Current Affairs - September 14, 2017 Current Affairs

India is planning to launch major connectivity initiative, connecting Chennai with key Russian port Vladivostok via sea route with an aim to harness natural resources from Northeast Asia and Western Pacific region. India was the first country to establish resident Consulate in Vladivostok in 1992. India's current engagement with the region is limited to isolated pockets such as Irkut Corporation in Irkutsk where Mig and Sukhoi aircraft are built and over $6 billion worth of investments by ONGC Videsh Limited.

Asian Games gold medalist Priyanka Panwar was suspended for eight years after she tested positive for a banned performance enhancing drug, in New Delhi. She had tested positive for a banned stimulant during a national inter-state athletics competition in 2016. The suspension was announced by suspension by National Anti Doping Agency's (NADA) disciplinary panel.

India has started producing 'Civet Coffee' the most expensive coffee in the world, in Karnataka. Civet Coffee is made from the feces of a species of cat called 'Civet Cat'. Civet cats eat the flesh of the coffee cherries and digest the coffee beans as whole. This induces a flavour into the coffee beans. The coffee beans are then collected from the feces of the Civet Cat.

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated a two-day conference on "Sustainable landscapes and forest ecosystems: Theory to Practice", in New Delhi. He launched the "Wood is Good" campaign. The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus) is a joint programme between United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

Hindi Day is celebrated across the country. In the year 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the country. President Ram Nath Kovind will give away Rajbhasha awards for the Year 2016-17 at a function in New Delhi. The Rajbhasha awards were instituted by the Department of Official Language of Home Ministry to recognize the excellent contribution of Ministries, Departments and Nationalized Banks in the field of Hindi.

Turkey signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defence systems in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow, according to the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The accord for the surface-to-air missile defence batteries is Ankara's most significant pact with a non-North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) supplier.

India and Japan signed 15 agreements for enhancing bilateral cooperation in several key areas including investment promotion, civil aviation, and science and technology. The agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe after 12th annual summit talks in Gandhinagar.

HDFC Bank pips Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the country’s second most valued firm in terms of market valuation. The market capitalization (m-cap) of HDFC Bank stood at Rs. 4,73,530.72 crore, which was Rs. 797.4 crore more than TCS Rs. 4,72,733.32 crore valuation. Shares of HDFC Bank have surged nearly 53 percent so far this year, while that of TCS rose nearly 5 percent.

Raghunandan Industries Private Limited was awarded Krishi Pragati Award 2017, by National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX), in New Delhi. This awarded to appreciate the outstanding contribution made by Raghunandan Industries in the area of Agricultural Commodities. Raghunandan Money provides financial services such as demat, equity, derivatives, currency trading, mutual funds, life insurance, General insurance.

Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card. The RuPay-powered digital debit card will be issued to all customers who have opened their bank accounts with PPB. Airtel launched India's first live payments bank. Paytm is the second such service to be launched in the country.

The Supreme Court declared that the 6 month cooling off period under the Hindu Marriage Act for getting divorce is not mandatory. The local judges can decide about waiving off that period. The 6 month period can be waived off under the divorce has been applied through mutual consent he couple had already lived separately for a minimum of 1 year.

Bharti Airtel, SK Telecom of Korea ties up for advanced telecom network in India Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with South Korean telecom operator SK Telecom to build the most advanced telecom network in India. The companies will work towards building an enabling ecosystem for the introduction of these technologies. The company has been offering up to 500 Mbps 4G speed using carrier aggregation technology.

The Haryana council of ministers on Wednesday decided to create one Wi-Fi zone in all 6,078-gram panchayats within two years and provide 4G services in every village in the next three years. Under the Haryana Information Technology (IT) and Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Policy-2017 approved by the cabinet, the state government has promised broadband connectivity to every household and Wi-Fi zone at important public places in all towns and cities.