70 years after extinction, PM Modi releases ‘India’s guests’ to MP’s Kuno National Park

• The big cats were flown in on a modified passenger B-747 Jumbo Jet, which took off from Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek and landed in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior.
• The cheetahs will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of his birthday, at Kuno National Park.
• On board the jet were eight Namibian wild cheetahs, five females and three males.
• A plan to reintroduce cheetahs in India that was endorsed in 2009 by then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was shot down by the Supreme Court in 2013.
• The idea was revived in 2017 by the Narendra Modi government, and the SC cleared the move in 2020 “on an experimental basis”.
• This is the first time in the world that a large carnivore will be relocated from one continent to another.

Keen to upgrade free-trade deal with India, says Sri Lanka President

• Sri Lanka will revive its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and upgrade it to a “a comprehensive economic and technological partnership”, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, signalling Colombo’s willingness to revisit a stalled pact.
• The current Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) came into effect in 2000 and several rounds of bilateral discussions later, Colombo and New Delhi are yet to reach an agreement on its upgraded version.
• Wickremesinghe, as Prime Minister between 2015 and 2019, attempted to sign an upgraded trade pact with India, but was unsuccessful.

IAF to fly AN-32 on blended biodiesel for 200 hours

• The aircraft took flight on biodiesel blended with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the first time in December 2018.
• A second aircraft, a Dornier, was now undergoing ground tests after it had been cleared by the original manufacturer of the engine, Honeywell, for use of 50% biofuel.
• The global aviation industry is one of the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The fuel consumption of the IAF for 2021-22 was 6.2 lakh kilo litres, which contributed 15 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• On the civil aviation front, an official from aircraft manufacturer Airbus said it had plans to offer 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatibility on its commercial aircraft latest by 2030.

Kedarnath temple to get a ''golden'' makeover

• A Mumbai-based businessman will fund the facelift of Kedarnath temple’s sanctum sanctorum, which will now be gold-plated. Currently the sanctum sanctorum of one of the famous Char Dham temples is covered with 230 kilograms of silver.
• Kedarnath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple is located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river, in the state of Uttarakhand.
• The temple is one of the four major sites in India''s Chota Char Dham pilgrimage of Northern Himalayas and is the first of the Panch Kedar pilgrimage sites.

PM Modi attends 22nd SCO Summit at Samarkand; Says, SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified, resilient supply chains

• Besides leaders of SCO member states, observer states, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests attended the meet.
• India has been working closely with Uzbekistan towards the success of their Chairship.
• On the side-lines of the SCO Summit, Prime Minister Modi held informal meetings with a number of leaders on matters of mutual interest. He also took part in bilateral meetings held after the summit with Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran.
• The SCO Summit 2022 was first held in Shanghai in June 2002. There are eight members, out of which six are founding members. The last two countries – India and Pakistan – joined as full members in 2017.
• Member countries are: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

Samarkand Declaration of the Council of Heads of State of Shanghai Cooperation Organization

• Samarkand is located in the Zarefshan River valley in the Southeastern region of Uzbekistan.
• Samarkand is the country’s cultural capital and has always been an intrinsic part of the world culture for more than two and a half millennia.
• In central Asia, it is one of the oldest cities to be inhabited. Inhabitation in Samarkand started almost in 1500 BC.
• Samarkand is a central point for trade due to its easy route access to China and the Mediterranean areas.
• The name Samarkand is derived from the Sogdian civilisation, where Samar means stone or rock and Khand means fort. Thus, Samarkand means a town or fort of rock or stone. The city of Samarkand is a storehouse of natural resources spanning Central Asia.
• Since ancient times, Samarkand has been famous for its craft production with a castle and robust defence. Like the entire region of Uzbekistan, the official language of Samarkand is Uzbek. However, the second official language is Russian.

India to host 9th Session of Governing Body of the ITPGRFA from 19-24th September

• The Treaty is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which entered into force in June 2004.
• During the event an extensive deliberation on how to preserve, conserve and maintain the germplasm, biodiversity, and food and agriculture will be held. Deliberation will also be held on how to exchange and share the tolerant germplasm through a multilateral system.
• The event will also witness a discussion on farmers'' and breeders'' rights.
• Representatives of nearly 262 countries are expected to participate in this seven-day-long event.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh presents ''INSPIRE'' awards to 60 Start-Ups, financial support to over 53,000 students

• The award is instituted by the Department of Science and Technology and these innovators will be extended complete incubation support for their entrepreneurship journey.
• During the year 2020-21, while the country was battling with the severe impact of COVID-19, the annual INSPIRE Awards - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) competition attracted an unprecedented 6.53 Lakh ideas and innovations from all States.
• The scheme aims to help build a critical human resource pool for strengthening, expanding the science and technology system and increase the research & development base.

Varanasi nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital at the 2022 SCO Summit

• The nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital will promote tourism, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member Countries.
• It also underlines country''s ancient civilizational links with Member States of SCO especially the Central Asian Republics.
• Under the framework of this major cultural outreach program, a number of events will be hosted in Varanasi during 2022-23, for which guests will be invited to participate from SCO Member States.
• Varanasi is a city in Uttar Pradesh on the Ganga river. The city is still widely known by its earlier name Banaras and its ancient name Kashi.