NATIONAL NEWS

ANIMATE 2024: Fostering Creativity Through 2D Animation Hackathon

ANIMATE 2024, a 2D animation hackathon organised by FOSSEE, IIT Bombay, in partnership with Whistling Woods International, concluded with an award ceremony at the Whistling Woods campus.

It was organized by FOSSEE, IIT Bombay in collaboration with Whistling Woods International.

Theme of the event "Celebrating India's Innovation"

Over 5,000 students from across India, including rural areas, took part in the 2D animation hackathon.

Students were given access to free learning resources, including tutorials on Synfig Studio, through the Spoken Tutorial platform at IIT Bombay.

Materials were provided in vernacular languages, making the event accessible to students from diverse backgrounds.

Veteran filmmaker Subhash Ghai, actors Vikrant Massey and Medha Shankr, along with key dignitaries, presented the awards.

The event encouraged participation from tier-three and tier-four cities, aiming to equip India's rural youth with animation and videography skills.

Odisha is to Join the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Health Insurance Scheme

Odisha is set to join the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), which offers health coverage of ₹5 lakh per family annually for secondary and tertiary hospitalization.

A senior Health Ministry official confirmed that some technical issues are being resolved with the state before full implementation.

Odisha's existing health scheme will continue alongside the Central scheme, with shared financial responsibilities between the Centre and the state.

Currently, 18 states have integrated their health schemes with AB PM-JAY. States like Punjab are being engaged for compliance, while Bihar has recently joined.

The scheme shows a public-private utilization split, with 57% under public healthcare. Key specialties utilized include cancer, nephrology, cardiology, and general medicine.

The scheme covers all pre-existing diseases from day one and includes 1,949 medical procedures across 27 specialties, such as general medicine, surgery, oncology, and cardiology.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

PM Modi and G-4 Calls for Urgent Reform in UN Security Council

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the foreign ministers of the Group of 4 Countries or G-4 have called for urgent reform in the United Nations Security Council structure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, called for reform in the United Nations to reflect the current geopolitical reality and be relevant.

The Summit of the Future at the United Nations was held on 22-23 September 2024, with the theme of ‘Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’. It was addressed by a number of world leaders.

G4 is a group of India, Brazil, Japan, and Germany formed in 2005 to seek reform in the United Nations Security Council.

All these countries want a permanent seat in the Security Council, which currently has five permanent veto-wielding countries: Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

India-US to Jointly Set Up Multi-Chip Fab Unit for National Security

India and the United States will jointly set up the world’s first multi-material chip fabrication unit in India, which will be exclusively for national security purposes.

Both the countries agreed to jointly set up a new semiconductor plant which will produce chips to be used in high-technology warfare platforms, like advanced communications, advanced sensing, and high voltage power electronics equipment.

With the establishment of the chip fabrication plant, India will become one of the few countries in the world to make such chips.

The agreement between India and the United States on-chip fabrication is the result of the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).

The new fabrication unit, which will be called Shakti, will be set up in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh and it will be situated next to the under-construction Jewar International Airport.

The plant will be supported by the US Space Force, the Semiconductor Mission of the Indian government and the Indian chip manufacturing companies Bharat Semiconductors and 3ediTech.

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Airtel Collaborates with Italy's Sparkle

Strengthening its global connectivity infrastructure, Bharti Airtel has partnered with Italy’s international service provider Sparkle to access capacity on Blue-Raman Submarine Cable Systems connecting India and Italy.

The two companies will also work together on the development of new business opportunities and projects in the Indian sub-continent, leveraging their respective cable infrastructures.

Sparkle is a major player in the telecommunication cable industry, which owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fibre spanning from Europe to Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia.

Back in 2022, Airtel had announced partnerships with Meta and STC to extend 2Africa Pearls subsea cables to India connecting Airtel’s landing station in Mumbai.

The 2Africa is among the longest subsea cable systems in the world, spanning over 45,000 km.

It will have a capacity of 180 terabits per second (tbps), connecting 33 countries, including Sunil Mittal-led Airtel’s landing station in Mumbai.

 

DEFENCE

Second Edition of Navika Sagar Parikrama Expedition

The Indian Navy is all set to launch its second Navika Sagar Parikrama expedition on 2 October 2024.

The Indian Navy launched its first Navika Sagar Parikrama in 2017, manned by six female crew members, to circumnavigate the globe on board the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini, or INSV Tarini.

Lt Commander Vartika Joshi commanded the first Navika Sagar Parikrama.

The second edition of the Navika Sagar Parikrama will be helmed by Lt Cdr Roopa A from Puducherry and Lt Cdr Dilna K from Calicut.

The Navik Sagar Parikrama is being conducted by the Indian Naval Sailing Association, based at Naval Headquarters, New Delhi, and Ocean Sailing Node, Goa, under the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

Both nodal centres will coordinate the INSV Tarini voyage in cooperation with international maritime agencies and authorities.

The INSV Tarini will start its eight-month journey from Naval Ocean Sailing Node, INS Mandovi, Goa, on 2 October 2024. It is expected to cover 21,600 nautical miles (around 40,000 km), navigating high seas, extreme weather conditions, and three great capes.

 

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Asia Power Index 2024

According to the Asian Power Index Report 2024, released recently by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute, India is ranked third most powerful country in Asia after the United States of America and China.

Last year, India was ranked the fourth most powerful country in Asia in the 2023 report, but in the year 2024, India overtook Japan to be ranked third.

The Lowy Institute released the first annual Asia Power Index in 2018 to rank the countries in Asia based on their resources and influences.

The 2024 Asia Power Index Report ranks 27 countries and territories. For the first time, the Southeast Asian country of Timor Leste has been included in the Report.

The report evaluates the power of the countries on 131 indicators across eight thematic measures: Military Capability and Defence Networks, Economic Capability and Relationships, Diplomatic and Cultural Influence, as well as Resilience and Future Resources.

The report highlights the changing dynamics of power in the Asian region. The United States of America and China were the only two countries deemed superpowers in Asia, while India was ranked as a middle power.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Mrs Harini Amarasuriya, who graduated from Hindu College, Delhi University, was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on 24 September 2024.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka.

Mrs.Harini Amarasuriya succeeds Dinesh Gunawardena, who resigned after the previous President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, lost the Presidential election.

Mrs Harini Amarasuriya is Sri Lanka's 16th Prime Minister. She is a member of the ruling National People’s Power alliance, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

She is also the third woman to be appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga.

       

SPORTS

2024 Hangzhou Open Tennis

The Indian pair of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth won their first ATP title by winning the 2024 Hangzhou Open Tennis Championships doubles event.

The Hangzhou Open Tennis Championship was held in Hangzhou, China, from 18 to 24 September 2024. The $1,000,630 prize Hangzhou Open is an ATP 250 event played on hardcourt.

Former US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia won the men’s singles titles.

In the Hangzhou Open 2024 final, played on 24 September 2024, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth defeated the German pair of Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens.

The final match, which lasted over one hour and 49 minutes, was finally decided in the super tie-breakers, and the Indian pair won by 4-6, 7(7)-6(5), and 10-7.

Marin Cilic defeated the local Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) to win his first ATP tour title since 2021.

It was the first ATP Tour final for the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen.

With the victory in the Hangzhou Open, 35-year-old Marin Cilic's world ranking improved to 212.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Pharmacists Day

Every year we observe 25th September as World Pharmacists Day.

This year, the theme of World Pharmacy Day is “Pharmacists: Meeting Global Health Needs”.

In 2009, at Turkey’s Istanbul, The International Pharmaceutical Federation Council announced that World Pharmacists Day would be celebrated on 25th September.

In the year of 1912, the International Pharmaceutical Federation was established on September 25.

So the Turkish members council put forward the 25th of September as World Pharmacists Day.

The International Pharmaceutical Federation is the global federation of national associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.