1. Palestinian flag raised at the UN headquarters for the first time
(i) In a first, Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in
New York, US. President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas was
present during the ceremony.
(ii) Addressing the UN General Assembly he stated that the PA cannot continue to
follow agreements that are repeatedly being violated by Israel.
(iii) The resolution to raise the flag was taken at the UN General Assembly meet held on September 10, wherein an overwhelming majority voted in favour. The motion passed with 119 votes in favour. While 45 countries abstained, eight voted against, including Israel, the US and Australia.
2. Russia carried out air strikes to kill IS militants in Syria
(i) On September 30th, Russia carried out air strikes in three Syrian provinces
against Islamic State (IS) militants.
(ii) The attack was welcomed by Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad. This was Russia’s first military engagement since
Soviet-Afghan war that began in 1979 and lasted over nine years.
(iii) According to the Russian Defence Ministry, warplanes targeted eight ISIS positions, including arms, transportation, communications and control.
3. US-India-Japan trilateral ministerial dialogue held in New York
(i) On September 29th, US-India-Japan’s trilateral ministerial dialogue was held at the
sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meet in New York, US.
(ii) The meeting was attended by the Finance Ministers of the three nations, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
(iii) Among other matters of importance, the nations called for peaceful settlement of disputes, freedom of navigation besides committing to work together to uphold strong maritime security
4. India has attracted the highest FDI in first half of 2015
(i) As per Financial Times recent report, India has become the prime destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world outshining China and the USA.
(ii) India attracted $31 billion of foreign capital in the first half of 2015 whereas China and US attracted 28$ billion and $27 billion respectively.
(iii) The report pointed that in 2014, India ranked fifth in terms of capital investment, after China, the US, the UK and Mexico.
5. Rooftop solar plant installed at Khunti court in Jharkhand
(i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, inaugurated a rooftop solar plant for Khunti court and district collectorate in Jharkhand.
(ii) The180 KW solar photovoltaic system is the first to be installed in a court in India.
(iii) In his address, the PM also emphasised on Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts toward environment protection and energy conservation on the occasion of the launch.
6. India intends to reduce emission intensity by 33-35% of its GDP
(i) Ahead of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Paris in December 2015, India has announced that it intends to reduce emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35% by 2030 as against its 2005 levels.
(ii) India has also vowed to create an additional ‘carbon sink’ of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
(iii) Further, it will also achieve 40% of its total electric power from non-fossil fuel based or renewable energy resources.
7. India to host G20 summit in 2018
(i) As per the recent reports, India could be the G20 Chair in 2018 with New Delhi hosting the esteemed G20 summit.
(ii) The decision was unanimously taken by the G20 member countries in September 2015. As the G20 operates as a forum it does not have a permanent secretariat; one of the G20 countries holds the Chair in rotation.
(iii) Presently Turkey holds the presidency. China and Germany will hold the Chair and host the summit in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
8. Project Loon launched by Google to ensure internet access in remote rural parts of India
(i) On his visit to the US in late September 2015, PM Narendra Modi was briefed about Google’s flagship project Loon, which aims to take Internet to India’s rural and remote areas.
(ii) Modi believes that this has multiple benefits such as long distance education, rural schools and telemedicine.
(iii) Google officials informed the PM that as per their research 160 million people can be relieved of poverty with Internet access and that they have started a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh targeting rural pockets without Internet penetration.
9. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards winners announced by Govt.
(i) The Union Ministry of Science and Technology recently announced the winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, one of the prestigious science honours in India.
(ii) Following are the names of recipients of the award across seven categories –
* Biological Science: Balasubramanian Gopal of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and Rajeev Kumar Varshney of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
* Earth and Planetary Sciences: Jyotiranjan Srichandan Ray from Physical Laboratory, Ahmedabad was selected from the field of earth, atmosphere, ocean and planetary sciences.
* Engineering Sciences: Yogesh Joshi from IIT Kanpur.
* Mathematical Sciences: Ritabrata Munshi from TIFR, Mumbai and K. Sandeep from TIFR Centre for Applicable Mathematics.
* Medical Science: Vidita Vaidya from TIFR, Mumbai.
* Physical Sciences: Bedangadas Mohanty from National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubhaneshwar and Mandar Deshmukh from TIFR Mumbai
Chemical Sciences: D. Srinivasa Reddy from CSIR’s National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and Pradyut Ghosh from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur.
10. Ratan Tata awarded in the UK City of Coventry
(i) On October 1st, the UK city of Coventry honoured Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, with the prestigious award for his contributions to West Midlands region of central England.
(ii) In the beginning of 2015, Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover confirmed plans of a further 600-million-pound investment to improve product creation and vehicle manufacturing.
11. International Senior Citizen day observed on October 1st
(i) October 1st is annually celebrated as International Senior Citizens’ Day in respect of senior citizens and acknowledge their contribution in nurturing the younger generation.
(ii) This year’s theme was ‘Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment.’
12. Indian women cricket team ranks fourth in ICC rankings
(i) Indian women’s cricket team ranks fourth in the recently released ICC rankings, whereas Australia and England rank first and second respectively. New Zealand is placed third in the list.
(ii) The new ranking system incorporates innovative multi-format system taking into consideration results of T20, ODI, Test matches.
13. Ronaldo scores his 500th goal
(i) In September 2015, Cristiano Ronaldo reached his 500th goal mark and equaled legendary striker Raul’s Real Madrid record with a 2-0 win in the Champions League at Malmo, Sweden.
(ii) Ronaldo has made this record in just 713 games.
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