Current Affairs for IBPS RRB : September 2, 2017

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Trujet launches Hyderabad-Mysore services under regional connectivity scheme:

   No frills airliner Trujet of Turbo Megha Airways has announced the launch of Hyderabad-Mysore flight under the regional connectivity scheme.

A promoter of regional connectivity, the airline covers unserved sectors, including Nanded and Kadapa, and has now added Mysore. This is part of the UDAN scheme of Prime Minister NarendraModi which seeks to boost regional connectivity.

Turbo Megha is one of the five air operators which won bids to operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports, of which 31 are unserved under the regional connectivity scheme – UdeDeshKaAamNagrik (UDAN). Under the scheme, fares are capped at Rs. 2,500 for one-hour flights.

Telangana

• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar Rao
• Governor: S. L. Narasimhan

13 new railway bridges to be built in Pune district:

The Union ministry for road transport, highways and shipping has finally given a green signal for the construction of 13 new Railway Over Bridges (ROB) in Pune district. The designing of the recently approved ROBs in the district, which is a part of 252 ROBs sanctioned for Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 6,000 crorehas been entrusted to College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP).

Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: DevendraFadnavis
• Governor: VidyasagarRao

Union Minister Gehlot launches scheme for senior citizens belonging to BPL category in Gujarat:

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, ThaawarchandGehlot has launched a scheme that provides for physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to the BPL category in Gujarat. He said this ambitious scheme, is expected to benefit 5,20,000 senior citizens over a period of three years. Under the scheme, devices were distributed to senior citizens free of cost.

The centrally-sponsored scheme, `RashtriyaVayoshriYojana’, was unveiled on April 1 this year and since then it has already been launched in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.        

Gujarat

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani
• Governor: Om PrakashKohli

Bihar govt orders registration of all placement agencies:

           Bihar government has directed the authorities to get all the placement agencies registered in order to prevent fraud. Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh this after a review meeting of various departments chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

The government has also taken a decision to create a corpus of 5 crore rupees for rescued child labourers. The fund will be made available from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Bihar

• Capital: Patna
• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
• Governor: KeshariNathTripathi

Odisha: Coast Guard launches aviation infrastructure including MMMA

In Odisha, Coast Guard launched an aviation infrastructure including a multi-mission maritime aircraft hanger, MMMA, giving boost to air surveillance along Odisha and West Bengal coast.

Inaugurating the state-of-the-art aviation infrastructure like MMMA and Dornier Hangar at the Coast Guard Air Enclave in Bhubaneswar, the Director General of Indian CoastGuard Rajendra Singh said this is part of the ongoing effort by the Coast Guard to strengthen the maritime and coastal security. Its aircraft are deployed for exclusive economic zone (EEZ) patrolling, maritime surveillance, search and rescue and disaster management.

Odisha

• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen patnaik
• Governor: C. Jamir

INTERNATIONAL

China opens first civilian drone base in Shanghai:

The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced the opening of the country’s first test-flight base for civilian drones in Shanghai. The base, located in the district of Qingpu, will provide service to thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in a country where private drones have become very popular.

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China, there are over 120,000 registered drones in the country. China has approximately 500 drone manufacturers, controlling almost 70 per cent of market share.

China

• Currency: Renminbi
• Capital: Beijing
• Prime minister: Li Keqiang
• President: Xi Jinping

Saab, Adani join hands for defence manufacturing:

Swedish defence giant Saab and Indian conglomerate Adani group have announced collaboration in defence manufacturing entailing billions of dollars of investment, mainly eyeing a contract for single-engine fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.

Announcing the deal in New Delhi, the two companies said the project will encompass design, development and production of Gripen jets for India in line with the Make in India initiative. The government is set to procure a fleet of single-engine fighters for the IAF and US defence firm Lockheed Martin will be a major competitor for Saab for the deal.

The CEO and President of Saab, HakanBuskhe, said the partnership is aimed at producing single engine fighter jets and other defence products for India under the country’s recently unveiled strategic partnership model.

Sweden

• Currency: Swedish krona
• Capital: Stockholm

World’s tallest sandcastle, standing at more than 16 metres, built in German city:

The world’s highest sandcastle is now standing 16.68 meters (54.72 feet) tall in the German city of Duisburg.

A German travel operator organized the construction of the mammoth sandcastle, bringing in 3,500 tons of sand over the past 3 ½ weeks to the site at a former steelworks in the inland city.

GERMANY

• Currency: Euro
• Capital: Berlin

US astronaut Peggy Whitson, who spent 288 days in space, to return home:

           NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who holds the record for maximum time spent in space by any US astronaut, is set to return to Earth, completing a 288-day mission at the International Space Station.

 USA

• President of the United States: Donald Trump
• Currency: United States Dollar
• Capital: Washington, D.C.

Europe unveils world’s most powerful X-ray laser:

The world’s most powerful X-ray laser has begun operating at a facility where scientists will attempt to recreate the conditions deep inside the sun and produce film-like sequences of viruses and cells.

The machine, called the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL), acts as a high-speed camera that can capture images of individual atoms in a few millionths of a billionth of a second.

India to get Swiss ‘tilting trains’, signs two MoUs with Switzerland:

           India will collaborate with Switzerland for developing trains which will tilt on approaching a bend, just like a motorbike on a winding road. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries in this regard.

Such trains are now operational in 11 countries — Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, the UK, Switzerland, China, Germany and Romania. Explaining how the tilting trains work, officials said that as a train rounds a curve at speed it cause objects to slide about.

The railway ministry signed two MoUs with the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport and Communications of the Swiss Confederation for technical cooperation in rail sector in the presence of Prime Minister NarendraModi.

The MoUaims at cooperation in the areas of traction rolling stock, electric multiple unit and train sets, traction propulsion equipment, freight and passenger cars, tilting trains, railway electrification equipment, and tunnelling technology, among other things.

The first agreement is a follow up on bilateral cooperation in rail sector discussed in the meeting held between Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the Swiss Ambassador in July 2016.

The second agreement was signed between Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology which will help the former in establishing the George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology (GFITT) at Goa especially for assimilation and dissemination of knowledge in the field of tunnelling.

Switzerland

• Capital: Bern
• Currency: Franc

BANKING AND BUSINESS

Canara HSBC Oriental Life launches ‘PoS’ product:

           Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company (CHOICE) has come up with a ‘Point-of-Sale’ product targeted at the mass-market segment.

The product — ‘PoS – Easy Bima Plan’— is the first PoS product for the company and is a pure term insurance plan that not only gives life cover but also returns all premiums paid during the payment term on survival till maturity, AnujMathur, Chief Executive said.

The affordable premiums start from Rs. 1,000 annually and there is inbuilt double life cover in case of accidental death.While this product has initially been launched through a regional rural bank of Canara Bank, it would be available in the bank branches of Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in the next two months.

Canara bank

• Headquarters: Bangalore
• CEO: Rakesh Sharma

RBI arm to launch model platform for Blockchain technology:

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve Bank of India, is developing a model platform for Blockchain technology.

           ASRamasastri, Director, IDRBT, said the platform will be suitable for different applications relevant to banking. SudarshanSen, Executive Director, RBI, said the central bank, IDRBT and fintech players could work together for commercial success of new technology platforms.

It’s a type of distributed ledger or decentralised database that keeps records of digital transactions. People generally use a trusted third-party like a bank to make a transaction. But Blockchain removes the need for a third-party by directly connecting the customers and suppliers on the same platform.IDRBT has also filed for three patents on technology solutions related to cyber security, cloud computing and analytics.

Canara Bank cuts interest rate on savings bank accounts:

Public lender Canara Bank has reduced interest rate on savings bank accounts by 50 basis points to 3.5 per cent on deposits of up to Rs 50 lakh.However, the bank will continue to pay 4 per cent interest on deposits of above Rs 50 lakh.

CSIR ranked 9th public research institution of the world:

India’s largest autonomous public research and development organisation Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been ranked ninth in the world.

CSIR has been ranked ninth amongst a total of 1,207 government institutions, according to the Scimago Institutions ranking World Report 2017.

In overall global ranking, CSIR stands at 75th position amongst 5250 institutions world-wide. It is the only Indian organisation which has found place amongst the Top 100 Global Institutions.

AWARDS

Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail gets SaraswatiSamman:

Union commerce minister NirmalaSitharaman said the narrative that captures ordinary life eventually becomes everlasting. Sitharaman was commenting on the works in “Hawthan”Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail, who won the prestigious SaraswatiSamman literary award for 2016.The award instituted by the KK Birla Foundation carries a plaque and a cash purse of Rs15 lakh.

SPORTS

World Boxing Championships: GauravBidhuri clinches bronze medal

Wildcard entrant GauravBidhuri’s remarkable run at the World Boxing Championships ended with a bronze medal after he lost his semifinal clash to American Duke Ragan in Hamburg.

HISTORIC EVENTS OF THE DAY

World Coconut Day – September 2:

The Coconut Development Board will celebrate World Coconut Day on September 2.The main function will be held at Vijayawada, with the theme ‘Coconut for Family Nutrition, Health and Wellness.’ September 2 has been declared World Coconut Day by the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) headquartered at Jakarta, Indonesia, to coincide with APCC’s foundation day.

National Nutrition Week to be observed from 1st to 7th September:

The National Nutrition Week will be observed throughout the country from 1st to 7th September. The theme of the National Nutrition Week for 2017 is “Optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health“. The basic objective of this annual event is to intensify awareness generation on the importance of nutrition for health which has an impact on development, productivity, economic growth and ultimately National development.