Notes:
India will host the Women’s Boxing World Championships after more than a decade, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from November 15-24, 2018. The teams will have to be in the national capital by November 13, with the competition starting two days later. The marquee tournament was last held in India in 2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of performance. India had topped the medal tally with four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

Notes:
The Jharkhand government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL) to provide medical facilities to the people of the state under the Centre’s flagship health scheme – Ayushman Bharat Yojana. The scheme will cover 80% population of the state. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries will get health insurance of Rs 5 lakh per annum. The insurance company will pay up to Rs 1 lakh for treatment. For additional expenditure, the state government will pay through Jharkhand State Health Society. The beneficiaries are also entitled to get treatment in any listed hospital in the country. Under the scheme, payment of premium for 25 lakh families will be paid by the Centre and the state government in the ratio of 60:40. The state government alone will pay premium for the remaining 32 lakh families. Under the scheme, 1,350 types of diseases have been included.

Notes:
The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved a $525-million loan to Madhya Pradesh for infrastructure projects. The loan will be used by the Indian government for on-lending to the Madhya Pradesh government for rehabilitating major district roads with a total length of about 2,000 km to improve the connectivity of the rural interior with the national and state highway networks. The project will improve the road conditions and enhance the transport capacity, which will lead to a less travel time, reduced vehicle-operating cost, reduced emissions and improved road safety. The NDB will also provide a $ 175-million loan to the Madhya Pradesh Bridges Project, under which 350 bridges will be built or upgraded. The NDB was set up by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations to promote green and infrastructure projects in the member countries.

Notes:
Opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won the 2018 presidential election of Maldives. He will take office on 17th November 2018, after having defeated President Abdulla Yameen in the election. The Maldives is a key battleground in the rivalry between China and India. Solih’s win presents an opportunity for India to rebuild the traditionally strong ties between the two countries in order to counter China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region. The Maldives is made up of 26 coral atolls and 1,192 islands. More than 400,000 people live there but its future hangs in the balance due to climate change. Tourism is a vital part of its economy.

Notes:
The first-ever women-only foreign minister conference was held in Montreal, Canada on September 21-22, 2018 . The aim of the conference was to highlight women’s key role in politics and decision-making processes. The meeting was co-chaired by Canada’s top diplomat Chrystia Freeland, and the foreign affairs representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini. The foreign ministers from almost 20 countries discussed topics including international security and peace, promoting and strengthening democracy and the elimination of gender-based violence. The conference is also being attended by female top diplomats from Andorra, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Namibia, Norway, Panama, South Africa, Rwanda, Saint Lucia and Sweden.

Notes:
Dr. Shamsher Singh Bisht (71), the noted statehood agitator of Uttarakhand, has passed away in Almora on September 22, 2018. Apart from being actively involved in the Uttarakhand statehood movement, he struggled all his life to save the forests and rivers of the state. He was a prominent social activist and journalist who played a vital role in the famous Chipko Andolan. He led the ‘Nasha nahi rozgar do’ movement in the 1980s and spent 40 days in jail. Dr. Bisht was the president of the Uttarakhand Lok Sanghrash Vahini, an outfit that took up fight against social issues, including corruption and felling of trees.

Notes:
The United Nations (UN) has recently declared the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in New York on 24 September 2018. UN has called for redoubling efforts to pursue international peace and security, development and human rights. This political declaration was unanimously adopted by nearly 100 nations from around the world to revive the values for which Nelson Mandela stood by emphasising human dignity. A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at the United Nations to honour the late South African leader’s 100th birth anniversary.

Notes:
On September 26, Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The purpose of 3-days expo is to have discussions among different experts and groups to utilize benefits of new technology, town planning, capacity management, challenges before socio-economic development and development of networking in the Smart City sector. Near about 6000 delegates from MNC’s of different countries, researchers, CEO’s of different Smart cities, Mayors and corporates are participating in the expo.

Notes:
For the first time, the Defence Ministry has appointed a transaction adviser and a legal adviser for procurement projects under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model. SBI Caps [Capital Markets] has been appointed as the transaction adviser. The first task for the advisers will be to work on the Expression of Interest for the Naval Utility Helicopters. Under the SP model, Indian private companies will get to tie up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers and build major defence platforms in India under technology transfer.

Notes:
The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is observed every year on September 26 to provide an opportunity to educate the public – and their leaders – about the real benefits of eliminating such weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them. The day provides an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a high priority.