Current Affairs Daily Digest – September 14 and 15′ 2017

 

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  1. Ragunandhan Honored with Krishi Pragati Awards 2017 by NCDEX

National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX), the only commodity exchange in the country promoted by national level institutions, has awarded Raghunandan Industries Pvt Ltd with Krishi Pragati Awards 2017 in an event held in Delhi on 7th September, 2017.

With the honour of Krishi Pragati Awards to Raghunandan Money, NCDEX has acknowledged the outstanding contribution made by Raghunandan Industries in the area of Agri Commodities.

  1. Akila Urankar elected president of INS

Akila Urankar, president, Business Standard, has been elected president of The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for the year 2017-18 at its annual general meeting held in Bangalore.

Jayant Mammen Mathew (Malayala Manorama) is the deputy president, Shailesh Gupta is the vice president and Sharad Saxena (Hindustan Times, Patna) is the honorary treasurer of the Society for the year 2017-18. S P Gaur is the secretary general.

  1. M Nagaraja Sarma appointed CMD of United India Insurance

Nagaraja Sarma has been appointed the chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of the United India Insurance Co. Ltd.

Sarma is at present the general manager, Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.

He has been appointed the CMD for five years, said the department of personnel and training in an order.

  1. Odisha passes bill for setting up first Odia Language University

The Odisha government has passed a bill for starting the first Odia language university for post-graduate in literature, linguistics and epigraphy, among others.

Tabling the University of Odia Language and Literature Bill 2017 in the assembly, higher education minister Anant Das said the university would be established in Bhubaneswar.

It would also administer PG courses in literary criticism, evolution of east Indian language scripts, historical scripts, archaeology, musicology and translation into and from Odia.

  1. Maharashtra CM launches Maha Mission 1 Million

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.

The FIFA U17 World Cup is happening for the first time in the country and Maharashtra. To support it, it was decided by Tawde to start Mission 1 Million, under which 10 lakh students will play football, and it has started. The entire Maharashtra has become Pro football.

  1. Portal for mapping of roads in Haryana launched

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar was launched the ‘HARPATH portal’ for mapping roads in the state.

He launched the portal in the presence of Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad during the Haryana Digital Summit-2017 in Gurugram.

The government would ensure the repair of roads and remove obstacles in the smooth flow of traffic.

  1. Jaipur Literature Festival kicks off in US

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.

The three-day festival beginning at the prestigious Boulder Public Library examines the human experience through the reflections and imaginations of distinguished contemporary authors from across the globe.

  1. Karnataka wants to become the electric vehicle capital of India

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.

Karnataka is the first state to roll out an Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy that looks not only at boosting sales of EVs, but also setting up charging infrastructure and special manufacturing zones.

  1. Chennai-Vladivostok sea route: India’s effort to counter China’s OBOR

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.

This shipping link would enable to transfer cargo between Chennai and Vladivostok in 24 days in comparison to over 40 days currently taken to transport goods from India to Far East Russia via Europe, according to experts on the subject.

  1. Prez to launch ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ campaign

President Ram Nath Kovind will launch a fortnight-long ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ (Cleanliness is Service) sanitation campaign.

The campaign, to highlight the Narendra Modi government’s flagship cleanliness initiative Swachh Bharat Mission, will be launched from Ishwari Ganj village.

  1. India at 103 rank on Global Human Capital Index; Norway on top

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.

India also ranks “among the lowest in the world” when it comes to the employment gender gap, but has fared well when it comes to development of skills needed for the future with a rank of 65 out of total 130 countries surveyed.

The list compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) takes into account “the knowledge and skills people possess that enable them to create value in the global economic system” to measure the ‘human capital’ rank of a country.

  1. India Starts ‘Operation Insaniyat’ To Help Rohingya Refugees In Bangladesh

The Government of India on has started “Operation Insaniyat” to provide assistance to Bangladesh on account of the large influx of Rohingya refugees into that country from Myanmar.

Under this operation, relief material consisting of a range of items including rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, biscuits and mosquito nets will be provided to the affected people.

Rohingyas are a stateless ethnic minority, mostly Muslims, from Rakhine province of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, who are forced leave their country due to communal violence and repeated military operations against them.

  1. Paris officially awarded 2024 summer Olympics, Los Angeles gets 2028

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.

Paris, which has hosted two previous Olympics, will stage the event 100 years after its last Games in 1924 while Los Angeles will also organize its third Games after 1932 and 1984.

IOC President is Thomas Bach .

  1. 14 September 2017: National Hindi Diwas

September 14 is celebrated as Hindi day. Hindi, which is the official (not national) language of India, was given this status on September 14, 1949. This resolution was adopted under the Constitution of India in 1950.

The Constituent Assembly was constituted in 1946. The issue of language was a prime concern the Constituent Assembly faced. English was already used in official matters during the British rule.

The Constituent Assembly thus decided that Hindi written in Devanagri script along with English to be the working language of the Indian language.

  1. 15 September 2017: International Day of Democracy

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Democracy is annually held on September 15 to raise public awareness about democracy. Various activities and events are held around the world to promote democracy.

2017 Theme: Democracy and Conflict prevention

This year’s theme focuses on the need to strengthen democratic institutions to promote peace and stability.

  1. 15 September 2017: Engineer’s Day

The nation has celebrate Engineer’s Day to mark the 156th birth anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya on 15 September 2017, one of the greatest engineers India has produced and a person behind many iconic constructions in India.

Year 2017 will mark the 49th anniversary of the Engineers Day in India. It is a significant occasion considering the fact that India produces close to 20 lakh engineers in a year.

Sir Visvesvarayya was an acclaimed engineer recognized for his mastermind in harnessing water resources.

  1. RBI to sell Rs 10,000 cr govt bonds via Open Market Operations

The Reserve Bank would sell government bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore through Open Market Operations (OMO) to mop up liquidity from the system.

Based on the current assessment of prevailing and evolving liquidity conditions, the RBI has decided to conduct sale of government securities under Open Market Operations for an aggregate amount of Rs 100 billion on September 28, 2017 through multi-security auction using the multiple price method.

  1. Amazon ties up with Bank of Baroda to attract more sellers

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.

The firm’s arm, Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd (ASSPL), is bringing in more financial partners so that it can cater to its 225,000 seller base.

The company had last year announced the launch of a seller lending programme in India for small and medium businesses to get fast and easy access to working capital. However, there are still people that struggle finding financing for Amazon sellers so this system isn’t totally flaw-proof. A lot of sellers still need to go through third parties to get funding, often at better rates than the lending programme.

  1. ICICI Bank launches cashback scheme for hoam loan borrowers till Nov 30

ICICI Bank has launched cashback scheme for those availing home loan till November 30.

Under the scheme, customers who avail a new home loan or transfer their existing home loan to the bank can get cashback of 20 per cent up to a limit of Rs 10,000,

The cash back amount is based on minimum spend of Rs 30,000 from the customer’s ICICI Bank credit or debit card.

  1. HSBC in tie-up with Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India’s unbanked segment

HSBC has entered into an agreement with microfinance industry association Sa-Dhan to develop digital ecosystem for India’s unbanked segment.

The bank will provide technology expertise to train and educate microfinance consumers at grassroots level and introduce digital banking to promote easier and time-efficient financial transaction among the so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid customer.

It has been observed that for rural MFI clients, the nearest bank branch is on an av ..

  1. 1st global map of water on Moon created

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.

The study, published in the journal Science Advances, builds on the initial discovery in 2009 of water and a related molecule – hydroxyl, which consists of one atom each of hydrogen and oxygen – in the lunar soil.

  1. Google to launch mobile payment service

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.

In July, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) had said Google had completed the testing of its UPI payment service and was awaiting Reserve Bank of India’s approval to launch its service in the country.

  1. Turkey signs deal to buy Russian S- 400 Missile Systems

Turkey has signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defence systems in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow.

The accord for the surface-to-air missile defence batteries is Ankara’s most significant pact with a non-NATO supplier.

24. Coach for women boxers resigns

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.

The 41-year-old Frenchman, who took over in August, e-mailed his resignation to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

  1. Essex win English County Championship

Essex won their first English County Championship title since 1992 in their first season back in the top division.

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales.

26. FIFA rankings: India drop 10 places, Germany leads

The Indian football team have dropped 10 places to 107 in the FIFA rankings released. Germany tops the list after displacing Brazil to the second spot.

The Sunil Chhetri-led side registered two victories and a draw in three matches after they were placed at the 97th spot in August. But this did not help India.

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