Current Affairs Update - 05 September 2016

Updated on : 20:55, 9 September 2016

— IMPORTANT DAYS —

– Nation celebrates Teacher’s Day today

• Teachers’ Day is being celebrated throughout the country today.
• Various programmmes in schools and colleges throughout the country are being organised in the honour of teachers who shape the lives of students and show them the path of success.
• The day is celebrated on the birthday of educationist and former President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan since 1962.
• President and Prime Minister have greeted the teachers on the day.

– National Labour Day USA

• National Labour Day in USA is an annual celebration of American workers and their achievements.
• The day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. All Government offices, schools and organizations and many businesses are closed on this day.
• Though the majority of countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1st, in USA it is observed as holiday on First Monday of September. Still, certain organisations in USA still celebrate 1^stMay as Labour Day.
• The September Labour day was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894.
• Labor Day also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events.
• Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day

 

— NATIONAL —

– Rajasthan launches e-stamping facility

• The Rajasthan High Court becomes 4^th state to launch the e-stamp facility in its Jodhpur and Jaipur benches simultaneously. The facility is already available in Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
• Thus, the facility is completely secure and reliable and there is no possibility of any forgery or tampering. Payment of court fees through e-stamps is a simple, easy and secure process.

– KiranBedy Launched Shramdaan Movement In Pundcherry

• Lt Governor KiranBedi has launched ‘Shramdaan movement’ as part of Swachh Bharat and SwachhPuducherryinitiative at a remote village. The initiative is a habit and a movement, and everyone irrespective of status should be involved in the drive against garbage the Lt Governor urged.
• She also asked people to ensure that the goal of clean Puducherry is achieved at the earliest and volunteered herself in the movement to remove the garbage close to the community hall which was the venue of the programme.

– Bombay Hc Said Not An Offence To Watch Pirated Films

• The Bombay high court ruled that “merely watching a pirated copy of a film is not a punishable  undercopyright act It clarified that the offence pertains to a public exhibition or making a prejudicial distribution.
• The courts observation is in context of a message displayed by ISPs that spooked users, it said those accessing blocked URLscould be imprisoned for 3 years

– Three major projects taken up in A.P

• Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said that three major projects committed at the time of Andhra Pradesh bifurcation had been taken up in the State with a total investment of Rs.52,000 crore.
• Addressing the 15th anniversary celebrations of Swarna Bharat Trust at Venkatachalam near here, Mr. Pradhan said that the projects were the expansion of the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL),
• 100 p.c. LPG connectivity.
• Setting up of Petroleum University at Vishakhapatnam and development of a petrochemical complex in the Krishna-Godavari basinand this would be enough to make A.P the hub of petroleum products in the country.

– Mobile access scheme for remote areas soon

• The government will soon unveil a new scheme to provide mobile phone access to over 55,000 villages, particularly those in border states and in the Himalayan region, to push forward its flagship Digital India programme.
• The scheme will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF),” a senior telecom ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
• The USOF, which is maintained by the government, was formed to help fund projects to boost connectivity in rural areas. The money for this fund comes through a ‘Universal Access Levy,’ charged from the telecom operators as a percentage of various licenses fees being paid by them

– India’s first International conference on cooking gas begins Odisha

• State-owned petroleum companies will hold the nation’s first international conference on cooking gas at Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
• It is reported that the event will also have a session on the hugely successful ‘Give it Up’ scheme that has given birth to a silent revolution and encouraged a large part of India’s affluent section to voluntary give up their LPG subsidy.
• Delegates from over a dozen developing countries, such as Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, Nepaland Sri Lankawill participate in the conference.

– Roadside Cafe Street in Agra by the end of 2016

• The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to construct a Roadside Cafe Street in Agra. The street, spread over 7,120 square metres in Fatehabad would cost the government Rs 36 crore.

 

— INTERNATIONAL —

– Ghost snake species discovered

• Scientists have discovered a ghost snake a new species of elusive, pale grey reptiles dwelling in Madagascar.  The named it madagascarophislolo which means ghost in Malagasy
• The ghost snake discovered at the ankarana national park in Madagascar is part of a common group of snake called madagascarophis or cat eyed snakes

– Sri Lankan PM inaugurates 69th session of WHO Regional committee meeting

• Sri Lankan Prime minister Ranil Wickremsinghe inaugurated the 69th session of WHO (World Health Organisation) Regional committee meeting at Colombo today. Health ministers of all 11 nations of South East Asia including Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda are taking part in the meeting.
• It has two ministerial round tables on ways to tackle Non-communicable diseases and achieve the Sustainable development goals set by UN in health sector.
• At the end of meeting, WHO will adopt Sri Lanka declaration on Non-communicable diseases.
• The week- long session will also discuss the issues of neglected tropical diseases, anti-microbial resistance, emergency health care systems and unfinished targets of Millennium development goals, deadline for which expired in 2015.

 

— BANKING —

– 3000 crore funded by World Bank to tamilnadu for irrigation tanks

• It is a multi-sector project to rehabilitate water resources, including tanks and canals, and increase agricultural productivity to improve the livelihood of farmers. A detailed project report is being prepared to rehabilitate nearly 4,800 irrigation tanks, 471 anicuts in 66 sub-basins across 29 districts of the State.
• Some sub-basins to be covered include Cauvery delta, Lower Bhavani, Lower Vaigai, Uppanar, Nagariyar, Manjalar, Lower Tamirabarani, and Upper Palar.
• Nearly 5.43 lakh hectares of irrigation land is expected to benefit from the scheme. Of the total 127 sub basins, 61 were covered during IAMWARM-I that was completed last year.
• In the second phase, there will be more focus on ICT (information and communication technology) based techniques – e-Velanmai and e-Mandi.
• Besides seven other government departments, two more educational institutions — TANUVAS and Tamil Nadu Fisheries University have been roped in to provide technical support in implementing innovative concepts such as bio-fodder.

– SBI hopes to kick off mega merger by October-end:

• SBI hopes to kick off merger of its associates as well as Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself by October-end and try to complete the process by March next, making it the 45th largest lender globally in terms of assets.
• Early August, the central board of SBI had approved the acquisition of all the five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank and finalized the swap ratios for the merger.
• SBI has three listed associate banks–State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, and two unlisted associates–State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Hyderabad.
• Under the swap ratio for the merger proposal, SBBJ shareholders will get 28 shares of SBI (Re 1 each) for every 10 shares (Rs 10 each) or a ratio of 1:28, while SBM and SBT shareholders will get 22 shares of 10 SBI shares.

 

— BUSINESS AND ECONOMY —

– Microsoft, Google sign up for EU-US Privacy Shield

• Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services.
• Microsoft, Google and Salesforce have officially adopted the EU-US Privacy Shield framework. It will enable them to receive personal data from the European Union (EU) in compliance with the new standards. They are now among the 103 companies that have the framework.

 

— APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGN—

– Kerala appoints Sachin as brand ambassador for anti-liquor campaign

• Little master, god of cricket sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as brand ambassador for anti-liquor and drug campaign by the Kerala government. According to the excise and labor minister T B Ramakrishnanthis part of the govt move to create awareness among the people against alcoholism and drug in the state.

– Sakshi Malik appointed wrestling director of Rohtak University

• The Haryana Government has announced the appointment of Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik as Wrestling Director at Maharshi Dayanand University in her native town Rohtak.
• Announcing this, Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij, also said that she will be given Rs 21 lakh out of his discretionary fund and a plot measuring 500 square yards. Her coach Mandeep would be given promotion under special rules, Vij said today.
• The Haryana Government has, in recognition of her achievement, already felicitated Sakshi Malik, who hails from Rohtak district, with a cash reward of Rs2.5 Cr under its Sports Policy. The sports minister was speaking at a function at Rohtak late last evening where hockey players–Savita Punia and Poonam Rani and wrestler Virender Singh were also felicitated.

– Mukund Choudhari assumes charge as CMD of MOIL

• Mukund Chaudhari took over as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of MOIL Ltd on 1 September 2016, a miniratna company.
• Prior to taking over as CMD, Chaudhari served as the Director (Finance) of MOIL.
• Mukund Chaudhari: Mukund Chaudhari is a chartered accountant by profession. He holds a long experience of over two and half decades in private and public sectors undertakings. He had also worked in the private sector.
• After joining MOIL in 1997, he held various positions in the company. He was inducted in the Board of Directors of MOIL in August 2012 as Director (Finance).He has varied experience in corporate financial management and he is instrumental for introduction of ERP system in MOIL recently.

– Urjit Patel assumes charge as new RBI Governor

• Dr. Urjit Patel has assumed charge as the 24th Governor of Reserve Bank, succeeding Raghuram Rajan whose three-year tenure ended on 4^th September 2016.
• Dr. Patel assumed charge effective September 4 after serving as deputy governor since January 2013. He was reappointed as deputy governor on January 11, 2016, after the completion of his first three-year term in office.
• Among his assignments as deputy governor, Dr Patel chaired the Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework.
• He has several publications in areas of Indian macroeconomics, monetary policy, public finance, financial sector, international trade, and regulatory economics.
• Dr. Patel has a PhD in economics from Yale University, an M Phil from University of Oxford and a BSc from the University of London.

 

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

– Jackie Chan Awarded Honorary Oscar

• Action movie star jackiechan to be given an honorary academy award for his extraordinary achievement in film. He has starred in dozens of martial arts films
• The academy also voted to give honorary Oscars to British editor anne v coates, casting director lynnstalmaster& documentary maker Frederick wiseman.
• The will be honored at the academy’s governors awards.

– KalanithiMaran Top Paid Indian Exec At 71.47 Crore

• Sun group was the highest paid executive in India in 2015-16 with salary of 71.47crore. His wife kaverykalanithi retained the second spot with a salary of 71.46crore. A M Naik CEO of L&T who occupied the 3^rd place

– Sonitpur selected for ‘SAAKSHAR BHARAT AWARD’

• Sonitpur district of Assam has been selected for the ‘Saakshar Bharat Award’ in recognition of its efforts in implementation of the SB programme, according to a National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) letter to the state government.
• The award comprising a trophy and a certificate will be given by the President on the occasion of International Literacy Day in Delhi on September 8.
• Two districts have been selected for this award across the country and they are Sonitpur and Surguja in Chattisgarh.  Among the states, Chhattisgarh has been selected for the award.

– JSS Malappuram wins Unesco literacy award

• The Jan SikshanSansthan (JSS), Malappuram, has won the Unesco Confucius Prize for Literacy. The award has been conferred on the JSS in recognition of its literacy-linked skill development activities among the underprivileged in rural areas.
• The JSS bagged the prestigious international award for its initiatives in applying new technology in literacy. Innovations such as Braille applications and the talking pen used by the JSS impressed Unesco.
• JSS chairman P.V. Abdul Wahab, MP, will receive the award from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris on September 8. The award sponsored by China consists of $20,000, diploma, and a silver medal. A JSS team will visit China on a study tour.

 

— SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY —

– Newly Discovered Fish Named after Obama

• Scientists have named a small maroon & gold fish species after the U.S. President Barack Obama.
• It was discovered 300 feet deep in the waters off Kure Atoll in the Pacific ocean.
• The fish was named in honour of Obama for his commitment to protecting nature.
• It was discovered in June this year during a research trip.
• Atolls ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of corals.

 

— SPORTS —

– Serena Williams sets women’s record of 307 victories in grand slams

• In Tennis, world number one Serena Williams has created history by setting a record of most number of Grand Slam matches wins by a woman in the Open era.
• In the US Open last night, the American defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden, 6-2, 6-1 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals and surpass Martina Navratilova’s record of 306 wins.
• Serena is now tied with Roger Federer who holds the record for men.
• Serena is eying to clinch a 23rd Grand Slam Singles title. If she wins, she will become the most successful woman in the Open Era. The American is currently equal with Steffi Graf with 22 major Singles titles.
• Others who have entered the Singles fourth round include Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Juan Martin delPotro and Kei Nishikori.

– India A wins Quadrangular series; beat Australia by 57 runs

• India A today clinched the Quadrangular one-day cricketseries, thrashing Australia by 57 runs in the final clash in Mackay, Australia.
• Electing to bat after winning the toss, India A put up 266 for 4 in their 50 overs before bowling out the hosts for 209 in 44.5 overs.
• Mandeep Singh was the star of India’s batting performancewith a 108-ball 95. He was named Player of the Match.
• Mandeep combined with captain Manish Pandey who scored 61 steered India to victory.
• India A have now claimed the last three ‘A’ series, defeating Australia A on each occasion in the final.
• The other two teams in the series were South Africa A and the Australian National Performance Squad.

– Nico Rosberg wins Italian grand prix

• Germany’s Nico Rosberg won the Italian Grand Prix for dominant Mercedes on Sunday to cut team mate Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One world championship lead to two points with seven races remaining.
• Triple world champion Hamilton, who had been on pole position as favourite to take his 50th career victory and third in a row at Monza, finished second after a slow start gifted Rosberg the race.
• Rosberg’s first victory at the historic circuit outside Milan was his seventh of the season, one more than Hamilton, and 21st of his career.

– Shooter Abhinav Bindra announces retirement

• Olympic gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra announced his retirement from shooting on Sunday.
• He said, “It is time to move on, hand over the baton to the younger generation.” Bindra added, “I came fourth in Rio and now retiring after playing for two decades. In Rio, I didn’t win a medal and stood fourth but it gave me a great closure.”

– Sikki & Pranaav clinch Brazil Open Grand Prix title

• India’s mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra clinched their maiden Grand Prix title in the Brazil Open Grand Prix. The top seeded Indian pair defeated Canadian combo of Toby Ng and Rachel Honderich 21-15, 21-16 in straight games at Costa Cavalcante.
• The 23-year-old Sikky won as many as five international challenger titles last year which includes two mixed doubles and three women’s doubles crowns.
• Pranaav was part of the Indian team that stunned mighty China 3-2 to win a bronze in the Asia Badminton Team Championships.

 

— OBITUARY —

– OZ Magazine Co-Founder Richard Neville dies

• Australian writer and social commentator Richerd Neville best known for co-founding the counter cultured magazine Oz Died on Sunday in Australia. Through the magazine Neville countered Oz conservatism in 1960s.
• With issues covering abortion, censorship and homosexuality. The activist was twice sentenced for obscenity but was acquitted on appeal after public outcry.