National & International Events - Current Affairs for October, 2017

The ASEAN defence ministers began their high-level security dialogue on Oct 23, 2017 to discuss security issues, including counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and maritime conflicts, facing the region. They held a breakfast meeting before the formal opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) to specifically discuss the threat of violent extremism in the region The Philippines, chair of the ASEAN this year, is hosting the 11th ADMM and 4th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) that include eight of ASEAN's dialogue partners namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US. The meeting hopes to come up with frameworks for maritime interaction, education and training exchanges, aircraft encounters among others. ADMM: Know More

• The ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in the ASEAN.
• It aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges as well as enhancement of transparency and openness among the 10 ASEAN member states-Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
• The ADMM-Plus is a platform for the ASEAN Defence Ministers to engage their dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacific.

The city is all set to host an International Puppet Festival from October 26. West Bengal principal secretary Tourism and Home Affairs Atri Bhattacharya will be inaugurating the festival. Artists from the UK, Germany, Peru, Portugal, Italy, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore and India would be participating in the festival. Kolkata will host such a festival for the first time and the six-day long festival will end on October 31, officials said. The puppet festival is aimed at regenerating the emotions attached to puppetry and it will be held at Mohorkunj here.

Make in India: Sweden 2017, organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in Stockholm, from October 12-13aims to enhance Indo-Swedish cooperation and explore new areas of partnership. Minister of Commerce and Industry also met the Co-Chair India-Sweden Business Leaders’ Round Table (ISBLRT) and Chairman, SEB, Mr. Marcus Wallenberg and President SAAB, Mr. HakanBuskhe. The Commerce & Industry Minister acknowledged the importance of the partnership with SAAB, a pioneer Swedish company in the Indian market. SAAB expressed interest in introducing full scope for development of industrial systems, from design and engineering to production. The importance of technological cooperation was highlighted with focus on creation of high-technology zones close to forward going universities. SAAB representatives appreciated the successful GST introduction in India that has resulted in growth of domestic trade. Importance of fostering an EU-India Free Trade Agreement was discussed, given its potential to open borders and enable products to compete. It was agreed that higher economic integration and interdependencies will help resolve global political issues. The main highlight of the event was the second edition of the India-Sweden Business Leaders’ Roundtable (ISBLRT) which focused on cooperation between the two countries, progress update of four joint working groups (Digitization, Smart Cities, Defence and Security and Skill Development) and the work plan for the year to come.

Japan launched a fourth satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system (GPS) it hopes will encourage new businesses and help spur economic growth. An H-2A rocket carrying Japan's fourth and final quasi-zenith satellite, the Michibiki No. 4, lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan on Oct 10. Having four satellites that loop over Japan and Australia in a figure of eight orbit will allow for uninterrupted coverage and puts engineers on course to switch the system on in April. Japanese GPS can locate devices to within several centimeters compared with the commonly-used U.S. system, which has an accuracy of about 10 meters. Japan plans to have seven of the geo-positioning satellites in orbit by 2023. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

• The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System is a three-satellite regional time transfer system in development and the satellite-based augmentation system for the Global Positioning System that would be receivable within Japan.
• Planned completion date: 2017.
• Start date: September 11, 2010.
• Cost: 170 billion JPY.
• Regime(s): 3x GSO.
• Total satellites: 4 (7 in the future).
• Country/ies of origin: Japan.
• Operator: JAXA

Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala is all set to conduct the fourth edition of the prestigious annual Dilli seminar on 12th and 13th of October 2017. The theme for this year’s seminar is ‘India and Southeast Asia-Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages’. INA conducts the annual Dilli seminar on elements and issues of maritime history and heritage of the nation to help the young officers and cadets keep an eye on future developments in the maritime domain with a strong foundation of the past. This year’s theme is aimed to explore and elucidate the impact of historic maritime trade that existed between India and Southeast Asian countries on their society, religion, spirituality, art, architecture, language, literature, administration and other areas of civilization. The papers presented in the seminar would deliberate and analyse the impact of the historical maritime connections on the present, to extrapolate the future. The Dilli series of seminar has always been an intellectually stimulating experience for all participants especially the young cadets and the 2017 edition promises to be equally informative, especially considering the growing significance of Southeast Asian countries in the present socio-economic, geographical and political situation.

First same-sex marriage held in Germany Germany celebrated its first same-sex weddings on Oct 1, 2017, after a new law came into force putting gay and lesbian couples on an equal legal footing with heterosexual couples. About 60 guests and an equal number of journalists packed into Schoeneberg town hall’s “Golden Room” to witness the marriage of Karl Kreile and his partner of 38 years, Bodo Mende. Germany has allowed same-sex partners to enter into registered partnerships since 2001, but these did not give couples exactly the same status in German law as marriage. The German parliament voted to introduce marriage equality in June, after Chancellor Angela Merkel unexpectedly dropped her longstanding opposition to parliament holding a vote on the issue.