The Daily Brief – 17th September 2018

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has inaugurated S–Band Polarimetry Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota spaceport, Andhra Pradesh. It will be used for observation of weather system up to range of 500 km and also for early warning of severe weather events. The radar has been indigenously developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru under ToT (Training of Trainers) from ISRO. It is the seventh radar is such type manufactured under ‘Make In India’.
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) on September 14, 2018 released the 14th edition of HIV Estimations 2017 report launched under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP). The first round of HIV estimation was done in 1998. NACO undertakes HIV estimations in every two years in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS). As per the report, India had around 21.40 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with adult prevalence of 0.22 percent in 2017. Around 58 thousand new HIV infectionsand 69.11 thousand AIDS related deaths happened in 2017.
Yudh Abhyas 2018
Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018, a joint military exercise of Indian and US armies, commenced on September 16, 2018 at Chaubattia, Uttarakhand with the unfurling of the national flags of both countries on the tunes of “Jana Gana Mana” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. This is the 14th edition of the joint military exercise hosted alternately by both countries. Exercise Yudh Abhyas is a series of one of the longest running joint military training and a major ongoing bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and the US.
The International Day of Democracy was observed across the world on September 15, 2018 with the theme of the 2018 International Day of Democracy was‘Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World’. The day provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly through a resolution in 2007 and it was observed for the first time in 2008.
National Hindi Divas (Hindi Day) was observed across India on September 14, 2018 to promote Hindi as Matru Bhasha (mother tongue) of India. On this occasion, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented theRajbhasha Awards to chiefs of various departments, Ministries and offices for their outstanding performances in promoting the language. The day marks the adaptation of Hindi language as the official language of India by the Constituent Assembly of India on September 14, 1949. Presently, there are 2 official languages- Hindi and English.
As per a UN report on the ‘state of food security and nutrition in the world’ that was published on September 11, 2018, the number of undernourished globally increased to 821 million in 2017, which means that one in every nine people, does not have enough to eat. The three key drivers of hunger are Intensification of conflict and violence, Economic downturn and Effects of extreme climate change. The share of undernourished people in the world population, the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU), is estimated to have reached 10.9 percent in 2017. Africa remains the continent with the highest prevalence of undernourishment, affecting almost 21 percent of the population (more than 256 million people).
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 16, 2018 successfully launched its polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) C42 carrying two earth observation satellites for the United Kingdom from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The 44.4 metres launch vehicle weighing 230.4 tons carried two earth observing satellites – NovaSAR and S1-4 of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, UK. With the successful launch, the total number of foreign satellites launched by India goes up to 239.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 15, 2018 launched the mega countrywide campaign- Swachhata hi Seva Campaign 2018 through video conferencing. The 2018 campaign follows the success of the 2017 campaign and will culminate with the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) from September 29 to October 2, 2018, which also marks the start of the 150th birth year celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi. It aims at accelerating the momentum of Swachh Bharat in the run-up to its 4th anniversary.