Current Affairs - September 27, 2018 Current Affairs

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to launch delivery-based futures contract in gold (1 kg) and silver (30 kg). BSE will launch trading in these contracts on October 1. The delivery centre of gold and silver futures contract will be exchange designated vaults at Ahmedabad initially, and then will be expanded across India in the second phase. The commodity trading session will function from Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 11.30 p.m.

National Geophysical Research Institute signed a MoU with Atomic Minerals Directorate and Department of Atomic Energy for uranium exploration in India. The exploration will use high resolution heliborne geophysical imaging of earth's shallow subsurface. NGRI and AMD-DAE will carry out heliborne surveys in Karnataka, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

According to 'The Annual World Airport Traffic Report 2018' by Airport Council International (ACI), Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) is the 16th busiest in the world. It jumped 6 places from 22nd position in 2016. In 2017, IGI has handled 63.4 million passengers accounting for 14 per cent more passengers than in 2016. The first place was held by Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in the US handling 103.9 million passengers in 2017, followed by Beijing with 95.8 million passengers. The other 3 consisting of the top 5 are: Dubai International Airport handling 88.2 million passengers at third position. Tokyo and Los Angeles dealing with 85.4 million and 84.5 million passengers stood at 4th and 5th place.

India will organise 'Gandhi March' from the iconic Peace Palace at the Hague in the Netherlands. 'Gandhi March' will see the participation of people of all nations and around 20 ambassadors from different countries. Also, special commemorative stamps will be issued by the Indian postal department at the Peace Palace complex. October 2 is also marked as International Day of Non-Violence.

World Tourism Day is observed every year globally on 27th September. It is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the potential contribution of digital technologies to sustainable tourism development. "Tourism and the Digital Transformation" is the theme of this year's World Tourism Day (WTD). Hungary is the host country for this year's WTD.

Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur. He stressed the need for water harvesting. According to the Vice President, Smart Vision, Smart execution and smart Implementation are essential to develop smart cities and no city can become smart without the participation of the public. The object of this three days long expo is to have discussions among different experts and groups to utilize benefits of new technology, town planning, capacity management, challenges before socio-economic development and development of networking in the Smart City sector. Near about 6000 delegates from MNC's of different countries, researchers, CEO's of different Smart cities, Mayors and corporates are participating in the expo.

India won gold in the Cadet Boy's singles, Cadet Boy's Team and Junior Girl's Team events. India won the silver medal in the Cadet Boys and Girl's team, the Cadet Boy's Doubles and Girls' Doubles categories. In Table Tennis, India won the team titles in the girls and cadet boys category at the 2018 Serbia Junior and Cadet Open.

The UAE will host the Interfaith Alliance Forum in Abu Dhabi on 19th and 20th Nov 2018. The forum aims to address and discuss social challenges and to strengthen efforts by religious leaders for protection of the young individuals from extortion and crime via the internet. The alliance also highlight the importance of unifying views among religions to ensure the protection of children.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India's second-most valued firm 'Reliance Industries', has topped the 'Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018' for the seventh consecutive year, with the total net worth of INR 371,000 crore. Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018, a compilation of the individuals in India having a net worth of INR 1,000 crore or more, featured 831 Indians compared to 617 last year. Mr Ambani is followed by London-based S.P. Hinduja, with the net worth of INR 1,59,000 crore; and L.N. Mittal, with a net worth of INR 1,14,500 crore. Azim Premji, with the wealth of INR 96,100 crore, is fourth in the list. The cumulative wealth of the 831 individuals featured in the list stood at $719 billion, amounting to a quarter of India's GDP of $2,848 billion.

The Indian Air Force successfully test fired the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile Astra from a Su-30 aircraft. The missile, tested at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station, "successfully engaged a manoeuvring target with high precision". In the series of trials held till date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials. Astra, deemed to be the best in the class weapon system, has undergone more than 20 developmental trials.

25th September is observed as Antyodaya Diwas every year to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. During the Antyodaya Diwas each Swachhagrahi will be asked to create a team of his/her own Swachhagrahis. Each of these team will work on Open Defecation Free activities in their villages. 22 States and UTs have been declared Open Defecation Free so far.

Carolina Marin from Spain has won the women's singles 2018 China Open badminton title. In the final, she defeated Chen Yufei in Changzhou, China. Earlier, in 2018, she won the BWF World Championships for the third time and became the first ever female badminton athlete to have achieved this feat. Apart from this, Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting beat Japan's Kento Momota to take the 2018 Men's singles China Open title.

The 4th edition of India International Science Festival will be inaugurated by President of India in Lucknow on October 6, 2018. Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that IISF 2018 is a tribute to former PM Late Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. IISF is the biggest platform to bring together students, researchers to celebrate India's achievements in science and technology.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded with the UN's highest environmental honour, also given to five other individuals and organisations, for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use plastic by 2022. Cochin International Airport was given the award for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Six of the world's most outstanding environmental changemakers have been recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr. Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action.

National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 aims to attract USD 100 billion investment and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022. According to the draft of the policy, NDCP is focused on increasing high-speed broadband penetration, with use of modern technologies like 5G and optical fibres across the country at affordable rates.

Commentator Jasdev Singh passed away at the age of 87. He was primarily a cricket commentator and had started his career in All India Radio in 1955. He was the voice of Indian sports on Doordarshan and was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1985 and the Padma Bhushan in 2008. He had covered 9 editions of Olympics from 1968 to 2000 and was also honoured with the 'Olympic Order' in 1988 in Seoul by IOC. He also covered 6 editions each of both Asian Games and Hockey World Cups.

The 5th Track Asia Cup (cycling) 2018 was held at the Indira Gandhi Velodrome in New Delhi. Track Asia Cup (cycling) 2018 event was organized by Cycling Federation of India (CFI). 12 countries participated in the event. India topped the medal tally with 6 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals. It was followed by Indonesia in 2nd place with 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze and Hong Kong in third spot with 4 gold and 2 bronze medals.