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Assamese movie “Village Rockstars” has been chosen to represent India in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy Awards 2019. The film, which is directed by Rima Das, also won the Best Feature film Award at the 65th National Film Awards. The film follows Dhunu, a girl who grows up in poverty and learns to fend for herself. However, that does not prevent her from following her dream of forming a rock band and owning a guitar someday.

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Saudi Arabia will be the third “strategic partner” of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It was announced after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from his first foreign trip to the cash-rich kingdom. The CPEC is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aimed at enhancing Beijing’s influence around the world through China-funded infrastructure projects. The CPEC aims to construct and upgrade the transportation network, energy projects, a deep-water port at Gwadar and special economic zones to eventually support Pakistan’s industrial development as a manufacturing hub by 2030.

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India’s biggest cyclotron facility “Cyclone-30” has become operational at the Kolkata-based Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) for treatment of cancer. The facility produces a 30MeV beam that will be used to produce radioisotopes for medical imaging & diagnosis. The Cyclone-30 is in the first phase of production generating Flouro Deocyglucose (FDG), a radioisotope used for date imaging and oncological tissue imaging. It will be the first and only facility in the country to produce Germanium 68 isotopes, which is used in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Simultaneously, it will also produce Palladium 103 isotopes, which is used for the treatment of prostate cancer. The machine has a capacity of catering to 60 to 90 patients in a day. In its future stages, the machine will also work on the production of Iodine 123 isotopes, which can help detect thyroid cancer. The machine can also be used for research in the fields of material science and nuclear physics.

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Mayuri Lute has won India’s first Gold in the Women’s Junior 500 metres race at the 5th edition of the Track Asia Cup cycling tournament in New Delhi on September 21, 2018. Beside her, The Indian men’s junior team performed as expected in the team sprint event won gold by defeating Kazakhstan. With this, India won 3 Gold, 3Silver and a Bronze on the opening day of the tournament. The event at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is being organised by the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) and has attracted participation from 12 countries.

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On September 22, President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha (DBHPS) in New Delhi. The mail goal of DBHPS is to improve Hindi literacy among the non-Hindi speaking people of South India. It was established in 1918 by Mahatma Gandhi, who held the post of president till his death. The headquarters of the organisation is located at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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The first-ever General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) will be held at Delhi-NCR from 2nd October 2018. The 3-day Assembly will include an Inaugural Session, followed by the Assembly Session and Technical Sessions. The India and France-led ISA — international treaty-based alliance of 121 solar-rich nations — had become a legal entity in December 2017. Its aim is to undertake joint efforts to reduce the cost of finance and the cost of technology and mobilise more than US $1000 billion of investments by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy across 121 potential member-countries. The founding Conference of the ISA was jointly hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi on 11th March 2018.

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India has contributed US $1 million for the installation of solar panels on the roof of the imposing UN building at the world body’s headquarters in New York. The contribution will help reduce carbon footprint and promote sustainable energy. According to India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, India is the first responder to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for climate action. This year, India was the global host for the 2018 World Environment Day (WED) celebrations. On 5th June 2018, during a session on WED, India had proposed to partner with the UN Secretariat to use renewable solar energy at the world body’s premises as part of the efforts to protect and preserve environment. In it, the Indian government announced its pledge to eliminate by 2022 all single use of plastics in India. It also committed to making a 500-metre area around 100 historic monuments, including the iconic Taj Mahal litter-free and free from plastic pollution through the Taj Declaration.

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Tran Dai Quang (61), the current President of Vietnam, has passed away in Hanoi on September 21, 2018. Quang was appointed to the role in April 2016. He is a former police general who presided over a crackdown on free speech in that one-party state. Originally from a small farming community 115 km south of Hanoi, Quang rose through party ranks to become a police general and member of Vietnam’s powerful decision-making Politburo. Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by the President, Prime Minister and Communist Party chief. The country has a power structure in which responsibilities at the top are split among a party chief; a president, who serves as head of state; and a prime minister, who runs the government.

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The 3rd edition of acclaimed International Business Conference ‘MahaBiz 2018’ will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 12th and 13th October 2018. MahaBiz is considered a bridge for business opportunities between Maharashtra state and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. GCC is a political and economic alliance of six middle eastern countries. It includes Saudi Arabia , UAE , Kuwait , Oman , Bahrain and Qatar. MahaBiz 2018 proposes to bring together businesses, investors and key government decision makers on a common platform to share and discuss various opportunities in over 10 different industry sectors. The event will be attended by more than 400 delegates from India, Gulf countries and Africa.

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The Asian Para Games is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee that held every four years after every Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities. Japan will host the 5th edition of Asian Para Games in 2026 in Nagoya. The 4th Asian Para Games 2022 will be hosted by Hangzhou, China. The 3rd Asian Para Games- 2018 will be played in Jakarta, Indonesia from Oct 6-13.