DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : September 1, 2 & 3, 2019

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Daily Current Affairs (September 1, 2 & 3 , 2019) 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.

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01 SEPTEMBER 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS

NATIONAL NEWS

West Bengal Assembly adopts bill to curb mob lynching incidents

The West Bengal Assembly unanimously adopted a bill to curb the incidents of lynching.

Under the provisions of the bill, in case of death due to lynching, those responsible for the incident will be punished with death sentence or rigorous life imprisonment and fine up to five lakh rupees.

In case of serious injury due to lynching, those responsible for it will be punished for life imprisonment with a fine up to three lakh rupees.

The Director-General of Police will act as a Nodal Officer to monitor and take measure to prevent incidents of lynching besides District level monitoring.

Assam final NRC list released: 19 lakh people excluded, 3.11 crore make it to citizenship list

More than 19 lakh people in Assam have been excluded from the final version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that was released by the government.
A total of 3.29 crore people had applied for the NRC, of which 3.11 crore made it to the final list.
It is aimed at identifying illegal immigrants who entered and settled in Assam, primarily from Bangladesh, after March 25, 1971 and deport them to their native country.
A total of 3,11,21,004 people have been found eligible for inclusion in the final version of the NRC.
On June 30, 2018, the Assam government had released the second draft of the NRC.
Back then, the number of people excluded from the NRC was 40 lakh. This number has now come down to 19 lakh in the final list.
Prateek Hajela,State Coordinator,NRC

India to use Artifical Intelligence in TB care, sets deadline to end disease by 2025

The Central TB Division of the health ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence to explore the application of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technology in its fight against the disease.
As part of the collaboration, Wadhwani AI would be supporting India’s National TB programme to become AI-ready that would include developing, piloting, and deploying AI-based solutions.
Five years ahead of the global target of 2030, India has set an ambitious aim of ending TB by 2025.

Special Tiger Force for Corbett Reserve set up, wildlife officials welcome move

The Uttarakhand government has decided to form a Special Tiger Force for Corbett Tiger Reserve, a move which will help serve as the much needed second layer of protection for the big cat.
The decision to set up the force was taken by the State Cabinet. The force will have 85 posts.
The STPF will be effective in checking illegal human intrusion into the reserve through villages located on its fringes and serve as a second layer of protection for tigers at the CTR.
The STPF will be deployed at the maximum on the extremely sensitive southern fringe of the reserve bordering Uttar Pradesh through which criminal elements keep trying to intrude into reserve areas.

Mega Vendor Meet 2019 on Greater Business Opportunities in Railways Sector held at Lucknow

Around 500 representatives from Industries across the country participated in the Vendor Meet organized by the research wing of Indian Railways, Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) in Lucknow.
The special Mega Vendor Meet was held to expand vendor base and spread information on greater business opportunities in Railways Sector.
Further, detailed presentation on Online Vendor Approval process of RDSO and steps taken for enhancement for “Ease of doing Business” and details of items having less than three (3) sources was given.
It was informed that, RDSO has already initiated some measures to encourage vendors to register themselves for RDSO controlled items with less than three sources.
For example, registration charges for items with less than three sources has been reduced from Rs. 1,50,000/- to Rs. 10,000/- for micro/small enterprises and from Rs. 2,50,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- for others.
Moreover, product testing charges shall also be borne by RDSO for such items.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Govt to set up Model mosques in Bangladesh

Bangladesh government will set up 560 model mosques and Islamic cultural centres in districts and upzilas across the country.
District Model Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre at Meherpur Court Road State laid foundation stone by Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain.
Minister for Religious Affairs Al Haj Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah announced that construction of the model mosques is a priority project of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Work order for 462 mosques has already been issued.
The project for the construction of 560 model mosques at a cost of Tk 8,722 crore was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on April 2017.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the project in April 2018.

The government has also taken up the repair work of 1812 temples across the country including the historic Dhakeshwari temple in Dhaka at an estimated cost of Tk 228 crore.

BANKING & FINANCE

Govt announces mega merger of public sector of banks

The finance minister has announced the mega merger of public sector bank (PSBs) reducing the number of PSBs to 12 banks furthering the processing of consolidation in the public sector banks compared with 27 PSBs in 2017.
The finance minister has announced 4 sets of merger including the merger of Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India to emerge as second largest PSB with Rs 18 lakh crore business and second largest branch network in India.
In the second set, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank would be merged to emerge as fourth largest PSB with Rs 15.2 lakh core business and 3rd largest branch network in India.
Union Bank of India would be merged with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to emerge as 5th largest PSB with Rs 14.6 lakh crore business and 4th largest branch network in India.
Further, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank would be merged to emerge as 7th largest PSB with Rs 8.08 lakh crore businesses.
Important feature of this merger includes strong scale benefits to both with business doubling, high CASA & lending capacity combined in consolidated bank.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Total horticulture production estimated to be over 313 million tonnes

The total horticulture production of the country is estimated to be over 313 million tonnes which is 0.69 per cent higher than the production in 2017-18.
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare released the Third Advanced Estimate (2018-19) of area and production of various Horticulture Crops.
Onion Production is estimated to be around 23.48 Million Tonnes, which is 0.95 per cent higher than the production last year.
Tomato production is estimated to be around 19.39 Million Tonnes, which is 1.8 per cent, lower than the production last year.
The overall increase is observed in the production of fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and honey whereas decrease is observed in the production of plantation and aromatics and medicinal crops as compared to last year.
This is based on the information received from different State and Union Territories.

Air India bans single use plastic in flights from Oct 2

Air India will completely ban use of plastic in Alliance Air and Air India Express from 2nd October.

Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ashwani Lohani informed this while addressing a workshop of Civil Aviation Correspondents in New Delhi.

Plastic tea cups will be replaced with sturdy paper cups and plastic tumblers will be replaced with paper tumblers.

The move follows a clarion call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban single use plastic during his Independence Day Address from the ramparts of Red Fort.

COMmITTEES & RECOMMENDATIONS

CBDT notifies creation of five-member special cell for startups

The CBDT notified creation of a five-member special cell to address grievances of startups with relation to angel tax and other tax-related issues.
An order issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) the ‘startup cell’ will be headed by the member (Income Tax and Computerisation) of the board.
The cell will work towards redressal of grievances and mitigate tax-related issues in case of startup entities with respect to administration of Income-tax Act, 1961.
Startup etities can approach the cell for speedy resolution of their grievances.
This initiative is the latest amongst the recent initiatives taken by the CBDT to further ease the compliance issues pertaining to startups.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

Ban on polythene bags comes into force in UP from Sept 01

A complete ban on the use of polythene bags will come into force in Uttar Pradesh from September 01.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi informed, local police station and its in-charge will be held responsible for non-compliance of the government order in this regard.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had vowed last year to make Uttar Pradesh plastic and polythene-free.
Allahabad High Court had also banned the use of polythene in the state. Government has said that alternative things will be made available to the people.

‘Fit India Campaign’: Meghalaya CM launches ‘walk to work’ campaign in state

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma took the lead to launch the campaign of Fit India Movement which has been launched in the country by the Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister took a two-kilometer walk from his residential quarters to his office chamber at Main Secretariat, Shillong launching the #WalktoWorkMeghalaya which is a part of the ‘Fit India Campaign’.
The idea of ‘walk to work’ will have multiple benefits, cuts the cost of fuel including reduction of CO2 emission; reduce congestion in the city and more importantly for health and fitness.
If the population in Shillong starts to adopt the campaign in the weeks to come and ensure that you walk to work once a week it will lead to a great deal of benefits to the individual and to the society as a whole.
He urged the citizens of the State to join and be a part of Fit India Movement.

Govt to set up 12,500 AYUSH centres across the country

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government has set a target of setting up 12,500 AYUSH centres across India. He expressed the government is trying to set up 4000 such centres this year itself.

Giving away Yoga Awards to the winners for Outstanding Contribution for Promotion and Development of Yoga in New Delhi, Mr Modi expressed 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres are being opened across the country.

The Prime Minister informed AYUSH and Yoga are strong pillars of ‘Fit India’ movement. He attributed his health to Yoga, Pranayama and Ayurveda.

During the ceremony, Mr Modi released 12 commemorative postal stamps to honour eminent scholars, practitioners and Great Master Healers of AYUSH Systems.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

PK Sinha appointed OSD in PMO, Nripendra Misra to retire

Former Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha was appointed as OSD in the PMO after Nripendra Misra’s request to be relieved as Principal Secretary was accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sinha’s place was taken by Rajiv Gauba who was appointed the Cabinet Secretary.
Misra is a 1967-batch retired IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre and served the government in key positions. Sinha is a 1977 cadre officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

SPORTS NEWS

HC refuses to vacate stay on election for office bearers in Kabaddi Federation

The Delhi High Court refused to vacate a stay on the election for office bearers of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) that was to be held on 1st of September.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued a notice to Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, AKFI and AC Thangavel, a former Kabaddi player from Tamil Nadu, seeking their response on an appeal by the temporary President and Vice President of the federation against the order of a single judge.

The single-judge bench had on 27th August, stayed the elections of AKFI on Thangavel’s petition challenging the AKFI’s three orders of 7, 16 and 17th of August by which polls were notified by the administrator, electoral roll published and the objections raised by him dismissed without assigning any reasons.

IMPORTNT DAYS

National Nutrition Week: September 01st – September 07th

National nutrition week is a week-long event conducted all over the nation to create awareness about the importance of nutritious food in everyone’s life.
It is celebrated from 1st September to 7th September every year. It was first organized in 1982 under the flagship of the Food and Nutrition Board, Ministry of Women and Child Development.
National Nutritional week 2019 is celebrated from this week i.e., 1st September (Sunday) to 7thSeptember (Saturday).
The objective of the National Nutrition Week is to enhance the nutritional practice awareness among people of the community through the adoptable training, timely education, seminars, different competitions, road shows and many other campaigns and to make a healthy Nation.

02 SEPTEMBER 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS

NATIONAL NEWS

‘Samba’ Railway Station in Jammu Division to get Freight Terminal soon

In a major step to boost industries in Jammu and Kashmir, the Samba Railway Station in Jammu Division will soon have a Freight Termina l– the first of its kind in the state.

A team led by Chief Transport Planning Manager (CTPM) Devendra Singh visited the Samba Railway Station.

The team took stock of the existing facilities besides assessing the requirement for infrastructure to operate the Freight Terminal for facilitating easy and cheaper transportation of trade goods, raw material and finished goods to benefit the traders and industrialists.

Initially, the terminal will have the capacity to handle the movement of two to five cargo trains per day in and out.

The Trains would have the capacity to move 6000 to 9000 Metric Tonnes of goods per day.

September month to be celebrated as ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’

The entire month of September will be celebrated as the Rashtriya Poshan Maah. This year the theme is Complementary Feeding.
Prime Minister’s Overreaching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment – POSHAN Abhiyaan is a multi- ministerial convergence mission with the vision to address malnutrition with a targeted approach by 2022.
Due to lack of awareness, both poor and affluent families are affected by it.
Earlier, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani had appealed to the stakeholders including Anganwadi workers to reach out to every household on the importance of nutrition in children.

Culture & Tourism Minister inaugurates gallery of confiscated & retrieved antiquities at ‘Purana Quila’

Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated gallery of confiscated and retrieved antiquities at Purana Quila in New Delhi.
The retrieved items will enhance the knowledge about our rich culture and heritage.
The number of antiquities recovered in the last five years is the highest ever.
The recent success is because of our continuously improving cultural relations with various countries.
The gallery was established by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The displayed antiquities will sensitize the public towards the illegal trade of nation’s heritage.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Trump nominates Indian-American ‘Shireen Mathews’ to federal judgeship

President Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American Shireen Mathews as a Judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of California.
If confirmed, Matthews will be the first Asian Pacific American woman and first Indian-American to serve as an Article III federal judge in the Southern District, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).
Currently, Matthews is a partner at Jones Day, the fifth-largest law firm in the country, in San Diego.
Prior to joining the firm, Matthews served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

China, U.S. kick off new round of tariffs in ‘trade war’

China and the United States began imposing additional tariffs on each other’s goods, the latest escalation in a bruising trade war, despite signs that talks would resume sometime this month.
A new round of tariffs took effect from 0401 GMT, with Beijing’s levy of 5% on U.S. crude marking the first time the fuel has been targeted since the world’s two largest economies started their trade war more than a year ago.
The Trump administration will begin collecting 15% tariffs on more than $125 billion in Chinese imports, including smart speakers, Bluetooth headphones and many types of footwear.
In retaliation, China started to impose additional tariffs on some of the U.S. goods on a $75-billion target list.
The extra tariffs of 5% and 10% were levied on 1,717 items of a total of 5,078 products originating from the United States. Beijing will start collecting additional tariffs on the rest from December 15.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Auto sales in August to be ‘far worse’ than July, analysts expect 30% fall

The slowdown nightmare for the automobile industry is expected to continue for August as analysts estimate an overall sales downfall of up to 30 per cent.
In a survey conducted by IANS, industry experts were quick to point out that August will be far worse in sales than July, especially due to havoc caused by Monsoon rains across India.
They estimated that sector might face an overall sales downfall of up to 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis, with passenger vehicle segment being the worst hit.
Interestingly, this year August came just ahead of the festive season and before the slew of growth inducing measures announced by the government.

Last-minute travellers help railways earn Rs 25,000 cr in last 4 years

Last-minute travellers have helped railways earn a whopping Rs 25,392 crore in the last four years, an RTI has found.
The national transporter earned Rs 21,530 crore from Tatkal quota tickets and an additional Rs 3,862 crore from Tatkal Premium tickets between 2016 and 2019, with a massive 62 per cent increase in revenue from the latter during this period.
Tatkal booking was introduced in 1997 in select trains with an objective of providing accommodation for last-minute travellers and was extended across the country in 2004.
The tatkal scheme currently covers around 2,677 trains. According to railway figures, around 1.71 lakh seats, of the 11.57 lakh available, are up for booking under the tatkal scheme.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

NRIs to get Aadhaar sans 180-day wait in 3 months

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced its systems will be ready within three months to offer the facility of issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs with Indian passports without the mandatory 180 days waiting period, as announced in the Budget.
UIDAI systems are being readied for the facility and necessary legal measures are to be notified soon. UIDAI systems will be tuned to offer the facility within three months’ time.
The UIDAI is setting up Aadhaar Seva Kendras — similar to the concept of Passport Seva Kendras — covering 53 cities across the country at an estimated project cost of ₹300-400 crore.
These Aadhaar centres, meant to facilitate enrolment, updation and other activities, are UIDAI’s own and operate in addition to thousands of centres currently being run by banks and post offices, as well as in government premises.
UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey

FESTIVALS

TN govt. introduces Vinayaka idols that grows into plants for ‘Vinayaka Chaturthi’

As environment-friendly Vinayaka idols are catching up with devotees, the Horticulture department has introduced seed-embedded Vinayaka idols for sales this year.
Horticulture department have made 3,000 pieces this year. They are available for sale in our office in Chepauk, Semmozhi Park in Teynampet and our Madhavaram Horticulture Park.
Each idol, placed in a clay pot, costs ₹200. The department also has asked their units in districts to manufacture similar idols.
The seed Vinayaka reduces the burden of immersing the idols in water bodies and sea.
N. Subbaiyan, director of the Horticulture department

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

President appoints Five new Governors, including TN BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan in Telangana

President Ram Nath Kovind made four new appointments and one transfer for the posts of Governor in Maharashtra, Himachal, Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Rajasthan.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed as the Governor of Telangana, while former Uttarakhand BJP chief Bhagat Singh Koshyari was appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra.
Kalraj Mishra, who was the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, was transferred and appointed as Governor of Rajasthan.
Bandaru Dattatraya, former Secunderabad MP, was appointed the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, while former Cabinet minister Arif Mohammad Khan was appointed the Governor of Kerala.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

PM Modi’s meditation cave is now the new tourist destination

From a dismal solitary booking to 78 bookings — the Rudra meditation cave in Kedarnath visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pre-booked for the first time.
For the first time since it was open to the public in 2018, tourists have booked it in advance 19 in September and 10 in October.
It was in May this year that PM Modi spent a day meditating at the Rudra Caves, barely a kilometre from the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand, in the final days of the general elections.
The cave is maintained by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN).

SPORTS NEWS

‘Jasprit Bumrah’ becomes third Indian to register Test hat-trick

Jasprit Bumrah (6/16) produced a lethal opening spell and rattled West Indies by picking up the first five wickets.
With three of the wickets coming in successive balls, Bumrah became the third Indian to register a hat-trick in Test cricket, following Harbhajan Singh against Australia in Calcutta in 2001, and Irfan Pathan against Pakistan in Karachi in 2006.
Bumrah’s spell left West Indies tottering at 87 for seven at stumps. Bumrah had picked up five wickets for 10 runs off six overs.

‘Yashaswini Deswal’ wins gold at ISSF World Cup

Young shooter Yashaswini Singh Deswal won gold in the women’s 10meter Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup at in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
With the win, she has also secured an Olympic quota for India. This is India’s ninth quota in shooting for 2020 Tokyo Games.
World no.1 Olena Kostevych of Ukraine claimed the silver, while Serbia’s Jasmina Milavonovic bagged the bronze.

Shot putter ‘Tejinderpal Singh Toor’ clinches silver in Czech Republic

Shot putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor clinched a silver medal during an athletic meet at Decin in the Czech Republic.
The Asian Games gold medallist came up with the best throw of 20.09m in his last attempt at the event. Tajinder has been awarded the Arjuna Award this year.
The 24-year-old Indian, who has a personal best of 20.75m, has already qualified for World championship being the Area champion following his gold-winning feat at Asian Athletics Championships in April this year.

India beat Nepal 7-0 to lift ‘SAFF’ Under-15 title

In football,India lifted the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-15 title at Kalyanai, West Bengal with a 7-0 win over Nepal.

The victory also meant that India is now the most successful team in the tournament’s history.

They won the title for a record third time after previous wins in 2013 and 2017, both of which came in Nepal.

In most interested match, striker Sridarth Nongmeikapam scored a hat-trick for India.

Maheson Singh, Amandeep, Sibajit Singh and Himanshu Jangra scored one goal each.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Coconut day: September 02nd

World Coconut day is celebrated on 2nd of September annually as declared by Asian and Pacific coconut community (APCC) whose headquarters is at Jakarta, Indonesia.
This organization works to economically support and promote all the coconut industries
India is one of the founding members of this organization since 1968
There is a Coconut Development Board (CDB) in India which in collaboration with APCC organizes many events in different parts of the country.
CDB headquarters at Kochi Kerala and has many regional and state offices all over the country.
Coconut is India is referred to as “Kalpavriksha” which means a tree which will fulfills all the necessities of life and is regarded as a holy tree.

03 SEPTEMBER 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS

NATIONAL NEWS

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates the 5th Aqua Aquaria India 2019

Shri Venkaiah Naidu was inaugurating the 5th AQUA AQUARIA INDIA 2019, India’s International Aquaculture Show, organized by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), in Hyderabad.
The theme for this year’s event is ‘Taking Blue Revolution to India’s Hinterland’.
It will be held at Hitex International Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The three-day biennial event, organised for encouraging diversification and intensification of aquaculture in a sustainable manner, is an initiative of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Commerce Ministry.
The event will offer a platform for all stakeholders to deliberate on various aspects of aquaculture.

Chhattisgarh Gets India’s 1st ‘Garbage Café’ For Ragpickers

The country’s first garbage cafe has been launched here in Chhattisgarh. Under this, the Municipal Corporation will provide food to the poor and homeless in lieu of plastic waste.
Ambikapur, which has been selected as the second cleanest city after Indore, plans to use the plastic for construction of roads.
The cafe will operate from the city’s main bus stand, confirmed by Mayor Ajay Tirkey who presented the city’s municipal budget.
The budget provides Rs 5 lakh for the Garbage Cafe Scheme. There is a plan to provide free shelter to the homeless who collect plastic waste. Ambikapur already has a road made with plastic granules and asphalt.
The first such road in the state has been made in the city by mixing 8 lakh plastic bags. The road constructed by mixing plastic and asphalt is durable, because the water does permeate through it.

ECI to host the 4th General Assembly of A-WEB at Bengaluru

The Election Commission of India is scheduled to host the 4th General Assembly of Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) at Bengaluru on 3rd September 2019.
India will take over as A-WEB’s Chair for the 2019-21 term. Over 50 countries across the globe will join the meeting at Bengaluru from 02nd to 04th September, 2019.
An International Conference on “Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and Information Technology in Elections” will also be held on 04th September, 2019.
The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.
A-WEB was established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea. The permanent secretariat of A-WEB is located at Seoul.
A-WEB’s vision is to foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative elections worldwide.

Prakash Javadekar Unveils New Logo, Certificate Design of CBFC

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar unveiled the new logo and certificate design of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) at a function here.
Introduction of a QR code in the new certificate design is in sync with the world of digital technology and will bring in greater transparency and provide information to filmmakers in a better way.
The launch event was attended by Secretary, I&B, Amit Khare, and CBFC chairman Prasoon Joshi.
The new look and the design was executed by designer Rohit Devgun with technical support from NSDL.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indonesia to move capital from sinking Jakarta to Borneo

Indonesia‘s president announced the country’s capital will move from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan province on Borneo Island, known for rainforests and orangutans.
Intense studies over the past three years had resulted in the choice of the location on the eastern side of Borneo Island.
The new capital city, which has not yet been named, will be in the middle of the vast archipelago nation and already has relatively complete infrastructure because it is near the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda.
Currently 54% of the country’s nearly 270 million people live on Java, the country’s most densely populated area.
Indonesia’s President: Joko Widodo

RANKING & INDEX

India ranks 9th on Happiness among 28 global markets: Ipsos Global Happiness Survey

According to a new global survey by Ipsos in India has ranked 9th in the pecking order on Happiness, among 28 nations polled.
Australia and Canada are tied at the top spot as happiest nations Living conditions, physical well-being, personal safety and security, friends, feeling in control of life, emerged as some of the top determinants of happiness.
Interestingly, markets with the highest prevalence of happiness are largely the developed nations, known for their citizen-centricity ; Australia and Canada tied at the top spot (at 86%) have emerged as the happiest nations of the world, followed by China (83%).
Great Britain (82%), France (80%), US (79%) and Saudi Arabia (78%) – these are the eight markets preceding India – and the survey shows that India is a notch below them (at 77%).

Safe Cities Index 2019: Tokyo tops; Mumbai and New Delhi rank 45 and 52

The Safe Cities Index 2019 has revealed something astonishing. New Delhi 45th and Mumbai 52nd are among the safest cities in the world.
The study has shown that only two Indian cities have made it to the list of 60 most safe cities in the world, with Tokyo leading the pack.
Tokyo is followed by Singapore, Osaka, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Toronto.
The American city of Washington DC is on the seventh spot while Seoul and Copenhagen have a tie for the eighth spot.
The study has been carried out based on 57 indicators, covering digital security, health security, infrastructure security, and personal security.
Safe Cities Index 2019 is a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit.

AGREEMENTS & MOU

IIT-Kharagpur, Amazon Web Services join hands to develop AI portal

IIT-Kharagpur will collaborate with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal to promote learning and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all AI learners, practitioners and researchers in India.
The portal will provide access to compute facilities to users for AI learning and experimentation.
Novice machine learning practitioners will be able to quickly search and get access to myriads of learning resources and prototype the learned concepts into hands-on running modules without being held back by the lack of resources.
The portal was launched with initial funding from the Ministry of Human Resources Development, as part of the National Digital Library of India platform.

Reliance Power partners with Japan’s JERA to set up 750 MW power project in Bangladesh

Reliance Power has signed a partnership agreement with Japanese energy major JERA for jointly setting up 750 megawatt (MW) gas-based combined cycle power project (phase-1) at Meghnaghat, Bangladesh.
Reliance Power will hold 51 percent stake, while JERA will hold 49 percent stake in the joint venture company.
The transaction will result in debt reduction for Reliance Power of Rs 835 crore ($116 million) payable to US-Exim. The project will be set up within 36 months of signing the agreements.
This joint venture project will give a tremendous boost to the economic and industrial growth of Bangladesh and will enhance the energy security of the country with clean, green and reliable LNG-based power.
Reliance Group of Companies Chairman Anil D Ambani

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Lt. Gen. Mukund Naravane takes charge as Vice Chief of the Army Staff

Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane assumed charge as vice chief of the 1.3 million-strong Army.
Lt. Gen. Naravane will be in contention for the Army chief’s post as he will be the senior-most commander when incumbent Gen. Bipin Rawat retires on December 31.
Lt. Gen. Naravane succeeds Lt. Gen. D. Anbu who retired from service on August 31.
Before taking charge as Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Naravane was heading the Eastern Command of the Army which takes care of nearly 4,000-km India’s border with China.

Vivek Kumar Johri takes charge as BSF Director General

IPS officer Vivek Kumar Johri took charge as the Director General (DG) of the country’s largest border guarding force, BSF.
Johri, a 1984-batch officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, took charge from his batch-mate Rajni Kant Mishra at the BSF headquarters in CGO Complex at Lodhi Road.
The new DG, Johri, will retire in September next year and is the 25th chief of the force that was raised in 1965.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book titled “A Short History of Indian Railways”, has been penned by Rajendra B Aklekar

A new book on the history of Indian Railways chronicles the journey of the national transporter from the 1830s to the new high-speed Train 18 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious bullet train project.
The book, “A Short History of Indian Railways“, has been penned by veteran journalist and author Rajendra B Aklekar.
Mr Aklekar has already chronicled a few other books on Indian Railways.
The book’s foreword has been written by eminent journalist Mark Tully, who lauds the book for its fascinating story-telling and carefully-curated topics and its interesting description on Indian Railways.
The book documents several untold stories of the first train, the role of Railways in India’s freedom struggle, including incidents like the Kakori train dacoity, a plot to blow up Mahatma Gandhi’s train, and also quirkier stories of rail ghosts, demons and haunted rail lines.

SPORTS NEWS

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc wins Belgian Grand Prix in solemn atmosphere

Charles Leclerc just held off Lewis Hamilton to win the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position, securing the first victory of his Formula One career and ending Ferrari’s long wait for a win.
Hamilton was within one second of Leclerc on the final lap, but the 21-year-old from Monaco held his nerve.
Leclerc dedicated it to the French driver Anthoine Hubert who died Saturday, following a heavy crash during an F2 race held on the same track.

Nadubhagam Chundan Lifts 67th Nehru Trophy in Alappuzha; Sachin Tendulkar Attends Iconic Boat Race

Nadubhagam Chundan, the snake boat of Pallathuruthy Boat Club, lifted the 67th edition of the coveted Nehru Trophy at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha.
In a nail-biting finish, the Nadubhgam earned nine points, clocking 4.24 minutes to cover the distance of 1,050 metres, leaving behind their fellow competitors ‘Chambakkulam Chundan’ and “Karichal Chundan” who came in the second and third positions respectively.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the event in the presence of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who was the chief guest of the event. Tendulkar also took a boat ride and cheered the competing teams.
A total of 79 boats, including 23 snake boats, participated in the Nehru trophy. Of this, 20 snake boats, including nine CBL teams, are competing in the main race and the remaining three snake boats in the exhibition race.

OBITUARIES

Valerie Harper, Who Won Fame and Emmys as ‘Rhoda,’ Dies at 80

Valerie Harper, who parlayed a sidekick role as the leading lady’s unprepossessing best friend on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” into a star turn of her own in the hit sitcom “Rhoda,” died. She was 80.
Harper worked on numerous other television shows and movies throughout her career.

She was on the shows Columbo, The Muppet Show, Touched by an Angel, That ’70s Show.

And also Desperate Housewives, The Simpsons, American Dad, and others. On the film side of things, Harper was in The Great Mom Swap, Freebie and the Bean, Blame It on Rio, and Chapter Two.
In addition to films and television, Harper also performs on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010 for her part in Looped.