NATIONAL NEWS

 Union Health Minister JP Nadda declared conversion of 1.5 lakh Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and sub- centres into wellness centers by 2022.  Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM – U) partnered with Google to launch the Loo Review campaign.  Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry, over 15 per cent of the 54.95 lakh houses sanctioned in last three years under the Centre‟s flagship Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).  Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs inaugurated the “Conference on Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) & Organic Farmers Co-operatives from Dantewada, Bastar Region” in New Delhi.  Association of Mutual Funds of India‟s (AMFI) statistics, Maharashtra topes the chart for state with the maximum penetration and Assets Under Management (AUM).  Kolkata launched India‟s first flood forecast system with $1 mn assistance from ADB  Goa government inked a pact with Portugal in the field of water supply, waste water management and sanitation for a period of 2 years.  Railway Board Chairman, Ashwani Lohani launched Swacchta Hi Sewa Pakhwara at New Delhi Railway Station  Uttarakhand state assembly declared cow as the „Rashtra Mata‟ or the mother of the nation.  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched „Kalahandi Dialogue‟ at Bhawanipatna, in Kalahandi, Odisha.  Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has secured number one position among Indian universities in the Times Higher Education‟s World University Rankings for 2019  BoB, Vijaya Bank approved merger proposal with Dena Bank to create second largest PSU lender  BSE, PTC, ICICI to set up India‟s 3rd electricity exchange  World Bank-ADB report estimated Rs 25,050 crore for rebuilding Kerala  President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016.  Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative.

 Scientists from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, Bangalore discovered two new species of lizards belonging to two new genera in Western Ghats.  Central government released the 1st installment amounting Rs. 122 crore to the Himachal Pradesh government.  Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) approved micro-insurance disbursal through point-of-sales (PoS).  Wage Compensation scheme for Pregnant Women in tea gardens of state of Assam launched in Guwahati, Assam  Odisha launched its State Food Security Scheme covering 25 lakh poor people on Gandhi Jayanti  BSE became the first stock exchange in the country to launch the commodity derivative contracts in gold and silver.  Haryana‟s Maharashi Dayanand University declared cleanest government university by HRD Ministry  10th edition of Agriculture Census data for 2015-16 released by Agriculture Ministry

 Indian Railways launched its Project „Utkrisht‟ to upgrade 140 rakes of Mail/Express trains in the first phase. i. The project aims to do the following:  Installing „Swachh Rail Toilet‟,  Fitting of energy-efficient LED lights – in the main interior, doorway, gangway and inside toilets,  Braille signage & night glow stickers,  LED panel photo frame in first AC coaches, new types of bottle holders, big size mirrors,  Anti-graffiti vinyl wrapping in the gangway area,  New types of fire extinguishers,  Health faucets, auto janitors, odonil containers, big size mirror etc.  Union Minister for Micro Small & Medium Enterprises, Shri Giriraj Singh inaugurated a month long- National Khadi Festival 2018 in Mumbai.  National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) signed an MoU with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for training of 2.5 lakh urban poor in the construction sector.  IIT-Kharagpur was named the national coordinating institute of the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched the „Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestham‟ scheme in Amaravati.  Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh declared Manipur as the 23rd state in the country to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) in India.  Joint exercise of „Sahyog-Hop Tac 2018‟ commenced off Chennai coast between Vietnam and India.  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Trade and Development Report predicted the GDP growth of India for 2018 to be at 7%.  Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched a six-day national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign–Udyam Abhilasha.

 Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Russia on bilateral cooperation in the Road Transport and Road Industry.  Government cuts excise duty on fuel by Rs 2.50, appeals States to lower VAT  Assam state assembly passed an amendment in the Assam Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act 2018.  2018 Government E-Payments Adoption Ranking (GEAR), compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by payments company Visa ranked India as 28th country to progress in the digital transformation journey.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 Ministry of AYUSH sets up AYUSH Information Cell in Romania  Fossil of earliest known animal Dickinsonia discovered  International Finance Corporation (IFC) the finance arm of World Bank approved investment of $ 100 million in India Resurgence Fund (IRF).  NSE Indices launched 2 dynamic asset allocation indices designed to combine equity and debt.  ‟s Minerva-II-1 rovers send back first video from asteroid Ryugu 280 million km away  launched its Centispace-1-s1 satellite on a Kuaizhou-1A low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China.  IMF, World Bank and WTO launched Reinvigorating Trade and Inclusive Growth Report  14 –day 6th edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi – National Maritime Exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies commenced at Simons Town, South Africa.

 India launched „Operation Samudra Maitri‟ in Central Sulawesi Province of the Republic of Indonesia.

 Asian Development Bank (ADB) and India sign $150 Million Loan to improve Regional Connectivity in North Bengal and North-East  Japan‟s Hayabusa2 probe launched the French-German Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, towards asteroid Ryugu‟s surface.  First Global Guidelines on Sanitation and Health launched by WHO  Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $100 million loan agreement with India for continuation of sewage and water treatment in Kolkata.  State Bank of Mauritius‟ India operations hit by cyber fraud  MobiKwik launched an instant loan approval and disbursal product called „Boost‟.  Astronomers have made a discovery, which might be the first exomoon i.e. the first known moon outside our Solar System.

AWARDS & APPOINTMENTS

 Arun Kumar was appointed Director-General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).  Rajesh Agrawal Takes over charge as a New Member (Rolling Stock), Railway Board  Nobel Medicine Prize 2018: James Allison, Tasaku Honjo honoured for „immune checkpoint‟ cancer therapy

 UNICEF has appointed Ravi Venkatesan has its special representative of young people.  International Monetary fund appointed Gita Gopinath as its chief economist.  Rangachari Sridharan was appointed the first chairperson of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).  Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora took over as the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the South Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Gandhinagar .  UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) conferred 2018 Nansen Refugee Award to Dr. Evan Atar Adaha in Geneva, Switzerland.

 Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn-in as the 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI).  Barham Salih elected as Iraq‟s new president  Sudhir Garg appointed as CMD of National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC)

 US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter won the Nobel Chemistry Prize.

 Forbes India Rich List 2018: Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian for 11th consecutive year with $47.3 billion  Ministry of Railways was named the best department for its contribution to “Swachchta Pakhwada” under the “Swachchta Hi Seva” category of awards.  Madan Bhimarao Lokur took charge as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA).

 Chanda Kochhar resigns as ICICI CEO, Sandeep Bakhshi to take over  Ramon Laguarta succeeds Pepsico‟s Indian-origin CEO Indra Nooyi  Justice Surya Kant named Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice

SPORTS

 Neymar Appointed Permanent Captain Of Brazilian Football Team  Ekalabya committee selected Odia hockey player Lilima Minz for the prestigious Ekalabya Puraskar, 2018.  Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad was elected the new President of Hockey India (HI).  Samsun 2018 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final was held in Samsun, Turkey.  Mercedes‟ Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix in Russia.

 2018 ATP Shenzhen Open () was held in Shenzhen, China.  Yuvraj Wadhwani lifts 25th Asian junior individual squash championship title in Chennai  Rohit Sharma has improved two places and reached 2nd spot and Shikhar Dhawan has secured 5th position in the latest ICC (International Cricket Council) ODI Rankings for Batsmen.

OBITUARY

 Renowned harmonium player Pandit Tulsidas Borkar passed away  Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council member M V V S Murthy passed away

IMPORTANT DAYS

 International Translation Day – September 30  World Habitat Day – October 1  International Day of Older Persons – 1 October  World Vegetarian Day – October 1  International Coffee Day – October 1  International Day of Non-Violence – October 2  Gandhi Jayanti – October 2