The Daily Brief – 5th September 2018

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India along with 23 other nations will be participating in major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise known as IOWave18. The exercise is being organised by Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. It will involve evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas in over half a dozen states. The purpose of the exercise is to increase tsunami preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each state and improve coordination throughout the region.
Ukraine has launched annual joint military exercise named Rapid Trident with United States and other NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member countries from September 2 to 15, 2018. Its main goal is to practice countering armed aggression in conditions of the hybrid war. It is being conducted week before Russia holds its biggest military exercise Vostok-2018 since Cold War, in eastern part of the country and with participation of China and Mongolia. Rapid Trident will see a participation of 14 countries.
China has pledged $60 billion of financial assistance to Africa to bolster industry, counter hunger, and enhance security in the continent. It was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his inaugural address at third Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing. FOCAC is an official forum between China and all states in Africa (except Eswatini). It was started as Ministerial Conference in 2000 in Beijing and since then it is held triennially in China and Africa alternatively.
The National Nutrition Month is being celebrated across the country in September to mark the fight against malnutrition. During this month, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development will organise various programmes to spread broad awareness on issues related to malnutrition like stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight in children. The month will focus on adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers to eliminate the deficiencies prevailing in the Health sector. More than 10 crore people are expected to be benefitted by the NMM programme.
Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra recommended the name of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice of India. This recommendation will now be processed and forwarded to the President who will issue the warrant of appointment. CJI Misra retires on October 2, 2018. He was sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India (CJI) on August 28, 2017. Justice Gogoi is the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court. Once Gogoi’s appointment is confirmed, he will become the first Supreme Court judge from the north-east to be appointed as Chief Justice of India.
Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu launched Coffee Connect mobile app and digital mobile extension services ‘Coffee KrishiTharanga’ for coffee stakeholders. The ‘Coffee Connect’ mobile app has been developed to ease the work of field functionaries and to improve the work efficiency. The application provides solution by harnessing the power of mobility comprising the latest technology in easing the whole process of the field activities like digitisation of Coffee Growers & Estates with Geo Tagging, collecting the Plantation details. It will also help in boosting transparency in the activities of the extension officers and officials, transparency in subsidy disbursement and real time report generation.
The International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 was inaugurated by the Vice President of Nepal Nanda Bahadur Pun in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal on September 3, 2018. The three-day event with the theme ‘Equality begins with Economic Empowerment’ is being organised by the South Asian Women Development Forum. It is expected to witness participation from delegates belonging to 27 countries including China and the SAARC, ASEAN, EU, African and Arab countries.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis in New Delhi for the 2 plus 2 Dialogue on September 6, 2018. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford will also be part of the US delegation. Both sides will discuss the Compatibility, Security Agreement, and COMCASA. It will help India obtain critical and encrypted defence technologies for Indian defence platforms from the US. The US sanctions on the import of Iranian crude oil will be the focussed during the talks.