Current Affairs Weekly Updates – SEPTEMBER Week II

In Current Affairs 2017
September 15, 2017

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AWARDS AND HONOURS

NAME OF THE AWARD	AWARD WINNER	KEY POINTS TO NOTE
N R Madhava Menon Best Law Teacher Award 2017	Eminent jurist Tahir Mahmood	To legal education and the legal profession
US’ Marconi Society Award 2017	Google research scientist Ananda Theertha Suresh
Paul Baran Young Scholar Award (Marconi Society Young Scholar Award )	Wenhan Dai
Raghunandan Industries Pvt	Krishi Pragati Awards 2017	For outstanding contribution made in the area of Agri Commodities.
N R Madhava Menon Best Law Teacher Award 2017	Eminent jurist Tahir Mahmood	To legal education and the legal profession

APPOINTMENTS

NAME	DEPT/FIELD
N Baijendra Kumar	Chief of National Mineral Development Corporation
A.B. Pandey	Chairman of Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)
Viveck Goenka	PTI Chairman
N Ravi	Deputy Chairman of PTI
Sjoerd Marijne	Chief coach of Indian men’s hockey team
Halimah Yacob	1st Female President of Singapore
Akila Urankar	President The Indian Newspaper Society (INS)
M Nagaraja Sarma	CMD of United India Insurance

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Nagaland starts implementing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beginning from the current financial year.
The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both the Houses, under the Chairpersonship of Shri Bhupender Yadav.
Safe Water Network, an international NGO has partnered with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to launch water ATMs, providing affordable, 24×7 safe water access in Hyderabad.
In a bid to take Internet connectivity to the remotest part of the state, Assam government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Google India.
The Modi government has appointed an expert committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna, to “identify key data protection issues” in India and recommend methods to address any potential problems.
State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) is all set to become a Maharatna company. The oil marketing company is at present a Navratna firm.
Kochi will host the fifth edition of Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017 on September 22 at Hotel Crown Plaza.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju attended the first National Canine Seminar organized by National Security Guard (NSG), in NSG Campus, Manesar (Gurugram), Haryana.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will flag off the Indian Navy women crew’s attempt to circum navigate the globe in Panaji.
India currently faces twin challenges in the nutrition sector – under nutrition manifesting causing several health problems and, second, exacerbating the consequences of being overweight and obese.
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday asked the people to be prepared for higher taxes or user charges in order to realize the dream of smart cities and upgraded, modern infrastructure in the existing ones.
A single emergency number — 112 — that will integrate services of police, fire brigade and medical help, is likely to be a reality in the state.
Mumbai doctors launched a free mobile application, which will direct people in emotional distress to a nearest helpline centre.
The world’s oldest working steam engine, pulling a single coach, on Sunday successfully completed a “heritage run” between two railway stations, drawing huge crowds along the route.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched ‘FoSCoRIS’, a nationwide online platform to bring in transparency in food safety inspection and sampling.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Monday announced that the upper age limit for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) had been raised to 65 years, from the current 60.
An eight feet bronze statue of Indian freedom struggle leader Subhas Chandra Bose at the naval base INS Netaji Subhas named
after the iconic leader.
In a first, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has published an compendium of animal species in the Indian Sundarbans, estimating that there are 2,626 of them in the fragile island ecosystem.
Amidst the uproar over Rohingya Muslims, nearly one lakh Chakma and Hajong refugees, who came from the erstwhile East Pakistan five decades ago and currently living in camps in the Northeast, are set to get Indian citizenship.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST.
The Odisha government has passed a bill for starting the first Odia language university for post-graduate in literature, linguistics and epigraphy, among others.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched the Maharashtra Mission 1 Million initiative under which over 10 lakh students across the state will play football.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was launched the ‘HARPATH portal’ for mapping roads in the state.
Over 70 eminent authors including those from India gathered in Boulder for the third-edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in the US state of Colorado.
Karnataka is looking to attract investments to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore from companies looking at research and development (R&D), and manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, at a time when the Centre is using a heavy hand to force automakers to switch to green technology.
President Ram Nath Kovind will launch a fortnight-long ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ (Cleanliness is Service) sanitation campaign.

BANKING AND FINANCE

Exide Life Insurance has announced a partnership with Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) to offer its protection and savings products to the latter’s customers.
SBI Life Insurance has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO of up to Rs 8,400 crore ($1.3 billion), with launch targeted for the September 20-22 period.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based chatbot ‘Eva’ – built for HDFC Bank by Bengaluru-based Senseforth AI Research – has successfully addressed over 2.7 million customer queries in six months to become the country’s largest banking chatbot.
Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) is toying with the idea of setting up an online platform to help more micro units across the country avail MUDRA loans for their operations.
Punjab National Bank and state-run firm BSNL today teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay across 10 states in the country.
An advisory committee of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is likely to discuss a proposal for extending stock market trading hours, even as several brokers feel any such move would increase cost and logistics burden for them.
Private sector lender IndusInd Bank and India’s second largest Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion have signed an confidentiality agreement for the proposed merger between them.
HDFC Bank has surpassed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the country’s second most valued firm in terms of market valuation.
The Reserve Bank would sell government bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore through Open Market Operations (OMO) to mop up liquidity from the system.
Online marketplace giant Amazon India is racing against time to bring in more sellers so that they sell more on its platform during the festive season. Amazon tied up with the Bank of Baroda to offer micro loans to its sellers.
ICICI Bank has launched cashback scheme for those availing home loan till November 30.
HSBC has entered into an agreement with microfinance industry association Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India’s unbanked segment.
Tech giant Google is slated to unveil a digital payment service in India next week that has been developed for the local market, according to industry sources.

RANKING AND INDEX

Two UK institutions lead the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of the best universities for the first time in its history, with Oxford holding on to the number one spot for the second year in a row, while Cambridge has risen to second place.
London topped in the 2017 Global Financial Centre’s Index (GFCI) among 92 financial centres’s released by the Z/Yen and China Development Institute. India was ranked at 60th position.
India has been placed at a low 103 rank, the lowest among BRICS economies, on the WEF’s Global Human Capital Index, which has been topped by Norway.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

One of the uninhabited islands that is a part of Lakshadweep has vanished due to coastal erosion and another four such territories in the sea are shrinking fast, claims a new study.
India has announced it successfully flight tested indigenously-made Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) against two different targets at firing ranges in Rajasthan.
Scientists have created the first map of water trapped in the uppermost layer of the Moon’s soil — which may prove useful to future lunar explorers — using data from an instrument aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
Turkey has signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defence systems in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

The Indian Council for Agricultural Research(ICAR) will be undertaking major research works on agriculture this year with the World Bank fund of 1100 crore rupees.
India and the United States of America will conduct ”Yudh Abhyas” joint exercise between their armies in September. The exercise Yudh Abhyas – 2017, will be held from September 14-27 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the US.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Belarus President Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko in New Delhi to discuss various issues of mutual interest of both countries.
India and Belarus inked 10 agreements to expand cooperation in a range of areas and decided to explore joint development and manufacture of military platforms, giving a fresh momentum in bilateral ties.
Aiming to put in place a key maritime route connecting India with Northeast Asia and Western Pacific region Delhi is contemplating to put in place a major connectivity initiative — direct shipping link between Chennai and Vladivostok amid China’s ambitious Maritime Silk Route (MSR) connecting Asia with Africa.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

The Habib Bank Limited has announced its decision to wind up operations in New York following intimation from the state’s financial regulator that it seeks to impose a hefty penalty of nearly $630 million on the bank, it has been learnt.
Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa in Kolkata, are celebrating the Vatican’s announcement of the Mother as a patron saint of Calcutta On September 4, but are restricting the celebrations to prayers only. Moreover, the prayer sessions include representatives of all faiths to make them as inclusive as possible.
Charles, the heir to Britain’s throne, became the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history.
China and Pakistan have agreed to strengthen anti-terrorism and security cooperation along a US $50 billion economic corridor that links the restive regions of the two countries through a network of rail and road projects.
Pakistan Air Force and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Air Force (PLAAF) began joint training exercises dubbed “Shaheen VI” in China. The exercises began on Thursday and will run until September 27.
The Union Government to extract the UK from EU law in time for Brexit passed its first Parliamentary test. The EU Withdrawal Bill was backed by MPs by 326 to 290. The bill which will end the supremacy of EU law in the UK now moves onto its next Parliamentary stage.

SPORTS

WINNER	TITLE	SPORT/ VENUE
India Wrestler Sonam	World Cadet Wrestling Championship	Athens, Greece
Martina Hingis	US Open women’s doubles Grand Slam Title	USA
Sloane Stephens	US open Women’s Singles Title	USA
Spain’s Rafael Nadal	US Open title Men’s Title	USA

Paris was awarded the 2024 summer Olympics and Los Angeles the 2028 Games, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) broke with decades of tradition to vote on a unique double allocation.
India’s first ever foreign coach for women boxers — Stephane Cottalorda — has resigned within a month of taking over, complaining of delay in salary payment and lack of professionalism in the national federation.

IMPORTANT DAYS

DATE OBSERVED	DAY OBSERVED	Theme / Purpose
September 10	World Suicide Prevention Day	to promote worldwide action to prevent suicides
September 14	National Hindi Diwas	Hindi, which is the official (not national) language of India of this day