National Medical Commission became Operational

• The National Medical Commission (NMC) has come into existence from September 25, 2020. It has replaced the Medical Council of India (MCI), as the country's apex regulator of medical education and profession.
• National Medical Commission (NMC)
• The NMC will consist of 33 members:
• A Chairperson who shall be a medical professional.
• 10 ex officio Members and
• 22 Part-time Members
• Functions of NMC
• To lay down the policies for regulating medical institutions and medical professionals.
• To assess the requirements of human resources and infrastructure in healthcare.
• To ensure the compliance by the State Medical Councils.
• To frame guidelines in order to determine the fee for 50% of the seats in the private medical institutions.

Kerala Tourism Human by Nature campaign won PATA Grand Award

• Kerala Tourism's internationally-acclaimed 'Human by Nature' campaign won the prestigious PATA (Pacific - Asia Travel Association) Grand Award 2020 for Marketing.
• This gives a huge stimulus to the tourism industry in the state which has been severely affected due to COVID-19 pandemic.
• Awards were announced during a virtual presentation ceremony in Beijing. Kerala has bagged one of the three PATA Grand Awards.
• This year's PATA Gold Awards was supported and sponsored by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) for the first time. It recognized the achievements of three Grand title winners and 21 Gold Awards.

AYUSH Ministry, NMPB Signed MoU with Herbal Industry Bodies to promote Medicinal Plants cultivation

• National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Herbal Industry bodies during a virtual ceremony
• The sale of immunity-boosting plants and herbs has increased such as Tulsi, Giloy, Ashwagandha etc. Now to keep the sustainable supply of quality medicinal raw material to AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy). Nutraceutical and Herbal industry joined hands to promote medicinal plant cultivation.

AYUSH Ministry, NMPB Signed MoU with Herbal Industry Bodies to promote Medicinal Plants cultivation

• AYUSH Ministry to organize novel e-marathon as part of the "Ayush for Immunity Campaign
• Apart from above MoU, Ministry of AYUSH has joined hands with Rajagiri College of Social Sciences and Rajagiri Business School, Kochi (Kerala) to organize a novel e-marathon from 28th September 2020 to 10th October 2020 (15 days), as a part of The ministry's three-month campaign called "Ayush for immunity" focuses on desirable health-promotion and disease prevention steps.
• Theme of the e-marathon is "Recharge Mental Health: During and beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic"

Govt increased limit for use of SDRF funds by states from 35% to 50% to tackle COVID situation

• State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for COVID specific infrastructure was increased from 35% to 50% to help states with more finances at their disposal to fight the coronavirus.
• This was announced during the virtual meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers of six states and a Union Territory with high Covid-19 caseload viz Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
• About State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)
• Constituted under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, it is the primary fund available with State Governments for responses to notified disasters.

U-RISE Portal Launched in UP

• The Uttar Pradesh government has launched an unified portal called 'U-Rise' Unified Re-imagined Innovation for Student Empowerment.
• The portal will guide students in learning, career counseling, and getting employment in the state.
• The portal has been developed by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University. The program will connect students with practical and technical knowledge.
• Uttar Pradesh is the first state to launch a unified portal along with the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) -2020. The e-content, e library, and online courses from this portal will be accessible by students even in the remote areas of the state.

MIT Professor won the maiden Al Award for Cancer Research & Discovery of New Drugs

• Regina Barzilay, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory won the inaugural winner of the annual award instituted by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and funded by Chinese online education company Squirrel Al.
• She was awarded the top award (1 million USD) for using computer science to detect cancer and discover new drugs.

151 CII - Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership held Virtually from New Delhi

• 15th Cii-Exim Bank Digital Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership was held virtually from New Delhi which was organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and EXIM (Export-Import) Bank with the support of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. It was started in 2005.
• The focus areas identified for this edition were Agriculture, Power and Energy, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education and Skill Development among others among COVID-19.

Fed Cup, Women's World Cup of Tennis renamed as the Billie Jean King Cup:ITF

• International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that Fed Cup, the women's world cup of tennis, has been renamed as the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas, a French international banking group
• This is the 1st time a major global team competition has been named after a woman.
• Billie Jean King is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player.
• She is a global campaigner for equality who has dedicated her life to combating all forms discrimination.

About ITF

• HQ - London
• President - David Haggerty

Former Australian Cricketer & Commentator Dean Jones passed away at 59

• Dean Jones, former Australian and Victorian cricketer and Commentator passed away
• Jones made his debut representing Australia in 1984 and played around 52 tests matches during which he scored around 3631 runs which includes 11 centuries.
• He played around 164 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia scoring around 6068 runs.

Sekhar Basu, PadmaShri Awardee, Veteran Atomic Scientist and Former Chairman of AEC passed away of COVID-19

• Sekhar Basu, Veteran Atomic Scientist and Former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) passed away
• He served as the Secretary to the Government of India Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and as director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC). He was the recipient of Padma Shri (2014)
• Sekhar Basu developed the highly complex reactor for INS Arihant, India's 1st nuclear-powered submarine.
• He was the key person behind the design, construction and operation of nuclear recycle plants in Tarapur and Kalpakkam.
• He also played a vital role in the development of the Indian Neutrino Observatory in Tamil Nadu.
• He received awards namely, Indian Nuclear Society Award (2002), DAE Group Achievement Award (2006) and DAE Special Achievement Award (2007) among others.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons> 26 September

• UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is annually observed across the globe on 26th September to provide an opportunity for the global communities to reaffirm and priorities their commitment to the global nuclear disarmament.
• The first International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons was first celebrated on 26th September 2014.
• This resolution prohibits the possession, development, production, acquisition,testing, stockpiling, transfer and use or threat of use of the Nuclear weapons.

World Environmental Health Day → 26 September

• World Environmental Health Day is being observed globally today on 26th September.
• The day is celebrated to throw the light on important works being done on the environmental health around the world.
• Theme for the 2020 edition of the day is: Environmental health, a key public health intervention in disease pandemic prevention.
• It has been targeted towards preventing the disease and creating health-supportive environments.
• The World Environmental Health Day was launched by the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) council.
• The observance of the day was inaugurated in 2011 in Indonesia. On this occasion Indonesian students activists composed special hymn and performed it tin order to celebrate the launch of this event