Current Affairs Current Affairs - 07 October 2018

General Affairs

Farmers Protest Over Land Acquisition Of Ratnagiri-Nagpur Highway

Farmers affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha from Satara and Sangli districts in Maharashtra Saturday protested against the state government's acquisition of land for the Ratnagiri-Nagpur Highway.

The highway, also referred to as MSH-3, originates from Ratnagiri and passes through Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Tuljapur, Ausa, Nanded, Hingoli, Yeotmal and Wardha before terminating in Nagpur.
Over 2,000 farmers who began their protest march Thursday arrived in Solapur Saturday.

AIKS functionaries said that protesting farmers had sent a memorandum to Solapur guardian minister Subhash Deshmukh seeking time to meet him here but he did not respond.

They said that the farmers would stay put in Solapur till Deshmukh, the state's Cooperation, Marketing and Textile minister, gives them an assurance on their demands.

"The state government is forcibly acquiring the land of farmers in Sangli and Satara. It has even begun work on the highway project," Ashok Dhavale, president of the AIKS said.

While protesting farmers said the police resorted to lathi-charge despite their stir being a peaceful one, Solapur police denied the allegations.

In Rajasthan, PM Modi Flags "Votebank Politics" Of Congress

In Rajasthan's Ajmer today for the grand finale of Vasuyndhara Raje's 'Gaurav Yatra', Prime Minister Narendra Modi ripped into the Congress, accusing the party of indulging in votebank politics and appealing the people to give Vasundhara Raje a second term in power. Rajasthan has lately followed the trend in southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, voting in the Congress and the BJP in alternate elections.
"Vasundhara ji has listed the work she has done. If I was a voter of Rajasthan, I would vote for the BJP. We have fulfilled the demands of people, given them a better life," he said.

The Prime Minister said for 60 years, the Congress has practiced "votebank politics", and their leader "never came to the assembly".

"Don't allow those who play votebank politics in any part of this country. The police department is also a victim of it. Governance is destroyed by this kind of politics. All decisions are driven by this," he said. Votebank politics, he said, is not restricted just to elections. Accusing the Congress of dividing the bureaucracy, he said, "Half the bureaucracy does not work. It (votebank politics) is a termite for the government," he added.

Led by the Prime Minister, leaders of the BJP have fanned out across three states where elections will be held at the end of this year. The Election Commission will announce the dates today.

BJP chief Amit Shah is expected to make multiple visits to Madhya Pradesh over the next few days to meet party workers. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is already campaigning in the state - he held a rally today in Morena, part of the Guna constituency of party leader and close colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Arun Jaitley Questions Commitment Of Rahul Gandhi Over Fuel Price

With non-BJP ruled states refusing to cut taxes on fuel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today questioned Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his "reluctant allies" if they are only committed to tweets and television bytes when it comes to giving relief to the common man.
In a Facebook post titled 'The oil prices and the hypocrisy of the opposition', Mr Jaitley accused the government critics of doing a 'volte face' by terming the cut in petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 2.5 per litre by the centre as 'bad economics'.

He said states collect extra taxes when oil prices go up since their taxes are ad valorem.

"Yet we have a situation where a number of non-BJP non-NDA States have refused to pass on any benefit to the consumer. What are the people supposed to conclude? Are Rahul Gandhi and his reluctant allies only committed to tweets and television bytes when it comes to give relief to the common man?" Mr Jaitley said.

He said the challenges thrown up by the increase in the international price of crude oil is serious and cannot be resolved by either the tweets or television bytes of some opposition leaders.

"Must not the non-BJP States be candid with the people and tell them that both in 2017 and 2018 they refused to give any relief to the people even from their higher revenues. They sent out tweets and gave television bytes but when it came to performance, they looked the other way," Mr Jaitley said.

The government had on Thursday announced a Rs. 2.5 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices, of which Rs. 1.5 per litre is on account of reduction in excise duty and the remaining Rs. 1 per litre would be absorbed by oil marketing companies.

It also appealed to the state governments to cut VAT rates. BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh followed suit.

Non-BJP ruled states like Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal have refused to cut taxes.

Mr Jaitley said the political crisis in Venezuela and Libya has adversely impacted oil producing countries and the US sanctions on Iran also have increased uncertainties over supplies.

He said the high cost of crude oil has also impacted the currency situation.

"India's macroeconomic fundamentals with regard to its fiscal deficit, inflation, foreign exchange reserves etc. are fairly stable. Tax collections are encouraging," Mr Jaitley said.

However, a high cost of crude oil adversely impacts the current account deficit. That, in turn, impacts the currency. Additionally, the hardening of the dollar has further impacted most global currencies.

"Both the factors have an impact on the cost of fuel available to a citizen," he said, adding the cost of crude oil has reached its highest level in the past four years.

Stating that the government critics rejoiced the political consequences of the increase of the crude prices, Mr Jaitley said when the price was reduced, the critics did a "volte face and argued that this is bad economics".

"Even Rahul Gandhi, whose party had inflicted a double digit inflation on India during the past five years of UPA-II, gave television bytes and released tweets advocating a price reduction," Mr Jaitley said.

"Let me categorically assure all that there is no going back on deregulation of oil prices," he added.

He said the NDA government has an "exemplary record" of fiscal prudence and has maintained the gradual glide path since 2014 to bring down fiscal deficit. "We will continue to do so".

"No Government can be insensitive towards its people," Mr Jaitley added.

Last year in October, when the oil prices were rising, the Centre cut excise duty by Rs. 2.

"We have requested the States to make a similar cut. Most of the BJP-NDA States did so. The others refused to do so," Mr Jaitley said, adding in an extraordinary situation, the capacity of an economy to give relief will depend on its fiscal strength.

UP Government Aims To Double Farm Income Via Modern Techniques: Minister

Uttar Pradesh minister Surya Pratap Shahi said today that the BJP government in the state aims to double farmers' income by introducing technology and modern techniques of farming.
For this, the UP government will hold a three-day event ' Agriculture Kumbha', starting October 26, in state capital Lucknow to bring farmers, experts and scientists on one platform, he said.

This is the first time this event is being held and it will also see the participation of agro companies, the state agriculture minister told reporters.

During the event, farmers will be apprised about modern techniques through "mechanisation stalls", which will tell them about controlling post-harvest damage, he said.

Terming agriculture as the backbone of Uttar Pradesh's economy, Mr Shahi said he expects that at least one lakh farmers will attend the event.

Efforts are on to ensure participation of farmers from all the districts, he said.

Mr Shahi said animal husbandry is essential for increasing the income of farmers and that improvement of breed of cattle was going on at a fast pace.

Efforts are on to protect crops of farmers through the Pradhanmantri Fasal Beema Yojna, he said, adding that 25 lakh farmers are being covered for their Kharif crop.

The state government has waived loans of 86 lakh farmers and arrears of cane growers have been paid, the minister said.

Uttar Pradesh is the first state where 23 lakh farmer beneficiaries have been given grant of 756 crores through Direct Benefit Transfer, he asserted.

Election Dates Announced For Rajasthan, 4 Other States; Results On Dec 11

The last round of assembly elections -- to be held in five states and seen as the bellwether for next year's Lok Sabha elections -- will begin on November 12 and continue till December 7. The list includes BJP-ruled heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress-ruled Mizoram and southern state Telangana. The results will be announced on December 11, the Election Commission said today.
Of these, only Chhattisgarh, which has 90 seats, will have a two-phase election. Polling on 18 seats of the state's Maoist-hit southern areas will be held on November 12. The remaining 72 seats will go to polls on November 20, said Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat. The rest will have single phase elections -- Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on November 28 and Rajasthan and Telangana on December 7.

This round of elections is expected to set the pace for next year's general elections, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek another term in power. In Rajasthan, the BJP is trying to buck the trend of a yo-yoing electorate that hasn't given two consecutive terms to any party. In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has ruled for three straight terms and the results there will be considered a ready reckoner for the party's fortunes in the heartland next year.

With the Commission's announcement, the model code of conduct -- a series of do's and don'ts for the political parties -- has come into effect in four states. The Model Code was already in place in Telangana.

The Congress tweeted a dig both for the Commission and the ruling BJP. "Dear ECI, 1. In Gujarat, BJP IT Cell Head tweeted election dates even before ECI. 2. ECI delinked Gujarat elections from Himachal to enable PM Modi to make a slew of announcements. 3. ECI again deferred PC to enable PM Modi to do the same in Rajasthan Is BJP the 'Super EC'?" read the tweet from senior party leader Randeep Surjewala.

Earlier today, the party had raised questions on the independence of the Election Commission when it pushed back the timing of the press conference to announce dates. While the election body said the move was made not to inconvenience mediapersons, the Congress alleged the delay might be meant to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a number of announcements at his rally in Ajmer before the Model Code comes into play.

The Commission has rubbished the accusations. "They are politicians, they have to politicise everything," the Chief Election Commissioner said.

Regarding Telangana -- where Chief Minister R Chandrashekar Rao dissolved the assembly last month to effect early elections -- Mr Rawat said the polls have been pushed to the far end, so the Commission could place the voters' list before the High Court, where the Chief Minister's decision has been challenged.

"The case in High Court is about the voters' list and it wants to see the list. So EC extended final publication to 12. That's why Telangana polls are at the far end," the Election Commissioner said.

The Election Commission had called off the revision of rolls in Telangana to make way for polls in the state by the year-end. The Commission is sticking to the lists from January 1, 2018 and ask the voters to flag any new names or discrepancies.

Asked why Election officials from Delhi did not even visit Telangana, Mr Rawat said, "We had called the CEO and discussed and we are satisfied to hold polls".

Business Affairs

More steps on the cards to bridge widening current account deficit, says Arun Jaitley

Asserting that the government is determined to meet the fiscal deficit target, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said some more steps are on the anvil to narrow the current account deficit (CAD) and bolster forex inflows.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit here, he said India will continue to be the leading destination of foreign direct investment despite the adverse global situation.

However, he said, there could be some transient problem in foreign portfolio investment but these would not continue depending on the global situation.

The finance minister said maintaining fiscal prudence is one of the top priorities of this government.

"One of the top priorities was and I do believe in that maintaining fiscal prudence always helps and you can afford to take liberties only when fiscal position is strong and not otherwise," he said.

"Gradually on fiscal deficit we had glide down from 4.6 per cent we are now targeting 3.3 per cent (of GDP) this year and I am quite certain with the kind of revenue coming particulary from the direct taxes, we will achieve that," he said.

As far as current account deficit (CAD) is concerned, Jaitley said it is linked to global oil prices because forex is mostly spent on crude.

"The way the (crude oil) prices are going up, the highest in the last 4 years, it is going to be some adverse impact on the CAD. Now we are trying our best to take measures to narrow it.

"Some more steps are likely but there are two factors... external one is the oil prices and second is the policy with the United States which is leading to hardening of the dollar itself therefore adversely impacting all currencies of the world," he said.

He, however, did not disclose steps to be taken by the government for narrowing CAD.

Citing some of the steps to bridge CAD and bolster flows in the recent past, Jaitley said the sovereign borrowing target was reduced by Rs 70,000 crore for the current fiscal and withholding tax on masala bonds has been withdrawn for the moment.

Besides, he said, the government recently allowed public sector oil marketing companies to raise USD 10 billion through external commercial borrowing (ECB).

On Indian economy, he said, the ability of the country to maintain the present growth rate for a decade or two is reasonably certain.

India once again in frenemy ties with the US

India, on Friday, has formally signed the $ 5.2 billion deal with Russia for buying the high-tech S-400 missile defence system, especially when the threat of US sanctions looms large over the deal. The defence system is strategically important for India as border conflicts are common with neighbours Pakistan and China. But it is not sure whether Washington would take it lightly as the deal could potentially expose India to US sanctions under the legislation, Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Indo-US relation has been looking fine for the last few years since when Prime Minister Narendra Modi developed a personal equation with the former US President Barak Obama. The arrival of Donald Trump had changed the relationship between the largest and the oldest democratic countries. Trump's campaign of America First didn't go well down to the American multinational companies, who were investing heavily in the emerging markets like India and China, besides it hurt the interests of Indian IT services companies working in the US, like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. The Indian IT giants had started recruiting Americans in their companies, cutting down the low-cost Indian workforce.

The Trump administration, in September, announced a new rule proposing to deny Green Cards - lawful permanent residency, a step away from citizenship - to immigrants who legally use state aid to get by, for prescription drugs, housing, food stamps and a number of other reasons. Department of Homeland secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement, "Under long-standing federal law, those seeking to immigrate to the United States must show they can support themselves financially." The rule doesn't impact those who have already received their Green Cards. But over three lakh people from India, mostly IT professionals and their family members are in the queue for their Green cards.

Another big faceoff between India and the US hasn't yet unravelled so far is in the trade front. Earlier this year, Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff on imported steel and aluminium from India. In response, India announced its plan to slap retaliatory tariffs for walnuts, almonds, boric acid, apples, diagnostic reagents and some hot-rolled coil products imported from the U.S. But the Modi government has preferred to defer the retaliatory tariffs for avoiding the aggressive posturing of India against the US.

India's purchase of crude oil from Iran is another contentious issue with the US. The US sanctions on Iran's energy industry will come into effect on November 5 and that could potentially spike the petrol, diesel and LPG prices in India. The Indian oil refiners buy Iranian crude at $3-5 a barrel discount to the other crude grades in the Middle East. At its peak, about 20 per cent of the country's crude requirement was served from Iran. Because of the threat of US sanction, it came down to 14 per cent last year. The $5 increase in landed cost of crude will translate into Rs 2 change in petrol and diesel prices in India, especially when the fuel costs sky rockets and the central government waivers the taxes to pacify the public anger.

The latest information is that Indian companies placed order for Iranian crude in November. News agency PTI quoted top industry sources saying Indian Oil and Mangalore Refinery have contracted 1.25 million tonne of Iranian oil for import in November, the month when the sanctions kick-in. India is expected to pay in rupee for its purchases, replacing the dollar.

The Trump administration had imposed sanctions against China last month for its purchases of Russian military equipment, including the S-400, under CAATSA legislation that designed to punish Moscow. On the eve of Putin's arrival in Delhi, the US State Department urged all allies and partners to forgo transactions with Russia that would trigger sanctions. Replying to the questions on the threat of US sanctions, Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said "India has maintained its sovereignty as regards to its relationship with countries. We shall maintain it in all earnestness." News agencies reported that the US is up in arms against the S-400 is the missile defence system's reported ability to take down American stealth fighter jets including the F-35.

Whereas China is emerging as a rival power, India has been considered as an important strategic ally by the US and it supported India in its fight against Pakistan's cross border terrorist activates. India following China and Turkey in buying S-400 will definitely irk America. Even if don't come up as sanctions, it will reflect in the economic deals of India and the US.

India stock market is seeing frantic exit of foreign investors, who are largely based out of the US. Depreciation of rupee against dollar is the primary reason for the exit. On October 5, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold Rs 8,200 crore in equities, when the BSE Sensex fell around 800 points. Another issue is that the fund raising from the US financial market has become an expensive affair for Indian companies because of the high rates and restrained resources. Because of trade restrictions, the export of Indian companies to the US is likely fall. In the first eight months of this year, India exported $36.45 billion worth goods to the US.

Arun Jaitley hints at law for mandatory Aadhaar linking with bank accounts, SIM cards

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said a Parliament approved legislation can restore mandatory linking of biometric ID Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts, but did not say if the government will bring a new law for the same.

The Supreme Court had last month upheld the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric based unique identity number, but restricted its use by private entities like telecom operators for verifying identity of mobile phone user.

Jaitley said the verdict was a "very sound judgment" as the court accepted that there is legitimate state aim in Aadhaar.

"Aadhaar is not a citizenship card," he said at the HT Leadership Summit here. "Because after all you have a system where you give a lot of government money in form of various support and subsidies to all kinds of people. That was the principle objective of Aadhaar."

The Supreme Court, he said, upheld most of what Aadhaar does.

"What had not been upheld falls in two categories. One is the principle of proportionality that Aadhaar will help in these cases and then do it by an appropriate law.

"So the whole argument which was given that private companies can't use it, there is Section 57 which says you can authorise others either by law or contract. So what has been struck down is by contract," he said.

Finance Minister said a legal provision through a legislation can restore linking of Aadhaar with mobile phones and bank accounts.

"By law it can still be done, provided you do it under the adequate provision of law and do it on the basis of that in this field it is necessary," he said.

He, however, did not say if the government plans to bring a law in Parliament for the purpose.

Jaitley said the Supreme Court has permitted Aadhaar linkage in several areas like income tax, based on "the principle of proportionality".

"If you are able to show the kind of data that in mobile telephony it (Aadhaar linkage) will help, it can happen. So mobile and bank accounts are two critical areas," he said.

The Supreme Court declared constitutional the government's extraordinary attempt to give every resident a biometric ID. It, however, drew a clear line between two kinds of use for biometric authentication -- its use for state-provided services like payment of subsidies and taxation records was declared acceptable but restricted its use as authentication tool by the private sector like telecom companies and banks.

Reliance Defence was named offset partner in S-400 deal with Russia

After months of wait, India finally signed the deal to purchase S-400 Triumpf Long Range Surface to Air Missile System from Russia as the heads of states from the two countries met on Friday. With the $5.4 billion deal now official, the payment mechanism for it is expected to be initiated soon.

The deal, which was in the making for quite some time now, was underplayed by New Delhi, possibly to avoid tensions with Washington. The deal for S-400 missile system was signed by Joint Secretary (Land Systems) from Indian Defence Ministry and Director General ROE (Rosoboronexport). It did not even found a mention in the press statements released by Prime Minster Narendra Modi or President Vladimir Putin.

Another aspect of interest is that Reliance Defence was named the offset partner in the S-400 deal with Russia. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure signed a manufacturing and maintenance deal worth around $6 billion with AlmanzAntey ahead of PM Modi's visit Moscow in 2015, the company had mentioned in a statement. AlmanzAntey is a subsidiary of Rosoboronexport and key manufacturer of S-400 missile systems.

"Our proposed partnership will constitute an important milestone in the strategic relationship between the two countries," Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani had said about the deal.

"Working with Reliance Defence will help us develop new directions for both Companies to address future requirements of the Indian Armed Forces," AlmanzAntey Vice Chairman VF Medovnikov had said.

Reliance Defence has been recently receiving flak from main Opposition party Congress for alleged foul play in its appointment as the offset partner in the acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation. Tensions in the matter spiked two weeks ago after former French President Francois Hollande said that the Indian government pressed for naming Reliance Defence as the offset partner in the Rafale deal.

The S-400 deal with Russia is also drawing fire from Washington. This is the first deal between India and Russia since the United States' Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) came into effect in August last year. New Delhi is arguing that the deal was in the pipeline long before the CAATSA was conceptualised and classified as a legacy item, making it eligible for a waiver.

"The Administration has indicated that a focus area for the implementation of CAATSA Section 231 is new or qualitative upgrades in capability - including the S-400 air and missile defense system," a US States Department spokesperson said after the S-400 deal was finalised between New Delhi and Moscow.

Replaced Iranian crude supplies lost due to US sanctions, says Saudi crown prince

Saudi Arabia's crown prince, facing U.S. pressure to tame surging oil prices, insisted that the kingdom is fulfilling promises to make up for Iranian crude supplies lost to American sanctions.

"The request that America made to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries is to be sure that if there is any loss of supply from Iran, that we will supply that," Mohammed Bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne, said in an interview. "And that happened."

Yet the action appears lost on President Donald Trump, who continues to attack the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for letting prices rally while he seeks to choke off supplies from Iran, a political antagonist of the Saudis. On Wednesday the State Department urged OPEC to tap its reserve supplies.

The Saudis' efforts have also failed to prevent crude hitting a four-year high above $86 a barrel in London this week.

Crude's Climb

Oil traders are concerned that the kingdom isn't ramping up quickly enough, and that it may not have enough capacity to fully cover Iran's losses. Yet a coalition of producers from OPEC and beyond has recently boosted output by 1.5 million barrels a day, double the 700,000-barrel decline suffered so far by Iran, according to the crown prince.

"We export as much as two barrels for any barrel that disappeared from Iran recently," Prince Mohammed said. "So we did our job and more."

Saudi Arabia's Oil Production

Saudi Arabia is now pumping about 10.7 million barrels a day -- close to a record -- and can add a further 1.3 million "if the market needs that," the prince said. However, many analysts doubt that 12 million barrels a day can be reached quickly, or maintained for an extended period.

"Near-term spare capacity is effectively maxed out," Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd., said last week.

Production Potential

Prince Mohammed said that the kingdom could push capacity beyond 12 million barrels a day with additional investment, and that extra supplies are also available from Saudi Arabia's allies. The so-called OPEC+ coalition spans other Gulf producers like the United Arab Emirates, as well as countries outside OPEC such as Russia.

Trump is reimposing sanctions on Iran after quitting an agreement on the country's nuclear program, and the measures will take full effect in November. While many -- including Russian President Vladimir Putin -- have blamed Trump's actions for oil's rally, the price is actually being driven by losses in other countries, according to Prince Mohammed.

"The higher price that we have in the last month, it's not because of Iran," he said. "It's mostly because of things happening in Canada and Mexico, Libya, Venezuela and other countries."

Saudi Arabia and Iran are both members of OPEC, yet they're bitterly opposed on political issues and continue to clash in conflicts across the Middle East from Syria to Yemen.

General Awareness

Latest Current Affairs - September 2018

Appointments

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) appointed D Shivakumar as its chairman for 3 years.

Anil Khosla will be appointed as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force.

Arup Kumar Goswami has been appointed acting chief justice of the Gauhati High Court.

Axis Bank appointed Amitabh Chaudhry as its managing director & CEO from January 1, 2019, for 3 years. Mr. Chaudhry is MD & CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company at present. He will replace Shikha Sharma for Top post att Axis Bank.

On leaving of Amitabh Chaudhary, Vibha Padalkar has been appointed HDFC Life MD & CEO.

Binoy Kumar took over as Secretary in Ministry of Steel.

Government Appointed Anil Kumar Chaudhary as Chairman and Managing Director of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), for 2 years.

Government appointed Chief executive officers and managing directors (CEOs and MDs) at 10 public sector banks, as part of 15 names recommended by Bank Boards Bureau for elevation. First 5 People are currently deputy MDs at SBI.

Padmaja Chundru - Indian Bank

Mrutyunjay Mahapatra - Syndicate Bank

Pallav Mohapatra - Central Bank of India

Packirisamy - Andhra Bank

Karnam Sekar - Dena Bank

SS Mallikarajuna Rao - Allahabad Bank

AS Rajeev - Bank of Maharashtra

Atul Kumar Goel - UCO Bank

S Harisankar - Punjab & Sind Bank.

Ashok Kumar Pradhan - United Bank of India.

Government appointed Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas (Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) as secretary in Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and chairperson in Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).

Also, Anindo Majumdar is Appointed as Secretary in Central Vigilance Commission.

A. Gitesh Sarma appointed as Secretary (West) in Ministry of External Affairs.

Government appointed Rajni Mishra as the director general of Border Security Force (BSF).

Government appointed S S Deswal as Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Government appointed four members to local boards of RBI -

Rakesh Jain - Southern local board

Sachin Chaturvedi - Eastern local board.

Revathy Iyer and Raghvendra Narayan Dubey - Northern local board.

Revathy Iyer and Sachin Chaturvedi - Central local board.

Indian Banks Association (IBA) elected PNB MD and CEO Sunil Mehta as chairman for 2018-19. Madhav Nair has been elected as Honorary Secretary of association for 2018-19.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chosen veteran scientist VR Lalithambika to head its Gaganyaan mission to put an Indian in space by 2022.

Jack Ma, co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will step down as head of the company in 2019. He named company CEO Daniel Zhang as his successor.

Jammu and Kashmir Government appointed Dilbagh Singh as Director General of Police (DGP) of the state.

Jayant Mammen Mathew elected as president of the Indian Newspaper Society, apex body of India's print media industry.

Kalraj Mishra appointed as chairman of parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

Misc. Appointments (September 2018) -

WPP Plc, world’s largest communication services group, appointed Mark Read as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director (ED).

Tahira Safdar sworn in as first woman chief justice in Pakistan‘s Balochistan High Court.

Om Prakash Mishra - Chief Justice of Nepal.

Lal Krishan Advani renominated as Chairman of Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha.

Actors Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma signed as ambassadors of Skill India Campaign.

SBI appointed Prashant Kumar as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar joined board of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Keith Enright - Chief Privacy Officer of Google.

Facebook appointed Ajit Mohan as Facebook India’s Managing Director and Vice President.

B. S. Mubarak appointed as next Ambassador of India to Republic of Guatemala (Central America).

Moutaz Mousa Abdallah has become new Prime Minister of African Nation Sudan.

N.Ravi (Publisher of The Hindu Group) is appointed as chairman of Press Trust of India. While, Vijay Kumar Chopra (Chief Editor of Punjab Kesari Group) is appointed as Vice Chairman.

New Ambassadors (September 2018) -

BSNL - Noted Indian Female Boxer Mary Kom.

Alok Amitabh Dimri - New Indian Ambassador to Kyrgyz Republic.

B. Vanlalvawna - New Indian Ambassabor to Republic of Azerbaijan.

Actor Akshay Kumar - Honrary Ambassdor to Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Foundation.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi elected as 13th President of Pakistan.

Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been re-elected as Regional Director of WHO for another five-year term beginning February 2019. She is the first woman to have been elected to the position of Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia Region.

R Madhavan took over as Chairman and Managing Director of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Ranjan Gogoi will be appointed as new Chief Justice of India (46th), on October 3, 2018. He will replace current CJI Dipak Misra.

Sanjay Kumar (National Disaster Response Force chief) has been given additional charge of post of Director General of Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards.

Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) elected Rajan Wadhera as its new President.

State Bank of India (SBI) appointed Anshula Kant as its Managing Director. Also, SBI Mutual Fund appointed Ashwani Bhatia as its managing director and chief executive officer.

Tajinder Mukherjee has been appointed as new Chairman and Managing Director of National Insurance Company Limited (NIC).

Vikram Misri has been appointed as next Ambassador of India to China.

Awards

3 jailed Saudi human rights activists awarded Right Livelihood Award, widely referred to as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’. Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Waleed Abu al-Khair jointly got a one million kronor cash award for their efforts to reform the totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia.

70th Primetime Emmy Awards (USA) -

Award Winner

Drama Series Game of Thrones

Comedy Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Television Movie Black Mirror: USS Callister

Lead Actress in a Drama Series Claire Foy, The Crown

Lead Actor in a Drama Series Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Regina King, Seven Seconds

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Bill Hader, Barry

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Actor-director Pankaj Kapur is honoured with ‘Icons of Indian Cinema’ Award at closing ceremony of 9th Jagran Film Festival in Mumbai.

Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be bestowed with inaugural Meryl Streep Award for Excellence at the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award.

Actress Anushka Sharma received Smita Patil Memorial Award at Priyadarshni Academy 34th Anniversary Global Awards in Mumbai.

All-women crew of INSV Tarini won Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award, for beating odds in water and sailing across the world for eight long months. It is highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air.

Other winners of Tenzing Norgay National Adventure awards are -

Udit Thapar - Skydiver

SonamWangyal - Mountaineer (Life time)

Anshu Jamsenpa - Mountaineer

Ravi Kumar - Mountaineer

American actress Anne Hathaway will be honoured with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Equality Award.

Arul Chinnaiyan (Indian-American scientist at University of Michigan) researcher has been awarded an “Outstanding Investigator Award” along with a grant of $6.5 million by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Balzan Foundation announced winners for 2018 Balzan Prizes -

Peace and Fraternity among Peoples - Terre des Hommes, an international children rights charity based in Switzerland.

Chemical Ecology - Eva Kondorosi (Hungary/France)

Fluid Dynamics - Detlef Lohse (Deutschland)

Global History - Jürgen Osterhammel (Germany)

Social Anthropology - Marilyn Strathern (UK)

Bibek Debroy, Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister, has been conferred ‘Honoris Causa’ by University of Engineering & Management (UEM) in Kolkata.

CSIR announced Winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 2018 -

Every year, scientists below 45 years age are awarded for their outstanding scientific work in last 5 years. 2018 Winners -

Category

Winner

Affiliation

Biological Sciences
Ganesh Nagaraju IISc Bengaluru

Thomas Pucadyil IISER Pune

Chemical Sciences
Rahul Banerjee IISER Kolkata

Swadhin Kumar Mandal IISER Kolkata

Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences
Madineni Venkat Ratnam National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Tirupati

Parthasarathi Chakraborty CSIR-NIO, Goa

Engineering Sciences
Amit Agrawal IIT Bombay

Ashwin Anil Gumaste IIT Bombay

Mathematical Sciences
Amit Kumar IIT Delhi

Nitin Saxena IIT Kanpur

Medical Sciences
Ganesan Venkatasubramanian NIMHANS, Bengaluru

Physical Sciences
Aditi Sen De Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad

Ambarish Ghosh IISc Bengaluru

Director Vasan Bala action thriller ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’ won top award (Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award) at 43rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Canada. Its first Indian film to be screened in Toronto festivals Midnight Madness programme.

Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards 2018

About Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards -

Started by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017 to propel global action and track progress on the United Nation’s Sustainable Developmental Goals, Also known as Oscar for Social Progress

2018 Awardees -

Amika George (Campaign Award). Indian Origin Girl. Her #FreePeriods campaign that brought her granddad and 2,000 other protestors on Downing Street in UK in December 2017 to demand free sanitary products for poor.

Nadia Murad (Pagemaker Award). She is a Yazidi survivor of Islamic State (IS) genocide in Iraq.

Dysmus Kisilu (Progress Award). His renewable energy solutions increased yields of small farmers in Kenya by 150%.

Hyderabad International Airport (Rajiv Gandhi International Airport) has been awarded Airports Council International Airport Service Quality World no.1 airport award in 5-15 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category, for 2nd consecutive year.

Also, 6 Indian Airports winning airports are (Lucknow, Indore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune) were awarded at Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017 presented by Airports Council International (ACI). Delhi and Mumbai aerodromes shared top slot in the best airport category in Asia-Pacific region with regard to handling of over two million passengers per year.

India's Raghupati Singhania (JK Tyres CMD) has been awarded Mexican order of the Aztec Eagle, highest honour given to non-nationals by Government of Mexico.

Industrial Awards (September 2018) -

Panchpatmali bauxite mine of National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) won 5 awards at 20th Mines Environment and Mineral Conservation (MEMC) week, held under guidance of Indian Bureau of Mines.

Kerala Tourism won 2 gold awards of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns, in Travel Advertisement Print and Travel Poster categories.

Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) became first ever metro rail corporation from India to win International ‘Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents’ (RoSPA) Award (Silver).

Manatec, Pondicherry-based garage equipment manufacturer, won Innovation Award at Automechanika, a leading trade fair in Germany. It won for its innovation of JUMBO 3D – World’s 1st 3D Wheel Aligner for Multi-Axle Trucks, Buses & Trailers.

Jaipur-based poet and writer Sawai Singh Shekhawat will be honoured with Meera Puruskar by Rajasthan Sahitya Academy for his contribution to Hindi literature.

Maharashtra government‘s ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’ for 2018 will be conferred on Vijay Patil, of music director duo Raam-Laxman. The annual award is declared on the birthday of the legendary singer, Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, On her birthday (Sep 28).

Manoj Jhalani, Additional Secretary & Mission Director (NHM) has been conferred with UN Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) Award for his outstanding contribution towards prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related Sustainable Development Goals..

UNIATF on Prevention and Control of NCDs coordinates activities of relevant UN organizations and other inter-governmental organizations to support Governments to meet high-level commitments to respond to NCD epidemics worldwide.

National Sports Awards 2018 -

Selection Committees Headed by -

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards - Justice Indermeet Kaur Kochhar

Dronacharya Awards and Dhyan Chand Awards - Justice Mukul Mudgal

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar - Rahul Bhatnagar (Secretary (Sports)).

MAKA Trophy - Ashok Kumar (former Olympian).

Winners -

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - (Given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year)

S. No.

Name

Discipline

1.

Ms. S. Mirabai Chanu

Weightlifting

2.

Virat Kohli

Cricket

Dronacharya Awards (for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events)

S. No.

Name of the Coach

Discipline

Subedar Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa

Boxing

Vijay Sharma

Weightlifting

A. Srinivasa Rao

Table Tennis

Sukhdev Singh Pannu

Athletics

Clarence Lobo

Hockey (Life Time)

Tarak Sinha

Cricket (Life Time)

Jiwan Kumar Sharma

Judo (Life Time)

V.R. Beedu

Athletics (Life Time)

Arjuna Awards 2018 (For consistency outstanding performance for four years)

S. No.

Name of the Sportsperson

Discipline

Neeraj Chopra

Athletics

Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson

Athletics

Hima Das

Athletics

Nelakurthi Sikki Reddy

Badminton

Subedar Satish Kumar

Boxing

Smriti Mandhana

Cricket

Shubhankar Sharma

Golf

Manpreet Singh

Hockey

Ms. Savita

Hockey

Col. Ravi Rathore

Polo

Rahi Sarnobat

Shooting

Ankur Mittal

Shooting

Shreyasi Singh

Shooting

Manika Batra

Table Tennis

G. Sathiyan

Table Tennis

Rohan Bopanna

Tennis

Sumit

Wrestling

Pooja Kadian

Wushu

Ankur Dhama

Para-Athletics

Manoj Sarkar

Para-Badminton

Dhyan Chand Award 2018 (For life time contribution to sports development )

S. No.

Name of the Sportsperson

Discipline

Satyadev Prasad

Archery

Bharat Kumar Chetri

Hockey

Bobby Aloysius

Athletics

Chougale Dadu Dattatray

Wrestling

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar (given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development)

S. No.

Category

Name of the entity

1.

Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

2.

Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility

JSW Sports

3.

Sports for Development

Isha Outreach

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2017-18 (Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments ) - Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar

Noted Chemistry Scientist C N R Rao has been awarded DSc by Presidency University (Kolkata).

Noted Odia poet Satrughna Pandav will be honoured with the prestigious ‘Sarala Puraskar’ for his poetry collection ‘Misra Dhrupad’, to be awarded by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).

Noted children’s writer Ramendra Kumar honoured at 36th International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Congress in Athens (Greece).

Noted neurosurgeon B.K. Misra has been named for this year's prestigious Dr B.C. Roy National Award as an Eminent Medical Person of Year, given by Medical Council of India (since 1962). It will be given away by President Ram Nath Kovind on July 1 next year (National Doctors Day).

PM Narendra Modi has been awarded the United Nations highest environmental honour ‘Champions of the Earth’ for his leadership of the band pledge to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022. Awards will be presented during Champions of the Earth Gala in New York, on sidelines of 73rd UN General Assembly. Other Awardees are -

French President Emmanuel Macron.

India’s Cochin International Airport - Awarded in Entrepreneurial Vision category. It is world’s first fully solar-powered airport.

Joan Carling - Awarded lifetime achievement award as a prominent defender of environmental and indigenous rights.

Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods - Jointly recognised in Science and Innovation category.

China’s Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Programme - Awarded in inspiration and action category.

Social network Firm Facebook selected 3 Indian women (among 115 selected globally) for $1 million award as part of its Community Leadership Programme. They are Adhunika Prakash, Chetana Misra and Tamanna Dhamija, awarded $50,000 in fellowship each.

Adhunika Prakash - founded non-profit Breastfeeding Support for Indian Moms in Pune.

Chetana Misra - founded Mompreneurs India, community of like-minded women, allowing them to network, share knowledge and contacts and benefit from partnerships to start business and take it online.

Tamanna Dhamija - Created Baby Destination, that helps mothers exchange information and support one another.

Top

Books

Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple, final book of Vineet Bajpai's Harappa trilogy has been released. First 2 books of series are Harappa: Curse of the Blood River and Pralay: The Great Deluge.

A coffee-table book titled Narendra Modi: A Charismatic & Visionary Statesman written by BJP president Amit Shah has been released.0

Author Preeti Shenoy's new book named The Rule Breakers has been released.

Author Sundeep Misra will write a book on life of Indian Female Sprinter Dutee Chand, who rose from abject poverty to become one of India’s biggest sprinting stars. Title of book will be titled Story so Far.

Book Constitutionalizing India: an Ideational Project, authored by Bidyut Chakrabarty has been released.

New Book Shades of Truth: A Journey Derailed, written by Former Congress MP Kapil Sibal has been released.

PM Narendra Modi released book Moving On, Moving Forward – A Year in Office, written by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to mark his 1 year in office.

Top

Committees

A High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility – 2018 (HLC-2018) constituted under Chairmanship of Injeti Srinivas (Secretary in Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)) to review existing framework and guide and formulate the roadmap for a coherent policy on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

A Uttar Pradesh Government committee suggested recommendations aimed at providing a solution to completion of homes in stalled projects of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway. Committee was chaired by Durga Shankar Mishra (Secretary in Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)).

During 30th Meeting of GST Council, 7-Member Group of Ministers (GoM) was tasked to examine proposal of Kerala Goverment for imposition of Cess on SGST for rehabilitation and flood affected works this issue in depth. Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar is Convenor of the GoM.

Government constituted a Competition Law Review Committee to review Competition Act, which was passed in 2002 and Competition Commission of India was set up. Commission started functioning from 2009. The commitee is headed by Secretary in Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Currently Injeti Srinivas).

Government has set up a group of secretaries to look into concerns being raised on some proposals of draft e-commerce policy. It will be headed by secretary in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Govt. constituted an eight-member search committee, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, to recommend the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.

Justice Mukul Mudgal is named as Chairman of 11-member selection committee to pick this year’s Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees, given as part of National Sports Awards ceremony to be held on September 25.

Ministry of Commerce & Industry constituted a High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) to address challenges in order to find a way forward in the contemporary global trade scenario, under chairmanship of Surjit S. Bhalla.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a monitoring committee headed by Justice S P Garg to prepare a time-bound action plan on groundwater recharge in Delhi.

SEBI panel headed by Former RBI Deputy Governor HR Khan proposed relaxing of rules for investment in FPIs by NRIs. NRIs will be allowed to invest as FPIs if the single holding is under 25% and group holding under 50% in a fund.

Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Roy to look into the aspect of jail reforms across country.

Union Government has appointed former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan as the head of panel that has been tasked with selecting India’s next chief economic advisor (CEA).

Days

28 September: World Rabies Day. 2018 theme is Rabies: Share the message. Save a life. It seeks to raise awareness about impact of rabies on animals and human beings. It is also observed as UNESCO International Day for Universal Access to Information.

2nd Anniversary of Surgical Strike celebrated as Parakram Parv or Surgical Strike Day on September 29 - 30, 2018 by Indian Army to showcase gallant action of brave Army in conduct of Surgical Strikes on September 29, 2016. It also marked to remember sacrifice of soldiers during ‘Uri Attacks’. PM Modi inaugurated an Exhibition in Jodhpur (Rajasthan), on this occasion.

UGC also directed all universities / higher educational institutions to observe September 29 as Surgical Strike Day.

Assam government decided to observe September 22 as “Rhino Day”.

National Nutrition Week observed from 1st to 7th September, to spread awareness regarding importance of nutrition.

Sep 05 - International Day of Charity.

Sep 05 - International Day of Charity.

Sep 05 - National Teachers' Day in India.

On this occasion, Vice President Venkaih Naidu presented National Awards for Teachers 2017 to 45 teachers from across country.

It marks birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first Vice-President, and second President of independent India. Celebration of National Teacher’s Day started in 1962.

As a gift on occasion of Teachers’ Day, Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give 7th pay commission pay scale to teachers and professors of state colleges and universities.

On this occasion, A book named ‘Experiential Learning – Gandhi’s Nai Talim’ (basic education) was released.

Sep 08 - International Literacy Day. 2018 theme is Literacy and skills development.

Sep 10 - World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD).

Sep 12 - International Day for South-South Cooperation.

Sep 14 - National Hindi Divas. marking adaptation of Hindi language as official language of India by Constituent Assembly of India on 14 September 1949. Under Article 343 of Constitution, Hindi written in Devanagri script was adopted as official language.

On this occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind presented Rajbhasha awards for Year 2016-17 at Rashtrapati Bhawan. PNB bagged Rajbhasha Kirtiaward for outstanding performance in implementing Official Language Policy during 2017-18.

Sep 15 - Engineers' Day in India. IOt marks birth anniversary of Sh. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, a world-renowned civil engineer who was a master of irrigation design.

He was awarded India's highest honour, Bharat Ratna, in 1955 for his work in engineering and education. He was also awarded British knighthood King also awarded to by George V, giving him the honorific "sir".

Sep 15 - International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Sep 15 - International Day of Democracy. 2018 theme is Democracy under Strain: Solutions for a Changing World. Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2007 to strengthen national programmes devoted to promotion and consolidation of democracy.

Sep 16 - UN International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

This designation was made on December 19 2000, in commemoration of the date, in 1987, on which nations signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

On this occasion, Ministry of Power launched Chiller Star Labelling Program to encourage deployment of energy efficient chiller systems in India. Based on test certificate from designated agencies and after verification from Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), star label on the scale of 1 (less efficient) to 5 (most efficient) will be assigned.

It will help in saving over 500 million units of electricity in 2019 along with Green House Gases reduction of 0.5 million-ton equivalent of CO2. It will also save more than 4 billion units of electricity by 2030 with CO2 emission reduction of 3.5 million ton.

On this occasion, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released draft India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), making India first country in world to develop such document. It aims to provide sustainable cooling, while protecting ozone layer.

It provides a 20-year perspective, with projections for cooling needs in 2037-38.

Goals suggested in ICAP are -

Reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by year 2037-38.

Reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25 % by 2037-38.

Reduce cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by 2037-38.

Train and certify 100,000 servicing sector technicians by 2022-23, in synergy with Skill India Mission.

Sep 21 - International Day of Peace. 2018 Theme is The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70. Sep 21 is also observed as World Alzheimer’s Day.

Sep 23 - International Day of Sign Languages. 2018 theme is With Sign Language, Everyone is Included. Sep 23, 2018 Also marks Centenary of the Battle of Haifa, when on 23 Sep 1918, Indian soldiers from Jodhpur, Mysore and Hyderabad Lancers liberated city of Haifa (Israel).

Sep 26 - International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by adopting resolution 68/32 in December 2013.

Sep 27 - World Tourism Day. 2018 theme is Tourism and the Digital Transformation. Hungary is the host country for 2018’s WTD, While India will be official Host country for WTD 2019. This year, 77 awardees were honored under National Tourism Awards 2016-17. Notable Awardees are -

Best State/ UT (Comprehensive Development of Tourism) - Andhra Pradesh (1), Kerala (2), Goa & Rajasthan (Joint 3rd). Sikkim in category of Jammu & Kashmir & North East of India including Sikkim.

Madhya Pradesh won Hall of Fame National Award, given to a state for being best for tourism three years consecutively. MP also won 10 other awards.

Best Tourist Friendly Railway Station - Secunderabad Railway Station

Best Tourist Friendly Airport - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport Ahmedabad (Class X cities), Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Indore (Rest of India)

Best Film Promotion Friendly State/ UT - Rajasthan

Best Tourism Film - Department of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala for ‘Live Inspired’.

Best Heritage City - Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Mandu (Madhya Pradesh) as Joint Winners.

Tourism Minister also launched ‘Incredible India Mobile App’ and the ‘Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification’ programme.

Sep 27, 2018 - World Maritime Day (WMD) 2018. It is observed every year on last Thursday of September. 2018 theme is IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future. The day was first observed in 1978.

Sep 29 - World Heart Day.

Sep 30 - International Translation Day. 2018 Theme is Translation: promoting cultural heritage in changing times.

Sep 9 is observed as Himalaya Day in Uttarakhand , since 2014 onwards.

September 2 - World coconut day.

Defence

Indian Air Force (IAF) announced its plans for Andhra Pradesh to make it a 'strategic base' and strengthen its presence in the region. It Includes -

Set up a major helicopter training facility at Donakonda in Prakasam district.

Establishing a drone manufacturing facility in Anantapur district.

A cyber security centre in Amaravati and making Rajahmundry and Vijayawada airports asset positioning bases.

1st session of India and Russia joint air exercise Aviaindra 2018 held in Lipetsk (Russia). 2nd session of Aviaindra 2018 will be conducted in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) in December 2018. Since 2014, it is conducted bi-annually (twice a year) in both countries.

2nd Nepal-China joint military exercise named Mt Everest Friendship Exercise-2018 (Sagarmatha Friendship-2018) commenced in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. The 12 day long joint exercise will focus on combating terror and disaster management training.

3rd Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Exercise 'KAZIND' 2018 conducted in Otar region (Kazakhstan).

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) bagged order worth INR 9200 crores for supply of seven Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) systems to Indian Navy.

Cyient Solutions & Systems (JV of IT firm Cyient and BlueBird Aero Systems of Israel) bagged order from Indian Army to supply SpyLite mini UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) systems for high altitude aerial surveillance. SpyLite mini UAV unmanned aerial system has endurance of 4-5 hours and maximum flight ceiling of 30,000 feet, making it ideal for Indian Army operations along border with China and Siachen glacier.

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved induction of upgraded Akash short-range surface-to-air missile (SRSAM) system in Indian Army, under ‘Buy (Indian)’ category from Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

Indian Army already has inducted two Akash regiments, which will now increase to 4 regiments.

It has range of 25 km and can engage multiple targets at time in all-weather conditions.

Upgraded Akash Missile System will include seeker technology, possess 360 degree coverage and will be of compact configuration with reduced signature.

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved procurement of 1,000 engines for fitment in T-72 tanks of the Army at an approximate cost of over 2,300 crore rupees.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested a low-weight indigenously developed man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM).

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully tested indigenously developed surface-to-surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’, with operational range under 350 KM.

Government approved INR 8606 croreS for 60 projects being implemented under umbrella scheme of Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM). projects are being implemented in 111 border districts in 17 states having the international borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

India shares borders with Pakistan (3,323 km), China (3,488 km), Nepal (1,751 km), Bhutan (699 km), Myanmar (1,643 km) and Bangladesh (4,096 km).

Inaugural Military Field Training Exercise for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technological and Economic Cooperation nations named MILEX-18 held at Aundh Military Station (Maharashtra).

Nepal refused to participate in inaugural BIMSTEC military exercise, after stringent criticism from ruling and opposition parties in Nepal.

Also, Nepal will take part in a 12-day-long military exercise with China later in September, called ‘Sagarmatha Friendship-2’.

India along with 23 other nations participated in major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise known as IOWave18, organized by Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Purpose is to increase tsunami preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each state and improve coordination throughout region.

In India, It is being coordinated by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

India and USA conducted their annual army exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018 at Chaubatia in Uttarakhand, as 14th edition of this exercise.

India tested Prithvi Defence Vehicle (PDV) with an interceptor missile test off Odisha coast, as a major milestone in developing a two-layer Ballistic Missile Defence system.

India, along with 23 otherIndian Ocean Nations, participated in as IOWave18. Its a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise (drill), organized by Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. In India, IOWave18 is being coordinated by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out first ever midair refuelling of indigenously developed light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas. It involved dry linkup (no fuel actually transferred) between IAF Il-78 tanker and Tejas fighter jet through its air-to-air refuelling probe.

Its a be major leap for indigenous fighter which will help in enhancing its mission capability by increasing its range and payload.

LCA Tejas is first advanced fly-by-wire Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) as part of LCA programme, started in 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters.

Indian Army will consider reducing 13-lakh strong Army force by at least 150000 over next few years and revamping cadre to optimise functioning at various levels. This change will now be placed at the Army's Commanders Conference in October 2018 and the modalities will be finalised and rolled out by November-December 2018.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has commissioned indigenously built patrol vessel ICGS Vijaya in Chennai, as second in the series of 98 m offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) commissioned by ICG.

Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri participated in 14th edition of Multi Nation Exercise KAKADU 2018, hosted by Australian Navy. INS Sahyadri also won multi activity competition KAKADU 18 Cup.

Indian Navy signed contract with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) located in Visakhapatnam for construction of two Diving Support Vessels (DSV), each of 118 m in length and 7,650 tonnes displacement capacity. These will be equipped with Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), which significantly enhances its Submarine Rescue Capabilities.

India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project inaugurated along two 5-km each patches of India-Pakistan International Border in Jammu and Kashmir.

This initiative has been taken up by BSF as part of comprehensive integrated border management system (CIBMS). It uses number of devices for surveillance, communication,data storage and automated surveillance technology and alarm detection systems.

It will make virtually impossible for terrorists to infiltrate into Indian side of border.

Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra successfully test fired by the Indian Air Force from Su-30 aircraft.

Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018 held in Ullanbaatar (Mongolia).

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will raise 4 more battalions (adding to existing 12), to be stationed in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and NCR Delhi.

Next edition of Aero India will be held in Bengaluru (Karnataka) in February 2019, as a five-day event with major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows.

SLINEX 2018, the joint Naval Exercise of India Sri Lanka navies held in Trincomalee.

USA based Aerospace firm Lockheed Martin announced that wings of its F-16 fighter jets will be produced in India, under an agreement with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL).

Economy

RBI released new guidelines for all notes which were introduced post note ban imposed in November 2016, ending lack of clarity over exchange of the New 2000 / 200 currency notes, introduced post demonetisation.

Rs 2000 and Rs 200 (issued in November 2016 and September 2017 respectively) could not be governed by old rules due to their difference in size.

As per new Rules, the undivided area of the single largest piece of the note for a damaged Rs 2000 note must be 88 square cm for a full refund, and 44 square cm for half refund. Rs 2000 note is 109.56 square cm in dimension.

For a damaged Rs 200 note, the criteria is 78 square cm for a full refund, and 39 square cm for half refund.

SBI increased its benchmark lending rates or MCLR by 0.2 percent across all tenors upto 3 years.

1st Advance Estimates of production of major Kharif crops for 2018-19 released by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. As per 1st Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during Kharif 2018-19 is -

Foodgrains – 141.59 million tonnes.

Rice – 99.24 million tonnes.

Nutri / Coarse Cereals – 33.13 million tonnes.

Maize – 21.47 million tonnes.

Pulses – 9.22 million tonnes.

Tur – 4.08 million tonnes.

Urad – 2.65 million tonnes.

Oilseeds – 22.19 million tonnes.

Soyabean – 13.46 million tonnes

Groundnut – 6.33 million tonnes

Castorseed – 1.52 million tonnes

Cotton – 32.48 million bales (of 170 kg each)

Jute & Mesta -10.17 million bales (of 180 kg each)

Sugarcane – 383.89 million tonnes

2 Loan Agreements signed between India and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) for -

Construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project (I) of Yen 89.457 billion (Rs.5591 crore approx).

Kolkata East-West Metro Project (III) of Yen 25.903 billion (Rs.1619 crore approx).

A World Bank report named A Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia, India’s trade in goods with South Asia could be at $62 billion and that with Pakistan could be at $37 billion without trade barriers, up from $19 billion with South Asia and $2 billion with Pakistan currently.

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, Mauritius was top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore. Total FDI in FY18 stood at $37.36 billion in financial year which was marginal rise over $36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal 2016-17.

Aditya Birla Retail Limited (ABRL) sold its supermarket chain More to Witzig Advisory Services, owned by Samara Alternative Investment Fund, for approx 4200 Crores. Amazon, in a deal with Samara, will be eventually picking up a 49% stake.

After recent launch of world's largest mobile phone-manufacturing factory in Noida, Samsung has now opened its biggest experience centre in Bengaluru (Karnataka).

Agreement signed between Heavy Water Board (HWB) and Greenstar Fertilizers Limited for routing of phosphoric acid through Solvent Extraction Plant at Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu). It enable recovery and extraction of rare material from phosphoric acid using solvent extraction process developed by HWB based on the in-house solvents produced by HWB.

Airline SpiceJet will start a dedicated air cargo service under the SpiceXpress brand from September 18.

Airtel Payment Bank launched card-less cash withdrawals at over 100,000 ATMs across India. The technology can be used for self-withdrawal or for sending money to an intended recipient for ATM cash withdrawal.

All contributions to home ministry’s ‘Bharat Ke Veer’ fund have been exempted from income tax under 80(G), formalising it nto a registered trust. Bharat Ke Veer initiative is a trust fund where people can aids families of paramilitary personnel who died fighting extremists. It has been formed with seven trustees headed by the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba.

Andhra Pradesh government launched a mobile platform, e-Rythu (e-farmer in Telugu) which will enable small-scale farmers to market their produce at reasonable prices. It has been developed by Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion in Nairobi, Kenya, and has been customized for India use.

Apollo Global Management acquired JP Morgan’s real estate fund management platform in India.

Arunachal Pradesh became first State in North East India to introduce Smart e-Public Distribution System (e-PDS), developed by Madras Security Printers. It provides centralized online real-time electronic PDS to improve efficiency in supplying commodities to the beneficiaries.

As per a RBI Report, India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to a four-quarter-high at 2.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in April-June period, from 1.9% of GDP in the January-March quarter of 2017-18.

As per recent report, FDI in telecom sector has jumped nearly five times in last three years – from USD 1.3 Billion in 2015-16 to USD 6.2 Billion in 2017-18. Draft National Digital Communications Policy 2018 aims to attract investment of USD 100 billion in Digital Communications Sector.

Asia Index Pvt Ltd launched S&P BSE Private Banks Index to measure performance of private banks, drawn from constituents of S&P BSE Finance Index, Asia’s oldest exchange. It would measures performance of private banks listed in India.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved financing of up to $500 million for a multi tranche financing facility (MFF) infrastructure project in various cities of Tamil Nadu.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US $150 million loan for establishing first multi-skills park of Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal. It will create more skilled workforce that meets labour market needs of the state.

Asian News International (ANI0 and Emirates News Agency (WAM) signed MoU for bilateral cooperation in area of free news exchange in Abu Dhabi.

BRICS' Bank (New Development Bank) approved a $525-million loan for infrastructure projects in Madhya Pradesh, for rehabilitating major district roads with a total length of about 2,000 km.

NDB Headquarters is in Shanghai (China), with K.V. Kamath as President.

BSE, PTC India Ltd and ICICI Bank will jointly form India’s third electricity exchange, after 2 operating power exchanges - Power Exchange of India (PXIL) and India Energy Exchange (IEX).

BSNL signed pact with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India. As per BSNL, 5G will be launched in India in 2020 as soon standards are freezed by ITU.

Cabinet extended Atal Pension Scheme, which had lapsed in August 2018.

To further incentivize people’s participation, age criterion for participation has been revised. Earlier, people of age 18 to 60 years were entitled to enroll in this scheme. But now it has been relaxed further to 65 years.

All accounts opened after August 2018 will have accident insurance limit of Rs 2 lakh, double than earlier Rs 1 lakh limit.

The overdraft facility of the scheme was also increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is a social security scheme that aims to provide affordable universal access to essential social security protection to unorganized work force of country, which constitute more than 85% of workforce.

It had replaced earlier government-backed pension Swavalamban scheme targeted at the unorganised sector. It was launched in June 2015. It is available to all citizens of India in age group of 18-40 years.

Canara bank opened a portal to claim education loan interest subsidy for FY 2017-18, under Central sector interest subsidy (CSIS) scheme of HRD Ministry.

According to this, Full interest subsidy is provided to eligible students for course period plus one year for loans up to Rs.7.5 lakh. Tamil Nadu is the top state availing this loan.

Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, to launch commodity derivatives trading from 1 October, 2018. It is done as part of SEBI’s December 2017 announcement of having unified exchange regime wherein stock exchanges will be allowed to offer trading in commodities derivatives.

Universal exchanges will help in achieving integration of trading in commodity derivatives market with other segments of securities market at exchange level. It will help in providing efficient price discovery, reduction in timelines, cost effective, user-friendly, robust risk management system and wider market penetration.

In long term, Indian exchanges will find it easier to compete with their global counterparts and they are present in multiple segments.

SEBI also approved several proposals, including a revised framework for settlement of cases and new KYC norms for foreign portfolio investors. It allowed foreign investors to trade in commodity derivatives market, except for sensitive commodities, as well as common application form for registration of FPIs in domestic market.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) released its annual report on additional tax from MNCs through 219 APAs(199 unilateral and 20 bilateral). As per report, In FY18, MNCs have acquired an extra income of Rs 10,000 crore, translating into a tax of Rs 3,000 crore.

APAs (Advanced Pricing Agreements) are primarily aimed at avoiding transfer pricing disputes arising from cross-border transactions undertaken by MNCs. It is an ahead-of-time agreement between a taxpayer and a tax authority.

Central Government enhanced its contribution in State Disaster Response fund (SDRF) from 75% to 90%, from April 2018. Additional contribution thus rising for Central Government in SDRF will be 1690 crores for 2018-19 and 1774 crores for 2019-20.

Under Disaster Management Act 2005, SDRF has been constituted in each State in which Centre, so far, had been contributing 75% for General Category States and 90% for Special Category States of hilly regions every year.

On recommendations of 14th Finance Commission (Headed by Y V Reddy and opeational between 2015-20), Government significantly enhanced allocation to SDRF by 82.30% (from 33580 crores during 2010-11 to 2014-15 to 61,220 crore 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Department of Financial Services (DFS) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly developed a mobile app called Jan Dhan Darshak, as a part of financial inclusion (FI) initiatives. It will guide common people in locating a financial service touch point at a given location.

With over 5 lakh FI touch points (Bank branches, ATMs, Post Offices) mapped on App, approx. 1.35 lakh Bank Mitras would be on-boarded by December 2018.

Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garghas announced a reduction in gross borrowing estimate for current fiscal by 70,000 crore rupees, stating that government will contain fiscal deficit target at 3.3 %.

Employee’s State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) rolled out Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna for providing unemployment allowance to workers rendered jobless due to changing employment pattern, during 175th ESI Corporation meeting in New Delhi.

Amid changing scenario of employment in India, from long to fixed short term engagement, there is need to provide assistance to employees in case they get unemployed for sometime and search new job.

Its beneficiaries will be insured persons covered under ESI Act 1948 for 2 years continuously. Financial assistance will be given to insured persons even while they search for new engagement.

Beneficiaries will be paid money, from their own contribution towards ESI scheme, in cash through bank account transfer.

Under this scheme, workers will be able to draw 47% of their total contributions towards ESIC after remaining unemployed for at least 3v months.

End-to-end IoT service provider Unlimit partnered with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to offer comprehensive Internet of Things (IoT) services to enterprise customers across India.

Federal Bank signed MOU with Infopark Kakkanad for leasing space in their campus, after obtaining RBI approval for creation of a subsidiary company.

Finance Ministry doubled pecuniary limit to INR 20 lakh from 10 lakh for filing loan recovery application in Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT) by banks and financial institutions. It means that banks or financial institutions cannot approach DRTs if pecuniary limit amount due is less than Rs 20 lakh. This move is aimed at helping reduce pendency of cases in DRTs.

First-ever Mizoram International Short Film Festival (MISFF) held at Aijal Club in Aizawl.

Government announced several measures to check rising Current Account Deficit (CAD) and fall in Indian Rupee. CAD had widened to 2.4% of GDP in the first quarter of 2018-19, compared to 1.9 % a quarter before. Indian Rupee is touching new Lows everyday, staying over 70 / USD. Several steps to be taken by government to curb these issues -

To permit manufacturing sector entities to avail of External Commercial Borrowing (ECBs) up to $50 million with minimum maturity of one year, instead of the earlier limit of three years.

Removing restrictions with respect to FPI exposure limit of 20 % in corporate bond portfolio to a single corporate group or company or entity and 50 % of any issue of corporate bond.

Removal of withholding tax on rupee-denominated bonds known as Masala bonds issued till March 2019.

Government approved complete electrification of Indian Railways by 2021-22, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue. It will cost approx 12100 crores.

CCEA’s decision covers only electrifying remaining 13,675 kilometers (16,540 track kilometers). Currently, around 48% of 61,680 km broad gauge railway network is electrified. This approval does not cover 3,479 km of metre gauge and 2,209 of broad gauge network.

After complete electrification, India will be having second largest electrified railway networks in the world after China, which has 87,000 km electrified network (around 68% of its network) and only large railway with 100 % electrification.

Government made Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) an open-ended scheme and added more incentives to encourage people to open bank accounts. It was launched in August 2014 for a period of four years

Overdraft limit for account holders has now been doubled to Rs 10000.

Free accident insurance cover for those opening Jan Dhan accounts after August 28 too has been doubled to Rs 2 lakh

There will be no conditions attached for over-draft of up to Rs 2,000.

Upper age limit for availing the facility has also been hiked to 65 from the earlier 60 years.

Government modifies operational guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) -

Provision of Penalties for States, ICs and Banks - 12% interest rate to be paid by Insurance Company to farmers for delay in settlement claims beyond 2 months of prescribed cut off date. State Govt. will pay 12% interest rate for delay in release of State share of Subsidy beyond three months of prescribed cut off date/submission of requisition by Insurance Companies.

Detailed Standard Operating Procedure for Performance evaluation of ICs and their de-empanelment.

Inclusion of Perennial horticultural crops (on pilot basis) under PMFBY.

Inclusion of cloud burst and natural fire in localized calamities in addition to hailstorm, landslide, and inundation. Add on coverage for crop loss due to attack of wild animals on pilot basis.

Mandatory capturing of Adhaar number, to avoid duplication.

Rationalization of methodology for calculation of TY - Moving average of best 5 out of 7 years for calculation of claim amount.

More time to insured farmer to intimate individual claims – 72 hours (instead of 48 hours).

To ensure that more non-loanee farmers are insured under scheme, insurance companies are given a target of enrolling 10% more non-loanee farmers than previous corresponding season.

Insurance companies will mandatorily spend 0.5% of gross premium per company per season for publicity and awareness of scheme.

Release of upfront premium subsidy will be made at beginning of the season based on 50% of 80% of total share of subsidy of corresponding season of previous year as GOI/State subsidy.

Government of India approved changes in interest rates for Small Savings Schemes for Third Quarter of the Current Financial Year 2018-19 (October - December 2018). Updated interest rates are -

Name

Rate of interest in Current Quarter (July - September 2018)

Rate of interest in Current Quarter (October - December 2018)

Compounding frequency

Savings Deposit

4.0

4.0

Annually

1 Year Time Deposit

6.6

6.9

Quarterly

2 Year Time Deposit

6.7

7.0

Quarterly

3 Year Time Deposit

6.9

7.2

Quarterly

5 Year Time Deposit

7.4

7.8

Quarterly

5 Year Recurring Deposit

6.9

7.3

Quarterly

5 Year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme

8.3

8.7

Quarterly and paid

5 Year Monthly Income Account

7.3

7.7

Monthly and paid

5 Year National Savings Certificate

7.6

8.0

Annually

Public Provident Fund Scheme

7.6

8.0

Annually

Kisan Vikas Patra

7.3 (will mature in 118 months)

7.7 (will mature in 112 months)

Annually

Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme

8.1

8.5

Annually

Government proposed merger of state-owned Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank in order to create India’s third-largest bank. It aims to make banks stronger and sustainable as well as increase their lending ability.

After this merger announcement, Fitch Ratings ranked BOB’s viability ration to ‘rating watch negative’. It currently stands at ‘bb’. It reflects potential negative effects of the merger in the long term, as merged entity would have larger bad loans.

Gujarat government formed a committee to look into complaints of farmers who have not received timely compensation for crop loss.

Gujarat government also increased insurance cover compensation for farmers in event of accidental death or disability. Compensation doubled for Accidental death from 1 lakh to 2 lakh, and Partial disability from 50000 to 1 lakh.

HDFC Bank retained its top spot in the Brand India Top 50 for the fifth year in a row. The total brand value of HDCF bank grew by 21 % to $21.7 billion in 2018. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) comes at the second spot, while Tata Consultancy Services ranked third on the list.

ICICI Prudential Life inked pact with Saraswat Bank to offer insurance products to its customers.

IRDA raised minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to Rs. 15 lakh for a premium of Rs. 750 per annum, a move to provide some succour to road accident victims. Currently, capital sum insured (CSI) under this section for motorised two-wheelers and private cars/commercial vehicles is 1 lakh and 2 lakh, respectively.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih elected as President of Maldives.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Private Life Insurer Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd (BALIC) partnered to provide life insurance solutions, especially at doorstep of every household in country. It will leverage IPPB last mile reach for building awareness about life insurance.

India signed Loan Agreement of US$74 million with World Bank Group's IBRD, for Uttrakhand Workforce Development Project (UKWDP). The Project has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 17 years. Closing date for Project is 30th June, 2023.

India will overtake Japan as world’s third-largest economy by 2030, according to a report by UK’s HSBC Holdings. India's GDP will stand at $5.9 trillion in 2030, compared to $2.59 trillion at end of 2017. Notably, India recently surpassed France to become 6th largest economy.

Indian GDP Growth Forecasts (September 2018) -

Fitch Ratings upgraded India’s growth forecast for current fiscal to 7.8% from 7.4% earlier.

Asian Development Bank’s (ADB)'s Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018 stated that India’s economy is in an upward trajectory and GDP forecast remains unchanged at 7.3 % for 2018, and 7.6 % for 2019.

Indian IT Firm Infosys acquired Finnish company Fluido, a top consulting partner of Salesforce, for 65 million euros (about Rs 545 crore).

Indian IT Firm Infosys signed a 3-year partnership with Tennis Grand Slam Tournament Australian Open as its official digital innovation partner.

Indian ride-hailing company Ola launched its operations in New Zealand, beginning in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington. Ola earlier launched its services in Australia in February and U.K. in August.

Insurance Firm HDFC ERGO launched 'E@Secure', a Cyber Insurance Policy for individuals, to provide protection against any cyber-attacks, cyber frauds or digital threats that could lead to a financial loss and or reputational loss.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) predicted that India’s unemployment rate in 2018 will stay at 3.5 %. China’s unemployment rate will rise from 4.7 to 4.8 %. However, 77 % of employment in India would remain “vulnerable”, against just 33 % in China.

Iraq has replaced Saudi Arabia as India’s largest oil supplier in August, according to Reuters. Despite the lower purchases amid US sanctions on Iranian oil, Iran remained third biggest oil supplier to India during August 2018.0

Meghalaya cabinet approved final draft of state's first Education Policy, to address issues related to education sector. In March 2017, a 24-member Task Force was constituted to finalise the Meghalaya State Education Policy.

Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh launched Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) in New Delhi, with outlay of 10881 crores.

Additional milk processing capacity of 126 lakh litre per day, milk drying capacity of 210 MT per day, milk chilling capacity of 140 lakh litre per day shall be created.

Under this scheme, milk cooperatives will be provided financial assistance of Rs 8004 crore in the form of a loan at 6.5% interest, which will be reimbursed over 10 years.

Other schemes for Dairy Development -

World Bank-funded National Dairy Plan Phase-I scheme is being done by NDDB through state government’s cooperative milk organizations/milk federations.

Implementation of the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) is being done by state's cooperative/milk federations, for development of cooperative milk committees, incentives to increase the number of milk producers and increase processing and refrigeration capacity.

Rashtriya Gokul Mission, which Aims to Conserve and Develop Indigenous Breeds.

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley launched a transformative initiative in MSME credit space, with URL portal www.psbloansin59minutes.com, which will enable in principle approval for MSME loans up to INR 1 crore within 59 minutes from SIDBI and 5 Public Sector Banks (SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Vijaya and Indian Bank).

It sets a new benchmark in loan processing and reduces the turnaround time from 20-25 days to 59 minutes. Subsequent to this in principle approval, loan will be disbursed in 7-8 working days.

The loans are undertaken without human intervention till sanction / disbursement stage. A User Friendly Platform has been built where MSME borrower is not required to submit any physical document for in-principle approval.

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley reviewed performance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) with their Chief Executives and other Whole-time Directors in New Delhi.

Review took note of continued improvement in banking in terms of highest ever recovery in the last quarter, pick-up in credit growth to 13.5%, growth in MSME lending to 10.5%, highest Provision Coverage Ratio in over five years, and higher operating profits.

Highlights of Review include -

Targeting recovery of 180000 crores, up from Rs. 74,562 crore in last FY.

Mobilising over 18500 crore through monetisation of banks’ Non-core assets in current FY for strengthening capital base of PSBs.

Complete rationalisation of foreign operations of PSBs by March 2019, with closure/consolidation of 57 branches/office

PCA banks would pursue their Quarterly Performance Milestones, including improvement in their lending risk profiles through a 6% reduction in Credit RWA to Advances Ratio and 8% reduction in Cost to Income Ratio.

Banks would complete action by December 2018 on fraud detection and initiation of action in respect of NPAs with outstanding of above INR 50 crore.

End-to-end OTS platform for all online & offline OTS proposals by March 2019

EASE and financial inclusion efforts are to be intensified. For EASE, banks were advised to modernise more branches to enable self-service for customers in digital mode.

Mr. Jaitley also launched Financial Inclusion Index, to be annually released by Department of Financial Services (DFS). It will have three measurement dimensions; (i) Access to financial services (ii) Usage of financial services and (3) Quality. It will be released in January 2019.

Ministry of Commerce & Industry launched National Mission on Government eMarketplace (GeM) for increasing awareness and accelerating use of GeM by major central Ministries, State Governments and their agencies.

GeM provides online, end to end solution for procurement of commonly used goods and services for all Central Government Departments and State Governments.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) made it mandatory for unlisted public companies to issue new shares or transfer of all shares in dematerialised or demat (i.e. in electronic form) form, beginning October 2, 2018. With this, major benefits of dematerialisation of securities will now be available to unlisted Public companies.

It is seen as measure for further enhancing transparency, investor protection and governance in the corporate sector.

It will also help in elimination of risks associated with physical certificates such as loss, theft, mutilation, fraud etc.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched a new web portal ‘Budget Dashboard’, with information on budget, expenditure and Bill Payment position. It will consist of Details of Budget and expenditure, Flagship schemes, Central sector expenditure, North East, SC/ST, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, etc.

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs approved construction of 6,26,488 more affordable houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), with total 11 states involved. Uttar Pradesh has been sanctioned most (2,34,879) houses.

Uttar Pradesh scored first position in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), providing houses to 11 lakh poor families. In urban areas, it has benefited over 4 lakh families.

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) approved proposal by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to increase wages of artisans by over 36 %. Now, Wages will be increased from Rs 5.50 per hank previously to Rs 7.50 per hank. On an average, an artisan makes over 20 hanks per day.

Ministry of Steel recently for first time gave away Secondary Steel sector awards to 26 mini steel companies in recognition of their contribution. 12 companies were awarded Gold Certificates and 14 Silver Certificates for their performance during 2016-17.

Secondary steel sector plays important role along with integrated steel players in order to achieve steel production capacity of 300 million tonne by year 2030-31. At present India has 134 MT capacity.

NTPC approved investment of INR 9785 crores for 1320 MW Stage-III expansion of its Talcher plant in Angul district of Odisha. Presently, plant has four units of 60 MW and two units of 110 MW and expansion will include 2×660 MW. It is part of NTPC’s vision of being 130 GW company by 2032.

Naropa traditional Festival held in Ladakh (J & K). On this occasion, 299 women dressed up in traditional Ladakhi wedding attire danced together making it to the Guinness World Records and declared the dance performance as Largest Ladakhi Dance.

Celebrated every 12th year of the Tibetan calendar, the Naropa festival, also known as the ‘Kumbh Mela of the Himalayas’ .

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has approved Rs 65,634.93 crore loan so far to 93 prioritised irrigation projects under government's flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).

NABARD is mandated to provide Rs 70,000 crore loan to 99 prioritised irrigation projects under PMKSY through long term irrigation fund (LTIF), to be completed by 2019.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned INR 335 crores under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to West Bengal, in August 2018.

National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) signed MoU to collaborate on creating dual listing route for masala bonds and foreign currency bonds of Indian issuers.

Through approval of single listing document, issuer can obtain dual listing on LSE’s International Securities Market and NSE’s Gujarat International Finance Tech City (GIFT City).

Masala bonds are rupee-denominated bonds through which Indian entities can raise money from foreign markets in rupee and not in foreign currency. It is debt instruments used by corporates to raise money from foreign investors in local currency. It transfers risk associated with currency fluctuations to investors and not to issuers.

From issuer’s perspective, masala bonds provides cheaper borrowings compared to raising funds in India besides helps in diversifying its sources of fund-raising.

Its issuance in long term can help to check slide of rupee and also reduce current account deficit over time.

Over 27 Crore people in India moved out of poverty in since 2005-06, according to 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index released by United Nations. It stated that India’s poverty rate came down to 27.5% from 54.7% during the period.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Pakyong Airport, as Sikkim's first and India's 100th functional Airport, Situated at 4,500 feet above sea level. It will provide a big boost to connectivity in Sikkim and will boost its tourism.

It is located around 60 km from Indo-China border and around 30 km away from Gangtok, capital of Sikkim. It has capacity to handle 50 in-bound and as many out-bound passengers flights.

PM also inaugurated new airport in Jharsuguda, also known as powerhouse of Odisha. It is first airport in Odisha to provide necessary connectivity to Bhubaneswar, Raipur and Ranchi under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN (UdeDesh Ka AamNaagrik) Scheme.

Other than Jharsuguda, three more airports are being developed in Odisha - Jeypore (Koraput), Rourkela (Sundargarh) and Utkela (Kalahandi). Jharsuguda AirportJharsuguda is the second airport of Odisha after Bhubaneswar to become operational.

Odisha assembly recently approved naming Jharsuguda airport after noted freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. It is 2nd airport in Odisha to be renamed, after Biju Patnaik International airport in Bhubaneswar.

PM Narendra Modi launched flagship scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana' (PMJAY), also known as Ayushman Bharat or the National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM). In terms of beneficiaries,it is world’s largest health insurance scheme. It was launched from Ranchi (Jharkhand).

PM also launched a toll free number 14555 for people to get more information about Ayushma Bharat scheme. A website was also launched with URl mera.pmjay.gov.in

Government announced that treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

It will provide free coverage of up to INR 5 lakh per family per year in any government or empanelled private hospitals all over India. Around 13000 hospitals in country have been coordinated for the implementation of the scheme. It will be available for 10.74 crore beneficiary families and about 50 crore Indian citizens.

It will be funded with 60 % contribution from Centre and remaining from states.

So far, 30 states / UTs have signed MoUs with Union Government to implement the programme. However, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala and Punjab have still not signed MoUs, so the scheme will not be implemented in these states till they come on board.

States will be required to form a State Health Agency (SHA) to implement the scheme and at district level also, a structure for implementation of the scheme will be set up.

Scheme will become operational from September 25, 2018 i.e. on birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay.

Transactions will be cashless and paperless. It will also provide reimbursement for bed charges and drugs and diagnostics two days before, during and 15 days after hospitalisation. Beneficiary will be also paid transport allowance for hospitalisation.

First part of Ayushman Bharat - the health and wellness centres, was launched on Babasaheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary (April 14), and second part - the health assurance scheme, is being launched two days before Deendayal Upadhyay's birth anniversary. Aim is to have 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres in India by 2022.

Beneficiaries will be decided on the basis of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database.

Ayushman Bharat call centre was formally inaugurated in Bengaluru by CEO of Ayushman Bharat Dr. Indu Bhushan. This national call centre is operational since August 25.

Jharkhand government signed MoU with National Insurance Company to provide medical facilities to the people of the state under the Centre’s flagship health scheme”Ayushman Bharat Yojana”.

PayU India received RBI approval to operate its own non-banking financial company (NBFC), to help PayU promote inclusive growth by catering to the diverse financial needs of various segments of society.

Paytm Money has launched its app for mutual fund investments, in partnership with 25 asset management companies.

Paytm Money is subsidiary of One97 Communications Ltd targets to sell mutual fund to around 25 million people in 3 - 5 years.

Prime Miniser Narendra Modi Launched India Post Payments Bank, as 6th Payments Bank in India.

India Post Payments bank is being projected as a major steps towards Financial Inclusion, keeping in view its large reach and huge customer base (17 crore postal savings bank (PSB) accounts).

On this occasion, 648 branches of IPPB were inaugurated (1 in each district). 2 IPPB branches were already operational, taking number of IPPB branches to 650.

Government will link all 1.55 lakh post office branches with IPPB services, to create country’s largest banking network.

IPPB will have 3,250 access points co-located at post offices. 11,000 gramin dak sevaks (in rural area) and postmen (in urban area) will provide doorstep banking services.

IPPB will enable general banking services including Funds transfer, mobile banking access etc.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) does away with ATM cards and debit cards for both cash and cashless transactions. IPPB will issue new QR (Quick-Response) cards which work on biometric authentication and not on passwords or PINs. QR card transactions can be done through postmen, post offices or Grameen Dak Sevaks (GDS).

Several Differences between IPPB and Post Office Savings Accounts (POSA) are -

Types of Account -

IPPB offers regular, digital and basic Accounts.

POSA offers standard banking and remittance services.

Deposits -

IPPB supports zero balance savings accounts and can hold max 1 Lakh. Any balance in excess of Rs 1 lakh will be transferred to related post office account, which is a regular savings bank account.

POSA Accounts can be opened with minimum deposit of 20 (and INR 50 as minimum to balance). The accounts with cheque facility require a minimum deposit of Rs 500.

Interest Rate -

Both, IPPB and POSA accounts attract an interest rate of 4% per annum, paid quarterly.

Doorstep Banking -

IPPB aims at financial inclusion, with focus on doorstep banking services.

POSA does not have provisions of doorstep banking services.

Money Transfer -

IPPB, being a geenral Bank account, will allow funds transfer to any bank account (UPI / IMPS / NEFT).

In case of POSA, Money transfer allowed within post office savings bank (POSB) accounts. After POSA accounts are linked with IPPB, customers will be able to enjoy all money transfer service like other banks.

Governing Authority -

Being a Bank, IPPB will be governed by Reserve Bank of India

POSA are under supervsion of finance ministry.

About Payments Banks -

Earlier Active Payments Banks are Airtel, Paytm, Aditya Birla, Fino and jio.

RBI, in 2015, gave in-principle approval to 11 entities to set up Payments Banks in India.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) approved raising INR 5431 crores capital support from central government through preferential issue of equity shares.

RBI cancelled licence of Rajasthan-based Bhilwara Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank, due to inadequate capital and earning prospects.

RBI barred Bandhan Bank from opening new branches and also ordered freezing of bank's CEO salary over failure to stick to shareholding rules.

Bandhan Bank was not able to bring down shareholding of Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40% as required under licensing condition.

RBI bought 8.46 tonne of gold in financial year 2017-18, as first purchase in almost nine years. RBI now has 566.23 tonne of gold.

RBI eased liquidity squeeze afflicting nation’s money markets, allowing banks to carve out up to 15% of holdings under the statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements, compared to 13% currently.

RBI fined Karur Vysya Bank a total of Rs. 5 crore for non-compliance of its directives.

RBI also stated that India’s external debt for quarter ended June 2018 declined by 2.8 % cent to $514.4 billion. Also, external debt to GDP ratio stood at 20.4 % at June-end.

RBI imposed penalty of inr 1 crores each on Union Bank of India (UBI), Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra, due to delay in detecting and reporting frauds.

RBI shortlisted 5 IT firms for implementation of Centralised Information and Management System (CIMS) - Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Capgemini Technology Services India, IBM India and Larsen & Toubro Infotech.

RBI has proposed CIMS comprising of DW and Data Lake (DL) to harness power of big data analytics. CMIS will include seamless data collection from regulated entities by creating system-to-system interface, system driven data validation and data review, flexible and scalable data repository and providing data dissemination platform.

RBI in April 2018 announced to harness power of big data analytics by setting up data sciences lab that will comprise experts and budding analysts. In pursuance of this, it had issued EOI in July 2018 for implementation of CIMS.

RBI will purchase government securities (G-secs) worth Rs 10,000 crore through Open Market Operations (OMO), on September 19, to induce liquidity in system.

Rajasthan Govt. announced 4% reduction in value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel and Andhra Pradesh has announced Rs 2 reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel. In Rajasthan, VAT on petrol is reduced from 30% to 26% and on diesel from 22% to 18%.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an internal ombudsman (IO). RBI, The however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs) from appointing IOs.

Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling launched first data sharing and accessibility portal of Sikkim, called State Data Sharing and Accessibility Platform (SDSAP). State IT Department would upload data in portals twice a year – in April-May and September-October. State Direct Benefit Transfer portal was also launched.

Singapore-based investment firm Temasek will invest up to Rs 2,750 crore ($400 million) in National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s (NIIF) Master Fund.

NIIF now has agreements totalling almost Rs. 10,000 crore, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) having committed to invest up to $1 billion (about Rs 6,500 crore) and domestic financial institutions, about Rs. 500 crore.

NIIF was set up in December 2015 to catalyse funding into the country’s infrastructure sector by serving as quasi sovereign wealth fund (SWF). It aims to maximize economic growth of country mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects.

It has targeted corpus of Rs 40,000 crore to be raised over the years — 49% of it will be funded by government and remaining 51% will be raised from domestic and global investors.

To create a payments acceptance network for unorganized retail including small merchants and Kirana stores where consumers can make payments, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) partnered with Financial Software and Systems (FSS). FSS ensures that micro-merchants are able to accept payments over any channel – online, unified payments interface (UPI), quick-response (QR) codes, Aadhaar and IPPB accounts.

US Based Networking Firm Cisco signed agreements with NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration programme in India.

Union Bank of India will close its branch in the global diamond hub of Antwerp (Belgium) within a year, after it wasn't able to generate expected amount of business.

Walmart Foundation will invest INR 180 crores in India over the next five years to improve farmers’ livelihood, by supporting farmer organisations to develop knowledge of sustainable farming practices.

World Bank approved ambitious five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India. CPF was preceded by systematic country diagnostic (SCD) that offered narrative about India’s progress.

India is well-positioned to become a high middle-income country by 2030, with its fast-growing economy, global stature and unique experience of lifting highest number of poor out of poverty in past decades.

CPF for India will be mainly based on Government’s development priorities, World Bank’s Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for India and World Bank’s comparative advantage and value proposition to support India.

CPF also incorporates lessons learned from last five years of implementation of Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) FY13-17.

It recognizes that India has gone from low-income country status to low-middle income and now is entering transformation from low-middle to high-middle income country.

It is expected to bring financial support worth US $25-30 billion from World Bank’s sister agencies such International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

World Bank approved assistance of INR 929 crores for Shimla water supply and sewerage project. Activities to take place -

Augmentation of Gummawater source from Sutlej river

Construction of storage dams on Giri river

Installation of filter units in 13”bouries” or natural water bodies.

YES Bank partnered with RupeeBoss.com, to enable integration of YES mPower BOT, Bank’s chat bot based platform. It would be used to support instant loan eligibilities for its several loan products.

Yes Bank has been fined with INR 38 crores, as fines to GST department for alleged violations in domestic remittances.

Yes Bank raised $400 million through a syndicated loan facility for its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT).

International

2018 Golden Globe Race, a sailing race around world which started on 1 July 2018 from Les Sables-d'Olonne (France). It dates back to fifty years, featuring yachts similar to those used at that time, with no modern technology allowed.

A massive Earthquake of 7.5 Richter Scale along with Tsunami waves hit Palu City of Indonesia, triggering over 1000 human casulaties.

According to The Annual World Airport Traffic Report 2018 by Airport Council International (ACI) -

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) is 16th busiest in world, by handling 63.4 million passengers in 2017.

First place was held by Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in US, handling 103.9 million passengers in 2017, followed by Beijing with 95.8 million passengers.

According to a study by Seattle-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation published in The Lancet -

India ranks 158th in world for its investments in education and healthcare, among 195 Surveyed countries.

Finland tops the list in two key sectors.

USA ranked 27th, while China placed at 44th and Pakistan 164th.

According to a study named Economic Freedom in the World by Centre for Civil Society (CCS) along with Canada’s Fraser Institute -

India stands at 96th rank out of 162 countries in economic freedom.

Hong Kong (1) and Singapore (2) are at top of list. New Zealand (3), Switzerland (4), Ireland (5) are others in Top 5.

Among BRICS nations, Russia and South Africa are ahead of India at 87th and 94th place and China and Brazil are behind it at 108th and 144th positions.

10 lowest-ranked countries - Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Syria, Algeria, Argentina, Libya and last-place Venezuela.

According to recent report, Pakistan could become world’s 5th largest nuclear weapons state after Russia, United States, France and China in terms of possession of total nuclear warheads. Pakistan currently has 140 to 150 nuclear warheads and its stockpile is expected to increase to 220 to 250 by 2025 (surpassing United Kingdom).

The current estimate of 140 to 150 nuclear weapons with Pakistan exceeds projection made by US Defense Intelligence Agency in 1999 that Pakistan would have 60 to 80 warheads by 2020.

According to review by Asia Pacific Policy Group on Money Laundering (APPG), Pakistan’s recent action against terror financing, particularly on legal front were found to be “unsatisfactory”. Note that Pakistan was placed on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in February 2018 for failing to curb terror funding. APPG examines cases of all countries on the grey and black lists and reports to FATF.

Agriculture and Environment ministries along with UN body Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched agriculture project that seeks to bring transformative change in farm sector through conservation of biodiversity and forest landscapes.

It will be implemented in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

It is being funded with US $33.5 million grant from Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Existing unsustainable agricultural practices have resulted in depletion of water tables, biodiversity and habitat loss for wild species and land and soil degradation which have contributed to the environmental crisis in India. To overcome it, there is need for alternative paradigm to current extractive methods of agricultural production systems.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced its project report for development of Palaly airport in northern Sri Lanka,as first project undertaken by AAI in Sri Lanka.

Amid economic crisis, Argentina central bank raised its benchmark interest by 15 percentage points to 60%, highest in world. The Argentine peso is down 50% this year against the dollar and the country’s inflation is running at over 30%. Many south american nations are facing economic crisis, with neighbouring nation venezuela being under more more steep financial stress.

As per a UN report on ‘state of food security and nutrition in the world’ number of undernourished globally increased to 821 million in 2017. Africa has highest prevalence of undernourishment, affecting almost 21 % of population (more than 25 crore people). Situation is also deteriorating in South America, where PoU increased from 4.7 % in 2014 to a 5 % in 2017.

Asian Development Bank released its 2018 Flagship Statistical Report for Asia and the Pacific. This year’s report is focusing on: Technological Innovation for Agricultural Statistics. As per the report -

Asia and Pacific region continues to grow in GDP and labour force has been reduced and is shifting from agriculture towards employment in industry and services.

Around 780 million people from the region moved out of extreme poverty from 2002 to 2013,

The GDP has increased from 30.1%in 2000 to 42.6% in 2017 (at 2011 purchasing power parity),

Use of satellite imagery and remote sensing technology has improved data accuracy.

Assam Govt. inaugurated Indo-Bhutan Border Centre at Darranga in Assam’s Baksa district, To strengthen bilateral trade with Bhutan.

At International Court of Justice, India supported Mauritius over its claim on Chagos Islands, which are under United Kingdom’s control in Indian Ocean..

China is planning bullet trains from Kolkata to Kunming City of China, expected to traverse through Myanmar and Bangladesh. The service is also expected to give a thrust to trade and commerce in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor.

BCIM project is projected to run through Mandalay in Myanmar, Chittagong and Dhaka in Bangladesh, terminating in Kolkata.

China pledged $60 billion of financial assistance to Africa, announced at 3rd Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing. FOCAC excludes Swaziland (recently renamed to Eswatini).

Out of $60 billion offered, China will disburse $15 billion as aid, interest-free loans and concessional loans, $20 billion as credit line, channel $10 billion into special fund for China-Africa development and $5 billion special fund will be set up only for African imports.

China successfully launched a new marine satellite called HY-1C aboard a Long March-2C rocket. It will aim at better monitor its maritime waters and study impact of climate change.

China-Maldives Friendship Bridge opened for traffic, as first cross-sea bridge to be built in Maldives.

It is 2.2 km long bridge and has four vehicle lanes and two pedestrian lanes. It connects Maldives capital city Male and neighbouring Hulhule island where island country’s main international airport is located.

The bridge was built with Chinese grant of $116 million, along with $72 million as an additional loan.

Delhi government signed MOU with Seoul Metropolitan Government to work closely in the fields of environment, tourism, waste / solid waste management, infrastructure and public health.

European Union (EU) will stop twice-yearly changing of clocks from October 2019, implemented during the two World Wars and the 1970s oil crisis to save energy. EU countries are required to move forward by an hour on the last Sunday of March and back by an hour on the last Sunday of October.

External Affairs Ministry and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) signed agreement for implementation of e-VidyaBharati and e-AarogyaBharati (e-VBAB) Network Project in Africa, seen as digital bridge of knowledge and health between India and Africa.

It is technological upgrade and extension of Pan-African e-Network Project (Phase 1) which was implemented in 48 partner countries across Africa from 2009 till 2017.

e-VBAB Network Project is completely funded by India for its entire duration, open for participation to all India’s partner countries in Africa. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide free tele-education courses to 4000 students every year from African countries.

Facebook will invest over $1 billion to build its first Asian data centre in Singapore, expected to open in 2022. Like other data centres, it will be fully powered by renewable energy.

For the first time, bus services between Bihar and Nepal have started. With 4 buses between Bodhgaya and Kathmandu and 4 buses between Patna to Janakpur.

German insurer Allianz Group signed up as a global Olympic sponsor for a 4-Games period of 10 years between 2021 and 2028, as IOC’s 14th top sponsor.

India and Agence Française de Développement (France) signed an implementation agreement on “MOBILISE YOUR CITY (MYC). MYC is part of an international initiative which is supported by French and German Governments and was launched at 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting in December 2015.

European Union has agreed to provide funds of Euro 3.5 million through the AFD to contribute to specific investments and technical assistance components within the Mobilise Your City (MYC) programme in India.

MYC aims at supporting three pilot cities - Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad,to reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions related to urban transport.

India and Bangladesh jointly launched construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Product Pipeline Project, as first such pipeline through which refined diesel will be supplied to Bangladesh from India.

It involves construction of 130-kilometre long pipeline that will connect Siliguri in West Bengal and Parbatipur in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. 6 KM stretch will be in India side and remaining 124 kilometres will in Bangladesh.

Pipeline has capacity of 1 million metric tons per annum. Initially, it will supply Bangladesh 2.5 lakh tonnes of diesel every year and gradually it will be increased to 4 lakh tonnes. It will replace existing practice of sending diesel by rail covering distance of 510 kilometers.

Also, Bangladesh approved allowing India to use its Chittagong and Mongla ports to transport cargo to and from its northeastern states. Indian goods can be transported through four entry points from states Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam. India will have to follow General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) and Bangladeshi regulations, pay customs duties and buy tax equivalent bonds to transport freight.

India and Germany sigNed Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on skill development, which will provide dual vocational education and training to Indian youth. Under it, students who complete specific training courses in India will get certificate that is recognised in India and also in Germany.

India and Morocco signed an MoU for deepening cooperation between MSME sectors of the two countries in Rabat (Morocco).

India and Sri Lanka signed an MoU for construction of a 5000-metric ton temperature controlled warehouse in Dambulla (Sri Lanka), with Indian grant assistance of 30 crore Sri Lankan rupees.

India contributed $1 million to United Nations (UN) Headquarters’ Solar Project, under which solar panels will be installed on roof of UN headquarters at New York (US).

India is Partner Country in 87th Izmir International tradeshow in Turkey. India also launched its mega business pavilion ‘Source India’ hosting 75 Indian companies. Izmir is 3rd most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara.

India ranks third globally in terms of number of family-owned businesses with 111 companies having a total market capitalisation of $839 billion, according to a Credit Suisse report. India followed China (159 companies) and US (121 companies).

India signed 2 agreements with Myanmar’s Rakhine State Government to facilitate capacity building and economic development in province.

India stands 19th in ‘Theft Ranking’ for countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials, according to the Nuclear Security Index. The index was released by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

Neighboring Pakistan ranks 20th in List.

Australia shared top spot with Switzerland.

India will buy 18 Bullet Trains from Japan, Each train with 10 coaches and would be able to attain speed of 350 km per hour. The 508-km high speed train corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad at an estimated cost of Rs 1,10,000 crore is expected to be operational by 2022.

India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting joined SDG Media Compact aimed at advancing awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG Media Compact is initiative of United Nations, in collaboration with UN Foundation. It is alliance of news and entertainment media and it is committing to work with United Nations to foster public discourse and spur action on SGDs.

It seeks to inspire media companies around world to leverage their resources to advance SDGs adopted by all world leaders at UN in 2015.

SDGs are 17 global non-binding goals featuring 169 targets to be implemented from 2015 to 2030.

Indian PM Narendra Modi, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and CMs of West Bengal (Mamta Baannerjee) and Tripura (Biplab Kumar Deb), jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh, via video conference. Projects are -

500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, through existing Bheramara (Bangladesh) - Baharampur (India) interconnection.

Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link

Rehabilitation of Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.

Indra Jatra festival hed in Kathmandu (Nepal), as an eight day long annual festival observed to worship Indra, the lord of rain and good harvest.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a loan agreement with Economically troubled South American Nation Argentina, on a 36-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) totaling to US$57.1 billion. It is largest ever loan given by IMF.

International Whaling Commission (IWC) defeated a proposal to create a whale sanctuary in South Atlantic, first introduced by Brazil in 2001.

Japan became world’s first country to land 2 robotic rovers in asteroid Ryugu, also being first man made robot to have landed in an asteroid. Name of the rover that landed is MINERVA-II1, consisting of 2 rovers.

Jeff Bezos led e-commerce major Amazon became 2nd US company to hit $1 trillion in market capitalisation after Apple. Also, TCS became 2nd Indian Company to hit 8 Lakh crores INR (Approx $120 Billion USD), after Relienace achieved it recently.

Macedonia held a referendum on whether to change its name to the ‘Republic of North Macedonia’.

Greece and Macedonia had signed a deal in this regard in June. Greece argued that the name ‘Macedonia’ implied a territorial claim on its own province of the same name and has thus vetoed Macedonia’s entry into NATO and European Union.

Manila (Philippines) based Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched its first Trade Finance Scorecard, a new tool to address market and boost trade finance. It aims to prevent money-laundering and terrorism. It will use a 2 level assessing, First level will consist of score out of 10 on seven criteria on the macro level and Second level will consist of five working-level issues on the micro level.

Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD decided to participate in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) after gap of nine years, by sending team of officers to Paris to negotiate India’s terms of participation in PISA 2021.

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is assessment test for 15-year-olds, organised every three years by Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), Paris (France).

PISA measures student performance in mathematics, reading, and science and even innovative subjects like collaborative problem-solving and money literacy.

PISA test results give insight into education systems around the world. The results are shown as a national mean score and not shown individually. Its objective is not to rank countries, but to see how education system can be improved.

NITI Aayog and United Nations signed India-United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) for 2018-2022.

It outlines work of UN agencies in India, with 19 UN agencies signing UNSDF 2018-2022.

7 priority areas outlined in the UNSDF are - Poverty and Urbanization; Health, Water, and Sanitation; Education and Employability; Nutrition and Food Security; Climate Change, Clean Energy, and Disaster Resilience; Skilling, Entrepreneurship, and Job Creation; Gender Equality and Youth Development.

Nepal become first country to double its tiger population in a decade as part of World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF) ‘Tx2’ programme, that aims to double number of tigers in all over world by 2022.

There are now estimated 235 wild tigers in Nepal, compared to 121 back in 2009.

Tx2 programmeIt was launched by World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) at the 2010 St Petersburg Tiger Summit held in Russia. Under it, 13 tiger range countries had agreed to double the world tiger population by 2022, which is the year of tiger in Chinese calendar.

Ocean Cleanup foundation (founded by 24-year-old Dutch innovator Boyan Slat) launched world’s first ocean cleanup array from San Francisco, called System 001, marking start of cleanup of Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of marine debris in North Pacific Ocean. The patch is larger than area of France.

System 001, named as ‘Wilson’, will be able to collect 50 tons of plastic in its first year. • It consists of a 2000 ft long U-shaped floating barrier with a three-meter (10 ft) skirt attached below.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch -

Its a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean, containing up to 16 times more waste than previously thought.

The Patch occupies an area three times the size of France in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii with 79000 tons of plastic debris in the form of 1.8 trillion pieces.

It was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore, who had sailed through a mishmash of floating plastic bottles and other debris on his way home to Los Angeles.

Pakistan invited Saudi Arabia to join $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as 3rd strategic partner. Saudi Arabia is first country that Pakistan has invited to become partner in CPEC.

Saudi Arabia has long history of financially bailing out Pakistan during economic crisis. Saudi Arabia loaned Pakistan $1.5 billion in 2014 to strengthen its rupee currency, six months after Pakistan obtained its last IMF bailout.

Qatar become first Gulf nation to offer permanent residency to expatriates, allowing maximum 100 expatriates to gain permanent residency each year.

Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne acquired Time magazine from Meredith Corp. for $190 million in cash. TIME magazine publisher Time Inc was sold to Meredith for $1.8 billion in January 2018.

Saudi Arabia inaugurated a high-speed rail line connecting the holy islamic cities of Mecca and Medina, to take down travel time to 2 hours.

Search engine Google launched Dataset Search, a new search engine for scientific community that will help them make sense of millions of datasets present online. It will work like Google Scholar, company’s popular search engine for academic studies and reports.

It will have twin benefits of creating data sharing ecosystem that will encourage data publishers to follow best practices for data storage and publication and give scientists way to show impact of their work through citation of datasets that they have produced.

Google also launched a new app ‘Blog Compass’ to help Indian bloggers manage their site and find topics to write about. The India exclusive app works as an analytics and recommendation platform. .

South Africa entered recession for first time since 2009, after Its economy contracted by 0.7% in 2nd quarter of current Fiscal.

Super Typhoon Mangkhut, world’s strongest storm in 2018, hit northern coast of Philippines with winds up to 200 kmph and heavy rains.

Swedish PM Stefan Löfven became country’s first leader to be ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019 -

No Indian institution figures in the top 250 Universities. Althuogh number of Indian institutions in rankings increased from 42 last year to 49, making India 5th best-represented nation.

Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru retained its position as best In India (ranked 251 - 300 globally), followed by IIT Indore (351-400).

Top 5 Globally -

University of Oxford (UK)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Stanford University (USA)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)

California Institute of Technology (USA)

To highlight Kashmir issue, Pakistan released 20 “commemorative” postage stamps, one of which portrays slain terrorist Burhan Wani as a ‘freedom icon’.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared 2019-2028 as Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, during Nelson Mandela peace summit honouring South African leader at UN.

UN Security Council (UNSC) held its first-ever meeting on corruption and its linkages to global conflicts. Citing the World Economic Forum’s estimates, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that corruption costs at least $2.6 trillion or 5% of global GDP.

US President Donald Trump signed a new executive order imposing sanctions on any country or foreign individual found trying to interfere in US elections. It calls for sanctions against any entity that authorises, directs or sponsors meddling operations in the American elections.

US-based Internet Society and Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) signed MoU to make Internet safe and secure in India by securing routers which is vital for healthy internet infrastructure. It will also promote Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) which is global initiative to implement crucial fixes needed to reduce most common threats to internet’s routing system.

US-based aircraft maker Boeing will set up an electronics manufacturing and avionics assembly facility in Bengaluru at an investment of INR 1,152 crores, as company's second-largest such facility after one in Seattle (Washington).

USA and Morocco launched GCTF Terrorist Travel Initiative under Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), to emnable sharing expertise on implementing effective counterterrorism watchlisting and screening tools. It will strengthen UNSC Resolution 2396 aiming to stop terrorist travel altogether.

USA announced closure of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) mission in Washington DC, after PLO leaders failed to engage with US efforts to bring about peace with Israel and attempted to prompt an investigation of Israel by International Criminal Court.

USA's Central Bank Federal Reserve raised interest rates for a third time this year (by 25 basis points to 2.25 %), also reaffirming outlook for further hikes well into 2019. It reflects an upbeat assessment of economy.

Ukraine launched annual joint military exercise named Rapid Trident with United States and other NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member countries, to be held in western Ukrainian village of Starychi till September 15, 2018.

United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2018 -

India ranked 130 among 189 countries.

Neighbours - Bangladesh (136), Pakistan (150), Nepal (149), Sri Lanka (76)

Top 5 - Norway (1), Switzerland (2), Australia (3), Ireland (4) and Germany (5)

Bottom 5 - Niger (189), Central African Republic (188), South Sudan (187), Chad (186), Burundi (185).

United Nations will hold a Climate Summit will in September 2019, with focus on sectors that create most emissions and areas where building resilience could make great difference.

Vatican reached a landmark deal with China on appointment of bishops in China, with Pope Francis recognizing 7 state-appointed Chinese bishops as part of the deal.

World Health Organisation (WHO) released 2018 Global TB Report, calling for commitments to end Tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. As per report, global efforts have prevented approx 5.4 crore TB deaths since 2000, but TB remains world’s deadliest infectious disease.

World Health Organization (WHO) SAFER initiative to support governments in taking practical steps to accelerate progress on health, beat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). SAFER provides five high-impact strategic actions prioritized for implementation to promote health and development -

Strengthening restrictions on alcohol availability.

Advance and enforcing drink driving countermeasures.

Facilitating access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment.

Enforcing bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship, and promotion.

Raising prices on alcohol through excise taxes and pricing policies.

World’s first self-driving tram, fitted with multiple radar, LiDAR, and camera sensors, has been successfully been tested in Potsdam (Germany). The tram operated on a 6-km test route in real traffic with a safety driver for emergency purposes.

Meetings

3rd ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference on ‘Global Ageing and Human Rights of Older Persons’ held in Seoul (South Korea). Indian delegation was led by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot.

62nd General Conference of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) held in Vienna (Austria). On India's Behalf of Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Note that Now, K N Vyas has been appointed as new Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).

Mr. Basu stated that India placed 4 more reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, including 2 Russian-designed Pressurised Light Water Reactors and two Pressurised Heavy Reactors being built with Indian technology.

Now, total 26 Indian nuclear facilities will be now under IAEA safeguards.

IAEA Safeguards are system of inspection and verification of peaceful uses of nuclear materials as part of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia held in New Delhi.

7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism held in Seoul (South Korea) , with theme A 2030 Vision for Urban Tourism. The venue Next (8th) UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism 2019 will be Astana, Kazakhstan.

Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu attended 6th East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting (AEM) in Singapore. Singapore is currently holding the Chair of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended and addressed 73rd session of UN General Assembly in New York (USA).

Antonio Guterres (Portugal) is Secretary-General of 73rd UN General Assembly.

India and G4 nations (Brazil, Germany and Japan) voiced concern over lack of substantive progress in the long-pending Security Council reform, saying it is time to initiate text-based negotiations to safeguard legitimacy and credibility of UNSC.

Also, J P Nadda(Minister of Health and Family Welfare) addressed High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis at 73rd session of UNGA. He stated that India commits to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG target of 2030, by launching the TB Free India Campaign.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also attended SAARC foreign ministers’ meet on sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York. She left the meeting early after delivering straight remarks on Pakistan.

Food and Drink Technology Africa 2018 trade show held in Johannesburg (South Africa), Attended by Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI).

Global Climate Action Summit 2018 held at San Francisco in California (USA). During this, government functionaries of several Indian cities announced to scale up their actions to combat climate change and to protect people from hazardous climate impacts.

Global Green Bond Partnership (GGBP) was launched on this occasion, to accelerate issuance of green bonds. Members of GGBP will work to scale green bond issuance primarily by sub-national entities and corporations.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group announced that Mahindra & Mahindra will work towards being carbon neutral by 2040. M&M was first company in world to commit to double energy productivity by signing Climate Group’s program ‘EP100’. It was also first Indian company to announce its internal Carbon Price of USD 10 per ton of carbon emitted to fund investments required for carbon neutrality.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar Inaugurated 4thWorld Summit on Accreditation(WOSA-2018), held in New Delhi. Focus of WOSA 2018 is on CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUTCOME BASED ACCREDITATION.

International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 inaugurated in Kathmandu (Nepal), organised by South Asian Women Development Forum. Theme of summit is ‘Equality begins with Economic Empowerment’.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated MOVE: India’s ever first Global Mobility Summit organized by NITI Aayog at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The focus of the summit is on raising awareness about various aspects of Mobility and bringing various stakeholders involved in enhancing mobility across different platforms.

Earlier, NITI Aayog flagged off cycle rally MOVE Cyclathon to spread message of clean mobility to Indian public and promote cleaner, accessible modes of transport. It was held in run up to MOVE: Global Mobility Summit scheduled to be held in Sep 2018 in New Delhi.

Earlier, NITI Aayog launched Pitch to MOVE mobility pitch competition, aiming to provide budding entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished jury. Winners will be felicitated during Global Mobility Summit to be held in New Delhi in September 2018.

Pitch to MOVE aims to identify startups, which will help vision of Shared, Connected, Intermodal and Environment Friendly Mobility in India. It is available at http://mobilitypitch.movesummit.in

USA Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis participated in inaugural India-U.S. Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue, held in New Delhi. India was represented by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman.

During the summit, India and USA signed Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), to open up way for sale of more sensitive US military equipment to India. It will help India obtain critical and encrypted defence technologies from US.

A Memorandum of Intent was concluded between US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Indian Defence Innovation Organization – Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX).

COMCASA is one of the four foundational agreements that a country needs to sign to become a major defence partner of USA. It has a lifespan of 10 years. Other three agreements are General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMoA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA).

Collaboration between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company for the establishment of 6 nuclear power plants in India.

To grow bilateral trade to $500-600 billion from the current $125 billon,

A tri-Services joint exercise with the United States off the eastern coast of India in 2019 was decided.

World Hindu Congress (WHC-2018) was held Chicago, United States. It was organized to commemorate 125 years of Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago address on September 11, 1893. The theme of WHC-2018 was “Sumantrite Suvikrante” — think collectively, achieve valiantly”. It was second edition of World Hindu Congress and was attended by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

National

After Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalised homosexuality, India became first-ever country to have a gender-neutral hostel. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai became first campus in India to have a gender-neutral hostel.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched online software for Agmark, to make application and related services process simple, quick, transparent and 24x7.

Agmark is certification mark that assures conformity to set of standards approved by Government agency Directorate of Marketing and Inspection. It is legally enforced by Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937 (and ammended in 1986).

The present AGMARK standards cover quality guidelines for 205 different commodities spanning variety of cereals, pulses, vegetable oils, essential oils, fruits & vegetables, and semi-processed products like vermicelli.

All India Council for Technical Education will establish country’s first AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy in Jaipur (Rajasthan), with 3 more ATAL academies to come at Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Guwahati (Assam) and Baroda (Gujarat) by 2019.

These will provide upgraded teaching methods and modules to make technical education more effective and accountable. Faculties will be trained on the eight-module course in these academies in five months.

The training will be mandatory for new teachers from 2019 and it will be necessary for existing teachers and assistant teachers while applying for promotions.

Andhra Pradesh CM Minister Chandrababu Naidu flagged off ‘Swachh Dhara’ programme at Amravati, To provide clean drinking water across state.

Andhra Pradesh government started unemployment allowance as part of Yuva Nestam scheme for state’s youth from October 2018, launching a website at yuvanestham.ap.gov.in. It is aimed for unemployed youth between 25 - 35 years. It would give candidates an allowance of INR 1000 along with free of cost skill development training.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered collection of 254 Copper Coins in premises of Khirki Mosque (Delhi). The mosque was built by Khan-i-Jahan Junan Shah, Prime Minister of Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88) and is believed to be one of 7 mosques built by him.

Around 600 food and beverage (F&B) importers from about 50 countries are likely to participate in Indusfood-II, touted as the world's food supermarket, in January 2019. It will be held in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh).

Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu dedicated Arunachal Pradesh’s first Sainik School at Niglok in East Siang district to people of Arunachal Pradesh. It started its first academic session from 27th August 2018 with 60 students.

As per UNWTO, International tourist arrivals hit record high in 2017 with India leading growth in South Asian region. In India, international tourists arrivals grew from 14.57 million in 2016 to 15.54 million in 2017.

As per a recent Law Ministry report, India has 19.49 judges per 10 lakh people on an average. Subordinate courts have a shortage of 5748 judicial officers, and 24 high courts have a total of 406 vacancies. Working strength of lower judiciary is 16726, while approved strength is 22474.

Assamese movie ‘Village Rockstars’ selected as India’s official entry to Oscars 2019 (91st Academy Awards) under Foreign Language Film category. It was selected by 12-member jury of Film Federation of India (FII), led by Kannada producer-director SV Rajendra Singh Babu.

Badminton player PV Sindhu is only sportsperson featuring in Forbes India’s 1st ‘tycoons of tomorrow’ list of 22 young achievers in the fields of business, acting and sports.

Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will become first airport in Asia to introduce face recognition based passage system technology from 2019. For this, Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), which operates KIA has signed agreement with Portuguese software firm Vision Box. It will allow passengers to board flights and move across different sections of the airport using automatic biometric boarding procedure instead of manual boarding passes verification.

Cabinet Approvals (Sep 05, 2018) -

General Approvals -

Approved establishment of permanent campus of 7 new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Sirmaur, Vishakhapatnam and Jammu, and their recurring expenditure at a total cost of Rs 3775 crores.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) -

Approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH) beyond 12thPlan period from 2017-18 to 2019-20. It consists of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger (CSS-PT), Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-DWH) and Project Elephant (CSS-PE). Outlay is INR 1731 crores.

Total 18 tiger range States in 5 landscapes of country would be benefitted under Project Tiger scheme.

Similarly, for other two schemes, the coverage is entire country in case of Development of Wildlife Habitats (DWH) and 23 elephant range States for Project Elephant.

It will generate direct employment of about 30 lakh mandays annually which shall include many local tribes besides non-tribal local workforce.

Cabinet Approvals (Sep 12, 2018) -

General Approvals -

Approved introduction of Bill in Parliament for amendment of NID Act 2014 to include four new National Institutes of Design (NID) viz. Amaravati/Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Jorhat (Assam) and Kurukshetra (Haryana) within ambit of NID Act 2014 and declare them as Institutions of National Importance (INIs) at par with NID Ahmedabad.

Approved Policy framework to promote and incentivize Enhanced Recovery (ER)/ Improved Recovery (IR)/ Unconventional Hydrocarbon (UHC) production Methods/ to improve recovery factor of existing hydrocarbons reserves for augmenting domestic production of oil and gas.

It will be applicable to all contractual regimes and Nomination fields. It is expected to spur new investment, provide impetus to economic activities and generate additional employment opportunities.

Cabinet approved new Umbrella Scheme Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA), aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce, as announced in Budget for 2018.

PM-AASHA includes mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to farmers and is comprised of -

Price Support Scheme (PSS),

Physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds and Copra will be done by Central Nodal Agencies with proactive role of State governments. In addition to NAFED, Food Cooperation of India (FCI) will take up PSS operations in states /districts.

Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)

It is proposed to cover all oilseeds for which MSP is notified. In this direct payment of difference between the MSP and selling price will be made to pre-registered farmers selling his produce in the notified market yard through a transparent auction process. All payment will be done directly into registered bank account of farmer.

This scheme does not involve any physical procurement of crops as farmers are paid difference between the MSP price and Sale price on disposal in notified market.

Pilot of Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPPS).

Procurement Stats -

During 2010-14, procurement was INR 3500 crores whereas during 2014-18, it has risen to INR 34000 crores.

For procurement of these agri-commodities during 2010-14, Government Guarantee of 2500 crore was provided with expenditure of only 300 crores. During 2014-18, Guarantee has been increased to 29000 crores with expenditure of 1000 crores.

Now, Cabinet has increased government guarantee by INR 16550 crores, making it 45550 crore in total. INR 15053 crores is sanctioned for PM-AASHA implementation.

MOUs -

Brunei Darussalam - Cooperation in Space Research, Science and Applications. Operation of Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles.

Collaborative Research on Distributed Ledger and Block chain Technology in context of Development of digital economy by Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) with participating member banks, under BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.

Participating banks are - Banco Nacional de DesenvolvimentoEconomico e Social (BNDES, of Brazil), China Development Bank (CDB), State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank, of Russia) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

South Africa - exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes.

Egypt - Agriculture & allied sectors.

Malta - Tourism.

CCEA Approvals -

Approved revising price of ethanol derived from B heavy molasses / partial sugarcane juice and fix a higher price for 100% sugarcane juice based ethanol for ethanol supply year from 1st December 2018 to 30th November 2019.

Fix ex-mill price of ethanol derived out of B heavy molasses / partial sugarcane juice to INR 52.43 per litre (earlier 47.13 / litre).

Fix the ex-mill price of ethanol derived from 100% sugarcane juice at 59.13 per litre (earlier from prevailing price of Rs.47.13 per litre).

OMCs are advised to prioritise ethanol from 100 % sugarcane juice, B heavy molasses / partial sugarcane juice, C heavy molasses and Damaged Food grains/other sources, in that order.

Approved continuation of Capacity Development Scheme for 2017-18 to 2019-20 with outlay of INR 2250 crores.

CDS is an Ongoing Central Sector Scheme of MoSPI, aimed at augmenting infrastructural, technical as well as manpower resources for making available credible and timely Official Statistics for policy makers and public.

It has 2 Sub-schemes - Economic Census and Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS).

Under Economic Census -listing of all non-agricultural establishments is undertaken periodically, which forms the basis for conducting detailed socio-economic surveys.

SSS Sub-scheme is to strengthen State/ Sub-State level statistical systems/ infrastructure to facilitate development of a robust national system.

Cabinet Approvals (Sep 16, 2018) -

CCEA Approvals -

Approved equity investment of INR 1033.54 crores (+ 29.67%) of project cost for setting up a Coal Gasification based fertilizer projectin Talcher Fertilizer Ltd. (TFL)by Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (RCF). Revival of Talcher project will ensure huge investment in the fertilizer sector from Government through PSUs.

Approved enhancement of honorarium to Anganwadi Workers/Anganwadi Helpers (AWWs/AWHs) and performance linked incentive to AWHs with total cost of INR 10649 crores, till 31-03-2020.

Name of Functionary

Old Rates p.m.

Revised Rates p.m.

Anganwadi Worker

3000

4500

Anganwadi Worker at Mini-AWC

2250

3500

Anganwadi Helper

1500

2250

Approved to construct new line between Budni to Indore (Mangaliyagaon) with approximate length of 205.5 Km, with cost 3261 crores.

Approved ASHA Benefit Package w.e.f. October 2018, with 2 components -

Eligible ASHAs and ASHA facilitators to be enrolled in social security schemes - Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojana.

Increase in amount of routine and recurring incentives under National Health Mission for ASHAs under NHM from Rs. 1000 to 2000 per month.

The package entails an expenditure (Central funding) to Rs.1224.97 crore for two years 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Approved Revised Cost Estimate of Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) at the revised cost of Rs 3466 crore with the financial assistance of World Bank to improve safety and operational performance of 198 Dams. CCEA also approvaed 2 year time extension till 30th June, 2020.

Cabinet Approvals (Sep 26, 2018) -

CCEA Approvals -

New BG Electrified Line of 294.53 route Kms from Katghora to Dongargarh will provide rail connectivity to unserved areas of Chhattisgarh, with approx cost of 5950 crores.

Construction of New Domestic Terminal Building and other allied structures at Patna airport at an estimated cost of 1216 crores, to enhance passenger handling capacity of airport to 4.5 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA), from 0.7 MPPA.

Due to excess stocks and indication of similar excess production in sugar season 2018-19, cane price arrears of sugarcane farmers may also peak at unprecedented high level. To check this, CCEA approved assistance over 5500 crores to support sugar sector -

Assistance to sugar mills by towards transport and other costs -

Rs. 1000/MT for mills located within 100 kms from ports

2500/MT for mills located beyond 100 kms from port in coastal states

3000/MT for mills located in other than coastal states or actual expenditure, whichever is lower.

Total expenditure on this account would be about Rs.1375 crore which will be borne by Government.

To help sugar mills to clear cane dues of farmers, Government will provide assistance @ of Rs. 13.88 per quintal of cane crushed in sugar season 2018-19 to sugar mills to offset cost of cane. Total expenditure on this account would be about 4163 crores.

General Approvals -

Increasing of Government ownership in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and change in existing structure -

Acquisition of 51% equity held by the -Government Institutions in GSTN, and Restructure GSTN, with 100% government ownership shall have equity structure between the Centre (50%) and the States (50%).

Allow change in the existing composition of the Board of GSTN inducting three directors from Centre and States and three other independent directors to be nominated by Board of Directors and one Chairman and the CEO. Thus total number of Directors is 11.

Central Assistance of INR 620 Crores and 206 Crores for implementation of relining of Rajasthan Feeder Canal and Sirhind Feeder Canal respectively over five years (2018-19 to 2022-23).

Approved National Digital Communications Policy-2018 and re-designation of the Telecom Commission as the Digital Communications Commission.

It aims to -

Enhancing contribution of Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from 6% in 2017

Provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen;

Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022

Attract investments of USD 100 billion in the Digital Communications Sector;

Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices.

Secure digital communications infrastructure and services

Strategy Includes -

Establishment of a National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority.

Creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Rights of Way, standardization of costs and timelines.

Facilitating development of Open Access Next Generation Networks.

MOUs -

With Uzbekistan -

Tourism

Law & Justice

Combating Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics, Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors

For establishment of the Uzbek-Indian Free Pharmaceutical Zone in the Andijan Region of Uzbekistan. The MoU will be signed during the visit of President of Uzbekistan to India on 1st October 2018.

Agriculture and Allied sectors

Pharmaceutical sector

South Korea - Applied Science and Industrial Technology

Co-operation MoU between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK).

MoU between NITI Aayog, and Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation (MEDRF) in the field of social, economic, industrial and regional development programs.

Cabinet cleared ordinance to make instant triple talaq penal offence, after It was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind later as per Article 123 of Constitution. Compelling reason cited by Government for promulgation of this ordinance was that practice of triple talaq continues unabated even after annulled by Supreme Court due to absence of legal framework.

Census 2021 for first time in independent India will collect data on Other Backwards Castes (OBCs), after over 25 years after implementation of 27% reservation for OBCs based on Mandal Commission’s recommendations on basis of last castes data collected in 1931 census.

In 1953, President under Article 340 had set up first Backward Classes Commission under chairmanship of Kaka Kelkar to identify backward classes other than SCs and STs at national level. Its conclusions were rejected later.

Later in January 1979, 2nd Backward Classes Commission headed by B P Mandal was appointed to consider reservations, to redress caste discrimination. It reported that OBC population at 52% and classified 1,257 communities as backward. It also recommended increasing existing quotas, which were only for SC/ST, from 22.5% to 49.5% to include OBCs. Its recommendations were implemented in 1990.

UPA government (under Manmohan Singh) accepted demand for caste-based enumeration and undertaken Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011. However, SECC-2011 data was not made public for certain errors identified by Registrar General of India.

Delhi government launched doorstep delivery of 40 essential government services such as caste and marriage certificates, driving license and new water connections in the first phase. The services will be provided for an extra fee of Rs 50. Delivery would be completed with help of assigned Mobile sahayaks.

Election Commission of India (EC) removed NOTA (None of the Above) option from ballot papers of Rajya Sabha, Legislative Council elections following directive of Supreme Court.

In August 2018, Supreme Court had said that NOTA will not be applicable as ballot option in Rajya Sabha polls. It will only continue to be option in direct elections such as Lok Sabha and state assemblies, quashing June 2014 notification of EC that allowed use of NOTA option in Rajya Sabha elections.

General Conferences (Sep 1 - 10, 2018) -

IARI held Conference on Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA) at National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in New Delhi.

6th International Geriatric Orthopaedic Society of India Conference on theme “Increased Longevity with Reduced Fragility and Enhanced Mobility” held at AIIMS Delhi.

A National Conference organised by Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association in New Delhi.

3-day Defence & Homeland Security Expo and Conference – 2018, organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association in New Delhi.

US-India Business Council (USIBC) organised its first India Ideas Summit in Mumbai.

Ministry of Railways & Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) organised a seminar on “Leveraging IT for Mobility” in New Delhi. Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal launched a new app – “AAPOORTI’ mobile App of ‘Indian Railways e-procurement system’ (IREPS).

31st meeting of Central Hindi Committee held in New Delhi.

115th meeting of India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) held in Lahore (Pakistan). PK Saxena (Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters), attended the same. Both countries agreed to undertake Treaty mandated tours of both Indus Commissioners in Indus basin on both sides.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) announced guidelines for ‘Sandbox’ method to enable testing of new innovative insurance products, during 11th Global Insurance Summit organised by Assocham in Mumbai. Sandbox method would allow insurers or a set of few policyholders to test products in a particular geography before they are available in market.

Conference on “E-Mobility in Indian Railways” organized by Ministry of Railways through Institution of Railways Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) in association with NITI Aayog concluded in New Delhi.

4th Annual Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference held in Bengaluru.

Bi-annual talks between Indian and Bangladeshi border forces held in New Delhi.

General Conferences (Sep 11 - 20, 2018) -

Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) organized National Conference of District Disability Rehabilitation Centres’ at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.

Rajasthan government held convention on ‘Revitalising India as a Heritage Destination’ to focus on preserving heritage properties in Bharatpur.

All India Pension Adalat held in New Delhi, organised by Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare (DoP&PW). It is a large scale exercise for pensioners’ welfare undertaken by Government as part of good governance practices.

My India WiFi India Summit & Awards 2018 organized by DigiAnalysys in New Delhi, with theme Achieving 10 million WiFi Hotspots by 2018.

Asean World Economic Forum held in Hanoi (Vietnam), with theme ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, Narendra Singh chaired 20th Central Employment Guarantee Council meeting in Bhopal.

4th Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok (Russia), with theme The Far East: Expanding the Range of Possibilities.

Inaugural Naval Flight Test Seminar held at Goa.

Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb inaugurated ISRO’s Space Technology Incubation Centre(STIC) at National Institute of Technology Agartala. It was launched at the first edition of ‘Spacetronics’ organised by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA).

Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani presented ‘Shilp Guru’ and National Award to Master craft persons at a function held at Raipur (capital of Chhattisgarh). 8 ‘Shilp guru’ and 25 National awards were presented for 2016. Shilp Guru’ is the highest award in the Handicraft sector in India.

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated two Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) pilot projects along India-Pakistan border in Jammu region.

Jaipur Literature Festival held in Houston at Asia Society of Texas (USA). The festival is touted as world’s largest free literary gathering.

General Conferences (Sep 21 - 30, 2018) -

7th National Conference on Excellence in Workplace Safety and Occupational Health in New Delhi.

PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Conference on Academic Leadership on Education for Resurgence in New Delhi. To deliberate on challenges facing Indian education system and to work out a plan for a paradigm shift in terms of achieving academic outcomes and in regulation of education.

3rd meeting of IONS Working Group (IWG) on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) held in Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

National literary and intellectual conference Lok Manthan 2018 held at Khel Gaon in Ranchi (Jharkhand).

Joint border conference of India and Bangladesh held at Aizawl (Mizoram).

India and Nepal's 5th meeting of Boundary Working Group (BWG) held in Kathmandu. Both Nations agreed to explore possibility of using high resolution satellite images in boundary survey work.

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs 2 day National Orientation workshop on National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) in New Delhi.

NeVA is initiative of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, aiming to make all legislatures in country paperless by making proceedings of houses digital. It hosts secure page for each Member of House for submitting Questions and other Notices.

NeVA serves as ‘One Nation, One Application’ by bringing uniformity of database for easy and effective engagement of citizens with Government.

21st Central Zonal Council meeting held in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).

Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur (Rajasthan), to discuss utilizing benefits of new technology, town planning, challenges before socio-economic development in Smart City sector.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) held its Grameena Habba Event in Bangalore (Karnataka), to expand the market for weavers, rural artisans and craftsmen, SHGs, rural entrepreneurs, and farmers’ producer organisations.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Odisha's official Bhawan in Chennai (Tamilnadu). He also launched ‘Kalahandi Dialogue’ at Bhawanipatna, in Kalahandi (Odisha).

Goa Government launched helpline 181, to help women in distress.

Govt. inaugurated website for 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 (www.epfindia.gov.in). The PBD 2019 will will held Jan 21-23 and will include Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth as Chief Guest. Member of Parliament of Norway Himanshu Gulati will be Special Guest. Member of Parliament of New Zealand Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will be Guest of Honor.

Gujarat Government partnered with India-centric American advocacy group US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), for 9th Vibrant Gujarat annual industry summit to be held in January 2019 in Gandhinagar.

Harsh Vardhan (Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest and Climate change) inaugurated air pollution control device WAYU(Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit) for traffic junctions at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in Delhi. WAYU is developed by CSIR – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).

Harvest festival of Nuakhai celebrated in western Odisha. During this, new produce Nabannis are offered to presiding deities.

Haryana Assembly passed State Commission for Scheduled Castes Bill 2018, for development setting up a commission for scheduled castes in the state, to safeguard interests of people belonging to SC community.

State Assembly also passed Bills to rename 2 Universities - YMCA University of Science and Technology Faridabad renamed as J C Bose University of Science and Technology and Haryana Vishwakarma Skill University renamed as Shri Vishwakarma Skill University.

Haryana Government signed MoU with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to set up ethanol plant at village Bohali village in Panipat district with an outlay of INR 900 crores, with capacity of 100 kilolitres of ethanol per day. This will motivate farmers in its 50 km radius area to manage crop residue and prevent straw burning and help to fulfill increasing demand of ethanol and also bio-fuels for consumers of petroleum product.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched 2 portals to strengthen Women Safety -

Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children (CCPWC) (url - cybercrime.gov.in), will receive complaints from citizens on objectionable online content related to child pornography, child sexual abuse material, sexually explicit material such as rapes. Complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective State/UTs.

2nd portal, National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), which is accessible only to law enforcement agencies, will assist in effectively tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences. It is a central database of “sexual offenders”, to be maintained by NCRB for regular monitoring by State Police.

Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba launched an online ‘e-Sahaj’ portal here today for grant of Security Clearance, to facilitate online submission of application and keep up with the status. MHA strives to decide Security Clearance cases in 60 days, down from 90 days currently.

Hyderabad Metro became second biggest rail network in India with a total of 46 km service (2nd to Delhi Metro) After Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan flagged off 16-km stretch of Hyderabad Metro between Ameerpet and L B Nagar.

Hyderabad will soon get country’s first exclusive dog park, spread over 1.3 acres. It will also has dog training and exercise equipments.

IT firm IBM has teamed up with IIT Bombay to ‘accelerate’ AI research in India through its AI Horizons Network.

India became only SAARC country to have a quit-line number on tobacco products (1800-11-2356). India is the 4th such country in Asia after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia to have a helpline number dedicated for helping people quit tobacco products.

India's First corn festival held in Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh).

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) inaugurated S–Band Polarimetry Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota spaceport (Andhra Pradesh). It will be used for observation of weather system up to range of 500 km and also for early warning of severe weather events.

DWR has been developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd Bengaluru under ToT (Training of Trainers) from ISRO, as 7th radar of such type manufactured in country under “Make in India”.

Indian actress Jaya Prada appointed as goodwill ambassador for Nepal tourism, for 4 years.

Indian Railways launched a web portal called Rail Sahyog, at URL www.railsahyog.in, as a platform for the Corporates and PSUs to contribute to creation of amenities at/near Railway Stations through Corporate Social Responsibility funds. Companies desirous of contributing can show willingness on the portal by registering their requests.

India’s first 205T Electric Drive Rear Dump Truck (Model BH205-E), developed by Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has been launched, for use in the project of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) in Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh).

EBH205E is electric drive rear dump truck for large scale mining operations. It is powered by Tier II emission compliant Modular Common Rail Electronic Engine with 2300 HP capacity. It is easily manoeuvrable with power-steering and short turning radius.

India’s first indigenously developed 500-megawatt (mw) Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu is expected to achieve criticality in 2019, now undergoing sodium commissioning.

Criticality of Nuclear Reactor is event of it reaching self-sustained chain reaction. This means that no external source of neutrons is required to sustain fission in reactor core. It is precondition of producing useful amounts of energy from the reactor.

PFBR has been designed indigenously by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), to generate 500 MWe of electrical power, with operational life of 40 years. It generates power by burning mixed uranium-plutonium MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO2 and UO2.

Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (Bhavini) has been given responsibility to build these reactors. India is planning to build 21 such reactors by 2030.

International Aviation Summit held in New Delhi, jointly organised by the Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Civil Aviation Ministry announced Vision 2035 under which it plans to build 100 new airports across India in the next 10-15 years with an investment of USD 60 billion and address major issues concerning aviation industry.

International Executive Council (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)), accorded Heritage Irrigation Structure (HIS) status on Telangana's Sadarmatt anicut and iconic Pedda Cheruvu tank. Both these sites will now be inscribed in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures.

Sadarmatt anicut - The Sadarmatt barrage, across Godavari in Khanapur of Nirmal district, is an iconic structure installed by the then Hyderabad ruler Nawab Ikbal-ud-Dowla in 1891-92.

Sadarmatt is 437.4 m long on its left flank and 23.8 m on its right flank. maximum flood discharge at the anicut is 7.76 lakh cusecs.

Pedda Cheruvu -

It is spread over an area of 618 acres and was built in 1897 during the rule of Mir Mahaboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad State. It has a 1.8-km-long tank bund and 145-metre wall and three sluices.

Jharkhand government introduced electric vehicles for official use, becoming 5th state of India and first state in eastern India to procure eco-friendly vehicles for government use.

Kerala Government appointed KPMG as project consultant partner for rebuilding state ravaged by recent massive floods. Services of KPMG rendered for projects related to revamping to Kerala will be free of cost.

Netherlands based KPMG is one of largest professional service companies in world and one of Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) launcahed a flood forecasting and early warning system (FFEWS) for Kolkata City, as India’s first comprehensive city-level FFEWS. Asian Development Bank (ADB) from its Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund funded this project with technical assistance of a $1 million.

Kolkata topped OpenSignal’s list of 4G availability with over 90.7% coverage, across all of India’s 22 telecom circles for May-July 2018. It is followed by Punjab (89.8%), Bihar (89.2%), Madhya Pradesh (89.1%) and Odisha (89%). Jammu and Kashmir circle comes at last spot.

MSME Ministry launched its monthly e-newsletter named MSME Insider to disseminate information of activities undertaken by MSME Ministry and act as a communication bridge between MSME Ministry and its stakeholders.

Madhya Pradesh government hiked ex-gratia to be paid to the kin of deceased journalists, from 1 to 4 lakhs. Also, 5 per cent interest subsidy will be given for a period of five years on housing loan up to Rs 25 lakh to deceased journalists from.

Madhya Pradesh launched a first of its kind initiative called “Mil -Banche” in all government schools across the state. It Aims to create education and learning awareness among children.

Maharashtra Government will set up new Cyber University dedicated to mitigating cyber threats. It will train 3,000 professionals to fight cyber-attacks.

Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu launched Coffee Connect - India coffee field force app and Coffee KrishiTharanga - digital mobile extension services.

Mobile app Coffee Connect is developed to ease work of field functionaries and to improve work efficiency. It harnesses power of mobility comprising latest technology in easing the whole process of the field activities like digitization of Coffee Growers & Estates with Geo Tagging, collecting Plantation details.

Coffee KrishiTharanga services are aimed at providing customized information and services to increase productivity, profitability, and environmental sustainability.

Minister of Electronics & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics (CEDA) in New Delhi.

CEDA will aid in fast-tracking adoption of advanced analytics in government, with centre aiming to strengthen citizen service delivery through data-driven governance.

CEDA aims at providing following services to Government:-

Data Quality Assurance Services.

Custom-built Data Analytics Solutions.

Develop reusable assets.

Knowledge Management.

Capacity Building and Self Service Analytics.

Change Management - CEDA will help ministries in assessing impact from the analytics solutions and help in understanding changes to organizational roles and responsibilities

DigiVaarta was also launched on this occasion, to express intention of spreading awareness on DigiDhan. It aims to enable citizen government dialogue and engage citizens in educational and outreach programmes. It has two components –

An SMS application which operates from NIC’s SMS Gateway on a special Short-code service allotted for this purpose by DoT with the number “14444”. Citizens will receive SMS messages which are pre-approved by experts and the response messages will be made available for further action, analysis and research.

A Mobile application version of DigiVaarta.

Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal launched “Rail Heritage Digitisation Project” of Indian Railways in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, accessible at https://artsandculture.google.com/project/indian-railways.

Its a landmark effort to showcase country’s Rail Heritage to National and International audience in an online story-telling platform.

Railways in India started on 16th April, 1853 between Bori bunder and Thane. Today we have three World Heritage Railways: DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railways), NMR (Nilgiri Mountain Railway), KSR (Kalka Shimla Railways).

With over 151,000 kilometres of track, 7,000 stations, 1.3 million employees and 160 years of history, Indian Railway is one of the most celebrated railway networks in world.

Minister of State for Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh inaugurated 10KW transmitter of All India Radio at Patnitop in Ramban District of Jammu & Kashmir. This would enable services to reach remote areas of the State in various districts like Ramban, Doda, Udhampur, Anantnag and parts of Jammu. It would be available at an ariel distance of 60 km in the frequency of 101 MHz.

Ministry of Culture released National Museum Research Bulletin Number 10, revived after gap of 16 years. It also has released Sindhu Ghati Sabhyata:Ek Parichay, a Hindi version of An Introduction To Indus Valley Civilization which among the bestsellers at National Museum.

Sindhu Ghati Sabhyata : Ek Parichay is Hindi version of An Introduction To Indus Valley Civilization, co-authored by Sanjib Kumar Singhm, Gunjan Srivastava and Rajesh Kumar.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued notification for bringing Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act 2017 in force.

It aims to safeguard rights of people living with HIV and affected by HIV. It also prohibits requirement for HIV testing as pre-requisite for obtaining employment or accessing health care or education.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched pilot project for transport of sputum specimen for Tuberculosis (TB) Diagnosis by utilising services of Department of Post in New Delhi.

Learning from this pilot project experience will be useful for adaptation of specimen transport mechanism through Postal Department across the country, as Significant proportion of TB patients in India are not tested for their symptoms because specimen does not reach laboratory due to non-availability of specimen transport mechanisms.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare prohibited manufacture of 328 Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) for human use with immediate effect.

Fixed dose combinations (FDC) Drugs have 2 or more active ingredients in a single dosage. They are widely used to improve patient compliance as it is easier for them to take one drug than several. They are acceptable only when drugs so combined have a therapeutic advantage.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released draft Charter of Patients’ Rights prepared by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), aimed at creating consolidating comprehensive document on patients’ rights in India.

It provides patients with right to emergency medical care and informed consent, right to non-discrimination, seek a second opinion and choose alternative treatment options, if available. It also includes 17 rights with description and draws upon all relevant provisions.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed MoUs with Tata Trusts and Dell to provide a technological platform fornationwide prevention, control, screening and management program of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) signed MoU for setting up of an state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER) in Ministry of Home Affairs. It will increase the operational effectiveness and will be helpful in rendering timely assistance during emergency situations.

Ministry of Home Affairs approved renaming Jharkhand's Nagar Untari town and railway station as Banshidhar Nagar, after Bansidhar Temple, dedicated to Krishna in Garhwa district of state. It is being done as part of its including Banshidhar Nagar as part of Krishna circuit and develop it as major tourist attraction under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) released the first ever ‘Ease of Living Index’ covering 111 Indian cities -

Andhra Pradesh topped among States, followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh

It was decided in June 2017 to rank 116 cities (all smart cities and million plus cities) based on liveability parameters. The 'physical' pillar (infrastructure) was given highest weightage of 45, institutional (governance) and social were weighted 25 each. Economy was weighted 5.

Ease of Living framework comprised four pillars namely Institutional, Social, Economic and Physical which are further broken down into 78 indicators across 15 categories .

Top 10 Cities -

Pune

Navi Mumbai

Greater Mumbai

Tirupati

Chandigarh

Thane

Raipur

Indore

Vijaywada

Bhopal

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs partnered with Google to launch Loo Review campaign on Google Map, under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM–U). It will run throughout October and November 2018 in an effort to increase awareness and ease of locating public toilets across India. It aims to encourage all local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on Google Maps.

Ministry of Tourism inaugurated India’s first tribal circuit project connecting 13 tourism sites in Chhattisgarh under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The circuit connects Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Kamleshpur, Maheshpur, Kurdar, Sarodadadar, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Nathiya Nawagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot, and Tirthgarh in Chhattisgarh.

Tribal circuit project will improve existing tourist facilities, enhance the overall tourist experience and help in getting more visitors which in return will increase job opportunities in area.

Under tribal circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan Scheme, Tourism Ministry has sanctioned four projects to Nagaland, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh was considered for the first tribal circuit theme for acknowledging sovereignty of tribes and to promote rich and diverse primitive assets in state.

Ministry of Tourism organized first ever India Tourism Mart (ITM 2018) in New Delhi, in partnership with Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH).

Ministry of Tourism sanctioned Malanad Malabar Cruise Tourism Project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of rural circuit in Kerala. Approved cruise are Malabari Cuisine and Culinary Cruise (Muthappan Cruise). Valapattanam River- Theyyam Cruise AND Mangrove Cruise.

Ministry of Water Resources instituted National Water Awards, to encourage efficient management of water resources and create water consciousness in country.

The awards will be given for 13 categories - Best State, Best District, Best Village Panchayat, Best Municipal Corporation, Best research, innovation and adaptation of new technology for water conservation, Best educative and mass awareness efforts, Best TV show for promoting water conservation, Best Newspaper, Best School, Best Institution for successful campus water usage, Best Resident Welfare Association (RWA), Organizations for Best Religious and Recreational & Tourism Water Uses and Best Industry for industrial water conservation.

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation prepared draft Bill which proposes setting up armed Ganga Protection Corps (GPC) to arrest any person who has committed offence of polluting River Ganga punishable under this law.

Ministry of Women and Child Development inaugurated widows’ home ‘Krishna Kutir’ at Vrindavan in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh). Krishna Kutir is special home for 1000 widows set under Swadhar Greh scheme and is the largest ever facility of its kind created by government organization.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched India's first National Scholarship Portal Mobile App (NSP Mobile App), to ensure a smooth and hassle-free scholarship system for students from poor and weaker sections. Using it, Students will be able to apply for scholarships sitting in their home.

NITI Aayog constituted group of experts submitted report titled ‘Inventory and Revival of Springs in the Himalayas for Water Security.’

It stated that nearly 30% of springs crucial to water security of people are drying and 50% have reported reduced discharge.

It calls for spring mapping and revival, using 8 steps protocol should be taken up across Himalayan states in phased manner, applying carrying capacity concept to all major tourist destinations and implementing and monitoring tourism sector. It also has mooted 8-year programme to overhaul spring water management.

Meghalaya with 3,810 villages with springs has highest number of these water sources in Eastern Himalayan States. Sikkim had greatest density with 94% of its villages having spring. In Western Himalayas, Jammu & Kashmir had both highest number of villages with springs at 3,313 and greatest density of 50.6%.

NITI Aayog launched Online Course on Digital Payments, titled ‘Understanding Digital Payments’. It has been designed especially for India by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) a specialized UN Agency in ICT in consultation with NITI Aayog and Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

It is being offered free of cost and is hosted by ITU Academy online, targeted at mid-level Government officers. Course duration is two weeks (1st to 15th October 2018).

NITI Aayog recommended that Ministry of Agriculture to take up mission on shifting cultivation to ensure inter-ministerial convergence between different ministries. Highlights -

State governments have divergent approaches towards shifting cultivation. creating confusion among grass-roots level workers and jhum farmer.

It calls for policy coherence and recognising land for shifting cultivation as agricultural land where farmers practise agro-forestry for production of food rather than as forestland.

Shifting Cultivation

It is traditional agricultural practice that involves clearing vegetative forest cover on land and slopes of hills, drying and burning it before onset of monsoon and cropping on it thereafter. After harvest, this land is left fallow and vegetative regeneration is allowed on it till plot becomes reusable for same purpose in cycle.In north east India, it is called as jhum cultivation.

Shifting cultivation causes in long term causes problem of land degradation and threat to ecology of the region at large. Burning of forests provide temporary nutrients like potash to soil. Burning of forests results in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO2, NO2.

NITI Aayog, Intel, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) collaborated to set up a Model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) towards developing and deploying AI-led application-based research projects.

It is part of NITI Aayog’s ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ Discussion Paper that focuses on establishing ICTAI in country through private sector collaboration.

Based in Bengaluru, Model ICTAI aims to conduct advanced research to incubate AI-led solutions in three important areas – healthcare, agriculture and smart mobility.

Learnings developed through this model ICTAI will be used by NITI Aayog to set up future ICTAIs across country.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) released report HIV Estimations 2017, stating Maharashtra has highest number of people living with HIV in India, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In 2017, India had around 21.40 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with adult prevalence of 0.22%.

National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), India's first university in transport sector, has started functioning. It is presently functioning at National Academy of Indian Railwaysm in Vadodara (Gujarat). University of California, Berkeley and Cornell University are its international partners. It offers two undergraduate courses: BSc Transportation Technology and BBA Transportation Managements.

Northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and UTs of Delhi and Chandigarh agreed to fix uniform tax rates on petroleum products, amid rising fuel prices. They also have agreed to bring uniformity in taxes on liquor and registration of vehicles and transport permit.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has launched a ‘Star Rating program’ for industries to support State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) regulatory efforts to reduce pollution. It will rate industries from 1 to 5 based on their compliance to pollution standards.

Odisha State Assembly has passed resolution seeking creation of 49 Member Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad or second house of legislature).

Resolution now will be sent to Central Government (Union cabinet) for approval, following which it will be tabled in both houses of Parliament. Thereafter, presidential assent is required to make it Act.

India has bicameral system of legislature. Just as Parliament has two Houses, States can have Legislative Council (LC) in addition to Legislative Assembly if they choose to. This option is available under Article 171 of Constitution.

Currently, seven states have Legislative Councils viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. Proposals to create Councils in Rajasthan and Assam are pending in Parliament.

Legislative Council of state cannot have MLCs more than one-third of total number of MLAs of state assembly and not less than 40 members. Jammu & Kashmir is exception, as Section 50 of state’s Constitution, Assembly has 87 members and Legislative Council 36.

Tenure of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) is six years (similar to Rajya Sabha MPs).

Odisha assembly approved naming newly-built Jharsuguda airport after noted freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. It will be the second airport in Odisha to be renamed, after Biju Patnaik International airport in Bhubaneswar.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) made oil and gas discoveries in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, as category-III basins, having hydrocarbon and are considered geologically prospective for exploration.

Madhya Pradesh - Deposits were discovered in block in Vindhyan basin. This find is at 3,000-plus meters deep and is being now tested.

West Bengal - Deposits discovered in well in Ashok Nagar of 24 Parganas district.

India has 26 sedimentary basins, of which only seven category-I basins have commercial production of oil and gas. It is in the process of adding eighth basin by putting Kutch offshore discovery (it holds about one trillion cubic feet of gas reserves) to production.

PM Narendra Modi announced increase in remuneration for ASHA and Anganwadi workers.

ASHA workers routine incentive has been doubled. In addition, all ASHA workers and their helpers will be provided free insurance cover under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana.

Anganwadi workers - Those receiving Rs. 3000 so far, will now receive Rs. 4500. Similarly those receiving Rs. 2200, will now get Rs. 3500. honorarium for Anganwadi helpers also has been increased from Rs. 1500 to Rs. 2250.

PM Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in Dwarka (New Delhi). On completion, it will be biggest indoor exhibition space in India and also rank among the top 10 in world, with capacity to accommodate 11,000 persons, 5 exhibition halls, 1-kilometre long foyer etc. The project has estimated cost of INR 25703 crores.

It will be implemented by India International Convention and Exhibition Centre Ltd, a 100% government-owned company set up by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

PM Narendra Modi launched fortnight-long countrywide campaign- Swachhata hi Seva 2018, to mark start of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi on October 02, 2018.

On this occasion, Jammu and Kashmir state has been declared open defecation free (ODF).

Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2, 2019. Key Activities Include -

National Launch, School Engagement - September 15

Swachhata Sabhas: September 16

Seva Diwas: September 17

Railways Swachhata Divas – September 22

Antyodaya Divas – September 25

Also, President Ram Nath Kovind launched logo and web portal (http://gandhi.gov.in/) for commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of M K Gandhi on Oct 02, 2019. Logo is --

PM Narendra Modi launched work for India’s first Coal-gasification based fertilizer plant with pet coke blending will come up in Talcher (Odisha), developed by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (joint venture of GAIL (29.67 %), Coal India (29.67%), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (RCFL-29.67%) and Fertilizer Corporation of India (10.99%).

It will be built at an estimated investment of Rs. 13,000 crore and is targeted to be commissioned by 2022. On completion, this plant will have capacity of producing 1.27 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of Neem coated prilled urea using coal and petcoke as feedstock. Neem coated urea reduces leaching of nitrogen into soil and checks diversion of urea from agriculture uses.

It will use gas produced from coal, thus reducing dependence on urea and gas imports. Pollutants like Carbon Dioxide (CO2) produced by this plant will be recycled for production of Urea and other by – products.

Pindara Thakur village in Amethi (Uttarpradesh) has been made fully digital under Digital India Programme of government. It will have access to 206 government services digitally. It was linked with Wi Fi Chaupal and use of 2 GB free data for 15 days has been made available.

President Ram Nath Kovind approved to set up a committee to run Medical Council of India, till Parliament passes legislation to replace MCI with a new commission.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to Good samaritan bill of Karnataka, as first such legislation in India.

Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill 2016, provides legal protection to good samaritans who help accident victims with emergency medical care within the golden hour (first hour after a traumatic injury when emergency treatment is very crucial).

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated centenary celebrations of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in New Delhi.

Government had recognised DBHPS as one of Institutes of National Importance in 1964. It is divided into four divisions one each for south states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

DBHPS was established by Annie Besant with support from Mahatma Gandhi in 1918 with sole aim of prorogating Hindi in South India to unite northern and southern states.

Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir signed an agreement for renewing work on INR 2793 crore Shahpurkandi dam project. It will be irrigating 37,173 ha of land and would provide 206MW of electricity to Punjab and J&K.

Rajasthan Assembly passed Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2018, containing provisions for -

Relaxation of two-child provision for those aspiring to contest panchayat elections provided one of the children is differently-abled

Allowing people suffering from leprosy to contest panchayat elections.

Rajasthan government will soon distribute mobile phones to women under Bhamashah Yojana, Focused on women in Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Rajasthan’s first lion safari inaugurated at Nahargarh Biological Park, located on Delhi-Jaipur National Highway in Aravalli foothills, near Jaipur. 10 Lions in this park were brought from Junagarh, Gujarat under an exchange programme.

S.S. Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Electronics and IT has launched C-DAC Information Media Server (CIMS) for improving Good Governance. Its a Media Server dedicated computer appliance with specialized application software that will offer audio and video on demand.

Singphan Elephant Reserve has been named as 30th elephant reserve in India, located in Mon district of Nagaland and spreads over an area of 5825 acres (2357 hac).

Snow leopard spotted at height of about 4,000 metres in Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, ascertaining that snow leopards are inhabiting new areas.

Snow leopard large cats are native to mountain ranges of Central and South Asia- including Himalayas, and Russia’s remote Altai mountains. In India, it is found in states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Supreme Court asked Government to form a law on deciding whether lawmakers facing criminal charges be barred from contesting elections or should they be disqualified only after conviction. SC also asked political parties and candidates to publish their criminal records at least 3 times in newspapers / TV channels after filing of nomination papers.

Supreme Court banned all construction activities in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh till October 9, after these states / UT failed to comply with court’s order to come up with a policy on solid waste management.

Supreme Court declared Centre's Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid. Bench stated that Aadhaar would remain mandatory for filing IT returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN). But, it will not be mandatory for Bank accounts, Telecom services, Educational Admissions. Other Notable statements by SC are -

Section 57 of Aadhaar Act that permits private entities to avail Aadhaar data has been struck down.

Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than 6 months.

National security exception under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act was also struck down.

Supreme Court declined to refer 1994 Ismail Farooqui judgment (that mosques are not integral to Islam) to a larger constitution bench.

Judgement was delivered by a 3 judge bench. Majority was written by Ashok Bhushan and Chief Justice Deepak Misra. 3rd judge, Abdul Nazeer presented a dissenting judgment.

Decision to not refer issue of reconsideration of 1994 observations on Ayodhya-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case to a five-judge constitution bench paves way for SC to hear main Ayodhya land dispute.

The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam cropped up when SC bench headed by CJI Misra was of petitions challenging Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict, by which disputed land in Ayodhya was to be divided in 3 parts (Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla represented by Hindu Maha Sabha).

Ismail Farooqui judgement -

In 1994, Supreme Court had ruled that namaz or prayers could be offered anywhere and that a mosque was not necessary. This cleared way for government to acquire the land where 16th century Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu Kar Sevaks.

Supreme Court decriminalised part of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises homosexuality, saying it was irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary.

Supreme Court modified its July 2017 order in dowry harassment case for preventing misuse of Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The July 2017 decision quashed immediate arrest of accused in dowry cases, saying that complaints under Section 498A of IPC should be scrutinised by Family Welfare Committees before any legal action by police.

Now, After a plea filed by NGO 'Nyayadhar', an organisation formed by women advocates of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, Family Welfare Committees are scrapped.

SC left it to Parliament to make suitable rules to check abuse of the law.

Supreme Court of India allowed live streaming and video recording of court proceedings across country, asking government to frame rules in this regard under Article 145 of the Constitution.

SC earlier reserved its verdict on the matter on August 24, saying it wanted to implement open court concept to decongest courtrooms.

Supreme Court resumed filing of claims and objections by around 40 lakh people who were left out in draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam, giving second opportunity to citizens keeping in mind the magnitude of the issue. Bench will now hear the matter on October 23, 2018.

Assam government in July 2018 released 2nd and final draft of state’s National Register of Citizens (NRC). The draft left out approx 40 Lakh people living in state, not marking them as legal citizens of India.

Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 that made adultery punishable offence for men.

Section 497 of IPC (Adultery) says that whoever has sexual intercourse with wife of another man (without consent of that man), such intercourse not amounting to offence of rape, is guilty of offence of adultery. Such person shall be punished with imprisonment and / or Fine. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.

Supreme Court struck down a rule that disallowed females in 10-50 age group from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. Chief Justice Dipak Misra-headed Constitution bench in a 4-1 verdict said temple rule violated their right to equality and right to worship.

Tamil Nadu Govt. bannned sale of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), known as e- cigarettes.

It comes after recent central government notification, asking all states / UTs to ban e-cigarettes.

ENDS are devices that heat solution to create aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycolor and glycerin. e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are most common prototype of ENDS.

Tamil Nadu government announced Scheme for protection of exotic Neela kurinji (Strobilanthus kunthianus) plants that flower only once in 12 years.

This plant species is native to Shola forests in Western Ghats. It is also seen in Shevroys Hills in Eastern Ghats, Anamalai hills and Agali hills in Kerala and Sanduru hills in Karnataka.

It grows at height of 30 to 60 cm on hills slopes at an altitude of 1300 to 2400 meters where there is no tree forest. The flowers are purple-blue in colour and blooms once in 12 years.

To combat human trafficking, West Bengal government rolled out Swayangsiddha scheme (means self-reliance), to be executed by West Bengal Police. It aims to empower young boys and girls to make informed choices so that they are less vulnerable to trafficking and child marriage.

To tackle counterfeit drugs in India, NITI Aayog and IT Firm Oracle signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) will pilot a real drug supply-chain using blockchain distributed ledger and Internet of Things (IoT) software.

It will allow sharing of information across drug supply chain securely, with every exchange getting recorded. There will be no tampering of any record of drug movement and no data will be deleted.

Traditional Marbat festival observed in Nagpur (Maharashtra).

Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) made Aadhaar mandatory for Indian patients to register in the Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing. While foreigners are asked to submit a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the respective Embassies.

Union Territory of Puducherry won top position in National Clean School Award after seven schools from Puducherry were awarded for cleanliness.

Tamil Nadu bagged second position in National Clean School Award. The third position was shared by Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

52 schools from across country were bestowed with National Clean School Award in recognition of their efforts in carrying forward Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Uttar Pradesh Police will soon launch first of its kind dial-FIR scheme, where a common man can register regular crimes without going to a police station. Under it, an online photographic dossier of criminals that will be provided to policemen on 22,000 new i-pads.

Uttarakhand Assembly passed resolution seeking status of “rashtra mata — mother of the nation” for cow, to strengthen efforts to conserve the species across country.

Uttarakhand High Court declared fatwas as unconstitutional and illegal, banning all religious bodies and statutory panchayats in state from issuing fatwas. The ruling came, as the court declared illegal a fatwa banishing the family of a rape victim from their village.

Uttarakhand ranked as best state in construction of maximum number of roads under PMGSY during 2017-2018, constructing 1839 kilometre roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana against a target of 1,500 km for 2017-18.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 2 coastal tourism circuit projects in Andhra Pradesh under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

First includes beautification of Nellore tank and Pulicat Lake, facelift to Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, construction of restaurant and development of Kotha Koduru, Ubbalamadugu, Mypadu, Rama Theertham, and Isukapalli project.

Second coastal circuit is aimed at developing Kakinada port, Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Hope Island, construction of cottages and wooden huts at Aduru, Pasarlapudi and S Yanam and development of Kotipalli project.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) in Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), promoted by Ministry of Tourism. M main objective of ICI is to institutionalize mechanism to support efforts intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate Indian Cuisine.

Persons

Indian Mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta and Mousumi Khatua climbed Asia's highest volcanic peak Mount Damavand. Its highest peak in Iran and also a potentially active volcano, with elevation of 5609 metres.

Indian poet Abhay K became first Indian poet invited to record his poems at Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Mukesh Ambani (chairman of Reliance Industries)’ topped ‘Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018’ for 7th consecutive year, with the total net worth of INR 371,000 crores.

Nehal Chudasama declared as winner of Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva Miss Universe 2018, to represent India at Miss Universe 2018 pageant in Bangkok (Thailand) in December 2018.

Obituaries (September 2018) -

Tarun Sagar - Noted Jainism monk.

Bhagwati Kumar Sharma - Noted Gujarati author and journalist.

Burt Reynolds - Noted American Actor.

Rita Jitendra - Noted Writer from J & K.

Vijay Shankar Vyas - Noted agricultural economist. He worked with two Prime Ministers (Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh) as a member of their Economic Advisory Councils (EAC).

Goura Chandra Mohapatra - Noted Freedom fighter from Odisha.

Brij Katyal - Noted Bollywood Storywriter.

Satya Prakash Malaviya - Former Union petroleum minister. He served as petroleum minister in cabinet headed by former PM Chandra Shekhar.

Anna Rajam Malhotra - India’s first woman IAS officer post-Independence.

Captain Raju - Noted Malayalam actor

Ganpatrao Andalkar - former Asian Games champion Wrestler.

Kalpana Lajmi - Filmmaker.

Biswanath Dutt - Former BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) president.

Tran Dai Quang - Serving President of Vietnam.

Jasdev Singh - Noted Commentator (primarily cricket).

Kavita Mahajan - Noted Marathi writer, novelist and translator.

Pandit Tulsidas Borkar - Noted harmonium artist.

Persons Resigned / Retired (September 2018) -

Alastair Cook - England Cricketer. He is overall 5th and England's top scorer in test cricket, with 12472 runs.

Rudra Pratap Singh - Indian Cricketer.

Morna Nielsen - New Zealand Female Cricketer.

Sardar Singh - Former India Hockey Player and captain.

James Foster - England Cricketer.

Paul Collingwood - England cricketer.

Shaida Mohammad Abdali - Afghanistan Ambassador to India.

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger - Co-founders of Social Media app Instagram.

Ramesh Bawa - IL&FS Financial Services Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny (nicknamed ‘Colonel’), retired from professional tennis, with 499 career wins.

Jiwanjot Singh Teja - National compound archery coach. He resigned following denial of Dronacharya award.

US private space firm SpaceX signed world’s first private passenger to fly around Moon aboard its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) launch vehicle. Japanese billionaire (founder of fashion giant Zozo), Yusaku Maezawa will be the first Moon tourist on SpaceX’s Lunar BFR Mission.

Visits from India (Sep 1 - 10, 2018)

India, Iran and Afghanistan held their first tripartite meeting in Kabul (Afghanistan). Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

Minister of State (IC) for Labour& Employment ShriSantosh Kumar Gangwar visited Mendoza (Argentina), for G-20 Labour& Employment Ministers’ Meeting.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Satya Pal Singh visited Mendoza (Argentina), for G-20 Education Ministers’ Meeting. It was first ever meeting of Education Ministers in history of G-20.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Vietnam and Cambodia.

In Vietnam, She inaugurated 3rd Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi.

In Cambodia, She signed 2 MOUs - 1st MOU is on Rrestoration and preservation of world heritage site of an 11th century temple of Lord Shiva called ‘Temple of Preah Vihear’ in Cambodia’s Preah Vihear. 2ndMOU is on cooperation between India’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and Cambodia’s National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations (NIDIR).

Indian Air Force Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa visited Myanmar and Malaysia.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu visited USA to address 2nd World Hindu Congress held in Chicago, on occasion of 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Historic Speech at Parliament of the World's Religions on Sep 11, 1893.

Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment visited Seoul (Korea),to attend the 3rd ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference on ‘Global Ageing and Human Rights of Older Persons’.

Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das visited China. He invited China to participate in food processing summit, which will be organised by Jharkhand Government in November.

President Ram Nath Kovind Visited European Nations Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic.

Cyprus -

India and Cyprus have signed two agreements on combating money laundering and cooperation in field of environment.

India and Cyprus agreed to revise Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed between India and Cyprus in 2016 to further enhance investment cross flows.

Bulgaria -

India and Bulgaria sign five pacts on Investment, Tourism, Civil Nuclear Cooperation, science and technology cooperation and Establishment of Hindi Chair at Sofia University.

Czech Republic -

5 Agreements signed -

Cooperation between Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Czech Academy of Sciences

Visa waiver agreement for diplomatic passport holders

A work plan to support Indo-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology.

Cooperation in laser technology between ELI Beamlines and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Cooperation between Haryana Agricultural University and Czech University of Life Sciences.

Visits from India (Sep 11 - 20, 2018) -

Navy Chief Sunil Lanba visited Rhode Island (USA).

India and Niger signed an MoU for implementation of Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) in Niamey (Niger). It was signed during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Niger (Western Africa).

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Russia for participting in 23rd meeting of India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission (IRIGC-TEC.

Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu Visited Russia.

Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu participated in G-20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting in Mar del Plata (Argentina).

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited European Nations Serbia, Malta and Romania -

Romania -

Romania agreed to take lead to re-start negotiations on India-EU-BTIA (Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement)

Romania will open a Consulate in Chennai

India Opens Ayush Information cell in Romania

Malta -

3 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed in fields of Maritime Cooperation, Tourism and Training.

Serbia -

India and Serbia signed agreements on cooperation in plant protection and plant quarantine and on-air services. India and Serbia are observing 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them.

Visits from India (Sep 21 - 30, 2018) -

Senior security officials from Iran, Russia, China, India and Afghanistan attended a meeting in Tehran (Iran). National Security Advisor Ajit Doval Visited on India's Behalf.

USA and India formed ‘USAID-India End TB Alliance comprising leading experts in public and private sectors to combat the menace of tuberculosis. Event was attended by Health Minister J P Nadda on India's Behalf.

It includes Soumya Swaminathan (Deputy Director General of Programmes (DDP) at World Health Organisation (WHO)) and Blessina Kumar from Global Coalition of TB Activists.

USAID will make initial US $30 million commitment, subject to approval of the US Congress.

Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu Visited Bangladesh.

Visits to India (Sep 1 - 10, 2018) -

Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, former Prime Minister of Nepal Visited India.

Visits to India (Sep 11 - 20, 2018) -

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani visited India.

India and Morocco signed revised Air Services Agreement, enabling greater connectivity through a modernized agreement. It was signed during Mohammed Sajid's Visit to India. He is Moroccan Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy.

Mr. Mohamnmad Sajid also inaugurated India's First ever India Tourism Mart (ITM 2018) in in New Delhi, organized by Ministry of Tourism.

Visits to India (Sep 21 - 30, 2018) -

Goa government signed agreement with Portugal in field of water supply, waste water management and sanitation for a period of 2 years. It was signed during Portugal’s Minister of Environment Joao Pedro de Matos Fernandes Visiting India.

Sayyid Badr Saud Harib Al Busaidi, Defence Minister of Sultanate of Oman Visited India.

India and Morocco have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of defence and security, during Visit of Moroccan Defence Minister Abdeltif Loudyi, to India. 2 MoUs signed - Cyber Security AND Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Minister for Development of Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan, Shuhrat Sadikov Visited India. 2 MoUs signed

Strengthening e-Governance cooperation.

Declaration of Intent between CDAC India and Tashkent University of Information Technologies (Uzbekistan) for cooperation in capacity building in ICT sector.

Queen Mother of Bhutan, Her Majesty Gyalyum Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck Visited India.

Science

A swimming pool type research reactor Apsara-upgraded became operational in Trombay campus of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Apsara, first research reactor in Asia became operational in Trombay campus of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in August 1956. After providing more than five decades of dedicated service to the researchers, the reactor was shut down in 2009.

The Upgraded version uses plate type dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU). By virtue of higher neutron flux, this reactor will increase indigenous production or radio-isotopes for medical application by 50 % and would also be extensively used for research in nuclear physics, material science and radiation shielding.

According to a new study by BirdLife International, 8 avian species was declared “extinct” in this decade. It was carried out to analyse 51 Critically Endangered birds six statistical methods to assign to the IUCN Red List Category to determine which of them qualify as ‘potentially extinct’ and ‘extinct’. 5 of 8 extinctions were from the South American mainland due to deforestation resulting in habitat loss.

American Pharmaceutical Coompany Abbott will introduce a high-sensitive troponin-I blood test in India, that can predict chances of a heart attack or other cardiac event months to years in advance.

Troponin-I test provides better predictive information for determining a person’s chances of developing future heart disease when added to current standard of care.

Facebook has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system ‘Rosetta’ which can detect text from over a billion images like memes and videos in real time. It detects rectangular regions in images that contain text and then uses a neural network to recognise and transcribe what’s written.

Germany rolled out world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train, manufactured by French TGV-maker Alstom. These locomotives named iLint trains emit zero emissions, offering greener and quieter alternative to diesel on non-electrified railway lines.

Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen. This conversion process only emits steam and water, thus producing zero emissions.

Excess energy produced is stored in ion-lithium batteries on board train. Hydrogen fuel cells have advantages over batteries. Instead of recharging, they can easily be refueled like gas or diesel engine.

These trains can run for around 1,000 km on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains.

Google developed a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to combat online spreading of contents involving child sexual abuse, using deep neural networks for image processing to help discover and detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online. Quick identification of new images will lead to quicker identification of children, who are being sexually abused and will help protect them from further abuse.

ISRO will set up a satellite ground control station at the North Pole for a “14-orbit coverage” to efficiently download data from India’s Earth-observing satellites. ISRO already has two ground stations, IMAGES at Telangana Shadnagar built in 2011, and AGEOS in Antarctica.

Also, ISRO anounced to conduct 19 missions, including 10 satellites and nine launch vehicles, in next seven months between September and March. It will include the launch of India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 in Jan 2019.

India and France have signed agreement to collaborate for ISRO’s first human space mission Gaganyaan to be launched in 2022. The announcement was made 6th edition of Bengaluru Space Expo (touted to be largest space conference in Asia and held in Bengaluru).

ISRO and French space agency CNES will form working group to exchange expertise in fields of astronaut life support, radiation protection, space debris protection and personal hygiene systems among others.

During same event, ISRO displayed a space suit developed for Gaganyaan Mission 2022. It is an orange-coloured prototype space suit developed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. It can hold one oxygen cylinder, allowing an astronaut to breathe in space for 60 minutes.

ISRO also displayed a crew model and crew escape model, with thermal shield and temperature inside maintained at 25 degree Celsius.

Gaganyaan Mission astranauts will be living for five to seven days in a 400-km orbit from the Earth’s surface as they would conduct micro-gravity experiments.

Theme for Bengaluru Space Expo 2018 was Creating dynamism in Indian space ecosystem.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its PSLV-C42 rocket carrying two British Earth observation satellites - NovaSAR and S1-4, intended to improve UK’s disaster management capabilities.

India’s Mars mission Mangalyaan, successfully completed four years around Mars, despite being designed to last only six months. ISRO inserted Mangalyaan into Mars’ orbit in its first attempt on September 24, 2014.

Also, ASTROSAT, India’s first multi-wavelength space observatory will complete 3 years in Earth’s orbit (Launched on September 28, 2015). ASTROSAT has helped scientists confirm the presence of younger stars in globular clusters, earlier believed to contain only old stars.

India’s biggest cyclotron facility named Cyclone-30 became operational at Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)'s Kolkata-based Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC).

Cyclotron is used to produce radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic use for cancer care. Radiations from these isotopes are used to destroy cancer cells.

Cyclone-30 will produce radioisotopes vital for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It will be only cyclotron facility in country to produce Germanium 68 radioisotopes, used in diagnosis of breast cancer.

It will also produce Palladium 103 isotopes, which is used for the treatment of prostate cancer. In its future stages, it will also produce Iodine 123 isotopes, which can help detect thyroid cancer.

India’s first underwater robotic drone –Eyerov TUNA handed over to Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of DRDO, as first commercial Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) / underwater drone. It would be used by NPOL for research and development activities for defence purposes.

Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) developed India’s first indigenous medical kit for protection against nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage. It has 25 items which include radioactive protectors which can absorb 80-90% of radiation, nerve gas agents, bandages that absorb radiation as well as tablets and ointments. Its important parts are -

Prussian blue tablet - Highly effective in incorporating Radio Cesium (Cs-137) and Radio Thallium, among most feared radioisotopes in nuclear bombs that destroy human body cells.

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) injection - Traps uranium in the guts and blood of victims during a nuclear accident or warfare.

Ca-EDTA Respiratory Fluid - Inhalation formula for chelation, or grabbing of heavy metals and radioactive elements deposited in lungs through inhalation at nuclear accident sites. It reduces the body burden of radioactivity by 30-40% in controlled conditions.

Radioactive Blood Mopping Dressing - Special bandage that absorbs radiation to prevent spread of radiation from radioactive patients to others.

Radioactive urine/biofluid collector - It can safely dispose of urine of person affected by radiation.

Anti-gamma ray skin ointment - Heals radiation damage on skin.

Amifostine injection - This conventional radiopharmaceutical that limits damage from gamma radiation.

Indranil 150 mg tablet.

NASA launched its most advanced space laser, ICESat-2, a $1-billion mission that will shoot lasers towards Earth to track changes in Earth's ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice and vegetation around the world. The preceding mission, ICESat, which lasted from 2003-2009 revealed that ice cover was disappearing from Greenland and Antarctica. The new laser will fire 10,000 times per second, whereas ICESat fired 40 times a second.

NASA’s Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) took its third flight from the White Sands Missile Range in White Sands, New Mexico.

It is first instrument built specially to image high-energy X-rays from Sun, that will capture nanoflares (miniature explosions invisible to naked eye).

First FOXSI flight was in 2012, during which it successfully viewed a small solar flare in progress, and its second in 2014, when it detected best evidence at the time of X-ray emission from nanoflares.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, known as TESS, has spotted “hot Earth” and “super-Earth” planets in solar systems 49 and 60 light-years away, marking its first discovery since April launch. TESS is designed to build on the work of its predecessor, Kepler space telescope, which discovered over 2,500 confirmed exoplanets in 20 years and is now running out of fuel.

Researchers at Shizuoka University (Japan) developed a space elevator, a miniature version on satellites.

2 ultra-small cubic satellites will be used for demonstratiom, being released from International Space Station (ISS) and container acting like elevator car will be moved on cable connecting satellites using motor. The movement of motorised elevator box will be monitored with cameras in the satellites.

Space elevator is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system. It will permit vehicles to travel along cable from planetary surface, such as Earth’s, directly into space or orbit, without use of large rockets. The idea of space elevator was first proposed in 1895 by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Scientists discovered an ancient fossil of Dickinsonia, earliest animal on geological record. Dickinsonia is an oval shaped creature that lived 558 million years ago. It grew up to 1.4 m in length. The fossil was discovered by researchers from Australian National University (ANU) near the White Sea in Russia.

Scientists from University of Manchester (England), have developed a non-antibiotic drug that can treat tuberculosis (TB) in humans effectively. Results revealed that compound does not kill bacteria directly, but results in a significant reduction in bacterial burden.

US Scientists Scientists successfully grown oesophageal organoids, a miniature, functional versions of human food pipe using pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) in laboratory. It will help to study birth defects like esophageal atresia, organoids, eosinophilic esophagitis and Barrett’s metaplasia.

Oesophagus is long muscular tube part of digestive system that connects mouth to stomach to actively pass food. It is also called as gastro-intestinal tract (GI tract or gullet or food pipe). It is around 25cm long in adults.

ZSL (Zoological Society of London) Institute of Zoology conferred title of ‘world’s largest bird’ to Coombe titan (meaning ‘big bird’ in Malagasy and Greek), believed to have weighed up to 800 kg and 3 metres tall.

Sports

2018 AIBA Youth Women’s & Men’s World Championships in Budapest (Hungary).

359 boxers from 65 countries participated. Mascot was Hungarian Grey bull and cow

Indian Winners:

Gold -Nitu (Women’s Light Fly 45-48kg), Sakshi (Women’s Feather 54-57kg)

Silver - Anamika (Women’s Fly 48-51kg), Manisha (Women’s Light Welter 64kg

Bronze - Bhavesh Kattimani (Men’s Fly 49-52kg), Ankit (Women’s Light – 60kg), Jony (Women’s Light 57-60kg), Pahwa A (Women’s Middle 69-75kg), Gaidhani S (Women’s Light Heavy 81kg), Yadav N (Women’s Heavy +81kg)

Awards:

Best Men Boxer – Dzhambulat Bizhamov (Russia – 69KG)

Best Women Boxer – Charlie Cavanagh (Canada – 69KG)

Best Team – Team Russia

Fair Play Award – Team Hungary

2018 Asian Games -

Facts -

It was 18th edition of Asian Games, hosted by Jakarta and Palembang (Indonesia).

11720 Atheletes from 45 Nations participated in 465 events of 40 sports.

Official Mascots were named Bhin Bhin, Atung and Kaka, representing Eastern, Central, and Western regions of Indonesia respectively.

Next, 19th edition of Asian Games will be hosted by Hangzhou (China), in 2022.

Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee named Most Valuable player in 18th Asian Games,after she had won 6 medals which is the most for a female athlete at a single Game. She will get a trophy and a cheque for $50,000. She became the fourth Japanese athlete to win the award since it’s inception at the 1998 Bangkok Games, and first female athlete to be given this title.

Medal Table -

Rank NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 China 132 92 65 289

2 Japan 75 56 74 205

3 South Korea 49 58 70 177

4 Indonesia 31 24 43 98

5 Uzbekistan 21 24 25 70

8 India 15 24 30 69

India at 2018 Asian Games -

570 Indian atheletes participated in 36 sports.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was flag bearer for Indian contingent at opening ceremony of Asian Games 2018. Indian women hockey captain Rani Rampal was India’s flag-bearer for Closing Ceremony.

It was India's best ever performance in terms of total medal tally. In terms of gold medal tally, India match its best performance at the inaugural 1951 Games in New Delhi.

Delhi Government announced enhance in prize money for meadalists -

Gold - 1 crore (earlier 20 lakh)

Silver - 75 lakh (earlier 14 lakh)

Bronze - 50 lakh (earlier Rs 10 lakh).

Trainers of medal winners to get 6 lakh (earlier Rs 3 lakh).

As per official provisions, pensions of medallists are -

Category

Amount

Medallist at Olympic/Para-Olympic Games

20000

Gold medallist at World Cup/World Championship (in Olympic/Asian Games disciplines)

16000

Silver/Bronze medallist at World Cup/World Championship (in Olympics / Asian Games disciplines)

Gold medallist in Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Para Asian Games

14000

Silver and Bronze medallist in Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Para Asian Games

12000

Some facts and notable points -

PV Sindhu became the first badminton player to win silver in Asian Games, after she lost to Tai Tzu-Ying (Taiwan).

Rahi Sarnobat became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games.

Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Asian Games.

Swapna Barman gave India its first-ever Asiad gold in women's heptathlon event.

Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to win an Asiad gold.

Fouaad Mirza became the first Indian to win an Asian Games individual equestrian medal since 1982.

India also won its first medal in sepaktakraw at the 18th Asian Games.

India's first medal in Kurash came through Malaprabha Yallapa Jadav.

Saina Nehwal winning bronze in Badminton, after losing to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in women's singles semifinals.

Indian Gold Medalists (15 Medals) -

Athletics - 7

Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Men's shot put) - It was India’s first gold in Athletics at 2018 Asian Games.

Neeraj Chopra (Men's javelin throw) - First Indian javelin thrower to win an Asiad gold. With this, he also set up a national record.

Manjit Singh (Men's 800 metres)

Arpinder Singh (Men's triple jump) - He ended India's 48-year wait for a gold medal in men's triple jump event at Asian Games. It was an Indian medal in men's triple jump, after 36 years.

Swapna Barman (Women's heptathlon) - India's first-ever Asiad gold in women's heptathlon event.

Jinson Johnson (Men's 1500 metres)

M. R. Poovamma, Saritaben Gaikwad, Hima Das, Vismaya (Women's 4 x 400 m relay)

Boxing - 1

Amit Panghal (Light flyweight (49 kg))

Bridge - 1

Pranab Bardhan, Shibhnath Sarkar (Men's pair)

Rowing - 1

Sawarn Singh Dattu, Baban Bhokanal, Om Prakash, Sukhmeet Singh (Men's quadruple sculls)

Shooting - 2

Saurabh Chaudhary (Men's 10 metre air pistol)

Rahi Sarnobat (Women's 25 metre pistol) - She became first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games.

Lawn tennis - 1

Rohan Bopa

nna, Divij Sharan (Men's doubles)

Wrestling - 2

Bajrang Punia (Men's freestyle 65 kg)

Vinesh Phogat (Women's freestyle 50 kg)

India's Silver Medalists -

Shooting -

Deepak Kumar (Men's 10 metre air rifle)

Lakshay Sheoran (Men's trap)

Sanjeev Rajput (Men's 50 metre rifle three positions)

Shardul Vihan (Men's double trap)

Kabaddi -

Women's kabaddi (Lost to Iran).

Equestrian -

Fouaad Mirza (Individual eventing)

Team eventing

Athletics -

Hima Das (Women's 400 metres)

Muhammed Anas (Men's 400 metres)

Dutee Chand (Women's 100 metres)

Dharun Ayyasamy (Men's 400 metres hurdles)

Sudha Singh (Women's 3000 metres steeplechase)

Neena Varakil (Women's long jump)

Jinson Johnson (Men's 800 metres)

Rajiv Arokia, Muhammed Anas,Hima Das, M. R. Poovamma (Mixed 4 x 400 metres relay)

Dutee Chand (Women's 200 metres)

Dharun Ayyasamy, Kunhu Mohammed, Rajiv Arokia, Muhammed Anas (Men's 4 x 400 m relay)

Archery -

Abhishek Verma, Rajat Chauhan, Aman Saini (Men's team compound)

Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari,Jyothi Surekha Vennam (Women's team compound)

Badminton -

P. V. Sindhu (Women's singles)

Kurash -

Pincky Balhara (Women's 52 kg)

Sailing -

Shweta Shervegar, Varsha Gautham (49er FX women)

Hockey -

Women's hockey team

Squash -

Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa, Tanvi Khanna, Sunayna Kuruvilla (Women's team)

2018 China Open Badminton -

Men's Singles - Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia)

Women's Singles - Carolina Marín (Spain)

Men's Doubles - Denmark's Kim Astrup AND Anders Skaarup Rasmussen

Women's Doubles - Japan's Misaki Matsutomo AND Ayaka Takahashi

Mixed Doubles - China's Zheng Siwei AND Huang Yaqiong

52nd ISSF World Shooting Championships held in Changwon (South Korea) -

This also served as first qualification for 2020 Summer Olympics.

India at the Games -

In Senior - India won total 7 Medals (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze), ranked 9th.

In Junior - India won total 20 Medals (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze), ranked 2nd.

India with 27 medals was overall (senior + junior) ranked 3, after China (43 medals) and South Korea (36 medals).

Shahzar Rizvi claimed India's first medal at ISSF World Cup 2018, winning 10m air pistol silver.

Indian Gold Medalists -

Senior -

50 m pistol (Om Prakash Mitharwal)

Double trap (Ankur Mittal)

Junior -

10 m air rifle (Hriday Hazarika)

10 m air pistol (Saurabh Chaudhary)

25 m pistol (Udhayveer Sidhu)

25 m standard pistol (Vijayveer Sidhu)

50 m pistol (Arjun Singh Cheema)

25 m standard pistol team (Vijayveer Sidhu, Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu, Adarsh Singh)

25 m pistol team (Udhayveer Sidhu, Vijayveer Sidhu, Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu)

50 m pistol team (Arjun Singh Cheema, Gaurav Rana, Anmol)

10 m air rifle Women team (Elavenil Valarivan, Shreya Agrawal, Manini Kaushik)

Medal table -

Senior -

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 China 9 9 3 21

2 Russia 8 8 10 26

3 South Korea 7 5 8 20

4 Germany 6 6 3 15

5 Sweden 4 2 3 9

9 India 2 4 1 7

Junior -

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total

1 China 11 6 5 22

2 India 9 5 6 20

3 Italy 5 1 3 9

4 South Korea 4 9 3 16

5 Norway 2 0 1 3

CERN(world’s largest physics laboratory) has discovered two new particles, as well as hints of another new particle, in high-energy proton collisions at 27-km-long Large Hadron Collider. The particles belong to the same family of protons called baryons.

For first time in history of FIFA international football team rankings, two teams are sharing top spot after World Cup 2018 semi-finalists Belgium joined World Cup winners France Jointly at top of rankings.

France Football magazine announced that, a women’s Ballon d’Or will be awarded for first time in 2018, to be presented on 8 December 2018 in Paris (France).

Ballon d’Or is awarded annually for men since 1956.

Germany will host UEFA 2024 European Championship, as Germany's first major football championship hosting since World Cup 2006. 24 national teams will play in 10 German cities.

Government approved participation of Indian Kho Kho team at the 1st International Kho Kho Championship in England in first week of September 2018.

India Blue won 2017-18 Duleep Cricket Trophy by defeating India Red, in Dindigul (Tamilnadu).

India defeated Bangladesh to win Unimoni Asia Cup Cricket Championship 2018, held in UAE. This was India's seventh Asia Cup Title.

Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami became first bowler in women’s cricket to pick 300 international wickets. Also, Mithali Raj went past England’s Charlotte Edwards as most-capped captain in women’s ODIs with her 118th appearance.

Indian sprinter Hima Das was appointed as Sports Ambassador of Assam.

She was first Indian athlete to win gold medal in track event at IAAF World U20 Championships held in Tampere, Finland.

In 2018 Asian Games (Jakarta), she had won silver medal in 400 m final to win a silver medal. She is nicknamed ‘Dhing Express’ after her village in Assam.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that Madrid (Spain) would host the first 2 new-format Davis Cup Tennis finals in 2019 and 2020. It will engage 18 countries at one place for a week at the end of tennis season. Kosmos will spend $3 billion over 25 years on revamped 118-year-old Davis Cup.

Japan Open Badminton 2018 -

Men's Singles - Kento Momota (Japan)

Women's Singles - Carolina Marín (Spain)

Men's Doubles - Indonesia's Marcus Fernaldi Gideon AND Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

Women's Doubles - Japan's Yuki Fukushima AND Sayaka Hirota

Mixed Doubles - China's Zheng Siwei AND Huang Yaqiong

Laver cup Tennis 2018 (Chicago, United States)-

Its an indoor hard court men's tennis tournament between two teams - Team Europe and Team World. It was founded in 2017.

Team Europe successfully defended their title, winning the tournament 13–8.

Maldives won 2018 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup 2018, defeating India. It was hosted by Bangladesh.

Mercedes's Racer Lewis Hamilton (UK) won F1 Italian Grand Prix -

2018 Formula 1 (F1) Calendar-

Serial Grand Prix Date Winner

1 Australian Grand Prix 25 March Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

2 Bahrain Grand Prix 8 April Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

3 Chinese Grand Prix 15 April Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)

4 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 29 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)

5 Spanish Grand Prix 13 May Lewis Hamilton (UK)

6 Monaco Grand Prix 27 May Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)

7 Canadian Grand Prix 10 June Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

8 French Grand Prix 24 June Lewis Hamilton (UK)

9 Austrian Grand Prix 1 July Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch)

10 British Grand Prix 8 July Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

11 German Grand Prix 22 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)

12 Hungarian Grand Prix 29 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)

13 Belgian Grand Prix 26 August Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

14 Italian Grand Prix 2 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)

15 Singapore Grand Prix 16 September

16 Russian Grand Prix 30 September

17 Japanese Grand Prix 7 October

18 USA Grand Prix 21 October

19 Mexican Grand Prix 28 October

20 Brazilian Grand Prix 11 November

21 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 25 November

Mercedes's Racer Lewis Hamilton (UK) won F1 Singapore Grand Prix -

2018 Formula 1 (F1) Calendar-

Serial Grand Prix Date Winner

1 Australian Grand Prix 25 March Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

2 Bahrain Grand Prix 8 April Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

3 Chinese Grand Prix 15 April Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)

4 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 29 April Lewis Hamilton (UK)

5 Spanish Grand Prix 13 May Lewis Hamilton (UK)

6 Monaco Grand Prix 27 May Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)

7 Canadian Grand Prix 10 June Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

8 French Grand Prix 24 June Lewis Hamilton (UK)

9 Austrian Grand Prix 1 July Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch)

10 British Grand Prix 8 July Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

11 German Grand Prix 22 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)

12 Hungarian Grand Prix 29 July Lewis Hamilton (UK)

13 Belgian Grand Prix 26 August Sebastian Vettel (Germany)

14 Italian Grand Prix 2 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)

15 Singapore Grand Prix 16 September Lewis Hamilton (UK)

16 Russian Grand Prix 30 September

17 Japanese Grand Prix 7 October

18 USA Grand Prix 21 October

19 Mexican Grand Prix 28 October

20 Brazilian Grand Prix 11 November

21 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 25 November

Misc. Sporting Events (September 2018) -

Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela became first set of Indian shooters to secure quota places for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Indian shuttlers Anoushka Parikh,Saurabh Sharma AND Krishna Prasad Garaga, Dhruv Kapila won mixed doubles and men’s doubles title respectively, at RSL Kharkiv International challenge in Kharkiv (Ukraine).

Man Kaur, 102-year-old Indian athlete won 200m race in 100-104 age group category at World Masters Athletics Championships in Spain. Last year, Man Kaur won 100m gold at World Masters Games at Auckland (New Zealand).

Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin (Germany), smashing previous best as he clocked 2 hours 1 minute 39 second.

Simranjit Kaur (64kg), Monika (48 kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81 kg) claimed gold medals at Ahmet Comert Tournament in Istanbul (Turkey).

Indian boxing champion M C Mary Kom won her 3rd gold medal of 2018 in 48 kg category, while Jyoti Gulia picked up gold in 51 kg of youth category of Silesian Open boxing Tournament for women in Gliwice (Poland).

Medved International Wrestling tournament held in Minsk (Belarus). India's Sakshi Malik won silver in 62 kg category. India’s Pooja Dhanda won a Bronze medal in 57 kg category.

Mahendra Singh become 2nd most capped player for India in international cricket as he played his 505th match for India, in Asia Cup 2018 against Pakistan. Dhoni overtook Rahul Dravid as 2nd most capped player for India.

India won silver medal after losing to Pakistan in final of Asian Team Snooker Championships, in Doha (Qatar).

Junior World wrestling championships held in Trnava (Slovakia), with India winning total 7 Medals (Silver - 4, Bronze - 3).

5th Track Asia Cup Cycling championships held in New Delhi. India topped medal tally with 6 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals. It was followed by Indonesia in 2nd place and Hong Kong in third.

Serbia Junior and Cadet Open (table tennis) held in Belgrade (Serbia).

Cadet boys singles title was won by India’s Payas Jain. Junior girls also won team title.

Cadet boys team event title won by India’s Payas Jain and Vishwa Deenadayalan.

Silver medal was won by India B team - Divyansh Srivastava and Aadarsh Om Chhetri.

Blind chess player Vaishali Narendra Salavkar became first Indian female to be part of the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) team at world chess Olympiad held in Batumi (Georgia).

58th National Open athletics championships held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar (Odisha).

India's Yuvraj Wadhwani won 25th Asian junior individual squash championship title, by beating Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan. It was held in Chennai. Also, in Under 15, Arnav Sareen settled for runner-up spot.

8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship organised by Asian Yoga Federation in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).

New Kabaddi Federation of India (NKFI) launched Indo International Premier Kabaddi League, to start on 26 January 2019.

Winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 1.25 crore, with Over 1000 players participating.

League will have 8 teams, Each team having 2 to 3 international players.

September 25 - Antyodaya Divas. It marks birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018 (London) -

Best FIFA Men's Player - Luka Modrić (Croatia)

Best FIFA Goalkeeper - Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)

Best FIFA Men's Coach - Didier Deschamps (France)

Best FIFA Women's Player - Marta (Brazil)

Best FIFA Women's Coach - Reynald Pedros (Lyon)

FIFA Fair Play Award - Lennart (Germany), Missed an Eredivisie match to donate stem cells to a leukemia patient

FIFA Puskás Award (Best Goal) - Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Plays for Liverpool FC. Won for his goal in 2017–18 Premier League.

Triple jumper Arpinder Singh became first Indian to win a medal in IAAF Continental Cup 2018 held in Ostrava (Czech Republic), after winning bronze. He was representing the Asia-Pacific team.

IAAF Continental Cup (formerly known as IAAF World Cup) is an international athletics competition. It is the only world cup contested by teams representing entire continents, rather than just those of individual countries.

In 2018, first Athletics World Cup was held in London (UK). It is not related to original IAAF Continental Cup, and latter continues to be held.

US Open Tennis 2018 -

Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia), defeating Juan Martín del Potro (Argentina). It was 14th Grand Slam Title for Djokovic, and his 3rd US Open title.

Women's Singles - Naomi Osaka (Japan), Defeating Serena Williams (USA).

Men's Doubles - USA's Mike Bryan AND Jack Sock

Women's Doubles - Ashleigh Barty (Australia) AND CoCo Vandeweghe (USA)

Mixed Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) AND Jamie Murray (UK)

Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by India after more than a decade, in November 2018 in New Delhi.

Session	Download Link
General Awareness Session 1
General Awareness Session 2
Aptitude Builder GA-1
Aptitude Builder GA-2
Aptitude Builder GA-3

Current Affairs - 07 October 2018

General Affairs

Business Affairs

General Awareness

No comments:

Featured post

Current Affairs - 16 December 2018

Popular

Report Abuse

Contact Form

Blog Archive

Followers

Total Pageviews

Search This Blog

Follow Facebook

Select Language

Facebook Timeline

Locations

Downloads

News

Latest Recruitment's

Contact Form

Award	Winner
Drama Series	Game of Thrones
Comedy Series	The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Television Movie	Black Mirror: USS Callister
Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Claire Foy, The Crown
Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie	Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie	Regina King, Seven Seconds
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Bill Hader, Barry
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Category	Winner	Affiliation
Biological Sciences	Ganesh Nagaraju	IISc Bengaluru
Biological Sciences	Thomas Pucadyil	IISER Pune
Chemical Sciences	Rahul Banerjee	IISER Kolkata
Chemical Sciences	Swadhin Kumar Mandal	IISER Kolkata
Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences	Madineni Venkat Ratnam	National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Tirupati
Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences	Parthasarathi Chakraborty	CSIR-NIO, Goa
Engineering Sciences	Amit Agrawal	IIT Bombay
Engineering Sciences	Ashwin Anil Gumaste	IIT Bombay
Mathematical Sciences	Amit Kumar	IIT Delhi
Mathematical Sciences	Nitin Saxena	IIT Kanpur
Medical Sciences	Ganesan Venkatasubramanian	NIMHANS, Bengaluru
Physical Sciences	Aditi Sen De	Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad
Physical Sciences	Ambarish Ghosh	IISc Bengaluru

S. No.	Name	Discipline
1.	Ms. S. Mirabai Chanu	Weightlifting
2.	Virat Kohli	Cricket

S. No.	Name of the Coach	Discipline
	Subedar Chenanda Achaiah Kuttappa	Boxing
	Vijay Sharma	Weightlifting
	A. Srinivasa Rao	Table Tennis
	Sukhdev Singh Pannu	Athletics
	Clarence Lobo	Hockey (Life Time)
	Tarak Sinha	Cricket (Life Time)
	Jiwan Kumar Sharma	Judo (Life Time)
	V.R. Beedu	Athletics (Life Time)

S. No.	Name of the Sportsperson	Discipline
	Neeraj Chopra	Athletics
	Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson	Athletics
	Hima Das	Athletics
	Nelakurthi Sikki Reddy	Badminton
	Subedar Satish Kumar	Boxing
	Smriti Mandhana	Cricket
	Shubhankar Sharma	Golf
	Manpreet Singh	Hockey
	Ms. Savita	Hockey
	Col. Ravi Rathore	Polo
	Rahi Sarnobat	Shooting
	Ankur Mittal	Shooting
	Shreyasi Singh	Shooting
	Manika Batra	Table Tennis
	G. Sathiyan	Table Tennis
	Rohan Bopanna	Tennis
	Sumit	Wrestling
	Pooja Kadian	Wushu
	Ankur Dhama	Para-Athletics
	Manoj Sarkar	Para-Badminton

S. No.	Category	Name of the entity
1.	Identification and Nurturing of Budding & Young Talent	Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited
2.	Encouragement to Sports through Corporate Social Responsibility	JSW Sports
3.	Sports for Development	Isha Outreach

Name	Rate of interest in Current Quarter (July - September 2018)	Rate of interest in Current Quarter (October - December 2018)	Compounding frequency
Savings Deposit	4.0	4.0	Annually
1 Year Time Deposit	6.6	6.9	Quarterly
2 Year Time Deposit	6.7	7.0	Quarterly
3 Year Time Deposit	6.9	7.2	Quarterly
5 Year Time Deposit	7.4	7.8	Quarterly
5 Year Recurring Deposit	6.9	7.3	Quarterly
5 Year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme	8.3	8.7	Quarterly and paid
5 Year Monthly Income Account	7.3	7.7	Monthly and paid
5 Year National Savings Certificate	7.6	8.0	Annually
Public Provident Fund Scheme	7.6	8.0	Annually
Kisan Vikas Patra	7.3 (will mature in 118 months)	7.7 (will mature in 112 months)	Annually
Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme	8.1	8.5	Annually

Name of Functionary	Old Rates p.m.	Revised Rates p.m.
Anganwadi Worker	3000	4500
Anganwadi Worker at Mini-AWC	2250	3500
Anganwadi Helper	1500	2250

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	132	92	65	289
2	Japan	75	56	74	205
3	South Korea	49	58	70	177
4	Indonesia	31	24	43	98
5	Uzbekistan	21	24	25	70
8	India	15	24	30	69

Category	Amount
Medallist at Olympic/Para-Olympic Games	20000
Gold medallist at World Cup/World Championship (in Olympic/Asian Games disciplines)	16000
Silver/Bronze medallist at World Cup/World Championship (in Olympics / Asian Games disciplines) Gold medallist in Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Para Asian Games	14000
Silver and Bronze medallist in Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/Para Asian Games	12000

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	9	9	3	21
2	Russia	8	8	10	26
3	South Korea	7	5	8	20
4	Germany	6	6	3	15
5	Sweden	4	2	3	9
9	India	2	4	1	7

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China	11	6	5	22
2	India	9	5	6	20
3	Italy	5	1	3	9
4	South Korea	4	9	3	16
5	Norway	2	0	1	3

Serial	Grand Prix	Date	Winner
1	Australian Grand Prix	25 March	Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
2	Bahrain Grand Prix	8 April	Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
3	Chinese Grand Prix	15 April	Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
4	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	29 April	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
5	Spanish Grand Prix	13 May	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
6	Monaco Grand Prix	27 May	Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
7	Canadian Grand Prix	10 June	Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
8	French Grand Prix	24 June	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
9	Austrian Grand Prix	1 July	Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch)
10	British Grand Prix	8 July	Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
11	German Grand Prix	22 July	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	29 July	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
13	Belgian Grand Prix	26 August	Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
14	Italian Grand Prix	2 September	Lewis Hamilton (UK)
15	Singapore Grand Prix	16 September
16	Russian Grand Prix	30 September
17	Japanese Grand Prix	7 October
18	USA Grand Prix	21 October
19	Mexican Grand Prix	28 October
20	Brazilian Grand Prix	11 November
21	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	25 November