Latest Current Affairs – September 02 & 03 2018
1. England’s top Test run-scorer Cook to retire from international cricket
England’s highest run-scorer in Test cricket, Alastair Cook, has revealed he would retire from international cricket at the end of the ongoing Test series against India. “There’s nothing left in the tank. I have achieved more than I could have ever imagined,” Cook said. The left-handed batsman had stepped down from a four-year spell as Test captain in February 2017.
2. ISRO to launch 19 missions in next 7 months
ISRO will conduct 19 missions, including 10 satellites and nine launch vehicles, in the next seven months between September and March, said ISRO Chairman K Sivan. Calling it the “highest density period for launches”, Sivan said ISRO has never before launched two satellites within 30 days consecutively for months. It will include the launch of India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2.
3. Govt releases draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies
The Union Health Ministry has released draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies in order to regulate online sale of medicines. The draft rules state that all the e-pharmacies will have to be registered compulsorily with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. The e-pharmacies will not be allowed to sell tranquiliser, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit-forming drugs.
4. Mauritius remains India’s largest source of FDI in 2017-18
Island nation Mauritius remained the top source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, according to RBI data. While FDI from Mauritius totalled $13.41 billion, inflows from Singapore rose to $9.27 billion. The total FDI in the financial year stood at $37.36 billion, a marginal increase from $36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal.
5. 18-yr-old swimmer who bagged 6 golds named 2018 Asiad’s Most Valuable Player
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee, who bagged six gold and two silver medals at the Asian Games 2018, has been named as the quadrennial event’s Most Valuable Player. The 18-year-old became the first female athlete to bag the award in the history of Asian Games. Ikee also received a cheque of $50,000 (?35.5 lakh).
6. SC bans construction in Maharashtra, MP, Uttarakhand
The Supreme Court has banned all construction activities in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh till October 9. The interim order came after the states and the union territory failed to comply with the court’s order to come up with a policy on solid waste management. “The attitude of the states/union territories…is pathetic, to say the least,” the court said.
7. India record their best medal haul in Asian Games history
The Indian contingent bagged a total of 69 medals at Asian Games 2018, their best-ever medal tally in the history of the quadrennial event. India’s previous best medal haul at the Games came in 2010, when the contingent clinched 65 medals. India won 15 gold medals in the 2018 edition, matching their record gold medal haul from the 1951 edition.
8. India to help Nepal build rail link to Kathmandu
India will help Nepal build a railway line connecting Bihar’s Raxaul to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. Both the countries have signed an MoU under which India will conduct a preliminary engineering and traffic survey of the new rail line. “The rail line is expected to expand connectivity by enhancing people-to-people linkages and promoting economic growth and development,” the Indian Embassy said.
9. Govt to collect data on OBCs for first time in 2021 Census
The 2021 Census will be the first general census to collect data on ‘Other Backward Classes’ (OBC) since 1931. Although a socio-economic caste census (SECC) was conducted between 2011 and 2013 in deference to the demand of the powerful OBC lobby, it was part of the rural development ministry’s survey of socio-economic status of households.
The government has been collecting data on Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes since the first census of Independent India in 1951. Notably, Mandal Commission’s recommendation for reservation for OBCs was broadly based on caste data collected in the 1931 Census.
10. Binoy Kumar assumes charge of Secretary in Steel Ministry
Binoy Kumar had been posted as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry. He was Special Secretary, Logistics, in the Department of Commerce. He also held the post of Director General (Supplies & Disposals), where he developed the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
11. Sixth East Asia Summit and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting held in Singapore
Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu attended the 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers Meeting (EAS-EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) in Singapore.
12. NASA scientists found signs of water in Jupiters Great Red Spot
NASA scientists detected signs of water above the planet’s deepest clouds deep inside Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm raging on the planet for over 350 years. The pressure of the water combined with their measurements of another oxygen-bearing gas, carbon monoxide, imply that Jupiter has more oxygen than the Sun.
13. West Bengal government launched mobile blood donation camp
The West Bengal government has launched a mobile blood donation camp in a red luxury bus. The bus moves from location to location, collecting blood in West Bengal. The health activists said that this move by the government is a major success as the bus is often seen in the city collecting blood samples. The service is free of cost.
14. Two Indians, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, received Magsaysay Award
Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk are among six individuals who received this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, popularly known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.
The other recipients of the award are
♦ Youk Chhang,
♦ Filipino Howard Dee,
♦ Vietnam’s Vo Thi Hoang Yen and
♦ East Timore’s Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz.
15. Seventh Meeting of National Medicinal Plants Board
The Seventh meeting of National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) of Ministry of AYUSH was held under the chairpersonship of Minister of State for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik at New Delhi.
16. Mumbai neurosurgeon named for Dr. Roy award
The highest medical honour of India, instituted by the Medical Council of India in 1962, it will be given away by President Ram Nath Kovind on July 1 next year, the National Doctors Day.
17. India and Nepal Sign MoU on Preliminary Survey of Railway Line between Raxaul and Kathmandu
Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri and Nepal’s Secretary of Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, Madhusudan Adhikari signed the MoU in Kathmandu.
India and Nepal agreed in April 2018 to construct a new electrified rail line with India’s financial support connecting the border city of Raxaul in India to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
