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CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
India-Australia to enhance cooperation on cyber security
- The 3rd India-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue for the year 2019 was held in New Delhi.
- ShriUpender Singh Rawat, Joint Secretary in charge of e-Governance, Information Technology and Cyber Diplomacy at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation and Australian delegation was led by the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Dr. Tobias Feakin.
- India and Australia affirmed commitment to ensure security and stability in cyberspace underpinned by their shared commitment to the implementation of the UNGGE reports of the 2013 and 2015 on the application of international law.
- The two countries further agreed to work towards the establishment of a Joint Working Group on Cyber Security Cooperation and to commence negotiations for a Framework Agreement on Cyber Cooperation.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Australia Capital | Canberra |
| Australia Currency | Australian dollar |
| Australia Prime Minister | Scott Morrison |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Rs 125 crore allotted to IIT-Kharagpur for Centre’s SATHI initiative
- An amount of Rs 125 crore has been earmarked for the SATHI (Sophisticated Analytical and Technical Help Institute) Centre at IIT-Kharagpur for three financial years starting from 2019-20.
- IIT-Kharagpur has been selected for the SATHI Centre initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian government.
- The initiative will be developed as a state-of-the-art shared, professionally managed science and technology infrastructure facility
- The primary objective of the centre is to extend help to the neighbouring academic institutes, research establishments and the industries, particularly the start-ups and manufacturing units for using sophisticated instruments, which do not exist anywhere else, in a few selected areas.
- The SATHI Centre will run 24×7 round the year.
Government will prepare master plan for tigers at high altitudes
- The central government will prepare a master plan for tigers at high altitudes, Union Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar after releasing a report which revealed that big cats have been found in high altitude regions.
- India has already become the capital of tigers with 70 per cent of its population here. It is an exciting study as it reveals that even ecology at high altitude is compatible for the tiger growth and we will take inputs from this study to have a high altitude tiger master plan.
- Tiger habitats in high altitude require protection through sustainable land use, as they are a high value ecosystem with several hydrological and ecological processes providing ecosystem services and adaptation to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.
- As per the latest tiger census report, their number stood at 2,967 at last count in 2018, a 33 per cent jump from 2,226 in 2014.
Food ministry to ban single-use plastic bottles from Sep 15
- Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry has decided to ban single-use plastic in its various departments as well as the public sector units under its administration from September 15.
- The decision was taken at a meeting held by Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
- The decision was taken during a high level meeting in the ministry with all high officials from FCI, consumer affairs and food ministry and Bureau of International Standards(BIS).
| USEFUL INFO |
| Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution |
| Union Minister | RamvilasPaswan |
| Constituency | Not Contested in Election |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
MCX signs MoU with Zhengzhou Comm Exchange
- Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), a subsidiary of Financial Technologies, and China-based Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore areas of co-operation.
- ZCE offers commodity futures contracts in wheat, cotton & white sugar.
- The exchanges will work together to develop areas of co-operation and business opportunities with the goal of assisting and benefiting underlying producers, end-users, and investors in commonly traded products.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) |
| MCX Chairman | Mr.Saurabh Chandra |
| MCXHeadquarters | Mumbai |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Gujarat Govt, Delaware State of America sign MoU for sister state
- Gujarat Government and Delaware State of America signed MoU -Memorandum of Understanding for sister state. MoU was signed in Gandhinagar, when a delegation of Delaware State of America called on Gujarat Chief Minister Delaware’s Vijay Rupani. MoU was signed by Gujarat Chief Minister and Delaware’s Secretary of state.
- Sectors like Biotechnology University, bio sciences, financial services, animal husbandry and dairy, port services have been short listed for future cooperation. The American delegation has also invited Gujarat Chief Minister to visit Delaware State.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Gujarat Capital | Gandhinagar |
| Gujarat CM | Vijay Rupani |
| Gujarat Governor | AcharyaDevVrat |
Delhi attracts the largest number of students from across the country
- Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia launched his book ‘Shiksha: A Journey’.
- The book documents his experiences as an education minister in transforming the public education system in Delhi.
- The work done by the Delhi government to improve the quality of education being imparted has been recognised not only by our own state but has set an example for the entire country.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Banks start approving retail loan proposals on ‘PSB Loans in 59 Minutes’ portal
- Public sector banks (PSBs) have started giving in-principle approval of home and personal loan applications on the ‘PSB Loans in 59 Minutes’ web portal, launched last year to facilitate quick loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
- Applicants can now get in-principle approvals from 19 PSBs, including the State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India.
- “59 Minutes” scheme uses advanced algorithms to analyse data points from several sources such as income tax returns and bank statements.
CARE cuts India’s GDP growth to 6.4-6.5% for FY20
- The rating agency CARE cut the GDP estimate downward from 6.7-6.8 per cent earlier to 6.4-6.5 per cent for FY20 with the underlying GVA growth of 6.3-6.4 per cent.
- The cut in GDP rate is due to sharp economic growth slowdown in Q1 of the FY20.
Standard Chartered Bank launches DigiSmart Credit Card
- The Standard Chartered Bank, a British multinational banking and financial services company has launched its “DigiSmart” credit card primarily focused on the ever-growing segment of millennials.
- The new credit card is available for a nominal monthly fee of only Rs 49. However, this fee will be waived off if the spends of the customer are Rs 5,000 or above in the previous month.
- Standard Chartered Bank has partnered with several companies such as Myntra, Grofers, Yatra, Zomato, Ola and INOX in the initial phase to offer customers with discounts and other benefits.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Standard Chartered Bank CEO | Bill Winters |
| Standard Chartered Bank Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
NDB to provide Rs 6,000 crore loan to Andhra Pradesh for social infrastructure projects
- New Development Bank (NDB) will provide a loan of Rs 6,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh for various social infrastructure projects in the state.
- The amount will be utilised for road development and other infrastructure projects in rural areas. Out of the total Rs 6,000 crore, 30 per cent has to be borne by the State government and the loan has to be repaid in 32 years
- The New Development Bank was set up in 2015 by BRICS nations. The Shanghai-based Bank has lent over Rs 75,000 crore to various project till date all over the world and Rs 25,000 crores in India alone.
| USEFUL INFO |
| New Development Bank (NDB) |
| NDB President | K. V. Kamath |
| NDB Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
Centre to infuse Rs 12,000 crore in state general insurance firms
- The Department of Financial Services has approved capital infusion worth Rs.12,000crore in National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance in order to boost their capital base and meet regulatory norms
- The Budget had provisioned Rs 70,000 crore for PSB recapitalisation and last week aRs 55,250-crore infusion was announced in several PSBs for regulatory and growth requirements.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE
CBI’s 1st national conference on cybercrime investigation inaugurated
- CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla inaugurated the 1st National Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics at CBI Headquarters in New Delhi.
- The two-day conference covers one of the mandates of CBI which is to investigate crimes with inter-state and international ramifications.
- The conference is aimed at creating the platform and bringing together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to discuss challenges related to cybercrime and ways to find solutions.
- It will also be a platform to share good practices to learn from experiences of various State police and Law Enforcement Agencies.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : MoU
India, S Korea ink 2 MoUs to boost defence cooperation
- India and South Korea signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to the East Asian nation.
- Two MoUs to further defence educational exchanges and extend logistical support to each other’s navies were signed.
- These agreements will help enhance defence cooperation between India-Republic of Korea
| USEFUL INFO |
| South Korea Capital | Seoul |
| South Korea Currency | South Korean won |
| South Korea President | Moon Jae-in |
Wipro bags $300-million deal from ICICI Bank
- Wipro has bagged a seven-year contract worth $300 million from ICICI Bank to provide a comprehensive suite of services.
- Currently, IT Services CompanyVaralnfotech provides these services to ICICI Bank.
- The deal is expected to be completed by September 30, the IT major will offer a range of services through its artificial intelligence platform Wipro HOLMES.
- As a part of the agreement, VaraInfotech’s 3,800 employees will be taken on board by Wipro.
| ICICI Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| Tagline | Hum Hain Na! |
| MD & CEO | SandeepBakhshi |
| WiproHeadquarters | Bengaluru |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR
OSDMA bags IT Excellence Award for SATARK app
- Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) won the IT Excellence Award-2019 for its innovative conception in the field of disaster management.
- OSDMA’s SATARK (System for Assessing, Tracking and Alerting Disaster Risk Information based on Dynamic Risk Knowledge) application has been chosen for the prestigious award.
- The application, both in web and mobile phone, has been developed to provide real time watch, alert and warning information for different hazards like heat wave, lightning, drought, flood monitoring, ocean state information, tsunami risk, earthquake monitoring, cyclone/storm surge, road accident and snakebite monitoring.
- It uses different level of warnings and issues corresponding advisories based on the event scenario. It is available in bilingual form both in Odia and English languages.
Skill India announces Annual Kaushalacharya Awards
- In a bid to motivate and incentivize more trainers to join the Skill India Mission, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) organized KaushalacharyaSamadar 2019 to felicitate trainers from different sectors for exceptional contribution towards creating a future-ready and skilled workforce.
- A total of 53 trainers from diverse backgrounds including experts of WorldSkills Competition winners, trainers from National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), Industrial Training Centres (ITI), Jan SikshanSansthans (JSS) and trainers from reputed Corporate houses were honored at a gathering of government and industrial experts held on the occasion of Teachers’ Day by Skill India.
- The Ministry also announced the “Kaushalacharya Awards” would be an annual event to recognize the contribution made by skill trainers in the vocational training ecosystem.
- The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has introduced programs to for effective utilization of capacity and infrastructure across the network of National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) to achieve greater convergence between long-term and shortterm skill ecosystem.
HRD Ministry awards Institution of Eminence (IoE) status to five public institutes
- The Human Resource Development Ministry has awarded the status of Institute of Eminence to the IIT-Madras, the IIT-Kharagpur, Delhi University, Benares Hindu University and the University of Hyderabad
- Four private universities – the Vellore Institute of Technology, Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham, JamiaHamdard University and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology — were issued Letters of Intent to grant them the status
- Each university will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry, laying out its plan to achieve the objective of becoming a world-class institution.
- The public institutions on the list will then be eligible for a government grant of 1,000 crore.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Ministry for Human Resource Development (HRD) |
| Union Minister | Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ |
| Constituency | Haridwar, Uttarakhand |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Anupama Swain wins bronze in World Martial Arts Mastership, qualifies for Asian Games
- Woman athlete Anupama Swain who qualified for 2022 Asian Games by winning a bronze medal in the recently concluded World Martial Arts Mastership.
- Jiu-Jitsu 2019 which was held at the Konkuk University Glocal Campus in Chungju, South Korea. With this, she qualified for the 2022 Asian Games. She was trained by HariprasadPatnayak.
- Jiu-Jitsu is a form of martial art and combat sport and it puts the entire focus on grappling with particular emphasis on ground fighting.
Bob Carter appointed head coach of New Zealand women’s cricket team
- New Zealand cricket have named Bob Carter as the head coach of the senior national women’s team
- Carter, who has previously worked as the assistant coach of the men’s team, will take over the role from HaideeTiffen
- Carter’s first assignement with the White Ferns will be three-match ODI series and five-match T20I series against South Africa
- He will remain as the coach of the team until the end of ICC Women’s World Cup 2021
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe passed away
- Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has passed away
- Mugabe was Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader. He ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades, before he was forced out in a military coup in November 2017.