Latest Current Affairs – September 28 & 29 2018
1. President gives nod to India’s 1st good samaritan bill of Karnataka
President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the good samaritan bill of Karnataka, the first such legislation in India. The Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016, provides legal protection to the good samaritans who help accident victims with emergency medical care within the ‘golden hour’.
2. Macedonia holds referendum on changing its name
Macedonia held a referendum on whether to change its name to the ‘Republic of North Macedonia’. Greece and Macedonia had signed a deal in this regard in June. Greece argued that the name ‘Macedonia’ implied a territorial claim on its own province of the same name and had thus vetoed Macedonia’s entry into the NATO and European Union.
3. Govt sets up 9-member panel to review competition law
The government has set up a panel to review the Competition Act to ensure that the legislation is in line with the changing business environment. The nine-member panel, chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas, will pay special attention to merger guidelines and cross-border competition issues. The committee will submit its report within three months.
4. Vijaya Bank approves merger with Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank
The board of state-run Vijaya Bank gave in-principle approval for merger with Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank. Earlier this month, the government proposed merging the banks to create the country’s third-largest lender. After the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, the number of public sector banks will come down to 19.
5. CERN discovers two new particles with hints of a third
CERN, the world’s largest physics laboratory, has discovered two new particles, as well as hints of another new particle, in high-energy proton collisions at the 27-km-long Large Hadron Collider. The particles belong to the same family of protons called baryons. “Future studies of these particles will shed light on the strong force that binds subatomic particles called quarks,” CERN said.
6. Putin to visit India next month for annual bilateral summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India from October 4-5 to attend the 19th India-Russia Annual Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs said. Putin and PM Narendra Modi “will discuss key aspects of the further development of Russian-Indian privileged strategic partnership and exchange opinions on current international and regional issues”, an official statement from Russia read.
7. India defeat Bangladesh to win Asia Cup for the seventh time
Rohit Sharma-led India defeated Bangladesh on the last ball in Asia Cup final to win the tournament for the second straight time and overall seventh time. India have now won 13 out of 14 matches against Bangladesh in Asia Cup history. Further, this is the third time in four Asia Cup editions that Bangladesh have finished as runners-up.
8. India’s first space observatory ASTROSAT completes 3 years
Launched on September 28, 2015, ASTROSAT, India’s first multi-wavelength space observatory has completed three years in Earth’s orbit. ASTROSAT has helped scientists confirm the presence of younger stars in globular clusters, earlier believed to contain only old stars. The 1,513 kg satellite has observed over 750 sources so far and gathered data, which has resulted in nearly 100 publications.
9. PV Sindhu only sportsperson in Forbes India’s Maiden List of 22 ‘Tycoons of Tomorrow’
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. Other prominent names in the list are
♦ Karan Adani, chief executive of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone;
♦ Anant Goenka, group executive director of Indian Express;
♦ Ashni Biyani, managing director of Future Consumer;
♦ Birla scion Ananya Birla, founder of Svatantra Microfinance, co-founder, CuroCarte and co-founder of Mpower;
♦ Radha Kapoor Khanna, the daughter of Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor;
♦ Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo Rooms.
10. Rajni Kant Mishra is appointed as the new chief of BSF
The government appointed Rajni Kant Mishra as the Director-General of Border Security Force (BSF) in the place of K.K. Sharma. He is a 1984 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. Mr.Mishra is currently the head of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). He is to head the BSF till August 31, 2019. Special D-G (BSF) S.S.Deswal, will replace Mr.Mishra in SSB.
11. Anil Khosla appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Air Force
Eastern Air Command chief Anil Khosla will take over as the new vice chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with Air Marshal SB Deo set to retire. According to other approved postings by the Indian Air force, new Deputy Chief of Air Force will be Air Marshal VR Chaudhari, New DG of Air operations’ post went to Air Marshal Amit Deo.
12. India ranks 96th on Economic Freedom Index; Hong Kong, Singapore retain top spot
As per the 2018 report on Economic Freedom in the World, released by the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) in conjunction with Canada’s Fraser Institute, India stands at 96th rank out of 162 countries in economic freedom. Last year, India’s rank was 98.
Hong Kong and Singapore again topped the index ranking first and second respectively. The other countries in the top 10 were: New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, the US, Georgia, Mauritius, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada (tied for 10th) respectively.
13. Centre appointed search committee for Lokpal and Lokayuktas
The Centre suggested an eight-member search committee for Lokpal and Lokayuktas. The step came after the Supreme Court’s order to appoint Lokpal at the earliest. The search committee was appointed by the selection committee. The Search committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
The Selection committee constituted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Leader of the largest Opposition party, i.e, Congress Mallikarjun Kharge, Jurist Mukul Rohatgi.
14. USAID-India End TB Alliance formed between India, United States to combat tuberculosis
The main aim is to achieve a TB-free India by 2025. The Alliance members include industry and civil society leaders, academics, scientists, innovators, investors, and members of the diaspora.
15. Indo-Bangla border conference held in 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. Brigadier General Zakir Ahmed, the Surveyor General of Bangladesh told media persons that a discussion was held regarding the demarcation of border between the two countries along Mizoram.
16. World Tourism Day 2018 celebrated on September 27
Started in 1980 by The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Tourism Day (WTD) is celebrated worldwide annually on September 27. The theme of this year – ‘Tourism and the Digital Transformation’
The official celebrations this year took place in Budapest, Hungary. In India, the celebrations begun in Goa and are organised by Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC).
17. Four Northern states and 2 UTs to fix uniform tax rates on petroleum products
The states are Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and UTs of Delhi and Chandigarh. Further, a subcommittee would be instituted which would recommend with regard to uniformity in tax rates in the next fifteen days. Punjab is one of the highest rates of VAT on petrol in the country and it is second to Maharashtra.
18. Ravi Shankar Prasad Launched Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics And DigiVaarta
National Informatics Centre (NIC) and National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI) have jointly set up a Centre of Excellence for data analytics to support Government departments to unlock the hidden potential of the data that they are generating as part of the governance processes and use it to improve the overall governance.
19. Government sets up Ayush Information Cell in Romania
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. The cell was digitally inaugurated by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu during his visit to Romania earlier this month.
20. Abbott is to introduce high-sensitive troponin-I blood test in India
Abbott announced it is to introduce a high-sensitive troponin-I blood test in India. This test can predict chances of a heart attack or other cardiac event months to years in advance.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) cardiovascular diseases kill an estimated 17.7 million people globally. In that, nearly 7.4 million are due to coronary heart disease. The troponin-I test provides better predictive information for determining a person’s chances of developing future heart disease when added to the current standard of care.
Troponin-I proteins are released from the heart and can be found at elevated levels in the blood when the heart muscle has been damaged due to lack of blood flow.
