Appointments:
Eastern Air Command chief Anil Khosla will take over as the new vice chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with Air Marshal SB Deo set to retire. According to other approved postings by the Indian Air force, new Deputy Chief of Air Force will be Air Marshal VR Chaudhari, New DG of Air operations’ post went to Air Marshal Amit Deo.
Business:
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s second-most valued firm ‘Reliance Industries’, has topped the ‘Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018’ for the seventh consecutive year, with the total net worth of INR 371,000 crore. He is followed by London-based S.P. Hinduja, with the net worth of INR 1,59,000 crore; and L.N. Mittal, with a net worth of INR 1,14,500 crore. Azim Premji, with the wealth of INR 96,100 crore, is fourth in the list. The cumulative wealth of the 831 individuals featured in the list stood at $719 billion, amounting to a quarter of India’s GDP of $2,848 billion.
Flipkart has acquired Israel-based technology startup Upstream Commerce for an undisclosed amount. Post the acquisition, the Upstream Commerce team, while continuing to work out of Israel, will become a part of Flipkart. It comes just a month after Flipkart acquired artificial intelligence-led speech recognition startup Liv.ai for a reported amount of $40 million.
Conference on Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs)/Women Welfare
Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs inaugurated the “Conference on Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) & Organic Farmers Co-operatives from Dantewada, Bastar Region” at NITI Aayog, New Delhi The Conference was organised by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India, TRIFED.
The Conference is a part of the visit of men and women entrepreneurs including representatives of Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) from Dantewada, Bastar Region to New Delhi to identify market opportunities for their products in urban areas. The participants shared their experiences of entrepreneurship and interacted with the Minister of Tribal Affairs and senior officers on the occasion.
Corporate Social Responsibility/Tourism:
Two coastal tourism projects taken up under Swadesh Darshan scheme were recently inaugurated by the Vice- President.The first circuit includes beautification of Nellore tank and Pulicat Lake, facelift to Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary, construction of a restaurant and development of Ubbala Madugu, Kotha Koduru, Mypadu, Rama Theertham, and Isukapalli project.
The second coastal tourism circuit is aimed at developing Kakinada port, Hope Island, Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, construction of cottages and wooden huts at Passarlapudi, Aduru and S Yanam and development of Kotipalli project.
The Tourism Ministry had launched ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme with an objective to develop theme-based tourist circuits in the country. These tourist circuits will be developed on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner.The scheme is 100% centrally funded for the project components undertaken for public funding. To leverage the voluntary funding available for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Central Public Sector Undertakings and corporate sector.
Banking:
The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley launched the Financial Inclusion Index after his Annual Performance Review Meeting with CEOs of the Public Sector Banks in New DelhiThe index will be a measure of access and usage of a basket of formal financial products and services that includes savings, remittances, credit, insurance and pension products.
The index will have three measurement dimensions:
- Access to financial services.
- Usage of financial services.
- Quality.
The various components of the index will help to measure financial services for use of internal policy making. Financial Inclusion Index can be used directly as a composite measure in development indicators. It enables fulfillment of G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators requirements. It will also facilitate researchers to study the impact of financial inclusion and other macro-economic variables.
Day of Observation:
25th September is observed as Antyodaya Diwas every year to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.During the Antyodaya Diwas each Swachhagrahi will be asked to create a team of his/her own Swachhagrahis. Each of these team will work on Open Defecation Free activities in their villages. 22 States and UTs have been declared Open Defecation Free so far.
Decade of Observation:
UN Declared Nelson Mandela Decade Of Peace 2019-2028.Recognizing the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, the Declaration saluted Mr Mandela for his humility, forgiveness and compassion, acknowledging as well his contribution to the struggle for democracy and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world. Nelson Mandela International Day- July 18
Economy:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved financing of up to USD 500 million for a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF). It will develop climate-resilient water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in at least 10 cities in Tamil Nadu.
According to the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) in conjunction with Canada’s Fraser Institute, India’s rank was still placed 96th (last year 98th) among 162 countries in this year’s report on Economic Freedom in the World.
Hong Kong and Singapore again topped the index, Russia (87th) and South Africa (94th) are ahead of India while China (108th) and Brazil (144th) are behind.India improved its score on parameters such as legal system and property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally and regulation of credit, labour, and business.
Environment:
Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on inaugurated air pollution control device Wind Augmentation Purifying Unit, WAYU, at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in New Delhi by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering
Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) to mitigate air pollution at traffic junctions. It consumes only half a unit of electricity for 10 hours of running and has a maintenance cost of only Rs. 1,500 per month, can purify the air in 500 square meters area. The device equipped with two ultraviolet lamps and a half kilogram of activated carbon coated with special chemical Titanium Dioxide, also removes poisonous gases such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide.
Foreign Policy:
India and China will sign an internal security cooperation agreement during the visit of China’s Minister of Public Security in October 2018.
The proposed pact is expected to cover areas of intelligence sharing, exchange programme, sharing of best practices, cooperation in disaster mitigation. This will be the first such agreement between India and China which look after internal security.
Shri Arun Goel (Secretary, Ministry of Culture) has inaugurated the exhibition “India – Uzbekistan: Dialogue of Cultures” at National Museum in New Delhi (till 24th October).The exhibit will showcase ancient Uzbek manuscripts for onlookers to delve into the historical legacy of the two great nations.The Exhibition was dedicated to the state visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Republic of India.
To encourage practice of ayurveda, India has set up an Ayush Information Cell at its embassy premises in Romania to create awareness about the traditional Indian system of medicine, the government said The cell would organise lectures, consultations, conduct seminars and training courses among the public in Romania/The cell was digitally inaugurated by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu during his visit to Romania earlier this month.
US President Donald Trump today lauded India at UN General Assembly and said, “There is India, a free society (of) over a billion people, successfully lifting countless millions out of poverty and into the middle class.” He added, “It’s the question of what kind of world will we leave for our children and what kind of nations they will inherit.”
The uniform shirts of the Israel Police force are stitched at an apparel unit in Valiyavelicham in Kerala’s Kannur district. Nearly one lakh shirts have been annually supplied to the Israel Police for the past three years. The dressmakers also design and attach the trademark emblems on the long-sleeve uniform shirts.
India and Pakistan’s rivalry and “artificial barriers” are costing the countries $35 billion worth of annual trade, the World Bank has said in a report. The trade between South Asia’s two largest economies currently stands at a “paltry $2 billion”, it added. The bank estimated India’s potential trade with South Asia at $62 billion against actual trade of $19 billion.
Health:
India has become the first and only SAARC country to have a quit-line number on tobacco products. India is the fourth country in Asia after Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to have this government helpline for those looking at quitting tobacco.
The quit-line number will be printed on all tobacco products manufactured after September 1, 2018.
International Alliances:/India@UN
Ministers from India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have expressed concern that although it has been almost 40 years since the Security Council reform was put on the General Assembly agenda, it is still languishing.At a meeting hosted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the Indian Mission to the UN, the Ministers from the four countries (known as G4) reviewed the reform progress.
Formed in 2005, the G4 nations comprise Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Unlike many inter-governmental bodies whose primary motives are economic and political, the G4’s aim is to ensure permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council.The UNSC has 15 members – 5 permanent members with veto powers and 10 non-permanent members. The 5 permanent members are the U.K., the U.S., China, France and Russia.The G4 nations are regularly elected to two-year terms as non-permanent members.
Internet & Portals/Economy:
Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministry has launched a web portal which is a transformative initiative in MSME credit space. The web portal psbloansin59minutes.com will enable in principle approval for MSME loans up to Rs. 1 crore within 59 minutes from SIDBI and 5 Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
Portal is one of its kind platforms in MSME segment which integrates advanced fintech to ensure seamless loan approval and management. The loans are undertaken without human intervention till sanction and or disbursement stage.The Portal 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, the loan will be disbursed in 7-8 working days.
Mozilla launched Firefox Monitor, a security tool that will allow users to check if their online accounts were hacked in a recent data breach. It will provide them with details on sources of breaches and the types of personal data exposed in each breach. Users can also register with the service to get notified about future breaches.
Judiciary:
The Supreme Court has asked the Parliament to make a law to prevent persons with serious criminal cases pending against them from entering legislature and be part of law making. The court observed that it cannot enter the legislative arena to provide disqualification of candidates, who are facing serious criminal cases against them. However, it asked the candidates to put in bold letter her/his criminal antecedents in the required affidavit. Currently, under the Representation of Peoples (RP) Act, lawmakers cannot contest elections only after their conviction in a criminal case.
Section 8 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951 disqualifies a person convicted with a sentence of two years or more from contesting elections. But those under trial continued to be eligible to contest elections. The Lily Thomas case (2013), however, ended this unfair advantage.
According to the ADR’s analysis of EC data, 187 MPs in the current Lok Sabha face criminal charges (that is, 34.4 per cent). Of them, 113 face serious criminal charges. The number has gone up from 162 (76 serious) charges in 2009 and 128 (58 serious) in 2004.
The Court said that criminalisation of politics was felt at its strongest during 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The blasts were result of a collaboration of diffused network of criminal gangs, police, customs officials and their political patrons, it added. The court said this while referring to the report of NN Vohra Committee, formed to study problem of politics’ criminalisation.
The Supreme Court has constituted a three-member committee to look into the problems of jails in India and suggest reform measures. The committee headed by former SC judge Justice Amitava Roy will look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to deal with them. The committee’s duties will include looking into the problems of jails across the country including overcrowding in prisons, issue of human rights of prisoners and issues concerning women prisoners languishing in cells for years.
NHRC figures show that prisoners cut off from family and friends had a 50% more chance of committing suicide than those outside. The average suicide rate among the general public for this period is 11 (per 100,000) whereas the average suicide rate in prison is 16.9 (per 100,000). In other words, the average suicide rate in prisons is over 50% more than in normal conditions.
The Supreme Court said that the legislators could not be banned from practising as lawyers in courts. The Supreme Court also said that no law debars the MPs, MLAs and MLCs from practising in court. At present, only the ministers and legislators holding other constitutional positions are barred from giving legal counsel to clients.
Migration & Immigration:
Eight Indian sailors are stranded on a ship without pay for nine months in the UAE, the local media reported. The sailors claimed their company paid them only one month’s salary since they reached Dubai waters in November 2017 and added they are running out of essential supplies. They cannot leave the ship as they don’t have the UAE visas.
Social Indicators:
A study on spending on education and health care by various countries by various countries has been released. It was conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the request of the World Bank.It is the first of its kind to measure and compare the strength of countries’ “human capital”.
The study underscores that when a country’s human capital score increases, its economy grows.India ranks 158th in the world for its investments in education and health care. The nation is placed behind Sudan (ranked 157th) and ahead of Namibia (ranked 159th) in the list. South Asian countries ranking below India in this report include Pakistan (164), Bangladesh (161) and Afghanistan (188). Countries in the region that have fared better than India in terms of human capital include Sri Lanka (102), Nepal (156), Bhutan
(133) and Maldives (116).
The study places Finland at the top. The U.S. is ranked 27th, while China is at 44th and Pakistan at 164th. Turkey showed the most dramatic increase in human capital between 1990 and 2016. Asian countries with notable improvement include China, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam
Social Media:
Facebook lost more than $12 billion in market value after Instagram Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger resigned as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technical Officer of the photo-sharing app respectively. The social networking giant’s shares fell as much as 2.6% in early trading. Krieger and Systrom sold Instagram to Facebook for $715 million six years ago.
Sports:
Croatian footballer Luka Modric was named the world’s best male player at the Best Fifa Football Awards in London. The 33-year old Real Madrid midfielder beat former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah to the award. Modric won his third Champions League title in a row in May and guided Croatia to their first World Cup final in July.
The Asia Cup 2018 Super Four stage match between India and Afghanistan ended in a second-last ball tie, after both teams scored 252 runs each. India were led by MS Dhoni, who captained the team for the 200th time in ODIs and the first time after 696 days. India
will face either Pakistan or Bangladesh in the final on Friday.
Trade:
The government has finalised the list of non-essential items on which it will be imposing import tariffs.The list would include electronics, gems, select items of steel that are also manufactured in India, imported apples, and almonds, among others.
The imposition of tariffs on the import of non-essential items is expected to help in stabilising the rupee’s level.
The National Mission on Government e Marketplace (GeM) has recorded till date more than 8 lakh transactions worth over Rs.12,239 crore.This was launched by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu, on 5th of September 2018.The Government of India decided to launch a six week long National Mission on GeM from 6th Sept. to 17th Oct 2018 in order to increase awareness, accelerate the use of GeM and to further augment the proven benefits of procurement through GeM for all government departments and organisations.
Tributes:
Jasdev Singh (18th May 1931 – 25 September 2018) aged 87 was an Indian sports commentator. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1985 and Padma Bhushan in 2008. He was also an official commentator on Independence Day, and Republic Day parade broadcasts since 1963 for state run media, Doordarshan and also All India Radio. He joined All Indian Radio Jaipur in 1955, and moved to Delhi eight years, thereafter he was joined Doordarshan, where he worked for over 35 years Mr. Singh covered 9 Olympics, 6 Asian Games & countless Independence Day & Republic Day broadcasts.
Further:
India will organise ‘Gandhi March’ from the iconic Peace Palace at The Hague in Netherlands to Grote Kerk on September 30, 2018 to launch the two-year long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The march will see participation of people from all nationalities and around 20 ambassadors of different countries.
The UAE will host the Interfaith Alliance Forum in Abu Dhabi on 19th and 20th Nov 2018.
The forum aims to address and discuss social challenges and to strengthen efforts by religious leaders for protection of the young individuals from extortion and crime via the internet. The alliance also highlight the importance of unifying views among religions to ensure the protection of children.
The 4th edition of India International Science Festival will be inaugurated by President of India in Lucknow on October 6, 2018. Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that IISF 2018 is a tribute to former PM Late Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. IISF is the biggest platform to bring together students, researchers to celebrate India’s achievements in science and technology.
Vice president M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Smart City Expo India-2018 in Jaipur. He stressed the need for water harvesting. According to the Vice President, Smart Vision, Smart execution and smart Implementation are essential to develop smart cities and no
city can become smart without the participation of the public.
The object of this three days long expo is to have discussions among different experts and groups to utilize benefits of new technology, town planning, capacity management, challenges before socio-economic development and development of networking in the Smart City sector.
A newborn baby died after falling from an operation table in a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad allegedly after doctors and nurses did not attend to the mother and the baby. The newborn’s father in his police complaint claimed that the doctors and nurses neglected them after he failed to pay money for the delivery
A tumour was removed from the brain of a 21-year-old man after he was administered local anaesthesia during a surgery at AIIMS Patna. Doctors interacted with the patient and received feedback during the surgery as the local anaesthesia helped keep him awake, one of the doctors said. This was the first surgery of its kind in Bihar, he added.
International Events:
The famous Indra Jatra festival (eight-day long) is being celebrated with gaiety and religious fervor in Kathmandu (Nepal). President Bidya Devi Bhandari and thousands of people attended the Indra Jatra celebrations. The annual festival Indra Jatra is observed to worship the god Devraj Indra, the lord of rain and good harvest.
Saudi Arabia inaugurated a high-speed rail line connecting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The distance between the two cities would be covered in less than two hours, reportedly less than half the time it takes to cover the same distance by road. The 450- kilometre Haramain Railway line is a part of the ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ programme.
The Maldives has destroyed statues deemed anti-Islamic, following government orders. The statues in Jason deCaires Taylor’s semi- submerged artwork ‘Coralarium’ were deemed “human form”, the depiction of which is discouraged in Islam.
International Relations:
The US Congress has passed a crucial bipartisan bill that seeks to impose a visa ban on Chinese officials who deny American citizens, government officials and journalists access to Tibet.It seeks to ensure that Americans are given the same access to Tibet that Chinese citizens have to the United States
Amid growing international criticism over China’s economic projects in Pakistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said “any conspiracies attempting to incite disharmony or interfere” in China-Pakistan relations will fail. China has pledged $57 billion to build power stations, major highways, new railways and high capacity ports along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on the US to “come back to the negotiating table” that it left, referring to the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May this year. However, Rouhani said that the dialogue should be based on equality, justice and honour, and should be conducted in accordance with the international law.
The US’ Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino. The sanctions are part of an effort to put pressure on the Venezuelan government, which the US blames for the country’s humanitarian and economic crisis.
China has accused Sweden of racism amid a diplomatic row after three Chinese tourists were forcibly removed from a hotel in Stockholm. The tourists had reportedly arrived at the hotel a day before their reservation was due to start. A satirical show on Swedish state television advised Chinese tourists on how to avoid cultural clashes, which China said advocated racism.
updated on 30.9.18
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