1.World Suicide Prevention Day

Context: World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is being observed on 10^th September, 2019

About:

• World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003.
• The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) to host World Suicide Prevention Day.
• The PURPOSE of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented.
• An estimated one million people per year die by suicide or about one person in 10,000 (1.4% of all deaths), or “a death every 40 seconds or about 3,000 every day”. As of 2004 the number of people who die by suicide is expected to reach 1.5 million per year by 2020.

2.Ashoora-E-Muharram

Context: 10^th September 2019 is being observed as Muharram, also known as Ashura or ‘Youm-e-Ashura’. Muharram which is the first month of the Islamic calendar is considered to be the holiest of all months after Ramzan for Muslims.

About Muharram:

• Muharram is one of the most significant festivals celebrated by the Muslim community as it marks the Beginning of the Islamic New Year.
• The 10^th day of Muharram known as Ashura or Youm-e-Ashura, is celebrated differently among the Muslim factions around the world.
• The 10th of Muharram marks the date when carnage took place at Karbala and when Imam Hussain died in 680 CE. Imam Hussain was the Prophet Muhammed’s grandson.
• Muslims believe that God created Adam and Eve on the 10th of Muharram, which was also when an Egyptian pharaoh and his soldiers drowned in the Red Sea later in time.
• This year the 10th day of Muharram falls on 10 September.
• Muharram is observed by both Shia and Sunni sect of the Muslims.
• While Shia sect observe this day by participating in processions and self-flagellation, Sunni Muslims fast all day long from sunrise to sunset.

3.Black Spots

Why in News?

• Following widespread protests against the implementation of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 and criticisms over the faulty roads, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked the state governments to identify black spots on roads and fix a timeline to repair them.

About:

• A black spot is defined as a stretch of not more than 500 metres in length where five accidents have taken place or where 10 fatalities have happened in three years.
• Black spots account for 90% of road accidents in the country and short- and long-term measures chalked out by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to curb accidents in such spots assume significance.

4.Sentinelese Tribe

Why in News?

• A recent paper published in the journal of Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) in the backdrop of death of U.S. citizen John Chau, makes a case for leaving the Sentinelese alone, and for the Indian government to continue its “hands-off, eyes-on” policy for them.

About Sentinelese Tribe:

• They belong to Negrito tribe who live on the North Sentinel Island of the Andaman (50 km west of Port Blair).
• They are said to be a Direct Descendant of the earliest humans who emerged from Africa. Their language is incomprehensible to even other tribes in the region.
• They have made little to no advancement in the last 60,000 years and still live very primitive lives, surviving mainly on fish and coconuts.
• They are connected the Jarawas, another tribe in the Andamans on the basis of physical, as well as linguistic similarities.
• Anthropological research reveals that the tribe inhabits the island at least for the past 200 years.
• Genome studies indicate that the Andaman tribes could have been on the islands even 30,000 years ago.

5.International Symposium on Buckwheat

Why in News?

• A four-day international symposium on buckwheat was organised from 3^rd to 6^th September, 2019 in Meghalaya by North Eastern Hills University.

About:

• Theme: “diversifying food systems for health and nutritional security”
• As a medicine, buckwheat is used to improve blood flow by strengthening veins and small blood vessels; to treat varicose veins and poor circulation in the legs, and to prevent hardening of the arteries.
• Buckwheat is also used widely as a cover crop to smother weeds and improve the soil. The crop seems to improve soil tilth and is reported to make phosphorous more available as a soil nutrient, possible through root-associated mycorrhizae.
• Buckwheat suppresses weeds and attracts beneficial insects and pollinators with its abundant blossoms. It extracts soil phosphorus from soil better than most grain-type cover crops. Buckwheat thrives in cool, moist conditions but it is not frosted tolerant.
• Buckwheat is a relatively low input crop that has relatively high yields even in marginal soil. Since it adds nutrients to the soil, it makes a good cover crop or rotational crop.

6.Srivilliputtur Palkova

Why in News?

• The geographical indication registry of India has approved Geographical Indication tag for delicious sweet ‘Srivilliputtur palkovaʼ.

About:

• It is a sweet from Srivilliputtur, made from cow milk and sugar.
• The palkova is manufactured in and around the municipality of Srivilliputtur in Virudhunagar district.
• What makes this palkova unique is that it is made using milk only from cows reared in and around Srivilliputtur.
• The milk is sourced from vendors and co-operative societies early in the morning. The milk here is naturally sweet, and hence, only a small amount of sugar is added for making the sweet. The average shelf life of the product is 7 to 10 days.

7.INS Khanderi

Context: INS Khanderi is to be inducted on September, 28.

• Indian Navy’s second Scorpene class submarine INS Khanderi will be commissioned on September 28, 2019. It is a stealth guided-missile frigate under Project P-17A.
• INS Khanderi will be armed with 18 SUT torpedoes which can be fired from six tubes, sea-skimming Exocet anti-ship missiles.
• It can also carry 30 anti-ship mines in place of torpedoes. Apart from their primary role as an attack submarine, INS Khanderi and INS Kalvari along with their sister ships can also carry out reconnaissance (Intelligence Gathering as well as area Surveillance/ Spying) missions and also lay anti-ship mines to target the enemy.