Current Affairs Update 28 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. 28 September 2018

PM Modi Inaugurates Parakram Parv in Jodhpur

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was on a day long visit to Jodhpur where he inaugurated ‘Parakram Parv’ — an exhibition to commemorate the second anniversary of surgical strikes conducted by the Indian Army against terror camps across the Line of Control in 2016.
The 3 days exhibition inaugurated at the Jodhpur Military Station has been orgainsed by the Konark Corps to showcase Indian Army’s combat capability.
He also paid homage to martyred soldiers of 1965 and 1971 wars at Konark War Memorial and attended the Combined Commanders’ Conference at the Jodhpur Airforce Station.

Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches DigiVAARTA; Inaugurates Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics (CEDA) in New Delhi;

Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics (CEDA) in New Delhi.
CEDA has been set up jointly by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI).
(CEDA) will support government departments to utilize huge amount of data generated as a part of the governance processes, and use it to improve the overall governance.
The minister also launched a mobile based app named DigiVaarta which stands for Digi Vehicle to Accelerate Access and Reach to Transformational Action.
DigiVaarta is a platform (both SMS and app) designed to enable Financial and Social Inclusion by educating citizens on various schemes and programmes and hence spread digital payments awareness.

Centre cuts borrowing estimate by Rs 70,000 cr for FY19 to 5.35 lakh crore

Central Government has cut its borrowing estimate by Rs 70,000 for 2018-19 from Rs 6.05 lakh crore to Rs 5.35 lakh crore.
Government had borrowed Rs 2.88 lakh crore in the first half of FY19 and it will borrow Rs 2.47 lakh crore in the second half.
The Central government uses its benchmark bond scheme, government securities or G-secs, to raise funds from the open markets.
As per the borrowing programme that will end on March 8, the government will borrow Rs 11,000 crore every week till the beginning of November and Rs 12,000 crore every week thereafter.

Centre Raises Contribution to State Disaster Response Funds to 90%

The Centre has announced to enhance its contribution to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) by 15 percent. This will raise the government’s contribution in the fund from current 75 percent to 90 percent with effect from April 1, 2018.
Thus the contribution of all states to the SDRF fund would be only 10 percent.
The additional contribution by Central government in SDRF on this account will be Rs 1,690.35 crore for the year 2018-19 and Rs 1,774.67 crore for the financial year 2019-20
The SDRF is a resource available to the states to meet the expenses of relief operations of immediate nature, for a range of specified disasters set up under the Disaster Management Act 2005.

GST Council Sets up GoM For Revenue Mobilization During Natural Calamities

The GST Council under the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, has approved the constitution of 7 member Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the issue regarding ‘Modalities for Revenue Mobilisation in case of Natural Calamities and Disasters’.
Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar is the Convenor of the GoM and the following are its other Members:
1. Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Finance Minister, Assam;
2. Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac, Finance Minister, Kerala;
3. Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, Finance & Excise Minister, Maharashtra;
4. Shri Sashi Bhusan Behera, Finance & Excise Minister, Odisha;
5. Shri Manpreet Singh Badal, Finance Minister, Punjab;
6. Shri Prakash Pant, Finance Minister, Uttarakhand.

Govt Constitutes High Level Committee on CSR Under Injeti Srinivas

A High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility – 2018 (HLC-2018) has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri. Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
The 11 member committee will review the existing framework and guide and formulate the roadmap for a coherent policy on Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR).
The provisions of section 135 of Companies Act, 2013 (Act) pertaining to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) came into force on 01.04.2014 with a view to promoting responsible and sustainable business through inclusive growth.

Government to Launch SATAT Initiative to Promote Use of Compressed Bio-Gas

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will launch an innovative initiative titled SATAT in New Delhi on October 1, 2018.
Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) has the objective to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and make available CBG in the market for use in automotive fuels.
The initiative will act as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs by way of better use of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste, as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers and more affordable transport fuels to users.

MoHUA Partners Google to Launch #LooReview Campaign

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM – U), has partnered with Google to launch the Loo Review campaign.
The hashtag #LooReview Campaign aims to encourage all local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on Google Maps.
Local Guides are people who share reviews, photos, and knowledge on Google Maps to help people explore the world.
The joint campaign to be run throughout October and November 2018 is an effort to increase the awareness and ease of locating public toilets across India.

Shri Piyush Goyal Launches Rail Heritage Digitisation Project of Indian Railways in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture

Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal has launched “Rail Heritage Digitisation Project” of Indian Railways in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture.
The two-year digitisation project “The Railways-Lifeline of a Nation” is a comprehensive digital document viewable on Google’s Arts and Culture website.
The project is a landmark effort, first of its kind in this part of the globe, to showcase country’s Rail Heritage to National and International audience in an online story-telling platform at https://artsandculture.google.com/project/indian-railways

RBI Cancels Permission to Open New Branches of Bandhan Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has withdrawn its general permission to open new branches of Kolkata based private-lender Bandhan Bank as it failed to comply with a licensing condition.
RBI has also frozen the remuneration of the lender’s MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh till further notice.
The Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40 percent.
Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd (BFHL), the promoting entity of Bandhan Bank, owned by Bandhan Financial Services Ltd (BFSL) currently stands at around 82 percent.
According to RBI’s new banking licensing norms, any bank offering “universal” services will have to bring down the promoter holding to 40 percent in three years from the date of commencement of business.
Bandhan Bank, which was the first instance in the country of a microfinance entity transforming in to a universal bank, completed three years of operations this August.

ADB Approves $150 mn Loan for Multi Skill Park in Madhya Pradesh

The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 150 million loan to establish the first multi-skills park in India.
The park to come up in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh will be equipped with international training facilities to enhance the quality of state’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system and thus create a more skilled workforce that meets the labour market needs of the state.

Anil Khosla Appointed New Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force

Eastern Air Command chief Anil Khosla will take charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force on October 1, 2018.
He will take over Air Marshal SB Deo whose tenure comes to an end on September 30.

Rangachari Sridharan Appointed First Chief of National Financial Reporting Authority

Former IAS officer Rangachari Sridharan has been appointed as first chief of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).
Sridharan, a 1983 batch (retired) IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, will hold the post of chairperson, NFRA, for three years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on March 1, approved establishment of the NFRA having one chairperson, three full-time members and one Secretary.
The NFRA is mandated to act as an independent regulator for the auditing profession for better regulation of financial audit of large companies.

Tribes India Ropes Mary Kom as Brand Ambassador

Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, has appointed the Indian Sporting Legend and the World Boxing Champion Ms. Mary Kom as the Brand Ambassador of “Tribes India”.
Tribes India and TRIFED under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs have also launched “Punch Tantra Diwali Collection” to promote a range of tribal artefacts like handlooms and handicrafts specially introduced for the coming Diwali and festival season.
As the name of the collection suggests, the “punch” of Mary Kom represents the hard work and dedication of the tribal master craftpersons in creating such master prices of art and craft which comprises of a range of ethnic and traditional tribal handicraft and handloom products like Sarees, Stoles, Dupatas, Shawls, Kurtas/Kurtis, Lamp shades (Kandels), Sky Lanters, Diyas, Gift hampers etc.

Rajni Kant Misra New Chief of BSF; S S Deswal to Head SSB

Senior IPS officers Rajni Kant Misra has been appointed as the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF).
Misra, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre and present SSB chief, has been tasked to head the BSF for a period up to his superannuation on August 31, 2019 in place of K K Sharma, who retires on September 30, 2018..
Besides, S S Deswal has been appointed as the Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Deswal, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre, will head the SSB in place of Misra. He will hold the post for a period up to his superannuation on August 31, 2021.

Maharashtra Names Raam-Laxman for Lata Mangeshkar Life Time Achievement Award

The Maharashtra government’s ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime Achievement’ in the field of music for the year 2018 will be conferred on senior music composer Vijay Patil, better known as ‘RaamLaxman’.
The annual award is declared September 28 which marks the birth anniversary of the legendary singer, Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, who completed 89 in 2018.
Patil, the surviving partner Laxman of the famous Raam-Laxman team, shall be honoured with a cash prize of Rs 500,000, citation and a trophy.

12th Festival of Hope Marks 70 Years of Swiss-India Friendship

The 12th edition of the Festival of Hope will be held on October 14 in New Delhi to celebrate the spirit and courage of cancer survivors.
To commemorate the same, the Festival of Hope Foundation has collaborated with the famous Swiss Wind Orchestra Landwehr of Fribourg and will also celebrate 70 years of Swiss-India friendship.
The foundation is dedicated to cancer awareness through fund raising events. Founder- Shalini Vig Wadhwa.
The event provides a platform of art, fashion and music to create and spread awareness to prevent and detect early stages of cancer.
The funds raised through the endeavour supports the cost of treatment for the underprivileged, in addition to motivate them and their families to fight this battle with courage

China to hold 5th World Internet Conference in November

China will hold the fifth World Internet Conference (WIC) in its river town of Wuzhen from Nov 7-9, 2018.

Sharmila Bags Gold in Javelin Throw at 58th National Open

Railways athlete Sharmila Kumari outclassed former Asian Gamesbronze-medallist Annu Rani to claim the women’s javelin throw gold medal at the 58th National Open Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

World Rabies Day: September 28

The World Rabies Day is celebrated annually on September 28 to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this horrifying disease.
This year the theme for the WRD is ‘Rabies: Share the message. Save a life’.
The day also marks the death anniversary of the French chemist and microbiologist, Louis Pasteur’, who developed the first rabies vaccine.

Current Affairs Update – 28 September 2018