DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS –15.09.2018 TO 17.09.2018

NATIONAL National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) Releases HIV Estimations 2017  The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) released the report HIV Estimations 2017. The HIV Estimations 2017 is the 14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).  Maharashtra has the highest number of people living with HIV in . Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were on second and third place, respectively.  As per the report, in 2017, India had around 21.40 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with the adult prevalence of 0.22%.  NACO undertakes HIV estimations biennially in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS). HDI report: India moves one spot higher to 130  India has climbed one spot to 130 out of 189 countries in the latest Human development rankings released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  HDI measures the progress in key dimensions of human development such as education, health and living standards.  The top five countries in the global HDI ranking were Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and Germany. India ranks 3rd in family-owned businesses  India ranks third globally in terms of number of family-owned businesses with 111 companies having a total market capitalisation of $839 billion. India closely follows China with 159 firms and the US with 121 firms, says a report.  According to the ‘Credit Suisse Family 1000 in 2018’ study, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI), in terms of number of family-owned businesses within the non-Japan Asian region, the list is dominated by China, India and Hong Kong. Javadekar inaugurates 3400 test practice centres for students Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated a network of 3,404 Test Practice Centres (TPCs) spread across the country to help students get familiar with the pattern of competitive exams to be conducted by the newly established National Testing Agency (NTA). India gets its first ever dedicated dog park in Hyderabad  For the first time in India, dog owners will have a dedicated dog park to visit. Set up in Hyderabad, the park is spread across an area of 1.3 acres.  The park was initially a dump yard at Kondapur. It was converted into a dog park by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at a cost of Rs 1.1 crore.  The man behind the development of dog park is an IAS officer Harichandana, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Zonal Commissioner. AP Govt launches website to tackle unemployment  The Andhra Pradesh government announced to start an unemployment allowance for the state’s youth from October 2018. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu also launched website for the scheme.  The candidates can register online on the website yuvanestham.ap.gov.in. to be part of the scheme.  As per the scheme, the unemployed youth between the age group of 25 years to 35 years will get an allowance of Rs. 1000 along with free of cost skill development training.  Many companies across the country have collaborated with this ‘Yuva Nestam’ initiative. Once the companies register on the website, they can select the candidates and call them for the interview. Bengal scheme to combat human trafficking  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 data West Bengal has highest recorded case of trafficking among the States. Uttarakhand ranked best among states in constructing roads under PMGSY Uttarakhand has been ranked the best among states in the country for the construction of maximum number of roads under the PMGSY during 2017-2018. The state constructed a maximum of 1,839 kilometre roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana against a target of 1,500 km set for the year 2017-18. Cisco signed agreements with NITI, BSNL  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.  To facilitate new citizen services, especially in government and public sector, Cisco signed an agreement with BSNL to set up a dedicated location to demonstrate use cases using 5G to solve citizen problems in areas such as education, healthcare and agriculture using technologies such as IoT, surveillance, and Artificial Intelligence.  Chairman and CEO of Cisco- Chuck Robbins INTERNATIONAL Nepal and China conducts second joint military exercise Sagarmatha Friendship-2018  The second edition of Nepal-China joint military exercise named Mt Everest Friendship Exercise-2018 (Sagarmatha Friendship-2018) commenced in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.  This will be the second time that Nepal Army will participate in joint military drill with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China.  The first such exercise was held in April 2017 at Nepal Army’s Para Training School in Maharajgunj in Kathmandu (capital of Nepal).

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4th Eastern Economic Forum opens in Russia’s Vladivostok  World leaders and business tycoons gathered in Russia’s Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok to discuss cooperation at the fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF)  The three-day forum under the theme of “The Far East: Expanding the Range of Possibilities” has attracted thousands of attendees from more than 60 countries. BILATERAL India, Serbia Signed Agreements on Various Fields India and Serbia signed agreements on cooperation in plant protection and plant quarantine and on-air services, following the talks between Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu embarks on a three-nation visit to Serbia, Malta and Romania. Serbia Capital: Belgrade, Currency: Serbian dinar Malta Capital: Valletta, Currency: Euro. Romania Capital: Buchares, Currency: Romanian leu. ECONOMY PayU India Gets RBI Approval To Operate Its Own NBFC PayU India has received Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to operate its own non-banking financial company (NBFC). The digital payments firm owned by South Africa’s Naspers Ltd. NBFC  A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Government or local authority, receiving deposits under any scheme. They do financial activity without having banking license.  NBFC can give loan for a minimu period of 12 month and maximum period of 60 months.  NBFC does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods (other than securities) or providing any services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.  Financial activity as principal business is when a company’s financial assets constitute more than 50 per cent of the total assets and income from financial assets constitute more than 50 per cent of the gross income.Net owned must be Rs 2 crore. A company which fulfils both these criteria will be registered as NBFC by RBI. What is difference between banks & NBFCs? NBFCs lend and make investments and hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences as given below: i. NBFC cannot accept demand deposits; ii. NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself; iii. deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks. RBI to Buy G-Secs in Open Market  The Reserve Bank 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).  OMOs are market operations conducted by RBI by way of sale/purchase of government securities to/from the market with an objective to adjust the rupee liquidity conditions in the market on a durable basis.  If there is excess liquidity, RBI resorts to sale of securities and sucks out the rupee liquidity. Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight, the RBI buys securities from the market, thereby releasing liquidity into the market. NABARD Approves Rs 65,635 crore Loan For 93 Irrigation Projects  The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has approved Rs 65,634.93 crore loan so far to 93 prioritised irrigation projects under the government’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).  The NABARD is funding the central and state share of 99 prioritised irrigation projects under the PMKSY through long term irrigation fund (LTIF). It is mandated to provide Rs 70,000 crore loan to these projects to be completed by 2019. Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank, BoB to merge: Govt.  The government declared that state-owned Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be merged to create the country’s third largest lender as part of efforts to revive credit and economic growth.  The merged entity or amalgamated bank would be India’s third largest lender.  The move follows top lender State Bank of India last year merging with itself five of its subsidiary banks and taking over Bharatiya Mahila Bank, a niche state-run lender for women.  Department of Financial Services Secretary Rajeev Kumar HDFC Bank most valuable Indian brand 5th year running: Survey  Private sector HDFC Bank has become India’s most valuable brand for the fifth year in a row with a 21 per cent rise in its brand value to $21.7 billion over the previous year, according to a survey.  HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the “WPP and Kantar Millward Brown’s BrandZ 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands” ranking that was started in 2014 by the global communication services company. PNB wins 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, under the category of ‘Nationalised Banks and Financial Institutions in Region A’, was presented by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu to PNB Chief Executive and MD Sunil Mehta. PERSON IN NEWS Prashant Kumar: The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced Prashant Kumar as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He also worked as Chief General Manager, Kolkata circle and General Manager in Mumbai Circle.

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Moutaz Mousa Abdallah: Moutaz Mousa Abdallah has become the Sudan’s new Prime Minister. Sudan-Capital: Khartoum, Currency: pound. President:Omar al-Bashir OBITUARIES  Former Union petroleum minister Satya Prakash Malaviya died at a private hospital in Delhi. AWARD Tourism wins two 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. PATA Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) awards are given by PATA and are sponsored by Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO). PATA Awards are presented to outstanding entries in four principal categories: Marketing; Education and Training; Environment, and Heritage and Culture. PATA is membership association working to promote the responsible development of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region. 6 Indian airports get international awards  Six airports of the Airports Authority of India have been conferred with seven international awards. The Airports Council International (ACI) presented the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017 at Customer Excellence Global Summit at Halifax, Canada.  Based on the results of the survey carried out by the ACI, a global non-profit organisation of Airport Operators on ASQ, Lucknow Airport has been rated as the world’s top airport in the ‘Best Airport by Size’ category, among the airports handling two to five million passengers per year. It has also bagged the award for“Best airport by size and Region” among the airports handling two to five million passengers per year in the whole Asia Pacific region.  Indore Airport has bagged the award for ‘Best Airport by Region’ among the airports handling under two million passengers per year in Asia-Pacific region.  Ahmedabad Airport has been rated as the ‘Most Improved Airport’ in Asia-Pacific region. Indore and Ahmedabad airports are the two first time winners from India for 2017. While Kolkata and Pune airports have been ranked third in the world in the ‘Best Airport by Size’ category, among the airports handling five to 15 million passengers per year, Chennai Airport has been adjudged the third best in the world in the category – ‘Best Airport by Size’ among airports handling 15-25 million passengers per year. SPORTS Indian boxers , Monika and win gold medals in Turkey Simranjit Kaur (64kg), Monika (48kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) claimed gold medals as Indian boxers notched up an impressive seven podium finishes at the Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey. SAFF Cup 2018: Maldives Beat India 2-1 To Lift Trophy India suffered a shock defeat against Maldives in the final of 2018 South Asian Football Federation Cup. The seven-time winners lost 2-1 to Maldives in the summit clash at Dhaka despite dominating the match with better ball possession and more shots at the opposition goal. Meanwhile, Maldives lifted the winners’ trophy for the second time. SAFF cup 2018 venue: Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh bags gold at Silesian Boxing Championship in Poland M C Mary Kom lived up to her favourites tag to clinch gold in the 13th International Silesian Women’s Boxing Championships in Gliwice, Poland. Mary Kom (48kg) prevailed 5-0 against Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Kassanayeva in the final of the boxing event to win her third gold medal this year. Lewis Hamilton wins the Singapore Grand Prix British Racing Driver Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore Grand Prix with a strong run from pole position to increase his world championship lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Japan Open badminton title Event Winner Runner-up Men’s Singles Kento Momota (Japan) Khosit Phetpradab (Thailand) Women’s Singles Carolina Marin (Spain) Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Men’s Doubles (Indonesia) Junhui Li, Yuchen Liu (China) Women’s Doubles Yuki Fukushima, Sayaka Hirota (Japan) Qingchen Chen, Yifan Jia (China) Mixed Doubles Zheng Siwei, Huang Yaqiong (China) Yilyu Wang, Dongping Huang (China)

Hangzhou to host 2022 Asian Para Games With 19 days to go before the opening of the third Asian Para Games in Jakarta, the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) confirmed that Hangzhou in China will host the fourth edition in 2022. Former England keeper Foster retires from all forms of cricket Former England wicket-keeper James Foster has announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the ongoing season. MISCELLANEOUS ISRO launches two UK's satellites NovaSAR and S1-4 using PSLV-C42  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched two satellites— NovaSAR and S1-4-belonging to United Kingdom (UK) based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).  These satellites were launched on board of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C42) from first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

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 NovaSAR is an S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite intended for forest mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, flood and disaster monitoring.  S1-4 is a high resolution Optical Earth Observation Satellite, used for surveying resources, environment monitoring, urban management and for the disaster monitoring. DRDO successfully tests low-weight indigenously developed man-portable anti-tank guided missile  Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted first successful trials of indigenously developed third generation Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM). Two rounds of missile were flight tested in operational configuration in two days from Ahmednagar range in Maharashtra.  MPATGM is third-generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) indigenously developed by DRDO.It is expected to replace second generation French origin anti-tank guided missile Milan and Soviet semi-automatic wire-guided missile Konkur, which are in service with Indian Army.  It has strike range of 2.5 km. It weighs around 14.5 kg to maintain man portability. It is capable of being fired from shoulder and can be used during day and night. ISRO inagurates S–Band Polarimetry Doppler Weather Radar at Sriharikota spaceport  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has inaugurated S–Band Polarimetry Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota spaceport, Andhra Pradesh.  It will be used for observation of weather system up to range of 500 km and also for early warning of severe weather events.  The radar has been indigenously developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru under ToT (Training of Trainers) from ISRO. NASA launches satellite to track Earth’s melting ice In a bid to understand Earth’s ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, snow cover and permafrost, NASA successfully launched its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2. The satellite with a three-year mission was launched with liftoff aboard a Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. BOOKS Final book of Vineet Bajpai’s Harappa trilogy launched Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple, the final book of Vineet Bajpai’s Harappa trilogy, was launched in .The first two books are Harappa: Curse of the Blood River and Pralay: The Great Deluge. The three books have been brought out by Bajpai’s publishing platform TreeShade Books. IMPORTANT DAY September 16: International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer (or World Ozone Day) This year, the theme for the Day is ‘Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol’. The day was designated by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on December 19, 1994. Its observance commemorates the date in 1987 on which Montreal Protocol was signed on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Ozone(O3) Layer: The Ozone layer is fragile shield of gas which protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation of Sun which can cause cancer.Substances like Chlorofluorocarbons, halons, Carbontetrachloride are responsible for ozone layer depletion. Montreal Protocol: It was agreed on 26 August 1987 in Montreal, Canada and entered into force on 26 August 1989. It was followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Under it production and consumption of key ODSs like chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs), Methyl Chloroform, CTC halons and Methyl Bromide have been phased-out globally. It is legally binding on member countries. has been ratified by 197 parties making it universally ratified protocol in UN history. Vienna Convention for Protection of the Ozone Layer: Vienna Conference entered into force in 1988. It acted as framework for international efforts to protect fragile ozone layer. These are laid out in accompanying Montreal Protocol. However, it does not include legally binding reduction goals for the use of CFCs, the main chemical agents causing ozone depletion. International Day of Democracy The International Day of Democracy was observed across the world on September 15, 2018. The day provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. It was observed for the first time in 2008. The theme of the 2018 International Day of Democracy was ‘Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World’. Engineer's Day: 15 September  Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya's birthday is celebrated on 15 September as Engineer's Day. Fondly referred to as Sir MV, M Visvesvaraya was a world-renowned civil engineer who was a master of irrigation design. He was also referred to as the father of engineers by many.  The bridge, among M Visvesvaraya's most notable projects, is a representation of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam (in Karnataka). ONE LINER  Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has declared the state open defecation free (ODF) and congratulated the state administration for this achievement.  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu flagged off the ‘Swachh Dhara’ programme in Amravati, with an aim to provide clean drinking water across the state.  The Global Climate Action Summit 2018 was held at San Francisco, California, United States.  India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along the Indo- Pak border at the BSF Headquarters in Ploura, Jammu.

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