centres, State Govt. etc. to be a part of this campaign and ensure mutlifold impact. Further, CSC Village Level entrepreneurs (VLEs) would play role of catalyst for these aspiring entrepreneurs.

•  VLEs would also provide handholding support to the aspirants to establish new units by assisting them in availing loans for their enterprise and making them aware about various initiatives of Government of India like PradhanMantri Mudra Yojana, SUI etc. and educate the youths in these districts on business literacy.

PM urges world leaders to move towards single electricity grid

•  Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday urged world leaders to move towards a future of ‘one world, one sun, one grid’ in which countries around the world would share electricity so that none is without it.

•  Addressing leaders of 40 countries attending the inauguration of the first general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Mr.Modi also said that the membership of the Alliance — so far restricted to countries between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn — would be expanded to include all member countries of the United Nations.

•  “Imagine a world where we would have ‘one world, one sun, one grid’,” Mr.Modi said. “In such a world, where there is no sun-down, where the sun is bright in some part of the world, where is the question of lack of energy?In the last 150-200 years, humanity has used fuels from below the ground for its lighting needs,” Mr.Modi added.

•  The International Solar Alliance was launched in 2015 and is headquartered in India. So far, 70 countries have signed its framework agreement and 44 have ratified it.
  
   

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India to deliver relief materials to ailing Indonesia

• The Indian Air Force and the Navy on Tuesday launched efforts to deliver relief material to the tsunami-hit Indonesia.

• The Navy has diverted its ships INS Tir ,Sujata and Shardul on deployment to Singapore to Palu in Indonesia. The IAF has deployed one C-130J and one C-17 transport aircraft to ferry medical teams and relief material.

• Besides bricks and other relief material normally carried, these ships have on board 30,000 litres of bottled drinking water, 1,500 litres of packaged juices, 500 litres of milk, 700 kg of biscuits and 20 tents. The ships were dispatched at first light on Tuesday morning, a Navy officer said.

• On Monday, Prime Minister NarendraModi called up Indonesian President JokoWidodo and offered assistance.

• The C-130J aircraft is carrying a field hospital from Agra. The C-17 aircraft is carrying tents, generators, medicines and others from the National Disaster Management Authority. The C-130J carrying 37 medical personnel took off from the Hindon Air Force Station to Chennai. From Chennai, the aircraft will fly to the Kualanamu international airport and from there, to Palu. “Light medical equipment, including an X-ray machine, and medicines are being carried,” an IAF officer said.

WHO launches global guidelines on sanitation and health

• The world will not reach the goal of universal sanitation coverage – where every person has access to toilets – by 2030 unless countries make comprehensive policy shifts and invest more funds, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday as it launched the first global guidelines on sanitation and health.

• In a release, the WHO said that by adopting its new guidelines, countries can significantly reduce diarrhoeal deaths due to unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene. For every US $1 invested in sanitation, the WHO estimates a nearly six-fold return as measured by lower health costs, increased productivity and fewer premature deaths.

• Worldwide, 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation (with almost half of them forced to defecate in the open). They are among the 4.5 billion without access to safely managed sanitation services – in other words a toilet connected to a sewer or pit or septic tank that treats human waste.

• “Sanitation is a fundamental foundation of human health and development and underpins the core mission of WHO and ministries of health worldwide. WHO’s Sanitation and Health Guidelines are essential to securing health and well being for everyone, everywhere,’’ said Dr.SoumyaSwaminathan, deputy director-general for programmes, WHO.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Three more Indian sites gets UNESCO’s GlobalGeopark Network status.

• In a first, an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike in Maharashtra and a hexagonal mosaic of basaltic rocks in an island off Udupi are poised to become global geoparks, under a Geological Survey of India (GSI) plan.

• Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island and Malpe beach in coastal Karnataka are the GSI’s candidates for UNESCO Global Geopark Network status.

• The road to recognition, however, is long. An aspiring Global Geopark must have a dedicated website, a corporate identity, comprehensive management plan, protection plans, finance, and partnerships for it to be accepted. In mid-August, GSI moved ahead with the plan, setting a follow-up time frame of 100 days.

::SPORTS::

AFI asks Anjali to take assessment tests

• She may have walked away with the best athlete award at last week’s Open Nationals in Bhubaneswar, but the Athletics Federation of India has asked Haryana quartermiler Anjali Devi Kundu to undergo assessment tests after joining the National camp which begins in various parts of the country on October 10.

• Anjali had clocked a very impressive 51.79s — the fourth best time in Asia this year — while winning the 400m gold at Bhubaneswar.

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