Which organization is set to partner with the Embassy of the US to jointly promote domestic investments during 'Select USA 2019' summit that will be held in Washington DC?

Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) held a 'Chintan Baithak' with the stakeholders of the Renewable Energy sector. The 'Baithak' (meet) was chaired by Secretary, MNRE, Anand Kumar and saw good participation from Renewable Energy (RE) sector including the representatives of major RE developers, equipment manufacturers, financers, regulators, think-tanks, industry bodies and skill developers. The day long meet deliberated upon various issues pertaining to the RE sector viz. solar, wind, bio-energy, small-hydro, regulatory issues, bidding & pricing, demand forecasting, financing of RE projects, energy storage, Make in India, skilling India's RE work force etc.

World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidelines for children under five years of age, recently. As per WHO guidelines, children under five must spend less time sitting watching screens, or restrained in prams and seats, get better quality sleep and have more time for active play if they are to grow up healthy. The new guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age were developed by a WHO panel of experts. They assessed the effects on young children of inadequate sleep, and time spent sitting watching screens or restrained in chairs and prams. They also reviewed evidence around the benefits of increased activity levels.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has set up an Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office to integrate the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN region and the Quad. The new division is a brainchild of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and is intended to give a coherent architecture to the Indo-Pacific policy. It is a big step by the Government and it is expected to give thrust to the Indo-Pacific centred policymaking. The Indo-Pacific Wing is currently headed by joint secretary Vikram Doraiswami.

The German-sponsored resolution 2467 (2019), on sexual violence, was adopted by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning rape as a weapon of war after 13 out of 15 members have voted in favour of the resolution while Russia and China abstain from voting. The resolution was adopted only after language on a woman's right to "reproductive health" was removed from the draft to avert a veto by the anti-abortion US administration.

In a bid to evaluate the environmental performance of existing schools across India, the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council has recently released a rating tool 'GRIHA for Existing Day Schools'. The rating tool will work as an integrated tool to evaluate performance and provide solutions for enhanced energy and water efficiencies, increased thermal and visual comfort, and decreased operational and maintenance costs. The purpose of the rating is to familiarize the students with the concepts of sustainability by involving them, under the guidance of their teachers, on evaluating the environmental impact of schools on the environment. Through the rating process, students and teachers will get an opportunity to establish contact with nature and with each other using the approach of co-creation and understanding.

With the eighth position, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad has been ranked among the top ten best airports in the world. The survey was conducted by AirHelp. The Hamad International Airport in Qatar has topped the list followed by Japan's Tokyo and Greece's Athens International airports.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to achieve its target under REPLACE initiative of eliminating industrial trans-fat from industrially produced global food supply by 2023. Trans-fat is also called the worst form of fat in food. It is responsible for over 5,00,000 deaths from coronary heart disease each year globally. Industrially-produced trans-fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life than other fats. But healthier alternatives can be used that would not affect taste or cost of food.

Anand-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed world's first complete parent-wise genome assembly of buffalo named "NDDB_ABRO_Murrah" of riverine buffaloes. This comes on the back of the successful launch of a customized genotyping chip for indigenous cattle and their crosses, named INDUSCHIP. To ensure better accuracy, for the first time a trio binning was used for separating haplotypes of a buffalo, using a father-mother-offspring trio. World buffalo population is estimated to be 224.4 million, of which 219 million (97.58 per cent) are in Asia.

Japan has begun testing the ALFA-X version of its fastest-ever Shinkansen bullet train that could reach 400 km per hour (249 mph). The bullet train ALFA-X (Advanced Labs for Frontline Activity in Rail Experimentation) is scheduled to start its service in 2030, when, rail company JR East would operate it at 360 kilometres per hour (224 mph). This speed will make it 10 kph faster than China's Fuxing Hao, which links Beijing and Shanghai and operates at the same top speed. This would make ALFA-X, the world's fastest bullet train. The ALFA-X's futuristic design features 10 cars and a sleek pointed nose.The bullet train will be tested (after midnight, when the line is quiet) twice a week on the line between Sendai and Aomori, 2 Japanese cities, which are 280 kilometres apart.

Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in India as a commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October 2019. The MoU has been signed by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt of India, Prof K. Vijay Raghavan and Director, IIT Delhi, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao in New Delhi. The Centre will work towards the implementation of sustainable, scientific and technological solutions for waste management by deploying available technologies for transformation of waste to wealth. The project has been approved under the recently constituted Prime Minister's Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).