IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 26th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF SEPTEMBER 26th, 2017

1.  US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is on a 2 day visit to India.

a.  He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a bid to bolster bilateral ties between the two nations.

b.  He will also be meeting National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

c.   Important Note : This is the first cabinet-level visit to India under the Trump administration.

2.To enable authorities to determine a driver's identity when caught speeding,Germany has passed a new law banning drivers from covering their faces.

3.Japan's PM Shinzo Abe has called a snap general electionand said that he will dissolve the Parliament's lower house later this week on Thursday.

4.Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh On 26th September  launched  a web portal called ‘PENCIL’ for effective implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP).

a.  PENCIL is an electronic platform for no child labour in the country is being developed by the Labour Ministry.

b.  PENCIL portal has five components. They are, 

            i.    Child Tracking System, 

           ii.    Complaint Corner, 

         iii.    State Government, 

         iv.    National Child Labour Project 

          v.    Convergence

c.   PENCIL - Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour

5.  Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah On 26th September  launched a Vision-2025 project to provide a governance strategy for state's development over the next seven years. 

a.  Calling the project a "new kind of thinking", Siddaramaiah said public opinion will be gathered to build a state of people's dream. 

6.  First Helicopter service was started from Srinagar to world's second coldest inhabited place Drass On 26th September  under Udan Scheme.

a.  The centre had approved operation of helicopter services in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on a pilot basis in 10 sectors, stipulating that the most inaccessible destination points should be chosen.

7.  Ahead of the announcement of 2017 Nobel Prize winners, the Nobel Foundation has increased the award's prize money by 12.5% to 9 million kronor ($1.1 million). 

a.  This comes after it was reduced to 8 million kronor in 2012 from 10 million kronor. 

b.  Note : The prize comes from a fund left by its founder, Alfred Nobel, a Swedish scientist who invented dynamite.

8.INS Tarasa, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft intended for extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrolling, was commissioned into the Indian Navy at Mumbai.

a.  Western Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Girish Luthra commissioned the vessel.

b.  Note : It is the 4th and last of the Water Jet FACs built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Kolkata.

9.  Indian Army is planning to develop the Pinaka guided rockets to counter Pakistan's threat of using tactical nuclear weapons.

10.Billionaire Elon Musk On 26th September  announced he will be unveiling the new version of SpaceX's Interplanetary Spaceship, which aims to take humans to Mars.

11.The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has commissioned a predictive policing software that aims to stop crimes before they happen. 

a.  The technology, which is based on crime data analytics, is expected to identify specific days, time, weather conditions, and geographical areas where crimes are likely to be committed.

b.  It will be available to Indian police by the end of 2018.

12.Russia has launched the world's largest and most powerful icebreaker ship, designed to transport cargo via the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic Ocean. 

a.  The nuclear-powered vessel, capable of breaking ice fields up to three metres thick, will also carry out rescue work in ice conditions and ice-free waters. 

b.  The 173-metre long ship requires 75 crew members.

13.Australia is going to establish a National Space Agency to increase engagement with the global space industry and create jobs.

14. The State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced the minimum Monthly Average Balance (MAB) on savings accounts for metros from ₹5,000 to ₹3,000, effective from October 1. 

a.  Minimum balance requirement for urban, semi-urban, and rural centres stands unchanged at ₹3,000, ₹2,000 and ₹1,000, respectively. 

b.  The bank also reduced charges for non-maintenance of MAB by 20-50% and removed charges for pensioners and minors' accounts.

15. Patanjali Ayurved CEO Acharya Balkrishna has been named among India's top 10 richest people for the first time in Hurun Rich List 2017, with a wealth of ₹70,000 crore. 

a.  Now India's 8th richest person, Balkrishna saw a 173% increase in his wealth in a year. 

16.              2 Indian women have featured on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in business outside the US. 

a.  Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar was ranked 5th and Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank Shikha Sharma was ranked at 21. 

b.  Note : Group Executive Chairman of Spain's Banco Santander Ana Botín topped the list.

17.India's first payments Bank, Airtel Payments Bank launched Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its digital platform, enabling customers to instantly transfer money to and from any bank a/c without paying any transaction fee.

18.Technology giant Apple has been named the most valuable brand for the fifth consecutive year by Interbrand in its Best Global Brands Report 2017. 

a.  The report estimated Apple's brand value at $184.1 billion, followed by Google's at $141.7 billion. 

b.  Facebook made it to top 10 brands for the first time and witnessed the maximum increase in brand value at 48%.

19.Following their five-wicket win over Australia in the third ODI, India, already number one in the Test format, dislodged South Africa to become the sole number one ODI team as well. 

a.  Note : This is the first time they are number one in the two formats simultaneously since ICC introduced rankings in 2002.