Current Affairs : 19th September,2017

NATIONAL

First water ATM inaugurated in Hyderabad:

 Safe Water Network, an international NGO has partnered with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to launch water ATMs, providing affordable, 24×7 safe water access in Hyderabad.

The first of the ATMs was inaugurated by Telangana State Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy. A total of 200 ATMs will be set up to reach a targetted 150,000 people. In the first phase 50 water ATMs will be operationalised by next year.

Telangana

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

INS Garhial to carry relief material under operation Insaniyat for Rohingya refugees:

 INS Garhial of Indian Navy will carry around 86 thousand family packs as relief material in the ongoing OPERATION INSANIYAT launched in support of Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugees.

INTERNATIONAL

Russia, Iraq restore air travel after 13-year freeze:

 Russia and Iraq restored scheduled commercial airline services for the first time since 2004, in what officials hailed as a sign of stability returning to the war-torn country.

Iraq

• Currency:Iraqi dinar
• Capital: Baghdad

Russia

• Russian President: Vladimir Putin.
• Currency: Russian ruble
• Capital: Moscow

Sushma arrives in New York to attend UNGA meet:

 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived to represent India at the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session with a packed schedule of super diplomacy among an array of world leaders.

The minister is scheduled to have a series of meetings, including that with Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics and her Bolivian counterpart Fernando Huanacuni Mamani.

Japan releases postage stamps on Indian yoga experts:

Acknowledging the role played by yoga legend Bishnu Charan Ghosh and his family members in spreading Indian postural yoga in Japan, the Japanese postal department has released postage stamps on four of Bengal’s famous exponents of the ancient Indian practice.

The stamps on Bishnu Charan Ghosh, his son Biswanath Ghosh, daughter Karuna Ghosh and Karuna’s father in law Asutosh Ghosh, that were released recently in Japan, were official showcased here by the Japanese Consul General Masayuki Taga ,in Kolkata.

Japan

• Capital: Tokyo
• Currency: Yen
• Prime minister: Shinzō Abe

US and UAE to conduct joint military exercise in Abu Dhabi:

The US and UAE’s ground forces will begin a joint military exercise in Abu Dhabi, as part of efforts to consolidate their bilateral relations and exchange training and military expertise.

Code-named Iron Union 5, the drill is an extension of a series of Iron Claw exercises, which the UAE organises with friendly countries to exchange and develop their skills according to the latest advanced military systems.

USA

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

United Arab Emirates

• Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
• Capital: Abu Dhabi

China opens dual-use highway to Nepal via Tibet:

 China has opened a strategic highway in Tibet to the Nepal border which could be used for civilian and defence purposes, a move that Chinese experts say will enable Beijing to make forays into South Asia.

The 40.4-kilometre highway in Tibet between Xigaze airport and Xigaze city centre officially opened to the public with a short section linking the national highway to the Nepal border.

The highway will shorten the journey from an hour to 30 minutes between the dual-use civil and military airport and Tibet’s second-largest city.

China

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

BANKING & BUSINESS

Joint Committee on The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017:

The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both the Houses, under the Chairpersonship of Shri Bhupender Yadav, M.P for examination and presenting a Report to the Parliament.

Ujjivan Bank to replace loans with certificate deposits:

 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has said that it will bring down its cost of funds by up to 150 basis points during the current financial year by replacing 75% of its bank loans with borrowings using money market instruments including certificate of deposits.

SBM may be first to launch India subsidiary:

 State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) is likely to become the first foreign bank to open a wholly-owned subsidiary almost four years after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed overseas lenders to open local units in India.

New India Assurance, Khadim get SEBI nod for public issue:

Footwear retailer Khadim India has received capital markets regulator Sebi’s approval to raise an estimated Rs 550-650 crore through an initial public offering.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGN

Y C Modi becomes new chief of NIA:

Senior IPS officer Y C Modi, who was part of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that probed the 2002 Gujarat riot cases, was named chief of the National Investigation Agency.

Another senior IPS officer, Rajni Kant Misra, has been appointed director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

He will take over from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on October 30, the order said.

Infosys’ design head Rajagopalan resigns:

 Sanjay Rajagopalan, senior vice-president of Infosys who headed design and research, has quit the company.

AWARDS

President’s medal for former DIG D Roopa:

 Former DIG D Roopa, who highlighted in a report alleged irregularities at the central jail here, including preferential treatment to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, was conferred the President’s Medal.

The award was presented to Roopa for her meritorious service by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.

Nigerian lawyer gets top UN peace prize:

A Nigerian lawyer Zannah Mustapha who helped secure the release of more than 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram was awarded one of the United Nations’ peace prizes.

 69th Primetime Emmy Awards 2017:

The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced at the Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

• Outstanding Comedy Series -Veep
• Outstanding Drama Series – The Handmaid’s Tale
• Outstanding Television Movie -Black Mirror: “San Junipero”
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series -Donald Glover as Earnest “Earn” Marks on Atlanta
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series-Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer on Veep.
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series -Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson on This Is Us
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offered on The Handmaid’s Tale
• Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series -Atlanta (Episode: “B.A.N.”), Directed by Donald Glover
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series -The Handmaid’s Tale (Episode: “Offred”), Directed by Reed Morano

SPORTS

Purnima clinches pentathlon gold:

 India won its first athletics gold, through Purnima Hembram in women’s pentathlon, in the fifth Asian indoor and martial arts games. India also got two silvers, through Sanjivani Jadhav in women’s 3000m and Tejinder Singh Toor in men’s shot put, and a bronze through Kerala’s V. Neena in women’s long jump.

Ankur Mittal, Ahvar Rizvi win silver medals at ISSF Shotgun World Championships:

 India’s Ankur Mittal won the silver medal in the men’s double trap event at the ISSF Shotgun World Championships in Moscow.

In the junior competition, India’s Ahvar Rizvi also won a silver medal after faltering at the last shot. Great Britain’s James Dedman won the gold medal on the final shot of the competition.

OBITUARY

Father of nephrology in India’ Dr KS Chugh dies of cancer at 85:

Dr KS Chugh, the “father of nephrology in India”, breathed his last at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He was 85.