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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
International Coffee Day
- International Coffee Day is an occasion that is used to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events now occurring in places across the world.
- The first official date was 1 October 2015, as agreed by the International Coffee Organization and was launched in Milan.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Theme 2019 | ‘Coffee’s future needs you’ |
World Vegetarian Day
- World Vegetarian Day is observed annually around the planet on October 1.
- It is a day of celebration established by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977 and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978.
International Day of Non-Violence
- The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi
- The United Nations General Assembly on June 15, 2007 has declared the 2nd October as International Day of Non-Violence
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Government launches app for filing consumer complaints
- The government launched a mobile app to help consumers register complaints easily and get redressal within 60 days.
- The complaints which are simple in nature will be resolved within 15 days, while complicated ones will be redressed in 60 days.
- Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan launched the ‘Consumer App’
- The ‘Consumer App’ is available for free in two languages including English and Hindi. It can be downloaded on Android and iOS platforms.
- This is an additional platform that the government has created for filing consumer complaints. Consumer helpline and consumer courts will continue to play their role.
- Consumers have to register on the mobile app for filing complaint on issues related to 42 sectors like airlines, banking and insurance.
- Besides, consumers through the mobile app can offer suggestion to the government. They can also benefit from other features provided in the mobile app.
- The mobile app has important links related to consumers, details of each sectors like refund rules and others.
SmritiIrani Inaugurates India’s Largest ‘Charkha’ Made of Waste Plastic in Noida
- India’s largest ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel) made of used plastic waste was inaugurated on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
- The 1,650-kg spinning wheel was inaugurated by Union Minister SmritiIrani, GautamBuddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma, Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and Noida Authority CEO RituMaheshwari. The spinning wheel has been installed in Sector 94 near the Mahamaya flyover.
- The ‘charkha’, which symbolises Gandhi’s dream of Swadeshi (self sufficing and self reliance), measures 14ft, 20ft and 8ft and is made of 1,250 kg of used plastic.
- The charkha has been recognised as the largest made of used plastic waste in the country by India Book of Records.
- Irani, the Women and Child Development minister, also inaugurated a ‘Pink Toilet’ in Sector 39 and flagged off 15 garbage collection vehicles.
PIO cards to continue as valid travel document till March 2020
- Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards along with valid foreign passport will be considered for exit/entry into India till 31st of March 2020.
- This means that the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) will accept all Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards (including handwritten PIO cards), along with valid foreign passport, as valid travel document for exit from/entry into India, till March 31, 2020.
- However, the extension is subjected to the condition that if in the meantime, any deadline is notified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) thereby making handwritten PIO cards invalid, then PIO cardholders may have to obtain appropriate visa from Indian Missions/Posts.
- OCI card is a smart card to facilitate quicker immigration clearance at Immigration Check Posts.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
PPF, NSC, SSY and other small savings schemes’ interest rates remain unchanged
- Post office savings schemes or small savings schemes interest rates have been kept unchanged for the third quarter of the current financial year, i.e., 2019-20
- All small savings schemes including PPF (Public Provident Fund), NSC (National Savings Certificate), SSY (SukanyaSamriddhiYojana) and others will continue to fetch same interest rate between October and December quarter of FY 2019-20 as they were earning during the July to September quarter.
- In the previous quarter, government had reduced the interest rate on these schemes by 10 basis points (1 basis point = 0.01 per cent) for the all the schemes except for savings account interest rate.
Interest rate on Small Savings Scheme from October and December Quarter
| Instrument | Interest rate (%) from 01.10.2019 | Compounding Frequency |
| Savings Account | 4 | Annually |
| One- Year Time Deposit | 6.9 | Quarterly |
| Two-Year Time Deposit | 6.9 | Quarterly |
| Three Year Time Deposit | 6.9 | Quarterly |
| Five Year Time Deposit | 7.7 | Quarterly |
| Five Year Recurring Deposits | 7.2 | Quarterly |
| Five Year Senior Citizen Savings Scheme | 8.6 | Quarterly and paid |
| Five Year Monthly Income Account | 7.6 | Monthly and paid |
| Five Year National Savings Certificate | 7.9 | Annually |
| Public Provident Fund | 7.9 | Annually |
| KisanVikasPatra | 7.6 (Will mature in 113 months) | Annually |
| SukanyaSamriddhi Account Scheme | 8.4 | Annually |
Public sector banks in India to have uniform timings across all states
- Public sector banks will now have uniform timings across all states as per a new directive issued by the Indian Department of Financial Services.
- Customer banking hours will now be from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in all public sector banks from 1 October 2019.
- Lunch hours, irrespective of business timings, will be from 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
- The only exceptions to the new rule are the states of Mizoram, Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh. In Mizoram and Nagaland, banks will operate from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm and in Madhya Pradesh, bank timings are 10:30 am to 4:30 pm.
- The final hours of operations for two critical states — Gujarat and Maharashtra — are yet to disclosed. The timings for Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar are also undecided.
Axis Bank launches Express FD
- Private sector lender Axis Bank, announced the launch of a digital fixed-deposit product. Called ‘Express FD’, a customer can open an Express FD account in three minutes through the digital mode without opening a savings account with the bank.
- The new Express FD account offers attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on premature withdrawal (up to 25% of the amount).
- With the use of net-banking, debit card or via UPI (Unified Payments Interface)- an instant real-time payment system, a customer can deposit the fund in Express FD account.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Axis Bank CEO | Amitabh Chaudhry |
| Axis Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| Axis Bank Tagline | BadhtiKanaamZindagi |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
RBI appoints Jai BhagwanBhoria as new administrator for PMC Bank
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI ) superseded the Board of crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Ltd. Mumbai and appointed Jai BhagwanBhoria as the administrator of the bank.
- RBI increased the amount of withdrawal allowed to the depositors from₹1,000 to ₹10,000. The directives of RBI shall remain in force for a period of six months.
- The slum redevelopment focused Housing Development and Infrastructure or HDIL is in the bankruptcy court now after being hit by a severe cash crunch following the failure of some of its key projects in the city.
- Joy Thomas, who has been suspended as the managing director of PMC Bank. PMC Bank HQ- Mumbai.
Economist Surjit S Bhalla appointed as Executive Director for India at IMF
- Economist Surjit S Bhalla was appointed as the Executive Director for India at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Bhalla (71) will succeed former RBI deputy governor SubirGokarn, who died in the US on July 30 after a brief illness.
- Bhalla earlier served as a member of the prime minister’s economic advisory council but resigned earlier this year.
KS Dhatwalia appointed new chief of PIB
- The Centre appointed senior Indian Information Service (IIS) official KS Dhatwalia as the new Director General of the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
- Dhatwalia, a 1984-batch IIS officer, will become the 28th DG of the PIB succeeding incumbent SitanshuRanjanKar.
- He will continue to hold the additional charge of Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
- KS Dhatwalia has worked in key positions in various Media Units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Writer Caroline criadoperez wins Royal society science book prize 2019
- A British feminist, activist and journalist, Caroline Criado Perez has won the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2019 (sponsored by Insight Investment) for her 2nd book ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society, London, United Kingdom (UK). She also received a cheque amounting £25,000.
- Caroline was selected by a panel of expert judges headed by Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt FRS, Principal and Professorial Research Fellow in Computer Science at Jesus College, University of Oxford.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Minor Planet Named After PanditJasraj, First Indian Musician to Receive this Honour
- A minor planet, between Mars and Jupiter, has been named after PanditJasraj, the doyen of Indian classical vocal music.
- International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named minor planet 2006 VP32 (number -300128), discovered on November 11, 2006 , as ‘Panditjasraj’.
- ‘Panditjasraj’ traverses the cosmos between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE
Gandhi Film Festival to be organised in Mumbai
- Film Division in association with India Tourism will organise a Gandhi Film Festival at JB Hall in Mumbai from 2nd to 6th October.
- The festival as part of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary will showcase select films focussing on Swachh Bharat and non-violence.
- The festival will be inaugurated by noted actor DarshanJariwala on 2nd October.
- Movies to be screened include ‘Gandhi’ by Richard Attenborough, ‘The Making of Mahatma’ by ShyamBenegal and ‘Maine Gandhi to NahiMaara’ by JahnuBarua.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Bhavani Devi clinches silver in Belgium meet
- Indian fencer C. A. Bhavani Devi clinched the silver medal in the women’s sabre individual category in the Tournoi satellite competition (World level) at Ghent, Belgium.
- Bhavani continued that she has another eight competitions – World Cup, Grand Prix and satellite events – lined up until the end of March that will be considered for Olympic qualification.
- The top two players from the Asian zone in the World rankings will qualify for the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan.