The Daily Brief – 21st August 2018

SK Arora, Delhi government’s additional director of health, was awarded prestigious World Health Organization (WHO) World No Tobacco Day 2017 Award for his extraordinary contribution towards tobacco control. It was presented by Henk Bekedam, WHO India country head in New Delhi. WHO World No Tobacco Day Award is awarded every year by WHO to individuals or organisations alike in each of six WHO regions. World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on 31 May.

Pitch Black – 18 (PB-18), biennia multinational air exercise hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) concluded recently at Darwin, Australia. It was the largest Pitch Black ever conducted by Australia, which saw participation of 16 nations and more than 140 aircrafts. The objectives of this exercise were to foster closer relationship between participating friendly forces and promote interoperability through exchange of knowledge and experience. In this edition of exercise, Indian Air Force (IAF) for the first time participated with air assets and in earlier exercises it had participated as observer.

Maitree, joint platoon level military exercise between India and Thailand.

Joint platoon level military exercise Maitree 2018 between India and Thailand was conducted in Thailand from 6 to 19 August 2018. The Maitree 2018 immensely benefited both armies from each other’s expertise and experience in conduct of tactical level counter terrorist operations. It also laid due emphasis on increasing inter-operability between forces from both countries which is considered crucial for success of any joint operation.

The World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed every year on 19 August to recognize work of humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives. The observance of the day provides opportunity to celebrate spirit that inspires humanitarian work around globe. This year campaign with the theme of #NotATarget aims to draw attention towards the millions of innocent civilians affected by armed conflict every day, who are forced to flee or hide due to conflicts and wars around the world. The World Humanitarian Day was instituted by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by passing a resolution A/63/L.49 in 2008.

Panini language laboratory was recently inaugurated by External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj at Mahatma Gandhi institute in Mauritius on the sidelines of 11th World Hindi Conference held in Mauritius with an aim to promote reading and writing of Hindi amongst young and its further development.

Telangana Government for the first time has launched Disaster Response Force (DRF) vehicles in the capital city of Hyderabad with the main aim that state should have its own Disaster force to swiftly deal with emergency situations. DRF vehicles provided to this force will be parked at 24 locations with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). It will help DRF staff to reach the emergency spots in no time. It is state level dedicated disaster force trained in tackling of urban flooding, tree falls, structural collapses and any other site of normal emergencies.

Asian Games 2018
Indian shooter Deepak Kumar won the much-deserved silver in the men’s 10m air rifle finals event.
Indian shooter Lakshay, who made his Asian Games debut, helped India secure its medal with a score of 43/50. The 19-year-old shooter bagged a silver medal at the finals of the men’s trap event.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who entered the quarterfinals of the women’s 50kg weight category after beating China’s Sun Yanan 8-2, brought home the gold medal for India. Phogat earned the medal with a 6-2 win over Japan’s Irie Yuki in women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling. With the win, she created history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.