WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren, Australian-Italian) has won the Formula One Italian Grand Prix 2021 title held at Autodromo Nazionale Monza track, Italy. This is the first victory for McLaren in 9 years.
• Lando Norris came second while Valtteri Bottas came third in the F1 race. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen crash out of Italian Grand Prix 2021 due to collision.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Author Susanna Clarke won the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021 for her novel ‘Piranesi’. Novelist and Booker-winner Bernardine Evaristo chaired the Women’s Prize judging panel this year.
• ‘Piranesi’ is narrated by a man living in a labyrinthine, statue-filled house — alone except for a visitor known as the Other — that comprises his whole universe. 
• Susanna Clarke: English author known for her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Former managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra Pawan Kumar Goenka has been appointed as the chairperson of the Indian National Space Promotion Authorization Centre (In-SPACe). During his R&D tenure in M&M, he led the development of the Scorpio SUV.
• IN-SPACe functions as an independent nodal agency under the Department of Space, Government of India. Goenka, an IIT alumnus, had been associated with two major automobile companies – General Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra – in his professional career that spanned over four decades. He retired as the MD of the company on April 1, 2021, after spending 27 years with the Mahindra Group.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• India’s largest open-air fernery has been inaugurated in Ranikhet of Uttarakhand. The new centre will serve the dual objective of ‘conservation of fern species as well as ‘create awareness about their ecological role and promote further research.
• The fernery is home to a large number of fern species, some of which are endemic to the state, some hold medicinal value while some are threatened species that demand care and conservation.
• The Ranikhet fernery has around 120 different types of fern, spreads over four acres of land at an altitude of 1,800 metres.
• The facility has been developed under Central Government’s Compensatory Afforestation Management Funds Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme, by the Research Wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department over a period of three years.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Sardardham Bhavan in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, via video conferencing. He also performed the “Bhoomi Pujan” of the Sardardham Phase-II Kanya Chhatralaya (girls’ hostel) project.
• Both these establishments are dedicated to the “Iron Man of India,” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The project is developed by the Vishwa Patidar Samaj. 
• The state-of-the-art Sardardham Bhavan provides separate hostel facilities to girls and boys from rural areas who aspire for better career prospects.
• Phase I of the Sardardham Bhavan project is built over an area of 11,672 square feet at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, near the Vaishnodevi circle in the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar border area. It will house 1,600 students, including 800 boys and 800 girls.
• The Phase II of the Sardardham project is expected to house around 2,000 girl students. The project will be built at the cost of another Rs 200 crore.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Prime Minister has paid homage to Mahakavi Subramania Bharati on his 100th Death Anniversary.

About Subramania Bharati

Subramania Bharati was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu. He was known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar which means a great poet.

His songs on nationalism and freedom of India helped to rally the masses to support the Indian Independence Movement in Tamil Nadu.

Examples: “Kannan Pattu” “Nilavum Vanminum Katrum” “Panchali Sabatham” “Kuyil Pattu” are examples of Bharathi’s great poetic output. He also published the sensational “Sudesa Geethangal” in 1908.

Bharati as a Journalist

He began his career as a journalist and as a sub-editor in “Swadesamitran” in 1904. 

He edited and published the weekly journal “India”, which was the first paper in Tamil Nadu to publish political cartoons. He also published and edited a few other journals like “Vijaya”.

Bharthi as a social reformer

Bharati was against the caste system. He declared that there were only two castes-men and women and nothing more than that. 

He condemned certain Shastras that denigrate women. Furthermore, he believed in the equality of humankind and criticised many preachers for mixing their personal prejudices while teaching the Gita and the Vedas.

He also opposed child marriage, dowry and supported widow remarriage.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The preliminary design for the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA)-Mk2 and the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) has been completed.

About LCA-Mk2

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2 is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft designed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Payload Capacity: It is a 1,350 mm longer aircraft. It can carry a payload of 6,500 kg compared to the 3,500 kg the LCA can carry.

Features: The aircraft features enhanced range and endurance, including an onboard oxygen generation system, which is being integrated for the first time.

About Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft(AMCA)

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft(AMCA) is a fifth-generation indigenous fighter aircraft designed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).

Payload Capacity: It will be a 25-tonne aircraft with a payload capacity of 1,500 kg internally and a 5,500-kg external payload.

Features:

 The aircraft will have stealth and non-stealth configurations. It will be developed in two phases, AMCA Mk1 with an existing GE414 engine and an AMCA Mk2 with an advanced more powerful engine to be developed later along with a foreign partner.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

The International Day for South-South Cooperation is observed on September 12, every year by the United Nations.

About:

• The day highlights the efforts made by United Nations for cooperation among the developing countries.
• It is an initiative for the economic, social and political developments of the countries located in Southern region.

What is South-South Cooperation?

• Basically, South-South cooperation refers to “technical cooperation” between developing countries in the Global South.
• Technical cooperation among countries of the Global South started as a pioneering effort to strengthen diplomatic and international negotiating power among the nations, with the help of political dialogue.
• South-South collaboration helps the developing nations to share knowledge, expertise, skills, and resources in order to meet their development goals by concerted efforts.

Significance of the day

According to United Nations, for South-South Cooperation, this initiative clearly shows the solidarity among peoples and countries of the South that contributes for well-being the well-being of the nation. It also shows the national & collective self-reliance of the people and attainment of internationally agreed development goals as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Buenos Aire Plan of Action (BAPA)

The day also commemorates the adoption of “Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA). BAPA was adopted in 1978 to promote and implement technical cooperation among developing countries by 138 member states.

Objectives of South-South Cooperation

South-South Cooperation was started with the objective of:

1. Enhancing self-reliance among developing countries and finding out creative solutions for their development problems.
2. Promoting self-reliance by exchanging experiences.
3. Recognising and responding to the problems and requirements of the least developed countries in order to enable them to achieve a greater degree of participation in international economic activities.

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Bhupendra Patel sworn in as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

About:

• He was sworn in by Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan, Gandhinagar.
• He took oath a day after he was elected as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader.
• Cabinet members will be sworn in later after party will decide the names.
• In the Cabinet, it is likely that larger representation will be given to the legislators from Saurashtra and north Gujarat where BJP expects to improve its prospects in the Assembly election of the state.

Who is Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel?

He is an Indian politician, chief minister of Gujarat and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is also a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly and represents Ghatlodia constituency. He was born in July 1962 to a Gujarati Kadava Patidar family of Ahmedabad. He completed his Diploma in Civil Engineering from Government Polytechnic, Ahmedabad. He has also been associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He is a builder by profession and a trustee of Sardardham Vishwa Patidar Kendra. He is also the chairman of the standing committee of Vishwa Umiya Foundation. He follows Akram Vignan Movement, which was founded by Dada Bhagwan.

Chief Minister of Gujarat

Bhupendra Patel became chief minister of Gujarat on September 13 after Vijay Rupani resigned from the post on September 11, 2021. He was elected as the BJP legislative party leader as well as Chief Minister elect of Gujarat

WHY IN THE NEWS?

Colexion, the largest licenced NFT (non-fungible tokens) platform, announced the formal public launch.

About:
Colexion is an NFT platform for Sports, Entertainment & Art.

• NFTs are the next billion-dollar evolution that clearly states that the digital ecosystem of sport, entertainment & art is perhaps the biggest thing to happen in upcoming years.
• Collectors and investors worldwide own collections of a varied sets of memorabilia which have been appreciated much over decades.
• This platform will soon enable the users to buy, sell and trade NFTs of their favourite superstars. It has also started a user pre-registration program.

What is Colexion?

Colexion is an NFT trading and community platform. It provides users with trade, purchase, and interactive activities. It will feature NFT collections of global stars. Through this platform, users would be able to buy different tiers of blind boxes and own celebrity’s limited NFT collections. Each NFT collectible comprises of a unique record on the blockchain. Users will obtain ownership of this unique NFT collectible by purchasing it on the platform or trading on the Colexion marketplace. Colexion will accept general payment methods like credit cards in order to make it easy for mainstream consumers to participate.

Feature on Colexion

Colexion will feature stars from fields like sports, arts, entertainment, and other industries celebrities. Global sports stars will be the main partners in the initial phase of the launch.

Aim of the Colexion

Colexion has been launched with the aim of creating a significant entrance to virtual reality by means of NFT collections, trading, and community platforms. It will bring the Novel technology world through NFT.