A2z-september-2018-current-affairs-pdf.pdf

A2Z September 2018 Current Affairs PDF

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A2Z Current Affairs PDF for upcoming exams September 2018

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MOU/Agreement Countries  

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India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Kathmandu on preliminary engineering-cumtraffic survey of the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu railway line as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli agreed to foster bilateral ties. India and France have signed an implementation agreement on “Mobilise Your City” (MYC) in the presence of MoS, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri and Alexander Ziegler, Ambassador of France in India. The MYC will support three pilot cities — Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad in their efforts to reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and South Africa on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Malta for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and BruneiDarussalam 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. India and Niger signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) in Niamey, Niger with the Indian government’s grant assistance. The US and India have formed an alliance comprising leading experts in public and private sectors to combat the menace of tuberculosis. US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Mark Green announced the formation of ‘USAID-India End TB Alliance’ at an event in New York in presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda. USAID is making an initial USD 30 million commitment. CEO NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant and United Nations Resident Coordinator in India, Yuri Afanasiev, signed the Government of India-United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) for 2018-2022.

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Software major Adobe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch an “Adobe Digital Disha” programme across vocational institutes in India.The programme is focused on helping vocational institutes leverage the power of a free online and mobile graphic design app “Adobe Spark” to integrate creativity and digital literacy into classrooms and curriculum. NITI Aayog, Intel and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, TIFR are collaborating to set up a Model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence, ICTAI. In a big push to modernise India’s emergency response infrastructure, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),Department of Space are collaborating together to set up an advance Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER). In a bid to battle the issue of counterfeit drugs in India, NITI Aayog joined hands with Cloud major Oracle, Apollo Hospitals and global pharmaceutical manufacturer Strides Pharma Sciences to pilot a real drug supply chain, using Blockchain decentralised ledger and Internet of Things (IoT) software.

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The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission, has partnered with Google to launch the Loo Review campaign to encourage all local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on Google Maps.

Appointments and Resignations Name Post Extra Knowledge National Disaster Response Force chief Sanjay Kumar was given additional charge of the post of Director General of Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards. Ranjan Gogoi Chief Justice of India He will take charge on October 3, 2018 after Justice Dipak Misra’s retirement. Anil Khosla Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force He will succeed Shirish Baban Deo L K Advani Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha Shivakumar Chairman of the board of The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) N. Ravi Chairman of the Press Trust of India (PTI) Vijay Kumar Vice-Chairman of the Press Trust of India Chopra (PTI) Sunil Mehta Chairman of Indian Banks Association He is Punjab National Bank’s managing director (IBA) and chief executive. He will succeed Usha Ananthasubramanian Anshula Kant Managing Director of State Bank of India Will succeed B Sriram Prashant Kumar Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of SBI Amitabh Chief Executive and Managing Director After Shikha Sharma’s tenure will end in Chaudhry of Axis Bank December Ashwani Bhatia Managing Director and Chief Executive Will take over from Anuradha Rao Officer of SBI Mutual Fund Vibha Padalkar Executive director and Chief financial Will succeed Amitabh Chaudhary, who joined officer of HDFC Standard Life Axis Bank on September 8. Tajinder Chairman and Managing Director of Mukherjee National Insurance Company Limited (NIC) R Madhavan Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Anil Kumar Chairman and Managing Director of Chaudhary‘ Steel Authority of India Ltd Poonam Regional Director of WHO South-East Khetrapal Singh Asia Akshay Kumar Ambassador of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation MC Mary Kom Brand Ambassador of BSNL Hima Das Sports Ambassador of Assam nicknamed the "Dhing Express", is an Indian sprint runner from Assam

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A2Z September 2018 Current Affairs PDF Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan Actress Jaya Prada Ajit Mohan

Signed in to promote and endorse the Skill India Mission, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Nepal tourism Facebook India’s vice-president and managing director Brand Ambassador of Tribes India

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The government has decided to observe the year 2020 as the ‘Visit Nepal Year’ campaign

Punch Tantra Collection and Ms. Mary Kom Vikram Misri India’s Ambassador to China Keith Enright Chief Privacy Officer of Google Ibrahim President of Maldives Mohamed Solih Dr Arif Alvi President of Pakistan He will succeed Mamnoon Hussain Moutaz Mousa Prime Minister of Sudan He will succeed Bakri Hassan Saleh Abdallah RESIGNATIONS Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited said its chief executive officer Daniel Zhang will succeed Jack Ma as the chairman of the board next year. Elon Musk to step down as Tesla Chairman. Tesla - The electric car maker he founded Archery coach Jiwanjot Singh Teja, who guided Indian compound archery team to two silver in the Jakarta Asian Games, has resigned as the national coach after being denied the Dronacharya award. Government Appoints New MD & CEOs At 10 PSBs The government appointed managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) for 10 public sector banks. Five of the new MD and CEOs are currently functioning as Deputy MDs of State Bank of India (SBI).  Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and Padmaja Chundru, both Deputy MDs in State Bank of India, have been appointed as MD and CEO of Syndicate Bank and Indian Bank respectively.  Three other Dy MDs of SBI , Pallav Mohapatra, J Packirisamy and Karnam Shekhar have also been appointed as MD and CEO of Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Dena Bank, respectively.  S S Mallikarjuna Rao has been appointed MD and CEO of Allahabad Bank.He is currently the Executive Director of Syndicate Bank.  A S Rajeev, Executive Director of Indian Bank, has been named MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra.  Atul Kumar Goel and S Harisankar have been appointed MD and CEO in UCO Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank respectively. Goel is ED, Union Bank of India, and Harisankar is the Executive Director of Allahabad Bank.  Ashok Kumar Pradhan will be MD and CEO of United Bank of India. He is currently ED of the United Bank.

Awards and Recognitions Award Name Miss Universe India 2018

Person/Institution Nehal Chudasama

Meryl Streep Award for Excellence

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

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Extra Knowledge She will now be representing India at Miss Universe. She got the award at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award

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A2Z September 2018 Current Affairs PDF Wyler Award for Excellence in Direction WIFT Emerald Award

Zoya Akhtar

Sarala Puraskar

Odia poet Satrughna Pandav Terre des Hommes (An international children rights charity) based in Switzerland Sawai Singh Shekhawat

2018 Balzan Prize for humanitarian achievement.

Meera Puruskar by Rajasthan Sahitya Academy Smita Patil award for best actor ‘Icons of Indian Cinema’ Award ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’ for 2018 American actress Anne Hathaway

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Janhvi Kapoor

Anushka Sharma Actor-director Pankaj Kapur Vijay Patil Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Equality Award

www.aspirantszone.com She got the award at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award She got the award at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award For his poetry collection ‘Misra Dhrupad’.

He is poet and writer

Given by Maharashtra Government

Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, was conferred ‘Honoris Causa’ by the University of Engineering & Management (UEM). The US National Cancer Institute has give the “Outstanding Investigator Award” to Professor Arul Chinnaiyan, from the University of Michigan, and $6.5 million in funding over seven years, to identify cancer biomarkers to improve diagnosis and develop new targeted therapies. Nandakumar Rajalakshmi , an India-born woman research scholar from the University of Washington won the Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for 2018 for using smartphones to detect life-threatening symptoms, the Californiabased Marconi Society. State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) bagged the “Rajbhasha Kirti” award for outstanding performance in implementing the Official Language Policy during 2017-18. Actors Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das were among 13 others who were awarded the Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar in New Delhi for their contribution to the society and championing the cause of equity, social justice and human welfare. BSNL yet again swept WiFi Leadership Awards 2018 by bagging six awards and emerged as the largest public WiFi focused organization while Vipin Tyagi, Executive Director, C-DOT was conferred WiFi Leader of the Year at My India WiFi India Summit & Awards 2018 organised by DigiAnalysys in New Delhi. 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.

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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. GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has 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. The national capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has bagged the title of Best Airport to handle over 40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) by the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017. Kerala Tourism‘s vigorous efforts to get back on track in the wake of recent devastating floods got a shot in the arm as it walked away with two prestigious gold awards of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns. All-women crew of INSV Tarini has bagged the prestigious Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award for beating the odds in water with their enduring skills and sailing across the world for eight long months as part of a mission under the Navika Sagar Parikrama project. The 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. Mousumi Khatua made it a philosophy of her life and scripted history as she became the first woman from Kalyani City, West Bengal to climb Asia’s highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand in Iran. Mountaineers Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua have created history by climbing Asia’s highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand in Iran. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth award for the year 2018. The United Nations 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. President of France, Emmanuel Macron has also been awarded in the same category for his work on the Global Pact for the Environment. Cochin International Airport was also awarded for its leadership in use of sustainable energy in the category of entrepreneurial vision. The airport is world’s first fully solar-powered airport. Prominent entrepreneur and achiever from Gujarat, Chiranjiv Patel has bagged the prestigious “BW 40 under 40” award in BW Business World’s second edition of 40 Under 40 Summit and awards held in Gurugram.

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Qutub Minar begged an award for being the best monument for differently-abled, while Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Mandu (Madhya Pradesh)were jointly declared the ‘Best Heritage City’ in the country. Andhra Pradesh bagged the first prize in state category for comprehensive development of tourism. It got the prize for promoting Andhra Pradesh Tourism as a global tourism brand. ‘INTACH Heritage Walks Delhi’ along with ‘Indore Heritage Walk’ were together announced winners in the category of ‘Best Heritage Walk’.

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Conference and Summits Summit Defence & Homeland Security Expo and Conference 2018 2+2 dialogue between India and the United States

Place New Delhi

Conference on E-Mobility in Indian Railways 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia International Aviation Summit Global Mobility Summit – MOVE World Summit on Accreditation

New Delhi

Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC)

New Delhi

The ‘first ever’ India Tourism Mart (ITM 2018) First General Assembly of the International Solar Alliance, ISA National Orientation workshop on National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) 7th National Conference on Excellence in Workplace Safety 2nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting and the 2nd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo, (REINVEST- 2018) Jaipur Art Summit Metro Edition 15th Prawasi Bhartiya Diwas -2019

New Delhi

Smart City Expo India 2018 Global Investors Meet 2019 Indian Association of Tour Operator’s (IATO) annual convention First summit of US-India Business Council (USIBC) Aero India 2019 28th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council

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New Delhi

New Delhi

Extra Knowledge

Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed between the two nations

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New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi

New Delhi

Theme - Challenges and Opportunities in Outcome-Based Accreditation Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation will organize the convention to mark the beginning of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi

On October 2, 2018

New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi

New Delhi Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Jaipur, Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Mumbai, Maharashtra Bengaluru, Karnataka Bengaluru, Karnataka

Theme - Excellence in Workplace Safety & Occupational Health To be held in October

To be held in October

Theme - ‘US and India connecting our future’ USIBC president- Nisha Desai Biswal

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A2Z September 2018 Current Affairs PDF 21st meeting of the Central Zonal Council Regional Conference on Good Governance India’s 1st Corn Festival 87th Izmir International Tradeshow First tripartite meeting of India, Iran and Afghanistan International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 4th BIMSTEC summit

6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) 4th International Ayurveda Congress

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh Turkey Kabul, Afghanistan Kathmandu, Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal

5th World Internet Conference (WIC)

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India was the Partner Country

Theme - “Equality begins with Economic Empowerment” Sri Lanka has now become the new chair of the BIMSTEC. The BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

Singapore Singapore Leiden, Netherlands Chicago, USA New York, USA

World Hindu Congress 73rd session of the UN General Assembly World Economic Forum for the Vietnam Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) India-UAE Partnership Summit (IUPS) Dubai, UAE 4th Eastern Economic Forum Vladivostok, Russia 23rd Meeting of India-Russia Moscow, Russia Intergovernmental Commission G-20 Trade And Investment Ministerial Mar del Plata, Meeting Argentina 7th UNWTO Global Summit Seoul, Republic of Korea Women Foreign Ministers meeting

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Theme - ‘Think collectively, Achieve valiantly’

Theme - The Far East: Expanding the Range of Possibilities

WTO - World Tourism Organization WTO organized summit on Urban Tourism: A 2030 Vision for Urban Tourism

Montreal, Canada China in its river town of Wuzhen

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International News    

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International tourist arrivals hit record high in 2017 with India leading the growth in South Asian region. According to data from the UN’s tourism organisation, a total of 1,323 million international tourist arrivals recorded in destinations around the world. The figure represents an 84 million increase over 2016, and a new record. Typhoon Jebi left trail of destruction across Japan. Kansai airport, a major transport hub serving Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, was cut off when an ocean tanker hit and damaged its bridge to the mainland. Russia will launch the biggest military drills “Vostok-2018” (East-2018) in its history involving 300,000 troops as well as Chinese soldiers, in a move NATO denounced as “exercising large-scale conflict”. Hurricane Florence, packing sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h), seems to have its sights set on the Carolinas. Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate along the coast of North and South Carolina and Virginia, according to news reports. Seven countries including Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Turkey are at risk of exchange rate crisis as investors re-assess their risks following the contagion in Argentina and Turkey, a new index by Nomura says. According to the global financial services major, emerging markets are under pressure as investors re-assess the risks amid monetary policy normalisation in developed markets, trade protectionism and China’s economic slowdown. South Africa declared an official end to the world’s worst recorded listeria outbreak after it killed 216 people and sickened more than 1,000 since early 2017. Typhoon Mangkhut has left multiple dead as the storm pummelled the northern Philippines with ferocious wind and rain that set off landslides, damaged an airport terminal and ripped off tin roofs. Google is set to shut down its alternate mailing app “Inbox” in March 2019, giving users time to shift to the traditional Gmail by then, the company has said in a blog post. The UN says more people went hungry in 2017 than at any time in the previous decade as food deprivation on the rise due to conflict and climate change. UN to hold Climate Summit in September 2019 The World Health Organization (WHO) released SAFER, a new initiative and technical package outlining five highimpact strategies that can help governments reduce the harmful use of alcohol and related health, social and economic consequences. Germany rolled out the world’s first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but eco-friendly technology. Days after pulling out of the Bimstec joint military exercise in India at the last minute, the Nepal Army began its second wargame with the Chinese military at Chengdu, China. The “Sagarmatha Friendship-2” (Mt Everest Friendship Exercise-2018) military exercise in China’s Sichuan province will last 10 days. Nepal is likely to be the first country in the world to double its tiger population. On the occasion of National Conservation Day on 23 September, Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. World Bank and United Nations have launched Famine Action Mechanism (FAM) as an important new tool to help predict and prevent famine. FAM will give a more accurate picture of food security in real time, triggering early action from donors and humanitarian agencies that will save lives and prevent further suffering. A statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled at the UN headquarters to honour the South African President’s 100th birth anniversary.

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A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at the United Nations to honour the late South African leader’s birth.This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mandela’s birth, and the U.N. is declaring 2019-2028 the “Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace. Argentina has received the biggest loan package ever from the International Monetary Fund, aimed at shoring up the country’s ailing finances a whopping $57.1bn that will be disbursed over the next three years. The UAE will host the Interfaith Alliance Forum in Abu Dhabi on 19th and 20th November. In Nepal, the famous Indra Jatra festival is being celebrated in Kathmandu with gaiety and religious fervor. The eight day long annual festival is observed to worship Indra, the lord of rain and good harvest. Typhoon Trami hit Japan’s southern island of Okinawa with a maximum speed of 216 kilometres per hour. Tsunami and earthquake in Indonesia kill over 400.

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Israel, India commemorated Centenary of the Battle of Haifa on September 23. The Battle of Haifa is being commemorated in Israel, Delhi and Jaipur. India and Nepal have agreed to explore the possibility of using high resolution satellite images in boundary survey work during the 5th meeting of the Nepal-India Boundary Working Group (BWG), which concluded in Kathmandu. India has become the first and only SAARC country to have a quit-line number on tobacco products. The Union Health Ministry has already made 85% pictorial health warning mandatory on both sides of packets containing cigarettes, bidis, and chewing tobacco. The quit-line number will be printed on all tobacco products manufactured after September 1, 2018. India is the fourth country in Asia after Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to have this government helpline for those looking at quitting tobacco. To encourage practice of ayurveda, India has set up an Ayush Information Cell at its embassy premises in Romania to create awareness about the traditional Indian system of medicine. India will organise ‘Gandhi March’ from the iconic Peace Palace at the Hague to Grote Kerk to launch the two-year long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in Netherlands. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in India on his maiden state visit to the country, during which he hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost bilateral strategic partnership. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in New Delhi to hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a number of key issues of mutual interests. He met PM Modi at Hyderabad House in Delhi. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, with the support of the Asian Development Bank launched the country’s first flood forecasting and early-warning system. In a verdict which only strengthens the concept of ‘gender equality’, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on the entry of women in Sabarimala temple, Pathanamthitta District‎, Kerala. ‎ 271 mn Indians moved out of poverty: UN. India has made momentous progress in reducing multidimensional poverty with its incidence almost halving between 2005-06 and 2015-16, climbing down to 27.5 per cent from 54.7 per cent, according to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Pakyong Airport near Gangtok in Sikkim on September 24, nine years after the foundation stone was laid. The state’s first airport and country’s 100th is situated at an altitude of 4,500 feet above sea level. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh were awarded the best performing states in terms of “Ease of Living Index” under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) at the National Dissemination

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Workshop on Ease of Living Index, 2018, in New Delhi. The MoHUA released the first ever ‘Ease of Living Index’ covering 111 Indian cities, which serves as a litmus test to help assess the progress made in cities through various initiatives. In a bid to boost credit availability to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched a web portal ‘www.psbloansin59minutes.com’ through which one can avail loans up to Rs 1 crore in just 59 minutes. The portal will enable principal approval of loans up to Rs 1 crore for MSMEs from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and 5 Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance and National Informatics Centre (NIC) have jointly developed a mobile app called Jan Dhan Darshak as a part of financial inclusion (FI) initiative. The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to convert Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) into a governmentowned 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 per cent stake in GSTN. The remaining 51 per cent is held by five private financial institutions – HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance Ltd. The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 5,538–crore package as part of a comprehensive policy for the sugar industry to deal with the surplus domestic stock and help mills clear dues of cane growers. The Union Cabinet approved a new telecom policy, National Digital Communications Policy 2018, designed to provide ‘broadband to all’, Union Communications Minister Manoj Sinha announced. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) that aims “to change the the banking system in the country”. The launch was done at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. Click here to read about IPPB In a first-of-its-scale heritage mapping and digitisation project, Google and Ministry of Railways launched a project that aims to preserve the cultural heritage of the Indian Railways. The two-year digitisation project “The RailwaysLifeline of a Nation” is a comprehensive digital document viewable on Google’s Arts and Culture website. It was launched at the National Rail Museum in New Delhi. Census 2021 will for the first time collect data on Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Centre said. The decision to count the OBCs in the next Census was to get a correct perspective on the social status in the country. The 2011 Census collected information in 29 categories that included a separate column for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes. The OBCs would also be an option in the column in 2021. The enumerators will start “house listing” in 2020 and the headcount will begin from February 2021. “It was also informed that nearly 25 lakh enumerators are trained and engaged for the gigantic exercise and accurate collection of data will be ensured in Census 2021.” Nearly Rs 400 crore has been released by the Centre to 10 states, having international borders, for developing forward areas as part of an ambitious plan to ameliorate the problems of those living in these isolated locations. An amount of Rs 399.44 crore has been released to the governments of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and West Bengal under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) so far during 2018-19. India will emerge as the biggest passenger car market by 2030, with every second car being sold will be here in the country, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said. Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu launched Coffee Connect – India coffee field force app and Coffee KrishiTharanga – digital mobile extension services for coffee stakeholders at a function. The mobile app Coffee Connect has been developed to ease the work of field functionaries and to improve the work efficiency. NABARD has partly funded the Pilot project. India has set a target to generate100 GW solar energy by 2022 for increasing share of carbon free energy in the energy mix.

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The Government has approved a proposal to increase wages of artisans by over 36%, from five rupees 50 paisa per hank to seven rupees 50 paisa. Homosexuality Not A Crime In India Anymore: SC Abolishes Section 377. A five-judge bench led by CJI Dipak Misra diluted Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, to exclude all kinds of adult consensual sexual behaviour. The law will still stand on the statute book to deal with unnatural sexual offences against minors and animals such as sodomy and bestiality. The government decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) an open-ended scheme, meaning that it will continue indefinitely and added more incentives to encourage people to open bank accounts. To make the scheme more attractive, the government has decided to double the overdraft facility from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Arun Jaitely said that 32.41 crore accounts have been opened under the scheme and as much Rs 81,200 crore has been deposited in them so far. Jaitley said 53% of the PMJDY account holders are women, while 83 per cent of the accounts are seeded with Aadhaar. The Union government doubled the pecuniary limit to Rs. 20 lakh 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 lakh. The Indian e-commerce market would become worth over $100 billion by the year 2022, with a growth of around 25 per cent from the current level, according to a joint report by PwC and Nasscom – Propelling India towards global leadership in e-commerce. The water storage level of 91 major reservoirs in India have gone up by four per cent in the last one week, according to data provided by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. 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). India has decided to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests the learning level of 15 year olds, after a gap of nine years, a senior HRD Ministry official said. The government has said that treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The scheme will provide health insurance cover of five lakh rupees to poor families. BPL and lower-middleclass families will benefit from it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, and Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh via video conferencing. These include 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link and Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways. India launches new digital bridge with Africa -- e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project. Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal launched a web portal www.railsahyog.in. The web portal will provide a platform for the Corporates and PSUs to contribute to creation of amenities at/near Railway Stations through Corporate Social Responsibility funds. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Ashwani Lohani with other Railway Board Members, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Shri Dr Inder Jit Singh and Senior Officials of Railways and Coal were present on the occasion. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a Rs 100 crore Indian Culinary Institute, built by the Ministry of Tourism, close to Renigunta airport, 15 km from Tirupati.

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Nine years after Apsara – the country’s first and oldest atomic reactor was shut down, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) set in motion Apsara-upgraded (U). The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on collaborative research on distributed ledger and blockchain technology in the context of development of digital economy by Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) with the participating member banks, under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. With an aim to boost the pro-farmer initiatives of the government, the Centre approved a new Umbrella Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA). The scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. In addition to this, budget provision for procurement operations has also been increased and Rs.15,053 crore is sanctioned for PM-AASHA implementation. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva Movement’, which aims at fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund with an outlay of Rs 10,881 crore for 2017-18 to 2028-29 to boost the dairy sector. India’s first underwater robotic drone developed at Maker Village in Kochi, which can send real-time video of ships and other underwater structures to help with their repair and maintenance, was launched. BEML Limited, a defence public sector company, has launched an indigenously designed and developed country’s first 205T Electric Drive Rear Dump Truck(Model BH205-E), with an objective of strengthening the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The health ministry has banned the manufacture, sale and distribution of 328 fixed dose combinations (FDCs) of drugs with immediate effect and restricted another six. This brings to an end a protracted legal battle between manufacturers of these combination drugs and the ministry, which has been working since 2016 to get these “irrational” and “unsafe” drugs banned. Among the roughly 6,000 brands estimated to be affected by the ban are popular drugs like the painkiller Saridon, the skin cream Panderm, combination diabetes drug Gluconorm PG, antibiotic Lupidiclox and antibacterial Taxim AZ. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched the country’s first National Scholarship Portal Mobile App (NSP Mobile App) in New Delhi. Four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned the need for total electrification of the country’s rail network, the PM-led Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 100 per cent electrification of the Indian Railways, tentatively by 2021-22, settling a decades-long debate. The Union Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, PMAASHA. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. 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). The Power Ministry launched an ambitious programme on energy efficiency in chillers that consume more than 40 per cent of total energy in commercial buildings. The Chiller Star Labelling Programme has been formulated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). It envisages providing star rating in terms of its energy performance. Initially, the programme is launched on voluntary basis and will be valid up to December 31, 2020

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State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) will prepare a detailed project report for development of Palaly airport in Sri Lanka. This would be the first project for the AAI in the island nation. President Ram Nath Kovind launched a logo and web portal for the upcoming celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The portal – gandhi.gov.in is participatory in nature and all participating organisations will be able to upload their activities regarding the commemoration of the occasion. It also has a unique feature Gandhipedia which will be a repository of Gandhian knowledge and will continue to grow with time. The logo and web portal is part of the two-year-long celebrations from October 2, 2018 to October 2, 2020 across the country and on foreign soil to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. Union home minister Rajnath Singh launched two smart fencing pilot projects along the 198-km-long India-Pakistan international border in Jammu and Kashmir. As many as 20 lakh people have joined the modified Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY), taking the total number of account holders in the flagship financial inclusion programme to 32.61 crore as on September 5, according to finance ministry data. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, jointly inaugurated the IndiaBangladesh Friendship Pipeline projects through video conferencing. Modi and Hasina inaugurated the work of the pipeline from their respective capitals, New Delhi and Dhaka. The home ministry launched a portal ‘e-Sahaj’ that will enable individuals and private companies to submit applications and view their status online. The Union Minister of State Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the ‘Pension Adalat’, organised by the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in New Delhi’s Dwarka. The size of the Indian economy will double to $5 trillion by 2022 with manufacturing and agriculture contributing $1 trillion each, and the various states are competing with each other to help achieve this goal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. India has contributed a whopping $1 million for the installation of solar panels on the roof of the imposing UN building at the world body’s headquarters. The contribution will help reduce carbon footprint and promote sustainable energy. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched two separate portals to strengthen Women Safety in the country. The portal ‘cybercrime.gov.in’ will receive complaints from citizens on objectionable online content related to child pornography, child sexual abuse material, sexually explicit material such as rape and gang rape. The other portal ‘National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO)’, is accessible only to law enforcement agencies and will assist in effectively tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences. Union Minister of State for Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Giriraj Singh, launched MSME Insider – a monthly e-newsletter of the Ministry. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made a new Budget Dashboard on Budget, Expenditure and Bill Payment position. The Budget Dashboard also incorporates Ministry of AYUSH and Department of Health Research.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi aid the foundation stone for the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in New Delhi‘s Dwarka. In a major victory for northeastern indie cinema and female filmmakers, Rima Das’ National Award-winning Assamese film Village Rockstars has been selected as India’s official entry to the 91 Academy Awards, 2019. The government announced three initiatives to take banking to the last mile comprising a financial inclusion index, geographical mapping of banking servicesand hassle-free online loans for MSMEs valuing upto Rs 1 crore. Arun Jaitley launched a common online platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) credit which will enable businesses to get loans upto Rs 1 croreapproved through a completely automated process within just 59 minutes. The government also announced a financial inclusion index, which would be released by the end of this year and would rate states on their performance on last-mile banking services availability. The government also announced a banking services infrastructure locator app “Jan Dhan Darshak” which aims to to bring banking within reach of every citizens through over five lakh “banking touch points” comprising of bank branches, banking correspondents, ATMs, common service centres and post offices. The GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping of banking services will be a convenient method for any person to find the nearest banking touch point. Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated air pollution control device Wind Augmentation Purifying Unit, WAYU, at ITO in New Delhi. Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in Shillong announced that the government will spend Rs 1.5 lakh crore for improving national highways in the northeastern states of the country. A colossal dome shaped structure (world’s largest dome) will be inaugurated at the Maharashtra Institute of Technology’s (MIT), Pune on October 2. Aadhaar linking with PAN mandatory, not needed for bank A/Cs, CBSE, NEET, UGC, school admissions, Mobile connections. The Court, while announcing its verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar said, “Aadhaar not needed for opening a bank A/C, and no mobile company can demand Aadhaar card for connections.” The apex court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, hence barring private companied from seeking Aadhaar details of consumers. The Centre announced to enhance its contribution to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 75 per cent to 90 per cent with effect from April 1 this year. Economic affairs secretary S C Garg announced reduction in gross borrowing estimate for the current fiscal by Rs 70,000 crore and maintained that the government will contain fiscal deficit target at 3.3 per cent. Union KJ Alphons presented the National Tourism Awards 2016-17 and launched the ‘Incredible India’ mobile app and the “Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification” programme on the occasion of World Tourism Day.

Ayushman Bharat 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 help prospective beneficiaries check if their name is there in the final list. One can visit the website mera.pmjay.gov.in or call up the helpline (14555) to check their enrolment. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ayushman Bharat, world’s largest government-funded healthcare scheme in Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.

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With the roll out of the Centre’s flagship scheme which has been renamed as PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the Narendra Modi-led NDA government aims to provide healthcare facilities to over 10 crore families covering urban and rural poor. All NDA chief ministers launched the scheme from their respective states. The scheme became operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. The ambitious scheme offers an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh, which will cover 10 crore poor families or almost 50 crore persons.

Below is a brief summary of the extent and importance of the scheme.     

The scheme is targeted at poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers’ families. There will be no cap on the family size and age under the AB-NHPS. The scheme will be cashless and paperless at public hospitals and empanelled private hospitals. Ayushman Bharat may cost the exchequer around Rs 5,000 crore this year because of the time taken to rollout the scheme. The scheme will cost Rs 10,000 crore when its rolled out across India next year. While this year there are likely to be 8 crore beneficiaries, the target is to cover 10 crore by FY 20. The scheme aims to provide a benefit cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. It will subsume the existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), launched in 2008 by the UPA government.

State News Andhra Pradesh  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced the launch of ‘Yuva Nestam Scheme’ on October 2, which would provide unemployment dole of Rs 1000 each to empower youth.  The government and Mastercard introduced e-Rythu, a mobile platform that provides farmers an easy and secure way to buy, sell and receive payments for agricultural products via their feature phones.  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 government announced to start an unemployment allowance for the state’s youth from October 2018. The candidates can register online on the website yuvanestham.ap.gov.in. to be part of the scheme. Arunachal Pradesh  Arunachal Pradesh becomes the first State in North East India to introduce Smart e-Public Distribution System (ePDS), a solution developed by the Madras Security Printers, a company specializing in system integration and solutions for e-governance projects. Assam  Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated an Indo-Bhutan Border Trade Centre at Darranga in Tamulpur, Baksa District, Assam. Sonowal termed it a red-letter day and said that the trade centre will lead to strengthening of Indo-Bhutan relations.  The Assam government will provide electricity connection to all households by December 31st this year under SOUVAGYA scheme.

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The Assam government will launch the Universal Pension scheme in the state on the 2nd October, the birth anniversary of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Under the scheme, the pension will be given to citizens over 60 years of age.

Bihar  Bihar and Nepal are now connected by bus. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the first bus service between Bihar and Nepal. The service will link Bodh Gaya and Patna in Bihar to Kathmandu and Janakpur in Nepal. Chhattisgarh  The country’s first tribal tourism circuit was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.

Delhi  Calling it a “historic step” and “revolutionary change”, the Delhi government launched the doorstep delivery of 40 public services for the people living in the national capital. Now people will not have to waste their time and money for multiple trips to the government offices. They just need to call on 1076 and request for the service they want. They need to pay Rs 50 and can get 40 services at their doorstep. Driving license, new water or sewer connection and disconnection will also be provided under the scheme between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. through a ‘Mobile Sahayak’.  The Delhi Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are slated to sign an agreement this week for cooperation in urban regeneration. The agreement will be signed during Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s ongoing trip to Seoul. Goa  Goa government’s Women and Child Development Ministry launched a universal helpline service (181) for women in distress in the coastal state.  The Goa government inked an MoU with Portugal and said that the coastal state was looking at the European nation, with which it has a historical link, for its model of development. Gujarat  The Gujarat Government has partnered with a top India-centric American advocacy group for the Vibrant Gujarat summit in January 2019, which is expected to be attended by some of the top American corporate leaders. Gujarat will host the ninth edition of the annual industry summit ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ from January 18 to 20, 2019, in Gandhinagar.  The first of its kind university in the country on the transport sector, the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), started operations this week. Currently, it is functioning out of the National Academy of Indian Railways, Vadodara.  Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani declared Kutch as ‘scarcity hit district’ after it received just 26.51 percent rains this monsoon. He said that drinking water pipeline projects worth Rs. 296 crore for Kutch district would be taken up on a war footing. Haryana  The Haryana government on September 10 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up an ethanol plant in Panipat with an outlay of over Rs 900 crore.

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Haryana will be made stray cattle-free by January 26 next year. Strict actions would be taken against those, whose cattle are found roaming on the roads and fine would also be imposed on them.

Jammu & Kashmir  J&K has been declared Open Defecation Free in September 2018.  The five-day Naropa Festival concluded with a grand ‘Chondol Dance’ performed by as many as 299 Ladakhi women attired in traditional costume breaking the Guinness World Records. Jharkhand  China will be Jharkhand’s partner country at the Food Processing Summit slated in November.  The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared the Jharkhand government’s proposal to rename a railway station in Garhwa district after Lord Krishna. The Raghubar Das government had proposed that Nagar Untari town and railway station be renamed as Banshidhar Nagar, after Banshidhar Temple, which is dedicated to Krishna, in Garhwa.  The Jharkhand government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Insurance Company Ltd to provide medical facilities to the people of the state under the Centre’s flagship health scheme – Ayushman Bharat Yojana.  Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a national literary and intellectual conference- “Lok Manthan 2018” at Khel Gaon in Ranchi.  Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das said their government is constructing India’s biggest war memorial.

Karnataka  Ayushman Bharat call centre was formally inaugurated in Bengaluru by CEO of Ayushman Bharat Dr. Indu Bhushan.  Looking to further cement its position in India, South Korean tech major Samsung set up what is arguably the world’s largest mobile experience centre in Bengaluru, barely two months after it opened its biggest mobile factory in Noida.  Bengaluru International Airport (BAIL) is planning to roll out face recognition facility for the passengers of select airlines in a bid to make the boarding process paperless. The airport operator has inked a deal with Lisbon-based biometric solutions service provider, Vision Box, to implement this technology at the airport. Kerala  The State Bank of India (SBI) announced special term loan for repair and renovation of homes to help the flood affected citizens of Kerala. As part of this scheme, the bank offers loan of upto Rs 10 lakh at a reduced interest rate of 8.45 per cent per annum along with waiver of processing fee. The special rate will be applicable for home loan applications for repair and renovation submitted on or before November 30, 2018.  Ministry of Tourism sanctioned Malanad Malabar Cruise Tourism Project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of a rural circuit in Kerala. Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons announced that under this project, the ministry will be developing three cruises with a budget of Rs 80.37 crores.  The World Bank (WB) team estimated that Kerala would require around Rs. 25,050 crore for reconstruction of the flood-ravaged economy and infrastructure. Maharashtra  Thousands of people thronged the streets of Maharashtra’s Nagpur city to celebrate the Marbat festival. As per the tradition, the devotees took out a procession carrying effigies that represent evil forces. The clay effigies or ‘Marbats’ of Kali (black) and Pivli (Yellow) were the main attraction of the procession.

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Maharashtra has the highest number of people living with HIV in India which is around 3.30 lakh, contributing 15 per cent of total immunodeficiency virus-affected people in the country which is 21.40 lakh, according to the latest data by Health and Family Welfare Ministry. The Madhya Pradesh government announced the creation of a new district ‘Niwari’. The new district would include three tehsils of the present Tikamgarh district – Niwari, Orchha and Prithvipur.

Mizoram  A joint border conference was held between India and Bangladesh at Aizawl and delegates from both sides deliberated on the border issues between the two countries. Nagaland  The Nagaland government has declared the Singphan Wildlife Sanctuary as an elephant reserve making it the 30th reserve for jumbos in the country. Odisha  In western Odisha, the festival of Harvest Nuakhai is being celebrated. After harvest of new paddy of this season, rice has been processed and offered to Goddess Samaleswari in Sambalpur. People of western Odisha have also arranged Nuakhai Vetghat programs in Capital city Bhubaneswar.  Odisha government introduced a system to rate industries based on the amount of pollutants generated by them. They will be given star rating from one to five with the most polluting industry getting one star while the industry with highest compliance rate with pollution control norms will get five stars.  Cyclonic storm ‘Daye‘ is likely to cause damage to the road, rail and communication channels in various districts of Odisha.  The Odisha assembly passed a unanimous resolution to name the Jharsuguda airport after eminent freedom fighter and son of the soil Veer Surendra Sai.  Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the theme of Odisha Conclave 2018. The flagship biennial business event of the Government of Odisha will be themed on ‘I am Odisha’.  Odisha’s CM inaugurated Odisha Bhawan in Chennai.  Odisha government has decided to adopt the ‘No Work No Pay’ policy with regard to the strike by the block grant teachers and lecturers. Punjab  Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched PUDA 360, an e-properties module to facilitate online property transactions. It is aimed at bringing greater efficiency and transparency in the functioning of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).  Border states Punjab & Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement to re-start work on the Rs 2,793-crore Shahpur Kandi project. Rajasthan  In a bid to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship ‘Digital India’ campaign, Rajasthan government will soon distribute mobile phones to women under the Bhamashah Yojana. Focused on women who fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL).  Salman Khan will officially inaugurate “Umang“, a centre for special children in Jaipur.  To mark the second anniversary of the Surgical strikes, carried out by the Indian army, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Parakram Parv at the Combined Commanders’ Conference in Jodhpur.

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Amit Shah inaugurated Deendayal Upadhyaya National monument at Dhankya, Rajasthan. It is set up by the Railways and the Rajasthan government.

Tamil Nadu  The Tamil Nadu government said it had signed an MoU with the Central government to implement Ayushman Bharat Yojana in association with state-run Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS).  In September, the Tamil Nadu government has prohibited the manufacture, sale (including online sale), distribution, trade, display, marketing, import and possession of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, popularly known as e-cigarettes.  Tamil Nadu government has announced a novel scheme for the protection of the exotic Neela kurinji (Strobilanthus kunthianus) plants that flower only once in 12 years.

Telangana  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. Tripura  ISRO’s first Space Technology Incubation Centre inaugurated at the National Institute of Technology Agartala.  Tripura Government would set up a flute performance research institute to take out the traditional musical act and its eminence as a traditional musical instrument across the world. Uttarakhand 

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.

Uttar Pradesh  The Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Gandhi, along with Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Adityanath Yogi inaugurated the widows’ home ‘Krishna Kutir’ at Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. Krishna Kutir is a special home for 1000 widows set up by the Ministry of Women & Child Development under Swadhar Greh scheme of the Ministry and is the largest ever facility of its kind created by a government organization. It has been constructed at a cost of 57.48 Crores.  In Uttar Pradesh, Rail Minister Piyush Goyal along with Chief Minister of State Yogi Adityanath launched the official website of Kumbh Mela, 2019 in Lucknow. They also launched a social media App related to the Mela. The website www.kumbh.gov.in provides detail about location, trains, accessibility, weather and accommodations which will be a great help for pilgrims.  Lucknow’s famous ‘Hazratganj Chauraha’ will be renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ‘Atal Chowk’.  The Lucknow Municipal Corporation launched an anti-open defecation campaign, titled “Khule me shauch ki ghanti bajao – siti bajao” (whistleblowing campaign against open defection), in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision to make the capital city Open Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2.  Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that the state would become open defecation free by October 2, 2019, with his government constructed over 1.36 crore toilets in the last 17 months.

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The Uttar Pradesh Police are set to launch a first of its kind dial-FIR scheme in the country where a common man can register regular crimes without going to a police station even as it is preparing an online photographic dossier of criminals that will be provided to policemen on 22,000 new i-pads. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will undertake an exhaustive study in Uttar Pradesh to add value to mango growing, guava, potato and pulse farming, and submit a report to the state government. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a stature of BJP ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya on the Agra University campus.

West Bengal  Major General A.K. Sanyal, General Officer Commanding, Bengal Sub-area, inaugurated State Bank of India (SBI)’s efacilitation and e-corner facility for Indian army veterans at the Army Complex near Fort William, Kolkata.  Observing the National Nutrition Week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the state government has adopted a multi-sectoral strategy to reduce under-nutrition and anaemia among women and children in a targeted manner by 2020.  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.

Finance and Banking News  

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The government along with UN body FAO has launched an agriculture project with USD 33.5 million grant from Global Environment Facility (GEF) that seeks to bring transformative change in the farm sector through conservation of biodiversity and forest landscapes. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will ease the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) norms from October to induce liquidity into the financial system, amid concerns of a credit crunch. The increase in ‘Facility to Avail Liquidity for Liquidity Coverage Ratio’ (FALLCR), will effect from October 1, 2018, from the existing 11 per cent to 13 per cent will take the carve out from SLR available to banks to 15 per cent of their NDTL (Net Demand and Time Liabilities)”. RBI has withdrawn the general permission given to Bandhan Bank to open new branches and it can now do so only with prior approval of the central bank. The RBI has cancelled the licence of Rajasthan-based Bhilwara Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank as it does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. RBI asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an internal ombudsman (IO). The apex bank has, however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs) from appointing IOs. The internal ombudsman scheme was introduced by the RBI to strengthen the internal grievance of banks and to ensure that the complaints of the customers are redressed. In order to further enhance the independence of the IO and also to strengthen the monitoring system over functioning of the IO mechanism, the central bank said it has reviewed the arrangement in the form of ‘Internal Ombudsman Scheme, 2018’. RBI told banks to share a maximum 80% credit risk when they originate priority sector loans jointly with nonbanking finance companies (NBFCs). The regulator also said the lenders will charge a single interest rate to borrowers. Moving ahead with consolidation of public sector banks, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. The merged entity or amalgamated bank would be India’s third largest. PayU India has received RBI’s approval to operate its own non-banking financial company (NBFC).

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India Post Payments Bank and Bajaj Allianz announced a five-year partnership to sell life insurance products on a revenue share basis. The State Bank of India (SBI) asked non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) not to worry about credit availability as it would continue to support them. Fitch Ratings placed Bank of Baroda’s (BoB) viability rating on ‘rating watch negative’ following the government announcement to merge it with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Karur Vysya Bank for non-compliance of its directives. Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (KVB) has rolled out KVB Next, a tab-based digital initiative.The initiative is intended to help eligible retail and business customers get in principle sanctions for their loans within 15 minutes. HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the `WPP and Kantar Millward Brown’s BrandZ 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands’ ranking, with a rise of 21 per cent in its brand value to USD 21.7 billion. Private sector non-life insurer HDFC Ergo has launched a personal cyber insurance policy that will provide cover to individuals and families from cyber crimes, including cyber attacks, identity theft, phishing, and reputational risks such as bullying and trolling. Airtel Payment Bank, India’s first payments bank, has announced that its customers can now make card-less cash withdrawals at over 100,000 ATMs across India. The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore each on three public sector banks for non-compliance with its directions on “Fraud – Classification and Reporting”. According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed individually on all the three banks — Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Union Bank of India — on August 30, 2018. Micro, small and medium enterprises will now be able to get quick overdraft of up to Rs 1 crore for working capital requirements, based on their goods and services tax (GST) returns. ICICI Bank announced the facility known as ‘GST Business Loan’ and said it would be available to any such business, including non-customers of the bank. Private sector lender Yes Bank has partnered with online financial services company RupeeBoss.com for the integration of the bank’s chat bot based platform to support instant loan eligibilities for its several loan products. Leading life insurance brand ICICI Prudential Life has partnered with India’s largest urban co-operative bank Saraswat Co-operative to offer life insurance products ranging from protection to wealth creation.

Business News 

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In a move aimed at creating a payments acceptance network for unorganized retail including small merchants and kirana stores where consumers can make payments, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has partnered with Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a payments technology company to ensure that micro-merchants are able to accept payments over any channel – online, unified payments interface (UPI), quick-response (QR) codes, Aadhaar and IPPB accounts. Unlimit, the only end-to-end IoT service provider in India, part of Reliance ADA Group, announced its partnership with State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The partnership provides comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services to the enterprise customers across India. Through this partnership, Unlimit will leverage BSNL’s ubiquitous and seamless wireless network footprint pan India to provide its solutions and services across industries. 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.

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Infosys announced a definitive agreement to acquire Fluido, a salesforce advisor and consulting partner in Nordics that has expertise in cloud consulting, implementation and training services. The board of Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL) has approved the merger of its unit Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd. (ABTL) with itself, moving a step closer towards monetizing the company’s 11.15% stake in Indus Towers to pare debt. State-run telecom firm BSNL has inked a pact with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India. Apple announced it has completed the acquisition of Shazam, one of the world’s most popular music recognition mobile apps. Apple struck a deal with Shazam for a likely sum of nearly $400 million. Flipkart has acquired an Israel-based analytics start-up called Upstream Commerce, as India’s largest online retailer looks to help its massive seller base with services such as real-time pricing and product assortment information.

Economy News 

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it will maintain its growth forecast for this year in Asia at 6 percent but warned of the fallout of the ongoing trade tensions between China and the US for the region. For 2019, the ADB has cut its growth prospects slightly to 5.8 percent, according to the latest update of the bank’s annual Asian Development Outlook. India is expected to grow at a healthy 7.3% in fiscal year 2018, helped by improved domestic demand and a steady revival in industrial growth, the Asian Development Bank said in a new report. The ADB kept its growth forecasts unchanged at 7.3% for 2018 and 7.6% for 2019. The Finance Ministry expressed the hope that economy may expand at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal Fitch Ratings upped India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.8% from 7.4% earlier, but flagged rising oil bill and higher interest rates as key concerns. Economic policy think-tank NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research – HQ: Delhi) has retained India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal at 7.4 per cent citing comfortable agricultural sector outlook and a marked improvement in the external sector. India is approaching towards USD 100 billion FDI inflow per annum by 2022 as volumes of foreign direct investment are increasing year after year. The country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.3 billion to $401.790 billion in the week to September 21, helped by a rise in foreign currency assets. The World Bank has endorsed an ambitious five-year framework for India under which it is expected to receive $2530 billion in financial support for its transition from a low-middle income to a high-middle income country. In a report titled ‘A Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia’, World bank estimates India’s potential trade in goods with South Asia at $62 billion against its actual trade of $19 billion, which is a mere 3% of its global trade and about $43 billion below its potential. The RBI tweaked norms for exchange of mutilated notes following the introduction of Rs. 2,000, Rs.200 and other lower denomination currencies. Post demonetisation in November 2016, the Reserve Bank introduced Rs.200 and Rs.2,000 notes. Besides, it came out with smaller notes of Rs.10, Rs.20, Rs.50, Rs.100 and Rs.500. Public can exchange mutilated or defective notes at RBI offices and designated bank branches across the country for either full or half value, depending upon the condition of the currency. Making amendments to the RBI (Note Refund) Rules, 2009, the central bank said this has been done to enable the public to exchange mutilated notes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) series, which are smaller compared to the earlier series. RBI liberalised some aspects of the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) policy including those related to rupeedenominated bonds to help check rupee depreciation.

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Till date, ECB up to $50 million or its equivalent could be raised by eligible borrowers with minimum average maturity period of three years. The decision to revise the minimum average maturity period of three years to one year. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu said that India is committed to be a five trillion dollar economy by 2025 while addressing at the India-Malta Business Forum in Floriana, Malta. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the new insolvency law, indirect tax regime and demonetization will help drive India’s growth rate and sustain it at 8 per cent. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) is working on the guidelines for ‘Sandbox’ method which will allow insurers to test products in a particular geography or among a set of few policyholders before they are available in the market. The regulator has also asked insurance firms to come out with long-term health insurance policies, which are currently only available in two wheeler and four wheeler insurance. The compulsory personal accident cover for owner-driven vehicles under motor insurance policies has been increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. In a relief to foreign investors worried over new know your customer (KYC) and beneficiary ownership norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) initiated a public consultation process for finalizing the new guidelines, after a high-powered panel suggested changes on several contentious proposals and more time for compliance. The report was submitted by a panel headed by HR Khan, former deputy governor of the RBI. The government is determined to keep fiscal deficit within the budgeted level of 3.3 per cent of GDP as the country cannot afford to have a twin deficit problem. The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector rose to USD 6.2 billion in the last fiscal, a near five-fold increase from USD 1.3 billion in 2015-16 Around 22.5 crore e-way bills have been generated across India till September 13 since the new electronic billing system was introduced on April 1, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) said. The country’s current account deficit (CAD) as a percentage of GDP declined marginally to 2.4% in the April-June quarter of fiscal 2019 against 2.5% in the year ago period, RBI data showed. The rupee is declining against the US dollar due to global factors as well as concerns of higher trade deficit on account of sustained high crude oil prices. 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, a marginal rise over the $36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal, according to RBI data. The Indian insurance industry is expected to grow to USD 280 billion by 2019-20 aided by the government’s flagship Ayushman Bharat and increasing awareness about need for protection, according to an Assocham-APAS study. Insurance penetration in the country reached 3.7 per cent in 2017 from 2.71 per cent in 2001. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s IoT (Internet of Things) service, Global Internet of Things (IoT) cellular connections will cross five billion mark by 2025 and China will continue to lead by contributing almost twothirds of such connections. By influencing purchases of credit cards, insurance and loans, mobiles will create $985 billion sales opportunity for financial services brands in India by 2022, says a new Facebook-KPMG report titled “Eliminating friction in financial services path to purchase”. Smartphone users in India are consuming an average 1GB data per day from an average 4GB a month not long ago and spending more than 90 minutes on online activities daily across the entry-level, mid and premium segments, the “Nielsen Smartphone 2018” report said. More than a billion smartphones will be sold in India over the next five years, taking the number of users to surpass 700 million by 2022, Counterpoint Research said.

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Small Saving Schemes (October-December) Interest Rates:  Public Provident Fund: 8%  National Saving Certificates: 8%  Kisan Vikas Patras (KVPs): 7.%.  Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme of five-year period: 8.7%  Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for the girl child: 8.5%.  The government retained the interest on savings deposits at 4%, compounded annually.

Science & Technology 

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Stepping up space cooperation, India and France inked an agreement to collaborate on Gaganyaan, ISRO’s first human space mission. India plans to send three humans to space before 2022. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s mission is significant as it would make India one of the four countries in the world after Russia, US and China to launch a manned space flight. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 44th flight put into orbit two UK earth observation satellites in a textbook launch. 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. NASA’s only robot exploring the Asteroid Belt is about to die. So the space agency is hosting a live event to celebrate its discoveries. 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. In a major shot in the arm for paramilitary and police forces, scientists at a central research institute claim to have developed India’s first indigenous medical kit that may ensure protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage. A planet-hunting orbital telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system discovered two distant planets this week five months after its launch. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, better known as TESS, made an early discovery of “super-Earth” and “hot Earth” planets in solar systems at least 49 light-years away, marking the satellite’s first discovery since its April launch. The Japanese space agency JAXA said that it has made history by successfully landing two unmanned rovers on an asteroid. The rovers are collectively known as MINERVA-II1. The space agency reported that MINERVA-II1 is the world’s first mobile exploration robot to land on the surface of an asteroid.

Defence News 

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India successfully test-fired surface-to-surface short-range tactical ballistic missile Prahaar from a defence facility off Odisha coast. Astra, the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), was successfully test-fired by the Indian Air Force from Su-30 aircraft from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda.

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India along with 23 other nations, would be participating in a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise (drill) IOWave18 on September 4 and 5, which would involve evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas in over half a dozen states. Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Exercise ‘KAZIND’ was conducted between the Indian and Kazakhstan Army from 10 to 23 Sep 2018 in Otar region, Kazakhstan. This was the third joint military exercise between the two countries which have a history of extensive cooperation in the defence arena. India, Sri Lanka joint naval exercise SLINEX-2018 was held at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. Armies of India and the US held their annual combat exercise “Yudh Abhyas” at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand from September 16 to 29 with an aim to enhance inter-operability between the two forces. The exercise will also focus on enhancing counter-terror cooperation. The inaugural Military Field Training Exercise for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technological and Economic Cooperation nations called MILEX-18, started with a grand opening ceremony at Aundh Military Station, Pune. Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018, commenced at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) Five Hills Training Area, Ullanbaatar, Mongolia. Exercise Aviaindra 18 (between India and Russia) is being conducted at Lipetsk, Russia from 17 Sep to 28 Sep 18 and will be conducted in Jodhpur, India from 10 Dec to 22 Dec 18. Bangladesh Naval Ship Somudra Joy arrived Visakhapatnam on a four day visit to the Eastern Naval Command. The Indian Air Force said it has successfully carried out the first ever mid air refuelling of the indigenously developed Tejas light combat aircraft, a major milestone in its development cycle. Indian Navy beat 22 Other Teams To Win KAKADU-18 Cup. KAKADU 2018 is a biannual joint exercise taking place both ashore and at sea off the coast of Darwin. The exercise KAKADU derives its name Kakadu National Park which is a protected area in the northern territory of Australia. Nepal did not join the first-ever joint military drill among the armies of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) members, which was hosted by India. The Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) will deliver its second submarine, Khanderi, to the Navy by the end of this year. The first ever mid-air refuelling of the indigenously developed light combat aircraft Tejas was successfully carried out, placing India in an elite group of countries having air-to-air refuelling capacity for military planes. The Indian Coast Guard commissioned the indigenously built patrol vessel ‘Vijaya‘, fitted with advanced navigation and communication equipment. The 98-metre ship will be based at Paradip in Odisha for extensive surveillance in the Exclusive Economic Zone. Once ready, it will be India’s first, a force multiplier and cruise the country into a global elite club. Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is gearing up to undertake sea trials of India’s first missile tracking ship by the first week of October. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested a low-weight indigenously developed man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM) at its Ahmednagar range. India successfully conducted an interceptor missile (Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV)) test off the Odisha coast, achieving a major milestone in developing a two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system. India has become the 4th nation in the world to have a robust BMD system after US, Russia, and Israel with the successful testing of the antiballistic missile system.

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Sports News Tournament

Winner

Runner Up

Asia Cup 2018 title (Venue: Dubai International Stadium) SAFF Cup 2018 (Venue: Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh) 2018 FISU World University Netball Championship Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey

India

Bangladesh

Maldives

India

Uganda

South Africa

World Youth Boxing Championship in Budapest, Hungary 13th International Silesian Women’s Boxing Championships in Gliwice, Poland International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shooting World Championship in Changwon,South Korea ISSF World Championships ISSF World Championships ISSF World Championships ISSF World Championships Duleep Trophy 58th National Open athletics championships Asian Junior Squash title World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga, Spain US Open 2018 (Women’s Singles) US Open 2018 (Men’s Singles) US Open 2018 (Mixed Doubles) Japan Open women’s singles title Italian Grand Prix 2018 Singapore Grand Prix 2018 Russian Grand Prix 2018

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Simranjit Kaur (64kg), Monika (48kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) claimed gold medals Sakshi Choudhary won Gold M C Mary Kom won Gold Saurabh Chaudhary won Gold in the 10m Air Pistol Junior event Hriday Hazarika in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Junior event Om Prakash Mitharval won Gold in the men’s 50m pistol Ankur Mittal won Gold in the men’s double trap Udhayveer Singh wons Gold In Junior Men’s 25m Pistol India Blue Sharmila Kumari gold medal in the women’s javelin throw Yuvraj Wadhwani India’s oldest female athlete Man Kaur from Patiala won Gold Naomi Osaka Novak Djokovic Britain’s Jamie Murray and the US’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands Carolina Marin(Spain) Lewis Hamilton (British racing driver-Mercedes) Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton

India Red

Held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Sebastian Vettel Valtteri Bottas

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Sports 

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Indian women ended their tour of Sri Lanka in style with a comprehensive 51-run win against the hosts in the fifth and final T20 International. Badminton player and Olympian PV Sindhu is the only sportsperson featuring in the Forbes India’s maiden ‘tycoons of tomorrow’ list of 22 young achievers in the fields of business, acting and sports. Two years after Para shuttler Raj Kumar was denied the Arjuna award, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Rathore bestowed the player with the honour in New Delhi. Former India and Tamil Nadu batsman Subramaniam Badrinath announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in a specially organised presser at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) headquarters in Chennai. Former Indian fast bowler Rudra Pratap Singh has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Former Indian captain Sardar Singh announced retirement from international hockey England’s Alastair Cook announced retirement from International cricket, saying that there is ‘nothing left in the tank’ for him. England’s highest Test run-scorer will bow out at the end of the fifth Test against India. Former England wicket-keeper James Foster has announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the ongoing season. Former England captain Paul Collingwood will retire from professional cricket at the end of the current season. The national capital Delhi will host an international chess tournament for school students next year which will be jointly organised by the governments of Delhi and Moscow. One of the most prestigious 3×3 basketball tournaments in the world, the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) 3×3 World Tour Masters is coming to India for the first time on September 23 and 24 for the Hyderabad Masters in the city of Hyderabad. The first Asian School Indoor Rowing Championship was inaugurated in Kolkata, West Bengal Triple jumper Arpinder Singh created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze. He was representing the Asia-Pacific team in the meet, held once every four years. Blind chess player Vaishali Narendra Salavkar will become the first Indian female to be part of the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) team at the world chess Olympiad, starting September 23 at Batumi in Georgia. India settled for the silver medal after losing to Pakistan 2-3 in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship in Doha after Babar Masih put a fluent 81 break to win the first frame against Pankaj Advani. 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 in Changwon, South Korea. The ICC has decided to accord One-Day International status to India and Pakistan’s group league matches against Hong Kong in the upcoming Asia Cup, starting September 15. Croatia captain Luka Modric has been voted the best player in Europe last season, edging former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah for the UEFA award. Paris Sain-Germain striker Neymar has been appointed as the permanent captain of Brazil’s national team. Croatian midfielder Luka Modric won ‘UEFA Men’s Player of The Year Award’. Real Madrid and Croatian midfielder Luka Modric won FIFA Best Men’s Player Award at an award ceremony in London. The Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by India after more than a decade, will be held in New Delhi. The AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships will be held in New Delhi in November 13-25. India will host the Deaf ICC T20 World Cup slated to begin from November 23-30 in Gurugram.

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Thiruvananthapuram is all set to play host to the 8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship, which will be held at the Jimmy George indoor stadium from September 27 to 30. Madrid has been chosen to host the first two new-format Davis Cup finals in 2019 and 2020. Hangzhou in China will host the fourth edition of Asian Para Games in 2022. (3rd Edition in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018)

The National Sports Awards 2018 were officially announced on 20 September. These awards are conferred by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Click here for the complete list of National Sports Awards 2018

Committees Head of Committee

Purpose

S.P. Garg

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a monitoring committee to finalise an action plan to enhance availability of potable groundwater. The Union Government has appointed former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the panel that has been tasked with selecting India’s next chief economic advisor (CEA). Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed probe into the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, has been named chairman of the 11-member selection committee to pick this year’s Dronacharya and Dhyanchand awardees. IRDAI has constituted a committee, comprising its officials as well as senior executives of a few insurers, to study regulatory issues fin-tech poses for insurance. Besides in a fast evolving financial technology landscape, the move comes amid the authority’s emphasis on adopting a regulatory sandbox approach to experiment with fin-tech solutions. The Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee, headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Roy, to look into jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to deal with them. The panel will look into various matters including over-crowding in prisons and the issues concerning women prisoners. State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has formed a high-level committee of experts that has been set up to draw a roadmap for settlement of land acquisition issues facing the proposed $44 billion Ratnagiri refinery project in Maharashtra. Government formed committee to recommend the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. The government has set up a 12-member panel to review the enforcement of CSR provisions under the companies law as well as look at having a centralised scrutiny and prosecution mechanism to deal with violations. Government approved constitution of a High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) to make recommendations in identifying opportunities and addressing challenges in the contemporary global trade scenario. The government has formed a Competition Law Review Committee to ensure that the legislation is in tune with the changing business environment.

Bimal Jalan

Mukul Mudgal

Randip Singh Jagpal

Amitava Roy

D.M. Sukthankar

Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai Manmohan Juneja

Surjit S. Bhalla

Injeti Srinivas

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National Green Tribunal has appointed three committees to monitor disposal of garbage in an eco-friendly manner across the country. The tribunal formed three committees – apex monitoring Committee, Regional Monitoring Committees and state level committees – to oversee the steps to be taken to give effect to the directions of this tribunal, including proper implementation of the Rules. The apex monitoring committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice D K Jain. A Former minister in the Narendra Modi government, Kalraj Mishra, replaced former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri as the chairman of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. Parliamentary Standing Committees were introduced in 1993 to ensure legislative oversight over the executive functioning of each ministry.

Rankings Index

India’s Rank

Other Information

Nuclear Security Index (‘Theft 19th The index was released by the US-based Ranking’ for countries with Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). weapons usable nuclear 1st – Australia and Switzerland materials) Human development rankings 130th 1st - Norway Economic Freedom Index 96th 1st - Hong Kong  According to the ‘Credit Suisse Family 1000 in 2018’ study, India ranks third globally in terms of number of familyowned 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.  India ranks 158th in the world for its investments in education and healthcare, a survey of 195 countries has revealed. Finland tops the list.

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others) 

Bengaluru, along with Singapore and Shenzhen, figure in the list of best locations for tech enterprises in Asia according to a research report ‘Top Locations in Asia: Technology Sector,’ released by Colliers Research.

Loans from Banks From

To

Amount

Purpose

World Bank

India

$74 million

New Development Bank (NDB)

India

$525 million

For the Uttarakhand Workforce Development Project. The project aims to improve the quality and relevance of training at priority Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and to increase the number of workers relevant to the labour market through short-term training in the state. The loan will be used by the Indian government for onlending to the Madhya Pradesh government for rehabilitating major district roads with a total length of about 2,000 km to improve the connectivity of the rural

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India

$500 million

India

$150 million

www.aspirantszone.com interior with the national and state highway networks. The loan will be used to build climate resilient infrastructure in several cities of Tamil Nadu

The loan will be used for establishing the first multi-skills park in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) said it has sanctioned Rs 334.75 crore in August, under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), to West Bengal for 158 minor irrigation and 23 flood protection 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).

Deadlines/ Important Dates 

UIDAI extended till November 1 the deadline for banks to do minimum Aadhaar enrolments and updations in identified branches. The banks have been mandated to set up Aadhaar enrolment and updation facilities within their premises in one out of every 10 branches.

Books Book

Author

Other Info

Sundeep Misra to write a book on sprinter Dutee Chand, Story So Far Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple, the final book of Vineet Bajpai’s Harappa trilogy launched The Rule Breakers’

Preeti Shenoy

The book claims to explore complex themes of women’s equality, gender, and inclusion among others.

Ruskin Bond

The book has 10 chapters and numerous photographs of the writer’s private life, or as Bond describes it, writerly life.

French political writer and journalist Francois Gautier, who has been living in India since 1971, will be releasing the authorised biography of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The Beauty of All My Days

Best-selling author Preeti Shenoy announced the launch of her new book, ‘The Rule Breakers’. The book claims to explore complex themes of women’s equality, gender, and inclusion among others. A book on experiential learning based on

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Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Nai Talim’ (basic education) was released by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Venkaiah Naidu’s book, Moving On… Moving Forward: A Year in Office, on his experiences during the first year as the Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha and called him a strict “disciplinarian”.

Obituaries Name

Profession

Other Info

Indian Digambara monk Tarun Sagar passed away. He took ‘Jain Sanyas’ at the age of 13 and later emerged as a prominent spiritual personality. He was widely known for his ‘Kadve Parvachan’ (bitter discourse). Vishnu Khare Renowned poet, critic and journalist Bhagwati Kumar Sharma Gujarati author, journalist and poet Arthur Pereira Former Maharashtra football player Dr. Rita Jitendra Educationist and writer Kavita Mahajan Eminent Marathi litterateur and translator Goura Chandra Mohapatra Veteran freedom fighter Passed away at the age of 104 Vijay Shankar Vyas Agricultural economist Padma Bhushan awardee Mehlli Gobhai Artist Satya Prakash Malaviya Politician Former Union petroleum minister Dolagobinda Pradhan Politician Veteran freedom fighter and former Odisha Minister Shantaram Potdukhe Politician Former union minister of state for finance Manoharsinh Jadeja Politician Former Gujarat finance minister Imtikumzuk Longkumer Former Nagaland Assembly Deputy Speaker Ganpatrao Andalkar Sports Person (Wrestler) Anna Rajam Malhotra Diplomat Independent India’s first woman IAS officer Randhir Singh Air Marshal Kondapalli Koteswaramma Revolutionary leader, writer and feminist Kalpana Lajmi Filmmaker Biswanath Dutt Former BCCI President Jasdev Singh Renowned hindi commentator Pandit Tulsidas Borkar Legendary harmonium exponent Burt Reynolds Tran Dai Quang

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American Actor Vietnam’s President

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Important Days Date

Day

Extra Info

02 September

World Coconut Day

05 September

National Teachers Day

Theme 2018 - Coconut for Good Health, Wealth & Wellness The birthday of the second president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

05 September 08 September 10 September

International Day of Charity International Literacy Day World Suicide Prevention Day

12 September 14 September 15 September

United Nations Day for SouthSouth Cooperation Hindi Day International Day of Democracy

15 September

Engineers Day

16 September

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer International Day of Peace

21 September 23 September 25 September

26 September

International Day of Sign Languages Antyodaya Diwas

26 September 27 September

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons World Contraception Day World Tourism Day

27 September

World Maritime Day

28 September

World Rabies Day

28 September

International Day for Universal Access to Information World Heart Day International Translation Day

29 September 30 September

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Theme 2018- Literacy and skill development Theme 2018- Working Together to Prevent Suicide

Theme 2018 - Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World Theme 2018 - Engineering Challenges for Knowledge Era Theme 2018 - Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol Theme 2018 - The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70 Theme 2018 - With Sign Language, Everyone is Included ! In 2014, the Government of India decided to observe 25th September as Antyodaya Diwas to mark the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

Theme 2018 - Tourism and the Digital Transformation Theme 2018 - IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future Theme 2018 - Rabies: Share the message. Save a life

Theme 2018 - My Heart, Your Heart Theme 2018 - Translation: Promoting Cultural Heritage in Changing Times

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