1) Chinese FM Wang Yi meets PM Modi amid strained ties over NSG bid.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj during which India`s bid for membership of the NSG is understood to have figured among other regional and bilateral issues.
- Wang and Swaraj also discussed issues relating to annual BRICS summit which will be hosted by India in Goa.
- China had stalled India`s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the plenary meeting of the 48-nation grouping on the ground that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
2) 6.900 km gas pipelines to link B`desh, Myanmar, India.
- The government has ambitious plan to lay 6,900 km of gas pipelines linking Bangladesh, Myanmar, most north-eastern states, and West Bengal.
- Currently, large quantities of gas is flared (burned) in the north-eastern region because it can`t be piped to the consumers.
- Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) signed an agreement in this year to jointly set up a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal plant in Chittagong port city which will help pipe gas to the north-eastern states.
3) Barack Obama Declares Emergency For Flooded Louisiana.
- US President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration for flood-devastated Louisiana, where emergency workers have rescued more than 7,000 residents stranded in homes and cars.
- The action makes emergency federal funding available to support rescue crews working nonstop as deadly flooding ravages the state, disastrous weather that has left at least three dead and one missing.
- The flooding submerged large parts of the region, three days after water-swelled streams and rivers began rising. Local, state and national agencies have been working together to rescue residents.
- Thousands were evacuated in Livingston Parish, near the capital Baton Rouge.
4) India extends $1 million grant to Zimbabwe.
- India has provided $1 million US Dollars grant to Zimbabwe in the wake of El Nino induced drought disaster.
- India also being worked out for donating 500 metric tonnes of rice as part of the second phase of assistance.
- Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe handed over the assistance to Zimbabwe.
- Accepting the grant, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr. Misheck Sibanda thanked for the quick response by India to an international appeal made by the country.
- Zimbabwe and India in critical sectors of the economy such as SME, ICT, Energy, Education and Pharmaceuticals.
5) India and Bangladesh to jointly produce documentary on 1971 war of Independence of Bangladesh.
- India and Bangladesh agreed to jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 war which led to independence for Bangladesh. The decision was taken after a meeting between Information and Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu with his Bangladesh counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu.
- India will also facilitate the production of a `mega movie` by Bangladesh to mark the 100th birth anniversary of its Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020.
- The AIR would begin an exclusive service for Bangladesh and the Bengali diaspora titled ``Akashvani Maitree``.
- President of India Pranab Mukherjee would be launching the channel which would act as a `bridge of amity between the two countries`.
- During the discussions, India and Bangladesh agreed to work out a proposal for a joint audio-visual co-production agreement between the two countries.
6) Australia agrees to close controversial Papua New Guinea refugee detention centre.
- Australia and Papua New Guinea had agreed to close a controversial Australian-funded asylum seeker detention center on Manus Island, although the ultimate fate of 800 refugees held in the camp remained unclear.
- Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea (PNG). They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia.
- Some asylum seekers have spent years in the camps, which have been criticized by the United Nations and human rights groups, with numerous reports of abuse and self-harm amongst detainees, including children.
- The announcement came after a newspaper published leaked documents detailing more than 2,000 incidents of sexual abuse, assault and attempted self-harm, reported over two years at the Nauru detention center.
7) Typhoon Dianmu hits southern China.
- Typhoon Dianmu landed in Dongli Township, city of Leizhou, southern China`s Guangdong province bringing torrential rain to much of the region
- This year`s eighth typhoon landed in Dongli Township in the city of Leizhou and is expected to bring heavy rainfall.
- The typhoon is moving westward at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. It is expected to sweep across the Leizhou Peninsula to the waters of the northern Beibu Gulf.
- In the island province of Hainan, more than 40,000 people were evacuated to the provincial headquarters against droughts, floods and typhoons.
- China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
8) China set to open world`s highest and longest glass bridge.
- The world’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge was opened to visitors in central China.
- The bridge connects two mountain cliffs known as the Avatar Mountains in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
- The bridge concreted with 99 panes of three-layer transparent glasses, hangs between two steep cliffs 300 metres altitude is maintained from the ground.
- The glass-bottomed bridge is 430 metres long and is 6 metres wide.
- It stands 300 metre above a canyon in the Tianmenshan National Forest Park.
- The bridge has set 10 world records spanning its design and construction.
- Maximum 8,000 visitors will be allowed to cross the bridge every day.
9) Myanmar to support China’s OBOR, BCIM initiatives.
- Myanmar has officially announced to support for China’s ambitious One Belt and One Road (OBOR) connectivity initiative along the ancient Silk Road.
- It was announced in the joint statement released by both countries during official state visit of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to China.
- Myanmar also Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor meant to industrialise a stretch spanning more than 2,000 km.
- BCIM corridor links Kunming in China with Mandalay in Myanmar and passes through Bangladesh and ends at Kolkata in India.
- Myanmar also asked for China’s support to realise peace and national reconciliation through political dialogue in case of militancy.
- Myanmar has been a victim of militancy which for decades is fuelled by clandestine sale of drugs, jade and timber, mostly channelled through China.
- Myanmar also discussed on issues for China’s support for it infrastructure projects including on Myitsone dam project.