The Daily Brief – 21st October 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated the Military World Games 2019, also known as the Olympic Games for military, that is being held from 18^th to 27^th October, 2019 in Wuhan, China. Officially known as the 7^th CISM Military World Games, it is the top multi-sport event for military personnel from across the globe. The first Military World Games was held in 1995 in Rome.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch carried out the first ever all women spacewalk when they ventured outside the International Space Station (ISS) for seven hours. Russian Svetlana Savitskaya was the first woman to spacewalk when she went outside the USSR’s Salyut 7 space station for 3 hours, 35 minutes. The first person to spacewalk was Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

India and Philippines signed four agreements on science and technology, culture, tourism and maritime during President Ram Nath Kovind’s official tour to Philippines. The agreement includes sharing of white shipping data, which includes advance information about identification and movement of commercial and non-military vessels.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the proposal for admission of girl children in Sainik schools across the country from the next academic session (2021-22) in a phased manner. The decision has been taken following the success of the pilot project that was started in Sainik School Chhingchhip in Mizoram two years ago. Sainik schools were conceived by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister in 1961.

Anup Kumar Singh, a 1985-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Gujarat cadre, has been appointed as the new Director General of the National Security Guard (NSG), also known as the ‘black cats commando’ force, by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). He will succeed Sudeep Lakhtakia, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Telangana cadre. Raised in 1984 following the Operation Blue Star, the NSG is a counter-terrorism unit under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) signed 30 licensing agreement for the Transfer of Technology (ToT) with sixteen Indian companies to fulfill the requirements of the armed forces at the Vibrant Goa Expo and Summit 2019.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the Shirui Lily Festival 2019, hosted by Manipur from 16^th to 19^th October, 2019. Organised by the State Department of Tourism in Ukhrul district, the festival seeks to spread the awareness about the endangered Shirui Lily and promote the district of Ukhrul as a tourist destination in Manipur. The Shirui Lily has also been awarded at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Flower Show in London in 1948.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 11^th Nuclear Energy Conclave in New Delhi organised by the India Energy Forum. The theme for the event was “Economics of Nuclear Power-Innovation towards safer and cost-effective technologies”.

The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) has conducted the second edition of the Defense of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Exercise 2019 (DANX-19), a large scale joint services exercise from 14^th to 18^th October, 2019. The Special Forces from the newly formed Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) also participated in this edition. The first edition was conducted in November, 2017. Created in 2001, the ANC is the first and only tri-service command of the Indian Armed Forces based at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.