Current Affairs - September 16, 2019 Current Affairs

The Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) will jointly engage to conduct a large war exercise code-named 'HimVijay' in October 2019 along the china border near Arunachal Pradesh. This would be the 1st and biggest ever war game done by the strike corps in the eastern region. For the first time, 17 Mountain Corps will be involved, over 2500 soldiers will participate in it. The Indian Army will deploy state-of-the-art American weapons. These include the M777 ultralight howitzers, including Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Chinook heavy-lift helicopters were inducted into the Indian Air Force at Chandigarh Airbase on 25 March 2019. The purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of war in the northeast. It will also include the recently formed 17 Mountain Strike Corps. The Air Force will do everything to meet the Army's needs during the war. M777 ultra-light howitzers will be provided to 17 Mountain Strike Corps during the exercise.

Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched the Maritime Communication Services at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Maritime Connectivity will enable high-end support to those in the sea by providing access to Voice, Data and Video services while travelling on sailing vessels, cruise liners, ships in India, using satellite technology. Nelco, India's leading VSAT solutions provider is the first Indian company that will now provide quality broadband services to the maritime sector.

China reported a decline of 16 per cent in electric vehicle sales for the month of August. Last month the cumulative sales of all pure-electric, fuel-celled, and plugin hybrids vehicles stood at 85,000 units the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, compared to 100,000+ vehicles sold during the same month in 2018. The decline in year-on-year YoY sales, China registered month-on-month MoM drop of 4.7 per cent compared to the total EV sales in July 2019.

DRDO and the Aeronautical Development Agency successfully executed the first-ever arrested landing of Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) Tejas (Navy) at the shore-based test facility in Goa. This is a step towards the aircraft getting operational on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. This arrested landing heralds the arrival of true indigenous capability and displays the professional prowess of our scientific community Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) embedded with design plus build the capability of HAL(ARDC), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Pankaj Advani recently won his 22nd World Billiards Title at the IBSF World Billiards Championship 2019. This is Advani's fourth consecutive world title in billiards short format (150-up).

The govt besides the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) plans to connect to social media with records including immigration entry, banking, and phone numbers and all database information in one platform case. Home Minister has reviewed the progress of NATGRID on 12th Sept in Delhi. About the National Intelligence Grid: The National Intelligence Grid wass first began in 2009 with a spending limit of Rs.2,800 crore. About 10 central agencies like Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and others will approach the information in a secured manner. After Mr.Patnaik resignation, NATGRID is presently headed by IAS Ashish Gupta.

Former judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court P. Lakshmana Reddy, who has been appointed as State's Lokayukta. He is known for his campaign against corruption. His oath to the office was administered by Governor Biswabhusan Hairchandan at a function held in Vijayawada. Justice P Lakshmana Reddy would serve in the office of Lokayukta for 5 years. He is the first Lokayukta to be assuming charge since the state bifurcated in 2014.

Pakistan skipped the two-day SCO military medicine conference organised by India here. The conference is being attended by 27 International and 40 Indian delegates.

The United Nations observes 16 September every year as International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The ozone layer is a fragile shield of gas which protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun and thus help in preserving life on the planet. Theme of the day for 2019: 32 Years and Healing. The theme for this year celebrates over three decades of remarkable international cooperation to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99 per cent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.

International conference ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) for Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector is being organized by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in New Delhi.

Private Equity refers to equity that is not listed on any stock exchange. PE-funds typically take large stakes in private companies, sometimes even buying companies outright

India and Malaysia are conducting a joint naval military exercise to test inter-operability of their navies in South East Asia and Western Pacific regions.

The Bombay stock exchange started in 1875 was the first in Asia.

Marriott International, the world's largest hotel chain will eliminate small plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel from its hotel rooms worldwide by December 2020. They'll be replaced with larger bottles or wall-mounted dispensers, depending on the hotel. They will eliminate about 200 million tiny bottles each year by 2021.Marriott more than 7,000 hotels in 131 countries under 30 brands, ranging from SpringHill Suites and Residence Inn to Sheraton and Ritz-Carlton. It says it will be eliminating about 500 million small bottles each year, or 1.7 million pounds of plastic.

Special Training Programme for Maldivian Civil Servants is scheduled to be conducted at the hill town Mussoorie (Uttarkhand) and New Delhi from 16 to 28 September 2019. A 32-member Maldivian delegation arrived in India for taking part in Special Training Programme. India is the largest development partner for capacity building of Civil Servants of Maldives. A unique feature of special training program is that 70% of delegates are women officials.

Spain defeated Argentina by 95-75 to win the Basketball World Cup held in Beijing, China. This was its second title win after 13 years. The next world cup will held in 2023 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Spain had won the title last time in 2006 with a 70-47 win over Greece. Argentina had not triumphed since it hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1950. With 32 teams, this was the biggest Basketball World Cup ever.

FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup, 2020 will be held in India from Nov 2- Nov21.

Ministry of Railways has signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding ) with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for facilitation of green initiatives in Indian Railways at New Delhi. Coffee Table Publications on Energy Efficiency, GreenCo Rating (developed by CII) and Green Buildings (including railway stations) were also released during the signing ceremony.

The International Day for South-South Cooperation was observed on 12 September 2019 by United Nations (UN) aims to raise awareness of the UN's efforts to work on technical cooperation among developing countries. The day also celebrates the political, social and economical developments made by regions and countries in the south in recent years. The theme for the year 2019 is "South-South Cooperation is From Commitment to Action - Follow up to Buenos Aires Plan of Action+40". The theme focuses on Promoting and implementing the commitments adopted in the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40).

Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's CEO, will replace Jack Ma as Executive Chairman of the group.

The E-assessment Scheme, 2019 was framed in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3A) of section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Life Insurance Corporation of India(LIC) is the pension fund manager of the scheme "Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana"(KMY).The supervisor of this scheme is Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(MAFW).

Jal Shakti Minister and Sports Minister flagged off "Great Ganga Run-2019" at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The marathon was organised to create awareness about River Ganga. The marathon was organised by Ministry of Jal Shakti. A large number of people from all age groups participated in the marathon.

The renowned writer of Kerala Sivaraman Cheriyanad passed away. He received the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award in 1988 and the A.P. Kalakkad Award in 2009. He bagged Kerala Sahithya Akademi scholarship in 1990-91 for his study on the works of writer Parappuram. He was a recipient of the National Teachers Award in 1989.

Indian Badminton star, Lakshya Sen has won the Belgian International badminton title. He defeated Victor Svendsen of Denmark in the summit clash with a score of 21-14, 21-15. The tournament was held in Leuven, Belgium. Lakshya Sen belongs to Almora, Uttarakhand.

Chhattisgarh became the first state in July 2019, to amend DMF rules. The new rule mandates the inclusion of 10 Gram Sabha members directly from mining-affected areas in the DMF Governing Council (GC).

India U-19 beat Bangladesh U-19 by five runs to win the 2019 ACC Asia Cup at the RPS stadium in Colombo on Saturday. This is India's seventh triumph in the continental tournament for junior cricketers.