VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 18^th, 2018

                         IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 18^th , 2018

1.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the construction of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project through video conferencing. 

a.      The 130-kilometre-long pipeline will connect Siliguri in West Bengal and Parbatipur in Bangladesh's Dinajpur district. 

2.     Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan has pledged to implement the country's citizenship laws that would grant citizenship to all Afghan and Bangladeshi refugees born on Pakistani soil. 

a.      Khan announced that the government will issue national identity cards and passports to the refugees. 

b.     Note : Pakistan's Citizenship Act of 1951 guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the country.

3.     A Bilateral meeting on Tourism Cooperation between India and Morocco led by the Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Kingdom of Morocco, Mr. Mohamed Sajid and the Minister of State for Tourism (IC), Government of India, Shri. K. J. Alphons, held in New Delhi.

a.      During this meeting both the Ministers agreed to enhance the tourism cooperation between India & Morocco and to work towards increasing tourist arrivals between both countries.

4.     Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar has announced that the boards of state-run Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank and Bank of Baroda have been advised to merge the three banks. 

a.      The amalgamated entity would be the 3rd largest bank in India. 

5.     US President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods, intensifying the trade war between the world's largest economies. 

a.      China also announced tariffs on US goods worth $60 billion, in retaliation to the 10% import tariffs.

b.     Tariffs of 5% and 10% will be levied on 5,207 types of US goods which will take effect on September 24, the same date when the US' tariffs on Chinese goods will come into force.

6.     The Indian rupee today closed at a new lifetime low of 72.97 against the US dollar, down 46 paise against the previous close. 

7.     American multinational investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs downgraded Indian equities for the first time since March 2014 citing expensive valuations and upcoming elections. 

a.      The investment bank cut India's rating to the equivalent of a 'hold' from 'buy'. 

8.     South African conglomerate Naspers-owned online payments service provider PayU has received a licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open its own Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).  

a.      The licence will be used to start a new credit business, PayU Credit. Through the service, PayU will issue personal loans and equated monthly instalments for consumers.

b.     MD of PayU (India) : Jitendra Gupta

9.     India's first woman IAS officer post-Independence, Padma Bhushan Anna Rajam Malhotra (91) passed away.

a.      Born in Kerala's Ernakulam, Malhotra joined the civil services in 1951 and opted for the Madras cadre. 

b.     During her lifetime, she worked under seven chief ministers of Tamil Nadu.

10.                       Elon Musk-led startup SpaceX today revealed that Yusaku Maezawa, founder of Japan's largest clothing website Zozotown, has signed up to be the world's first private passenger to fly around the Moon. 

a.      The 42-year-old with $2.9 billion net worth will be travelling to space aboard SpaceX's BFR launch vehicle. 

11. Germany today launched the world's first zero-emission hydrogen trains which will run on a 100-kilometre stretch. 

a.      Built by French rail transport company Alstom, the trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, leaving water and steam as the only emissions. 

b.     The trains can travel up to 1,000 kilometres on a single hydrogen tank.

12.                       All the six members of the Indian Navy's first all-women crew, who sailed across the globe aboard INSV Tarini in 254 days, have been given the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award 2018. 

a.      The award is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air. 

13. Indian movie 'Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota' has won the People's Choice award in the 'Midnight Madness' segment at the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival. 

a.      The film is the first Indian film to be featured in the Festival's Midnight Madness section. 

14.                       India's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has appointed Prashant Kumar as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

a.      A Science graduate and a Law graduate from Delhi University, Kumar joined the bank in the year 1983, as Probationary Officer and since then he has held various important portfolios in Bank.