 India and Thailand are all set to organize Joint Military Exercise MAITREE-2019 at Foreign Training Node, Umroi (Meghalaya) from 16-29 Sep 2019. Both the countries have already conducted two such military exercises in past one month. About 100 Indian and Royal Thailand Army (RTA) soldiers will participate in the joint military exercise with an aim to share experience gained during a various counter-terrorism operation in their respective countries. The exercise ‘MAITREE’ is an annual training event which is being conducted alternatively in India and Thailand since 2006. |
| Source: The Indian Express |
 The Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) has handed over the second airborne warning plane, Netra, to the Indian Air Force. The Netra, an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEWC) aircraft, it is useful for surveillance, tracking, identification and classification of airborne and sea surface targets and is useful in detecting incoming ballistic missile threats. The Netra had played a stellar role during the Balakot airstrikes that had been carried out by the IAF in February this year. It provided surveillance and radar coverage to the five Mirage jets that bombed terror launch pads in Balakot in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. |
| Source: The Economics Times |
 Climate change campaigner of the South Pacific and Prime Minister of Tongan Akilisi Pohiva passed away. He was long-time pro-democracy campaigner and leader in the fight against climate change. He was awarded the Defender of Democracy Award in 2013 by the Parliamentarians for Global Action, the first Pacific Islander to receive the prize. |
| Source: The Guardian |
 World University Rankings 2020, published by the United Kingdom (UK) based Times Higher Education (THE), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore were ranked number 1 among the 56 Indian institutes on the list of the best universities of the world. The ranking includes almost 1,400 universities across 92 countries. As per the World University Rankings 2020, the University of Oxford is the number one university in the world for the fourth time in a row. The California Institute of Technology stands at the second place and the University of Cambridge fell to the third rank this year. |
| Source: The India Today |
 Astronomers have found water for the first time in atmosphere of habitable exoplanet K2-18b which orbits in its star’s “habitable zone”. K2-18b, which is 8 times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or ‘exoplanet’, known to have both water and temperatures that could be potentially habitable, according to the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy and the lead scientist of the research is Prof Giovanna Tinetti of University College London (UCL), United Kingdom. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 The tie-up between India and Sri Lanka received a boost when a newly ‘Make In India’ train “Pulathisi Express” rake was flagged off from Colombo Fort Railway station. The rake of the train was manufactured in the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai. The train which has been inducted under an Indian Line of Credit has an on-board entertainment system, modular interiors and fully-rotating seats in Air Conditioned Chair cars for passenger comfort. |
| Source: The Livemint |
 The fresh batch of the newest central government services, the Indian Skill Development Services(ISDS) commenced their training program at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in Mysuru, Karnataka. These are the first batch which is joining the ISDS cadre from the Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by UPSC. The aim for this is to attract young and talented administrators towards institutionalizing the Skill Development environment in the country. The induction of young talent as ISDS officers is one of the special initiatives taken by the Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the government as a whole, to significantly strengthen the skill development eco-system in the country. This is the first batch of young minds from Indian Engineering Services to be included in the MSDE. |
| Source: The Press Information Bureau |
 Former Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha has been appointed the Principal Advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of PK Sinha. He is a 1977 batch Indian Administrative Service Batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He joined cabinet secretariat on June 1, 2015, as Officer-on-Special Duty. |
| Source: The Business Standard |
 Pramod Kumar Mishra will be the new Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will replace Nripendra Mishra. He is a 1972 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Gujarat cadre. He joined PM Modi in 2014 as the Additional Principal Secretary. He has varied experience in the management of programmes relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing and regulatory issues. |
| Source: The Hindu |
 Navdeep Singh Suri, India’s envoy to United Arab Emirates, has been honoured with the First Class Order of Zayed II award. He was awarded by UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his contribution to the development and strengthening of friendly relations and co-operation between India and UAE during his tenure. |
| Source: The DD News |
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