World Cities Day, designated by United Nations General Assembly, is celebrated annually on 31 October.

• The Day serves as an opportunity to promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in addressing challenges of urbanization and contribute to sustainable urban development around the world.
• "Youth leading climate and local action for cities," is theme of World Cities Day 2024.

About Urbanisation

• World: Cities are projected to house 70% of the world's population by 2050. 
• India: By 2036, India’s towns and cities will be home 40% of the population, up from 31% in 2011.

Colombia at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) launched ‘peace with nature’ coalition.

About the ‘Peace with Nature’ Coalition

• The coalition includes countries from four continents including Mexico, Sweden, Uganda and Chile.
• None of the countries are from the Asia-Pacific region.
• The coalition is open to countries that agree to a set of principles aimed at changing humanity’s relationship with nature.
• Convention on biological diversity (CBD) is a legally binding treaty for the conservation of biological diversity that has been ratified by 196 nations.

MeitY has announced the launch of the DICSC project. 

About DICSC

• Aim: Bridge the digital divide in rural India by providing citizens with accessible e-governance, financial, and commercial services.

• It will serve as a one-stop solution for a variety of essential services, including Aadhaar registration, banking, tele-law etc.
• Each centre will be equipped with high-speed broadband connectivity and modern infrastructure.
• Implementation: Common Services Centres e-Governance Services India Limited.

Garud Shakti

Indian Army contingent departed for Cijantung, Jakarta, Indonesia to take part in the 9th edition of India-Indonesia Joint Special Forces Exercise GARUD SHAKTI 24 (Andhra Pradesh).

SIMBEX- 2024

The 31st edition of Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) was concluded recently at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)

Upcoming 'Durgesh Aranya Zoological Park' at Bankhandi in Kangra district (Himachal Pradesh) would become India's first zoo to receive certification from the IGBC for its sustainable and eco-friendly initiatives. 

About IGBC

• Genesis: IGBC, part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was established in 2001. 
• Vision: To enable a sustainable built environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025. 
• Role: 
  • Developing new green building rating programmes, certification services and green building training programmes. 
  • The council also organises Green Building Congress, its annual flagship event on green buildings.

WHO and partners, activated the GHEC for the first time in response to a recent Mpox outbreak. 

About GHEC

• Genesis: WHO founded the GHEC in 2023 after the response to COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need to ensure better-coordinated support to countries.
• Objective: Strengthening the response to health emergencies, and a collaboration platform for countries and health emergency networks.
• Role: It supports countries on their health emergency workforce, the surge deployment of experts and the networking of technical leaders.

Click here to know more about Mpox. 

Israel expects its “Iron Beam” laser defense system to be operational within one year.

About Iron Beam

• Aims to intercept and destroy various projectiles with precision using high-powered laser.
• The laser weapon operates at the speed of light and has a range that extends from several hundred meters to multiple kilometers. 
• it would be a significantly cheaper alternative to the interceptor missiles.
• It would supplement other existing aerial defense capacities such as the iron dome.
• Limitation: it struggles in poor weather and low-visibility conditions.

Aditya-L1 mission has recently reported its first science result.

• The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) onboard Aditya-L1 precisely estimated the onset time of a coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted on the Sun.
• CMEs can damage satellites in near-earth space and disrupt radio communication networks on the earth.

About Aditya L1 mission

• Aditya-L1 is a spacecraft dedicated to the comprehensive study of the Sun placed in a halo orbit around the first earth-Sun Lagrange point (or L1).
• Lagrange Point 1: Where the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, are in equilibrium.

India, represented by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), has been included in the Steering Committee of ARIN-AP. 

• This will enable India to contribute to ARIN-AP’s decision-making and administrative responsibilities, furthering its mission to combat economic crimes. 
• India will assume the presidency of the network and host the Annual General Meeting in 2026.

About ARIN-AP

• It is a prominent multi-agency network dedicated to tackling the proceeds of crime in the Asia-Pacific. 
• It is also a member of the Global CARIN Network.
  • CARIN is an informal network of law enforcement and judicial practitioners, specialist in the field of asset tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation.

• Members: 28 member jurisdictions (including India) and 9 observer.