Current Affairs Update - 18 September 2016

Updated on : 20:55, 22 September 2016

— NATIONAL —

Water Resources Ministry signs MoU with Agriculture Ministry to take up organic farming

• The Union Water Resources Ministry (WRD) Uma Bharti and Agriculture Ministry Radha Mohan Singh have signed a MoU in New Delhi to encourage farmers of over 5,000 villages along the Ganga to take up organic farming.
• It will help curb pollution caused by chemical fertilizer-laden runoff in the river. The Agriculture Ministry will develop organic farming in each Gram Panchayat representing a cluster under “Paramaparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana“.

Telangana signs MoU to help Goa in IT development

• The Telangana government has been signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Goa government to help the latter in information technology (IT) development.
• Through this MoU, Telangana will help the Goa government in formulating relevant policies.

Mobile game ‘Jrump’ based on Donald Trump launched

• A new mobile game based on US Presidential election candidate Donald Trump called ‘Jrump’ has been launched, with the tagline ‘Make the galaxy great again’.
• It requires players to build a wall on which Trump jumps to reach the galaxy to “make it better”. The game features Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders as Trump’s obstacles.

Karnataka announces INR 8 cr-fund for state startup cell

• Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge has announced an INR8 crore fund toward the state’s startup cell, in an attempt to boost Karnataka’s startup ecosystem.
• The cell has received around 1,400 registrations over the last two months, according to an official statement. “Our idea is to break into world’s top 10 startup destinations,” Kharge said.

Govt to expand Direct Benefit Transfer to 147 schemes

• The government is planning to double the number of schemes under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to 147 by March, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said.
• For this, the government has launched pilots for paying subsidy on food, kerosene, and fertilisers directly via bank accounts of beneficiaries.
• iii. At present, benefits and subsidies in 74 schemes are paid directly to beneficiaries under DBT.

India approves $1 bn connetivity project

• India has approved an ambitious $1.04-billion project for constructing and upgrading 558 km of roads to link it with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal and ease the movement of passengers and cargo, as part of the larger effort to increase inter-regional trade by 60 per cent.
• The new project has been given an official nod by India’s Department of Economic Affairs with 50 per cent funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), officials told IANS, adding that the road project will cover West Bengal and Manipur on the Indian side, as of now.

CVC to attend SAARC anti-corruption meet in Pakistan

• Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary will attend a meeting of anti-corruption agencies of SAARC nations in Pakistan later this month, when such a meeting is being held for the first time.
• The meeting is intended to discuss cooperation and assistance in probing corruption cases among eight SAARC countries, official sources said today.
• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a grouping of eight member countries — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Swachhta Saptah launched by railway minister

• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched the ‘Swachhta Saptah’ as part of the Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Mission from New Delhi Railway Station. The Railways has organized a special nine-day long public outreach programme from yesterday.
• As a pilot project, Sulabh has started cleaning and maintenance of five important railway stations .These railway stations are Gorakhpur, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Ahamadabad and Gwalior and further steps will be worked out to seek assistance of Sulabh movement founder Bindeshwar Pathak for cleaning and maintenance of big stations.

Paytm is now powering IRCTC’s Payment Gateway

• India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform, Paytm has emerged as the most credible and convenient payment option on the IRCTC platform.
• The Paytm Wallet is already accepted on the IRCTC platform and this native integration of Paytm’s payment gateway to IRCTC’s app is a showcase of its trust in Paytm’s technology.
• The tie-up with India’s largest rail ticketing platform is a major step towards Paytm aim to bring the convenience of digital payments to travelers. The safety and ease of Paytm’s technology has made it a favorite among travelers.

 

— INTERNATIONAL —

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited  gets membership of APAQG with voting right

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Friday has been conferred the prestigious membership of the Asia-Pacific Aerospace Quality Group (APAQG)under the category ‘Full Member with voting rights’.
• This makes India the seventh nation to join the APAQG under the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG).

Jaitley to attend IMF-World Bank meet next month

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will attend the three-day annual meeting of IMF and World Bank in Washington, US which begins on October 7.
• Newly appointed RBI Governor Urjit Patel may also attend the meeting, sources said. In addition to discussing the global economic situation, the meetings will also discuss IMF quota reforms, infrastructure financing, and Brexit’s impact, among others

 

— BANKING —

World Bank to invest nearly 1,000 crore rupees for improvement of inland waterways in Assam

• World Bank will invest nearly 1,000 crore rupees in Assam for the betterment of the inland waterways. It was conveyed to State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
• Official sources in Guwahati told AIR that the money will be utilised to develop inland waterways including ghats.
• iii. The money will be utilized to develop inland waterways including Ghats. The central government has also assured to re-construct jetty for which 100 percent assistance will be given by the Centre. On the other hand, emphasizing on road safety, driving school will be set up in all districts of Assam.

Government to expand DBT to 147 schemes by next March

• Buoyed by the initial success of Direct Benefit Transfer, government plans to double the number of schemes under DBT to 147 by March and has launched pilots for paying subsidy on food, kerosene and fertiliser directly via bank accounts of beneficiaries, a top official has said.
• Benefits and subsidies in as many as 74 schemes of 17 government departments and ministries are paid directly to beneficiaries under DBT, said Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa.
• The government, he said, has implemented 30 per cent of the recommendations of the expenditure management commission that was set up to suggest reforms to overhaul the subsidy regime and lower fiscal deficit.

PNB Gilts shareholders raise borrowing limit to Rs 7,000 crore

• PNB Gilts on Sunday said its shareholders have approved a special resolution to enable the board to raise up to Rs 7,000 crore against earlier borrowing limit of Rs 5,000 crore.
• The net-worth of the company has increased from Rs 50 crore to Rs 731.22 crore. It is the only listed primary dealer in India and the public share holding in company is 25.93 per cent, according to the information provided on its website.

 

— BUSINESS AND ECONOMY —

Paytm to invest $150 mn in e-commerce business

• Digital payments platform Paytm is planning to invest up to $150 million to develop its e-commerce business.
• According to an official statement, the move, which comes after $60 million in funding from Mediatek last month, is to tackle competition in the online retail market, as well as to develop its new payments bank venture scheduled to launch this October.

Alibaba becomes most valuable Asian listed firm

• China-based Alibaba has become the most valuable Asian listed company, after its market valuation rose to $266 billion, Chinese media reported on Saturday.
• This came amid internet firms’ rallying share prices due to booming business. Notably, Alibaba, the world’s largest e-commerce platform, posted a 59% rise in revenue in the June quarter, the strongest since its IPO in 2014

 

— APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGN—

Arunachal CM appoints 26 MLAs as parliamentary secretary

• Khandu administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new parliamentary secretaries, including two women, in a simple function here in the presence of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma.
• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today appointed 26 MLAs as parliamentary secretary to assist in the smooth functioning of his government.
• This is the first time that a large number of MLAs were appointed as parliamentary secretaries in the state

V K Sharma gets additional charge as LIC chairman

• V K Sharma, managing director, LIC of India has taken additional charge as chairman, LIC of India in place of S K Roy, who has been relieved of his duties today,” the company said in a late evening statement. Sharma joined LIC in the year 1981 as a Direct Recruit Officer
• S.K Roy joined Life Insurance Corporation of India in 1981. On May 31, 2013, he assumed charge as Managing Director of LIC. Prior to his elevation, he was head of the International Operations division.

Punjab National Bank appointed Virat Kohli as its new brand ambassador

• Punjab National Bank has roped in Indian test skipper Virat Kohli as brand ambassador to improve its image which has taken a hit due to rising bad loans.
• For the first quarter ended June, the bank’s profit declined by a 58 per cent to Rs 306 crore on account of mounting bad loans.  During the quarter, provision towards non-performing assets (NPAs) have jumped almost three-fold to Rs 3,620 crore from Rs 1,291 crore in the same period a year ago.
• iii. In absolute terms, the gross NPAs of the bank more than doubled to Rs 56,654.09 crore from the year-ago levels.

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

WB to confer ‘Banga Bibhushan’ to Lata Mangeshkar

• To honour legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar’s contributions to Bengali songs, the West Bengal government will confer this year’s ‘Banga Bibhushan’ on her.
• “Lata Mangeshkar has sung innumerable memorable Bengali songs,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. Adding that the award will be conferred to Mangeshkar after the Durga Puja, Banerjee said, the singer has agreed to accept the award.

Abhishek Bachchan : Guinness World Record Holder.

• Abhishek Bachchan might be the most underrated actor of the industry, but we bet you didn’t know that he’s actually a Guinness World Record Holder.
• Abhishek holds the record for ‘Most Public Appearances Made By A Film Star In 12 Hours.’ In fact, he beat Hollywood actor Will Smith who had made three public appearances in 2 hours during the promotions of his film I, Robot in 2004.
• iii. Abhishek achieved this feat during the promotions of his film Delhi-6. He did various promotional activities in 7 cities including Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Mumbai on February 22, 2009, within a period of 12 hours

Indian films in Oscar

• The scripts of Adil Hussain-starrers “Sunrise” and “Parched” have been archived at the library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  • Parched:                                                        Sunrise:
  • Directed by:   Leena Yadav                        Directed by:   Partho Sen-Gupta
  • Produced by: Ajay Devgan                         Produced by: artho Sen-Gupta, Marc Irmer,
  • Rakesh   Mehra, Nina Lath Gupta
  • Indian-Origin Peer Wins ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ In UK
• A 78-year-old Indian-origin British obstetrician and member of the UK Parliament has been honoured by a leading publishing group for his work in the medical profession and being incredible role model for social justice, equality and those less fortunate.
• Lord Narendra Babubhai Patel was given the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ during the ii. Asian Achievers Awards last night for his work in the medical profession and public life in Britain over the years.
• iii. Other winners included Mr Selva Pankaj, CEO of Regent Group – a London-based education skills and training development group; Ms Manjit Gill, CEO of Binti, a social enterprise that works for women’s causes in India and Africa; and Paralympian Mr Ryan Raghoo, a long jumper who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Priyadarshini Global Awards 2016

• Bengaluru-based Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bollywood actors Katrina Kaif and Juhi Chawla are among recipients of the Priyadarshini Global Awards 2016 which will be presented here on September 19.
• Noted scientist and Chairman of ISRO, A S Kiran Kumar, would receive the award for the agency’s outstanding contribution to development of space science and technology, according to a release issued by the Academy in Mumbai.
• iii. Kaif would be presented “Smita Patil Memorial Award for Best Actor” (part of the overall awards), while Chawla would be honoured for her outstanding role in promoting social causes, said the NGO which has completed 32 years of existence.

Ramakrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award

• Ramakrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award” would be presented to Anshu Gupta, Founder Director of Goonj, an NGO of Delhi, for his outstanding contribution in promoting the dignity of poor.
• Venki Ramakrishnan, an India-born Nobel Prize winning scientist, will be presented the Priyadarshini Academy Global Award, the release said.

 

— SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY —

Longest-lasting lightning bolt struck France in 2012

• A lightning strike in France on August 30, 2012, which lasted for 7.74 seconds, was declared as the longest-lasting lightning bolt by the UN World Meteorological Organisation on Friday.
• The horizontal bolt travelled a distance of over 200 kilometres, WMO added. Notably, a lightning strike covering over 321 kilometres in the US in 2007 is deemed the biggest in distance.

 

— SPORTS —

13-yr-old GB swimmer wins Paralympics Silver

• Thirteen-year-old British swimmer Abby Kane won the silver medal in the S13 100-metre backstroke at the Rio Paralympics.
• She had earlier set a new Paralympic record of 1 minute and 9.09 seconds in her S13 100-metre backstroke heat.
• iii. Abby lost the gold medal to Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko, an athlete nearly twice her age.

Milkman’s son becomes world wrestling champion

• Deepak Punia, the son of a former milkman Subhash Punia, won the 85kg wrestling gold at the Cadet World Championships held in Georgia.
• The 17-year-old defeated wrestlers from Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, USA and Turkey to be crowned as the world champion.
• iii. Deepak is only the third cadet world champion from India after the tournament was restarted in 2011

Sheoran, Bhardwaj win gold at World University C’ships

• Indian shooters Akhil Sheoran and Vinita Bhardwaj won gold medals at the 6th World University Championships at Bydgoszcz, Poland.
• The 21-year-old Sheoran beat Poland’s Tomasz Bartnik en route to the men’s 10m air rifle gold. While Bhardwaj edged out Rio Olympic bronze medallist Yi Siling of China to win the women’s 10-metre air rifle gold.

Deaf shooter Priyesha wins World Championship bronze

• Deaf Indian shooter Priyesha Deshmukh won the bronze medal in her first-ever international competition at the 1st World Deaf Shooting Championships held in Kazan on Wednesday.
• The Pune-based 23-year-old, who only began playing the sport three years ago, won the medal after scoring 180.4 points in the final of the women’s 10-metre air rifle category.

Ramnaresh Sarwan retires from all forms of cricket

• Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in Guyana on Thursday.
• Sarwan played 87 Tests for West Indies scoring 15 centuries and captaining the team in four matches.
• iii. He played 181 ODIs for his country, the last one being against India in June 2013, which was also his last international match.

 

— OBITUARY —

Iranian cyclist dies during Paralympic Games

• Iranian cyclist, Sarafraz Bahman Golbarnezhad, passed away during the C4-5 road race event at the Rio Paralympics.
• The 48-year-old crashed during a mountainous stretch of the course, following which he suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away after reaching the hospital.
• According to IPC, it is the first time a Paralympian has died in the 56-year history of the Game