Excellence by Saikat Sir: Current Affairs 30th September 2021| Current Affairs News

Current Affairs 30th September 2021| Current Affairs News

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World Maritime Day 2021 – Observed on Sep 30

World Maritime Day 2021 is being observed across the globe on September 30 in a tribute to the professionalism and sacrifice of the two million seafarers who served the world’s merchant navy fleet even amid the corona virus disease (Covid-19) pandemic situation.
The 2021 theme for the ‘World Maritime Day’ respects the sacrifice made by the navy men: ‘Seafarers at the core of shipping’s future.’
During these dire times – shipping played a major role in transporting vital medical supplies, food, and other basic goods that are significant for Covid-19 response and recovery.
However, according to the United Nations, the seafarers themselves sacrificed aplenty – being stranded at sea for days as their contracts kept on being extended by many months.

International Translation Day – Observed on Sep 30

International Translation Day is an international day recognising translation professionals.
It is on 30 September, which is the day of the feast of Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators.
The theme of International Translation Day 2021 is “United in translation.”
United Nations describes International Translation Day as an “opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals,” which, according to the world body, plays an important role in “bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security.”
Every year, since 2005, it invites all its employees, accredited permanent missions staff and students from partner universities to participate in the UN St. Jerome Translation contest.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Hardeep Singh Puri launches 7th edition of Swachh Survekshan in New Delhi

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the seventh consecutive edition of Swachh Survekshan in New Delhi.
It is the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey conducted by Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban.
Designed with People First as its driving philosophy, Swachh Survekshan 2022 is curated towards capturing the initiatives of cities for the overall welfare and well-being of frontline sanitation workers.
The survey, flavoured with the Azaadi@75 spirit, will also give priority to the voices of senior citizens and young adults alike and reinforce their participation towards upholding the cleanliness of urban India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the catalyst for converting the vision of the Mahatma Gandhi into reality by leading from front and converting it into a peoples’ movement.
Swachh Bharat Mission 0 and AMRUT 2.0 will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1st of October.

About Swachh Survekshan:

Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India.
It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2nd October 2019.
The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities; by 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4242 cities and was stated to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world.

Government enhances the income limit of disabled dependents for family pension to 30% of last drawn pay

The Ministry of Defence, Government of India has taken a decision to enhance the income criteria for grant of family pension to children/siblings suffering from mental or physical disability.
Accordingly, such child/sibling shall be eligible for family pension for life, if his/her overall income from sources other than family pension remains less than the entitled family pension at ordinary rate i.e 30% of the last pay drawn by the deceased government servant/pensioner concerned plus the dearness relief admissible thereon.
The financial benefit in such cases shall accrue with effect from 02.2021.
Presently, the disabled child/sibling is eligible for family pension if overall monthly income of disabled child/sibling from sources other than family pension is not more than Rs. 9,000/- along with dearness relief thereon.

Union Agriculture Minister introduces Amul Honey

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched ‘Amul Honey’, a new product developed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) along with National Bee Board.
Tomar stated the government is promoting bee-keeping among small farmers to double their income.
About Rs 500 crore budget has been set aside for this purpose.
The National Bee Board was established to undertake several activities. For instance, five major laboratories and 100 mini-honey testing labs are being established to check the quality of honey.
Tomar informed that there are 86 per cent small farmers in the country.
In order to increase the income of these small farmers, it is necessary to connect them with other dimensions of agriculture like beekeeping.
The minister stressed on the need to improve local honey standards to the global level and promote export.

It has three Mini Missions:

Mini Mission-I: Under this Mission, thrust will be given on production and productivity improvement of various crops through pollination assisted by adoption of scientific beekeeping.
Mini Mission-II: This Mission will concentrate on post harvest management of beekeeping/ beehive products including collection, processing, storage, marketing, value addition, etc with a thrust to develop requisite infrastructural facilities for these activities
Mini Mission-III: This Mission will concentrate on research & technology generation for different regions/states/agro-climatic and socio-economic conditions.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

GoI begins work to develop ‘Parshuram Kund’ in Arunachal Pradesh

Shri Kishan Reddy laid the foundation stone for the “Development of Parshuram Kund, Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh.”
The project is sanctioned under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) Scheme of Ministry of Tourism.
The ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) is a Central Sector Scheme with complete financial assistance by the Government of India.
The scheme is launched under the leadership of Prime Minister by the Ministry of Tourism in the year 2014–15 with the vision of focused infrastructure development to harness pilgrimage and heritage tourism destinations for its direct and multiplier effect upon employment generation and economic development.
The scheme aimed at infrastructure development to envisage world class infrastructural development of the sites with special emphasis on Tourist Facilities including Tourist Facilitation Centers, way-side amenities Parking, Public convenience, Illumination and Sound and Light Shows.

About Arunachal Pradesh:

Capital: Itanagar
Chief minister: Pema Khandu
Governor😀 Mishra

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS

RBI imposes 2 cr penalty on RBL Bank

The Reserve Bank imposed a penalty of Rs 2 crore on private lender RBL Bank for deficiencies in regulatory compliances and non-compliance of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act.
Following supervisory evaluation of the RBL Bank, the Reserve Bank raised issues relating to contravention of certain regulatory directions and non-compliance with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act concerning opening of five savings accounts in the name of a cooperative bank and composition of the board of directors.
The RBI later issued a notice to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for contravention of and non-compliance with the provisions of its directions and provisions of the Banking Regulation Act.

About RBL Bank:

RBL Bank, formerly known as Ratnakar Bank, is an Indian private sector bank headquartered in Mumbai and founded in 1943.
Established in 1943 RBL Bank started a transformational journey under a new management team in 2010.
RBL Bank is one of India’s leading private sector banks with an expanding presence across the country.
The Bank offers specialized services under five business verticals namely: Corporate & Institutional Banking, Commercial Banking, Branch & Business Banking, Retail Assets and Treasury and Financial Markets Operations.

NPCI partners with YES Bank to launch RuPay ‘On-the-Go’ payment solution

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with YES Bank to launch contactless payments solutions — RuPay On-the-Go.
This was launched in association with fintech infrastructure partner, Neokred, and manufacturing partner- Seshaasai at the Global Fintech Festival 2021.
“RuPay On-the-Go will allow customers to make small and large value transactions from the accessories they wear every day.
This innovative wearable payment solution would redefine the contactless payments space by eliminating the need to carry a physical card and enabling instantaneous payments with a simple ‘Tap, pay, go’ mechanism”.

About NPCI:

The National Payments Corporation of India is the specialised division of Reserve Bank of India which is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
It was created by RBI for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
Headquarters: Mumbai.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

About Yes Bank:

Yes Bank Limited is an Indian private sector bank headquartered in Mumbai, India and was founded by Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapur in 2004.
It offers wide range of banking and financial products for corporate and retail customers through retail banking and asset management services.
CEO: Prashant Kumar
Headquarters: Mumbai

AU Small Finance Bank signs pact with NABARD

Private sector AU Small Finance Bank signed a pact with the National Bank for Rural and Development (NABARD) to boost ongoing rural development initiatives in Rajasthan.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of NABARD Chairman G R Chintala, Jaideep Srivastava, Chief General Manager, Rajasthan, and Sanjay Agarwal, Managing Director, AU Small Finance Bank.
The memorandum envisages a joint initiative to benefit farmers, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs), rural artisans, agri-entrepreneurs, and agri-startups in the State.
“This MoU between NABARD and AU Bank will provide institutional credit support to the ongoing development schemes in the State, which will lead to further prosperity in the rural areas.

About AU Small Finance Bank:

AU Small Finance Bank Limited is an Indian scheduled commercial bank that was founded as vehicle finance company AU Financiers Ltd in 1996 and converted to a small finance bank on 19 April 2017.
Headquarters: Jaipur

About NABARD:

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is an apex supervisory body for overall supervision of regional rural banks and apex cooperative banks in India.
It is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
Headquarters: Mumbai

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

CavinKare CMD CK Ranganathan appointed as new AIMA president

CavinKare Chairman & Managing Director C K Ranganathan has been appointed as President of All India Management Association (AIMA) for a period of one year.
Ranganathan has taken over from Harsh Pati Singhania, JK Paper Vice Chairman & Managing Director, and would lead AIMA as President till the next National Management Convention in September 2022.
Dempo Group Chairman, Shrinivas Dempo is the new Senior Vice President and Nikhil Sawhney, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Triveni Turbines has joined the AIMA leadership team as its Vice President.

About AIMA:

AIMA is the national apex body of the management profession in India.
It works closely with industry, government, academia and students to further the cause of the management profession in India.
AIMA draws upon the expertise and diversity of its membership to provide leadership in industry initiatives such as advocacy, policy and regulatory engagement, educational programmes and sound practice guides.
AIMA works to raise media and public awareness of the value of the industry.

Aveek Sarkar re-elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India

Aveek Sarkar, the Editor Emeritus and Vice Chairman of the Ananda Bazar Group of Publications, was re-elected Chairman of Press Trust of India(PTI), the country’s premier news agency.
Sarkar’s re-election for a two-year-term was ratified by PTI’s Board of Directors at their meeting.
N. Shanth Kumar, Director of The Printers (Mysore) Pvt. Ltd. which brings out Deccan Herald and Kannada language daily Prajavani, was elected as the Vice-Chairman.

About Sarkar:

Sarkar, 76, started training as a journalist while he was a student, just out of school.
After graduating from the University of Calcutta, he went to Britain where he came under the tutelage of the legendary editor of The Sunday Times, Sir Harold Evans.
He was schooled in journalism by such iconic figures as Edwin Taylor in design and Ian Jack in sub-editing.

Axis Bank appointed Munish Sharda as Group Executive and Head, Bharat Banking

Betting big on semi urban and rural regions, private sector lender Axis Bank is creating a distinctive ‘Bharat Bank’ unit with tailored rural products, increased footprint through branches and digital presence, partnerships with facilitators like CSCs and VLEs, and by enabling multiple agri-commodities focused ecosystems.
It announced the appointment of financial services veteran Munish Sharda as Group Executive and Head of Bharat Banking.
“Sharda brings with him over 27 years of rich leadership experience with a successful track record in financial services, deep expertise in digital and tech stack, and enhancing people capabilities to transform large businesses”.
Sharda was previously Managing Director and CEO, Future Generali Life Insurance.

About Axis Bank:

Axis Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
It sells financial services to large and mid-size companies, SMEs and retail businesses.
As of 30 June 2016, 30.81% shares are owned by the promoters and the promoter group.
CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry
Headquarters: Mumbai

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Yemeni humanitarian organization bags 2021 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

The Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development, a Yemeni humanitarian organization that has supported tens of thousands of people caught up in the country’s conflict, is the winner of the 2021 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, announced the laureate.
Every year, the prize recognizes a person or group,that goes above and beyond the call of duty, to help displaced or stateless people.
Grandi stated that “Jeel Albena does this in an extraordinary way helping people on all sides of Yemen’s conflict.”

About UNHCR:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a UN agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country.
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

75 Divyangjan honoured with Hunarbaaz Awards

The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad under the auspices of the Ministry of Rural Development presented Hunarbaaz Awards to 75 differently-abled candidates from 15 states.
The award ceremony was organised to commemorate Antyodaya Diwas that marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and also as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

About the awards:

The awards have been designed for those candidates who were trained through Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) schemes of the Ministry in various trades, then got placed and worked in the organizations for more than one year or were successfully settled in the trade of their choice as self-employed.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS

IGL and SDMC signed MoU to Establish Waste to Energy Plant

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) inked an MOU with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC),(27/09/2021) to establish a waste to energy plant in Delhi.
The primary objective of the MoU is to convert Municipal Solid Waste into Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) to be used as fuel for running vehicles.

About the MoU:

The MoU signed between Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is an extension of the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative that aims to achieve the target of establishing 5,000 CBG plants by 2023-24 with a production capacity of 15 MMTPA.
The Waste-to-energy plant to be established in Delhi under the MoU is expected to produce approximately 4,000 kg CBG/ per day to cater to expected vehicular demand under CNG.

About IGL:

Indraprastha Gas Limited is one of India’s leading natural gas distribution companies.
IGL supplies natural gas as cooking and vehicular fuel. Established in 1998, the company operates primarily in the Indian state of Delhi.
Headquarters: New Delhi

About SDMC:

South Delhi Municipal Corporation is one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was divided into three.

India, Bhutan sign a ink pact for Joint Development of Small Satellites

India signed the implementing arrangement on the joint development of a small satellite for Bhutan.
The agreement was inked by Indian Space Research Organisation’s Scientific Secretary R Umamaheswaran, and Director, Department of Department of Information Technology and Telecom, Bhutan, Jigme Tenzing, in a virtual signing ceremony.
The joint development was envisioned during the state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Thimphu in 2019.
“Space sector cooperation is an exciting new area of bilateral partnership between India and Bhutan”.
The ongoing interactions between ISRO centres and Belgium companies, mainly in the area of supplying systems and components and the avenues for expanding space relations between India and Belgium in view of space reforms announced by Government of India, were discussed during this meeting.

About Bhutan:

Capital: Thimphu
Currency: Bhutanese Ngultrum
King: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
Prime minister: Lotay Tshering

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

HAL, Alliance Air ink pact for aircraft supply to Arunachal Pradesh

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), signed a lease agreement with Alliance Air Aviation Ltd for the supply of two Civil Dornier-228 aircraft for regional operations in Arunachal Pradesh.

Aim :

Boost to India’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
The deal papers were signed in Bengaluru by Apurba Roy of HAL and Arun Kumar Bansal of Alliance Air.

About HAL Do-228 :

The HAL Do- 228 is an aircraft well-suited for operations in northeast India.
It has the capability of short take-off and landing and can land and take-off from semi-prepared runways.
This is a 19-seat multirole utility aircraft built for various applications such as VIP transport, passenger transport, air ambulance, flight inspection roles, cloud seeding, and recreational activities like para jumping, aerial surveillance, photography and cargo applications.

About HAL :

Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Chairman & MD : R Madhavan
Founder: Walchand Hirachand
Founded: 23 December 1940, Bengaluru

About Arunachal Pradesh :

Capital: Itanagar
Chief minister: Pema Khandu
Governor: B.D Mishra

India & Oman ink pact to boost maritime security cooperation

On Sep 27, 2021, The Indian Navy & the Royal Navy of Oman inked an agreement for exchange of white shipping information and to boost maritime security cooperation in reflection of growing cooperation between the two sides.
White shipping information refers to exchange of relevant advance information on the identity and movement of commercial non-military merchant vessels.
It was signed by Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and his Omani counterpart Admiral Saif bin Nasser bin Mohsen Al-Rahbi in Muscat.
It would facilitate information exchange on merchant shipping traffic.
The information would be exchanged between the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre and the MSC (Maritime Security Centre), Oman, and contribute to enhanced maritime safety and security in the region.
Both navies have been participating in the biennial maritime exercise Naseem Al Bahr since 1993.
This exercise was last conducted in 2020 off the Goa coast and the next edition is scheduled in 2022.

About Oman :

Capital: Muscat
Currency: Omani rial

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

US successfully flight tests Raytheon hypersonic weapon

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the United States has successfully tested a Raytheon hypersonic weapon – an air-breathing hypersonic weapon, the next generation of arms that rob adversaries of reaction time and traditional defeat mechanisms.
Hypersonic weapons travel in the upper atmosphere at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound, or about 6,200 kilometers (3,853 miles) per hour.
The missile, built by Raytheon Technologies, was released from an aircraft seconds before its Northrop Grumman scramjet.
In July 2021, Russia had successfully tested a Tsirkon(Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile.

About DARPA :

Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Founded: 7 February 1958
Headquarters: Arlington County, Virginia, United States
Directors: Steven H. Walker, Victoria Coleman

About US :

Currency: United States Dollar
Capital: Washington, D.C.
President: Joe Biden

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

India becomes Dubai’s second-biggest trading partner : China Tops

India has emerged as Dubai’s second biggest trading partner with a total volume of 38.5 billion dirhams in the first half of 2021.

Rank	Country	Trade Volume in first half of 2021
1	China	86.7 billion dirham
2	India	Increased by 74.5% year-on-year to 67.1 billion dirhams
3	US	32 billion dirhams
4	Saudi Arabia	30.5 billion dirhams
5	Switzerland	24.8 billion dirham

The five largest trading partners had a combined share of 241.21 billion dirhams, up 30.34% from 185.06 billion dirhams in H1 2020.
Gold topped the list of commodities in Dubai’s H1 external trade at 138.8 billion dirham (19.2 percent of Dubai trade), followed by telecoms at 94 billion dirham (13 per cent).
Diamonds came third in the list at 57.3 billion dirham (8 per cent), followed by jewellery at 34.1 billion dirham (4.7 per cent), and vehicle trade at 28 billion dirham (4 percent).
Dubai’s non-oil external trade surged 31 per cent in the first half of 2021 to reach 722.3 billion dirham.
Exports grew 45 per cent year on year in H1 2021 to 109.8 billion dirham from 75.8 billion dirham.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS

Indra Nooyi Penned a Memoir : My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future

Former Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo Inc, Indra Nooyi, has penned a Memoir titled My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future.
It is published by Hachette India.

About the Book :

The Book shares the events that have shaped her life and her vision of how they relate to our world now.
The Book deals with her life from childhood in India to her experiences at Yale.

About Indra Nooyi :

Nooyi was born on October 28, 1955 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
She is an American business executive and former chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of
She was the first woman of colour and an immigrant to head a Fortune 50 company.
She serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.
From April 2015 until April 2020, she was a director of Schlumberger Limited.

Awards & Honours :

In 2007, for trade and industry, she was awarded Padma Bhushan.
In 2013, she was awarded by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

New book titled “The Battle of Rezang La” authored by Kulpreet

A new book is titled “Battle of Rezang La” written by Kulpreet Yadav.
The book is written by ex-naval officer and author Kulpreet Yadav.
The Book was published under Penguin Random House’s ”Veer” imprint.