Current Affairs - September 1, 2019 Current Affairs

American multinational financial services corporation, Mastercard, Indian private sector bank, RBL Bank and Samsung India have jointly launched the Samsung Pay for RBL Bank's Mastercard credit card customers. The tie-up will allow the customers of RBL bank to make contactless transactions with enhanced security on their Samsung Pay-compatible smartphones efficiently. The payments can be done through any PoS (Point of Sale) machine where a card can be dipped, swiped or tapped, both in India as well as abroad without the physical presence of a card. RBL customers can easily add their Mastercard credit cards on Samsung Pay, which authenticates them based on their fingerprint, iris scan or PIN (personal identification number). After the successful authentication, they can complete their purchases by easily tapping their devices on a compatible terminal.

Google and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have signed a statement of intent to roll-out 'Build for Digital India'. It is a programme which will provide engineering students a platform to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions that address key social problems. Under this program, the applicants will participate in online and offline learning opportunities on key technologies like machine learning, cloud and android.

On August 28, Paralympian Deepa Malik was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, making her the first and the oldest Indian woman para-athlete to win the award.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) getting a new logo and certificate design. It is unveiled at a first-of-its-kind film industry interaction between eminent industry leaders and CBFC board members, being held in Mumbai. The new logo and certificate identity revealed by the Chairman, CBFC. The new design in its approach and in sync with the new digital world. It is interactive in its design sensibility. Shri Prasoon Joshi design has been done by designer Shri Rohit Devgun, with technical support from NSDL.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan led a business delegation from Oil and Gas as well as Steel sectors to Moscow, Russia. It is an active overreach to strengthen the bilateral relationship between India and Russia in the energy and steel sectors. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal Districts of Russia, HE Yury P Trutnev. Discussions centered on expanding the scope of cooperation between India and Far Eastern Russia, in the energy and steel sectors. The two sides discussed to further cooperation in sourcing of metallurgical coal and crude oil from the Far East of Russia.

India has become the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), which captures the facial biometric data of seafarers.

Jalaj Saxena (3B), an Indian cricketer who plays as an all-rounder for Kerala has set a big record in first-class cricket. The record was made during the 58th season of Duleep Trophy 2019-20 match between India Red and India Blue played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, Karnataka. Saxena took 3 wickets for India Blue with which he completed his 300 wickets in first-class cricket. With this, he became the only cricketer to score 6000 runs in first-class cricket, as well as 300 wickets and still not have played for Team India.

National Multi Commodity Exchange is the first De-Mutualised Electronic Multi-Commodity Exchange of India located at Ahmedabad. A commodity exchange is a market where commodities or goods like gold, silver, coffee, corn, and soybeans, are being traded amongst the buyers and sellers. A commodity exchange has investments for the purpose of business operations as well.

Pakistan has successfully test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi from Sonmiani test range near Karachi located in Balochistan. The missile was built with a capability to deliver different types of warheads including nuclear and conventional up to a range of 290 km. It will be placed under the medium-range ballistic missiles. During the test, Ghaznavi was tracked by the National Development Complex (NDC) ground control station.

The nation-wide Fit India Movement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched in Delhi.

Panjab University, Chandigarh won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Maka) Trophy, 2019.

US President Donald Trump launched the US Space Command on August 29, 2019. Trump announced the establishment of the space command as the newest US military combatant command in a ceremony at the Rose Garden, White House.

Russia will train four Indian astronauts for India's ambitious manned mission to space, Gaganyaan. Indian astronauts will be trained at Russian facilities. A special ISRO unit will be established in the embassy in Moscow to facilitate increased cooperation between India and Russia in view of the Gaganyaan mission.

In order to boost tourism and give and an all new experience to visitors, Forest Department and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports joined hands and developed sky cycling park in Gulaba area near Manali.

Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane has assumed charge as Vice Chief of the Indian Army. He succeeded Lieutenant General D. Anbu. Before assuming charge as Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Naravane was heading the Eastern Command of the Indian Army which takes care of India's border with China.

Ashish Kasodekar from Pune flashed the flag by becomeing the 1st Indian to complete the 555 kms long 10th edition of 'La Ultra The High' marathon 2019 held in Ladakh, Jammu, and Kashmir(J&K). Ashish came in 3rd at 126 hrs 18 min to finish the distance.

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the premises of the Indian embassy in Moscow, Russia on the occasion of Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.Gandhi was inspired by Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer-philosopher. The two leaders never met personally in their life-line, but both shared a special bond and exchanged ideas through letters.

According to a "Global Happiness Survey" by Ipsos, India has been ranked 9th on the happiness index among 28 global markets. For India, there has been a six per cent drop (from 83 per cent in 2018 to 77 per cent in 2019). Australia and Canada at the top spot (at 86 per cent) have emerged as the happiest nations of the world, While Russia (47 per cent) emerged at the bottom of the heap, among the 28 markets.

A book on Barack Obama, former United States (US) President, titled "Obama: The Call of History" has been written by Peter Baker, the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times. It gives an in-depth account of Obama's years in office. It has been published by Penguin India.

The 26th edition of "Ladakhi-Kisan-Jawan-VigyanMela" organised by Leh-based Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh. The mela seeks to meet the fresh food requirements for soldiers serving in the harsh terrain regions. GyalPhunchokWangyal, Chief Executive Counselor(CEC) of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), and JamyangTseringNamgyalLadakh Member of Parliament(MP).

Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 - 3 December 1979) was an Indian hockey player and one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the sport.

Bandipur National Park, an 874-sq.-km forested reserve in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, is known for its small population of tigers. Once the private hunting ground of the Maharajas of Mysore, the park also harbors Indian elephants, spotted deer, gaurs (bison), antelopes and numerous other native species.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) committee headed by former high court judge Justice S P Garg suggested that all water bodies in Delhi must be provided with Unique Identification Numbers (UID) after properly demarcating them and mapping them on GPS (Global Positioning System) platforms in order to conserve them.