VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMPER 6^th,  2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER  6^th , 2019

1.     The 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue will be held in New Delhi from tomorrow.

a.      The 3-day Dialogue will comprise of round table meetings of Joint Working Groups on infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource conservation, pharmaceuticals and policy coordination.

b.      Note : The Indian side will be led by Dr Rajiv Kumar (Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog) and the Chinese will be represented by the Chairman of National Development and Reforms Commission.

2.     The annual Joint Indo-Sri Lanka maritime fleet exercise - SLINEX 2019 is scheduled to be held from tomorrow. 

a.      The week-long exercise will be attended by 323 Sri Lankan navy personnel including the commanding flag officer of the naval fleet. 

b.      The exercise features wide-ranging naval exercises including helicopter operations.

c.      Sri Lankan Navy is sending two ships to India to participate in the exercise. 

d.      The offshore patrol vessels, SLNS Sindurala and Suranimala left Trincomalee yesterday and are scheduled to arrive at the port of Visakhapatnam tomorrow.

3.     The Indian and Pakistani Armies will take part in a 2-week-long multi-national military exercise named TSENTR 2019 in Russia next week. 

a.      China will also take part in the exercise.

b.      Note : This will be the first time that Indian and Pakistani troops will participate in a multilateral exercise together since India conducted airstrikes on Pakistan-based terror camps on February 26.

4.     The Rouse Avenue Court has sent Congress leader and ex-Finance Minister P Chidambaram to judicial custody at Tihar jail till September 19 in INX Media case being probed by the  Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

5.     Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh today announced that the central government is going to launch a campaign for the health checkup of tribal people of the country in order to provide better health facilities to them.

a.      The government will also issue health cards for tribal families. 

6.     The HRD Ministry has awarded the Institution of Eminence (IoE) status to Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Hyderabad, IIT-Madras and IIT-Kharagpur.

a.      The decision was taken after a recommendation by the University Grants Commission.

7.     Punjab National Bank's board gave "in-principle approval" to its merger with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India.

a.      This comes following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcement of a plan to merge 10 public sector banks into four entities to create fewer and stronger global-sized lenders. 

b.      Important Note : With this merger, Punjab National Bank (PNB) will become India's second-largest Public Sector Bank with ₹18 lakh crore business post-merger.

8.     India has raised the tax on Malaysian refined palm oil to 50% from 45% for six months to curb imports and boost local refining.

9.     Google has added UPI (Unified Payments Interface) on its Play Store as a payment option in addition to its available payment options.

a.      With this, users will be allowed to make payments for apps, games and in-app content on Android smartphones directly using their bank accounts. 

b.      Note : Previously, Google only allowed users to pay through debit/credit cards, net banking, carrier payments, etc.

10.India and South Korea have signed 2 major agreements to further defence educational exchanges and extend logistical support to each other’s Navies.

a.      The agreements will help enhance defence co-operation between two countries. 

b.      The agreements were signed after the talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeongdoo in Seoul today. 

11.Arif Mohammad Khan assumed charge as the 22nd Govrnor of Kerala today. 

a.      Chief Justice of Kerala High Court administered the oath of office.

b.      Mr. Khan replaces P. Sathasivam, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

12.President Ram Nath Kovind today conferred the Swachh Bharat Awards in various categories for outstanding contribution to Swachh Bharat Mission at a special function in New Delhi.

a.      Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Jammu and Kashmir received the Best Swachh Iconic Place award. 

b.      Swachhta Pakhwada Award was given to the Department of Defence. 

c.      Power Grid Corporation received the award in the category of Public Sector Undertakings. 

d.      Gujarat and Sikkim were given award for ODF and Behavior Change.

13.Bollywood Actor Boman Irani will be felicitated for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema at 17th Bollywood Festival in Oslo, Norway tomorrow.  

14.Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (95) has passed away.

a.      Mugabe, who was Zimbabwe's first post-independence leader, was ousted from power in a military coup in 2017, ending his 37-year reign.

15.Novelist and playwright Kiran Nagarkar (77), known for his books 'Cuckold' and 'Bedtime Story', passed away.

a.      Nagarkar wrote 8 novels in English and Marathi. 

b.      He had published his first novel, 'Saat Sakkam Trechalis' (Seven Sixes Are Forty Three), in Marathi in 1974.

16.3-time champion Rafael Nadal reached US Open semi-finals for the 8th time in his career by defeating Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. 

a.      With this, Nadal became the oldest tennis player since Rod Laver in 1969 to reach all 4 Grand Slam semi-finals in a single season.

17.Leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who is captaining Afghanistan in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, has become the youngest ever captain in 142 years of Test cricket history. 

a.      Rashid achieved the feat at the age of 20 years and 350 days, overtaking the previous record (20 years and 358 days) set by Zimbabwe's Tatenda Taibu against Sri Lanka in 2004.