Su-30 MKI

• Having taken delivery of all Su-30MKI fighter aircraft and the deal for contracting 12 more Su-30s meant to replace those lost over the years deferred against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is working to speed up the long-delayed upgrade of these frontline fighters.
• The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia''s Sukhoi and built under licence by India''s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.
• The IAF is looking to add new weapons, avionics and sensors and engines on the Su-30MKIs to keep them contemporary for the next few decades.
• India had procured 272 Su-30s from Russia, a majority of which were assembled by HAL and around 11 jets were lost. The IAF has 12 Su-30 squadrons in service, and 40-50 aircraft are at HAL for overhaul repairs, officials said.

Election Commission to push for internal democracy within parties

• Though the Representation of the People Act does not mandate internal elections, the EC’s guidelines for parties applying for registration under the Act state that the applicant should submit a copy of the party constitution.
• “There should be a specific provision in the Constitution/rules and regulations/memorandum of the party regarding organisational elections at different levels and the periodicity of such elections and terms of office of the office-bearers of the party (sic),” the EC guidelines say.
• A top official said the EC would nudge parties to follow the internal democracy commitments. However, the Commission does not have the power to deregister parties that fail to comply with the rules. Though it has asked the Law Ministry for the power to deregister political parties in the past, the proposal has not been implemented so far.
• The focus on internal democracy of parties comes after the EC’s extensive drive since May to de-list RUPPs that had not kept the Commission informed of change in address, PAN, names of office-bearers and other details.

Non-oil exports to UAE up 14% after trade deal

• India’s global non-petroleum exports during the same period grew by just 3% on a year-on-year basis, the Ministry said, seeking to emphasise the much higher growth in such exports to the UAE which were at $5.92 billion compared to $5.17 billion a year ago.
• Excluding petroleum-related imports, the imports from the UAE in the three months grew by 1% to $5.61 billion.
• The sharpest jump in Indian exports to UAE was seen in sugar (up 237%), cereals (161%), vegetables (82%), inorganic chemicals (74%) and electrical machinery and equipment (67%).
• The Ministry said it expects Indian exports to increase further in the coming months with increasing use of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by exporters and a series of trade promotion events planned in the UAE.

ICC makes changes to Playing Conditions

• The changes will come into effect on October 1.
• The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee has ratified the recommendations from the Men’s Cricket Committee, led by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.
• The practice of ‘mankading’— a batter being run out by the bowler while backing up too far from the non-striking end — has been destigmatised. It has been moved from the section on Unfair Play to the one on Run Out.
• Hybrid pitches which are made of natural grass (predominantly) and artificial fibre could now be used for ODIs and T20Is, for both men and women if both the rival teams agree.
• Other changes include the banning of the use of saliva to polish the ball. The ban had already been in place, as a temporary measure, following the COVID-19 outbreak.

world''s largest encyclopaedic sanskrit dictionary

• The year of completion of this gigantic dictionary project, which commenced in 1948, remains unknown. But the final word count is estimated to touch 20 lakh and would be the world’s largest dictionary of Sanskrit.
• Linguist and Sanskrit Professor SM Katre, founder of India’s oldest Department of Modern Linguistics in Deccan College, conceived this unique project in 1948 and served as the dictionary’s first General Editor. It was later developed by Prof. AM Ghatage.
• The Project, KoshaSHRI, under which the website for online access of the Dictionary will be made, also consists of a customised software which is presently under testing and development.

Bathukamma, floral festival begins across state

• This festival is celebrated for nine days during Durga Navratri in Telangana.
• ‘Bathuku’means the life and Amma means the Mother. On a whole, it is a festival to worship the ‘Life Giver’, the universal energy - Goddess Shakti.
• Bathukamma is made up of seven concentric layers of flowers that are arranged in a pyramid shape. The arrangement signifies the mother goddess.
• As it is a festival of women, they dance around it singing Bathukamma Paatalu (i.e. songs praising Bathukamma).
• The Goddess is worshipped for the nine days and on the tenth day of the celebration, the goddess is immersed in the local waters after performing the rituals.

PM extends greetings to Jewish people around the world

• Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah, literally "day of shouting or blasting."
• It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days that occur in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. The High Holy Days comprise of Rosh HaShanah Yom Kippur, Pesach, (Passover), and Sukkot.
• Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar, as prescribed in the Torah, following the prescription of the Hebrew Bible to "raise a noise" on Yom Teruah.

MoHUA launched Swachh Toycathon, a unique competition to make toys from waste.

• The competition will be open to individuals and groups to bring forth innovation in toy designs using dry waste.
• It will focus on efficient designs that can be replicated at a larger scale, and toys that comply with minimum safety standards.
• The competition will be hosted on MyGov’s innovate India portal. Center for Creative Learning, IIT Gandhinagar is the knowledge partner for the initiative.
• It was introduced to promote the Indian toy industry including traditional handicrafts and handmade toys with the objective of establishing India as a global Toy hub.
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade along with 14 Ministries of Central Government is currently implementing various aspects of the National Action Plan for Toys.