Current Affairs - September 25, 2017 Current Affairs

In the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, India bagged four medals. Sajan Prakash of India won second with the silver medal in the Men's 100-metre butterfly event.

The final event of 'Pralay Sahayam', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise was held in Hyderabad. The final event of 'Pralay Sahayam' was a multi-agency exercise. It was conducted on the banks of Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad. The event demonstrated the actions of all central and state agencies, National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), Armed Forces, Police, State Fire & Emergency Services and CISF (Central Industrial Security Force).

Australia will establish a national space agency as part of long-term plan to develop the country's domestic space industry. Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham made the announcement at the International Astronautical Congress. The global space industry sector has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.52 percent from 1998 to 2015.

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is working to establish "Hunar Hub" across the country to provide a platform to master artisans and craftsmen to display as well sell their products. The 'Hunar Haat' is being organised at Craft Bazaar, Gandhi Thidal Beach, Goubert Avenue and will continue till September 30 in which master artisans from 16 states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, New Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh will be showcasing their traditional talent.

The 7th ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Economic Ministers' Meeting was held in Seoul, South Korea. Theme for this year's meeting was 'Innovative Partnership for Inclusive Prosperity'. The meeting was conducted under the Chairmanship of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea.

India beat Australia by 5 wickets in the third ODI played between the two sides at Indore. Now India is the no. 1 spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) One-Day International (ODI) rankings. This is India's ninth consecutive ODI win while it is Australia 11ts successive defeat. The three Top three teams in ODI are India, South Africa, and Australia.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Assam and NITI Aayog organised a health sector reforms workshop, in Guwahati. SATH- Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital Programme was launched in this occasion. This programme is a joint initiative of Government of Assam and NITI Aayog.

Former home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi took over as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. He succeeded Shashi Kant Sharma. He will have a tenure of about three years.

Eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna Prof C.N.R. Rao awarded as 2017 Von Hippel Award, the highest international prize in materials research. The award will be presented to Prof Rao for his interdisciplinary contributions to the development of novel functional materials, including nanomaterials graphene, superconductivity, 2D materials and colossal magnetoresistance at Boston. He is an eminent scientist and world's foremost solid state and materials chemists. He has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan launched Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat at Mota Ishanpur village in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. Around one lakh, Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayats would be organized across the country in next one and half year to provide an interactive platform to the rural LPG users.

Odisha Government launched 'Sampurna (Sishu Abond Matru Mrityuhara Purna Nirakaran Abhijan) Yojna' scheme for pregnant women, in Odisha. Under the 'Sampurna Yojana' scheme Odisha government will provide Rs.1,000 as transport cost for pregnant women to travel to the hospital from inaccessible areas arranging their own vehicles. This schemes covers villages where 102, 108 ambulances or four-wheeler vehicles cannot reach.

Etihad Airways has launched a 'Fly Now and Pay Later' scheme, in Abu Dhabi. This scheme provides an option for paying the ticket fare in monthly instalments. Etihad Airways is the first airlines in the Gulf region to offer fully automated online instalment plans. Customers need to select the Pay by Instalment option, choose their bank and payment period on the airlines website.

Uttar Pradesh government will release 100 inmates from various jails of the state to mark the birth centenary of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya. The prisoners will be released from Lucknow, Varanasi, Faizabad, Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Naini, Aligarh, Banda, Mirzapur, Orai, Hardoi, Maharajganj, Bahraich, Saharanpur and Gorakhpur jails, Bareilly, Varanasi, Agra, Fatehgarh, Naini and Gorakhpur jails.

Mary Kom has become the first Indian to be selected as the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) representative for the IOC Athletes' Forum to be held in November, 2017. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) Athlete's Forum is to be held from 11th November to 13th November 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

China ban exports of some petroleum products to North Korea and as well as imports of textiles from the isolated North, in line with a UN Security Council resolution, passed after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test. The USA and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.