Current Affairs 9th September 2018

Current Affairs 9th September 2018 - Important Points

• India, France sign MoU to form working group for Gaganyaan Mission on- 6th September 2018
• International Literacy Day 2018 observed globally on - 8th September 2018
• PM Narendra Modi to launch Swachhata hi Seva Campaign on - 15th September 2018

 Current Affairs 9th September 2018 - Details

India, France sign MoU to form working group for Gaganyaan Mission on- 6th September 2018

India and France signed MoU to constitute a working group for Gaganyaan Mission, India’s first manned space mission on 6th September 2018. This was announced at the 6th Bengaluru Space Expo by French space agency CNES President, Jean-Yves Le Gall.
Important highlights

• The French space agency CNES and the Indian Space Research Organisation will combine their expertise in fields of space medicine, astronaut health  monitoring, radiation protection, life support,space debris protection and personal hygiene systems.
• The cooperation ambit includes ISRO’s access to space hospital facilities in France.
• Both sides have decided that infrastructure such as CADMOS center for development of microgravity applications and space operations or the MEDES space clinic will be used for training of future Indian astronauts.
• French-Indian space cooperation is including  to monitor climate, with a fleet of joint satellites devoted to research and operational applications.
• Both the countries also have planned to work on Mars, Venus and asteroids.

International Literacy Day 2018 observed globally on - 8th September 2018

The 52nd International Literacy Day was celebrated globally on 8th September 2018 aiming to highlight improvements in world literacy rates, and to reflect on the existing literacy challenges.

The day was commemorated by a two-day special event at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. It also witnessed the hosting of the 2018 UNESCO International Literacy Prize awards ceremony.

The Literacy Prizes consisting of five prizes. They are International Reading Association Literacy Award,UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, Noma Literacy Prize, Malcolm Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize and UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.

PM Narendra Modi to launch Swachhata hi Seva Campaign on - 15th September 2018

The Swachhata hi Seva Campaign 2018, a Jan Andolan for Swachhata, will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th September, 2018. The campaign will be observed in the run-up to the 4th anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October.

The 2018 campaign follows the success of the 2017 campaign and will be culminating with the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention from 29th September to  2nd October 2018, which also marks the start of the 150th birth year celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi.

National Launch by Prime Minister: 15th September

The launch will be done through video conference at over 15 locations across the nation with different sections of the community and eminent public figures.

It will be followed by the launch of shramdaan activities with huge community mobilisation by following grassroots swachhata champions such as swachhagrahi ,women sarpanches, students, nigrani samitis, youth organisations, film celebrities and sportspersons, faith leaders, prominent people from corporate organisations and selected Union Ministers and Chief Ministers.