ABP Live News Shots: African Union In G20 To New Delhi G20 Leaders' Joint Declaration — Top Headlines This Week

ABP Live News Shots: From African Union's inclusion in G20 to joint New Delhi declaration of G20 leaders — bringing to you the big news that made headlines this past week.

This week, the G20 Summit is being held under India's presidency for the first time since the group began its annual meet. PM Narendra Modi announced the inclusion of the African Union in the G20 as a permanent member as the country also managed to get a consensus on the New Delhi G20 Leaders' Declaration amid concerns over the Russia-Ukraine war. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's comments on 'Sanatan Dharma' have put the entire opposition in a tough situation. An earthquake has wreaked havoc in the North African country of Morocco killing over 2,000 people.

INDIA

The 55-nation African Union (AU) is now a permanent member of the Group of Twenty (G20), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an announcement to this effect Saturday. In his opening remarks at the inaugural session of the 2023 G20 Leaders' Summit, Modi welcomed the President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, to take seat at the G20 table. Shortly after, Assoumani took his seat at the G20 table and the name plaque of the African Union was placed before him.

Despite the challenges concerning the Russia-Ukraine war, G20 leaders adopted the Joint Declaration at the New Delhi G20 Summit on Saturday. PM Narendra Modi said, " I have received good news. Due to the hard work of our team, a consensus has been built on the New Delhi G20 Leaders' Summit Declaration. My proposal is to adopt this leadership declaration. I announce the adoption of this declaration. On this occasion, I congratulate my Sherpa and ministers, who worked hard for it and made it possible."

DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's call to 'eradicate Sanatan Dharma' and comparing it with 'Dengue, Malaria' stirred a massive row drawing criticism from BJP, and Shiv Sena (UBT) among others. Even Congress Chief Mallikarjun Khare, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who are members of I.N.D.I.A bloc of which DMK is a part, played safe saying hurting any religion is not right. The BJP leaders demanded an apology from I.N.D.I.A bloc and Congress while Trinamool Congress said that the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A does not have any connection with the DMK Minister's comment.

World

'Kept Waiting For It To Stop But It Didn't': People Recount Deadly Morocco Quake Horror As Toll Crosses 2,000

Residents across Morocco are perhaps facing one of the most difficult times of their lives after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the North African country and destroyed the cities killing over 2,000 people. People were forced to run out of their houses as the tremors hit the country. According to a CNN report, the epicentre was in the High Atlas mountains, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, a popular tourist city of nearly 840,000 people.  

US President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed his disappointment over the reports of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping’s plans to skip the G20 summit in India this week. "I am disappointed, but I am going to get to see him," Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware when asked about indications Xi will not join the leaders' summit, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, will be declared a terrorist group by the United Kingdom government. Following the declaration, it will be illegal to be a member organisation or extend support to it. A draft order is set to be laid in Parliament after which the assets of the organisation will be categorised as terrorist property and seized.

Sports

Red Bull's Max Verstappen secured a historic 10th consecutive victory by winning the Italian Grand Prix. He took control of the race at Monza and once in the lead, he proved unbeatable. Verstappen's remarkable streak continued as he outperformed his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished in second place. The Ferraris driven by Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took third and fourth place, respectively. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top six, finishing fifth and sixth. Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record who had won 9 races in a row.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection panel headed by Ajit Agarkar, on Tuesday (September 5), announced a solid 15-member preliminary squad for ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023. The team management picked four all-rounders, four bowlers and seven batters for the mega event. Talented youngster Tilak Varma, pacer Prasidh Krishna and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson are the three big names missing from India's ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 official squad. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be having star all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the vice-captain.

Australia’s speedster Mitchell Starc has declared that he will be returning back in the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Straw has not played in the  T20 league since 2015 but said that he will definitely take part in the upcoming edition of the T20 tournament ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the United States and the Caribbean. As of now, the left-arm pacer has featured for one franchise in the league and that is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) but other teams are expected to bid for him once he puts his name in the auction pool. 

ENT

Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha will allegedly tie the knot in Udaipur on 23-24 September. Now, as per a wedding reception party invite that has been going viral, the two will hold a wedding reception in Chandigarh at the Taj Hotel on September 30. The couple has kept their wedding affair quite private. In pictures, which have been doing the rounds on social media, we see an ivory coloured wedding reception invite.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha and Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra will have a royal, big Punjabi wedding on Sep 23 and Sept 24 at the Leela Palace and The Oberoi Udaivilas, as per reports. 200 guests are supposed to be attending the wedding and more than 50 VVIp guests are also part of the functions. The guest list will naturally include AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann.

After four years of marriage, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner have parted ways. The 'Game of Thrones' actor announced news of it on social media. The celebrity couple has formally declared their divorce after several days of rumours regarding their marital status. In addition to not adding a caption, Sophie and Joe both disabled comments on their post. Sophie and Joe urged fans to stay away from speculating on the reasons that led to their choice to divorce, stating that it was a joint decision. The couple has two children together. 

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan sent a "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" message on X (previously Twitter). Given that the Narendra Modi-led government may forward a proposal to rename India as Bharat during the forthcoming session of Parliament, the actor's tweet is not unexpected. The upcoming Parliament’s special session, set to take place from September 18-22, is when the government is most likely to introduce a resolution to rename India as Bharat.

 

BUSINESS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently called the debt crisis a “great concern for the world, especially developing countries”, as he said India’s G20 Presidency placed a significant emphasis on addressing the global challenges posed by debt vulnerabilities and there are some “appreciable results” as well. In an interview with PTI, the PM said India hopes to build consensus at the G20 summit to create a framework to help low-income economies ridden by debt. New Delhi is set to host world leaders on September 9 and 10 for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit. Many leaders expected to attend the meeting have called for a discussion on the issue. While the rising public debt globally is not a new phenomenon, the current crisis has come at a time of greater vulnerability. 

The government has removed additional duties levied on about half a dozen US products, including chickpeas, lentils, and apples. These import duties were imposed in 2019 after the US administration increased tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products. At the time India levied duties on 28 US products in retaliation to the US' move. Now, in a notification dated September 5, the Ministry of Finance announced the removal of duties on the products, including chickpeas, lentils (Masur), apples, walnuts in shells, and almonds fresh or dried, as well as almond shelled. The ministry said that the notification will come into force on September 6, 2023. The move comes ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit scheduled for September 9-10. US President Joe Biden will visit India and hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) in Mumbai on Tuesday asked banks and financial institutions to ensure that their customers nominate heirs, which can help reduce the quantum of unclaimed money. The minister, in her inaugural address, said, "I want banking system, the financial ecosystem (including) the mutual funds, stock markets... everybody to keep in mind that when someone deals with his (customer's) money, the organisations will have to think about the future and ensure that they (customers) nominate their heir, give the name and address." According to a report, the banking system alone has over Rs 35,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while the overall quantum of the unclaimed money is said to be more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The finance minister also said that it is essential to build a responsible financial ecosystem, and added that one laggard can cause a disruption. She also said that tax havens and round tripping of money are a threat to responsible financial ecosystem. She asked fintech companies to invest in cybersecurity and said that trust is very important.

TECH

Apple is scheduled to launch the iPhone 15 lineup on September 12 in India and globally and the company is likely to launch four iPhone models this year. The rumours mills are abuzz that the new iPhone series will get a significant upgrade from the previous iteration. Some leaks and rumours suggest that the vanilla iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus model may be launched at the same price as last year or get a marginal price hike while the iPhone 15 Pro Max is said to be getting the steepest price hike, as compared to last year's model.

According to several leaks and rumours, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models may witness a price increase of $100-$200, as compared to last year's models in the US as they are likely to get significant improvements, such as a titanium body, a faster chipset and thinner bezels.

A mobile app called "G20 India" has been made for the G20 Summit, and it is now available for download on both Android and iOS devices. The Android app had crossed more than 10,000 downloads at the time of filing this story. Enter the app and one would see the calendar, G20 India 2023, media and resources and about G20, among other features. The G20 India app was released by the Ministry of External Affairs in November last year.

In a recent ruling, a Norwegian court upheld the decision to fine Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for violating users' privacy. This legal battle came to a head as Meta attempted to halt a fine imposed by Norway's data regulator. Since August 14, Meta has been facing daily fines of one million crowns ($93,200) for its actions involving the harvesting of user data and the subsequent targeting of advertising toward them. This practice, commonly known as behavioural advertising, is a prevalent business model among tech giants.

 

SCIENCE

India is among the five major economies in the race to lead the global supply of zero-carbon technologies such as renewable energy and electric vehicles, according to a report titled 'Competing in the new zero-carbon industrial era'. The authors of the report are Neil Makaroff and Linda Kalcher of Strategic Perspectives, a pan-European think tank whose mission is to promote effective climate action. The five major economies are China, the European Union, the United States, Japan, and India. The manufacturing and deployment of zero-carbon technologies can create jobs, and result in competitive advantages and the reduction of emissions in key sectors.

Earth had the hottest three-month period from June 2023 to August 2023, and witnessed this year the hottest August on record, according to Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) funded by the European Union. August 2023 is also the second hottest month ever, after July 2023, a statement released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, citing C3S data. The C3S climate bulletin for August 2023, released on September 5, 2023, said that the boreal summer 2023, which refers to the Northern Hemisphere summer, is the warmest boreal summer on record since 1940. Also, the year 2023 is the second warmest year on record so far (January to August), and just 0.01 degrees Celsius behind 2016. Both 2016 and 2023 have been El Niño years. 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has launched a Moon lander called Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), and a spectroscope called X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). Both the spacecraft were launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) onboard the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 47 (H-IIA F47), at 8:42 am JST (5:12 am IST) on September 7, 2023, from the Tanegashima Space Center, the largest rocket launch complex in Japan. XRISM and SLIM are expected to reach the Moon by February 2024. While XRISM is an X-ray telescope, SLIM is a Moon lander. XRISM was the primary passenger onboard the launch vehicle. The nickname of the mission is Moon Sniper. The Moon Sniper mission is Japan's third Moon mission. The budget of the entire mission is $100 million.