India grabbed 23rd position out of 165 nations in the Global Cybersecurity Index.
This index is released by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN telecommunications agency.
India obtained a score of 0.683 in this report and was placed in the ‘Maturing’ category. This refers to the 77 countries, which have developed cybersecurity commitments and actively engage in programmes and initiatives related to cyber security.
Singapore has topped this index with a total score of 0.925.
Intelsat 35e successfully launched by SpaceX.
Intelsat 35e was lifted off by Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A and placed into the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO).
This satellite is the 4th addition to Epic High Throughput Satellite (HTS) constellation of Intelsat and aims to meet the requirement of wireless backhaul, Direct to home (DTH) transmissions, government applications and, mobility services of Caribbean, Europe and Africa.
This marks the third launch of SpaceX in less than 2 weeks, first being BulgariaSat and second Iridium.
UNESCO declares Hebron old city Palestinian world heritage site
The old city of Hebron in the west bank has been declared as the Palestinian World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The decision has sparked outrage in Israel.
The decision has also put Hebron in UNESCO’s list of heritage sites in danger.
The world heritage sites in danger list has also included Vienna’s historic centre.
BRICS Informal Leader’s Meeting held in Hamburg
The Informal Leader’s Meeting of the 5 BRICS countries was held in Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of G20 summit.
The meeting was held in run up for the upcoming 9th BRICS Summit, which will take place in Xiamen, China in September.
UN approves treaty to ban Nuclear Weapons.
The Nuclear Weapons ban treaty was adopted by 122 countries at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Netherlands was the only country, which took part in the discussion and voted against the treaty, despite having US Nuclear Weapons on its territory.
The 10 page treaty, known as Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, will be open for signature by any member state from 20th September, during the annual General Assembly. It would enter into legal force 90 days after being ratified by 50 countries.
US - Russia sign agreement for ceasefire in South-West Syria.
This was US President Donald Trump’s first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As per US Officials and Jordanian government (which is also involved in this deal), the cease-fire will go into effect on Sunday at noon Damascus time.
WHO appoints Saima Wazed Hossain as the Goodwill Ambassador for Autism.
Saima is a globally renowned champion for the cause of Autism spectrum disorder.
She will serve as the goodwill ambassador for autism in the South-East Asia region for a period of 2 years.
She will will be promoting the Thimphu Declaration, which also emphasises integrating the needs of autism-affected people into national health and socioeconomic development plans, as a part of her role as Goodwill ambassador.
IIT Kharagpur re-nominates Sanjeev Goenka as the Chairman of its Board of Directors.
Head of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group has been re-elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of IIT Kharagpur.
He will serve for a period of 3 years.
President Pranab Mukherjee nominated Sanjeev, in his capacity as the Visitor of the Institute.
Goenka earlier served as the Chairman of board of directors of IIT Kharagpur from 2002 to 2007.
Government to end dual MRP practice from 1st January 2018.
Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has amended Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities)Rules 2011, in order to protect the consumers from paying different prices at different locations.
Pre-packed commodities will be regulated across the country under this newly amended rule.
This rule will come into effect from 1st January 2018 and will ensure that the prices of product to not vary, no matter where they are purchased, i.e. the prices of commodities will be similar, whether they are purchased at a local shop, mall, 5 star hotels or airports.
PM’s Trophy for Best Integrated Steel Plant awarded to Tata Steel.
Prime Minister’s Trophy has been awarded to Tata Steel for its performance in 2014-15 and 2015-16 for being the best integrated steel plant.
This is Tata Steel’s 3rd consecutive win of PM’s trophy.
Till now, Tata Steel has been recognised as the best integrated steel plant 12 times and has bagged PM’s trophy 10 times.
