The Daily Brief – 18th September 2018

The International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer (or World Ozone Day) was observed on September 16 for the preservation of the Ozone Layer with the theme of ‘Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol’. The day was designated by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on December 19, 1994. Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect ozone layer by phasing out production of numerous Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 26 August 1987 in Montreal, Canada and entered into force on 26 August 1989.

Kerala Tourism has won two prestigious gold awards of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns. These awards were won by Kerala Tourism’s Yalla Kerala print campaign and Live Inspired Posters under PATA’s Travel Advertisement Print and Travel Poster categories respectively. Both campaign and posters were developed and designed by Stark Communications which is advertising agency of Kerala Tourism. PATA Awards are presented to outstanding entries in four principal categories: Marketing; Education and Training; Environment, and Heritage and Culture.

The second edition of Nepal-China joint military exercise named Mt Everest Friendship Exercise-2018 (Sagarmatha Friendship-2018) commenced in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. The 12 day long joint exercise will focus on combating terror and disaster management trainings. Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Mt Everest, which stands in between both the countries. The first such exercise was held in April 2017 at Nepal Army’s Para Training School in Maharajgunj in Kathmandu (capital of Nepal).

The Union Ministry of Power on September 14, 2018 launched the Chiller Star Labelling Program, an ambitious program to encourage the deployment of energy efficient chiller systems in the country. The Chiller Star Labelling Program envisages providing star rating in terms of its energy performance. The program has been formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along the India-Pakistan International Border in Ploura, Jammu and Kashmir on September 17, 2018.The project was launched from the BSF Headquarters during his one-day visit to the state. The initiative has been taken up by the Border Security Force (BSF), as part of their comprehensive integrated border management system.

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar will confer the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18 on September 18, 2018 at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, as a part of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign launched by PM Narendra Modi on September 15, 2018. The award was launched as a follow up to the Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative launched in 2014. Schools were rated through a transparent mechanism on five broad parameters – Water, Toilet, Hand washing with Soap, Operations and Maintenance, and Behaviour Change and Capacity Building.

The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh from January 21 to January 23, 2019 with the theme of “Role of Indian Diaspora in Building a New India”. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated every year in India on 9 January. The day commemorates return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in Mumbai (then Bombay) on January 9, 1915.

NASA satellite ICESat-2, designed to precisely measure changes in Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice and vegetation, was launched into polar orbit from California. The mission aims to advance knowledge of how the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica contribute to sea level rise. The melt from those ice sheets alone has raised global sea level by more than 1 millimeter a year recently.