Today in History (May 11th, 1998)
National Technology Day is observed on May 11 every year in India to commemorate the successful test firing of the Shakti-I nuclear missile at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan on May 11, 1998. The test was a significant milestone in India’s nuclear program and demonstrated the country’s technological prowess.
Summary of Today’s News
Operation Shakti
Operation Shakti was the codename for a series of underground nuclear tests conducted by India on May 11 and May 13, 1998, at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. The tests were India’s second set of nuclear tests, followed by the first test conducted in 1974, codenamed “Smiling Buddha.”
Santiniketan may be added to the World Heritage List.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, recommended for inclusion of Santiniketan on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Santiniketan is home to the Visva-Bharati University, established by Rabindranath Tagore. The nomination would finally be announced at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in September 2023.
iDrone Initiative
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) successfully conducted a trial run of delivery of blood bags under its iDrone Initiative. The ICMR, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology conducted the trial run for the first time in the country. The i-Drone was first used during the Covid-19 pandemic by the ICMR for distributing vaccines in remote areas.
Russia hosts Turkey-Syria rapprochement talks.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted the Foreign Ministers from Turkey, Syria, and Iran, marking the highest-level contact between Syria and Turkey since the start of the Syrian civil war. Russia has spent years trying to help Syrian President Bashar Assad rebuild ties with Turkey and other countries.
China puts a technical hold to block JeM leader at the UN.
China has objected to an India-led proposal to add Abdul Rauf of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List. He has been involved in planning and executing the Pathankot attack in 2016, the Parliament attack in 2001, and IC814 Indian Airlines hijack in 1999.
