DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: SEPTEMBER 04, 2018

Daily Current Affairs (September 04, 2018) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

2 MoUs signed between India and Cyprus

India and Cyprus have signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment.

President Ram Nath Kovind met his Cypriot counterpart Nicos Anastasiades and held wide-ranging talks.

Kovind and Anastasiades also held discussions on issues of mutual interest including promotion of business collaboration in the fields of IT and IT enabled services, tourism, shipping and renewable energy.

Apart from Cyprus, Kovind will also visit Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. This is his first overseas state visit in the second year of his presidency.

Cyprus

Capital: Nicosia

Currency: Euro

Sanjay Dutt to be Uttarakhand’s anti-drug brand ambassador

The Uttarakhand Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has announced that actor Sanjay Dutt will be the brand ambassador for anti-drug campaign for five states, including Uttarakhand, and two Union Territories.

The five states are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and union territory of Chandigarh and Delhi.

Sanjay Dutt’s battle with drug addiction was recently shown in his biopic, Sanju.

A massive campaign to create awareness among youngsters about the ill-effects of drug abuse is a part of the strategy.

ICAR organized conference on Motivating & Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA)

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR has organized a two-day conference on Motivating & Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA).

Under this scheme, special efforts are being taken up to attract the rural youth under the age of 35 years in agriculture so that the increase in the migration of rural youth towards cities is controlled.

The two day conference provides an opportunity to all stakeholders to interact and discuss various options and avenues for not only attracting youth to agriculture but even motivating them towards entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied fields. The regional conference has attracted participants from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

‘One-Nation-One-Card’ Policy For Transport: NITI Aayog

India will shortly unveil a ‘One Nation-One Card Policy’ for public transport that will entail connectivity between various modes of transport. It was announced by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

The road transportation segment alone contributes to around four per cent of India’s GDP with the segment still being heavily dependent on fossil fuels. It aims to provide sustainable mobility and accessibility by switching to cleaner mode of transportation.

For instance in London, you can buy one card (Oyster card) and can travel on the bus, metro and even suburban trains using that card.

ISRO plans its first overseas ground base at North Pole

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to set up its first overseas ground station at the North Pole. This would bolster the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) operations which are critically important in times like disaster management.

This ground station will provide an opportunity to download complete data within the same orbit and enable the use of onboard resources in every orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is the space agency of the Government of India headquartered in the city of Bangalore.

Founder: Vikram Sarabhai

Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

INTERNATIONAL

Xi Jinping offers $60 bn Africa aid

China has pledged a $60 billion fund to bolster industry, counter hunger, and enhance security in Africa.

China would also support Africa to achieve “general food security by 2030.”

A China- Africa environmental cooperation centre will be set up where research on environmental issues will be conducted.

President Xi has announced that China will train 1,000 high-calibre Africans, provide 50,000 government scholarships, sponsor seminars and workshop that would benefit 50,000 Africans, and invite 2,000 African youths to visit China for exchanges.

Indus Waters Treaty: India, Pakistan agree to undertake Treaty mandated tours on both sides

India and Pakistan have agreed to undertake the Indus Waters Treaty mandated tours by their Commissioners in the Indus basin on both sides to resolve issues on the various hydroelectric projects, including the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Water Commission led by Commissioner P K Saxena reviewed Pakistan’s objections minutely. The Pakistani side was led by Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Meher Ali Shah.

India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory. The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers.

Under the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty 1960, waters of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas and Ravi – had been allocated to India and the western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab – to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India.

Kiren Rijiju flags off ‘Delhi Movelo Cyclothon’

The Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju flagged off Delhi Movelo Cyclothon in the national capital, New Delhi.

Delhi Movelo Cyclothon was organised by NITI Aayog at India Gate. The main aim of the event was making cycling a part of everybody’s life and also spreading the message of environmental awareness.

The nine-km Cyclothon also aims to create awareness about future of transportation and evolving technologies in the sector.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

Reserve Bank tightens ombudsman scheme

The Reserve Bank of India has tightened the banking ombudsman scheme with the objective to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism for customers.

All Scheduled Commercial Banks in India having more than ten banking outlets (excluding Regional Rural Banks), are required to appoint IO in their banks.

The Internal Ombudsman (IO) acts as an independent authority to review complaints that were partially or wholly rejected by the respective banks.

RBI has reviewed the arrangement and issued revised directions under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 in the form of ‘Internal Ombudsman Scheme, 2018’.

The implementation of IO Scheme, 2018 will be monitored by the bank’s internal audit mechanism apart from regulatory oversight by RBI.

ITI partners with 58 start-ups and OEMs

The ITI Ltd has partnered with 58 start-ups and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) covering the manufacturing of a wide range of ICT and IoT-based solutions.

They include civil and military advanced radar systems, advanced edge router systems, next generation 5G technology products etc.,

ITI Ltd, the multi-unit public sector also signed Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements with eight companies.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Chairman, Telecom Commission and Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Aruna Sundararajan.

Paytm Money app for mutual funds launched

The Paytm Money Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd targets to sell mutual fund to around 25 million people in the next three to five years. The company launched its app “Paytm Money app” for mutual fund investments.

This money is being invested in technology, development of products, design, engineering and setting up the entire function.

About 50 million investors will be invested in mutual funds by the next three to five years.

The customers will be able to buy mutual funds directly from their bank accounts. They would not need to store money in the Paytm wallet.

Paytm Money director: Vijay Shekhar Sharma

SUMMITS

6th East Asia Summit & 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting Held in Singapore

The Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu attended the 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) in Singapore. Singapore is currently holding the Chair of ASEAN.

The 6th East-Asia Economic Ministers’  Meeting was chaired by Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore, and was attended by Economic Ministers from  10 ASEAN countries and their eight dialogue partners.

The 15th ASEAN Economic Ministers – India Consultation was  co-chaired by Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore, and Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry, India.

India participates in Tsunami Mock Drill ‘IOWave18’

The Indian Ocean Wave Exercise 2018 (IOWave18) begins in the Indian Ocean. India along with 23 other nations is participating in this major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock drill.

It involves evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas in over half a dozen coastal states.

This tsunami warning exercise is being organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. It was the IOC that coordinated the setting up of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS).

In India, IOWave18 is being coordinated by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

NDRF Battalions, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guards, Army, Critical installations (nuclear power plants), Port & harbors are also participating the exercise.

APPOINTMENTS

NP Singh elected as IBF’s new President

At the 19th annual general meeting(AGM) of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Sony Pictures Networks India CEO and MD NP Singh was elected as the new president of the foundation.

Singh will succeed Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd ( ZEEL) MD Punit Goenka who held the position for two years.

Indian Broadcasting Foundation is a unified representative body of the television broadcasters in India. The organisation was founded in the year 1999.

SPORTS

52nd World shooting championship: Anjum Moudgil wins silver

Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela became the first set of Indian shooters to secure quota places for the 2020 Olympics by winning a silver and finishing fourth respectively in the women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF World Championship at Changwon, South Korea.

Moudgil finished second on the podium behind Korean Hana Im (251.1) and ahead of bronze-medallist Eunhea Jung (228.0), who is also from Korea.

Lewis Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix

The Mercedes player Lewis Hamilton won Italian grand prix 2018. It is his fifth Italian Grand Prix. The Briton’s(British player) 68th career victory and sixth this year stretched his championship lead from 17 points to 30 ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

He was followed by Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and Mercedes Valtteri Bottas respectively.

Ikee Rikako named ‘Most Valuable Player’ of Asian Games

Japan’s young swimmer Rikako Ikee was named the Indonesia Asian Games’ Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Rikako is the first woman to win six golds at a single Games, and she finished with eight medals in total — equalling the record set by North Korean shooter So Gin Man in 1982.

Rikako captured titles in the 50m butterfly, 100m fly, 50m free, 100m free, 4x100m free and the 4x100m medley in a show-stealing performance in Jakarta.

Alastair Cook of England to retire from International cricket

England’s highest Test run-scorer Alastair Cook will retire from international cricket after this week’s final Test against India.

The opener, 33, has scored 12,254 runs and made 32 centuries in 160 Tests – all England records.

Cook is sixth on the all-time list of Test run-scorers and has made a record 11,627 runs as an opener.In 2012, Cook led England to their first victory in India for 27 years.

OBITUARY

Former footballer Arthur Pereira passed away

The Former Maharashtra football player Arthur Pereira has passed away. Pereira played for several clubs in the city, including the well-known Orkay Mills.

Pereira toured Russia as a striker with the Indian team in 1971. He also represented Maharashtra in the national championships for the Santosh Trophy from 1971 to 1976.

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