1) Typhoon Nida makes landfall in China’s Dapeng Peninsula; lashes Hong Kong.
- Typhoon Nida made its landfall near Dapeng Peninsula in China’s Guangdong province.
- Nida that carried gale-force and heavy rain lashed the Chinese city Hong Kong that is located about 42 kilometers from the Dapeng Peninsula.
- The Hong Kong Observatory reported that Nida generated winds up to 145 kilometers per hour as it moved toward Hong Kong but showed signs of weakening after it struck land.
- Nida, also called Tropical Storm Carina, hit the Philippines, pouring up to 11 inches of rain over the northern parts.
2) Virgin Galactic gets its spaceship license.
- Virgin Galactic is one step closer to making us all space tourists: it just received its operator license from the US Federal Aviation Administration`s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST).
- To get the paperwork that allows Virgin Galactic to use its ship for commercial operations. THE FAA looked into the vehicle`s system design, safety features and flight trajectory analysis.
- The license award comes as the new vehicle, VSS Unity, begins to stretch its legs with the first tests conducted out of the hangar.
- Unity conducted the first taxi test to evaluate and calibrate the navigation and communications, telemetry systems.
3) Siemens receives Rs. 217 crore order for power project in Bangladesh.
- German Engineering major Siemens Ltd. has received an order worth approximately Rs. 217 crore for Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) project from its parent company Siemens AG, Germany.
- To supply 400 kV/230 kV switch yard equipment, reactors, power transformers, fire fighting systems, air-conditioning systems, auxiliary power system, building management systems, illumination systems, AC control and protections, engineering for civil and plant for 500 MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) station.
4) Japan approves new economic stimulus package.
- Japan`s Cabinet approved a fresh economic stimulus package of worth more than 28 trillion yen ($275 billion), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe`s latest effort to get the stalling recovery back on track.
- Decision in this regard was Japanese Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. The Japanese government expects that this package will boost gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.3%.
- The economic stimulus package of measures aims at tackling deflation and strengthening the national economy of Japan.
- It includes increase expenditure for the national and local governments as well as significant investments in the country’s infrastructure.
- The programme includes spending on infrastructure projects and the reconstruction of disaster zones, including parts of north-eastern Japan which were devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
5) Vietnam assures India support for UNSC high seat.
- Vietnam has assured that it will support India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC).
- The assurance by Vu Hong Nam, Vice-Foreign Minister of Vietnam came during his meeting with Preeti Saran, Secretary, East, and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Both sides met for the 8th Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) and 5th Strategic Dialogue.
- Both sides also discussed bilateral issues, including political and security related matters. And held talks on trade and investment, cooperation in health, energy and agriculture sector, connectivity, lines of credit and other capacity building projects in Vietnam and increasing people-to-people ties.
- Both parties also discussed the progress in energy space.
6) Sushma Swaraj to address United Nations General Assembly.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the UNGA session for the first time in three years. Swaraj will address the annual high-level debate.
- According to the provisional list, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Maithrapala Sirisena of Sri Lanka are also expected to address the world leaders.
- As per tradition, Brazil’s president opens the General Debate every year and is followed by the US President.
- The General Debate will open on the theme of The Sustainable Development Goals: a universal push to transform our world.
7) Bangladesh blocks over 30 news sites.
- Bangladesh government has blocked over 30 online portals and news websites, including some pro-opposition media.
- The list of blocked news portals included Sheershanews.com and amardeshonline, a news portal linked to a pro-opposition Bengali daily that the government shut down in 2013.
- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had publicly criticised Bangladeshi TV channels over live telecast of the government’s preparations during the country’s worst hostage crisis.
8) Japan marks 71st anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing.
- Japan marked the 71st anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima as its Mayor urged world leaders to follow in US President Barack Obama`s footsteps and visit, and ultimately rid the world of nuclear arms.
- A peace bell tolled the time a US warplane dropped the bomb. About 50,000 participants including aging survivors and dignitaries held a moment of silence at a memorial ceremony in the western Japanese city.
- The bomb was dropped three days after the first atomic bomb dropped by the US B-29 bomber Enola Gay was detonated over the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.
- Representatives from 53 countries, in addition to the UN and EU, attended the ceremony at the city`s Peace Park and paid tribute to victims of the attack.
9) First-ever ‘Pizza ATM’ opens in US.
- First-ever pizza vending Machine has been installed on the campus of Xavier University (XU) in Ohio that can hold seventy 12-inch pizzas and dispense in just three minutes.
- Machine customers opt for the types of Pizzas in 24-hour machine’s touchscreen.
- The machine vents each pizza that cost around $10, with the ATM accepting credit and debit cards, as well as a student card.
- Pizza ATM has been made by French-based Company Paline, which offers full remote communication also comes with several features like tracking, real-time email and text alerts, webcam monitoring, remote error and shutdown detection.