Current Affairs Update - 07 September 2016

Updated on : 20:55, 11 September 2016

— NATIONAL —

– WHO certifies India ends Yaws, Maternal & Neonatal Tetanus

• World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized India as the world’s first Yaws-free country and declared it free from maternal and neonatal tetanus.
• Union Health Minister J P Nadda tweeted that India received WHO’s certificates for MNTE Yaws-free India at 69th session of Regional Committee of WHO at, Colombo.
• Nadda received an official citation from the WHO and UNICEF in New Delhi. This achievement will enhance India’s socio-economic status and contribute to India’s wider development.

– Union Government launches Leprosy Case Detection campaign

• Health Ministry launched the Leprosy Case Detection campaign (LCDC) in the country. Objective of the campaign is to detect the disease early so that those affected can be saved from physical deformity. As per the Health Ministry release about 32 crore people across 149 districts of 19 States and Union Territories will be screened under the fortnight-long campaign.
• It includes, the districts having a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10000 people in the last three years. Chhattisgarh has the highest number of districts to be covered, followed by Dadra Nagar and Haveli.
• The first Leprosy Case Detection Campaign was launched in March 2016 in 50 districts of 7 states namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. During the campaign, around 65427 suspected cases were identified out of which nearly 4120 were later confirmed.

– Helpline no. 14401 for info on power cuts launched

• The Department of Telecom (DoT) has created ‘UrjaMitra Helpline’ through which customers can get information on power outages from distribution companies by dialing 14401.
• It will be used to send information through voice calls and SMS to customers, a DoT notification read. Further, this pan-India helpline is a mandatory service to be provided by all telecom operators.

– Pradhan launches ‘Gas4India’ campaign to boost natural gas use

• The Union Minister of State Dharmendra Pradhan has launched Gas4India campaign for the aimed at promoting the use of gas in the country. New Gas4India is a unified cross-country, multimedia, multi-event campaign to communicate the national, social, economic and ecological benefits of using natural gas as the fuel of choice to every citizen who uses, or will use in the near future.
• The campaign includes social engagement via Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, and its official blogsite, as well as hyper local, offline events to directly connect with consumers through discussions, workshops and cultural events. On this occasion Dharmendra Pradhan launched the website, Twitter handle, Facebook page and Theme song of the campaign.

– Mumbai woman world’s 1st Indian ‘Master of Wine’

• London-based Institute of Masters of Wine has declared Mumbai-based wine professional Sonal Holland as the world’s first Indian ‘Master of Wine’.
• Since 1953, only 391 people have held the title, considered the most respected among wine professionals. “I never wanted to pretend that I knew what I was talking about, and wanted to back it up with credentials,” said Holland.

– Odisha celebrates Nuakhai Festival

• Western Odisha celebrated the festival of Nuakhai, the agrarian festival of the region, with religious fervour.The celebrations began with the Nabanna in which the newly harvested rice was offered to Goddess Samaleswari as per the stipulated Lagna, the auspicious moment. The deity was adorned with new saree and ornaments on the occasion.
• Later, people offered Nabanna to their presiding deities. Celebrated the festival of Nuakhai, the agrarian festival of the region, with religious fervor. The celebrations began with the Nabanna in which the newly harvested rice was offered to Goddess Samaleswari as per the stipulated Lagna, the auspicious moment. The deity was adorned with new saree and ornaments on the occasion.
• ODISHA
  • CM: Naveen Patnaik (BJD)
  • GOVERNOR:   S.C. Jamir
  • CAPITAL:Bhubaneswar

– UP to issue special ID card to protect witnesses

• The Uttar Pradesh Government has decided to issue yellow identity cards to prosecution witnesses in criminal cases.
• The state prosecution department will issue SakshiSuraksha cards to provide police protection to witnesses when they come for the hearing of criminal cases in courts. The district authorities will ensure the security of the card holders during court trials
• UTTAR PRADESH
  • CM:AkhileshYadav (SP)
  • GOVERNOR:Ram Naik
  • CAPITAL:Lucknow

– Centre approves chopper service for J&K, Himachal

• The Centre today approved the operation of subsidized helicopter services in 10 sectors each in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to connect inaccessible locations.
• The most inaccessible destination points would be chosen, and 75% of the operational cost would be provided as a subsidy. The scheme can be further extended based on the justifiable needs of the local people.
• Jammu and Kashmir
  • CM:  Mehbooba Mufti (JKPDP)
  • GOVERNOR: NarinderNath Vohra
  • CAPITAL: Jammu (October–March)
  • Srinagar (March–October)
• Himachal Pradesh
  • CM:  Virbhadra Singh (INC)
  • GOVERNOR: Acharya DevVrat
  • CAPITAL: Shimla

 

— INTERNATIONAL —

– G20 Summit concludes in china

• The 2016 G20 Summit was held for two days on 4 September and 5 September 2016 at the Hangzhou International Exhibition Centre, Hangzhou, China. the theme of 2016 G20 Summit was Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy.
• It was the first ever G20 summit to be hosted in China and the second Asian country to host the Summit. Before China, Seoul, South Korea, hosted the 2010 G20 Summit.It was the 11th summit since the inception of G20 in 1999.The summit was attended by all the leaders of the G20 including Prime Minister NarendraModi. The chair of the summit was Xi Jinping, President of China.
• CHINA:
  • Capital: Beijing
  • Currency: yuan
  • President: Xi Jinping

– China mayallow imports of Indian non-basmati rice

• China may soon grant market access to India’s non-basmati rice exports, after Pakistan,  Acceding to a long-pending request from New Delhi.At present China imports non-basmati rice from Pakistan. India had demanded market access for products including non-basmati rice, pharmaceuticals and several fruits & vegetables among others.
• Trade sources said there are reports of rice (basmati & non-basmati) exports from India to China happening through Hong Kong and Thailand. In 2015-16, India exported 6.2 million tonnes of non-basmati rice worth Rs.15,000crore, .India’s goods trade deficit with China has surged from $1.1 billion in 2003-04 to $52.7 billion in 2015-16.
• China was the world’s largest rice importer in 2015-16 followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

– Sanskrit becomes part of United Nation’s charter

• United Nations, has included into it the most ancient and traditional language of India, Sanskrit into its charter. A charter binds the assembly of nations. The charter being translated into the Sanskrit language is the first of its kind attempt to make it to such an important international document.
• National Mission for Manuscripts in India promoted the translation work. The pioneer of this Promotion was primarily Dr.Jitendra Kumar Tripathi. The development which is of great importance for India as a whole, was appreciated by the United Nations Associates.

– Nearly 50 million children uprooted worldwide: UNICEF

• The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released the report titled Uprooted. The growing crisis for refugee and migrant children. According to the report, nearly 50 million children have been uprooted across the globe and millions more migrating in the hope of finding a better, safer life.
• Traumatized by the conflicts and violence they are fleeing, they face further dangers including the risk of drowning on sea crossings, malnourishment, trafficking, rape and even murder. In countries they travel through and at their destinations, they often face xenophobia and discrimination.

– 12-yr-old becomes youngest ever Ivy League student

• Twelve-year-old Jeremy Shuler is a freshman at Cornell University in New York, becoming the youngest student the Ivy League school has on record.
• Pursuing a major in applied and engineering physics and a minor in mathematics, his 2014 SAT score was in the 99.6 percentile. Born to aerospace engineers, Shuler has been homeschooled and was studying calculus at age six.

 

— BANKING —

– KarurVysya Bank May Ally with Small Finance Firm to strengthen its lending

• KarurVysya Bank may tie up with a small finance bank to strengthen its lending to smaller enterprises. Stating that while small finance banks operated in the ‘niche segment’
• K. Venkataraman, MD and CEO, KVB said, “We might join hands with them to strengthen the lending to micro, medium and small enterprises.” As only a few such banks had started operations, KVB would adopt a wait and watch approach, he said. KVB also plans to increase its exposure to the sector from 32 per cent to 45 per cent.
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tannishtha Chatterjee win Best Actors award
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee were named Best Actors at the debut edition of the Lonavla International Film Festival India(LIFFI).where the Best Director honour went to AnantMahadevan for Rough Book.
• Note:
  • Lonavla International Film Festival India “LIFFI” and LIFFI Awards has been established in 2016 by it’sfounder members Mr.Riju Bajaj, Mr. MadhavTodi and Dr. Anamika Sharma to celebrate Lonavla’s monsoon waterfalls with films coming from across the globe bringing the rainbow of colours& stories in various forms of feature films and SHORT films. LIFFI is an award based competition &film festival.

 

— BUSINESS AND ECONOMY —

– Google’s Project Tango partner Movidius acquired By  Intel

• Intel has acquired computer vision firm Movidius, which partnered with Google to develop 3D space mapping technology for Project Tango devices. With its latest purchase, Intel is set to build on its Real Sense technology, which allows for measuring depth in physical spaces and is used in drones to help them avoid obstacles, as well as in webcams for applications like motion capture and 3D object scanning.

– Amazon to invest in food startup Swiggy: Report

• The India arm of e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly looking to invest in online food delivery startup Swiggy. Founded in 2014, the Bengaluru-based startup was valued at an estimated $190-200 million at the time of its latest round of funding.
• According to the report, Alibaba-backed Chinese food delivery venture Ele.me has also displayed interest in investing in Swiggy.

– Oil India’s net profit down 33% in June quarter

• State-run Oil India’s standalone net profit dropped 33.47% to Rs 494.41 crorein the quarter ended June 30, compared to the same period last year.
• Its total income also fell by 22.22% year-on-year to Rs2,460.85 crore for the quarter. Further, the firm’s revenues from crude oil, natural gas, and LPG declined by 26.87%, 16.69%, and 31.70%, respectively from the year-ago period.

– India Expand Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) With Chile

• India and Chile have expanded their Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with both offerings to lower or eliminate tariffs on a number of items traded with each other.
• Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with margin of preference (extent to which duties are lower than those offered to other countries) ranging from 30 per cent to100%. India’s offer to Chile is on 1,031 products with a margin of preference between 10% and 100%.
• CHILE:
  • CAPITAL: SANTIAGO
  • CURRENCY: CHILEAN PESO
  • PRESIDENT: MICHELLE BACHELET

– SASTRA University partnered with TCS to train teachers

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced that it has partnered with Thanjavur-based Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology& Research Academy (SASTRA) Deemed University to train over 2,000 teachers from Tamil Nadu on digital teaching methods, and also set up a teacher’s training center at the varsity campus.
• Note:
  • Tata Consultancy Services Limited is an Indian multinational information technology service, consulting and business solutions company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group and operates in 46 countries.

 

— APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGN—

– UK and Iran appoint ambassadors for first time since 2011

• The United Kingdom (UK) and Iranhas appointed ambassador in each-other’s country for the first time since 2011. This appointment marks the restoration of the diplomatic relations between the two nations.
• Nicholas Hopton,a Middle East specialist and former British ambassador to Qatar and Yemen, was appointed as UK ambassador to Iran.
• Hamid Baeidinejad, a key figure in the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, was appointed as the Iranian ambassador to the UK.

– Arunachal Pradesh Tourism appointed John Abraham as a brand ambassador

• John Abraham has been roped in as a brand ambassador for Arunachal Pradesh Tourism. Representing the state as a brand ambassador, he is of the opinion that the state has lot to offer to its tourist be it culture, heritage, adventure sports and music.
• Note
  • John Abraham is an Indian film actor, producer and a former model who appears in Hindi films. After modelling for numerous advertisements and companies, Abraham made his film debut with Jism (2003), which earned him a Film fare Best Debut Award nomination. This was followed by his first commercial success, Dhoom (2004).
• Arunachal Pradesh
  • Capital: Itanagar
  • Governor :Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa
  • Chief Minister :PemaKhandu

– Religare Enterprises gets new CEOSunil Godhwani

• Religare Enterprises Ltd has appointed Sunil Godhwani chief executive for the remaining period of his tenure. The decision was taken at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), which was presided over by Malvinder Mohan Singh, non-executive chairman, Religare Enterprises.
• Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) is the holding company for one of India’s leading diversified financial services groups, headquartered in New Delhi, India. It offers an integrated suite of financial services through its underlying subsidiaries and operating entities, includes Loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)’s, Capital Markets, Wealth Management, Health insurance and Asset Management.

 

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

– K G George wins 2015 J C Daniel Award

• Veteran award-winning film director K.G. George won the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for his overall contribution to the Malayalam film industry.The award will be given away along with the State Film Awards at a function to be held at Palakkad.
• K.G. George:
  • KulakkatilGeevarghese George is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He is considered to be among one of the directors who revolutionized Malayalam cinema in the 1970s.He is noted for his deep psychological analysis and character study of the human mind in his films.
  • He made his debut with 1975 movie Swapnadanam, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. His well-known films include Ulkadal, Mela, Yavanika among others. He is also the founder and chairman of the Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA)

– Thithi wins Best Film honour at 1st BRICS Film Festival

• Thithi was conferred the Best Film award by Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu at the closing ceremony of the 1st BRICS Film Festival. He also gave some awards.
• South African actor Thabo Rametsi won the Best Actor (Male) award for his role in Kalushi,
• Russian actress YuliaPeresild was given the Best Actor (Female) honour for her film “The Battle for Sevastopol” and
•  Chinese director HuoJianqi was announced as the Best Director for helming Indo-Chinese co-production film, XuanZang.

 

— SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY —

– Hindustan Aeronautics Limited successfully tests Light Utility Helicopter

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully completed test flight of indigenous Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) Bengaluru.The LUH will replace the military’s obsolescent fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters that have flown for over three decades.
• The HAL LUH is a 3-tonne helicopter exclusively built for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force to replace the aging fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
• It is a light, single-engine helicopter that is powered by the Safran HE Ardiden-1U engine. In addition to two pilots, the helicopter can fly six passengersat sea level, with load capacity reducing with altitude.
• The LUH’s engine delivers 750 kilowatts of power, permits flight operations at as high as 6500 metres.Limited series production will be done in Bengaluru, and the 610-acre Tumakuru unit is slated to commence production in 2018-19.  The Tumakuru plant will ship about 30 LUHs annually, starting in 2019-20.

 

— SPORTS —

– France wins World Hide and Seek Championship

• The ‘Sneaky Frenchy’ team from France has won the seventh Hide and Seek World Championship held in the Italian ghost town of Consonno over the weekend.

– SaniaMirza crashes out of the US Open 2016

• SaniaMirza and her Czech partner BarboraStrycova lost 6-7, 1-6 to top seeds Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the US Open 2016 women’s doubles’ quarterfinals on Tuesday.
• With Sania’s exit, India’s representation at the event came to an end as Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski also crashed out in the mixed doubles quarterfinals on Monday.

– Google Doodle marks opening of Paralympics 2016

• Google Doodle today marked the opening of the 2016 Summer Paralympics, being hosted by Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The games which started as a small gathering of British World War-II veterans in 1948, now draw 4,500 athletes from 176 countries.
• Rio de Janeiro is the first Latin American city to host the Paralympics, which will end on September 18.

– WFI recommends Sushil Kumar for Padma Bhushan

• The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has recommended two-time Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar’s name to the Sports Ministry for the Padma Bhushan.
• Kumar, who had applied for the Padma Bhushan last year as well, is the lone wrestler to be recommended by the WFI. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 and the Arjuna Award in 2005.

– Australia register highest total in T20I history

• Australia put up a total of 263/3 against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele stadium on Tuesday, thereby registering the highest ever score in T20I history. The Aussie innings was boosted by opener Glenn Maxwell’s 145*(65), the second-highest individual score in T20I history. Australia’s total score surpassed the previous best score of 260/6, scored by the Lankans against Kenya in 2007.
• Sri Lanka registered their 12th T20I defeat of 2016, the joint-highest for any team in a calendar year. The Lankans share the record with Pakistan, who had lost 12 T20I matches out of the 18 they played in 2010. Playing their 15th T20I of 2016 on Tuesday, Sri Lanka suffered their largest-ever defeat, losing to Australia by 85 runs.

– Indian Paralympic medalists’ reward same as Olympians

• The Indian Sports Ministry has announced that medalists at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be given cash awards at par with the medal winners of last months’ Olympic Games.
• “Gold medalists of Paralympic Games are entitled to Rs75 lakh, Silver Rs50 lakh & Bronze Rs30 lakh as cash award from MYAS