Current Affairs Update 27 September 2018
Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 27 September 2018
PM Modi & Cochin Airport Wins UN’s ‘Champions of the Earth’ Award
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been bestowed with the Champions of the Earth Award.2018 which is UN’s highest environmental honour.
- French President Emmanuel Macron and Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron’s work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi’s unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.
- Cochin International Airport has also been honoured in Entrepreneurial Vision category, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.
- The awards were presented on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly during the Champions of the Earth Gala in New York City on September 26.
- The 2018 Champions of the Earth Award has been bestowed upon 6 of the world’s most outstanding environmental changemakers that includes:
- Narendra Modi – Policy Leadership
- Emmanuel Macron – Policy Leadership
- Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods (Jointly recognized) – Science and Innovation
- Cochin International Airport – Entrepreneurial Vision
- China’s Zhejiang’s Green Rural Revival Programme – Inspiration and Action
- Joan Carling – Lifetime Achievement Award
Ranjana Desai to Head Lokpal Search Committee
- The government has set up an eight-member Lokpal Search Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
- The Committee will recommend the names for the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal to the Lokpal Selection Committee
- Other members of the committee includes:
- Arundhati Bhattacharya (former chief of State Bank of India (SBI))
- A Surya Prakash (Prasar Bharati chairperson)
- A S Kiran Kumar (Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) head)
- Justice Sakha Ram Singh Yadav (former judge of Allahabad High Court)
- Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala (former Gujarat Police head)
- Lalit K Panwar (retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre)
- Ranjit Kumar (former Solicitor General)
RBI To Ease SLR Norms From October 1 to Induce Liquidity
- The Reserve Bank of India will ease the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) norms from October 1 to induce liquidity into the financial system amid concerns of a credit crunch.
- RBI has enhanced the “Facility to Avail Liquidity for Liquidity Coverage Ratio (FALLCR)” from the existing 11 percent to 13 percent of their deposits.
- This will enable the banks to ‘carve out’ up to 15 percent of holdings under the statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements as compared to 13 percent now.
- SLR is a reserve requirement that commercial banks must maintain in the form of cash, gold reserves, government approved securities before providing credit to the customers.
Government Launches Agmark Online System For Quality Control
- The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched an online platform for Agmark to conduct quality control functions..
- Agmark is certification mark that assures conformity to a set of standards approved by the government agency Directorate of Marketing and Inspection.
- The existing procedures for Agmark certification were in physical form and time consuming.
- In the new online application system the process of application will be simple, quick, transparent and 24×7 and there are provisions for online receipt of fees from the applicants. Payment will be received in digital mode through the website bharatkosh.gov.in.
- The online platform has been developed by the National Informatics Center
IAF Successfully Test Fires air-to-air Astra Missile
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday successfully test fired the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra.
- The missile was tested from a Su-30 aircraft at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station.
OYO Founder Ritesh Youngest on Hurun India Rich List
- 24 years old Ritesh Agarwal, founder of Oyo – a hospitality firm, is the youngest member of the Barclays and Hurun India rich list with a net worth of Rs. 2,600 crore.
- 95 years old chief of MDH, Dharam Pal Gulati is the senior most person in the list.
- The list has been topped by RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani.
IISc Named India’s Top Ranked Institution in THE World University Rankings
- Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has once again retained the top spot in the annual ‘Times Higher Education World University Rankings’ and has been place in 251-300 band.
- Besides, for the first time the Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IIT Indore) has made its place in the list to become India’s second highest ranked university (351-400) ahead of IIT Bombay (401-500) and IIT Roorkee (401-500).
- The top 3 Universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019 includes:
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- Stanford University
National Tourism Awards 2016-17
- Tourism Minister K J Alphons presented the National Tourism Awards 2016-17 in New Delhi on the ocassion of the World Tourism Day. The awards were given in various segments of the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry.
- The Best State/UT: Comprehensive Development of Tourism
- Andhra Pradesh
- Kerala
- Rajasthan and Goa jointly shared the third prize
- Besides, Gujarat won 3 major awards including
- Best Civic Management (at Saputara Hill Station),
- Best Heritage City-Ahmedabad (jointly with Mandu, Madhya Pradesh)
- Best Airport-Ahmedabad
- The Minister also launched the ‘Incredible India Mobile App’ and the “Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification” programme.
Germany To Host UEFA EURO 2024
- The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024 will be hosted by Germany in June and July 2024.
- It will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organized by UEFA.
- Germany was chosen as the venue over Turkey by the UEFA Executive Committee by 12 votes to four.
World Tourism Day: September 27
- The World Tourism Day is observed worldwide on September 27 since 1980.
- This date was chosen by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted.
- In 2018 the theme of WTD is “Tourism and the Digital Transformation”.
- 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.