Current Affairs Update - 02 September 2016

Updated on : 04:55, 7 September 2016

— IMPORTANT DAYS —

– World Coconut Day-2nd September

• 2nd September is celebrated as World Coconut Day to honor the significance of coconut and to inculcate the awareness for encouraging investment for the benefits of coconut farmers.

 

— NATIONAL —

– Gujarat signs MoU to build small airports

• The Gujarat government has inked a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to develop 11 small airports and airstrips under the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to boost regional air connectivity in the State.
• As per the MoU provisions, Gujarat and the Centre will jointly undertake development and upgrading of infrastructure in 11 unserved or underserved airports and airstrips in Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Surat, Porbandar, Mehsana, Mandavi, Amreli, Kandla, Keshod and Deesa. The Centre will provide the financial resources under viability gap funding of the RCS.

– Two day ‘Regional Editors Conference’ begins in Chennai

• A two day ‘Regional Editors Conference’ being organized by Press Information Bureau started in Chennai.
• The two day conference will discuss the policies and initiatives of key Ministries such as Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, Road Transport and Shipping, Commerce and Trade, Information and Communication Technology and Home Affairs.
• The participants will be apprised of the key programmes and roadmap for the future pertaining to flagship schemes.
• Around 80 senior media persons from Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry are participating in the Conference organaised by the PIB.

– Petroleum companies to hold first international conference on cooking gas in Bhubaneswar

• State-owned petroleum companies will hold the nation’s first international conference on cooking gas in Bhubaneswar from today.
• The two-day meeting will deliberate on the need for an LPG-enabled household and use of traditional cooking fuels.
• Delegates from over a dozen developing countries, such as Brazil,Ghana, Nigeria, Nepal and Sri Lanka will participate in the conference.
• Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the conference. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will attend the event.

– Solung festival begins in Arunachal Pradesh

• Arunachal Pradesh began the celebration of Solung festival from Thursday. This festival is celebrated by the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The festival which is celebrated in the first week of of September every year for 5 days is an agro based festival of India. The festival is also symbolizes the socio-religious aspects of Adi community.
• Adi or ‘Bangni-Boker lhoba ’people are the major collective tribes living in the himalayan hills of ‘Nyingchi’ prefecture in Arunachal Pradesh. To mark the celebrations, people perform various rituals and make offerings to gods and goddesses during the celebration and pray for a bumper harvest.
• During the celebration, Mithun (Great Indian Bison) which is considered as holy animal and occupies an important religious significance among the Adis is sacrificed. People present gifts of meat and Apong (rice beer) to neighbours and relatives on the occasion thus cementing family and social relationships.

– Railway Launches Travel Insurance Scheme

• Railway has launched an insurance scheme for passengers travelling on e- ticket.
• The insurance cover will be upto Rs. 10 lakh.
• The insurance cover will not be applicable for children upto 5 years of age
• The facility will be available only for confirmed and RAC ticket passengers.
• The scheme offers travellers or nominees a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh in the event of death or total disability.

– Allahabad HC imposes Rs 1cr fine on UP govt

• The Allahabad High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 1 Crore on Uttar Pradesh government in a land acquisition matter of Loni, Ghaziabad. The court has directed the government to deposit the fine in the Court before September 15, 2016 which has been fixed as next date of hearing.
• The Bench comprising justice Tarun Agarwala and justice Vipin Sinha passed the above order while hearing a petition filed some residents of Loni, Ghaziabad.
• While imposing the fine Court has directed state government to file a counter affidavit within two weeks, which has to be sworn by an officer not below the rank of secretary.
• About 105 acres of land of Noor Nagar and Loni, Ghaziabad was acquired for UPSIDC in the year 1973. But neither any physical possession was taken nor any award was made for the acquisition to the land owners.

 

— INTERNATIONAL —

– Michel Temer sworn in as new Brazil president

• Michel Temer was sworn in as the new president of Brazil after Dilma Rousseff was stripped of the presidency by the Senate in an impeachment trial.
• At a special session of Congress, after the playing of the national anthem, Temer was sworn in.
• He was surrounded by the president of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski, the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia. Temer will serve as president until December 31, 2018.

– India improves its ranking from 54 (in 2014) to 35 (in 2016) in World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index

• The World Bank has released a Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2016 report titled “Connecting to Complete 2016”.
• The Logistics Performance Index Report is published by World Bank every two years.
• The LPI is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance and what they can do to improve their performance.
• India has been ranked 35 amongst 160 countries compared to rank of 54 in LPI 2014. This is a jump of 19 places.

– First BRICS film festival to begin in New Delhi today

• The first BRICS film festival will begin this evening in New Delhi. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore and Minister of State for External Affairs V. K. Singh will inaugurate the festival.
• The film festival is the run up to the BRICS summit which will be held in Goa next month. The five-day festival will act as a platform for people of the film industry of member countries to explore areas of cooperation in the domain of cinema, culture and cuisine.
• Information and Broadcasting Ministry said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a BRICS film festival and film awards at the last BRICS Summit. The Ministry said, it is a step taken to build bridges and bring harmony amongst the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

– PM Modi leaves for two nation visit to Vietnam & China

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a two nation visit to Vietnam and China. Mr Modi will hold bilateral meetings with top leadership of Vietnam tomorrow.
• In his pre-departure he expressed hope that the visit will further cement the close bond between the two countries and the partnership will benefit Asia and the rest of the world.
• During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold extensive discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc and will review complete spectrum of bilateral relationship.
• Mr Modi will also meet the President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong; and the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
• About the G-20 Summit, Mr Modi said that he will have an opportunity to engage with other world leaders on pressing international priorities and challenges.
• He said leaders will discuss putting the global economy on the track of sustainable steady growth and responding to emerging and entrenched social, security and economic challenges.

 

— BANKING —

– Union Bank rolls out mobile app

• Union Bank of India has launched USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) based ‘*99#’ mobile application on Play Store on Android platform.
• This ‘*99#’ mobile app does not require internet connectivity to perform banking and other value-added services.
• The app provides basic banking transactions such as checking account balance, money transfer, and MPIN (mobile personal identification number) management.
• It also provides value-added services like checking Aadhaar-linked overdraft status and PMJDY account overdraft status.

– Andhra Bank begins gold bond sale

• Andhra Bank has opened the sale of sovereign gold bonds tranche-V, as part of the 2016-17 series-II notified by the government, at all its branches through September 1-9.
• The RBI has notified a rate of interest of 2.75 per cent per annum. The issue price of the Sovereign Gold Bond for this tranche has been fixed at ?3,150 per gram of gold.
• The Gold Bond Scheme enables people to invest in gold without physically buying it.
• They will earn interest on the invested amount semi-annually, and will receive money equivalent to the market value of gold (as determined by the RBI) at the time of redemption.

 

— BUSINESS AND ECONOMY —

– CIL& ICFRE Signs MoU for Environment Related Issues in Coal Mining Projects

• Coal India Limited (CIL) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) today signed an MoU for effectively monitoring of environment related issues in the coal mining projects.
• The MoU will also help in improving the rehabilitation and reclamation of the mined out areas. This arrangement would help CIL in proper compliance and monitoring of the conditions that are laid down by the MoEF & CC while according environment and forest clearances.
• The MoU covers assessment and monitoring of plantation and eco restoration activities, preparation of wild life management plans, preparation of environmental impact assessment and environmental management plans, capacity building for the executives of CIL on environment and forestry issues etc.

– RIL to create a Rs5,000 crore fund to invest in tech start-ups

• Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday announced that the company is setting up a Rs.5,000 crore fund—Jio Digital India Startup Fund—to invest in digital businesses.
• The announcement was made at the company’s 42nd annual general meeting in Mumbai.
• The corpus will be invested over the next five years. The company will also be setting up entrepreneurship hubs in key cities and towns, Ambani said.
• The announcement shows a growing trend of Indian corporates becoming more willing to invest in start-ups, said experts.

 

— APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGN—

– Indian-origin Ajei Gopal named CEO of ANSYS

• A software industry veteran Ajei Gopal was named the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a leading US company ANSYS on 30 August 2016.
• Gopal will take over the charge of the Pennsylvania-based company with effect from 1 January 1 2017.
• James Cashman, who has served as ANSYS’ CEO since 2000, will become Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective from January 2017.

– Anuradha Rao appointed as MD, CEO of SBI Mutual Fund

• Sbi Mutual Fund has appointed Anuradha Rao as its Managing Director and chief executive.
• Rao was Deputy Managing Director at Sbi handling New Business Portfolio. She has also worked as the Chief General Manager of personal Banking at the bank.
• She took charge from Dinesh Kumar Khara, who has been appointed Managing Director of State Bank Of India (Associate & Subsidiaries).
• Rao has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of Sbi Funds Management Pvt Ltd effective August 25, 2016. Rao has over three decades of vast experience in Banking and allied sectors.
• SBI Mutual Fund: SBI Mutual Fund is a bank sponsored fund house with its corporate headquarters in Mumbai,India. It is a joint venture between the State Bank of India, an Indian multinational, Public Sector banking and financial services company and Amundi, a European asset management company.

– Deep Upadhyay re-appointed as Nepal’s envoy to India

• The Nepal government re-appointed Deep Kumar Upadhyay as Nepal’s ambassador to India after recalling him in May this year.
• Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli had recalled Upadhyay claiming that he was trying to topple the Nepali government.
• The diplomat had served as Nepal’s ambassador to India from April 2015 till he was called back.

 

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

– Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Appointed ‘Knight of the Legion of Honour’ by the Government of France

• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson & Managing Director of Biocon has been appointed ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur’ (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour) for her outstanding contribution and dedication to the Biosciences and Research field globally.
• The award will be conferred on behalf of the President of the French Republic at a special ceremony later this year.
• Chevalier l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, created in 1802, by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest civilian award of the French Republic for outstanding contribution in diverse fields bestowed on citizens of the world. The award is conferred by the President of the French Republic.
• Other Indians to have received this honour in the past are: Yashwant Sinha, Narayana Murthy, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das, Shah Rukh Khan, veteran musician Balamuralikrishna, Sivaji Ganesan amongst others.

– Jackie Chan to receive lifetime achievement Oscar

• Popular actor Jackie Chan will be awarded with an honorary Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 12.
• Chan will accept the Oscar alongside fellow honorees, film editor Anne Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman at the Governors Awards.
• Chan is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts, in his movies. His first major breakthrough was the 1978 film, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow.
• His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980. Chan succeeded in establishing a foothold in the US with his 1995 film Rumble in the Bronx.

 

— SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY —

– SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has exploded in Cape Canaveral,Florida
• The explosion comes ahead of SpaceX’s plans to launch Israeli-based Spacecom’s Amos 6 satellite with the Falcon 9
• The satellite is a joint effort between Facebook & France’s Eutelsat to provide internet connectivity to 14 African countries.
• SpaceX is aiming to create a new era of reusable rockets and affordable private space travel.

– ISRO to launch INSAT-3DR satellite on September 8

• The Indian Space Research Organization ISRO has scheduled the launch of the INSAT-3DR satellite on board the launch vehicle GSLV-F05 on Thursday.
• The satellite will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikotta at 4.10 pm. The INSAT-3DR is a modern weather satellite weighing 2211 kilogram during lift off.
• The rocket GSLV-F05 has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. It is set to put the payload into a geostationary orbit.
• The satellite INSAT-3DR with a mission duration of 8 years has sophisticated equipment to help predict weather patterns and also provide search and rescue information.

 

— SPORTS —

– Walsh to join Bangladesh as bowling coach

• West Indies great Courtney Walsh is set to take over as bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team on a three-year contract.
• Walsh, who was the first bowler to take 500 test wickets, has worked as a West Indies selector since he retired as a player but has not held a senior coaching role at the international level.
• The 53-year-old Walsh says Bangladesh has a “seriously talented bunch of players” and he’s looking forward to working with head coach Chandika Hathurusingha as a replacement for specialist bowling coach Heath Streak.

 

— OBITUARY —

– Veteran trade union leader Sharad Rao passes away

• The labour movement in the financial capital suffered a setback following the death of veteran trade union leader Sharad Rao on Thursday.
• Mr. Rao, credited for uniting over a dozen labour unions under his leadership, passed away following a prolonged illness. He was recently admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
• He was 76 years old and is survived by wife, son Shashank, a daughter, and grandchildren. According to reports, his body will be kept at his residence at Bangur Nagar in Goregaon, and is likely to be cremated on Saturday after the arrival of his daughter from Canada.