Current Affairs - September 25, 2019 Current Affairs

The sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by RBI or the central bank of the country is called Open Market Operation.

TiE Mumbai, which is a not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs, New Jersey City University (NJCU) and Choose New Jersey which is a privately funded non-profit economic development organization, entered into an MoU for the purpose of promoting technology and technology-based investment exchanges between India and New Jersey. The MoU was signed by Atul Nishar, President of TiE Mumbai, Tamara Cunningham, Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives of the New Jersey university and Margie Piliere, Chief Economic Development Officer at Choose New Jersey.

The 6th India Water Week -2019 was inaugurated by the President Shri Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi on 24th September. The week is being organized by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. It is being organized since 2012. The international event to focus on water-related issues. So far, 5 editions of India Water Week have been organized. Theme: The theme of the 6th India Water Week -2019 is Water cooperation: Coping with 21st Century Challenges.

Piyush Goyal has unveiled the design of the India Pavilion for 'Dubai Expo 2020', in Dubai, UAE and hailed the recent tax measures as a leap towards making India a hub of investment. He also visited the site of the 'Dubai Expo 2020' and took stock of the preparations. India will invest Rs 230 crore to build the India Pavilion at the World Expo 2020, of which Rs 200 crore will be raised for construction, curation, interiors, maintenance and security from participation charges, publicity and sponsorships.

India plans to add 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to its electricity grid by 2030 in a bid to clean up air in its cities and lessen the rapidly growing economy's dependence on coal.

India and the United States are set to hold their first trilateral-service military exercise codenamed 'Tiger Triumph' at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in November 2019. The exercise is being organized under the aegis of the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).

Doctors, nurses and dentists now need not undertake the TOEFL and IELTS English language tests to practice in the United Kingdom (UK). Only the scores of the Occupational English Test (OET) are enough to register with the healthcare regulator in the UK.

The country's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke award, conferred for "outstanding contribution for the growth and development of Indian cinema" will be presented this year to Amitabh Bachchan.

Centre has announced to set up 20 National Centres of Excellence (NCE). The center will have a single scheme for elite athletes. The move is aimed at ending differentiation in training and other facilities between athletes within the same campus. The move comes the announcement of the budget for the diet of athletes will be made equal, irrespective of the level at which the athlete is training.

In order to improve the risk management & ensure sufficient liquidity, the regulator for the securities market in India, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has tightened the rules for mutual funds.The new guideline comes into force from April 1, 2020.

Ministry of Power conducted the National Conclave on Enhancing Energy Efficiency in MSME sector in Delhi on 23 September. The launched the Knowledge Management Portal SIDHIEE under the BEE's MSME Programme. The portal will host useful information for early adoption of energy efficient technologies. The information includes 50 videos of multimedia tutorials for MSMEs.

Iran won the championship by defeating Australia in 2019 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship.

The Centre has introduced a new scheme named Assistance for Deep Sea Fishing for Tamil Nadu fishermen. The announcement was made by the Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Giriraj Singh. For the scheme, the Centre has allocated Rs.300 crore to the Tamil Nadu government. The scheme is introduced specifically to benefit four districts in Palk Bay area, including Ramanathapuram district.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Ltd (PMC Bank), Mumbai to carry out the majority of its routine business for 6 months. RBI's direction: RBI has barred the PMC Bank from carrying out its functions including granting, renewing and loans and advances, make any investments, accept fresh deposits, transactions for a period of six months.

On September 23, 2019, The country's central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Limited (PMC) on business transactions of any kind for the next 6 months following the detection of alleged irregularities.

Indian Railways has completed the construction of the giant four-lane cable-stayed railway overbridge (RoB) at Burdwan Junction in West Bengal. The RoB, considered to be the second largest in the country will be inaugurated by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. India's second largest railway overbridge. The railway overbridge was completed in 197 days without affecting traffic for even a single day.

An online pollution certificate will be mandatory in Odisha from October 1, The manual Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) issued before September 30 will remain valid. The fee for Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) for two and three-wheelers is Rs. 60, for light motor vehicle (LMV) is Rs. 100 and for medium and heavy motor vehicle is Rs. 150 (GST extra) The Pollution Testing Centres will stop issuing manual certificates from October 1.

In November 2019, India and the United States(US) are set to host the first ever tri-services exercise codenamed "Exercise Tiger Triumph" at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, both of state Andhra Pradesh.

Science and Technology and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched 'UMMID' initiative to tackle inherited genetic diseases of newborn babies. The new initiative aims at creating awareness about genetic disorders amongst clinicians and establish molecular diagnostics in hospitals. He also inaugurated NIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration) Kendras.

Nitin Gadkari and Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the India Tourism Mart (ITM) 2019 in New Delhi on 23 September 2019. The Ministry of Tourism and the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) have jointly organized this Mart. Over 240 international delegates from 51 countries and 160 exhibitors from across the country are taking part in the second edition of ITM.

The National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) has been set up by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in the national capital as part of the government's ambitious plan to launch faceless and nameless assessment for Income Tax (IT) payers from October 2019. K M Prasad, the 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, has been appointed as the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax (PCCIT) of the new Centre.

Veteran actor and multi-faceted artiste S.K. Padmadevi (95), who was part of the first Kannada talkie film that went on sets, has passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 19th September 2019. She remained active in theatre till late 1960s and acted in several plays by H.L.N. Simha and Ballari Raghavacharya. She later joined All India Radio (AIR) and worked on audio plays for over two decades. Ms. Padmadevi was awarded the R. Nagendra Rao award for lifetime achievement by Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy in 2016.

HDFC Bank plans to organise 1,000 Grameen Loan Melas over the next six months. The Grameen Loan Melas or village loan fairs will be held across more than 300 districts and cover around 6,000 villages across India and will be a one-stop shop for people from five to six nearby villages. Local residents can avail tractor loans, auto loans, two-wheeler loans, agri loans, etc.

Ponung Doming, created history after she became the first woman officer from Arunachal Pradesh to hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. She was elevated to the post of a Lieutenant Colonel on 23 September 2019. Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami became the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force to be elevated as the Flight Commander of a flying unit in August 2019.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank is planning to open 450 branches in the forthcoming financial year. Among the planned 450 branches, 320 branches have already been added. 5000 branches: After the installation of the 320 operational branches for customers, the bank has crossed the milestone of having 5,000 branches. The branch that was opened at Thane in Maharashtra is the 5000th (milestone) branch of ICICI.

ISRO initiates 'Project NETRA' to safeguard Indian space assets from debris and other harmful objects.

Sixty-six countries signaled their intent to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 The 66 governments are joined by 10 regions, 102 cities, 93 businesses and 12 investors all committed to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 Around 60 world leaders have convened for the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.

India is the largest regional contributor to Afghan reconstruction not shown any inclination to pursue a deeper defence relationship with Kabul The US Policy In Brief dated 19 September and compiled ahead of the meetings of US President Donald Trump with Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan and with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. Indian foreign minister S. Jaishankar met Special US Representative on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. India is the largest regional contributor to Afghan reconstruction, but New Delhi has not shown an inclination to pursue a deeper defense relationship with Kabul.

Indian School of Business (ISB) of Hyderabad has been ranked 7th in the Forbes rankings of the Best International 1-Year Business Schools 2019. ISB is famous for its Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP).