DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 20.09.2019 TO 22.09.2019 .12.2018 NATIONAL 16th Session of the Joint Economic.2018 Commission between India and Belgium Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) Held in New Delhi The 16th Session.11.2018 of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between India and Belgium Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) was held in New Delhi. Shri Amit Shah launched Emergency Response Support System (ERSS- Dial 112), „E-Beat Book‟ System and „E-Saathi‟ App in Chandigarh Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah has launched three citizen-centric services of the Chandigarh Police. These are: Emergency Response Support System (ERSS – Dial 112), „E-Beat Book‟ System and the „E-Saathi App‟. ERSS is one of the key projects of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs under the Nirbhaya Fund. ERSS provides a single emergency number (112), computer-aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress. Citizens can send their emergency information through call, SMS, email and through the 112 India mobile app. NTPC to Build Country‟s Biggest Solar Park in Gujarat India‟s largest power company NTPC has planned to set up 5 gigawatt (GW) solar park at Kutch in Gujarat. It will be the biggest solar park in the country. The estimated cost of the project is about Rs 25,000 crore ($3.5 billion). Government notifies 8.65% on EPF for 2018-19 The government has approved 8.65% interest rate on employees provident fund for 2018-19. The EPFO has been settling EPF withdrawal claims at 8.55 percent interest rate, approved for 2017-18. Now, the EPFO will settle accounts on a higher rate of 8.65 percent for 2018-19. Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF deposits for its subscribers in the month of April 2019. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Launches WAWE Summit 2019 of AICTE to Empower Women Entrepreneur The Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal „Nishank‟ launched the Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE) Summit 2019 of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi. The Summit will take place in November-December 2019 in Jaipur. Theme for the Summit: „Make your own bag‟. It will be jointly organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Institute of Waste Management (IIWM). Kerala to host country‟s first-ever „trans art festival‟ Kerala will host the countries first-ever festival for transgender members. The event is named “Varnapakitt-2019”. The two-day event has been conceptualized by the Social Justice Department of Kerala. Telangana Observes 2020 as “Year of AI” The Telangana government has planned to declare 2020 as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Year. Throughout the year, state will organise various activities and programs related to the emerging technology. Beneficiaries under PMMVY scheme crossed 1 crore Pradhan Mantri Matru VandanaYojana (PMMVY) achieved a mark of reaching 1 crore (1, 00, 11,200) beneficiaries in India. The total amount disbursed under the scheme crossed Rs. 4,000 crores. Top 5 states: Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Rajasthan are the top 5 states/ union territories (UTs) in the implementation of scheme. Odisha and Telangana have not implemented the scheme. Its implementation is monitored by the central and state governments through a web based software application named PMMVY-CAS. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 20.09.2019 TO 22.09.2019 PMMVY: It is a flagship.12.2018 scheme of the Government for Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM). It is a.2018 direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme under which PW&LM receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three installments on fulfilling certain conditions. The eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive.11.2018 under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). Thus, on average, a woman gets Rs. 6,000. INTERNATIONAL 63rd General Conference of IAEA held in Vienna, Austria The 63rd Annual Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference was held in Vienna, the capital of Austria with participation from 171 IAEA member states from September 16-20, 2019. The conference is conducted to jointly discuss about the issues related to the IAEA‟s work, budget and priorities. Trilateral Exercise “SITMEX” Commences at Port Blair The Navies of Singapore, India and Thailand began their first joint maritime exercise „SITMEX- 2019‟ in Port Blair. Indian Army Conducts Massive Exercise „Chang Thang‟ in Eastern Ladakh Bordering China The Indian Army conducted a massive military drill code named as Exercise ChangthangPrahar, in Eastern Ladakh bordering China, for testing and improving its war-fighting capabilities. ECONOMY No stressed MSME to be declared as NPA till March 31, 2020: Finance Minister Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that no public sector bank will declare stressed small businesses/MSME as non-performing assets (NPAs) till March 31, 2020. The decision was taken after consulting the banks. Apart from this, Sitharaman announced that gatherings for credit seekers will take place in 400 districts between September 19 to October 15. OECD cuts India‟s GDP growth forecast from 7.2% to 5.9% for FY20 The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reduced the GDP growth rate prediction for India for 2019-20 (FY20) from 7.2% to 5.9%. For FY21, OECD has predicted India‟s GDP growth rate at 6.3%. Earlier it was 7.4%. IMPS rated world‟s best in „Faster Payments Innovation Index‟ As per the fintech firm, FIS India‟s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) has been rated as the world‟s best real-time payment service in an analysis of 54 countries that have similar facilities. IMPS is rated highest in FIS‟s „Faster Payments Innovation Index‟. India is the only country that received the 5+ rating. DSCI Launched „Digital Payment Abhiyan‟ in Collaboration with MeitY and Google India The Communications and Electronics & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the nationwide awareness campaign „Digital Payment Abhiyan‟ during the „Google for India‟ event on September 19, 2019 in New Delhi. The pan-India campaign has been launched by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), a premier industry body set up by NASSCOM, in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and Google India. Airtel Payments Bank launched „Bharosa‟ savings account Airtel Payments Bank has launched savings bank account service under the name “Bharosa”. Apart from offering the basic banking features, Bharosa savings account would offer Rs 5 lakh personal accident insurance on maintaining a balance of Rs 500 along with one debit transaction per month. PERSON IN NEWS US President Donald Trump has appointed Robert O‟Brien as the National Security Adviser (NSA) of the United States of America. The Union government has appointed Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria as the new chief of Indian Air Force for two years. Currently, Air Marshal Bhadauria is the vice chief of air staff. He will replace Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who is going to retire 30th of this month. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 20.09.2019 TO 22.09.2019 Madhukar Kamath.12.2018 was elected as the chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2019-20 succeeding.2018 Hormusji N Cama. The Board of Directors (BoD) of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) approved the appointment of Samuel.11.2018 Joseph Jebaraj as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) for a period of 3 years with effect from September 19, 2019, succeeding KP Nair. Madhukar Kamath has been elected chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2019- 20. The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) of India is a non-profit circulation-auditing organisation. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc has announced the appointment of Alison Rose as the chief executive officer of the bank. She will be the first women to head RBS. The government has constituted an 11-member company law committee to analyze and examine the decriminalization of certain offenses under the Companies Act, 2013.Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas is the chairman of the committee. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a working group on „Social Stock Exchanges‟ (SSE). Ishaat Hussain (Director, SBI Foundation) is the chairman of the panel. The panel has total 15 members (including the chairman). SPORTS AND GAME AkilaDananjaya handed 1-year ban for illegal bowling action The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Akila Dananjaya (25-years) from bowling in international matches for 12 months, after his bowling action was deemed to be illegal. US swimmer Sarah Thomas criss-crosses Channel in 54-hour feat An American swimmer Sarah Thomas (37-years) became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop in a 54-hour feat of endurance. The English Channel is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. FIFA rankings: India dropped one spot to 104th position The Indian football team has dropped one spot to 104 in the latest FIFA rankings. Belgium has maintained its top spot in the rankings, while France has surpassed Brazil to reach the second spot. Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya Each Claims Bronze Medal at World Wrestling Championships In Wrestling, Bajrang Punia defeated Tulga Ochir of Mongolia in the men‟s freestyle 65kg bout to win a bronze medal for India in World Wrestling Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.