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CONTENT
TNPSC BITS ...... 1 TAMILNADU ...... 18 Coastal Zone Management plan ...... 18 Open air prison - Thirumalaisamudiram ...... 19 Tamil Nadu’s new ICT Policy ...... 19 Tamil Nadu receives five awards from Centre...... 19 Pakistan Dental Association's Humanitarian Award ...... 20 ‘TN-SMART’ app ...... 20 1st technology-aided livestock census – Tamil Nadu ...... 20 Customs Checking Centre ...... 20 New Corporation to support water project funding ...... 21 National Sport Awards 2018 - Winners from Tamil Nadu ...... 21 TN - Integrated version of CMCHIS and PMJAY ...... 21 New corporation in the state ...... 22 Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System ...... 22 New health programme - ‘Prevention of Haemoglobinopathies’ ...... 22 Adyar Head Constable - ‘Mr.Tamil Nadu’ Title ...... 23 NATIONAL ...... 23 NITI Aayog ‘s Mobility Week ...... 23 Indian Railways sign MoU with GAIL ...... 23 National Mission on Government e-Marketplace ...... 23 ICAR's Two-Day Conference ...... 24 India post payments bank ...... 24 National Nutrition Week – September 1 to 7 ...... 24 NITI Aayog’s MOVE Cyclathon ...... 25 Draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies ...... 25 First review meeting of Department of Official Language ...... 25 Proposal to increase wages of artisans...... 26 New IIM campus ...... 26 Swadesh Darshan Scheme ...... 27 New Ganga clean-up law ...... 27 IPC Section 377 Verdict ...... 27
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Book on Mahatma Gandhi's 'Nai Talim' ...... 28 Atal Pension Yojana Extension ...... 28 First Global Mobility Summit 2018 ...... 28 Mobilise Your City – India and France ...... 29 World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) ...... 29 Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference ...... 30 India's first railway university ...... 30 Safe city project for women ...... 31 Panel for e-Commerce issues ...... 31 India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge ...... 31 Plan Bee ...... 32 HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 ...... 32 Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan- PM-AASHA...... 32 Cabinet approves Various MoUs ...... 33 Selection Committee to pick up Dronacharya and Dhyanchand Awardees ...... 33 Chairman of Lok Sabha ethics panel ...... 33 NSP Mobile App ...... 34 National Water Awards 2018 ...... 34 Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety Awards ...... 34 First tribal circuit project ...... 35 Capacity Development Scheme ...... 35 HIV Estimations report 2017 ...... 35 Chiller Star Labelling Program ...... 36 Website for 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas ...... 37 India’s 1st ‘Smart Fence’ Pilot Project ...... 37 Gold label distinction - Marathon ...... 37 Indian Green Building Council Certification ...... 38 Jaipur Literature festival ...... 38 Government and FAO - agriculture project ...... 38 D.K.Jain committee – ISRO Spy Case ...... 39 Clear policy on shifting cultivation ...... 39 Cabinet Approval - Triple Talaq Ordinance ...... 39 “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2018” ...... 40 Logo, Web Portal launched - 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi ...... 41 Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna ...... 41 National Database on Sexual Offenders ...... 41 Aviaindra 18 ...... 42 MSME Insider...... 42
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India’s first Coal-gasification fertilizer plant ...... 42 Boundary survey work ...... 43 PM inaugurates Jharsuguda airport ...... 44 Centenary celebrations of liberation of Israel’s Haifa ...... 44 Victims of Terror Attacks and Terror Groups ...... 45 The Hindu - 140th anniversary ...... 46 Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana ...... 47 National orientation workshop on National e-Vidhan Application ...... 48 World Air Traffic Report of Airports Council International ...... 48 MahaBiz 2018 ...... 48 Committee to Look into Jail Reforms ...... 49 Supreme court ruling on Aadhaar ...... 49 Live Streaming of Cases of Constitutional Importance ...... 50 Conversion of GSTN into Government entity ...... 50 National Digital Communications Policy-2018 ...... 50 Lokpal Search Committee ...... 51 Ease of Living Index rankings under AMRUT ...... 51 MCC brought into force in Telangana ...... 52 MHA merges police forces in 6 UTs ...... 52 Section 497 of IPC declared unconstitutional ...... 53 Sabarimala temple verdict ...... 54 Supreme Court verdict on reservation in promotions for SC/STs ...... 54 NITI Aayog - SoI with Oracle ...... 55 Injeti Srinivas High Level Committee ...... 55 INTERNATIONAL ...... 56 4th BIMSTEC Summit Declaration ...... 56 MoU between India and Nepal ...... 56 International Ayurveda Congress (IAvC) ...... 57 Indus Waters Treaty - 115th meeting ...... 57 China-Maldives Friendship Bridge ...... 58 India – signs MoU with Cambodia ...... 58 India, Cyprus sign key agreements ...... 58 UN World Tourism Organisation 2017 Report ...... 59 Tsunami mock drill ‘IOWave18’ ...... 59 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) ...... 59 KAZIND 2018 ...... 60 Indian and Bangladesh Bi-annual talks ...... 60
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US military cancels aid to Pakistan ...... 60 Ukraine-NATO Joint Military Exercises ...... 61 International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 ...... 61 SLINEX-2018 ...... 61 PISA 2021 ...... 62 ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference ...... 62 International Tradeshow ...... 62 World Hindu Congress (WHC) ...... 63 The Ocean Cleanup - Great Pacific Garbage Patch ...... 63 Five agreements between India and Czech ...... 64 International Geriatric Orthopaedic Conference ...... 64 World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA-2018) ...... 64 COMCASA Treaty ...... 65 India & USA Combat Exercise ...... 65 Heritage tag for 2 irrigation facilities ...... 65 Milex-2018 ...... 66 New digital bridge with Africa ...... 66 Nomadic Elephant Exercise -2018 ...... 66 India & Bangladesh joint projects ...... 67 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 Report ...... 67 Sagarmatha Friendship - 2018 ...... 67 Sudan’s New PM ...... 68 India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project ...... 68 Grant of Access to key ports ...... 68 7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism ...... 69 Saudi Arabia to join CPEC ...... 69 First private passenger on Moon ...... 69 Official entry to Oscars - Norway ...... 70 Nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive – Pakistan ...... 70 West Bank village – demolition deadline ...... 71 Global status report on alcohol and health 2018 ...... 71 Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019 ...... 72 Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace ...... 72 First-Ever Women-Only Foreign Minister Conference ...... 73 Global Wetland Outlook Report ...... 73 Nepal becomes first country to double its tiger population ...... 74 ECONOMY ...... 75
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ITI Limited partners with startups ...... 75 Internal Ombudsman (IO) Scheme 2018 ...... 75 Monetary limit increased for Loan recovery application ...... 76 RBI to buy G-Secs in Open Market ...... 76 Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI) Report ...... 76 Proposal for merger of Banks ...... 77 Dual listing of masala bonds ...... 77 Country Partnership Framework ...... 78 Import duty on 19 non-essential items ...... 78 Financial Inclusion Index ...... 79 RBI eases SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) rules ...... 79 Kerala’s calamity cess demand ...... 80 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY...... 80 Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS Vijaya ...... 80 Method to predict inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ...... 80 NASA’s Icesat-2 ...... 81 Rollable tablet ...... 81 Drug-resistant superbug ...... 81 UAE’s first astronauts...... 81 New device to harvest energy ...... 82 Coffee Connect mobile app ...... 82 First mid-air refueling of combat jet ...... 83 First Overseas Ground Base ...... 83 Mini-UAV for high-altitude surveillance ...... 83 Space Suit - ISRO ...... 84 China’s marine satellite ...... 84 India's first embryo transplanted calf ...... 85 Asia’s First airport use Face recognition ...... 85 Apsara upgraded- Apsara-U ...... 85 India's first commercial underwater drone- EyeROV TUNA ...... 85 Cyber Security Conference ‘COCON XI’ ...... 86 Successful launch of PSLV C 42...... 86 Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM)...... 87 e-Sahaj portal ...... 87 World’s first hydrogen-powered train ...... 87 Lifting the ban on 3 FDC drugs ...... 88 Cyclone-30 - The biggest cyclotron in India ...... 88
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Tactical Missile ‘Prahar’ Successfully Flight Tested ...... 88 Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response ...... 89 ISRO Technology Incubation Centre ...... 89 Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children portal ...... 89 Nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards ...... 90 3rd launch pad - Gaganyaan mission ...... 90 India’s first indigenously developed Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor ...... 90 Prithvi interceptor missile test ...... 91 Miniature human oesophagus ...... 91 Sikkim gets Sensor-based ‘Landslide warning system’ ...... 92 Two New Earth-like Exoplanets Discovered ...... 92 Jan Dhan Darshak ...... 93 Online platform for Agmark quality certification ...... 93 Astra successfully test fired ...... 93 Web Portal to grant loans to MSMEs Launched ...... 94 Incredible India Mobile App Launched...... 94 Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics ...... 95 ENVIRONMENT ...... 95 Singphan wildlife sanctuary ...... 95 Global Summit on Climate Action ...... 96 Erratic monsoon rainfall in India - Study ...... 96 Global Climate Action Summit 2018 ...... 96 Typhoon Mangkhut ...... 96 India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)...... 97 Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse ...... 97 Health Ministry Partners with Dell and Tata Trusts ...... 97 Sputum sample transportation through Department of Post ...... 98 Air Pollution Control Device ''WAYU'' ...... 98 Loo Review Campaign ...... 98 STATE ...... 99 Krishna Kutir ...... 99 Punjab launched PUDA 360 ...... 99 'Mil Banchey Madhya Pradesh' ...... 99 Vibrant Gujarat’ summit ...... 99 Ayushman Bharat - Jan Arogya Yojana ...... 100 Panchayati Raj amendment bill ...... 100 State Legislative Council - Odisha ...... 100
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Home delivery of govt services ...... 100 Road Accident Data Management System -RADMS ...... 101 First Regional Workshop on RERA ...... 101 State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill- 2018 ...... 101 e-Plant clinics ...... 102 Agricultural festival of Nuakhai ...... 102 Swayangsiddha ...... 102 YuvaNestam scheme ...... 102 1st ever dedicated Dog Park ...... 103 'Swachh Dhara' ...... 103 New Cyber University...... 103 First-ever 'dial-FIR' scheme ...... 104 First ever gender-neutral hostel ...... 104 Star-rating system for industries...... 104 Airavata Scheme ...... 104 ‘Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) Award ...... 105 Government e-Marketplace - Arunachal Pradesh ...... 105 Smart e-Public Distribution System ...... 105 Naropa Festival ...... 106 First ever Mizoram International Short Film Festival (MISFF) ...... 106 Jharsuguda airport to be renamed after freedom fighter ...... 107 2nd largest Metro Rail (MR) network ...... 107 Indian Culinary Institute ...... 107 PERSONALITIES, AWARDS AND EVENTS ...... 107 1st Kashmiri Muslim woman pilot ...... 107 B.C. Roy Award - 2017 ...... 108 Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar ...... 108 Praful Bidwai Memorial Award ...... 109 46th Chief Justice of India (CJI) ...... 109 Air Force Academy – New Commandant ...... 110 Sarala Puraskar ...... 110 ‘Shilp Guru’ and National Award ...... 110 Pacific Asia Travel Association gold awards ...... 110 Hindi Implementation Award ...... 111 Anna Rajam Malhotra passed away ...... 111 Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar awards ...... 112 Highest civilian honour of Mexico - Dr. Raghupati Singhania ...... 112
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National Sports Awards 2018 ...... 112 V.R.Lalithambika to Head India’s Gaganyaan project ...... 113 UN’s Highest Environmental Honour ...... 113 Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018 ...... 114 FIFA's Best Player of The Year Award ...... 114 SPORTS ...... 114 Most Valuable Player (MVP) ...... 114 Second Fastest Indian to Reach 6000 Test Runs ...... 115 World Youth Boxing Championships ...... 115 UEFA club football awards 2018 ...... 116 18th Asian Games Concluded ...... 117 ISSF World Shooting Championship ...... 117 RSL Kharkiv International challenge - Badminton ...... 117 Silesian Open Boxing ...... 117 2018 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup ...... 118 Ahmet Comert Tournament ...... 118 New marathon world record ...... 118 Asian Para Games ...... 119 Singapore Grand Prix 2018 ...... 119 Medved International Wrestling tournament ...... 119 72nd National swimming championship ...... 119 Junior World wrestling championship ...... 120 Asian Team Snooker Championship ...... 120 Women’s Boxing World Championships ...... 120 China Open ...... 121 72nd Senior National Aquatic championship ...... 121 IMPORTANT DAYS...... 121 World Coconut Day- September 02 ...... 121 World Sexual Health Day- September 04 ...... 122 International Day of Charity – September 05 ...... 122 National Teacher’s day- September 05 ...... 123 International Literacy Day – September 08 ...... 123 World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10 ...... 124 National Hindi Diwas- Septemper 14 ...... 124 International Day of Democracy- September 15 ...... 124 Indian Engineer's Day - September 15 ...... 125 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer: September 16 ...... 125
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World Alzheimer’s Day – 21 September ...... 125 International Day of Peace - 21 September ...... 126 World Rhino Day - 22 September ...... 127 World Car-Free Day – 22 September ...... 127 International Day of Sign Languages - 23 September ...... 127 World Pharmacist Day – 25 September ...... 127 Antyodaya Diwas – 25 September ...... 128 International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons – 26 September ...... 128 World Tourism Day - 27 September ...... 129 World Maritime Day – 27 September ...... 129 World Rabies Day – 28 September ...... 130 MISCELLANEOUS ...... 130 Mountaineers climbed Asia's highest volcanic peak Mount ...... 130 Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2018 ...... 130 Tenzing Norgay Award ...... 131 Global Olympic Sponsor ...... 131 Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha centenary celebrations ...... 132 Goodwill Ambassador - Nepal tourism ...... 132 Human Capital Score...... 132
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TNPSC BITS
❖ Union HRD Ministry has introduced Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARRIA) to rank educational institutions for innovation output based on all major indicators and parameters used globally. ❖ Union HRD Ministry has launched ‘Innovation cell’ at AICTE premises to systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country. ❖ The 6th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Trade Ministers Meeting held in Singapore. The Indian delegation was led by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu o This meeting is consisting of 10 ASEAN countries and six ASEAN FTA partners namely, India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. ❖ Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released ‘National REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) Strategy. It aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation. ❖ Germany will provide a loan of 120 million euros (approx. Rs 990 crore) to India as part of its contribution to the ongoing river Ganga cleaning programme. o It will be used in Uttarakhand for various activities including construction of sewerage network, sewage treatment plants, and rehabilitation of existing wastewater systems. ❖ Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved USD 346 million loan to finance Karnataka state high ways Improvement III Project (KSHIP-III) in Karnataka that will enhance connectivity and access to economic centers across 12 districts in Karnataka ❖ India has opened an immigration check-post in Mizoram along with the border with Myanmar, a reflection of its growing closeness with the eastern neighbor. It has designated Zokhawthar land check-post in Mizoram as an authorized immigration center for entry into and exit from India with valid travel documents for all passengers to or from Myanmar. ❖ Akshay Kumar starred ‘Gold’ has become the first Bollywood film ever to release in Saudi Arabia. ❖ Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School in Egmore become the first of 32 schools in the state where KG classes will be held under PPP mode. It aims to boost student enrolments amid struggles to attract interest in state-
sponsored education.
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❖ Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) started ‘Real- time flood forecasting and spatial decision support system’. It will provide advanced flood forecasting and the likelihood of inundation in their respective areas for city residents. ❖ Binoy Kumar, IAS has appointed as a Secretary to Ministry of Steel, Government of India. ❖ The Kerala government has decided to appoint KPMG, largest professional service companies in the world, as project consultant partner for rebuilding the state ravaged by massive floods. ❖ Sunil Mehta, MD, and CEO of Punjab National Bank has been elected as the new Chairman of Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) for 2018-19. ❖ Odisha government signed MoU with ‘Malaria Elimination Trust’ and US- based ‘Malaria No More’ to prepare a concrete roadmap and to create greater awareness about Malaria. ❖ Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd’s Former MD, Suresh Sethi, has been appointed as the new MD & CEO of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). He succeeded A.P. Singh who had been the interim MD & CEO of IPPB since January 2017. ❖ India & Nepal prime ministers jointly inaugurated a 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharamshala, a rest house for pilgrims which is built with the Indian assistance in Kathmandu. ❖ Union Home Ministry has announced that Census 2021 for the first time in independent India will collect data on Other Backwards Castes (OBCs). o This comes more than 25 years after implementation of 27% reservation for OBCs based on Mandal Commission’s recommendations the basis of last caste data collected in 1931 census. ❖ Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of managing director and chief executive officer Rana Kapoor till further notice. Kapoor’s tenure was supposed to end on 1 September. ❖ Seventh meeting of National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) of Ministry of AYUSH was held under the chairpersonship of Minister of AYUSH at New Delhi ❖ Congress MP Kapil Sibal will be releasing a new book titled “Shades of Truth: A Journey Derailed” which is authored by him. ❖ Indian poet Abhay K. has become the first Indian poet invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. in 'The Poet and the Poem' series conducted by poet Grace Cavalieri. ❖ R Madhavan took over as Chairman and Managing Director of defense PSU- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from T Suvarna Raju. ❖ Justice Ranjan Gogoi will take over as the new Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018. His name has been recommended by CJI Dipak Misra to the government.
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❖ The first International Kho Kho Championships is being held in England from September 1 to 4. ❖ Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has been renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport. ❖ Uttarakhand high court declared that all religious bodies and any other groups of people are banned from issuing fatwas. o A fatwa is an Islamic pronouncement, issued by an expert in religious law (mufti), pertaining to a specific issue. ❖ The World Bank has approved in principle a financial assistance of Rs. 929.89 crore for a water supply and sewerage project for Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. ❖ Trichy Corporation has launched a QR code-enabled door-to-door waste collection monitoring system. ❖ Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of managing director and chief executive officer Rana Kapoor till further notice. Kapoor’s tenure was supposed to end on 1 September. ❖ Mauritius remained the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, whereas total FDI stood at $37.36 billion in the financial year. ❖ National Green Tribunal has appointed former Meghalaya high court chief justice Tarun Agrawal as head of a three-member committee to decide Vedanta company plea challenging closure of Sterlite plant at Tuticorin. ❖ Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has appointed as ‘Brand ambassador to lead an anti-drug campaign to six northern states. o Six states are Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan also the Union Territory of Chandigarh ❖ Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit unveiled the statue of Lakshmana Iyer, a freedom fighter from Gobichettipalayam, who dedicated his life for the welfare of the lesser-privileged. ❖ Justice Tahira Safdar become the first woman chief justice of a Balochistan high court, Pakistan. o Earlier she became the first woman civil judge in 1982 at Balochistan court. ❖ Rajasthan Government has decided to organise special employment camps in all district headquarters of the state to give Government jobs to at least one person from the family of those who were martyred after 1947 but none of their kin was given a job. ❖ Prime Minister released “Moving on… Moving forward: A year in office”, a book authored by Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu.
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❖ Chennai port (ChPT) has become the first major port to handle a very large crude carrier (VLCC) inside the port basin. The VLCC New Diamond was the largest ship to be handled by the port till date. ❖ CEO of Niti Aayog announced that India will shortly unveil a one-nation-one- card policy for public transport that will bring seamless connectivity between various modes of transport ❖ Rajasthan government will distribute mobile phones to women who under the Below Poverty Line (BPL), under the Bhamashah Yojana. o The scheme aims to transfer financial and non-financial benefits of governmental schemes in a transparent manner. ❖ International Aviation Summit began in New Delhi. This summit has been jointly organised by the Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and International Air Transport Association (IATA). ❖ Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela became the first set of Indian shooters to secure quota places for the 2020 Olympics by winning a silver and finishing fourth respectively in the women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF World Championship. ❖ Union Ministry of Home Affairs approves proposal of Jharkhand government to rename a Nagar Untari town and railway station as Banshidhar Nagar in Garhwa district. o As per the government's guidelines for renaming villages, towns, cities as well as railway stations, all states must obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Home Affairs. ❖ NITI Aayog constituted group of experts has submitted report titled ‘Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security.’ o It has mentioned that nearly 30% of springs crucial to water security of people are drying and 50% have reported reduced discharge. ❖ 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia held in New Delhi ❖ US-based non-profit ‘The Internet Society and the Internet Service Providers Association of India’ (ISPAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will look into securing routers which is vital for a healthy Internet infrastructure. ❖ Dr Arif ur Rehman Alvi (69) was elected as 13th President of Pakistan. He is one of founding members of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. He will take oath of office of President on September 9, 2018. ❖ Asia Index Pvt Ltd, (a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE Ltd) launched an index designed to measure the performance of private banks. ❖ Governor Banwarilal Purohit released the ‘Paritchaikku Bhayamen’, the Tamil translation of Exam Warriors, a compilation of speeches of Prime
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Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to students during various occasions in different parts of the country. ❖ The ‘SB Met’, built by Norwegian company Offshore Sensing AS, become the first unmanned boat to cross the Atlantic. o This robotic unmanned sailboat crossed 1,800-mile (3,000 km) by the two-and-a-half-month journey from Newfoundland in Canada to Ireland. ❖ Researchers at Shizuoka University with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) developed world first miniature version of a space elevator. ❖ Google developed a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to combat online spreading of contents involving child sexual abuse. ❖ Japan and Gujarat have signed agreements to promote bilateral cooperation in culture, business, and interaction between the academia. ❖ First state assembly of Telangana has been dissolved nine months before the term of the House expires based on the recommendation of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Cabinet. It paves the way for early polls in the state. ❖ Dr.Poonam Singh re-elected for 2nd term as Regional Director WHO South- East Asia. o She was the first woman to have been elected to the position of Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia Region. ❖ National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has sanctioned an amount of Rs 335 crore under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to West Bengal. o It would be used for 158 minor irrigation projects and 23 flood protection projects. ❖ India will host the FIBA 3x3 (International Basketball Federation) World Tour Masters, one of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the world. ❖ President of India and Bulgarian President jointly unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at South Park, Sofia. ❖ International Camel Derby 2018 edition was held at Maralal town in Kenya. It is Kenya’s best known and most prestigious camel race that attracts both local and international competitors. ❖ BSNL appointed, Indian boxer MC Mary Kom as its brand ambassador for two years. ❖ India and Bulgaria signed four MoUs on Investment, Tourism, Civil Nuclear Cooperation and Establishment of Hindi Chair at Sofia University. ❖ A Conference on “E-Mobility in Indian Railways”, organized by Ministry of Railways through Institution of Railways Electrical Engineers (IREE) in association with NITI Aayog, was held in Delhi.
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❖ Software major Adobe signed a MoU with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch an "Adobe Digital Disha" programme across vocational institutes in India. ❖ State-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has bagged order worth Rs. 9,200 crores for the supply of seven Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) systems to Indian Navy. ❖ India will buy 18 bullet train sets worth Rs 7,000 crore from Japan. The deal will include a pledge to transfer technology for local production. o It is part of the government's plan to launch country's first high-speed rail corridor by 2022. ❖ Union government has decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) an open-ended scheme and added more incentives to encourage people to open bank accounts. o Government doubles up overdraft facility from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. ❖ Ikea, the Swedish multinational home furnishing retailer, opened its first India store in the IT hub of the Nizami city of Hyderabad. ❖ The 6th edition of the biennial Bengaluru Space Expo was inaugurated by ISRO Chairman Dr.K.Sivan in Bengaluru. This three-day event will showcase industry participation in Indian space programme. ❖ Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH) beyond the 12th Plan period from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
o The Scheme consists of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger (CSS-PT), Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-DWH) and Project Elephant (CSS-PE). ❖ National Green Tribunal has formed a monitoring committee headed by a former high court judge to prepare a time-bound action plan on groundwater recharge in the national capital. ❖ 31st Central Hindi Committee meeting was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister. ❖ Union Government has appointed Reserve Bank of India’s former governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the panel that has been tasked with selecting India’s next chief economic advisor (CEA). o He appointed for this post after previous CEA Arvind Subramanian resigned from office. ❖ Google launched a new search engine called 'Dataset Search', which works in multiple languages, to help scientists, data journalists, and others find the data required for their work. ❖ India ranked 19th in the ‘Theft Ranking’ for countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials, according to the Nuclear Security Index.
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o Australia and Switzerland share the top spot among the 22 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials. ❖ India and France signed an implementation agreement on ‘Mobilise Your City’ (MYC) in New Delhi to support three Indian cities (Nagpur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad) in their efforts to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. ❖ In order to improve the ease of doing business with Indian Railways, the national transporter has taken a significant step. Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry has launched the Aapoorti mobile app of Indian Railways e- procurement system (IREPS). ❖ Union Home Minister inaugurated 3-day Defence & Homeland Security Expo and Conference – 2018 in New Delhi. o It was jointly organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). ❖ Union Railway Minister along with Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh launched the official website of Kumbh Mela (www.kumbh.gov.in), 2019 in Lucknow. They also launched a social media App related to the Mela. o It will provide all the necessary details to tourists and pilgrims regarding the location, trains, weather, accessibility, and accommodations ❖ Saurabh Chaudhary (16 years) broke his own 10m Air Pistol World record and become ‘Junior World Champion’ in ISSF Shooting World Championships, Changwon in South Korea. ❖ India Blue has won 2017-18 Duleep Trophy by defeating the defending champion India Red in the final match played at NPR College ground in Dindigul, Tamilnadu. ❖ Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC-2018) will be organized by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in New Delhi from September 29 to mark the beginning of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi. ❖ Union Government has decided to exempt electric vehicles and automobiles run on alternative fuel from permit requirements. The move is in a bid to boost such vehicles in the country to bring down pollution. o This information was addressed in the annual convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in New Delhi. ❖ Union Government has announced that the treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. ❖ Supreme Court of India ordered that three-year insurance policy for four wheelers and five-year policy for two-wheelers for third party at the time of sale and registration should be made mandatory.
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o This verdict was given based on the recommendations of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety headed by former Supreme court judge KS Radhakrishnan. ❖ Ayushman Bharat call centre was inaugurated in Bengaluru by CEO of Ayushman Bharat Dr. Indu Bhushan. ❖ India’s ace sprinter Hima Das was appointed as Sports Ambassador of Assam to inspire budding players of north eastern state to aim big and young generation to take up sports seriously. ❖ Novak Djokovic clinched his third US Open title and overall 14th Grand Slam title by defeating world number three Juan Martín del Potro.
❖ Six government hospitals in four districts – Trichy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, and Karur will offer varma therapy for patients at the AYUSH block in the respective hospitals from October 2018. ❖ The Nilgiris district has decided to celebrate September 12th as ‘Kurinji Flower Day’ to celebrate the blossoms of blue Kurinji flower which occurs once in 12 years. o There are totally 9 different types of Kurinji flower that blossoms in Nilgiris and overall 32 types in entire India. ❖ Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) has made Aadhaar cards compulsory for Indians to register in the organ waitlist registry. o Foreigners have to submit a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the respective Embassies. ❖ Lucknow's famous 'Hazratganj Chauraha' will be renamed after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as 'Atal Chowk'. o The UP State Government has also announced to convert Vajpayee's ancestral house in Bateshwar, Agra into a memorial and develop a tourist circuit. ❖ The Union Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances has organized a regional conference on 'Good Governance with focus on Aspirational Districts' at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. ❖ Snow leopard was spotted at height of about 4,000 meters in Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. o Last year, the snow leopard was improved from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' in terms of conservation status ❖ Triple jumper Arpinder Singh becomes the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze. ❖ Hun Sen has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Cambodia. ❖ G20 first-ever ministerial meetings on education and employment, held in Mendoza, Argentina.
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❖ Qatar becomes the first Gulf country to grant permanent residency cards and new rights to some of the foreigners. o Under the new rule, new permanent residency holders would be treated like Qatari nationals and will benefit from the state’s generous welfare system, including education and health-care services. ❖ Bangladesh Naval Ship ‘Somudra Joy’ arrived Visakhapatnam (Eastern Naval Command) on a four-day goodwill visit. ❖ Researchers from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have developed cheaper and more flexible organic solar cells using a synthetic derivative of vitamin B12. ❖ Union textiles minister Smriti Irani inaugurated a 'digital village' at the common service center of the Information and Technology ministry in Pindara Thakur village, Amethi. o Under the digital village project, there would be 206 programmes available for the people including Wi-Fi Chaupal, LED bulb manufacturing, a unit to make sanitary pads and PM digital literacy initiative. ❖ Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam title after winning over Serena Williams in the finals of the U.S Open. ❖ Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu released the Book ‘Constitutionalizing India - an Ideational Project’ authored by Bidyut Chakrabarty in New Delhi. ❖ Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways announced that commercial vehicles such as buses, taxis, and rickshaws powered by alternative fuels such as "Ethanol, Methanol, Bio-diesel and CNG" will be exempted from the requirement of a permit. ❖ IIT, Madras helps the Government to install Low-cost Air quality monitor in Rameswaram. It will be installed at the Vivekananda Kendra with the data being linked to the Air Research Laboratory at IIT, Madras o It will show PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in the atmosphere, besides providing data on humidity levels, temperature and carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide levels ❖ The first ever direct bus service between Bihar and Nepal was started from Patna by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. ❖ Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been honored at the Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Awards. o The award has been established to honor the best female talent in Bollywood and Hollywood. ❖ India's Sameer Verma and the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty clinched the men's singles and doubles titles respectively at the Hyderabad Open badminton tournament. ❖ Alok Amitabh Dimri has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kyrgyz Republic.
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❖ Vanlalvawna has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Azerbaijan. ❖ India, Iran, and Afghanistan held their first tripartite meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan. ❖ NITI Aayog, Intel and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) are collaborating to set up a Model International Centre for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI). o The collaboration aims to bring together fundamental and applied research, innovation and technology development to solve important problems. ❖ Union Ministry of Railways has launched Rail Sahyog web portal (www.railsahyog.in). It will provide a platform for Corporates and PSUs to fund the creation of amenities at railway stations through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. ❖ Rajasthan government has decided to hold a convention on preserving heritage properties & promoting heritage tourism in Bharatpur. It was organised by the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA). ❖ Microsoft has selected seven Indian grantees for AI for Earth programme aimed at empowering people and organizations to solve environmental challenges through the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). o India now has the third largest number of AI for Earth grantees, after the United States and Canada. ❖ India-born woman research scholar Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, from the University of Washington, won the Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for 2018 for using smartphones to detect life-threatening symptoms. ❖ Gurnihal Singh Garcha won bronze in junior men’s shooting at the 52nd ISSF World Championships in Changwon, South Korea. ❖ Indian cricketer Jhulan Goswami became the first bowler in women's cricket to pick 300 international wickets. ❖ India-UAE Partnership Summit (IUPS) will be held in Dubai to promote the strategic partnership between India and the UAE. ❖ Samsung Electronics Ltd opened its biggest mobile store in the world in Bengaluru. It already launched the world's largest mobile phone- manufacturing factory in Noida. ❖ Archaeological Survey of India (Delhi Circle) of Ministry of Culture has discovered a hoard of 254 Copper Coins in the premises of Khirki Mosque. ❖ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale or distribution for human use of 328 Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) with immediate effect. o It has also restricted the manufacture, sale or distribution of six FDCs subject to certain conditions.
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❖ Greater Chennai Corporation has tenders to outsource for waste management work in eight more zones of the city. o Already in Adyar, Kodambakkam and Teynampet zone’s wastes are maintained by the private agencies. ❖ Health and family welfare department of Tamil Nadu released a government order for banning manufacture, sale, distribution, trade, marketing, import and possession of the electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or e- cigarettes. ❖ Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is gearing up to undertake sea trials of India’s first missile tracking ship VC 11184. It will be first of its kind ocean surveillance ship of India. ❖ The government of Andhra Pradesh launched a mobile platform, e-Rythu (e- farmer in Telugu). It enables small-scale farmers to market their produce at reasonable prices. ❖ Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu inaugurated the state's first Sainik School at Niglok. This school began its first academic session from August 27 this year with 60 students. o It would provide an opportunity to the youth to pursue a career in the armed forces. ❖ Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced his retirement and announced Daniel Zhang as his successor from September 10, 2019. ❖ The 150-year old festival ‘Marbat’ festival was celebrated in Nagpur, Maharashtra. ❖ The government of Gujarat relaunched ‘Mission Vidya’. This is a one-month- long curative teaching programme targeted more than 200,000 Class VI-VIII children with poor achievements in reading, writing, and mathematics. ❖ Goa government's Women and Child Development Ministry launched a universal helpline service (181) for women in distress in the coastal state. ❖ US National Cancer Institute has given the "Outstanding Investigator Award" to Indian-Origin Professor Arul Chinnaiyan, from the University of Michigan. ❖ Tamil Nadu government launched its investment promotion campaign for 'Global Investors Meet 2019' to be held in January next year. o It had earlier organised the First edition of Global Investors Meet in September 2015. ❖ Jharkhand government introduced electric vehicles for official use. Thus, Jharkhand has become the fifth state of India and the first state in eastern India to procure the eco-friendly vehicles for government use. o Prior to Jharkhand, the governments of Delhi, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have procured electric cars for official purpose.
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❖ Punjab assembly passed the Punjab Land Improvement Schemes (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2018. It aimed to facilitate farmers for laying out underground pipeline for irrigation purposes passing through the fields of other farmers. ❖ China is planning a bullet train service between Kunming and Kolkata. It will pass through neighbouring countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. ❖ World Economic Forum on ASEAN (WEF ASEAN) themed “ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution” started in Hanoi, Vietnam. ❖ Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), along with the Andhra Pradesh tourism department conducted its 34th annual convention at Visakhaptnam. o Theme of the convention is 'Mission: 20 million Tourists by 2020, challenges and possibilities’. ❖ Manoj Jhalani has been conferred with the prestigious UN Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) Award for his outstanding contribution towards prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related Sustainable Development Goals. ❖ Former Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh announced his retirement from the sport. ❖ Lucknow Municipal Corporation launched an anti-open defecation campaign, titled "Khule me shauch ki ghanti bajao - siti bajao" (whistleblowing campaign against open defection). ❖ IIT-Kharagpur has signed a pact with Carleton University of Canada to support research collaboration, capacity building and other academic partnerships. ❖ Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities organised a ‘National Conference of District Disability Rehabilitation Centres’ at New Delhi. ❖ Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare launched the Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF). ❖ Nepal army is set to participate in Sagarmatha Friendship-2, a second joint military exercise with china. o Recently Nepal withdrew from the first ever joint military drill by Bimstec countries.
❖ Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) developed India’s first indigenous medical kit that ensures protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage.
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❖ India’s Udhayveer Singh has won an individual Gold Medal in Junior Men's 25-metre pistol event in the ISSF World Shooting Championships in South Korea. ❖ 102-year-old Indian Athlete Man Kaur has clinched her second successive gold medal in the 200-meter race at the World Masters Athletics Championship in Malaga, Spain. o She has earlier won over 20 medals at the World Master Games. ❖ Rajasthan Sahitya Akademi has announced this year's Meera puraskar to the story writer Sawai Singh Shekhawat of Jaipur for his for his contribution to Hindi literature
❖ G-20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting held in Mar del Plata in Argentina. The meeting will provide an opportunity for a dialogue on current developments in international trade and its implications for the global economy. ❖ India’s industrial production grew at 6.6% in July as per the Index of Industrial Production, which is released by Central Statistics Office (CSO). ❖ Union Cabinet of India has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the collaborative research of distributed ledger technology (DLT). It’s a cooperative initiative under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. ❖ Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International airport received the Airports Council International Airport Service Quality World no.1 airport award trophy in the 5-15 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category for the second consecutive year. ❖ Rajasthan Forest Minister inaugurated the state's first lion safari at Nahargarh Biological Park. This park is located on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway in the Aravalli foothills. ❖ Prime Minister of India launched the 15 days long mega countrywide ‘Swachhata hi Seva Campaign 2018’. ❖ Union cabinet approved the complete electrification of Indian Railways in the next four years to reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue for the national carrier. ❖ American Aerospace company Space X, announced a new plan to launch a tourist around the Moon using its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), a massive launch vehicle that is being designed to carry people into deep space. ❖ Tropical storm Florence, which came ashore as a hurricane has created a major inland flood and landslide threats at the east coast of United States. ❖ India leads the way as the world’s hardest working country as per culture study survey by US-based multi-national workforce management firm Kronos Incorporated. o Mexico was the 2nd-highest followed by the US & United Kingdom, France and Australia were the least.
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❖ The Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has recently launched an indigenously designed and developed India’s first 205T Electric Drive Rear Dump Truck (Model BH205-E) in its Mysuru plant for use in the project of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), Singrauli. ❖ The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has partnered with payments technology company ‘Financial Software and Systems (FSS)’ to create payments network for unorganized retail. ❖ Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made it mandatory for unlisted public companies to issue new shares or transfer of all shares in dematerialized or demat (i.e. in electronic form) form beginning October 2, 2018. ❖ The 23rd Meeting of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) was held at Moscow. The Indian delegation was led by the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. o The IRIGC-TEC is a standing body which annually meets and reviews ongoing activities of bilateral cooperation.
❖ State Bank of India has appointed Prashant Kumar as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Bank. Prior to this, Kumar was designated as Deputy Managing Director (HR) & Corporate Development Officer of SBI. o He replaces Anshula Kant, who has been promoted as Managing Director of SBI. ❖ Russia, on September 17, concluded the 2018 edition of the massive Vostok exercise series that included Chinese forces for the first time. ❖ Indian-American Bimal Patel has been nominated as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions by the American President, Donald Trump. ❖ Girish Radhakrishnan and Tajinder Mukherjee have been appointed chairmen-cum-managing directors of the United India Insurance Company and the National Insurance Company Limited respectively. ❖ Cisco, a U.S.-based firm, that makes networking telecommunications equipment, has signed two agreements with the NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration programme in India. ❖ India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Germany’s Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) have signed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on skill development, which will provide dual vocational education and training to Indian youth. ❖ India and Malta signed three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in the fields of Maritime Cooperation, Tourism and Training.
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❖ The National Health Agency (NHA), the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat– National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), has launched a website and a helpline number to check the enrolment of the beneficiaries. o The website is ‘mera.pmjay.gov.in’ and the helpline is ‘14555’. ❖ Indian Overseas Bank’s Hindi journal ‘Vani’ wins ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar’ Award. The award was conferred by the Vice president, Venkaiah Naidu. ❖ Tajinder Mukherjee has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of National Insurance Company Limited (NICL). Prior to this, she was posted as General Manager and Chief Underwriting Officer of New India Assurance. ❖ The Hindi film stars- Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma, have been signed on to promote and endorse the Skill India Mission, chaired by Prime Minister. ❖ India has signed a financing loan agreement with the World Bank for USD 74 million for Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP). ❖ World Bank Board has endorsed an ambitious five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India, which aligns with New Delhi's objectives of high, sustainable and inclusive growth. o The framework is expected to bring between 25 and 30 billion US Dollars in financial support to India. ❖ India has contributed one million US dollars for the installation of solar panels on the roof of the imposing UN building at the world body's headquarters in New York. ❖ India and Niger signed an MoU for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) in Niamey, Niger with the Indian government's grant assistance. ❖ In a bid to ensure transparency, the Ministry of Health has introduced ‘budget dashboard’, an internal web portal comprising information on budget, expenditure and bill payment positions. ❖ Prime Minister laid foundation stone of India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) Dwarka, New Delhi. On completion, it will be biggest indoor exhibition space in India and also rank among the top 10 in the world. ❖ Renowned scientist Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas has been appointed the secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy and chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Mr Vyas, who is at present Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), has been appointed in place of Shekhar Basu. ❖ State-owned India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Private Life Insurer Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd (BALIC) entered into a strategic partnership to provide life insurance solutions, especially at the doorstep of every household in the country.
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❖ For the first time in the history of FIFA international football team rankings, two teams are sharing the top spot after World Cup 2018 semi-finalists Belgium joined World Cup winners France at the top of the rankings. ❖ Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj was unanimously elected as the president of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) at its Annual General Meeting in Chennai. The year of service will be for a term of 3 years until 2021. o He will replace MA Alagappan, who had completed 9 years in office. ❖ Around 11 lions died within a week in Dalkhania range of Gir forest in Amreli district of Gujarat. According to the 2015 census, Gir is home to 520 lions. ❖ Union Transport Minister felicitated Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma with Smita Patil award for best actor during the 34th anniversary of Priyadarshni Academy Global Award, in Mumbai. ❖ Financial Commissioner of Delhi Anindo Majumdar has been appointed as Secretary of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). ❖ Tamil Nadu government has announced Scheme for protection of exotic Neela kurinji (Strobilanthus kunthianus) plants that flower only once in 12 years to prevent the commercial packaging and selling of plants. ❖ IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) has constituted a committee, with its Chief General Manager Randip Singh Jagpal as the chairperson, to identify key regulatory issues and gaps regarding Fin-tech (Financial Technology) in insurance. ❖ The inaugural General Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) will be inaugurated on 2 October 2018 in New Delhi. It will be followed by ministerial level assembly of ISA following day which will be will be held in Greater Noida. ❖ The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed Anil Kumar Chaudhary as new Chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd. He will in office till his superannuation in December, 2020. o He will succeed P K Singh, who had retired from the post in June 2018. ❖ Mousumi Khatua from Kalyani City of West Bengal scripted history as she became the first Bengali woman to climb Asia’s highest volcanic peak Damavand. ❖ The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed varsities and higher educational institutions across the country to observe September 29 as "Surgical strike day". o This comes amid the NDA governments plan to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the 'surgical strikes' on September 29.
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❖ The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lifted a ban on RUSADA, Russia’s anti-doping agency. This paves the way for Russian athletes to return to competition across all sports. ❖ The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of D Purandeswari as the non-official independent director on the board of Air India Ltd. for a period of 3 years. ❖ The Border Security Force (BSF) has opened a new hotline in Delhi to communicate with the Pakistan Rangers. ❖ Opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the Maldives' presidential election by defeating Abdulla Yameen. ❖ The Film Federation of India (FFI) announced that Rima Das’ National Award-winning feature Village Rockstars has been chosen to represent India in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy Awards next year. ❖ WhatsApp has appointed Komal Lahiri as ‘Grievance Officer’ for India to flag complaints and concerns, including about Fake news. ❖ Vaishali Narendra Salavkar, a Blind chess player, has become the 1st Indian Blind chess female player to be a part of ‘International Braille Chess Association team’ at the World Chess Olympiad, Georgia. ❖ Argentina has received $57.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the biggest loan package ever from the global body aimed at boosting the country's struggling economy. ❖ India organised ‘Gandhi March’ from the iconic Peace Palace at the Hague in Netherlands to Grote Kerk on September 25 to launch the two-year long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. ❖ The 8-day long famous Indra Jatra festival 2018, which is the most exciting and revered festivals of the Newari community, has begun at Kathmandu in Nepal. festival is observed to worship Indra, the lord of rain and good harvest. ❖ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the Interfaith Alliance Forum at the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi on 19th and 20th November. The Forum will coincide with World Children’s Day (WCD), which is celebrated on 20th November. ❖ Senior IPS officers Rajni Kant Misra and S S Deswal were appointed as director general of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) respectively. o Misra presently serving as the SSB chief will replace K K Sharma and Deswal will replace Misra. ❖ The Hindu’s mobile app Briefcase bagged the silver trophy for Best Digital News Start Up at the 3rd South Asia Digital Media Awards at the 26th annual conference of WAN-IFRA India 2018 held at Hyderabad.
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o The silver medal was also shared by Sakal Media’s Agrowon App, while the gold trophy was bagged by Madras Courier. ❖ Google is celebrating its 20th anniversary today with a Doodle celebrating its most popular searches. Google celebrates its birthday every year on September 27th, even though it was incorporated on September 4th. ❖ Facebook has selected three Indian women among five global leaders for $1 million award as part of its Community Leadership Programme. They are Adhunika Prakash, Chetana Misra and Tamanna Dhamija. ❖ Northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh have agreed to fix uniform tax rates on petroleum products, amid rising fuel prices. o Besides, these states and UTs also have agreed to bring uniformity in taxes on liquor and registration of vehicles and transport permit. ❖ United States and India have formed ‘USAID-India End TB Alliance comprising leading experts in public and private sectors to combat the menace of tuberculosis. ❖ Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US $150 million loan for establishing first multi-skills park in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. o This new flagship Global Skills Park campus will be established in state capital Bhopal. ❖ Union Government has enhanced its contribution in State Disaster Response fund (SDRF) from 75% to 90%. Now, Central government will contribute 90% and all States will contribute 10% to the SDRF. ❖ NITI Aayog and United Nations in India signed Sustainable Development Framework for 2018-2022. The NITI Aayog is the national counterpart for the UN in India for the operationalization of the UNSDF.
TAMILNADU
Coastal Zone Management plan
❖ Tamil Nadu government submitted the final draft of ‘Coastal zone management plan’ to the Union ministry of Environment, Forests and climate change. ❖ The plan divides 1,076 km long coastline into 6 categories (6 CRZs - Coastal Regulation Zone) to preserve its marine ecology, covering 13 TN coastal districts and 28 islands. ❖ They are named as CRZ IA, CRZ IB, CRZ II, CRZ III, CRZ IVA and CRZ IVB. ❖ The state has 1 Marine National Park that is Gulf of Mannar.
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Open air prison - Thirumalaisamudiram
❖ Tamil Nadu will soon have its fourth open-air prison at Thirumalaisamudiram village in Thanjavur district. ❖ As per the Tamil Nadu prison manual, (Open Air Prison) the concept of open- air prison is to relieve congestion in walled prisons, train inmates in proper methods of agriculture for future rehabilitation and make prisons self- sufficient in agri production. ❖ It also aims to give prisoners with good conduct a certain amount of freedom. ❖ People convicted under provisions of Central Act XLV of 1860, habitual offenders, women prisoners, political prisoners, hired and professional murderers, ‘A’ class prisoners and inmates having tendency to escape are not eligible for the provision. ❖ The prisons department had already established such a facility in Coimbatore, Salem, and Sivaganga districts to engage convicts and life convicts in agriculture activities.
Tamil Nadu’s new ICT Policy
❖ Tamil Nadu Government has announced a new Information Communication Technology Policy, 2018. ❖ This policy will address the aspirations of investors, especially IT and ITeS companies, MSMEs and start-ups by way of provision of standard administrative incentives, fiscal incentives, capital subsidies, tax exemptions, and special incentives, among other things. ❖ It also has provisions for incubating start-ups and creating Research Parks. ❖ Awards for promoting Green IT industry and single-window facility for early clearance from concerned agencies are also part of this policy.
Tamil Nadu receives five awards from Centre
❖ Tamil Nadu has received five awards from the central government for effectively implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. ❖ Municipal administration and rural development Minister S.P Velumani received the award for Excellence in NREGA Administration. ❖ The state government has also received an award for the initiatives under Geo-MGNREGA, performance in Aadhaar seeding and conversion. ❖ Tuticorin district administration got a national award for achieving self- sufficiency under seven schemes under Grama Swaraj Abhiyan.
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❖ District Collectors Annadurai and Prashant M Wadnere have been honored for effective implementation of the scheme in Thanjavur and Tiruvannamalai districts.
Pakistan Dental Association's Humanitarian Award
❖ Chennai based craniomaxillofacial surgeon, Dr S M Balaji has been awarded the Pakistan Dental Association’s ‘Humanitarian Award’. ❖ Prof. Balaji is the first Indian to receive such an honour from the Pakistan Dental Association. ❖ The award was conferred on the side-lines of the 40th Asia pacific Dental federation 2018 meeting in Manilla, Philippines.
‘TN-SMART’ app
❖ The Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA) is going to launch an app called ‘TN-SMART’ for real-time risk assessment. ❖ It is a web application to collate data related to disaster management and provide flood alerts in specific areas. ❖ ‘TN-SMART’ stands for Tamil Nadu - System for Multi-hazard potential impact Assessment and Emergency Response Tracking.
1st technology-aided livestock census – Tamil Nadu
❖ Tamil Nadu is going to conduct the 20th livestock census, which is the 1st technology-aided livestock census. ❖ The census will be done with the help of a tablet, clicking photographs of livestock on various localities. ❖ The livestock Census will be undertaken once in five years and this is the first time the census would be undertaken for a three-month period (usually
1 month). ❖ The census has been delayed for the first time since 2002. It couldn’t be undertaken as per schedule in 2017 because of the Centre’s Digital India initiative.
Customs Checking Centre
❖ India’s first ‘Customs Checking Centre’ has been inaugurated at Thiruvotriyur, Chennai. ❖ This eliminates the massive backlog in front of the port and eases the traffic congestion.
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New Corporation to support water project funding
❖ Tamil Nadu Government is going to constitute a new ‘Water Resources Conservation and River Restoration Corporation’ to help implement water schemes. ❖ The new department will help out Public Works department to draft innovative projects and schemes to improve water sources.
National Sport Awards 2018 - Winners from Tamil Nadu
❖ Table Tennis star G Sathiyan has been conferred with Arjuna Award in the National Sports Awards 2018. ❖ Table Tennis coach A Srinivas Rao has been conferred with Dronacharya Award. ❖ Arjuna Awards are given to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports and the Dronacharya Award honours the sports coaches of India.
TN - Integrated version of CMCHIS and PMJAY
❖ Tamil Nadu government launched (September 23) the Centre's ambitious health insurance project as an integrated initiative of the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) in the state. ❖ It is to be recalled that the CMCHIS was launched by the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2012. ❖ It is a fully state-funded scheme for providing cashless treatment in secondary and tertiary care hospitals for the poor and the underprivileged.
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New corporation in the state
❖ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced that ‘Nagercoil’ municipality in Kanyakumari district will be upgraded into 13th New corporation in the State. ❖ It will be upgraded after the completion of delimitation of wards across the state. ❖ The CM also announced the formation of Killiyoor and Thiruvattar taluks ❖ At present, Tamil Nadu has 12 corporations, with Dindigul being the last to be announced as Corporation in 2014.
Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System
❖ The Tamil Nadu government has decided to handle its treasury operations totally online from November 1.
❖ The state will implement an Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System (IFHRMS) to steer for paperless transactions. ❖ IFHRMS is being executed with o Wipro as the system integrator, o Accenture Services as project consulting agency and
o PriceWaterhouse Coopers as the third-party audit agency.
New health programme - ‘Prevention of Haemoglobinopathies’
❖ Tamil Nadu, in a first of its kind initiative in the nation, has started a new health programme ‘Prevention of Haemoglobinopathies’ in the Hilly areas. ❖ The initiative has been taken up in the Hilly areas of Nilgiris, Kolli Hills in Namakkal, Yercaud in Salem, Valparai in Coimbatore and Krishnagiri
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❖ Hemoglobinopathies is a kind of genetic defect resulting in abnormal structure of one of the globin chains of haemoglobin molecule. ❖ This disease is mostly prevalent among the tribals in the hilly areas.
Adyar Head Constable - ‘Mr.Tamil Nadu’ Title
❖ Purushothaman, Head constable of the Adyar Traffic enforcement wing has won the ‘Mr Tamil Nadu’ title after winning the Gold medal in 80kg category of the overall State Bodybuilding championship. ❖ He had won Mr Tamil Nadu title for 7 years till 2008. Now he had won the title after a gap of 10 years. ❖ He had earlier won Mr Chennai in May 2018.
NATIONAL
NITI Aayog ‘s Mobility Week
❖ Niti aayog released a series of events to take place in the ‘Mobility Week’ from 31 August to 6 September 2018. ❖ During this week 17 events will facilitate interactions with various stakeholders across the mobility domain.
Indian Railways sign MoU with GAIL
❖ GAIL (India) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Railways to create infrastructure for supplying natural gas to the transporter's workshops, production units, depots and residential colonies. ❖ It aims to the creation of infrastructure and supply of compressed natural gas (CNG), piped natural gas (PNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for both industrial and domestic purposes. ❖ It would also help replace industrial gases like dissolved acetylene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Bharat Metal Cutting Gas (BMCG), furnace oil and High-Speed Diesel (HSD) with natural gas.
National Mission on Government e-Marketplace
❖ National Mission on Government e Marketplace (GeM) will be launched on 5th September 2018 to accelerate the adoption and use of GeM by major central Ministries, State Governments, and their agencies.
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❖ The aim of the National Mission is to promote inclusiveness, transparency, and efficiency in public procurement and achieve cashless, contactless and paperless transaction.
ICAR's Two-Day Conference
❖ Director General of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) inaugurated a two-day conference at NASC, New Delhi on Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA). ❖ This two-day conference provides an opportunity to all stakeholders to interact and discuss various options and avenues for motivating them towards entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied fields.
India post payments bank
❖ Prime Minister launched the India post payments bank (IPPB) on September 01, 2018 ❖ Through the India Post Payments Bank, banking services will conveniently reach the remotest places in the country, and the people living there. ❖ It will provide services through the post offices and ‘Grameen Dak Sewaks’. ❖ IPPB is one more step to achieve Jan Dhan Yojana’s objective.
National Nutrition Week – September 1 to 7
❖ The National Nutrition Week will be observed throughout the country from 1st to 7th September. ❖ Food and Nutrition Board of the Ministry of Women & Child Development was organizing the event. ❖ The basic objective of this annual event is to intensify awareness generation on the importance of nutrition for health which has an impact on development, productivity, economic growth and ultimately National development.
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❖ The theme for National Nutrition Week 2018 is 'Go Further with Food' and in 2017 it was 'Optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health'.
NITI Aayog’s MOVE Cyclathon
❖ NITI Aayog flagged off MOVE Cyclathon, a cycle rally to promote cleaner, accessible modes of transport. ❖ It was organized as part of ‘Mobility Week’ which will see 17 events in seven days from 31 August to 6 September 2018. ❖ This event aimed to encourage Cycling for a healthier life & a less polluting city and spread the message of a shared, connected, and zero-emission mobility in the country.
Draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies
❖ Union Health Ministry released draft rules on sale of drugs by e- pharmacies to regulate online sale of medicines across India. ❖ It is aimed to provide patients accessibility to genuine drugs from authentic online portals. ❖ As per draft rules no person will distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs through e-pharmacy portal unless registered. ❖ The new draft rules require e-pharmacies to be registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and obtain a trade licence through the online portal.
First review meeting of Department of Official Language
❖ Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired first review meeting of the Department of Official Language. ❖ This meeting was aimed to discuss the functioning and issues related to implementation of Hindi language in official work. ❖ Also, the department has developed a computer software called “Kanthasth” for translating the all kinds of official files from English to Hindi and vice versa to make the translation work simpler and quicker. ❖ An E-learning platform called the “Pravah” also developed by the department for use in 16 Indian languages including English. It will be launched on Hindi Diwas on 14th September, 2018. ❖ Anybody can learn Hindi through his mother tongue with the help of this E- learning platform.
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❖ Previously, ‘Lila’ Mobile App was launched for making the learning of Hindi language easier on 2017 Hindi Diwas.
Draft charter of Patients’ Rights
❖ Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released draft Charter of Patients’ Rights prepared by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). ❖ The Ministry plans to implement the Charter of Patients’ Rights through State governments for provision of proper health care. ❖ This charter is expected to act as a guidance document for the Union Government and State Governments to formulate concrete mechanisms.
National Clean School Award
❖ Pavendhar Bharathidasan government primary school from koonichampattu, Puducherry has bagged top position in National Clean School Award out of 52 schools across the country. ❖ Tamil Nadu conferred second position in National Clean School Award. Third position was shared by Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. ❖ National Clean School Award ranking and the list were issued by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development and was prepared by National Institute of Cleanliness Education and Research (NICER).
Proposal to increase wages of artisans
❖ Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) approved a proposal by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to increase the wages of artisans by over 36 %. ❖ Now the wages will be increased from Rs 5.50 per hank previously to Rs 7.50 per hank. ❖ The wage incentives are paid by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) directly to the accounts of the artisans through direct benefits transfer.
New IIM campus
❖ Union Cabinet approved the establishment and operationalization of permanent campus of seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). ❖ It will be established at Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Sirmaur, Vishakhapatnam and Jammu.
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❖ These institutes are presently functioning from transit campuses.
Swadesh Darshan Scheme
❖ Ministry of Tourism sanctioned Malanad Malabar Cruise Tourism Project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of a rural circuit in Kerala. ❖ This project will be focusing on the development of water-based thematic cruise experiences in and around Valapattanam and Kuppam Rivers of Kannur District. ❖ Three thematic cruises being developed under this project will be on Valapattanam and Kuppam River.
New Ganga clean-up law
❖ Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has prepared a draft Bill which proposes setting up armed Ganga Protection Corps (GPC). ❖ This force will have the power to arrest any person who has committed the offence of polluting River Ganga punishable under this law. ❖ This Bill calls for National Ganga Council and National Ganga Rejuvenation Authority to enforce the law and protect Ganga River.
IPC Section 377 Verdict
❖ Five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality by partially striking down the colonial era provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
❖ As per the verdict, Section 377 would not apply to consensual same-sex acts between homosexuals, heterosexuals, lesbians and other sexual minorities.
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❖ But it would apply to bestiality and sexual acts without consent by one of them. ❖ India becomes the 125th country to decriminalize homosexuality.
Book on Mahatma Gandhi's 'Nai Talim'
❖ A Book on experiential learning based on Mahatma Gandhi's 'Nai Talim' (basic education) was released by Union Minister for Human Resource & Development (HRD). ❖ It contains the basic principles of Gandhi's 'Nai Talim', along with the work and education curriculum for schools, D.Ed, B.Ed and faculty development programmes for teachers. ❖ It has been brought out simultaneously in 13 languages in consultation with the state councils of educational research and training.
Atal Pension Yojana Extension
❖ Union Cabinet has decided to indefinitely extend the Atal Pension Scheme, which lapsed in August 2018. It also has broadened its scope by keeping it open-ended. ❖ To further incentivize people’s participation in the scheme, the age criterion for participation has been revised. Enrolment age has been relaxed further to 65 years from 60 years. ❖ Also, all accounts opened after August 2018 will have accident insurance limit of Rs 2 lakh, which is double than the earlier Rs 1 lakh limit. ❖ Overdraft facility of the scheme was also increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.
First Global Mobility Summit 2018
❖ India’s first-ever Global Mobility Summit ‘MOVE’ was inaugurated by Prime Minister in New Delhi on September 7, 2018. ❖ This two-day summit was organized by NITI Aayog. ❖ It will deliberate on five themes including electrification and alternative fuels, reinventing public transport, goods transport, and logistics, data analytics, mobility.
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Mobilise Your City – India and France
❖ India and France on September 6, 2018 signed an implementation agreement on ‘Mobilise Your City’ (MYC) in New Delhi to support three Indian cities in their efforts to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.
❖ The initiative is a part of an international initiative, which is supported by the French and the German Governments and was launched at 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting in December 2015. ❖ The MYC aims at supporting three Indian cities on a pilot basis - Nagpur, Kochi, and Ahmedabad. Assistance includes ❖ To support planning and implementation of sustainable urban transport projects. ❖ To support the strengthening of institutional capacity for regulating, steering and planning urban mobility. ❖ To learn and exchange formats with other cities across India to enable exchange on best practices.
World Air Transport Statistics (WATS)
❖ Indians became the third largest air travelers by nationality according to World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) data released by International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently followed by the UK. ❖ According to the release, overall annual air passenger numbers exceeded four billion for the first time due to broad-based improvement in global economic conditions and lower average airfares.
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❖ According to the report in 2000, the average citizen flew just once every 43 months. In 2017, the figure was once every 22 months.
Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference
❖ 4th Annual Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference was held at Bengaluru. ❖ It was officially supported by Smart City Mission, Government of India, Swachh Bharat, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation and City Manager Association Karnataka. ❖ The event was intended to discuss activities, reforms, development and barriers taking place in the Smart Cities India projects. ❖ It also focused on sharing best practices and collaboration of technology, products and services for the empowerment of urban development.
India's first railway university
❖ The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) was started on September 11 in Vadodara. ❖ This is the first university in the country in the transport sector. ❖ Currently, it is functioning out of the National Academy of Indian Railways, Vadodara. ❖ It is funded by the ministry of railways, with the University of California, Berkeley and Cornell University as its international partners.
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Safe city project for women
❖ The government has appraised fund for safe city project in eight cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow) under the Nirbhaya Fund. ❖ The objective is to make the cities safer for women by addressing different aspects such as street lighting, safer public transport, improved policing and others. ❖ This project consists of transit dormitories for women and children, smart LED streetlights, one-stop crisis centers, public panic buttons, and forensic and cybercrime cells.
Panel for e-Commerce issues
❖ The Union Government constituted a group of secretaries to look into the e- Commerce issues. ❖ The panel will be chaired by the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). ❖ The members include Secretaries of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Department of Commerce. ❖ Representatives of NITI Aayog and Department of Economic Affairs are also the members of the panel.
India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge
❖ Bogibeel Bridge is a longest combined road and rail bridge over the Brahmaputra River in Assam. It has three-lane roads on top and double line rail below.
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❖ The 4.94 km bridge will facilitate road and rail connectivity between the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. ❖ Bogibeel will be the longest rail-cum-road bridge in India and 2nd longest bridge over the Brahmaputra after Dhola-Sadiya Bridge which is a road bridge of length 9.15 km.
Plan Bee
❖ Indian Railways has come up with an initiative called “Plan Bee” to prevent speeding trains from hitting elephants crossing tracks. ❖ The plan involves setting up of devices near tracks, which emit the ‘buzzing’ sound of swarming bees. ❖ Already “Plan Bee”, launched in November 2017 at Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR), has been got a great success.
HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017
❖ The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced the implementation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017. ❖ The bill is a milestone because it empowers a person living with HIV to report discrimination meted out against them in fields of employment, health care services, educational services, public facilities, property rights, holding public office, and insurance. ❖ The Act makes Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) a legal right for all HIV/AIDS patients.
Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan- PM-AASHA
❖ Union Cabinet approved a new Umbrella Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA). ❖ It aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. ❖ This umbrella scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers and is comprised of: o Price Support Scheme (PSS), o Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), o Pilot of Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPPS).
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❖ Other existing schemes of Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) and Ministry of Textile for cotton and jute will be continued for providing MSP.
Cabinet approves Various MoUs
❖ Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Brunei Darussalam on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles, and for cooperation in the field of Space Research, Science and Applications. ❖ Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and South Africa on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes. ❖ Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Egypt for cooperation in the field of agriculture & allied sectors. ❖ Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Malta for strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism. ❖ Union Cabinet approved for introduction of NID Act- 2014 amendment bill to include the four new National Institutes of Design (NID) viz., Amaravati/Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh; Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; Jorhat, Assam and Kurukshetra, Haryana within the ambit of the NID Act- 2014 and to declare them as Institutions of National Importance (INIs).
Selection Committee to pick up Dronacharya and Dhyanchand Awardees
❖ Justice Mukul Mudgal was named a chairman of the 11-member selection committee to pick this year’s Dronacharya and Dhyanchand awardees. ❖ He was a former chief justice of the Punjab and Delhi High court. ❖ Dhyanchand award is bestowed on sportspersons for their lifetime achievements and contribution to sport during both their active career and after retirement. ❖ Dronacharya award is presented to coaches for their outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis over a period of four years.
Chairman of Lok Sabha ethics panel
❖ L.K.Advani has been re-nominated as the chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee by Speaker of Lok Sabha. ❖ This Committee examines complaints relating to unethical conduct by members of Parliament.
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❖ It is also free to take up suo moto investigation into the matters relating to ethics and unethical conduct by a member.
NSP Mobile App
❖ Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched country's first National Scholarship Portal mobile app.
❖ It will ensure a "smooth, accessible and hassle-free scholarship system for students from poor and weaker sections". ❖ Students will get all the information regarding various scholarships and also, they can apply for scholarships, upload necessary documents, check the status of their application & scholarship disbursement status etc on this mobile app.
National Water Awards 2018
❖ Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has instituted National Water Awards to 13 categories. ❖ It is aimed to encourage all stakeholders to manage their water resources efficiently and create a water consciousness in the country.
Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety Awards
❖ Minister of State for Labour & Employment (Independent Charge) presented Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety Awards for the Performance Year 2013. ❖ VRP is awarded in recognition of outstanding suggestions given by a worker or group of workers and implemented by the management during the
previous calendar year.
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❖ The Ministry of Labour & Employment has been operating the “Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar” (Previously known as Shram Vir National Awards) and “National Safety awards” since 1965. ❖ NSA is given in recognition of outstanding safety performance of industrial establishments, construction sites, ports and installations under AERB
(Atomic Energy Regulatory Board).
First tribal circuit project
❖ Union tourism minister inaugurated the country's first tribal circuit project connecting 13 tourism sites in Chhattisgarh. ❖ It is implemented under the Tourism Ministry's Swadesh Darshan scheme launched in 2014-15 for development of thematic circuits in the country in a planned and prioritised manner. ❖ This is the second project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme being inaugurated in the country after Imphal & Khongjom.
Capacity Development Scheme
❖ Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved continuation of the Capacity Development Scheme for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. ❖ It is an ongoing central sector scheme and aimed to augment infrastructural, technical as well as manpower resources for making available credible and timely official statistics for policy makers and public at large. ❖ Capacity Development Scheme has two Sub-schemes, Economic Census and Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS).
HIV Estimations report 2017
❖ National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) released the HIV Estimations report 2017.
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❖ This HIV Estimations 2017 is the 14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP). ❖ NACO undertakes HIV estimations biennially in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS). ❖ The first round of HIV estimation in India was done in 1998. ❖ The objective of the HIV estimations is to provide updated information on the status of the HIV epidemic in India at the national and State/Union Territory level.
Chiller Star Labelling Program
❖ Ministry of Power launched Chiller Star Labelling Program to encourage the deployment of Energy Efficient chiller systems in the country. ❖ It has been formulated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). ❖ This key program was launched occasion of 24th World Ozone Day and the 31st Anniversary of Montreal Protocol, which will be observed on 16th September 2018. ❖ BEE has developed an online registration platform for easy and expeditious approval under this initiative. The manufacturers will be able to register online for availing appropriate star rating of chiller equipment.
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❖ Through this Program, it is estimated that more than 500 million units of electricity would be saved in 2019 along with Green House Gases (GHG)
reduction of 0.5 million-ton equivalent of CO2.
Website for 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
❖ External Affairs Minister (EAM) along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has inaugurated the website for the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019, www.pbdindia.gov.in. ❖ The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention will be held at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh from 21 to 23 January 2019. ❖ The theme of PBD 2019 is "Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India.” ❖ The inauguration of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in partnership with Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports. ❖ Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention is the flagship event of the Government and provides an important platform to engage and connect with the overseas Diaspora.
India’s 1st ‘Smart Fence’ Pilot Project
❖ India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project was inaugurated by Union Home Minister along the Indo-Pak border at the BSF Headquarters in Ploura, Jammu. ❖ The technology is being implemented by the Border Security Force which provides for round-the-clock surveillance on the border. ❖ The initiative is part of the comprehensive integrated border management system (CIBMS). ❖ The pilot project entails deploying laser-activated fences and technology- enabled barriers to plug vulnerable gaps along frontiers.
Gold label distinction - Marathon
❖ Mumbai Marathon got the Gold label distinction from the International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). ❖ The 16th edition of the race, to be held on Jan 20, 2019, became the only gold label marathon in the country and joined the elite list of marathons in Asia.
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Indian Green Building Council Certification
❖ Chennai Central Railway Station has received the ‘Indian Green Building Council Certification’ for adopting Green building features and concepts in the Station. ❖ With this, the railway station becomes the first station in Southern Railway to be awarded Green Building Certification. ❖ The Central Railway station has several green building projects like o 100% LED lighting fixtures, o Installation of 5-star rated fans, o Solar energy, solar water heaters and o Segregation of waste at source along with waste recycling. ❖ The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), instituted by the CII, awarded the certificate during the Railway Swachchta programme at the Chennai Central railway station on 15th Septemper, 2018.
Jaipur Literature festival
❖ Jaipur Literature festival was held in Houston, Texas, United States on 14th and 15th September 2018. ❖ This is the 1st time the festival is held outside of Jaipur, ever since its inception in 2006. ❖ It is hailed as the World’s largest free literary festival. ❖ After Houston, it will be held in New York from September 19 to 20 and in Boulder, Colorado from September 21 to 23. ❖ It will also be held in Australia and England later.
Government and FAO - agriculture project
❖ Union government (Agriculture and Environment ministries) along with UN body Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched agriculture project. ❖ It will be implemented in five states viz. Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. ❖ It seeks to bring transformative change in farm sector through conservation of biodiversity and forest landscapes. ❖ The project is being funded with US $33.5 million grant from Global Environment Facility (GEF).
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D.K.Jain committee – ISRO Spy Case
❖ Former ISRO scientist S Nambi Narayanan was awarded compensation of Rs 50 lakh by the Supreme Court 24 years after he was arrested by Kerala police on an espionage charge.
❖ The apex court also constituted a committee headed by retired SC judge D K Jain to inquire into the role of Kerala police officials in the arrest of Narayanan. ❖ The committee would have an officer each nominated by the Central and the Kerala governments. ❖ He was arrested on the charges of passing on documents and drawings of ISRO relating to Viking/Vikas engine technology, cryogenic engine technology and PSLV flight data/drawings to Pakistan.
Clear policy on shifting cultivation
❖ NITI Aayog, in its recent report, has recommended that Ministry of Agriculture to take up mission on shifting cultivation to ensure inter- ministerial convergence between different ministries. ❖ The report was titled “Mission on Shifting Cultivation: Towards a Transformational Approach”.
Cabinet Approval - Triple Talaq Ordinance
❖ The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance making triple talaq a punishable offence after the NDA government failed to pass it through both the houses of Parliament. ❖ It was cleared by the Lok Sabha but was stuck in the Rajya Sabha. ❖ The Supreme Court had in a verdict in August last year declared it illegal and unconstitutional.
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❖ The ordinance will have similar provisions as the Muslim Women Protection of Rights in Marriage Act.
“Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2018”
❖ ‘UNICEF’ and ‘UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation’ (UN IGME) has released the “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2018”, which shows the full scope of child and mortality rates across the world. ❖ According to the report, the Sub-Saharan Africa region had the highest under-five mortality rate in the world.
❖ In 2017, the region had an average under-five mortality rate of 76 deaths per 1,000 live births. ❖ In India, the death of children below the age of 5 years has reduced from nearly 22% in 2012 to 18% in 2017, and is below one million mark, for the first time (9,89,000). ❖ About 8,02,000 infant deaths were reported in India in 2017, the lowest in 5
years. ❖ But, India still leads the world in Infant deaths, followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and Democratic Republic of Congo. ❖ Globally, an estimation of 6.3 million children aged younger then 15 years died in 2017, or the equivalent of one child in every 5 seconds. ❖ The report notes that more than 80% of all the deaths, or 5.4 million, occur in children in their first 5 years of life.
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Logo, Web Portal launched - 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
❖ President launched the logo and the web portal for commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
❖ The logo was obtained through “crowd sourcing‟ and will be displayed in all the Government organizations and entities.
❖ The web portal is “http://gandhi.gov.in‟
❖ It is participatory in nature and has a unique feature “Gandhipedia‟ which will be a repository of Gandhian knowledge. ❖ The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi will be observed in the form of 2 year long celebrations from October 2, 2018 to October 2, 2020 across the country.
Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna
❖ The ESI (Employee's State Insurance) Corporation has approved a Scheme named “Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna” for Insured Persons (IP) covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948. ❖ This scheme is a relief payable in cash directly to their Bank Account in case of unemployment and while they search for new engagement.
National Database on Sexual Offenders
❖ Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched India’s National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO). ❖ With this, India became the 9th nation to maintain such thorough database. ❖ NDSO is initiative under National Mission for Safety of Women aimed at curbing crimes against women and children.
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❖ It will be maintained by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the State Police will regularly update the database from 2005 onwards.
Aviaindra 18
❖ India and Russia joint air exercise Aviaindra 18 was held in Lipetsk, Russia from September 17 to 28, 2018. ❖ The 2nd session of Aviaindra 18 will be conducted in Jodhpur, Rajasthan from December 10 Dec to 22, 2018. ❖ Exercise Aviaindra is Air Force level exercise between India and Russia. ❖ The aim of this exercise is focused towards anti-terrorist operations in bi- lateral scenario. ❖ It was conducted for first time in 2014 and since then it is conducted bi- annually in both countries.
MSME Insider
❖ Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has launched its monthly e-newsletter MSME Insider. ❖ The e-newsletter will give information of activities undertaken by MSME Ministry and also act as bridge between Ministry and stakeholders.
India’s first Coal-gasification fertilizer plant
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❖ Prime Minister launched the commencement of work for India’s first Coal- gasification based fertilizer plant with pet coke blending will come up in Talcher, Odisha (September 22). ❖ The coal gasification-based fertilizer plant is being developed by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).
❖ On completion, this plant will have a capacity of producing 1.27 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of Neem coated prilled urea. ❖ Neem coated urea reduces leaching of nitrogen into soil and checks diversion of urea from agriculture uses. ❖ Pollutants like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) produced by this plant will be recycled for the production of Urea and other by-products.
Boundary survey work
❖ 5th meeting of the Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG) was held in Kathmandu. ❖ In the meeting both the countries have agreed to explore the possibility of using high-resolution satellite images in boundary survey work.
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❖ They also agreed to continue mapping of no man's land encroachment and cross-border occupation. ❖ BWG is joint body constituted by India and Nepal in 2014 to conduct works in fields of construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars. ❖ The 4th BWG meet was held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand (India).
PM inaugurates Jharsuguda airport
❖ Prime Minister inaugurated new airport in Jharsuguda, also known as the powerhouse of Odisha (September 22). ❖ It is the first airport in Odisha to provide necessary connectivity to Bhubaneswar, Raipur and Ranchi under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN Scheme. ❖ Other than Jharsuguda, three more airports are being developed in Odisha namely, o Jeypore (Koraput District), o Rourkela (Sundargarh District) and o Utkela (Kalahandi District) to provide connectivity to remote and far-flung areas of the coastal state under RCS.
❖ Jharsuguda is the 2nd airport of Odisha after Bhubaneswar to become operational.
Centenary celebrations of liberation of Israel’s Haifa
❖ India is commemorating hundred years of the liberation of Israel’s Haifa by the Indian troops in 1918.
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❖ The Battle of Haifa is also being commemorated in Israel and Jaipur. The centenary celebrations will culminate with a grand function in Delhi. ❖ September 23 is commemorated every year as Haifa Day by the Indian Army to pay its respects to the 3 Indian Cavalry Regiments - Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers. ❖ These troops helped liberate Haifa following a cavalry action by the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade of the then British Indian Army at the Battle of Haifa in 1918.
Victims of Terror Attacks and Terror Groups
❖ US Department of State has released a report - Victims of Terror Attacks and Terror Groups. ❖ India is the third largest victim of terror attacks across the world after Iraq and Afghanistan, for the 2nd year in a row.
❖ Till 2015, Pakistan was the third most affected country in the world. ❖ CPI-Maoists, which carried out 53% of the total attacks in India, is the fourth deadliest terror group after Islamic State, Taliban and Al-Shabaab. ❖ Interestingly, for the first time, West Bengal witnessed a 215% increase in terror attacks, from 6 incidents in 2016 to 76 in 2017. ❖ It is mostly owing to Darjeeling unrest due to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Gorkha Liberation Army last year.
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The Hindu - 140th anniversary
❖ The national English daily 'The Hindu' has successfully stepped into its 140th year on September 20, 2018. ❖ One of the oldest newspapers of the country, headquartered at Chennai, was began way back in 1878. ❖ The founding editorial was titled 'Ourselves' as a weekly newspaper and became an English daily in 1889. ❖ Hindu is having the largest base of circulation in southern India and is the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition in 1995.
❖ Marking its anniversary, it has offered its readers a special supplement titled " The Hindu @140". ❖ To commemorate the 140th anniversary of The Hindu Group’s, the Hindu Lounge has launched its online store, The Hindu Lounge Online.
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Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
❖ Prime Minister launched (September 23) ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), under Ayushman Bharat umbrella at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
❖ The scheme aims to provide annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to the 10.74 crore beneficiary families i.e. over 50 crore beneficiaries across India. ❖ It is to be noted that Telangana, Odisha, Kerala, Punjab and Delhi (UT) are the states which have still not signed MoUs for joining this scheme.
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❖ It will cover beneficiaries’ families identified on the basis of Socio-Economic Caste Survey (SECC) 2011. ❖ PMJAY will be funded with 60% contribution from Centre and remaining from the states.
National orientation workshop on National e-Vidhan Application
❖ Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs inaugurated the two-day National Orientation workshop on National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA). ❖ National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) is a digital application that provides “online‟ information about day-to-day functioning of Legislative houses. ❖ It is a Rs 739 crore project, aiming to bring legislatures on digital platform, covering all Houses. ❖ It is to be used by the Legislatures as well as all the Government Departments. e-Vidhan ❖ e-Vidhan is the Mission mode project, which aims to digitize and make the functioning of states’ legislatures “paperless”. ❖ It is the part of Digital India programme of the Union Government, with Min of parliamentary affairs being the nodal agency. ❖ The Ministry aims to roll out e-Vidhan as NeVA covering all 40 Houses including 2 Houses of Parliament in a single platform as per the theory of “One Nation One Application”.
World Air Traffic Report of Airports Council International
❖ As per the World Air Traffic Report of Airports Council International, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has been ranked as 16th busiest airport in the world. ❖ The airport handled 6.34 crore passengers in the year 2017. ❖ It was ranked at 22nd in 2016 and handled 14% more passengers in 2017. ❖ Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in the US maintained its position as the world's busiest airport by handling 10.39 crore passengers in 2017, followed by Beijing with 9.58 crore passengers. ❖ Dubai International Airport handled 8.82 crore passengers and stood at third position.
MahaBiz 2018
❖ The 3rd edition of ‘MahaBiz 2018’ International Business Conference will be held in Dubai on 12th and 13th October 2018.
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❖ MahaBiz acts as a bridge for business opportunities between Maharashtra and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. ❖ GCC is a political and economic alliance of six middle eastern countries. It includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.
Committee to Look into Jail Reforms
❖ The Supreme Court has constituted a 3-member committee headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Roy to look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country. ❖ A bench headed by Justice M B Lokur said the panel will look into the issues including over-crowding in prisons.
Supreme court ruling on Aadhaar
❖ The Supreme Court (September 26) declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid. ❖ The Supreme Court ruled that linking the Aadhaar card to PAN card is mandatory and is needed for filing income tax returns. ❖ The apex court, however, said Aadhaar is not mandatory for opening bank accounts and linking with existing accounts.
❖ The Supreme Court also struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed private companies to avail Aadhaar data. ❖ Calling the section unconstitutional, the court asserted that private companies cannot insist on having Aadhaar number of customers. ❖ Aadhaar authentication records cannot be stored beyond six months, striking down the current rule of 5 years.
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Live Streaming of Cases of Constitutional Importance
❖ The Supreme Court (September 26) allowed live streaming of cases of Constitutional importance that take place in the Court of the Chief Justice of India. ❖ The bench said that they want to implement the concept of 'open court' in a bid to decongest the court. ❖ As per the court the public had a "right to know" what happens inside the courtroom. ❖ The decision came on the back of a clutch of petitions filed by senior lawyer Indira Jaisingh, law student Snehil Tripathi and NGO Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change.
Conversion of GSTN into Government entity
❖ The Union Cabinet has approved conversion of Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) into government-owned company. ❖ The government will now own 100 per cent of the IT backbone to the new indirect tax regime. ❖ Currently, the Centre and states together hold 49 % stake in GSTN. The remaining 51 % is held by 5 private financial institutions. ❖ Earlier in May 2018, GST Council had agreed to make GSTN a government company with Centre owning 50 % stake and states together holding the remaining 50 %.
National Digital Communications Policy-2018
❖ Union Cabinet has approved National Digital Communications Policy-2018 (NDCP 2018). ❖ It also has approved the re-designation of Telecom Commission as Digital Communications Commission. ❖ It replaces existing National Telecom Policy-2012 to cater to the modern needs of the digital communications sector of India. ❖ NDCP is focused on increasing high-speed broadband penetration, with use of modern technologies like 5G and optical fibres across the country at affordable rates. ❖ It included provisions to adopt "Optimal Pricing of Spectrum" to ensure sustainable and affordable access to digital communications.
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Lokpal Search Committee
❖ The government has set up an 8-member Lokpal Search Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. ❖ Prasar Bharati Chairman A.Surya Prakash, former SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Justice Sukha Ram Singh Yadav among others will be members of the panel. ❖ The panel will recommend the names for the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal to the Lokpal Selection Committee.
Ease of Living Index rankings under AMRUT
❖ Andhra Pradesh has topped the chart among the States in terms of “2018 Ease of Living Index” rankings launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). ❖ Odisha and Madhya Pradesh bagged the second and third best performing awards respectively. ❖ The Ease of Living Index is a transformative initiative of the Ministry under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).
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❖ The first edition of index, released in January 2018, had ranked 111 Indian cities and was topped by Pune.
MCC brought into force in Telangana
❖ The Election Commission of India (ECI) brought the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) into force in Telangana. ❖ The poll body also instructed that the caretaker government should abstain from taking any major policy decisions. ❖ Recently, ECI announced that the states where legislative assemblies have been dissolved prematurely will be immediately placed under the poll code which bars both central and state governments from announcing new schemes. ❖ This is perhaps for the first time that a state where polls have not yet been announced has been placed under the model code. ❖ The Telangana Assembly was dissolved earlier in September, before its term was due to end in June 2019.
MHA merges police forces in 6 UTs
❖ The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified new rules amalgamating police forces in six Union Territories (UTs). ❖ The rules effectively mean that officers who are not direct IPS (Indian Police Service) recruits could be posted in any of the six UTs and will be at the disposal of the Ministry. ❖ The MHA has notified this under the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Chandigarh (Police Service) Rules 2018. ❖ This is the first step towards the creation of a central police cadre.
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Section 497 of IPC declared unconstitutional
❖ Supreme Court, on 27 September 2018, has unanimously struck down Section 497 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 that makes adultery punishable offence for men. ❖ The judgment was given by 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court on a petition filed by non-resident Keralite Joseph Shine.
❖ Justice Indu Malhotra was lone woman judge on this bench. ❖ The apex court also declared section 198(1) and 198(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as unconstitutional. ❖ These sections of CrPC allows husband to bring charges against man with whom his wife committed adultery. ❖ Supreme Court ruled that o The adultery law violates Article 21 - Right to life - and Article 14 - Right to equality. o Section 497 deprives women of dignity, equality, and treats women as the property of men after marriage. ❖ It also ruled that It can't be considered as a crime unless it attracts the scope of Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC.
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Sabarimala temple verdict
❖ A 5-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in its 4:1 verdict, on 28 September 2018, upheld the right of women of all ages to worship in places of their choice. ❖ In his judgment, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said any customs or rituals that contradict with the fundamental rights of citizens must be quashed. ❖ The court was ruling on a PIL filed in 2006 by non-profit body Indian Young Lawyers’ Association.
❖ This is in contradiction with the famous state of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali case judgement (1951). ❖ The Rule 3 (B) of Kerala Temple Entry Act which excludes women between 10 and 50 violates freedom of a Hindu religion to worship. ❖ Supreme Court in its judgement has ruled that, o Rule of barring women is violative of Art 25 and the prohibition was a form of untouchability. o Discrimination against women is violative of the right to equality and dignity of women. o Exclusion on grounds of biological and physiological features like menstruation was unconstitutional. ❖ Right to worship is equally available to men and women and cannot be a gender biased.
Supreme Court verdict on reservation in promotions for SC/STs
❖ The Supreme Court, on 26 September 2018, ruled that states don’t have to collect quantifiable data on ‘backwardness’ for SC/ST quota in job promotions. ❖ The court refused to refer the pleas against its M Nagaraj vs Union of India (2006) judgment to a larger seven-judge bench.
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❖ In the case of M Nagaraj vs Union of India (2006), the Supreme Court had laid down the criteria for granting reservation to the members of the SC/ST communities for the purpose of promotions.
❖ Now, the Supreme Court had reversed the earlier judgment on collecting quantifiable data to prove backwardness. ❖ It said that the verdict in 2006 was contrary to the decision in Indira Sawhney case (1992). ❖ In that case, it was held that once SCs and STs were part of the Presidential List under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution, and there was no need to prove backwardness.
NITI Aayog - SoI with Oracle
❖ NITI Aayog has singed Statement of Intent (SoI) with Oracle to pilot real drug supply-chain using blockchain distributed ledger and Internet of Things (IoT) software. ❖ Its aim is to fight growing problem of counterfeit drugs in India. Strides Pharma Sciences and Apollo Hospitals will partner in this effort. ❖ Blockchain technology will help to permanently register drug’s record in manufacturer’s drug supply chain (serial number, scanning, labelling).
Injeti Srinivas High Level Committee
❖ The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has constituted High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility – 2018 (HLC-2018) under the Chairmanship of Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, MCA. ❖ It will review existing framework and guide and formulate roadmap for coherent policy on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). ❖ The Companies Act mandates that
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o Firms with a net worth of at least Rs 500 crore or revenue of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore should spend at least 2% of their net profit on CSR.
INTERNATIONAL
4th BIMSTEC Summit Declaration
❖ The fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit was held in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal ❖ The theme of the summit was ‘Towards a Peaceful Prosperous, and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region”.
❖ In this summit, 18-point Kathmandu declaration was unanimously adopted by the all member states presented by the Prime Minister of Nepal K.P. Sharma Oli. ❖ Sri Lanka will be conducting the 5th BIMSTEC summit with Chairmanship of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.
MoU between India and Nepal
❖ India and Nepal signed a MoU to build a strategic railway line connecting Bihar’s Raxual city to Kathmandu on side-lines of 4th BIMSTEC Summit held in Nepal. ❖ This rail line is expected to expand connectivity by enhancing people-to- people linkages between the two countries and promoting economic growth and development
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❖ There are three other railway projects in the pipeline — New Jalpaiguri-
Kakarbhitta, Nautanwa-Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj Road-Nepalgunj.
International Ayurveda Congress (IAvC)
❖ Minister of AYUSH inaugurated the Fourth International Ayurveda Congress (IAvC) at the Netherlands. ❖ It would focus on promotion and propagation of Ayurveda in the Netherlands and its neighboring countries of Europe. ❖ The Congress jointly organized by International Maharishi Ayurveda Foundation, Netherlands; All India Ayurvedic Congress, New Delhi and the International Academy of Ayurveda, Pune in association with the Indian Embassy in the Netherlands.
Indus Waters Treaty - 115th meeting
❖ 115th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) held in Lahore, Pakistan. ❖ In this meeting, technical discussions were held on implementation of various hydroelectric projects under the provisions of Indus Waters Treaty including Pakal Dul (1000 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) in Jammu and Kashmir.
❖ Both the countries agreed to undertake the Treaty-mandated tours of both
the Indus Commissioners in the Indus basin on both sides.
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China-Maldives Friendship Bridge
❖ The China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the first cross-sea bridge in the Maldives, opened to traffic. It connects Maldives capital city Male and neighboring Hulhule island.
❖ It is an iconic project of the Maldives and China in co-building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
India – signs MoU with Cambodia
❖ India signs MoU with Cambodia to help the country on restoration and preservation of an ancient Lord Shiva temple in Preah Vihear, a world heritage site. ❖ The 'Temple of Preah Vihear' dates back to the first half of the 11th century AD. ❖ Second MoU is on cooperation between India's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and Cambodia's National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations (NIDIR).
India, Cyprus sign key agreements
❖ India and Cyprus on signed key agreements in various areas to strengthen bilateral ties between both the countries. ❖ One of MoUs was signed between Financial Intelligence Unit of India and Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus on combating money laundering. ❖ Another MoU was signed for cooperation in the field of environment.
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UN World Tourism Organisation 2017 Report
❖ According to the report the international arrivals reached 1.323 million last year. ❖ India leads the chart of growth in the South Asian region with a total of 15.54 million in 2017 (14.57 million in 2016). ❖ Europe and Africa led the regions with increases in arrivals, with growth of 8% and 9%, respectively. ❖ Top 7 tourism destinations are China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Tsunami mock drill ‘IOWave18’
❖ Indian Ocean Wave Exercise 2018 (IOWave18) began on September 4, 2018 in the Indian Ocean. India along with 23 other nations is participating in this major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock drill. ❖ This warning exercise is being organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. ❖ The exercise will involve the evacuation of more than 125000 people from the coastal communities of 9 states and UTs. ❖ In India, IOWave18 is being coordinated by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) with support from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Coastal States/UTs.
Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
❖ China has pledged a $60 billion fund to bolster industry, counter hunger, and enhance security in Africa continent.
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❖ It was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his inaugural address at third Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing. ❖ FOCAC is an official forum between China and all states in Africa (except Eswatini). It was started as Ministerial Conference in 2000 in Beijing and since then it is held triennially in China and Africa alternatively.
KAZIND 2018
❖ Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Exercise 'KAZIND' will be conducted between the Indian and Kazakhstan Army from 10 to 23 Sep 2018 in Otar region, Kazakhstan. ❖ This is the third joint military exercise between the two countries which have a history of extensive cooperation in the defence arena. ❖ Second edition of the exercise was held in India last year. ❖ Aim of the exercise is to build and promote bilateral Army to Army relations and exchange skills and experiences between Kazakhstan Army and the Indian Army.
Indian and Bangladesh Bi-annual talks
❖ The bi-annual talks between the Indian and Bangladeshi border forces began in New Delhi. ❖ The talks are aimed at increasing bilateral cooperation in checking trans- border crimes such as smuggling of drugs and narcotics, cattle lifting and gun running across the international border between the two countries. ❖ This is the 47th DG-level conference between the two sides since it began in 1975. The last DG-level talks were held in April 2018 in Dhaka.
US military cancels aid to Pakistan
❖ US military has decided to cancel 300 million dollars’ aid to Pakistan over its failure to take decisive actions against terror groups. ❖ Trump in August last year unveiled his new South Asia policy and asked Pakistan to do more against such groups. ❖ Previously, US in January this year suspended more than 1.15-billion-dollar security assistance to Pakistan, accusing it of harbouring terror groups and showing unwillingness to take decisive actions against them.
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Ukraine-NATO Joint Military Exercises
❖ The Rapid Trident 2018 drills was started on September 3 at western region of Lviv. ❖ It is a joint military exercise of Ukraine and 10 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries.
International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018
❖ The International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 is being held in Kathmandu, Nepal. ❖ This event is organized by the South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) and the theme of the 3-day event is “Equality begins with Economic Empowerment”.
❖ The main objective of the summit is to bring together achievers, women business leaders, professionals, international service providers, resource organizations, experts, government representatives, and other stakeholders with a focus on innovative economic transformation through discussions and collaborations.
SLINEX-2018
❖ Sri Lanka Navy and Indian Navy Joint exercise SLINEX-2018 held at Trincomalee from September 7 to 13. ❖ This exercise, which was previously held once in two years, has been converted into an annual event this year onwards. ❖ It aims to enhance cooperation in the maritime domain and to further strengthen mutual trust and interoperability between the two navies. ❖ It will be conducted in two phases, namely the Harbour and Sea Phase.
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PISA 2021
❖ Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has officially decided to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), after a gap of nine years.
❖ PISA is an assessment test for 15-year-olds, organized every three years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), Paris, France.
ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference
❖ 3rd ASEM Conference on ‘‘Global Ageing and Human Rights of Older Persons’’ was held at Seoul, South Korea. ❖ The Indian delegation was led by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. International Institutions including the United Nations, regional Institutions such as UNESCAP (UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), European Union, ASEAN, GANHRI (Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions) and other International NGOs also attended this Conference. ❖ It was jointly organized by South Korea and National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
International Tradeshow
❖ India is the Partner Country in the 87th Izmir International tradeshow which begins in Izmir, Turkey.
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❖ In this tradeshow, India will also be launching a mega business pavilion ‘Source India’ hosting 75 Indian companies with the aim of tie-ups to increase India’s exports to Turkey. ❖ This is part of a series of ‘Source India pavilions’ that the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) is hosting in important tradeshows across the world for boosting India’s exports. ❖ TPCI is the trade and investment promotion organization of the Department of Commerce, Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
World Hindu Congress (WHC)
❖ The second conference of the three-day World Hindu Congress was held in Chicago, USA.
❖ It was held on the occasion of 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Historic Speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893.
The Ocean Cleanup - Great Pacific Garbage Patch
❖ Engineers set to a trash collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the world’s largest garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. ❖ The project, known as System 001, will begin its test launch off the coast of San Francisco. ❖ The massive floating device was created by The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit founded by Boyan Slat when he was just 18 years old. ❖ With approximately 60 devices like System 001 active, The Ocean Cleanup estimates that it can remove 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years.
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Five agreements between India and Czech
❖ India and the Czech Republic have signed five agreements on defense, scientific and industrial research, laser technology, agriculture, and diplomatic visa waiver. ❖ In addition, both countries also agreed to initiate cooperation in civil nuclear energy. ❖ Concluded five agreements are: o Cooperation between the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India, and the Czech Academy of Sciences. o A work plan to support Indo-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology, with the Department of Science and Technology taking the lead from the Indian side. o A visa waiver agreement for diplomatic passport holders. o Cooperation in laser technology between ELI Beamlines and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. o Cooperation between the Haryana Agricultural University and the Czech University of Life Sciences.
International Geriatric Orthopaedic Conference
❖ Union Home Minister inaugurated the 6th International Geriatric Orthopaedic Society of India Conference at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. ❖ The theme of this conference was “Increased Longevity with Reduced Fragility and Enhanced Mobility”. ❖ Geriatric medicine was focused on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. ❖ The first national conference of the Geriatric Orthopaedic Society of India (GOSI) was held at Bangalore in 2013.
World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA-2018)
❖ World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA-2018) was inaugurated by Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD), New Delhi. ❖ It was organized by National Board of Accreditation (NBA). ❖ The theme of WOSA 2018 is “Challenges and Opportunities in Outcome Based Accreditation” and the sub-themes are: o Achieving Excellence through Learning Outcomes. o Role of Industry in Technical Education.
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o Ranking and Rating of Higher Education Institutions – Do they have a Role in Quality Improvement? o Linking Government Funding with Quality. o Use of ICT in Accreditation in Large Jurisdictions
COMCASA Treaty
❖ India and the United States initiated a new generation of military and security cooperation by signing Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). ❖ This agreement finalized the end of 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the two countries. ❖ It will facilitate access to advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilise its existing US-origin platforms. ❖ Also, India and the U.S. would conduct a first-ever tri-service exercise on the east coast of India in 2019. ❖ Prior to this, India and U.S. signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) few years ago.
India & USA Combat Exercise
❖ Armies of India and the US will hold their annual combat exercise "Yudh Abhyas" at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand from September 16 to 29. ❖ It aims to enhance inter-operability between the two forces and also focus on enhancing counter-terror cooperation.
Heritage tag for 2 irrigation facilities
❖ Telangana government’s two nominations in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures are accepted by International Executive Council meeting in Canada. ❖ This council is the highest decision-making body of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). ❖ The two nominated irrigation facilities are Sadarmatt anicut across river Godavari in Nirmal district and Pedda Cheruvu in Kamareddy district.
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❖ ICID is a non-governmental professional network of experts from across the world in the field of irrigation, drainage, and flood management.
Milex-2018
❖ The first-ever Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) anti-terror military exercise held at Pune in Maharashtra ❖ Only the armies of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar are participating in the exercise. ❖ Nepal and Thailand have sent only “observers” to the “Milex-2018” exercise. ❖ The aim of the exercise was to create synergy, better understanding and evolve an institutionalized military forum for regional cooperation in the field of counter-terrorist operations among the member states.
New digital bridge with Africa
❖ As part of India's reach out to Africa, the External Affairs Ministry signed an agreement with the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL) to establish a pan-African e-network between the two nations. ❖ This project, called the e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati Network Project, will serve as a digital bridge between the two countries. ❖ This e-network aims at providing quality tele-education and telemedicine facility by linking select Indian Universities, Institutions and Super Specialty Hospitals to African educational institutions and hospitals.
Nomadic Elephant Exercise -2018
❖ 13th Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018, held at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) Five Hills Training Area, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. ❖ Exercise Nomadic Elephant is an annual, bilateral exercise since 2006
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❖ It is designed to strengthen the partnership between Indian Army and Mongolian Armed Forces.
India & Bangladesh joint projects
❖ India, Bangladesh jointly inaugurated three projects related to power supply rehabilitation of existing railway section. ❖ Indian Prime Minister, Bangladesh Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura jointly inaugurated these projects in Bangladesh. o Rehabilitation of Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways. o 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh. o Akhaura–Agartala Rail Link.
State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 Report
❖ The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 was released recently. ❖ It is released by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). ❖ According to the report, number of hungry people in the world is growing & number of undernourished people is estimated to have increased to 821 million in 2017.
Sagarmatha Friendship - 2018
❖ The 2nd edition of the 10-day Nepal-China joint military exercise “Sagarmatha Friendship - 2018” was held at Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, from September 17. ❖ The aim of the exercise is to share expertise in disaster management and to fight terrorism, among others.
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❖ This comes at a time when Nepal refuses to participate in the first-ever BIMSTEC military exercise “MILEX-18”, which was started in India on September 10.
Sudan’s New PM
❖ Moutaz Mousa Abdallah has become Sudan’s new Prime Minister. ❖ A 21-member cabinet was sworn-in at the presidential palace in Khartoum.
❖ Mousa Abdallah is also holding the finance portfolio in a bid to revive the country’s ailing economy. ❖ The 31-member cabinet is to be slashed to just 21 portfolios, as the country grapples with an acute foreign exchange shortage and inflation above 65%.
India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project
❖ Prime Minister of India and Bangladesh PM jointly launched the construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project through video conferencing. ❖ The 130-kilometre pipeline will connect Siliguri in West Bengal in India and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. ❖ This will be the first such pipeline through which refined diesel will be supplied to Parbatipur depot from Numaligarh of Assam in India.
Grant of Access to key ports
❖ Bangladesh’s Cabinet has approved draft agreement allowing India to use its Chittagong and Mongla ports to transport cargo to and from its North- Eastern states.
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❖ Only Bangladeshi vehicles will be used for transportation of goods within its territory. ❖ Indian goods can be transported through four entry points viz. o Akhaura (Bangladesh) and Agartala (India’s Tripura), o Tamabil (Sylhet, Bangladesh) and Dauki (Meghalaya), o Sheola (Sylhet) and Sutarkandi (Assam), o Bibir Bazar (Cumilla, Bangladesh) and Srimantapur (Tripura). ❖ Under it, India will have to follow General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and Bangladeshi regulations. ❖ The agreement will be effective for five years, but it can be extended for another five years automatically.
7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism
❖ 7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism was held in Seoul, capital of South Korea from 16 to 19 September, 2018. ❖ The theme of the summit was ‘A 2030 Vision for Urban Tourism’. ❖ The summit was co-organized by o World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and o Seoul Metropolitan Government and
supported by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea, Korea Tourism Organization and Seoul Tourism Organization.
❖ UNWTO is United Nations agency headquartered located in Madrid, Spain. It is responsible for promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
Saudi Arabia to join CPEC
❖ Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to join $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the third strategic partner. ❖ Formal request in this regard was made after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Saudi Arabia during his first foreign trip after getting elected. ❖ Saudi Arabia is first country that Pakistan has invited to become partner in CPEC.
First private passenger on Moon
❖ US private space firm SpaceX signed the world’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) launch vehicle.
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❖ Japanese billionaire and founder of online fashion giant Zozo, Yusaku Maezawa will be the first Moon tourist on SpaceX’s Lunar BFR Mission.
❖ Maezawa, 42, will be the first lunar traveler since the last US Apollo mission in 1972. ❖ The BFR was first announced in 2016, and was touted as the most powerful rocket in history.
Official entry to Oscars - Norway
❖ Norway has chosen ‘What Will People Say’ movie as its official entry to Oscars in Foreign Language Film category. ❖ The movie stars Adil Hussain, Bollywood actor hailing from Goalpara district in Assam. ❖ Earlier, India’s official entry for the same category, “Village Rockstars” was chosen by a 12-member jury of Film Federation of India (FII) from 29 other films.
Nationwide anti-polio vaccination drive – Pakistan
❖ Pakistan has launched the nationwide ‘Anti-polio’ vaccination drive for children of less than 5 years of age. ❖ The drive is the first nationwide door to door national campaign of 2018-19 low transmission season. ❖ Pakistan is one of the 3 countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, that suffers from endemic polio. ❖ As per WHO standards, a country must have no cases for 3 consecutive years in order to be considered as eradicated polio.
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West Bank village – demolition deadline
❖ Israel is going to demolish the village ‘West Bank’ occupied by the Palestinians and announced October 1 as the ‘deadline’ to leave the village. ❖ Israel had earlier offered resettlement for the residents of the “illegally built‟ village.
Global status report on alcohol and health 2018
❖ World Health Organisation has released a report called Global status report on alcohol and health 2018, which presents a comprehensive picture of alcohol consumption.
❖ The harmful use of alcohol resulted in some 3 million deaths in 2016 (5.3% of all deaths) worldwide, with an estimated 2.3 million men and 0.7 million women. ❖ The report says that per capita liquor consumption in India increased from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016. ❖ The total alcohol per capita consumption (15+ years) is expected to increase in 50% of WHO regions, by 2025. ❖ The highest increase is expected in the South East Asia Region with an increase of 2.2 litres alone in India.
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❖ Globally, total per capita consumption rose from 5.5 litres in 2005 to 6.4 litres in 2010 and was still at the level of 6.4 litres in 2016.
Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019
❖ The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has topped as India's top institute (251-300 band) in the list of Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2019.
❖ The IIT-Indore (351-400) was ranked as the 2nd best in the country as it made its debut to the prestigious list of global top 400 institutions. ❖ It is followed by IIT Bombay and Roorkee with Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeswara University from Karnataka, making the country’s top 5. ❖ The rankings show Oxford continues to hold the first place, Cambridge second, and Stanford third. ❖ The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rose one place to number four. ❖ In India, number of Indian institutions in the rankings increased from 42 last year to 49, making it the fifth best-represented nation.
Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace
❖ This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mandela’s birth, and the U.N. is
declaring 2019-2028 the “Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace”.
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❖ Mandela embodied the highest values of the United Nations peace, forgiveness, compassion and human dignity. ❖ A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at the United Nations to honour the late South African leader’s birth.
First-Ever Women-Only Foreign Minister Conference
❖ The first-ever women-only foreign ministers conference was held in Montreal, Canada.
❖ The aim of the conference was to highlight women’s key role in politics and decision-making processes. ❖ The meeting was co-chaired by Canada’s top diplomat Chrystia Freeland, and the foreign affairs representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini.
Global Wetland Outlook Report
❖ Global Wetland Outlook Report, first-ever global report on the state of the world's wetlands, was released by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
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❖ The report states that, o Approximately 35% of the world’s wetlands have been lost in 45 years between 1970-2015. o Average annual rate of loss of wetlands is 0.78% a year, which is presenting “severe consequences” for future. o Wetlands loss is 3 times faster than the average annual rate of natural forest loss between 1990-2015 at 0.24% a year threatening fresh water supplies. o More than 80% of waste water is released into wetlands without adequate treatment. ❖ Reasons for loss of wetlands are, o Climate change, Population increase, Urbanisation (particularly of coastal zones and river deltas). o Changing consumption patterns fuelled changes to land and water use and to agriculture.
Nepal becomes first country to double its tiger population
❖ Nepal become 1st country in the world to double its tiger population in a decade as part of World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s (WWF) ‘Tx2’ programme
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❖ ‘Tx2’ programme aims to double number of tigers in the world all over the world by 2022. ❖ There are now estimated 235 wild tigers in Nepal in comparison to an estimated 121 back in 2009. ❖ Nepal was the 1st country to achieve global standards in managing tiger conservation areas, an accreditation scheme governed by Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS). ❖ It was launched by World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s at the 2010 St Petersburg Tiger Summit held in Russia.
ECONOMY
ITI Limited partners with startups
❖ ITI Limited signed agreements with leading startups and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) covering the manufacturing of a wide range of ICT- IOT (Information and communications technology- Internet of Things) based solutions. ❖ These include civil and military advanced radar systems, advanced edge router systems, next-generation 5G technology products, data storage and networking solutions, digital security solutions, advanced metering solutions, and wi-fi products and solutions.
Internal Ombudsman (IO) Scheme 2018
❖ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an Internal Ombudsman. ❖ All Regional Rural Banks are excluded from its directive.
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❖ An ombudsman is a person officially charged with investigating and addressing public complaints or violation of rights. ❖ The implementation of IO Scheme-2018 will be monitored by the bank’s internal audit mechanism apart from regulatory oversight by RBI.
Monetary limit increased for Loan recovery application
❖ Union government doubled the monetary limit from Rs. 10 lacks to Rs. 20 lakhs for filing loan recovery application in the Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) by banks and financial institutions, to help reduce pendency of such cases. ❖ As a result, any bank or financial institution or a consortium of banks or financial institutions cannot approach DRTs if the amount due is less than Rs. 20 lakhs. Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT) ❖ DRTs were first set up under the Banks and Financial Institutions Act 1993 to facilitate debt recovery by involving banks and other financial institutions with their customers. ❖ DRT is supposed to dispose of the matter referred to it within 180 days of receipt of application and appeal can be filed against DRT order with Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs).
RBI to buy G-Secs in Open Market
❖ The Reserve Bank is to purchase government securities (G-secs) worth Rs 10,000 crore on September 19, a move aimed at inducing liquidity in the system. ❖ The purchase of the government securities will be done through Open Market Operations (OMO). ❖ When the RBI thinks there is excess liquidity in the market, it resorts to the sale of securities.
Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI) Report
❖ India ranks third globally in terms of number of family-owned businesses with 111 companies having a total market capitalisation of $839 billion. ❖ The study was published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI). ❖ India closely follows China with 159 firms and the US with 121 firms, according to the ‘Credit Suisse Family 1000 in 2018’.
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❖ As per the report, in terms of number of family-owned businesses within the non-Japan Asian region, the list is dominated by China, India and Hong Kong. ❖ These three jurisdictions together account for around 65% of the non-Japan Asian section of CSRI’s database.
Proposal for merger of Banks
❖ The Central government proposed the amalgamation of State-owned Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank to create India’s third largest bank.
❖ The new merged entity will be the 3rd Largest bank in the country with a total business of about Rs 14.82 lakh crore, after SBI and HDFC bank. ❖ The “merger” is carried out as part of o The “Alternative mechanism” proposed by the committee under finance minister Arun Jaitley. o The reforms in the public sector banking segment. ❖ With this merger, the number of public sector banks in the country will come down to 19.
Dual listing of masala bonds
❖ National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) have signed MoU to collaborate on creating a dual listing route for masala bonds and foreign currency bonds of Indian issuers.
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❖ It will serve as a potential precursor of further joint listings in future that could see foreign currency bonds in India also being able to list in London. ❖ The partnership would also explore the launch of "ELITE", LSEG's (London Stock Exchange Group) business support and capital raising programme for private high-growth companies, in India in 2019. ❖ It will extend access to the wider base of global investors as well as domestic and regional investors.
Country Partnership Framework
❖ World Bank board has approved ambitious 5-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India that is in line with India’s objectives of high, sustainable and inclusive growth. ❖ The framework recognizes that India has gone from low-middle income to high-middle income (country).
❖ CPF is a central tool of management and board for reviewing and guiding WBG’s country programs and gauging their effectiveness. ❖ It identifies key objectives and development results through which WBG intends to support member country in its efforts to end extreme poverty.
Import duty on 19 non-essential items
❖ The Union Finance Ministry has increased import duty on 19 ‘non-essential items’ high-end consumer items to curb import of certain imported items. ❖ The 19 ‘non-essential items’ includes air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and ATF (aviation turbine fuel).
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❖ This decision was taken to stabilise depreciating rupee by narrowing current account deficit (CAD) and get outgoing foreign funds flowing back to India. ❖ CAD is difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange. It has widened to 2.4% of GDP in the April-June quarter.
Financial Inclusion Index
❖ Union Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs has launched the Financial Inclusion Index (FII) in New Delhi. ❖ The annual FII will be released by Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance. ❖ The index has three measurement dimensions o Access to financial services o Usage of financial services o Quality ❖ It will serve as single composite index that will give snap shot of level of financial inclusion which will guide Macro Policy perspective.
RBI eases SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) rules
❖ The Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to dip further into statutory cash reserves in a bid to ease a liquidity squeeze afflicting the nation’s money markets. ❖ As per the RBI, banks could 'carve out' up to 15% of holdings under the statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements as compared to 13% now. ❖ The move by the central bank follows concerns over tight liquidity conditions and banks’ unwillingness to lend to NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies).
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Kerala’s calamity cess demand
❖ GST Council has decided to set up 7-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to suggest on cess demand for Kerala flood rehabilitation. ❖ It was decided in 30th meeting of the GST Council held in New Delhi. ❖ The GoM discussed proposal from Kerala to levy Calamity Tax, a special tax or cess to raise additional resources aimed at meeting cost of reconstruction in Kerala in the aftermath of floods.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS Vijaya
❖ The Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS Vijaya (OPV-2) has delivered to the Indian Coast Guard on 30 August 2018.
❖ This vessel was the second in the series of seven OPVs. ❖ The first vessel of the series ICGS Vikram was handed over on April 11 this year, before DEFEXPO-2018.
Method to predict inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
❖ Chandra Mohan and Subra Kugathasan, 2 Indian-American Scientists identified a method for predicting and monitoring inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). ❖ Identifying at least 50 protein biomarkers that can non-invasively detect IBD, which is a gut disorder that leads to diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and weight loss, and it occurs when the body’s immune system fights its intestinal cells.
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NASA’s Icesat-2
❖ NASA is set to launch the most advanced laser instrument (ICESat-2) to measure the changes in the heights of Earth’s polar ice in unprecedented detail. ❖ The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will measure the average annual elevation change of land ice covering Greenland and Antarctica. ❖ It is equipped with Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) to measures height by timing.
Rollable tablet
❖ Scientists have developed a first rollable touch-screen tablet, taking inspiration from ancient scrolls to create a modern-day device. ❖ The device called MagicScroll is comprised of a high-resolution flexible display that can be rolled or unrolled around a central, 3D-printed cylindrical body containing the device’s computerized inner-workings.
Drug-resistant superbug
❖ Researchers from the University of Melbourne discovered a superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause “severe” infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world. ❖ They have discovered three variants of the multidrug-resistant bug in bacteria known as Staphylococcus epidermidis from 10 countries.
UAE’s first astronauts
❖ The United Arab Emirates has selected its first two astronauts to go on a mission to the International Space Station. ❖ Two astronauts are Hazza al-Mansouri and Sultan al-Nayadi. Their missions are scheduled for next year.
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❖ UAE announced plans to become the first Arab country to send its unmanned probe "Hope" to orbit Mars by 2021. ❖ In the long-term, the UAE plans to build a "Science City" to replicate life on Mars and aims to create the first human settlement on Mars by 2117.
New device to harvest energy
❖ Scientists have developed a wearable wristwatch-size device that could generate energy from the swing of an arm while walking or jogging. ❖ It can produce enough power to run a personal health monitoring system. ❖ This is made from a crystal material, which can produce an electric current when compressed or can change shape when an electric charge is applied. It is called “piezoelectric effect”.
Coffee Connect mobile app
❖ Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation launched Coffee Connect - India coffee field force app and Coffee ‘Krishi Tharanga’ digital mobile extension services for coffee stakeholders. ❖ The Coffee Connect app has been developed to ease the work of field functionaries and to improve the work efficiency. ❖ This application provides a solution by harnessing the power of mobility comprising the latest technology in easing the whole process of the field activities like digitization of Coffee Growers & Estates with Geo Tagging, collecting the Plantation details. ❖ The Coffee ‘Krishi Tharanga’ services are aimed at providing customized information and services to increase productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability.
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First mid-air refueling of combat jet
❖ Indian Air Force has successfully carried out the first ever mid-air refueling of the indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). ❖ Russian-built IL-78 MKI tanker transferred fuel to a Tejas MK I aircraft.
❖ This test involved dry linkup, meaning no fuel was actually transferred between IAF IL-78 tanker and Tejas fighter jet through its air-to-air refueling probe.
First Overseas Ground Base
❖ Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to set up first overseas ground station at the north pole ❖ It would strengthen the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) operations that are crucial needs like disaster management and also to armed forces operations. ❖ This ground station will provide an opportunity to download complete data within the same orbit and enable the use of onboard resources in every orbit.
Mini-UAV for high-altitude surveillance
❖ Indian Army has selected SpyLite mini-UAV for high-altitude aerial surveillance. ❖ The mini-UAV is built by Cyient Solutions & Systems (CSS), a joint venture between Cyient Ltd of India and BlueBird Aero Systems of Israel. ❖ SpyLite has an endurance of 4-5 hours and a maximum flight ceiling of 30,000 feet making it ideal for operations along the border with China as well as on the Siachen glacier.
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Space Suit - ISRO
❖ The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) displayed a space suit developed by the agency. ❖ The suit was displayed at the launch of the sixth edition of Bengaluru Space Expo. The orange-colored prototype space suit was developed over the past two years at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
❖ ISRO has developed two suits and will create one more suit as three astronauts will be part of a mission to send Indians into space on an Indian spacecraft by 2022. ❖ French space agency CNES will share their expertise in the fields of space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support, radiation protection, space debris protection, and personal hygiene system.
China’s marine satellite
❖ China launched a marine satellite to help improve understanding of maritime waters and climate change. ❖ This HY—1C satellite will help monitor ocean colour and water temperatures, providing basic data for research on the global oceanic environment. ❖ HY—1C detected chlorophyll and suspended sediment concentrations and dissolved organic matter, which can affect ocean colour, as well as temperatures on the sea surface. ❖ Its data will also be used in the survey of the resources and environment of China’s offshore waters, islands and coastal zones, marine disaster relief and the sustainable utilisation of ocean resource. ❖ HY-1C is expected to improve China’s ocean remote sensing capability, along with HY—1D, which is planned to be launched in 2019.
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India's first embryo transplanted calf
❖ India's first female calf is born using embryo transplant technology. ❖ The project was supervised by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Jammu in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board. ❖ The calf of 'Sahiwal' breed was born to a crossbreed Jersey cow at the Central Cattle Breeding & Research Farm. ❖ Embryo transfer is a process of transferring an embryo from the reproductive tract of a donor female to a uterus of a female recipient with intent to establish a pregnancy. This technique is used for both humans and animals.
Asia’s First airport use Face recognition
❖ Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru is set to become the first airport in Asia to use face recognition as the boarding procedure for passengers to board flights and move across different sections of the airport. ❖ This is the first end-to-end face recognition-based walk-through experience in Asia and the largest in the world. ❖ It is also one of the most significant steps towards the Digital India campaign endorsed by the Government. ❖ The first implementation of this system will be completed in 2019, with Jet Airways, Air Asia and Spice Jet passengers as first users.
Apsara upgraded- Apsara-U
❖ India’s oldest research reactor 'Apsara', which was shut down permanently in 2009 for repair, was recommissioned with a higher capacity at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay. ❖ This refurbished version of the reactor is named as ‘Apsara-Upgraded’ (Apsara-U). ❖ It was made indigenously and uses plate type dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). ❖ It will increase indigenous production or radio-isotopes for medical application by about 50 percent.
India's first commercial underwater drone- EyeROV TUNA
❖ Kochi-based start-up IROV Technologies Pvt Ltd (EyeROV) has launched commercial underwater drones. ❖ IROV handed over the first vehicle to the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of DRDO.
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❖ EyeROV TUNA is a smart micro-ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) or underwater drone, at par with global standards, and with operational capabilities in harsh and mission-critical underwater environment.
❖ This product is equipped to perform a variety of functions, including inspection of ship hulls, fish farms, dams, port structure, and bridge foundations.
Cyber Security Conference ‘COCON XI’
❖ Kerala Police is going to host a 2-day International Cyber Security Conference ‘COCON XI’ in Kochi on October 5th and 6th, 2018. ❖ COCON, an annual event, is conducted as part of the International Information Security Day. ❖ Kerala Police will partner with o British Columbia-Canada based POLCYB (Society for the Policing of Cyberspace) and o ISRA (Information Security Research Association), a registered non- profit organization for organizing the event.
Successful launch of PSLV C 42
❖ The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 16, 2018 successfully launched its polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) C42 carrying 2 earth observation satellites for the United Kingdom. ❖ The launch vehicle- PSLV-C42 lifted off at 10.08 PM (Night Launch) from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. ❖ The two earth observing satellites - NovaSAR and S1-4 of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, UK were put into sun synchronous orbit. o NovaSAR is an S-Band synthetic aperture radar satellite
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o S1-4 is a high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite ❖ This was the 44th launch of PSLV and the launch marks PSLV-C42's first fully commercial trip of the year. ❖ The mission was a commercial arrangement between the British company and Antrix Corporation Limited, which is the commercial wing of ISRO.
Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM)
❖ Indigenously developed weapon system Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM), was successfully flight tested for the second time from the Ahmednagar range, Maharashtra. ❖ MPATGM is third-generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) indigenously developed by DRDO. ❖ It works on fire and forget principle and It is expected to replace o Second generation French origin anti-tank guided missile Milan and o Soviet semi-automatic wire-guided missile Konkur which are in service with Indian Army.
❖ At present, India Army has indigenously developed third generation anti- tank guided missile (ATGM) Nag in its arsenal but it is not portable to meet its demand.
e-Sahaj portal
❖ Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched e-Sahaj portal to facilitate individuals and private companies in seeking security clearance for setting up businesses in certain sensitive sectors. ❖ MHA is nodal authority for granting security clearances in certain sensitive sectors before licence, permit, permission, contract etc is issued. ❖ The online portal will make security clearance process standardised, faster, transparent and easy to monitor.
World’s first hydrogen-powered train
❖ Germany has rolled out world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train. These locomotives named iLint trains emit zero emissions, making them eco- friendly. ❖ This train technology offers greener and quieter alternative to diesel on non- electrified railway lines. ❖ These hydrogen trains are manufactured by French TGV-maker Alstom.
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❖ Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen.
Lifting the ban on 3 FDC drugs
❖ Supreme court has lifted the ban and allowed the sale of 3 Fixed Dose combination drugs FDC, Saridon, Piriton cough expectorant and Dart. ❖ It was argued that the medicines were manufactured before 1988 and thus should be exempted from the banned list.
❖ These drugs were part of the 328 FDC drugs whose manufacture, distribution and sale were banned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on September 12. ❖ The FDC drugs are two or more drugs combined in a fixed ratio into a single dosage form, thereby reducing the number of drugs to be taken every day.
Cyclone-30 - The biggest cyclotron in India
❖ Cyclone-30, the biggest cyclotron in India for medical application became operational in at VECC, Kolkata. ❖ It is under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and will be commissioned in 2019. ❖ This facility will provide for affordable radio isotopes and related radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic and therapeutic use for cancer care.
Tactical Missile ‘Prahar’ Successfully Flight Tested
❖ DRDO successfully flight tested the indigenously developed surface-to- surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’, from Balasore, Odisha.
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❖ It is solid-fuelled surface-to-surface short-range tactical ballistic missile. ❖ It can be launched from road mobile system, which can carry six missiles at time. It can also be fired in salvo mode in all directions from launcher. ❖ It is comparable to MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System of United States.
Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response
❖ Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has signed MoU with ISRO to set up of state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER). ❖ ICR-ER will cater to the requirement of disaster management as well as internal security.
ISRO Technology Incubation Centre
❖ Tripura CM inaugurated ISRO’s first Space Technology Incubation Centre (STIC) at the National Institute of Technology Agartala via remote from Bengaluru. ❖ The Centre was launched at the first edition of ‘Spacetronics’ organised by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA).
Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children portal
❖ Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) to check objectionable online content. ❖ The portal will allow citizens to lodge complaints on objectionable online content related to child sexual abuse material. ❖ The complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective State/UTs.
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Nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards
❖ India has decided to place four more reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. ❖ It was announced at the 62nd General Conference of IAEA held in Vienna, Austria. ❖ The four reactors include o 2 Russian-designed Pressurised Light Water Reactors and o 2 Pressurised Heavy Reactors being built with Indian technology. ❖ With this, total of 26 Indian nuclear facilities will be now under IAEA safeguards.
3rd launch pad - Gaganyaan mission
❖ ISRO is setting up third launch pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh to undertake Gaganyaan manned space flight programme. ❖ It will be India’s first manned space mission. Under this mission, the crew of three astronauts will conduct experiments on microgravity in space. ❖ Under it, India is planning to send three humans (Gaganyatris) into space i.e. in low earth orbit (LEO) by 2022 i.e. by 75th Independence Day. ❖ The crew will be selected jointly by Indian Air Force (IAF) and ISRO.
India’s first indigenously developed Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor
❖ India’s first indigenously developed 500-megawatt (MW) Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu is expected to achieve criticality in 2019. ❖ Criticality is the event of a nuclear reactor reaching self-sustained chain reaction. i.e., no external source of neutrons is required to sustain fission in the reactor core. ❖ PFBR has been designed indigenously by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). ❖ It generates power by burning mixed uranium-plutonium MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO2 and UO2. ❖ It is a pool-type reactor with 1,750 tonnes of sodium as coolant.
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Prithvi interceptor missile test
❖ India successfully conducted interceptor missile test off the Odisha coast at night. ❖ With this, DRDO achieved major milestone in developing indigenous two- layer Ballistic Missile Defence system. ❖ It is two-stage missile and both stages are powered by solid propellants. ❖ It is designed for engaging targets in exo-atmosphere region at altitude 50 km of earth’s atmosphere.
❖ It is intended to replace the existing Prithvi Air Defence (PAD) in PAD/Advanced Air Defence (AAD) combination.
Miniature human oesophagus
❖ Scientists for first time have successfully grown oesophageal organoids, a miniature, functional versions of human food pipe using pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in laboratory. ❖ This bioengineered oesophageal organoids paves way for new ways to study and test drugs against gut disorders. ❖ Moreover, bioengineered genetically matched esophageal tissue can be also transplanted in individual patients.
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❖ It will help to study birth defects like esophageal atresia, organoids, eosinophilic esophagitis and Barrett’s metaplasia.
Sikkim gets Sensor-based ‘Landslide warning system’
❖ Sikkim has got the Country’s 2nd Sensor-based ‘Landslide warning system’. ❖ The new system can issue landslide warning in 24 hours advance. ❖ It was developed by scientists of the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University) which is headquartered in Coimbatore. ❖ This Initiative of the Sikkim Disaster Management Authority was co-funded by the Union ministry of earth sciences. ❖ The first such system was deployed by the University in Western Ghats in Kerala's Munnar district in 2009 which was a huge success.
Two New Earth-like Exoplanets Discovered
❖ NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered two new earth-like exoplanets namely “super-Earth” and “hot Earth”. ❖ TESS was launched in April 2018 to detect exoplanets (planets outside the sun’s solar system) and this is TESS’s first discovery. ❖ TESS is on a 2-year mission to expand astronomers' known catalogue of so- called exoplanets, worlds circling distant stars. ❖ Super-Earth is named as “Pi Mensae c” and is almost 60 light-years away which orbits its sun every 6.3 days.
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❖ Hot-Earth has been named as LHS 3844 b which is almost 49 light-years away. It orbits its sun every 11 hours. ❖ Both the planets are too hot to support life.
Jan Dhan Darshak
❖ Finance Ministry has launched Mobile Application Jan Dhan Darshak as a Part of Financial Inclusion. ❖ Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance and National Informatics Centre (NIC) have jointly developed the app Jan Dhan Darshak as a part of financial inclusion initiative. ❖ This App will provide guidance to the common people in locating a financial service touch point at a given location in the country.
Online platform for Agmark quality certification
❖ Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched online software for processing applications related to quality certification mark ‘Agmark’ for agricultural products.
❖ Agmark is certification mark that assures conformity to set of standards approved by Government agency Directorate of Marketing and Inspection. ❖ It is legally enforced by Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937 (and amended in 1986). ❖ Agmark online system is being implemented across the country to conduct quality control functions and it will be available 24×7.
Astra successfully test fired
❖ The Indian Air Force has successfully test fired the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile Astra from a Su-30 aircraft.
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❖ The missile was tested at Kalaikunda Air Force Station, West Bengal. ❖ The missile successfully engaged a manoeuvring target (UAV ‘Banshi’) with high precision.
❖ Astra was developed by DRDO together with IAF. It is single stage solid fuelled missile and it is an all-weather missile.
Web Portal to grant loans to MSMEs Launched
❖ Union Finance Ministry has launched a portal to enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to get in-principle approval of loans within hour without need for branch visit. ❖ The web portal, www.psbloansin59minutes.com, will enable in principle approval for MSME loans up to Rs. 1 crore within 59 minutes for MSMEs. ❖ The portal is for securing loan approvals only from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and 5 Public Sector Banks (PSBs). ❖ The portal is strategic initiative of SIBDI led five PSB consortium incubated under aegis of Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance.
Incredible India Mobile App Launched
❖ The Union Minister for Tourism launched the ‘Incredible India Mobile App’ and the “Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification” programme. ❖ The Minister announced that India will be the host country for official World Tourism Day celebrations for the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), in 2019.
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Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics
❖ Union Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has launched the Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics (CEDA) to make government excel in the field of Data Analytics. ❖ It has been jointly set up by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI).
ENVIRONMENT
Singphan wildlife sanctuary
❖ The Nagaland government has declared the Singphan Wildlife Sanctuary as an elephant reserve. ❖ It has become 30th reserve for elephants in the country.
❖ The reserve is located near Abhaypur Reserve Forest of Assam
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❖ The Singphan Elephant Reserve is located at about 65 km from Mon, the district capital town of the state.
Global Summit on Climate Action
❖ The 2018 Global Summit on Climate Action held at San Francisco in California, United States. ❖ It will serve as a starting point for broader and more effective global commitments, to reduce the impacts of climate change and achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. ❖ It will also promote climate action in five key areas: o Healthy Energy Systems, o Inclusive Economic Growth, o Sustainable Communities, o Land and Ocean Stewardship, o Transformative Climate Investments.
Erratic monsoon rainfall in India - Study
❖ According to a recent study by scientists from IIT Kanpur, erratic behavior of monsoon rainfall can be attributed to the rising air pollution. ❖ The study has found that high pollution levels are not just changing cloud shape and size and depth, but also its microstructure. ❖ This is for the first time that the study has given details of the exact changes that take place in clouds over India as a result of an increase in aerosols.
Global Climate Action Summit 2018
❖ The Global Climate Action Summit 2018 was held at San Francisco, California, United States. ❖ Delegates from various countries attended the summit and showed their commitments to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement. ❖ The co-chairs of the Summit are Governor of California Edmund G. Brown Jr. and UN’s Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael R Bloomberg.
Typhoon Mangkhut
❖ Typhoon Mangkhut made landfall on the northeastern tip of Luzon island in the Philippines with the top of the scale Category 5 winds of 165 mph.
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❖ The name Mangkhut is a Thai word for the fruit mangosteen. In the Philippines, the typhoon is locally known as Ompong. ❖ The Hong Kong Observatory reported Mangkhut was the most powerful cyclone to hit the city since 1979. ❖ The deadliest storm on record in the Philippines was Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. ❖ Hurricanes and typhoons are the same type of storm. Both are tropical cyclones. But those that occur in the Pacific west of the International Date Line are called typhoons.
India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)
❖ Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), on the eve of World Ozone Day, has released draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP). ❖ It makes India first country in world to develop such document. The draft was prepared by Ozone Cell of MoEFCC. ❖ It aims to provide sustainable cooling while keeping in mind the need to protect the ozone layer from substances that can deplete it.
Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse
❖ Union Science & Technology minister inaugurated a novel holistic Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUSHR) project at Sun Dial Park in New Delhi. ❖ It is a joint initiative of Indian and Dutch scientists, to re-convert waste water to clean water and generate bio-fuel, during the process.
Health Ministry Partners with Dell and Tata Trusts
❖ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, exchanged the MoUs with the Tata Trusts and Dell to provide a technological platform for nation-wide prevention, control, screening and management program of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs). ❖ The Health Ministry is working with Dell as a technology partner and the Tata Trusts as deployment partner. ❖ It is aimed at bringing healthcare technology transformation in Comprehensive Primary Health Care NCD program under Ayushman Bharat.
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Sputum sample transportation through Department of Post
❖ Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has launched pilot project for transport of sputum specimen for Tuberculosis (TB) Diagnosis. ❖ The transportation has been done by utilising services of Department of Post in Karawal Nagar, New Delhi. ❖ This will enable appropriate management of the TB patients and reduced disease transmission. ❖ Health Ministry also launched web-based application, Nikshay Version 2.0, with better user interface and data structures. ❖ NIKSHAY is web-based solution for effectively monitoring of TB patients under Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP). ❖ It was launched by Health Ministry Government and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in association with Central TB Division (CTD), MoHFW.
Air Pollution Control Device ''WAYU''
❖ Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest and Climate change, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated air pollution control device WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit) ❖ WAYU has been installed for traffic junctions at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in Delhi. ❖ WAYU is developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) ❖ It has been indigenously developed as a part of Technology Development Project being funded by Department of Science and Technology. ❖ The device works on two principles mainly Wind generation for dilution of air pollutants and Active Pollutants removal.
Loo Review Campaign
❖ Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has partnered with Google to launch Loo Review campaign on Google Map. ❖ The joint campaign has been launched under aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM–U). ❖ It will run throughout October and November 2018 in an effort to increase awareness and ease of locating public toilets across India.
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STATE
Krishna Kutir
❖ Women & Child Development Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the ‘Krishna Kutir’, a special home for 1000 widows at Vrindavan in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh ❖ It is created by the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD) under Swadhar Greh scheme.
Punjab launched PUDA 360
❖ Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh launched PUDA 360, an e- properties module to facilitate online property transactions ❖ It will bring greater efficiency and transparency in the functioning of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). ❖ The online process would also make the e-auction more convenient and give a common platform to the promoters/builders/individuals for advertising their projects/properties online. ❖ It would also help to check delays in sanction of Building Plans, issuance of No Objection Certificate, issuance of Conveyance Deed and Transfer of Property etc.
'Mil Banchey Madhya Pradesh'
❖ Madhya Pradesh government organized a day-long mass teaching programme, 'Mil Banchey Madhya Pradesh' (Let's read together, Madhya Pradesh). ❖ The objective of this Programme is to raise awareness about the importance of education. ❖ In this program, people from various sections of society (people’ representative, motivators etc..) can participate as volunteers and read knowledgeable books of curriculum to motivate students.
Vibrant Gujarat’ summit
❖ Gujarat Government has partnered with a top India-centric American advocacy group for the January 2019 Vibrant Gujarat summit. ❖ Vibrant Gujarat 2019 is focused on ‘Ideas for a New India’. ❖ US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum’s (USISPF) Chairman John Chambers, will lead a high-level CEO delegation to the summit.
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Ayushman Bharat - Jan Arogya Yojana
❖ Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which provides poor and vulnerable families coverage for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization was launched in Jammu on September 6, 2018. ❖ This Yojana aimed at providing portable coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and a beneficiary covered under the scheme would be allowed to avail cashless benefits from any public and private impanelled hospitals across the country. ❖ This scheme will be launched across the country on September 25 by Prime Minister.
Panchayati Raj amendment bill
❖ Rajasthan state Assembly passed the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which relaxes the ‘two-child’ rule for those aspiring to contest panchayat elections, if one of the children is differently abled. ❖ It also passed an amendment aimed at allowing people suffering from leprosy to contest panchayat elections. This bill aims at deleting a provision under the Act that if a person is suffering from Leprosy, he will be disqualified for contesting panchayat elections. ❖ As per the existing legislation, a person stood disqualified from contesting panchayat elections, if he or she has more than two children. This provision does not provide for any exception for a disabled child.
State Legislative Council - Odisha
❖ A resolution seeking the creation of a Legislative Council in Odisha was passed in the State Assembly. ❖ The resolution will be sent to the Centre for approval of Parliament to facilitate the creation of the Legislative Council. ❖ The proposed Council will have 49 members, which is one-third of the total members of the State Assembly. ❖ The Odisha government had set up a committee in 2015 to study the Legislative Councils in other States and recommend for the establishment of one in the State.
Home delivery of govt services
❖ Delhi government has launched its Home Delivery of Public Services on September 10 which is being done for the first time in the country.
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❖ It aims to deliver 40 public services at the doorstep in the first phase including driving licences, community certificates, New water connections etc. ❖ The Government claimed this move as, ‘home delivery of governance’. ❖ This doorstep delivery of public services was delivered through ‘Mobile Sahayaks’.
Road Accident Data Management System -RADMS
❖ Jammu and Kashmir became the third state in the country to use software for standard and accurate data on road accidents. ❖ The Road Accident Data Management System (RADMS) is an automated software-based solution on road-accident data. ❖ RADMS is a geographical information system (GIS) solution for identification of black spots, wrong driving practices, road infrastructure, vehicular defects, road types, damage to property, overloading issues, driver issues and other factors causing or related to road accidents. ❖ Earlier, Tamil Nadu and Punjab had introduced RADMS.
First Regional Workshop on RERA
❖ Housing and Urban Affairs Minister (Independent Charge) inaugurated the first regional workshop on RERA (Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act) in Pune. ❖ Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), launched in 2016, is aimed at consumer protection, by creating an online system for information sharing in the real estate sector. ❖ It allows states to set up the Regulatory Authority and the Appellate. ❖ Maharashtra is one of the first states to implement the provision of RERA. ❖ It has also established the Real Estate Regulatory Authority of Maharashtra, which is popularly known as MahaRERA.
State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill- 2018
❖ Haryana legislative assembly has passed the Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill- 2018. ❖ It has been passed to provide for the constitution of Commission for Scheduled Castes in the state for the overall development and welfare of scheduled castes and safeguard their interests. ❖ It would also check and curb the atrocities being committed on the Scheduled Castes.
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❖ This commission will investigate and examine the working of various safeguards provided in the Constitution or under any other law in force or under any order of the government.
e-Plant clinics
❖ Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Minister launched e-plant clinics, a workshop organized by Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI. ❖ In this clinic, trained plant doctors will work to diagnose various plant diseases and upload the data on Plant-wise Online Management System (POMS). It can be assessed by worldwide experts.
Agricultural festival of Nuakhai
❖ The agricultural festival of Nuakhai has started in Odisha on 13th September 2018. ❖ The word ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means food, so the name means the farmers are in possession of the newly harvested rice. ❖ The festival is seen as a new ray of hope, held the day after the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. ❖ The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival.
Swayangsiddha
❖ In an attempt to combat human trafficking, the West Bengal government has rolled out a scheme, Swayangsiddha, in different districts of the State. ❖ Swayangsiddha, which means self-reliance, will be executed by the West Bengal Police. ❖ The scheme aims to empower young boys and girls to make informed choices so that they are less vulnerable to trafficking and child marriage. ❖ As the per the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data, West Bengal has the highest recorded case of trafficking among the States.
YuvaNestam scheme
❖ Andhra Pradesh is going to launch ‘YuvaNestam scheme’ for providing ‘unemployment allowance’ to the state’s youth from October 2018 ❖ For this purpose, the CM launched website “yuvanestham.ap.gov.in”, where candidates have to register.
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❖ The scheme provides an allowance of Rs 1000 for the unemployed youth in the age group of 25 years to 35 years.
1st ever dedicated Dog Park
❖ For the first time in India, a dedicated dog park has been set up at Hyderabad the park at an area of 1.3 acres.
❖ It was developed by “Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation” at a cost of Rs 1.1 crore and certified by Kennel Club of India.
'Swachh Dhara'
❖ Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu flagged off the 'Swachh Dhara' programme at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh. ❖ It was launched with the main objective of providing clean drinking water across the state.
New Cyber University
❖ Maharashtra Government is setting up new Cyber University dedicated to mitigating cyber threats. ❖ The Cyber University will provide for and prepare internet professionals on lines of Microsoft Certified Professional Program. ❖ It will conduct courses in data analytics, cloud computing, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, cyber forensics and cyber investigations.
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First-ever 'dial-FIR' scheme
❖ The Uttar Pradesh Police are set to launch a first of its kind dial-FIR scheme in the country. ❖ In this scheme, a common man can register regular crimes without going to a police station, by dialling the emergency number UP 100 and file a FIR, a call-based FIR. ❖ To combat crime, an online dossier of over 1-lakh small and big criminals in the state has also been prepared. ❖ UP is the only 2nd state to prepare such a localised online criminal database after Punjab. ❖ A pilot project of the e-FIR has been successfully conducted in Ghaziabad region.
First ever gender-neutral hostel
❖ The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai's Deonar has become the first campus in India to have a gender-neutral hostel. ❖ After the Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of the IPC that criminalised homosexuality, India has become the first-ever country to have a gender-neutral hostel.
Star-rating system for industries
❖ Odisha CM has launched a 'Star Rating program' for industries to strengthen State Pollution Control Board's (SPCB) regulatory efforts to reduce pollution. ❖ It is a first-of-its-kind transparency initiative to categorise industries from one to five stars compliant to pollution standards. ❖ Odisha's program is first in India to utilize continually monitored emissions data captured in real time from major industrial plants.
Airavata Scheme
❖ The Government of Karnataka has launched ‘Airavata Scheme’, a first-of-its- kind scheme that will create more self-employment opportunities. ❖ It will boost livelihood options for rural and semi-urban youth and the scheme is Targeted especially at the young men and women of SC/ST communities. ❖ In the first phase, the department has signed an agreement with Uber. ❖ Under this, the government will provide a financial grant of Rs 5 Lakhs each to identified beneficiaries from the SC/ST community.
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❖ Uber will be assisting the state government in identifying eligible candidates from the SC/ST community.
‘Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) Award
❖ Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) has become the first ever Metro Rail Corporation from India to bag the International ‘Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) Award.
❖ The International Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) bestowed the Silver Award to the Lucknow Metro for its Phase 1A (North- South Corridor) in the Project/Infrastructure category for year 2018.
Government e-Marketplace - Arunachal Pradesh
❖ Arunachal Pradesh CM - Pema Khandu has launched Government e- Marketplace (GeM) with 26,000 Government agencies in Itanagar. ❖ Its aim is to bring more transparency in Procurements of the Government and achieve “paperless‟ and “cashless‟ transactions. ❖ Thus, Arunachal Pradesh becomes the 6th State/UT in India to have signed MoUs with Government e-Marketplace (GeM) after Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and Puducherry.
Smart e-Public Distribution System
❖ Arunachal Pradesh has become the 1st North eastern state to introduce ‘Smart e-Public Distribution System’ (e-PDS)
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❖ The system was developed by Madras Security printers, a company specialized in e-governance projects ❖ It provides centralized online real-time electronic PDS to improve efficiency.
Naropa Festival
❖ The 5-day Naropa Festival concluded in Ladakh with a Guinness World Record in Ladakhi Dance. ❖ The festival also known as ‘Kumbh Mela of the Himalayas’ is celebrated on every 12th year of the Tibetian calendar.
❖ The festival celebrates the teachings and preachings of Buddhist scholar- saint, Naropa. ❖ To mark its end this year, 299 Ladakhi women in traditional attire danced together ‘Shondol’, a traditional dance to enter into the Guinness World Record. ❖ At the end of the festival, ‘Tsering Ladol’ was honoured with ‘Himalayan Hero’ Award. ❖ Tsering ladol was the first Ladakhi girl to scale Mt Everest in 2005.
First ever Mizoram International Short Film Festival (MISFF)
❖ The first-ever Mizoram International Short Film Festival (MISFF) was inaugurated by Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla at the Aijal Club in Aizawl, Mizoram. ❖ It is organised by o Government of Mizoram and o Innovations India. ❖ It is supported by the Mizo Film Forum.
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Jharsuguda airport to be renamed after freedom fighter
❖ The Odisha Assembly has passed a resolution unanimously to name the newly-constructed Jharsuguda airport after noted freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. ❖ It will be the second airport in Odisha to be renamed after Biju Patnaik international airport in Bhubaneswar.
2nd largest Metro Rail (MR) network
❖ L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited has recently commissioned a 16 km stretch of elevated metro. ❖ It hence completed one full stretch of the 3 corridor Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project. ❖ Now, the total stretch of Hyderabad metro will be 46 km. With this, it has become the 2nd largest operational metro rail network in India after the Delhi Metro. ❖ The HMR project is also the world’s largest Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.
Indian Culinary Institute
❖ Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. ❖ It is promoted by Union Ministry of Tourism. The ICI building was designed by National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). ❖ The main objective of ICI is to institutionalize mechanism to support efforts intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate Indian Cuisine.
PERSONALITIES, AWARDS AND EVENTS
1st Kashmiri Muslim woman pilot
❖ Thirty-year-old Iram Habib has become the first Kashmiri Muslim woman to become a pilot.
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❖ Iram succeeds Tanvi Raina, a Kashmiri Pandit, who joined Air India as the Valley’s first woman pilot in 2016. In April last year, 21-year-old Ayesha Aziz, also from Kashmir, became India’s youngest student pilot.
B.C. Roy Award - 2017
❖ Dr. V. S. Negi, Department of Clinical Immunology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (Jipmer), has been conferred the prestigious Dr. B C. Roy Award for 2017. ❖ He was given the award “to recognize the best talents in encouraging the development of specialties in different branches of medicine.’’ B.C Roy Award ❖ This award was instituted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) in 1976 in memory of renowned physician and former West Bengal Chief Minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy ❖ The BC Roy Award is the highest recognition for medical practitioners in India. ❖ The award is conferred annually 6 categories viz. statesmanship of the Highest Order in India, eminent medical person, medical man-cum- statesman, an eminent person in philosophy, an eminent person in arts and the eminent person in Science.
Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar
❖ This event was organized by private media company Daily Indian Media, to honor eminent personalities from politics, business, academics, and entertainment. ❖ Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Actors Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das and 10 others also received the honor.
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Praful Bidwai Memorial Award
❖ The Praful Bidwai Memorial Award for 2018 was given to Ulka Mahajan, co- founder of Sarvahara Jan Andolan.
❖ This Award was instituted in the memory of journalist and social activist Bidwai, who died in Amsterdam in 2015..
46th Chief Justice of India (CJI)
❖ Ranjan Gogoi will on 3rd October succeed Dipak Misra as the 46th Chief Justice of India. ❖ Present Chief Justice of India recommended Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the most senior judge as his successor. ❖ It is a convention that an outgoing CJI recommends the name of his successor a month before retirement.
❖ Gogoi becomes the 1st CJI from the North East region.
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❖ He will serve as CJI till his retirement on November 17, 2019.
Air Force Academy – New Commandant
❖ Air Marshal Arvindra Singh Butola took over as the Commandant of Air Force Academy (AFA) at Dundigal. ❖ Butola is an alumnus of the prestigious Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi. ❖ For his service, he was awarded with Vayu Sena Medal, Vishist Seva Medal, Chief of Air Staff Commendation and Air Officer Commanding in Chief Commendation.
Sarala Puraskar
❖ The 39th edition of the award was announced by the Sarala Puraskar Committee. ❖ Odia poet Satrughna Pandav was honoured with the prestigious 'Sarala Puraskar' for his poetry collection 'Misra Dhrupad'. ❖ Pandeet Umesh Chandra Kar will be awarded the 'Ila Panda Sangeet Samman' and Binod Moharana will receive the 'Ila Panda Chitrakala Samman'. ❖ The 'Sarala Puraskar' was instituted by eminent Odia industrialist late Dr.Bansidhar Panda and late Ila Panda in 1979.
‘Shilp Guru’ and National Award
❖ Union Minister of Textiles presented ‘Shilp Guru’ and National Award to Master craft persons at a function held at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. ❖ Eight ‘Shilp guru’ and 25 National awards were presented for the year 2016. ❖ ‘Shilp Guru’ is the highest award in the Handicraft sector in India.
Pacific Asia Travel Association gold awards
❖ Kerala Tourism has won two prestigious gold awards of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns. ❖ These awards were won by Kerala Tourism’s Yalla Kerala print campaign and Live Inspired Posters under PATA’s Travel Advertisement Print and Travel Poster categories respectively. o ‘Yalla Kerala’ - print media travel advertisement campaign launched in Gulf countries.
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o Live Inspired Posters - Developed for 3rd edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) ❖ Both campaign and posters were developed and designed by Stark Communications which is advertising agency of Kerala Tourism.
Hindi Implementation Award
❖ State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) bagged the "Rajbhasha Kirti" award for outstanding performance in implementing the Official Language Policy during 2017-18. ❖ The award was given on the occasion of Hindi Diwas (15th September). ❖ The award, under the category of 'Nationalised Banks and Financial Institutions in Region A', was presented by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu.
Anna Rajam Malhotra passed away
❖ Anna Rajam Malhotra, first Indian woman IAS officer after Independence, died in Mumbai on 17th September. ❖ The officer served in the Madras State under then Chief Minister C. Rajagopalachari.
❖ During her tenure, the construction of India’s first computerised port Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) in Mumbai was completed. ❖ Anna Rajam was honored with the Padma Bhushan award in 1989 for her exemplary service.
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Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar awards
❖ Union ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has conferred ‘Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18’ awards in New Delhi. ❖ It has been awarded as part of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign launched by PM on September 15th, 2018 ❖ The award has been extended, for the first time this year, to private schools besides government and government aided schools.
❖ “Certificate of Recognition‟ will be awarded to
o 4 States (Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh) and o 9 districts (Pondicherry, Srikakulam, Chandigarh, Hisar, Karaikal, Latur, Nellore, South Goa, Vadodara) for having maximum number of schools awarded with “National Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar‟.
❖ The Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar was launched in 2016-17 to honour the schools that have done exemplary work in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene.
Highest civilian honour of Mexico - Dr. Raghupati Singhania
❖ Dr. Raghupati Singhania was awarded the ‘Mexican order of the Aztec Eagle’ by Her Excellency Ms. Melba Pria, Ambassador of Mexico to India on the eve of 128th National Day of Mexico. ❖ It is the highest honour given to non-nationals by the Government of Mexico. ❖ He is the Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. ❖ He was awarded for his exemplary leadership, his noteworthy services towards humanity and his efforts to strengthen bilateral ties between India and Mexico.
National Sports Awards 2018
❖ The National Sports Awards 2018 were announced by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. ❖ Cricket captain Virat Kohli and world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will jointly be conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2018, India’s highest sporting honour.
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❖ The Guru Nanak Dev University of Amritsar was chosen as the recipient of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18.
V.R.Lalithambika to Head India’s Gaganyaan project
❖ ISRO has entrusted V R Lalithambika, Director, Directorate of Human space programme, to oversee the ‘Gaganyaan’ project of sending 3 humans into space by 2022 ❖ She is the veteran of more than 100 space missions and a vital member of the team behind the launch of a record 104 satellites in one go on Feb 15, 2017.
UN’s Highest Environmental Honour
❖ Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the United Nations' Champions of the Earth award for the year 2018. ❖ The UN recognised Modi with its highest environmental honour in the policy leadership category for his efforts to eliminate all single use plastic in India by 2022. ❖ Six of the world’s most outstanding environmental changemakers have been recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. ❖ French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr. Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category. ❖ Cochin International Airport was honoured with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. ❖ The airport is world's first fully solar-powered airport. ❖ The other winners include
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Environmental and indigenous rights For protecting land and environmental defender Joan Carling rights of indigenous people for more than 20 years
China’s Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival For transforming once heavily polluted Programme area of rivers and streams in East China’s Zhejiang province
The ‘Beyond Meat and Impossible Food’ Science and Innovation category
Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018
❖ Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s 2nd most valued firm ‘Reliance Industries’, has topped the ‘Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018’ for the 7th consecutive year. ❖ Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018, a compilation of the individuals in India having a net worth of INR 1,000 crore or more. ❖ Mr Ambani is followed by London-based S.P. Hinduja and L.N. Mittal. ❖ Azim Premji is fourth in the list. ❖ The cumulative wealth of the 831 individuals featured in the list stood at $719 billion, amounting to a quarter of India’s GDP of $2,848 billion.
FIFA's Best Player of The Year Award
❖ Luka Modric broke a decade of award dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after being crowned world footballer of the year by FIFA. ❖ Modric beat out Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and Ronaldo. ❖ He was voted FIFA's best player (2017-18 season) after winning the Champions League for a 4th time in 5 seasons with Real Madrid and leading Croatia to its 1st World Cup final. ❖ Messi and Ronaldo were the only winners of world soccer's main individual award from FIFA in various guises since 2008, both winning five titles each.
SPORTS
Most Valuable Player (MVP)
❖ Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee became the first female athlete to be named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at an Asian Games.
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❖ She won six gold and two silver medals. She received $50,000 in prize money. ❖ Prior to her North Korean shooter So Gin-man only set a record with seven golds and a silver at New Delhi in 1982.
Second Fastest Indian to Reach 6000 Test Runs
❖ Virat Kohli becomes the second fastest Indian to reach 6000 Test runs. ❖ Kohli reached the milestone in 119 innings which is quicker than Sachin Tendulkar (120) and Sir Vivian Richards (120).
❖ However, Sunil Gavaskar is the fastest after he did so in 117 innings.
World Youth Boxing Championships
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❖ Nitu defeated Thailand's Nillada Meekoon and claimed her second successive gold at the world youth boxing championships in 48kg. ❖ She had won her previous world championship gold last year event, held in Guwahati.
❖ Former junior world champion boxer Sakshi Choudhary won the gold medal in 57kg. ❖ Also, Asian champions Manisha (64kg) and Anamika (51kg) got silver medals.
UEFA club football awards 2018
❖ The award recognizes the best player, irrespective of his nationality, playing for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season.
❖ This year awards are given as follows,
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o Player of the UEFA Champions League Season 2017-18 - Luka Modric (Real Madrid) o Goalkeeper of the UEFA Champions League Season 2017-18 - Keylor Navas (Real Madrid) o Women's Player of the Year - Pernille Harder (VFL Wolfsburg).
18th Asian Games Concluded
❖ 18th edition of Asian Games concluded on September 02,2018. ❖ China topped the medal list with 289 medals followed by Japan (205) and Korea (177). ❖ India won 15 Gold, 24 Silver and 30 Bronze medals and equalled its previous best medal tally of 69.
ISSF World Shooting Championship
❖ 52nd ISSF World Shooting Championships are held in Changwon, South Korea from 2 to 14 September 2018. ❖ In this championship, o Arjun Singh Cheema won the gold in individual junior men's 50m pistol o Arjun singh cheema, Gaurav rana and Anmol Jain won the Gold in Junior team event o Manisha Keer won silver medal in the junior women's trap event.
RSL Kharkiv International challenge - Badminton
❖ Young Indian shuttlers Anoushka Parikh and Saurabh Sharma won the title in the mixed doubles event at the RSL Kharkiv International challenge in Kharkiv, Ukraine. ❖ Also, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Dhruv Kapila clinched the men’s doubles titles.
Silesian Open Boxing
❖ Indian five-time world boxing champion MC Mary Kom clinched her third gold medal of the year in 48 kg category at the 13th Silesian Open Boxing Tournament for women in Gliwice, Poland. ❖ She defeated Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kassanayeva to pick up India's lone senior category gold at the event.
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❖ Jyoti Gulia out-classed Poland’s Tatiana Pluta and picked up the country’s lone gold in 51 kg of the youth category. ❖ Former world champion Sarita Devi, however, signed off with a bronze medal in the senior category.
2018 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup
❖ Maldives defeated the defending champions India 2-1 in the final and lifted the 2018 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. ❖ The win for Maldives comes 10 years after their first SAFF Cup title in 2008.
Ahmet Comert Tournament
❖ Simranjit Kaur (64 kg), Monika (48 kg) and BhagyabatiKachari (81 kg) claimed gold medals at Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey. ❖ Simranjit, a former national medallist, defeated Turkey’s Sema Caliskan to win the Gold. ❖ Bhagyabati was declared the most scientific boxer of the tournament.
New marathon world record
❖ Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin (Germany), smashing the previous best as he clocked 2 hours 1 minute 39 second.
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❖ The 33-year-old Olympic champion took 1 minute 17 second off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto. ❖ Ethiopian Ruti Aga finished second and her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba third.
Asian Para Games
❖ The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) confirmed that Hangzhou in China will host the fourth edition of Asian Para Games in 2022. ❖ The Third Asian Para Games- 2018 will be played in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Singapore Grand Prix 2018
❖ Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore. ❖ He was followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the 2nd spot. ❖ Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished in the 3rd place.
Medved International Wrestling tournament
❖ Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik won a silver medal (62 kg category) after losing to Hungary’s Marianna Sastin in the final of the Medved International Wrestling tournament held at Minsk in Belarus. ❖ India’s Pooja Dhanda won a Bronze medal in the 57 kg category.
72nd National swimming championship
❖ Richa Mishra’s performance became the best Indian performance in the women’s 400m Individual Medley of the Glenmark 72nd National swimming championship at Kerala.
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❖ Mishra clocked 4:59.17 and became the first Indian woman to breach the five-minute mark.
Junior World wrestling championship
❖ Anshu Malik beat Russia’s Alina Kazymova and won bronze at the junior World wrestling championship in Trnava, Slovakia. ❖ Anshu lost her semifinal to Sae Nanjo of Japan.
Asian Team Snooker Championship
❖ India settled for the silver medal after losing to Pakistan 2-3 in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship. ❖ Pankaj Advani and Malkeet Singh represented India while Babar Masih and Mohammad Asifwere from the Pakistani side.
Women’s Boxing World Championships
❖ The Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by India after more than a decade, will be held from November 15-24, 2018, in New Delhi. ❖ The marquee tournament was last held in India in 2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of performance. ❖ India had topped the medal tally with four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.
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China Open
❖ In Badminton, Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting beat Japan's Kento Momota to take the Men's singles China Open title in Changzhou.
❖ Spain's Carolina Marin beat China's Chen Yufei to take the women's singles title. ❖ The 3rd seed, Momota who took the Japan Open title on home ground last week, was beaten by world number 13th Ginting.
72nd Senior National Aquatic championship
❖ Virdhawal Khade (Maharashtra) broke his own record set in 2009 in 50m butterfly event and won Gold medal. ❖ Saloni Dalal (Karnataka) set a new national record in women’s 100m breaststroke beating the earlier record of Chahat Arora set in 2017.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Coconut Day- September 02
❖ Every year 2nd September is celebrated as World Coconut Day to commemorate the formation day of Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) headquartered at Jakarta, Indonesia.
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❖ APCC is an inter-governmental organization of 18 member countries. It is mandated to promote, coordinate and harmonize the coconut developmental activities of the Asian Pacific region to achieve maximum economic development. ❖ India is one of the founding members of APCC.
World Sexual Health Day- September 04
❖ World Sexual Health Day will be observed on every year September 4, in an effort to promote a greater social awareness on sexual health across the globe.
❖ This awareness day was managed by the World Association for Sexual Health — a global advocacy organisation committed to promote the best practices in sexual health. ❖ The first World Sexual Health Day was celebrated in 2010 with the slogan, ‘Let’s talk about it’.
International Day of Charity – September 05
❖ The International Day of Charity was observed globally on September 5. ❖ The Day commemorates the death anniversary of Mother Teresa who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her charity work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress. It was first celebrated in 2013.
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National Teacher’s day- September 05
❖ Each year, Teacher's Day is celebrated on the 5th of September in India. Teacher's Day is marked in honor of Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was born on September 5, 1888. ❖ Dr.Radhakrishnan was India's first vice president and second president. He was a great scholar, philosopher, and Bharat Ratna recipient.
❖ Since 1962 - the year he became president - India has commemorated Dr. Radhakrishnan's birth anniversary by paying tribute to its teachers and gurus on this day.
International Literacy Day – September 08
❖ International Literacy Day is celebrated annually on September 8 across the world. ❖ This year, the 52nd International Literacy Day will be celebrated on the theme ‘Literacy and skills development’. ❖ The day was declared by UNESCO on October 26, 1966. ❖ The day highlights the importance of literacy or the ability to read and write for individuals, communities, and societies. ❖ According to UNESCO's statistics, India's literacy rate is 72.1 percent. The literacy among men is 80.9 percent, while for women it's 62.8 percent.
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World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10
❖ World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year. ❖ It aimed to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003.
❖ International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) to host World Suicide Prevention Day. ❖ This year was celebrated with the theme of “Working Together to Prevent Suicide”.
National Hindi Diwas- Septemper 14
❖ National Hindi Divas, also known as Hindi Day, is observed on September 14 every year in India. ❖ This day is celebrated to propagate Hindi language and its cultural heritage and values among the people of the country and abroad. ❖ On this day, Hindi language was adopted as the official language of the country by the Constituent Assembly of India in 1949.
International Day of Democracy- September 15
❖ International Day of Democracy is observed annually on 15th September to raise public awareness about democracy. ❖ The theme for this year’s observance is “Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World.” ❖ It is designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 and the day of Democracy was first celebrated in 2008.
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Indian Engineer's Day - September 15
❖ India is celebrating Engineer's Day on September 15 as a mark of remembrance and tribute to the greatest Indian engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya.
❖ The theme of Engineers Day in India 2018 is “Digital Transformation: A New Industrial Revolution".
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer: September 16
❖ International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on 16th September throughout the world. ❖ The theme for International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2018 was 'Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol'. ❖ This day aims to create awareness on issues related to climate change and ozone depletion.
World Alzheimer’s Day – 21 September
❖ World Alzheimer’s Day is observed every year on 21st September all over the world. ❖ This day is observed to create awareness about the Alzheimer’s disease.
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❖ It has been observed since 2012. The month of September is observed as World Alzheimer’s Month. ❖ Alzheimer’s disease is a group of disorders that affects memory and other mental functions.
International Day of Peace - 21 September
❖ Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. ❖ The theme for International Day of Peace 2018 is “The Right to Peace - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70”.
❖ The theme celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ❖ The day was first celebrated in 1982. ❖ Established in 1981, UNGA has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
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World Rhino Day - 22 September
❖ World Rhino Day is celebrated on September 22 every year and it celebrates all 5 species of rhino: Black, white, greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos. ❖ The day was observed to make people aware about the importance of Rhinos ❖ World Rhino Day was first announced by WWF-South Africa in 2010. ❖ There are approximately 2600 rhinos found in Assam alone in India.
World Car-Free Day – 22 September
❖ Every year on or around 22 September, cities across the globe celebrate World Car-Free Day, encouraging motorists to give up their cars for a day. ❖ The event highlights the numerous benefits of going car-free to citizen including reduced air pollution and the promotion of walking and cycling in a safer environment.
International Day of Sign Languages - 23 September
❖ International Day of Sign Languages is celebrated annually across the world on 23 September every year along with International Week of the Deaf. ❖ This year it was the first International Day of Sign Languages. Its theme was “With Sign Language, Everyone is Included!”. ❖ This day aims to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. ❖ International Day of Sign Languages was proposed by World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) ❖ UN General Assembly instituted this day in December 2017 and the choice of 23 September commemorates the date of establishment of WFD in 1951.
World Pharmacist Day – 25 September
❖ World Pharmacist Day is observed every year on 25th September to encourage pharmacists to promote and advocate their profession ❖ The theme of World Pharmacists Day 2018 is "Pharmacists: your medicines experts." ❖ World Pharmacist Day was first observed in 2009, by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Council in Istanbul, Turkey.
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Antyodaya Diwas – 25 September
❖ 25th September was observed as Antyodaya Diwas across the country to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. ❖ Antyodaya means uplifting of the weakest section of the society.
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons – 26 September
❖ The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is observed every year on 26 September across the world. ❖ The day aims to provide an occasion for world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as high priority.
❖ The day was proclaimed by UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) by adopting resolution in December 2013. ❖ UNGA also observes 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests which was proclaimed through resolution adopted in 2009.
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World Tourism Day - 27 September
❖ The World Tourism Day (WTD) is being observed every year on 27th September to raise awareness about importance of tourism.
❖ The theme of this year’s World Tourism Day is ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’. ❖ Observance of day aims to foster awareness among international community of importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. ❖ The World Tourism Day marks adaptation of Statutes of UNWTO (United nations World Tourism Organization) on September 27, 1970.
World Maritime Day – 27 September
❖ The World Maritime Day (WMD) is observed every year on last Thursday of September month. ❖ It aims is to acknowledge the maritime industry and to highlight importance of shipping safety, maritime security and marine environment and to acknowledge maritime industry.
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❖ This year it was observed on September 27 with theme as “IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future”. ❖ The World Maritime Day marks date of adaptation of International Maritime Organization (IMO) Convention in 1958. The day was first observed in 1978.
World Rabies Day – 28 September
❖ The World Rabies Day is observed every year on 28 September across the world to raise awareness about rabies disease and its preventable measures. ❖ The 2018 theme was ‘Rabies: Share the message. Save a life’. ❖ Observance of the day seeks to raise awareness about the impact of rabies on animals and human beings. ❖ World Rabies Day is initiative of Global Alliance for Rabies Control. And it was initiated in 2007. ❖ The day, 28 September, is to mark death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist who had developed the first rabies vaccine.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mountaineers climbed Asia's highest volcanic peak Mount
❖ Mountaineers Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua have created history by climbing Asia's highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand in Iran. ❖ At the elevation of 5,609 metres, Mount Damavand is a potentially active volcano. ❖ The expedition team comprised of three members, Siddhanta, Mousumi and Bhaswati Chatterjee.
Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2018
❖ Tata Steel has bagged the ‘Steel Industry Leader’ Award in ‘Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2018’ (DJSI 2018). ❖ Tata Steel is the only India-based company to win among 60 sectors evaluated for DJSI 2018. ❖ It has been named the “Industry Leader” amongst 24 steel companies globally, for the second time in the last 3 years.
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Tenzing Norgay Award
❖ All-women crew of INSV Tarini has bagged the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award.
❖ The crew has been awarded for beating the odds in water with their enduring skills and sailing across the world for eight long months. ❖ The award is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air. ❖ The crew was also bestowed with Nav Sena Medal on the occasion of 72nd Independence Day.
Global Olympic Sponsor
❖ German insurer Allianz has signed up as a global Olympic sponsor for a 4- Games period of 10 years between 2021 and 2028. ❖ The insurer will become the IOC’s 14th top sponsor. ❖ The games it will sponsor are: o Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024, o Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028,
o The Winter Games in 2022 in Beijing and in 2026 in Milan (Italy). ❖ Other sponsors are: Coca-Cola, Intel, Panasonic and Visa.
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Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha centenary celebrations
❖ The President of India has inaugurated centenary celebrations of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha (DBHPS) in New Delhi. ❖ DBHPS is an autonomous body functioning under the grant from the Union Government. ❖ DBHPS, headquartered at Chennai, aims to improve Hindi literacy among non-Hindi speaking people of South India. ❖ DBHPS was established by Annie Besant with support from Mahatma Gandhi in 1918.
Goodwill Ambassador - Nepal tourism
❖ Former Member of Parliament and Bollywood actress Jaya Prada has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Nepal tourism. ❖ The appointment is for a period of 4 years. ❖ The Nepal government has also decided to observe the year 2020 as the 'Visit Nepal Year' and has set a target of attracting two million international visitors.
Human Capital Score
❖ India ranks 158th in the world for its investments in education and health care ❖ The study is published in journal the Lancet. ❖ The study places Finland at the top. ❖ The U.S. is ranked 27th, while China is at 44th and Pakistan at 164th. ❖ South Asian countries ranking below India in this report include o Pakistan (164) o Bangladesh (161) o Afghanistan (188). ❖ Countries in the region that have fared better than India in terms of human capital include o Sri Lanka (102) o Nepal (156) o Bhutan (133) and o Maldives (116). ------
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