• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that bringing inflation down cannot be the sole responsibility of the Centre.
• She stressed states also play a critical role in management of prices.
• Inaugurating a conference of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relation in New Delhi, Ms Sithraman said, during covid pandemic, immediately, handling inflation has become only a subset of handling the economy.
• She said, looking at the context about inflation particularly since 2020, there are so many different factors.
• She said, India’s entire import had two per cent of Russian component and it was ramped up to 12 to 13 per cent within a couple of months.
• The Minister said, there are sanctions but countries are finding their own way to get that Russian crude, gas.

About Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relation (ICRIER)

• Established in August 1981, ICRIER is a policy-oriented, not-for-profit, economic policy think tank. ICRIER’s main focus is to enhance the knowledge content of policy making by undertaking analytical research that is targeted at informing India’s policy makers and also at improving the interface with the global economy.
• ICRIER has two office locations in Delhi.
• ICRIER’s Board of Governors include leading academicians, policymakers, and representatives from the private sector.
• Pramod Bhasin is ICRIER’s chairperson and Dr. Deepak Mishra is Director & Chief Executive.

ICRIER conducts thematic research in the following five thrust areas:

• Growth, Employment and Macroeconomics (GEM)
• Trade, Investment and External Relations (TIER)
• Agriculture Policy, Sustainability and Innovation (APSI)
• Digital Economy, Start-ups and Innovation (DESI)
• Climate Change, Urbanization and Sustainability (CCUS)

• Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg presided over a meeting to review the preparations for the Kullu Dasehra festival.
• He said that after two years, cultural evenings would be organised in the open air auditorium at the Kala Kendra during the seven-day festival, which would commence on October 5. Every cultural evening would have a special theme.
• Garg said that a Sufi Sandhya would be organised on the first day, a Punjabi song and music show on the second, a Qawwali night on third, comedy on fourth, Amrit Mahotsav night with police band on fifth, superstar night on sixth and a Pahari night on the seventh day of the festival.
• He said that this year, the festival would be linked to the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• He added that local artistes would be given preference but care would be taken to maintain international standards of the festival.

About Kullu Dussehra 

• According to historians, the idol of Lord Raghunath was brought to Kullu from Ayodhya in 1651 when Raja Jagat Singh was the ruler of Kullu state.
• Dussehra celebrations in Kullu started after 1660 when the Raja invited all deities before Lord Raghunath
• The village gods and minor deities are also a part of this celebration. The centre of the festivities is the Dhalpur maidan.
• Kullu Dussehra was declared an international event in 1972.

• Brave heroes, who belonged to tribal areas, have contributed significantly to the freedom struggle, said Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while presiding over a programme on the theme “Contribution of Tribal Heroes to the Freedom Struggle”.
• The Institute of Tribal Studies, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, New Delhi, and the All India Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram organised the programme.
• He said that freedom fighter Tilka Majhi organised the Paharia tribe against the atrocities of British East India Company and attacked the Company Fund, for which he was sentenced to death.
• Another freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda took part in the struggle to end the British rule.
• CM said, “Many tribal heroes such as Thalakal Chanthu, Nilambar, Radho ji Bhangre took part in the freedom struggle for which they were tortured.
• Many freedom fighters were sent to jail and some were hanged. Several of them like Munshi Saje Ram, Thakur Devi Singh, Thakur Shiv Chand from Lahaul and Spiti and Jangi Ram and Bhag Saran from Kinnaur played an important role in the movement.”
• He announced Rs 2 crore for the alumni building at the HPU.

• Indian hockey team players PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh and Savita Punia have been shortlisted for the 2021-22 year-end FIH awards. Harmanpreet Singh has been nominated for the FIH Men’s Player of the Year award while PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia are in the running for the FIH Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively.
• All three had won the awards in their categories in the 2020-21 edition.
• Indian men’s team head coach Graham Reid is in the shortlist for the FIH Men’s Team Coach of the Year award while women’s team coach Janneke Schopman is also in the running for the women’s coach of the year honour.
• Graham Reid was voted the men’s team coach of the year for 2020-21.

• Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya virtually laid the foundation stone for National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) branches in 6 States namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
• The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Currently, NCDC has eight branches in States with focus on one or few diseases, these will be repurposed and new branches are being added with the mandate for integrated disease surveillance activities, dealing with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), multi-sectoral and entomological investigations etc.
• The NCDC has its headquarters in Delhi and has eight outstation branches located at Alwar (Rajasthan), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Kozhikode-Calicut (Kerala), Coonoor (Tamil Nadu), Jagdalpur (Chhatisargh), Patna (Bihar), Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).

• India’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the UK Government in collaboration with BAE Systems successfully designed and conducted the Cyber Security Exercise for 26 Countries.
• The exercise has been conducted as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative- Resilience Working Group which is being led by India under the leadership of National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).
• National Security Council Secretariat in a statement said that the exercise has been facilitated by BAE Systems through the Immersive Labs platform, and the scenario has been written specifically for the participants based on Threat Intelligence and operational experiences.
• The theme of the exercise is based on Energy Sector in which the respective National Cyber Crisis Management Teams of the CRI Partner Nations will have to deal with a ransomware attack on multiple electricity distribution companies.
• The aim to organise this virtual Cyber Exercise on Ransomware Resilience is to simulate a large, wide-spread cyber security incident affecting organisations within a country.

• US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian-American attorney Arun Subramanian to be US District Judge for the Southern District of New York.
• A Communication in this regard was sent to the Senate by the White House along with other judicial nominations.
• If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Subramanian will be the first South Asian judge to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Currently a partner at Susman Godfrey LLP in New York.
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) has congratulated Mr Subramanian on his nomination.
• Acting president of NAPABA AB Cruz III said Mr Subramanian is an experienced trial and appellate attorney with a strong track record of pro bono service.
• Indian-American Impact has welcomed the nomination by describing it as a notable nomination.
• Indian-American Impact Executive-Director Neil Makhija said, South Asians and Asian Americans have long been underrepresented in the federal judiciary – with less than five per cent of Article III district judges being of AAPI descent – but in the past year we have made historic strides.

• In Ladakh, Indian Army’s Fire and Fury Corps extended ‘Ignited Minds’, a project to train the students for Medical and Engineering entrance exams, to Kargil.
• The project ‘Ladakh Ignited Minds’, an Indian Army initiative to provide holistic educational training for Ladakhi youth.
• A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and National Integrity and Educational Development Organization (NIEDO) to provide full time residential training program exclusively for Kargil girls.
• Under this joint initiative, Kargil girls get full and free residential coaching for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Ladakh domiciled 12th students who passed with 70 percentage of marks or appeared this year, whose family income is less than three and half lakhs annual income are eligible to apply.
• Ignited Minds project launched last year has been successful in Leh. Kanpur based NGO, NIEDO will execute the project while Army will provide administrative and logistic support and funding by HPCL.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kartavya Path – a stretch of the Central Vista from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.
• It symbolizes a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment.
• The entire stretch has been revamped under the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.
• On the occasion, Mr Modi will also unveil the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
• The jet black granite statue, measuring a total of 28 feet, will be placed under the Canopy near India Gate.
• The statue is completely hand sculpted using traditional techniques and modern tools. The statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is being installed in the same place where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled in January this year by Mr Modi on Parakram Diwas to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.
• These steps are in line with Prime Minister’s second Panch Pran for New India in Amrit Kaal – remove any trace of colonial mindset.

About Kartavya Path

• Kartavya Path will exhibit improved public spaces and facilities including lawns with walkways, green spaces, improved signages, new amenity blocks and vending kiosks.
• Besides, new pedestrian underpasses, improved parking spaces, new exhibition panels and upgraded night lighting are some of the other features of the Kartavya Path which will enhance the public experience.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will participate in the 2nd India-Japan 2plus2 Ministerial Dialogue in Tokyo.
• The Japanese side will be represented by Minister of Defence Yasukazu Hamada and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi.
• The 2plus2 Dialogue will review bilateral cooperation across domains and chart out the way forward. India and Japan are pursuing a Special Strategic and Global Partnership.
• This year marks 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• In addition to the 2plus2 dialogue, the defence minister will separately hold bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart to further strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries across various sectors.
• Mr Singh will also attend a community event organised by the Embassy of India in Tokyo and interact with the Indian diaspora in Japan.

About 2+2 talks

• The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allieson strategic and security issues.

India’s strategic 2+2 partners:

• India has 2+2 dialogues with four key strategic partners: the US, Australia, Japan, and Russia. Besides Russia, the other three countries are also India’s partners in the Quad.
• The US is India’s oldest and most important 2+2 talks partner.