CURRENT AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2015

Current Affairs of 1-10 September 2015 : ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 1. NTPC‟s Director (Technical) A K Jha today took additional charge of Chairman & Managing Director of the company as an interim measure. 2. The Law Commission of India submitted its report on the Death penalty to the Union Government. The report was submitted by Chairman of Law commission Justice (retd) AP Shah. 3. The highest mountain of North America was renamed as Denali instead of its existing name Mt McKinley by US President Barack Obama. This designation will now recognize the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska Natives. 4. An Indian-origin driver in Australia Tejinder Pal Singh was named as Australian of the Day by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for feeding the homeless in Darwin for the past three years. 5. Senior IAS officer Raghav Chandra took charge as the Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Chandra succeeded Road Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber. 6. Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain inaugurated state‟s first One Stop Centre, known as Sakhi, at Karnal. The center will play a role in helping the women in distress. This is the second such centre in the country after Chhattisgarh. 7. Islamic State (IS) militant group has destroyed part of historical Temple of Bel in the ancient site of Palmyra in Syria. 8. Union Government has released 2,000 crore rupees to Employees‟ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 as its contribution for the year 2015-16. This contribution is in addition to the 250 crore rupees contributed by the government as grant-in-aid in the EPS in order to provide minimum pension of 1,000 rupees to pensioners under the scheme. 9. Punjab Government has won first award in the category of highest capacity addition in grid connected solar rooftop power in the country during the financial year 2014-15. 10. India today clinched their first Test series victory on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years with an emphatic 117-run win over the hosts in the third and final cricket Test despite a valiant century by rival skipper Angelo Mathews. 11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his nod for RP Watal, the senior most Secretary in the Finance Ministry, to be designated as Finance Secretary. 12. Anjali Chib Duggal, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, has assumed charge as Secretary in the Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry. 13. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly selected South African city Durban as the host for the XXII Commonwealth Games. With this, South Africa became the first country from Africa to host the games in its 85 years history. 14. India won the UNESCO prize Award of Excellence 2015 for the conserving the Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple of Kerala. The award was given in the category of UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation. 15. The Duels of the Himalayan Eagle authored by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar released 16. The Union Government released 2000 crore rupees to Employee Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS-95) as its contribution for the year 2015-16. Further, a sum of 250 crore rupees was contributed as grant-in-aid for providing minimum pension of 1000 rupees to the pensioners of EPS-95. 17. Mumbai won the Buchi Babu Memorial Trophy in the All India invitation cricket tournament. In the final match played in Chennai, Mumbai defeated Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Districts (TNCA) XI by six wickets. 18. The Union Government decided to exempt Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/ Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) from paying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) for the period prior to 1 April 2015. The decision was based on Justice A P Shah Committee.s report that was submitted to the Union Ministry of Finance on 25 August 2015 19. India has emerged as the 8th largest tourism market for Australia. In 2014, over 2 lakh Indians visited the nation in and spent about 1 billion dollars which was an increase of 39 percent. 20.NASA and US Agency for International Development (USAID) have started the SERVIR-Mekong project, to strengthen the environmental monitoring in Southeast Asia region. 21. Indian Government partnered with the United Nations. (UN) Better Than Cash Alliance to share success stories from the financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). By joining the Better Than Cash Alliance, the Indian Government will have a research, technical, and policy partner as it continues to create a digital financial economy. 22. Union Government has notified the merger of commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with an effect from 28 September 2015. 23. The West-Central Railway (WCR) zone headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings. 24. Russia dismissed a proposal of France asking United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent members to limit the use of the veto power at least in cases involving mass atrocities that demands action. 25. Book titled Globalisation, Democratization and Distributive Justice was presented to Vice President Hamid Ansari . The book has been authored by Mool Chand Sharma. 26. Canadian economy entered into the first technical recession in six years. 27. The government is planning to create a “Green Highways Fund” under its ambitious policy to transform India‟s 96,000 km network of National Highways under which it will be mandatory to set aside 1 per cent of the total road project cost for plantation. 28. Second Australia-India Defence Minister‟s dialogue concluded in New Delhi . The meet was chaired by visiting Australian Minister of Defence Kevin Andrews and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. 29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released two commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees in the memory of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. 30. Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd has signed up World No 1 women‟s badminton player Saina Nehwal as its brand ambassador. 31. Marvan Atapattu announced his resignation as head coach of Sri Lanka cricket team. His resignation was accepted by the Sri Lanka‟s Cricket Board. 32. Haryana bagged the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for implementation of six e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state. 33. Former Chief Minister of Goa Dr Wilfred de Souza passed away in Panaji. 34. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bought a 15 per cent stake in Russia‟s second-largest oil field Vankor from Rosneft for about 1.35 billion US dollars. 35. Disaster Mitigation conference of member counties of South Asian Association on Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in New Delhi. 36. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to issue coins of 5 rupees denomination to commemorate golden jubilee year of Indo-Pak War 1965. 37. Union Government has cancelled licence of Greenpeace India, a non-profit Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to receive foreign donations. 38. Government today announced acceptance of the long-pending demand for „One Rank One Pension‟. 39. Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal of White House. 40. China and Tajikistan have agreed to 3.2 billion yuan ($500 million) currency swap deal, Chinese state media reported on Saturday, citing the Central Asian country‟s central bank. 41. Government to Develop Bodhgaya as Spiritual Capital: PM Modi 42. Young Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela impressed again as she clinched the silver medal in women‟s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich . 43. World‟s 20 largest economies, including India, today launched W20, an engagement grouping of women leaders, to push for gender inclusive global economic growth.W20‟s newly appointed President Gulden Turktan said it would work as an outreach group and seek to promote gender inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women. 44. Australia‟s veteran all-rounder Shane Watson announced his retirement from Test cricket. 45. Delhi High Court in its landmark judgment has allowed women to get permanent commission in Indian Navy and allowed them to board on warships. 46. Eminent Bollywood Music composer Aadesh Shrivastava passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 47. Indian boxer Vikas Krishan has won the silver medal in the Asian Championships held in Bangkok, Thailand. 48. Indian Railways will join hands with ISRO to get online satellite images for improving safety and enhancing efficiency. Geospatial technology involves GPS (global positioning systems), GIS (geographical information systems), and Rs. (remote sensing). 49. China and its strategic partner Pakistan have launched a joint air exercise called Shaheen (Eagle)-4 in China. 50. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One. This was his seventh victory of the season. 51. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) has signed an MoU with Abu Dhabi Ship Building to set up a strategic partnership for construction of naval ships, including frigates and destroyers to address the demands of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), over the next 10 years. 52. The government today set a target of achieving 100 per cent literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana by March 2016. The announcement came as President Pranab Mukherjee regretted that India still lagged behind some of its neighbours in achieving 100 per cent literacy. 53. Lead scientist of the tiger census Yadvendradev V Jhala in first week of September 2015 presented first ever data on India.s leopard. The team shows availability of around 7910 of leopards across India, except the northeastern region of India. 54. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched the e-version of the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in New Delhi. 55. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) and Integrated Association of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of India (IamSMEofIndia) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at creating awareness among Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the benefits of commodity price risk management. 56. Doha Bank tied up with Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA Group to generate business opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council nations and India. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). 57. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has signed an agreement for the sale and transfer of its bread and bakery business under the `Modern. brand to Nimman Foods Pvt Ltd, an investee company of the Everstone Group (Everstone). 58. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) decided to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps at no additional cost for all its Broadband customers. The service will be effective from 1 October 2015. 59.The sixth Indo-Maldives joint Training Exercise has commenced at Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. 60. Professor Ramesh Chand, a renowned farm expert, was appointed as a full-time member of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. 61. Haryana Assembly has passed Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to fix matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). 62. Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered immediate adoption of Urdu as official language of the country. With this order, Urdu will be used as an official language at the government offices of Pakistan. 63. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds. Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme :~ ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````` A. Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold. B. The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more than 500 grams per person per year. C. The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other denominations. D. The cap on bonds that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not more than 500 grams per person per year. E. The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to international rate for gold borrowing) as decided by the government. F. The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest will be calculated on 10000 at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent. G. On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee terms. H. Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 64. Muziris Heritage Project of Kerala Tourism has bagged the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) gold award for 2015 under the heritage category. 65. Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin announced his retirement from first class cricket following Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Chris Rogers in stepping down from tests in the wake of the Ashes series defeat. 66. Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne aged just 25 as her exhausted country struggled to recover from the ravages of World War II, makes history when she becomes Britain's longest-reigning monarch. 67. India and Belarus have set the bilateral trade target of one billion dollar by 2018. The decision was taken at the Seventh Session of the India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission held in Minsk, Belarus. 68. Ace Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri has become the first Indian to qualify for the prestigious President.s Cup of Golf. 69. The Union Cabinet has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for white label ATM operations (WLAO). 70. India and Indonesia have signed a pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperate in all criminal matters, including gathering evidence. 71. The INS Vajrakosh was commissioned by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Karwar, Karnataka. INS Vajrakosh is the latest establishment of the Indian Navy. 72. Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das won bronze medals at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Apia in Samoa. 73. World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was observed on 10 September 2105. The theme of the World Suicide Prevention Day 2015 is Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives. 74. J Manjula was appointed as the Director-General of the Electronics and Communication Systems cluster of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). With this, Manjula became the first woman DG of DRDO. 75. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014 on Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar on behalf of the organisation received the prize at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Best of Luck for Upcoming Exam