20 September 2022 – Current Affairs

India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR)

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why Should You Know?

Recently India-Singapore Ministerial Round Table Conference was organized

In details –

• On 17 September 2022 a meeting was held on economic cooperation between India and Singaporein New Delhi. The India-Singapore Ministerial Round Table Conference (ISMR) discussed increasing economic cooperation between the two countries.
• The meeting was attended by the Foreign Ministers, Finance Ministers, Trade Ministers of both the countries, including Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lavrance Wong.
• The ministers briefed the Prime Minister about the wide-ranging discussions held, especially in emerging areas of digital connectivity, fintech, green economy, skill development and food security
• Earlier, India chaired a meeting with Singapore’s ministerial delegation, in which talks were held on enhancing cooperation between the two countries.
• Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal meet Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lavrance Wong along with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong and Transport Minister and Minister in charge of Trade Relations S Ishwarani.
• Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wong will also meet several top Indian leaders and personalities during his five-day visit to India. The Deputy Prime Minister visited Gujarat on September 18, where he met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel. He also visited Gujarat International Finance City in Gujarat.

What is ISMR?

• ISMR is a new forum to hold ministerial talks between Singapore and India, which is chaired by India.
• This aims to deepen existing cooperation and identify opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in new and emerging areas.

India-Singapore Relations

• India and Singapore have very good relations. India and Singapore enjoy close bilateral relations on economic and political interests.
• According to the information, the process of economic reforms in India since the early 1990s created a strong foundation for cooperation with Singapore, opening up possibilities of significant presence in each other’s economies.
• India is an important economic partner for Singapore. Economic engagement is anchored by the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which came into effect in June 2005.
• In 2017, Singapore was India’s 5th largest trading partner worldwide, and the 3rd largest trading partner in ASEAN. Singapore was also India’s top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in FY2019/20.
• Both countries commemorated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2015 with President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s State Visit to India in February, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Singapore in November.
• India and Singapore have signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and strategic-relationship agreement in order to increase trade, investments and economic cooperation, and expanded bilateral cooperation on maritime security, training forces, joint naval exercises, developing military technology and fighting terrorism.
• In 1994, India and Singapore began their annual naval combat exercise, now called “SIMBEX” Several warships from India and Singapore took part in this interoperable combat exercise.
• The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) regularly conduct joint military training exercises.

9th Session of Governing Body of the

Paper 3 – Agriculture

Why Should You Know?

On September 19, 2022 Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers WelfareShri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates the 9th Session of Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

In details

• On September 19, 2022 Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates the 9th Session of Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
• GB9 is being organized under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
• The theme aims to highlight the contribution of the world’s small farmers to the effective management of PGRFA and provide an opportunity to consider how the treaty and its community can contribute to the new global biodiversity architecture.
• After the inaugural ceremony, Shri Tomar visited the farmers’ exhibitions and interacted with them. More than 400 delegates from nearly 150 member-countries have assembled during the six-day long GB9 to deliberate upon the ITPGRFA which oversees how the member nations exchange and sustainably use the world’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, while ensuring fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from its use. The PGRFA are the basic building blocks upon which agricultural development, therefore, food security depends, especially on the climate change and other related challenges.
• It is noteworthy that As host of GB9, India is expected to play a crucial role in minimizing the dissonance between technology-rich developed and gene-rich developing countries to achieve functional resolutions on critical agenda items.
• The GB9 also provides an excellent opportunity to convey the steadfast commitment of India to conservation and sustainable utilization of plant genetic diversity as well as farmers’ rights.
• On the eve of GB9, India called for a global harmony to use every available germplasm resource and every advanced technology to fight global hunger and ensure food and environmental security.

Points of discussion –

The major issues to be deliberated during the meeting comprise 

• Amendment of the Treaty to expand the list of crops in the multilateral system;
• Capacity-development strategy for the Treaty;
• Funding strategy, resource mobilization and the budget;
• Conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA and agriculture;
• Compliance;
• Cooperation with other organizations and bodies; and
• Multi-year Programme of Work, including genome sequence information to pursue a more robust Treaty implementation.

What is ITPGRFA treaty?

• signed during the 31st session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome in November, 2001, which took effect on 29 June 2004, and currently has 149 Contracting Parties including India.
• This treaty, in consonance with the Convention on Biological Diversity, seeks to achieve food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), equitable sharing of profits from its use, as well as playing an important role in the recognition of rights of farmers.
• PGRFA provides scale-free solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient agriculture.
• Countries are mutually interdependent for the PGRFA, leading to the need for a global system to facilitate access and profit sharing.

India-Saudi Arabia Cooperation

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why Should You Know?

Recently Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal completed his visit to Saudi Arabia.

In details –

• Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal visited Saudi Arabia from 18th to 19th September 2022 to attend the Ministerial meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
• Along with Shri Goyal, Saudi Minister for Energy, His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud co-chaired the Ministerial meeting of the Committee on Economy and Investments of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
• The Strategic Partnership Council was instituted in October, 2019 during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has two main pillars i.e. Political, Security, Social and Cultural Committee and the Committee on Economy and Investments.

Outcomes of the Ministerial Meeting –

• Streamlining efforts to realize the announcement made by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, during his visit to India in February 2019, of investments worth USD 100 Billion in India.
• Endorsement of the 41 areas of cooperation identified by the technical teams under the 4 broad domains of Agriculture and Food Security; Energy; Technology and IT; and Industry and Infrastructure.
• Agreement to undertake implementation of the priority projects in a time bound manner. Priority areas of cooperation include:
• Collaboration in digital fintech sector through operationalization of UPI and Rupay Card in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Re-affirmation of continued cooperation in joint projects including the West coast refinery, LNG infrastructure investment and development of strategic petroleum storage facilities in India

Other Outcomes –

• During the visit, Hon’ble Minister met H.E. Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi, Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, and held wide ranging discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral trade, commerce and investments linkages.
• Diversification and expansion of trade and commerce, removal of trade barriers, including the outstanding issues related to sanitary and phytosanitary measures and trade remedies, automatic registration and marketing authorization of Indian pharma products in Saudi Arabia, feasibility of institutionalizing Rupee-Riyal trade, introduction of UPI and Rupay cards in Saudi Arabia; were amongst the key points of discussion.
• Hon’ble Minister also met H.E. Mr. Khalid Al-Salem, President of Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu, H.E. Eng. Saad Al-Khalb, CEO of Saudi EXIM Bank, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Industry, Saudi Arabia.
• Discussions were held on a wide range of topics such as institutional tie-up of the EXIM banks of the two countries, joint projects in third countries, mutual recognition of standards, establishment of startup and innovation bridge, strengthening collaboration in infrastructure development, particularly in the domains of construction, railways, industrial and manufacturing collaboration in Pharmaceuticals, Automobiles, Petrochemicals, Specialty chemicals, Technical textiles, mining and increasing project exports from India.
• During the visit, Hon’ble Minister also participated in a CEO Roundtable with prominent businessmen in Saudi Arabia. Discussions focused on encouraging increasing exports from India, facilitating inward investments into India, innovative ways and means of deepening and broad basing bilateral economic linkages.
• Shri Goyal also inaugurated “The India Week” in Riyadh as part of the ongoing efforts of Embassy of India in Riyadh to celebrate Indian products especially Food products like Millets, Textiles etc.
• On his visit, the Minister was accompanied by a delegation comprising officials of the ranks of Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries from the Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce, Electronics and IT and from NITI Aayog.

GeM Seller Samvad

Paper 3 – Economy

Why Should You Know?

Recently on 19 September 2022, GeM Seller Samvad held in Mumbai.

In details

• A number of Government e-Marketplace vendors shared their experiences in GeM Seller Samvad held in Mumbai.
• This gave an opportunity to the GeM sellers to learn about the new GeM features and functionalities that further makes it conducive for them to operate on the portal.
• GeM’s Business Facilitator for Maharashtra and Daman and Diu Nikhil Patil informed that the GeM portal is not only limited to Central Government offices. It provides a one-stop online procurement portal for all Government Buyers including Central/State Ministries, Departments, Bodies and PSUs.
• All states (except Sikkim) have entered into a MoU with GeM, thereby facilitating businesses from all around the country to do business with Government departments located all over India, even in remote corners. Maharashtra state entered into agreement with GeM in March, 2018, informed Nikhil Patil. 
• In his presentation, Shri Patil highlighted the advantages for SMEs for doing business in the GeM portal. MSEs, especially sole proprietors on GeM can now get a loan at the point of acceptance of an order on the GeM platform. Approximately 2,000 minor and 460+ major functionalities have been introduced on GeM, in the last 24 months for increasing ease of doing business.

About Government e Marketplace (GeM)

• Government e Marketplace (GeM), the National Public Procurement Portal of the country is an end-to-end online Marketplace for the procurement of goods and services.
• It was launched on August 9, 2016, as part of the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for redefining public procurement.
• GeM has been able to bring about radical changes in the way procurement was done by Government buyers and public sector undertakings.
• GeM is contactless, paperless, and cashless and stands on three pillars: efficiency, transparency, and inclusivity.

Significance –

• It is noteworthy that GeM has surpassed the milestone of INR 1 Lakh Crore of procurement value, in a single fiscal year in FY 21-22. Since its inception, GeM has facilitated over 1 Crore transactions valued at over INR 3.02 Lakh Crore. This has only been possible with the support of all stakeholders including buyers and sellers across the country.
• The buyer base of GeM comprises all Central and State Government departments, cooperative societies and public sector undertakings.
• The heterogeneous nature of GeM’s seller base clearly reflects on the founding pillar of ‘inclusivity’. Starting from the big companies and conglomerates, the seller base includes women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups and MSME sellers from all over the country.
• Moreover, special provisions have also been created on the GeM portal to ensure a seamless on-boarding experience for MSMEs and SHGs. It is worth mentioning that 62 thousand registered government buyers and 50.90 lakh sellers and service providers speak for the size and scale of GeM operations.
• Since its inception, GeM has been steadily growing with new product and service categories being added constantly. Currently, there are about 300 service categories and over 10000+ product categories available on GeM.
• These categories feature around 44 lakhs catalogues of product and service offerings. Further, GeM is an evolving platform and relentlessly works towards adding new features and functionalities to the portal.

India-New Zealand Ministers bilateral meeting

Paper 2- International Relations

Why Should You Know?

Recently on September 19, 2022 Shri ParshottamRupala holds bilateral meeting with New Zealand Minister of Trade and Export and Agriculture.

In details

• Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri ParshottamRupala held a bilateral meeting with New Zealand Minister of Trade and Export and Agriculture, H.E Mr. Damien O’connor.
• The two sides discussed the potential bilateral cooperation to strengthen Foot and Mouth Disease capability to advance India’s and New Zealand’s primary sectors. 
• During the meeting, both sides felt that there is much to learn from each other in the related fields. The cooperation discussed today will help enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
• Exchanging information and expertise will help build the knowledge and capability of each other’s animal husbandry sector, which will have mutual benefits for both countries.
• Both the dignitaries have discussed various ideas to further strengthen the close and unique India-New Zealand friendship.

About New Zealand

• New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Islandand over 700 smaller islands.
• The two main islands (the North Island, and the South Island,) are separated by Cook Strait, 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide at its narrowest point.
• Besides the North and South Islands, the five largest inhabited islands are Stewart Island (across the Foveaux Strait), Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island (in the Hauraki Gulf), D’Urville Island (in the Marlborough Sounds) and Waiheke Island (about 22 km (14 mi) from central Auckland).
• It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering 268,021 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). Because of its far-flung outlying islands and long coastline, the country has extensive marine resources. Its exclusive economic zone is one of the largest in the world, covering more than 15 times its land area.
• New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga.
• The country’s varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions.
• New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland.
• A developed country, New Zealand ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, education, protection of civil liberties, government transparency, and economic freedom.
• The country was the first to introduce a minimum wage, and the first to give women the right to vote.
• Note –New Zealand, together with Australia, is part of a region known as Australasia.It also forms the southwestern extremity of the geographic and ethnographic region called Polynesia.Oceania is a wider region encompassing the Australian continent, New Zealand, and various island countries in the Pacific Ocean that are not included in the seven-continent model.

INS Ajay

Paper 3- Security

Why Should You Know?

Recently INS Ajay decommissioned after 32 glorious years of service.

In details

• INS Ajay was decommissioned on 19 Sep 22 after rendering 32 years of glorious service to the nation. The ceremony was conducted at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai in the traditional manner, wherein the national flag, naval ensign and the decommissioning pennant of the ship were lowered for the last time at sunset, signifying the end of the ship’s commissioned service.
• INS Ajay was commissioned on 24 Jan 1990 at Poti, Georgia in the erstwhile USSR and was part of the 23rd Patrol Vessel Squadron under the operational control of Flag Officer Commanding, Maharashtra Naval Area.
• The ship was in active naval service for more than 32 years and during her illustrious journey, she participated in several naval operations including Op Talwar during Kargil War and Op Parakram in 2001.
• Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command was the Chief Guest for the function. Vice Admiral AG Thapliyal AVSM Bar (Retd), the first Commanding Officer of the ship was the Guest of Honour.
• The ceremony was attended by over 400 personnel including Flag Officers, senior officers from Army, IAF and CG, officers and men of the commissioning crew, crew of previous commissions as well as the ships present crew and families.
• The Chief Guest addressed the gathering present at the ceremony, highlighting the invaluable service rendered by the ship.

About INS Ajay

• INS Ajay (P34) was an Abhay-class corvette, in service with the Indian Navy.
• It was named for INS Ajay (1961), the first warship built in independent India
• It is 56.0 m (183 ft 9 in) long ship with 32 knotsmaxium speed.
• INS Ajay was also known as ‘Submarine Hunter’ due to being armed with long-range torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets.
• The other ships of Abhay-class corvette are -INS Abhay (active), INS Ajay (decommissioned-19 sept 2022), INSAkshay (decommissioned-3june2022), INS Agray (decommissioned-27 jan2017)

Swachhata Startup Conclave

Paper 3 – Environment

Why Should You Know?

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to encourage Indian startups in the field of sanitation and waste management.

In details

• India’s position as the 3rd largest startup eco-system in the world is set to get a further boost, with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)preparing to provide an array of funding and incubation support to Startups to strengthen the sanitation and waste management sector.
• On 20th September 2022, MoHUA will be felicitating these 30 startups at a conclave to be held at the Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. The day-long conclave will also be a platform to provide startups with a treasure trove of experience, knowledge and learnings which would help them to navigate their way in this sector and successfully take their solutions to scale.
• As part of the day’s deliberations, some Urban Local Bodies will be engaging in ‘reverse pitches’ to highlight specific ground level challenges, in a bid to motivate startups to work on finding innovative solutions to the challenges.
• Taking the long-term approach of the government forward, some Urban Local Bodies have also evinced interest in partnering with select startups and providing them with support in the form of space for setting up facilities, market buyers’ linkages, etc, to pilot their solutions on the ground.
• The day-long event will also feature learning and networking activities, exhibition by the 30 Startups showcasing their solutions, discussion on policy initiatives for promoting Startups for Garbage Free Cities, and sharing of success stories by entrepreneurs and founders of Unicorns.

Swachhata Startup Challenge

• provides special focus to innovation and encouragement for startups in a bid to adopt locally innovated, implementable solutions and business models and promote circularity in waste management.
• In alignment with this long term approach, MoHUA had launched a Swachhata Startup Challenge under the ambit of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, from January 2022 onwards, in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the DPIIT (Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade).
• The Challenge aimed to harness the entrepreneurial potential of the waste management sector in India and promote an enabling environment for enterprise development. Interestingly, a bottoms-up approach had been taken by MoHUA, through a Swachh Technology Challenge introduced in December 2021. 
• The Technology Challenge invited entries and solutions from all stakeholders working in the sanitation sector, including NGOs, CSOs, academic institutions and startups.
• The winning entries received from startups in the Technology Challenge were allowed to participate in the subsequent Swachhata Startup Challenge in January 2022.
• The Startup Challenge had sought entries from organisations in the Sanitation and waste management sector, across four categories, viz.
• social inclusion,
• zero dump,
• plastic waste management and
• transparency through digital enablement.
• A total of 244 entries were received from aspiring startups, of which 30 startups were shortlisted by a jury pool of 20 members drawn from leading academic institutions and incubators, industry, and government bodies.
• Out of the 30, a total of  top 10 winners have been identified, each of whom will be receiving seed funding and dedicated incubation support from French Tech, the French government’s initiative to promote start-ups.

Swachhata Startup Conclave

• conducted by MoHUA, from 17th September 2022 to 2nd October 2022 when India is celebrating eight years of accomplishments of SBM-Urban, and as a run up to the first anniversary of SBM Urban 2.0 to be celebrated on 1st October 2022. 
• The Conclave is expected to see participation of nearly 600 attendees, including from leading startups and unicorns in the field, city administrators, investors, academia, government bodies and industries, sector partners, industry experts, representatives from DPIIT, Govt. of India, FICCI, CII, and other associations.
• The felicitations will be done by the Hon’ble Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Kaushal Kishore. Secretary MoHUA Shri Manoj Joshi, H.E. Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain, and AFD Country Director Bruno Bosle will also be present at the Conclave.

Healthy Child Award

Paper 2- Social Issues

Why Should You Know?

Recently, a total of 306 children from 33 districts of 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam were awarded the Healthy Child Award.

In details

• A total of  306 children of 33 Districts of 14 Lok Sabha Constituencies in Assam  have been awarded healthy child award.
• At the State level, the Healthy Child Award was given away to 10 children on 1st September 2022, on the inaugural function of 5th Rastriya POSHAN MAAH by the Chief Minister of Assam and Minister for Women and Child Development.
• Malnutrition among under-five is an important concern all over India. Considering the initiative towards building a healthy nation, Assam shared the goal of “Malnutrition free Assam”.
• 20 healthy children from Anganwadi Centres were to be awarded as “Healthy Child” prize at the level of Lok Sabha Constituency.
• Growth monitoring was done all over the State for the measurement of weight and height of children to identify healthy children in age group of 6 months -3 years and 3-5 years and to generate awareness and conduct campaigns for growth measurement of children held from 21st March- 27th March, of POSHAN Pakhwada-2022.
• Twenty healthy children were identified from each Lok Sabha Constituency covering all the ICDS project from respective district during POSHAN Pakhwada.
• It is an imperative intervention taken by Chief Minister of Assam aimed to improve nutrition through enhanced social awareness.

Objective of the healthy child award

The main objective of the healthy child award is:

• To identify healthy children in age group of 6m-3 years and 3-5 years and to generate awareness   and conduct campaigns for growth measurement of children.

• To promote a sense of constructive competition among parents for their child’s health and well being, to encourage the parents of healthy children.
• To sensitize the community on children health and to improve the nutrition of infants/children through increased social awareness such as importance of diet diversity and age appropriate feeding.
• To mobilize community participation for health and nutritional wellness in the State.

Method for Identifying a healthy child

• Measuring weight and height/length of children in the target group with weighing scale and stadiometer or infantometer by Anganwadi Worker (AWW)/Helper (AWH).
• After measuring the weight of the children, healthy children were identified by plotting appropriately in the WHO growth chart.
• The concerned supervisors/block POSHAN team guided the AWW/AWH in the entire process.
• The identified healthy children were listed along with their details in the prescribed format.

State level institution on lines of NITI Aayog

Paper 2 –International Relations

Why Should You Know?

A state level institute will be set up like NITI Aayog in Maharashtra.

In details –

• A state level institution on the lines of NITI Aayog will be established in Maharashtra. It will help to bring drastic changes in sectors like agriculture, health, education, employment, environment etc. in the state.
• Chief executive officer of NITI Aayog and other experts made a presentation on how Maharashtra will be assisted by the Aayog for bringing about changes in various sectors.
• Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other Senior officials were present for this meeting. Mr. Shinde said that skilled human resource and infrastructural facilities are available in the state and we are also stressing on successful implementation of various schemes of the central government in the state.
• He expected the co-operation of NITI aayog in establishing this institute and fulfilling expectations of the citizens.
• Mr. Fadnavis said, State Government’s finance department is well prepared for this institute. State government is planning to achieve target one trillion dollar economy by 2030, but with more hard work it can be achieved by 2027. He further said, ‘Asset monetization’ is important factor tabled by the NITI Aayog and the new constructed SamruddhiMahamarg in the state is the best example of asset monetization.

About NITI aayog

• Full name -National Institution for Transforming India.
• Aim – Cooperative Federalism. Monitoring and Evaluation. Think Tank, and Knowledge and Innovation Hub.
• Established – 1 January 2015
• President – PM of India

Super typhoon Nanmadol

Paper 1 – Geography

Why Should You Know?

Recently, cyclonic storm Nanmadol hit the city of Kagoshima in Japan, warning people to go to safer places

In details

• Nine million people have been told to evacuate their homes as Japan is battered by one of the worst typhoons the country has ever seen. according to a data The super typhoon Nanmadol has killed two people and injured almost 90.
• It hit Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, on Sunday morning, and is set to reach Honshu, the largest island, in the coming days.
• Tens of thousands of people spent Sunday night in emergency shelters, and almost 350,000 homes are without power.
• Transport and business has been disrupted, and the country is braced for extensive flooding and landslides.
• Nanmadol has brought gusts of up to 234km/h (145mph), and some areas were forecast 400mm (16 inches) of rain in 24 hours.
• Bullet train services, ferries, and hundreds of flights have been cancelled. Many shops and other businesses have closed, and sandbags have been put in place to protect some properties.
• The storm is forecast to turn east and pass over Japan’s main island of Honshu before moving out to sea by Wednesday. The capital, Tokyo, has experienced heavy rain, with the Tozai underground line suspended because of flooding.
• A level-five alert, the highest on Japan’s disaster warning scale, has been issued for more than 500,000 people in the Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Oita, Kumamoto and Yamaguchi areas.
• A total of around nine million people have been ordered to evacuate parts of the Kyushu, Shikoku and Chugoku regions after a level four alert.
• Nanmadol has been categorised as a super typhoon by the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC), a term applied to storms with sustained wind speeds of 240km/h (150mph) or more. It is the equivalent of a category four or five hurricane.
• Scientists have predicted a very active hurricane season this year, influenced by a natural phenomenon known as La Niña.
• Warmer sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and Caribbean as a result of climate change may also have an impact.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said intense tropical cyclones will likely increase on a global scale.