IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 27^th, 2018

                         IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 27^th, 2018

1.     (27th September) is World Tourism Day.

a.      The purpose of this day is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide.

b.      The World Tourism Day celebration was started by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the year 1980.

c.      This date was chosen as on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted. The adoption of these Statutes is considered a milestone in global tourism. 

d.      The official celebrations this year's World Tourism Day took place in Budapest, Hungary.

e.      In India, the celebrations began in Goa and are organised by Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). 

f.        Theme of World Tourism Day 2018 : "Tourism and the Digital Transformation"

2.     In a landmark judgement today, the Supreme Court scrapped the 150-year old Section 497, which deals with Adultery saying it is unconstitutional. 

a.      Reading out the judgement, the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra clearly stated that equality is the need of the hour. 

b.      He added, "Section 497 is manifestly arbitrary, offends dignity of women." He further said, "Any provision treating woman with inequality is not Constitutional."

c.      He also added that time has come when the husband should not be considered the master.

d.      What is Adultery Law :

e.      According to the adultery law, a man can be punished for having a sexual relationship with a married woman without the consent of her husband.

f.        In India, adultery is a crime and the punishment for the same can be imprisonment for five years, or fine, or both.

3.     The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Digital Communications Policy-2018 (NDCP 2018).  

a.      It replaces existing National Telecom Policy-2012 to cater to the modern needs of the digital communications sector of India.

b.      It also has re-designated Telecom Commission as Digital Communications Commission.

4.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the 6 winners of the UN's highest environmental honour, the 'Champions of the Earth' award. 

a.      He has been recognised for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single-use plastic in India by 2022. 

b.      Note : Cochin International Airport was given the award for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.

5.     The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has been named the Top Indian institute for the 5th straight year in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and was placed in the 251-300 bracket.

a.      Top 4 in the Rankings

i)      IISc, Bangalore

ii)    IIT, Indore

iii) IIT, Bombay 

iv)  IIT, Roorkee

b)    Note : Globally, Oxford University continues to hold the first place, followed by Cambridge, Stanford, and MIT.

6.     Indian Navy has signed contract with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) located in Visakhapatnam for construction of two Diving Support Vessels (DSV). 

a.      These vessels will help to augment Indian Navy’s submarine support operations on either coast.

7.     India's first all-electric hypercar concept, Vazirani Shul, designed and developed by Mumbai-based Vazirani Automotive has been officially unveiled in the country. 

a.      The car comes with an electric motor on each wheel, making it an all-wheel-drive product with a single-ratio gearbox.

b.      It has been built with inputs from the Force India Formula One team and the tyre manufacturer, Michelin.

8.     A 10-foot-tall bird, Vorombe titan, known to have become extinct around 1,000 years ago in Madagascar, has been declared as the world's largest bird. 

a.      With a 650-kg mean body mass, it belonged to the family of flightless animals including the kiwi and the ostrich. 

9.     Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully test fired indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra from Su-30 figher aircraft. 

a.      The missile was tested at Kalaikunda Air Force Station, West Bengal. During the test, missile successfully engaged manoeuvring target with high precision meeting mission objectives.

10.Argentina has received $57.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at boosting the country's struggling economy.

a.      This is the biggest loan package ever from the global body.

11.The Cabinet today cleared a proposal to convert GST Network (GSTN) into a 100% government-owned company.

a.      50% stake will be owned by the Centre and the remaining by the states. 

b.      Currently, the Centre and states together hold 49% stake in GSTN, which provides IT infrastructure to the new indirect tax regime.

12.The government has raised Import duties on 19 "non-essential items" including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and jewellery items in a bid to reduce the Current Account Deficit. 

a.      The total value of imports of these items in FY18 was about ₹86,000 crore. 

b.      The other items include speakers, radial car tyres, suitcases, kitchenware, office stationery, and certain plastic goods.

13.The Union Cabinet today cleared a ₹5,500-crore incentive package for the Sugar industry. 

a.      Under the package, the government will give transport subsidies of ₹1,000-3,000 per tonne to sugar mills, depending on their distance from ports. 

b.      The Cabinet approved raising the price the government directly pays to cane growers to ₹13.88 a quintal in the new season beginning October 2018.

14.Union Government has approved Rs 8,606 crore for 60 projects being implemented under umbrella scheme of Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM).  

a.      The projects are being implemented in 111 border districts in 17 states having the international borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. 

b.      It will help to meet special development needs of people living in those areas within 50 kms of the international border. 

c.      Important Point to Note : India shares borders with the following countries : 

i)      Pakistan (3,323 km)

ii)    China (3,488 km)

iii) Nepal (1,751 km)

iv)  Bhutan (699 km)

v)    Myanmar (1,643 km) 

vi)  Bangladesh (4,096 km)

15.International non-profit organisation that publishes secret information, WikiLeaks has replaced Julian Assange as its Editor-in-chief with former spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson. 

a.      This comes after the Ecuadorian embassy banned Assange from having visitors, taking phone calls or accessing the internet. 

16.Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-final stage of the Korea Open after defeating Kim Ga Eun (South Korea) today. 

a.      Nehwal is the only Indian left in the tournament after Sameer Verma and Vaishnavi Reddy Jakka crashed out yesterday.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 26^th, 2018

                         IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 26^th, 2018

1.     As part of it's 'Saudi Vision 2030' programme, Saudi Arabia today  inaugurated a high-speed rail line connecting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. 

a.      The distance between the two cities would be covered in less than two hours, less than half the time it takes to cover the same distance by road. 

b.     The 450-kilometre Haramain Railway line is a part of the 'Saudi Vision 2030' programme.

2.     South Korea's BTS band today became the 1st K-Pop group to address the United Nations. 

a.      Kim Nam-joon, the leader of the seven-member band delivered a six-minute speech during the launch of UNICEF's 'Generation Unlimited' youth campaign.  

3.     Moroccan Defence Minister Abdeltif Loudyi  is on a two day visit to India. 

a.      This is the first ever visit of a Moroccan Defence Minister to India.

b.     During this visit, he met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in South Block in New Delhi. 

c.      India and Morocco have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of Defence and Security. 

d.     They identified fields of hydrography, peacekeeping, telemedicine, information technology and communications as well as counter Terrorism and counter insurgency as potential areas for bilateral engagement. 

e.      They also discussed cooperation in defence industry including collaboration in ship building and manufacturing.

4.     The Supreme Court today ruled that the linking of a person's Aadhaar to his/her bank accounts is not mandatory. 

a.      However, the court said that a person may choose to give Aadhaar voluntarily as identity proof.  

b.     The court also ruled Aadhaar is not needed for mobile connections, school admissions and UGC, NEET, CBSE examinations.

c.      The court also ruled that linking the Aadhaar card to PAN card is mandatory and is needed for filing income tax returns.  

5.     The Haryana cabinet today approved a scheme under which a Monthly pension will be provided to Acid Attack survivors. 

a.      Any woman or girl who suffered an acid attack on or after May 2, 2011 will be eligible for the pension.  

6.     Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. 

a.      The main objective of ICI  is to institutionalize mechanism to support efforts intended to preserve, document, promote and disseminate Indian Cuisine. 

b.     It also seeks to meet sectoral requirement of specialists specific to Indian Cuisine and promote cuisine as niche tourism product.

7.     Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Environment Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated air pollution control device WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit) for traffic junctions at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in New Delhi. 

a.      WAYU has been indigenously developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) as part of Technology Development Project being funded by Department of Science and Technology. 

b.     Its prototype has capacity to purify air in area of 500 meter square. 

c.      It consumes only half unit of electricity for 10 hours of running and has maintenance cost of only Rs. 1500 per month.

d.     Aim of WAYU : Tackling toxicity in air by sucking in particulate matter and release fresh air

8.     Elon Musk's SpaceX has signed a deal with Japanese lunar-exploration startup ispace for a Lunar Rover Mission. 

a.      ispace plans to orbit its lunar lander around the Moon and, in its second mission, land two rovers on the Moon's surface using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.  

9.     SpaceX's French rival Arianespace has launched its Ariane 5 rocket for the 100th time, propelling two telecommunications satellites into orbit. 

a.      Carrying a payload of 10,827 kg, it also marked the sixth launch of the rocket this year. 

b.     Note : The Ariane 5 will soon be replaced by an updated model, the Ariane 6, which will be an estimated 40% cheaper to make.

10.                       India has lost its tag as Asia-Pacific's best-performing stock market this year to New Zealand. 

11. The Cabinet today approved the New telecom policy titled National Digital Communications Policy-2018.

a.      Aim of National Digital Communications Policy-2018 : To attract $100 billion in investments and create 4 million jobs in the sector by 2022. 

b.     Under this policy the government aims to provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen. 

c.      The policy also aims to expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices.

12. According to Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's family has emerged as India's Richest Family with ₹3,90,500 crore wealth. 

a.      Top 4 Richest Families in India :

i)      Mukesh Ambani

ii)    Adi Godrej

iii) SP Hinduja

iv) Cyrus Mistry

13.                       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 recent report. 

a.      The trade between South Asia's two largest economies currently stands at a "paltry $2 billion", it added. 

b.     The bank estimated India's potential trade with South Asia at $62 billion against actual trade of $19 billion.

14.                       Social networking giant Facebook has selected 3 Indian women among five global leaders for $1 million award as part of its Community Leadership Programme. 

a.      They are :

o    Adhunika Prakash

o    Chetana Misra 

o    Tamanna Dhamija

15.                       Fields Medal and Abel Prize-winning mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah today demonstrated a proof of the 159-year-old Riemann Hypothesis, which is one of the "Millennium Problems", carrying a $1-million award for a confirmed solution. 

a.      The hypothesis states that the distribution of prime numbers is not random, but might follow a pattern described by an equation called the Riemann zeta function.

16.                       Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler has named Swedish development head Ola Källeniusas its next CEO. 

a.      Källenius, the first non-German to take the helm of Daimler, will become CEO in 2019 replacing Dieter Zetsche two years ahead of schedule. The company will nominate Zetsche, who has led the German automaker since 2006, to become Chairman of the supervisory board in 2021.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 25^th, 2018

                         IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 25^th, 2018

1.     The Nelson Mandela Peace Summit was recently held at New York city. 

a.      India was represented by Externatl Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj. 

b.     Speaking at the Summit,  Sushma Swaraj said India is proud to call the late South African President a Bharat Ratna and considers him one of its own. 

c.      She added that his values of "forgiveness, compassion and inclusiveness" are more relevant now than ever. 

d.     Note : Mandela was awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1990.

2.     Around 129 countries at the United Nations today pledged to combat drug problem, signing a US-drafted one-page "call to action on the world drug problem". 

a.      The countries pledged to develop national action plans to reduce demand for illicit drugs through education, strengthen international cooperation on justice, law enforcement and health, and cut off the drug supply by stopping production.

3.     New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became the 1st  female world leader to attend the United Nations General Assembly with a newborn.  

4.     Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven today  became the country's first leader to be ousted in a no-confidence vote.  

5.     Andhra Pradesh has topped the 'Ease of Living Index' rankings released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) today. 

a.      Top 3 States in the Index :

i)      Andhra Pradesh 

ii)    Odisha 

iii) Madhya Pradesh  

6.     The Supreme Court today set up a 3-member committee to look into issues afflicting Indian prisons and recommend steps towards prison reforms. 

a.      The committee will be required to file its report to SC from time to time.  

b.     Head of this Committee : Amitava Roy 

7.     American multinational technology company Microsoft today partnered with the Data Security Council of India to launch a three-year programme, called CyberShikshaa.

a.      Aim of CyberShikshaa : To train 1,000 women from underserved communities in cybersecurity.  

8.     Cab-hailing startup Ola today launched a safety programme called 'Guardian' in India to monitor rides in real time. 

a.      It will track all trips by analysing ride indicators including route deviations, unexpected and midway stops, and will have a response team ready in cases of emergency.  

9.     State-run Dena Bank's board today cleared a proposal suggesting a merger with two other state-run banks, Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda. 

a.      The government had last week suggested a merger of the three banks to create the country's second largest state-run bank, after SBI. If the merger takes place, the number of government-run banks will be reduced to 19.

10. US-based aircraft maker Boeing is setting up an electronics manufacturing and avionics assembly facility in Bengaluru at an investment of ₹1,152 crore. 

a.      The 36-acre facility will be Boeing's second-largest after its Seattle, Washington unit and is said to create about 2,600 direct jobs on completion. 

b.     President of Boeing India : Pratyush Kumar 

11. The European Union and Iran have announced to create a new payment system to enable legal trade with Iran in a bid to avoid the US' sanctions. 

12.                       American multinational technology company Google has appointed Keith Enright, as Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) as the company proposed policies for potential federal regulation of data. 

a.      In his new role, Enright will be in charge of crafting Google's strategy on privacy issues. 

13. Australian Cricket Team has hired three Indian spin specialists to help with their training ahead of their upcoming series against Pakistan. 

a.      One of the specialists is former India all-rounder Sridharan Sriram, who has served as the spin bowling specialist with the Australian team in the past too. 

14. American online social media and social networking service company Facebook today  appointed Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan as the Managing Director and Vice President of Facebook India.  

15.                       Three jailed Saudi human rights activists, Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Waleed Abu al-Khair, have been awarded the Right Livelihood Award for the year 2018.

a.      Important Note : Right Livelihood Award is widely referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize'.   

16. Actor Irrfan Khan starrer 'Doob', titled 'No Bed Of Roses' in English, has been chosen as Bangladesh's official entry for the Oscars 2018 and will contest in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy Awards. 

a.      Directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, the film was initially banned in Bangladesh over reports that it was based on late Bangladeshi writer-filmmaker Humayun Ahmed.

17.                       India's 37-year-old wicketkeeper M S Dhoni became the oldest player to captain India in an ODI after he led the Indian team against Afghanistan in Rohit Sharma's absence in the Asia Cup today.  

18. Sandeep Kaur, an auto-rickshaw driver's 16-year-old daughter, beat Karolina Ampuska 5-0 to win a gold medal in the 52 kg category at the 13th International Silesian Boxing Championship in Poland.