Current Affairs - September 4, 2017 Current Affairs

Hyderabad International Airport Limited bagged the National Award for 'Excellence' in Energy Management at a conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is a company promoted as a joint venture comprising the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Government of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%). It focused on recognizing companies that are engaged in energy efficiency initiatives and displaying commitment towards energy conservation.

Nirmala Sitharaman was named the first independent woman Defence Minister of India. The post of the defence minister fell vacant after Manohar Parrikar joined Goa state politics to become the chief minister of the state.

President Ramnath Kovind will lay the foundation stone for the link - 4 of Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation Scheme -SAUNI- Yojana in Rajkot district. The project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat aims to fill up 115 major dams by diverting overflow of water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River.

Nepal has signed UN assistance package for a USD 635 million for 2018-2022. The UNDAF lays out the development strategy for the UN Country Team for the next five years. The package will involve 26 individual UN agencies, spans interventions and it also aimed at assisting in four broad areas:

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has appointed as the country's Youth Affairs and Sports Minister. He has succeeded Vijay Goyal as the Sports Minister and is the first sportsperson to become the head of the Sports Ministry. He is the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal after his silver at the 2004 Athens Games.

Breakthrough Listen project detected 15 Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) coming from a dwarf galaxy about 3 million light years away from earth. The new detection was made with help of Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia. FRBs are radio signals from somewhere in deep space that last for just milliseconds and a bright pulse of radio emission from distant galaxies.

MS Dhoni reached a record of 100 stumpings in One-Day Internationals during his 301st match, as India played Sri Lanka in the fifth ODI of the five-match series at Colombo. He became the sixth Indian player to play 300 matches in the 50-over format. Dhoni has also played 90 Tests and 77 T20 Internationals. In 90 Tests, Dhoni has taken 256 catches and effected 38 stumpings while his T20 Internationals' catches/stumping record stands at 43/23.

Karnataka Bank has bagged the 'best bank' award among small banks for the use of technology for financial inclusion announced on 3rd Sept 21017. Mahabaleshwara MS, MD & CEO of the bank had received the award from Sudarshan Sen, Executive Director of RBI, in Hyderabad and said this recognition will further motivate the bank in implementing its IT strategies more effectively in promoting financial inclusion.

Kenneth I. Juster, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council at the White House nominated as the next U.S ambassador to India. He previously served as Under Secretary of Commerce from 2001-2005, Counselor (acting) of the State Department from 1992-1993, and deputy and senior adviser to the Deputy Secretary of State from 1989-1992.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Peggy Whitson finishing a 288-day mission that put her over the top as the American who has spent the most cumulative amount of time in space. The oldest female astronaut in the history of space exploration was the first female International Space Station commander and holds the record for number of spacewalks by a woman.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in collaboration with Smart-E company will launch 1,000 e-rickshaws at five metro stations across the city. Smart-E is uniquely poised to address the last-mile connectivity challenge faced by millions of people every day. The launch of 1,000 e-rickshaws in exclusive partnership with DMRC is an important step towards making last-mile commute easy, safe, affordable and eco-friendly for the citizens.

RBI has included HDFC in the list of 'too big to fail' lenders, referred to as D-SIB or domestic systemically important bank. India's largest lender SBI and private sector major ICICI Bank were classified as D-SIBs in 2015. With the inclusion of HDFC Bank in the list, there will now be three 'too big to fail' financial entities in the country. SIBs are subjected to higher levels of supervision so as to prevent disruption in financial services in the event of any failure.

The Jammu and Kashmir Government introduces the electric buses for two cities of Srinagar and Jammu under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. It is done with an aim to curb pollution in these two cities which were recently declared 'smart cities'.