International/ World Affairs
German Citizenship, the Most Valuable in the World on Quality of Nationality Index (QNI)
- The consultancy Henley & Partners’ first Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) ranks the value of 161 nations’ citizenship on a scale of 0 to 100%. European nations dominated the top 20 spots.
- Germany Tops the Listt, Not only do Germans have the most powerful passports in the world, they also have the highest quality of citizenship, according to a new report.
India to conduct the First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ from October 10-13
- The First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
- This Exercise will be a platform for sharing Best Practices on all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries.
- At the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting held in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 7, 2017, it was decided that India would organize the first annual Disaster Management Exercise for the region.
- The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response.
Singapore to set up Skill Center at Guwahati
- The Government of Singapore will set up a Skill Center at Guwahati which will cater to the entire North-Eastern region. Ministry of DoNER, Department of Space and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, which are the three main areas where Singapore has expressed its keenness to collaborate with India.
- As far as Skill Centre at Guwahati, it was stated that an MoU has already been formalized between Singapore and the State Government of Assam. As a follow-up to this, a Skill Center is proposed to be set up at Guwahati by the year 2019 and the Ministry of DoNER will coordinate in this initiative.
Mercedes Araoz as Peru's New Prime Minister
- Peru's Second Vice President, Mercedes Araoz, an economist, was sworn in as the new head of the Council of Ministers - known as the prime minister - formed by 13 members of the cabinet. Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America.Its capital is Lima while currency is Sol.
India Ranks 128th In Meeting United Nation's 2030 Health Target
- India ranks 128th in terms of meeting the UN's health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, with low scores on air pollution, sanitation, hepatitis B and child wasting, according to a global health review published in The Lancet.
INDO-USA Joint Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2017 Started on September 16
- Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2017, a joint military exercise between Indian and US armies commenced at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, USA with a brief and impressive opening ceremony.
- The US contingent was represented by Company of 5th Infantry Battalion from 20 Infantry Regiment of the US Army while the Indian side was represented by soldiers of Gorkha Rifles from the Surya Command.
India Citizenship to Chakma, Hajong refugees
- The Centre will soon grant citizenship to nearly one lakh Chakma and Hajong refugees, who came from the erstwhile East Pakistan five decades ago and are living in camps in the northeast.
- In the Year2015, the Supreme Court had directed the Central government to grant citizenship to the Chakma and Hajong refugees, mostly staying in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Chakmas and Hajongs were originally residents of Chittagong Hill Tracts in the erstwhile East Pakistan. They left their homeland when it was submerged by the Kaptai dam project in the 1960s.
Japan released postage stamps on Indian Yoga Experts
- Acknowledging the role played by yoga legend Bishnu Charan Ghosh and his family members in spreading Indian postural yoga in Japan, the Japanese postal department has released postage stamps on four of Bengal’s famous exponents of the ancient Indian practice.
India will be Third Largest Economy by 2028
- India is likely to overtake Japan and Germany to become the third largest economy in the next 10 years but needs to be consistent in reforms and focus more on the social sector, British brokerage HSBC Bank reported.
- Social capital is insufficient in the country and spending on aspects like health and education is not just desirable for its own sake, but is also central to economic growth and political stability, it said. India also needs a lot of focus on ease of doing business and related aspects like contract enforcement.
National/ India Affairs
Tripura set up the District Family Welfare Committees
- Tripura has became the first state in the country to set up family welfare district committees to deal with the issue of fake and biased complaints by women against their husbands, in-laws and husband's relatives.
Y.C Modi as National Investigation Agency (NIA)
- Senior IPS officer Y.C Modi, who was part of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that probed the 2002 Gujarat riot cases, was named chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shram Anna Sahayata Yojna' in Chhattisgarh
- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh launched 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shram Anna Sahayata Yojna' under which nutritious meal for Rs 5 will be provided to labourers in the state.
- Under the scheme, first Shram Anna Sahayata centre was inaugurated in Telibandha area where around 1,000 labourers will be served meal daily between 8 am to 10 am.
India's first DNA Databank in Maharashtra
- Maharashtra will be the first Indian state to start DNA database which will also help law enforcement agencies in tracking maoists as well as terrorists besides repeat offenders.
- A major IT firm along with Maharashtra Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is building a tool for storage of DNA profile of criminals to help police investigations dealing serious crimes against women and children.
- USA, Canada, Australia, UK, NZ as well as majority of the European countries have DNA database.
Mobile Veterinary Clinics in Telangana State
- The clinics, like 108 for people which are serviced by GVK-EMRI, will also be aided by the same combination on toll free number 1962. Billed as the first in the country, the programme won the appreciation of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda.
Arjan Singh, India's first ever IAF Marshal
- Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, one of Independent India’s most celebrated soldiers, passed away in the national capital on Saturday. He was 98. One of the heroes of the 1965 war with Pakistan, Arjan Singh became the chief of IAF when he was just 44.
- On August 1, 1964, Singh took over as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in the rank of Air Marshal. After his retirement in July 1969, he was appointed Indian ambassador to Switzerland.
Dr Jitendra Singh to inaugurate first ‘Pension Adalat’
- The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh will inaugurate the first ‘Pension Adalat’ in Delhi on 20th September 2017.
- The first of a series of Pension Adalats which is being convened with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank or CGHS representative, wherever relevant, so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules.
Pensioners for outstanding contribution towards ‘Anubhav’ to be awarded
- He will also award the Pensioners for their outstanding contribution towards ‘Anubhav’ – a platform for retiring employees for sharing their experience of working with Government.
- This Anubhav APP will be extending all the services meant for the pensioner, which are currently available on the Pensioners’ Portal of the department, to the mobile handset.
- With this App, a superannuating Central Government official will be able to monitor the progress of his pension settlement, and retired officials will be able to self-assess their pension through the pension calculator and will also be able to register their grievances, if any, and get updates on orders issued by the Department.
- The ANUBHAV AWARDS 2017 will be presented to 17 pensioners for their contribution towards creating institutional memory for the departments.
Foreign Tourist Arrivals growth 11.0% increased in august, 2017
- 71.3% growth in Foreign Tourist Arrivals on e-Tourist Visa in august, 2017 over august, 2016. The number of FTAs in August, 2017 were 7.24 lakh as compared to FTAs of 6.52 lakh in August, 2016 and 5.99 lakh in August, 2015.
- Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) & FTAs on e-Tourist Visa on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
Awards
Nigerian lawyer gets top UN Peace Prize 2017
- A Nigerian lawyer who helped secure the release of more than 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram was awarded one of the United Nations’ top prizes.
- The UNHCR said Zannah Mustapha was given the annual Nansen award for his ‘crucial mediating’ role as well as his work helping children affected by the long-running conflict.
Riz Ahmed Wins Acting Emmy Award 2017
- Riz Ahmed has become the first man of Asian descent to win an acting award at the Emmys. He is a British actor of Pakistani descent. The two actors of Asian descent who have won at the Emmys earlier are British-Indian Archie Panjabi and Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo.
- Riz won at the 69th Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category for his role in "The Night Of".
Salman Khan honoured with Global Diversity Award
- Bollywood star Salman Khan has received a Global Diversity Award at Britain’s House of Commons. Salman received the award from Keith Vaz, British Parliament’s longest-serving Asian MP.
First AICTE-ECI Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards -2017
- All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Engineering Council of India (ECI), felicitated the award winners of “AICTE-ECI Chhatra Vishwakrma Awards” of AICTE approved Degree & Diploma level Technical Institutions/Universities in New Delhi.
- Dr Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India was the Chief guest on the occasion (19.09.2017).
The following are the winners of the Awards:
- Computer Science (Diploma) - PSG Polytechnic College, Tamil Nadu
- Electrical engineering (Degree) - Samrat Ashok Technological Institute(Degree), Madhya Pradesh
- Civil Engineering (Degree) - St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu
- Mechanical Engineering (Degree) - Poornima Group of Institutions, Rajasthan
- Computer Science (Degree) - CGC College of Engineering, Punjab
- Electronics (Degree) - Scms School of Engineering & Technology, Karukutty
- BioTechnology (Degree) - Kumaraguru College of Technology
Sports Affairs
Lewis Hamilton Wins Championship Singapore Grand Prix 2017
- Lewis Hamilton win the Singapore Grand Prix and extend his championship lead, while title rival Sebastian Vettel lost huge ground after crashing out on the first lap.
- Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo prevented a Mercedes 1-2 by finishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who placed third.
PV Sindhu wins Korea Open Super Series title 2017
- PV Sindhu won the Korea Open Super Series title with a 22-20, 11-21, 21-18 win over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. With the win, Sindhu exacted revenge for last month's defeat to the same opponent in the final of the world championship in Glasgow. This is Sindhu's second Super Series title of the year, having earlier won the India Open, beating Spain's Carolina Marin in the final.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust wins “Rajbhasha Kirti Award” for 11th consecutive time
- Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) was awarded the “Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar” for the year 2016-17 in the category of ‘B’ region for autonomous bodies and boards, for its excellent implementation of the Official Language.
- The award (second prize) was presented at an elegant ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on the occasion of Hindi Divas celebration on September 14, 2017. This is the 11th consecutive year that Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has won this award.
Environmental Affairs
Montreal Protocol's 30th anniversary and 23rd World Ozone on Day September 16
- 30th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol and 23rd World Ozone Day was observed on 16th September 2017.
- The theme for the year 2017 is ‘Caring for all life under the Sun’. The year 2017 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Montreal Protocol (1987)
- Montreal Protocol is one of the most successful global environmental treaties, the implementation of which has not only led to the phase-out of around 98% of ozone depleting chemicals, but also averted more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. The Montreal Protocol is the only environmental treaty which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN member countries.