NATIONAL
1. More than 84.82 crore vaccine doses administered in country so far.
2. National Covid recovery rate recorded at 97.77% highest since March 2020.
3. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-COVID-19 National Task Force Joint Monitoring Group dropped the usage of Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) drugs from revised clinical guidelines for the management of adult COVID-19 patients.
4. *SC asks NIC to remove PM’s pic, slogan from its e-mails:* The Supreme Court has put to rest the alleged controversy over the ‘Sabka Sath, Saath, Sabka Vikas’ slogan along with the prime minister’s picture being carried as a footer on apex court’s official e-mails by asking the NIC to remove and replace them with the image of the top court.
5. The Centre has notified Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for automobile and auto components. The scheme will be implemented over a period of five years starting from financial year 2022 to 2023. It is estimated that the scheme will help create additional employment of over 7.
6. Union Public Service Commission announced the final result of Civil Services Examination, 2020. A total number of 761 candidates have been recommended for appointment. Shubham Kumar has got rank 1, Jagrati Awasthi has got rank 2 and Ankita Jain has got rank 3.
7. Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur inaugurated five days ‘First Himalayan Film Festival’ in a star studded program at Sindhu Sanskriti Kendra, Leh. The festival is a part of the celebrations of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. The film festival will showcase talent across 12 Himalayan states and UTs.
8. *Rohini Court Shootout: Delhi’s most-wanted gangster Jitender Maan alias Gogi was gunned down at a Rohini court on 24 Sep (Friday), where he was being presented for a hearing. Two gunmen a from rival gang, dressed as lawyers, shot him dead as he stood before a judge in the courtroom.
As they fired the shots, the security staff and Indo-Tibetan Police Force retaliated, killing those two shooters. They too were killed on the spot.
9. Gogi was appearing before the Rohini court on Friday in a MCOCA case filed in 2018. A total of 19 cases have been mentioned in the MCOCA FIR, including those of murder, attempt to murder, robberies, extortion, dacoities and carjackings.
10. Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait urges Indians in US to protest during PM Modi’s September 25 event
11. *Andhra Pradesh: The scheduled tour of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to Delhi on Saturday evening was cancelled on Friday night due to a leg sprain he sustained.
12. *In Bihar , the First Phase of Panchayat Elections passed off peacefully. An estimated 60% voting was recorded. Polling was held in 170 Gram Panchayats spread over 10 districts including Gaya, Aurangabad and Munger.
13. *Himachal : Schools in will reopen for students of Classes 9-12 on September 27.
14. *Maharashtra: Govt Orders Reopening of All Temples from Oct 7, the first day of the nine-day long Navratri festival. Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office tweeted that all Covid-19 safety rules should be followed.
15. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay stands among top 22 per cent in the 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.
16. *Nagaland : Union Minister of State for Tourism, Culture & DoNER, G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the State Soil Testing Laboratory at the Directorate of Social & Water Conservation in Kohima. Funded by North East Council, NEC Ministry of DoNER, the project cost is 371.70 lakh rupees with NEC share of 90% and 10% state share.
17. *Telangana* CM KCR in Delhi to attend high-level meeting of CMs of naxal-hit states : K Chandrashekar Rao is scheduled to meet Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat on 25 Sep (Saturday) and discuss river water projects.
18. *Tripura* : New steel stockyard likely to come up at declared Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Sabroom in South Tripura: Union Minister of Steel Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said.
DEFENCE NEWS
1. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 23 Sep denied reports of a possible test-flight of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Agni-V. DRDO Chief G Satheesh Reddy told that there are no plans to test the nuclear-capable missile for another 20 days.
2. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has activated a link for women candidates to apply for the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy examination commonly known as NDA. While the Central govt had said that the notification for women to participate in the NDA exam will be issued in May 2022, Supreme Court had said that “induction of women cannot be posted by one year”.
3. For women candidates, the application process will remain *open till October 8* at upsc.gov.in. *The exam is scheduled to be held on November 14.* Women candidates are exempted from paying the exam fee. As per norms, an application fee of Rs 100 is applicable for candidates exempting those belonging to SC/ST categories and sons of JCOs/NCOs/ORs.
4. Till now, only males were allowed to appear for UPSC NDA exams. Those who clear NDA are invited for interviews by the Service Selection Board (SSB). Thereafter a medical exam is held. On clearing all these rounds, candidates get enrolled in NDA, INA academies and after training, they are recruited in the army, navy, and airforce.
5. The Ministry of Defence on Friday signed a contract with European company Airbus for procurement of 56 military transport aircraft C-295MW at a cost of Rs 21,000 crore.
The C-295MW plane is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. PM Modi along with his counterparts from Australia and Japan on 24 Sep (Friday) attended the first in-person meeting of Quad leaders hosted by US President Joe Biden during which they plan to discuss issues like climate change, Covid-19 pandemic and challenges in the Indo Pacific, amidst China’s growing military presence in the strategic region.
2. In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.
3. US President Joe Biden said that the relationship between India and the US, the world’s two largest democracies, is destined to be “stronger, closer and tighter”, as he hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House for the first bilateral meeting and discussed a wide range of priority issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, trade and the Indo-Pacific.
4. PM Modi gifted US Vice President Kamala Harris a copy of old notifications related to her grandfather, who was a senior Indian government officer, in a wooden handicraft frame and a ‘meenakari’ chess set as they held their first in-person meeting.
MORE WORLD NEWS
1. Taliban to Bring Back Executions, Strict Punishment in Afghanistan. A founder of Taliban,. Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, also a chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law said executions and amputations of hands will continue, echoing policies from its rule in the 1990s.
2. Executions of convicted murderers were usually by a single shot to the head, carried out by the victims family, who had the option of accepting blood money and allowing the culprit to live. For convicted thieves, the punishment was amputation of a hand. For those convicted of highway robbery, a hand and a foot were amputated.
3. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has warned of a human rights catastrophe under military rule in Myanmar.
4. Somalia has hosted its first public film-screening in 30 years – raising hopes of a cultural revival in the war-ravaged country. Two short films by Somali director Ibrahim C.M. were shown at the National Theatre in the capital Mogadishu, where heavy security was in place.
(Source: various newspapers)