Current Affairs - September 2, 2017 Current Affairs

Ahmedabad in Gujarat was formally accorded the status of India's first World Heritage City with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova handing over the certificate in this regard to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The honour makes the walled city of Ahmedabad the first city in India, and the third in Asia. India now has a total of 36 World Heritage Inscriptions -- 28 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed site.

Global ride-hailing firm Uber will give free insurance to its 450,000 driver partners in India that will cover death, disability or hospitalization due to accidents.

Swedish defence major SAAB to tie-up with Adani Group to manufacture the Gripen E fighter jets in India under the Defence Ministry's $10 billion single-engine fighter jet procurement programme. The announcement comes within months of US' Lockheed Martin announcing its joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems for producing the latest version of F-16 in India.

Indian-origin veteran civil servant JY Pillay appointed Singapore's acting President. Pillay, chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers (CPA), will act as the President until after polling day on Septemeber 23 -- or after nomination day on September 13, if a candidate is elected unopposed.

The world's highest sandcastle is now standing 16.68 meters 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 three and a half weeks to the site at a former steelworks in the inland city. The new sandcastle is decorated with sand models of tourist attractions such as Athens' Acropolis, Barcelona's Sagrada Familia and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Friday signed an agreement with the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to set up 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in its rural exchanges by next six months. The setting up of 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots shall be funded from the USO Fund, with the government providing full capital expenditure and operational expenditure (OPEX) support to the tune of Rs 940 crore for the project.

The world's largest and powerful X-ray laser- European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) unveiled in Hamburg, Germany. The XEFL is series of 3.4-kilometer tunnels up to 38 meters underground near the city of Hamburg. It has the capacity to generate extremely intense laser flashes, at a rate of 27,000 per second generated by Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE).

The Civil Aviation Administration of China announced the opening of the country's first test-flight base for civilian drones in Shanghai. 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.

Chipmaker AMD presented a new line of microprocessor chips called 'Ryzen Pro' for commercial desktop workstations to be available in India and other countries by end of 2017. At the global launch of Ryzen Pro leading PC makers HP, Dell and Lenovo introduced new high-end workstations using Ryzen Pro to meet the demand of present scenario toughest computing-tasks. The Ryzen Pro desktop processor is an 8 core and 16 thread CPU and much faster than the rival Intel's 'Core i7' which is of 4 core and 8 thread.

Union minister Thaawarchand Gehlot launched a scheme in Gujarat that provides for physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to the BPL category. The centrally-sponsored scheme, `Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana', was unveiled on April 1 this year and since then it has already been launched in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. These devices will help the elderly people overcome their age-related physical impairment and lead a dignified and productive life with minimal dependence on care givers or other members of the family.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports approved Constitution of 13-member Empowered Steering Committee (ESC). It will shape and influence India's preparation for multi-disciplinary events, including 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. It will have chairperson appointed by the Government. It will have the mandate to work until December 31, 2020, with clearly defined terms and reference.

AS officer and former bureaucrat, Sunil Arora, was appointed election commissioner. After Nasim Zaidi retired as chief election commissioner (CEC) in July, there was a vacancy in the Election Commission. While Achal Kumar Joti is the joint CEC, Om Prakash Rawat is the other election commissioner.