Daily GK Updates - 25th September, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. National Conclave on Energy Efficiency in MSME sector inaugurated in New Delhi: The Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari and Shri RK Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship jointly inaugurated the 2-day organised National Conclave on Energy Efficiency in MSME sector in New Delhi. The ministers launched Knowledge Management Portal “SIDHIEE” under BEE’s MSME Programme along with Energy Conservation Guidelines for MSMEs. The portal contains information for MSMEs inclusive of 50 video tutorials for energy efficient technologies.

2. Assam launches of 2 public welfare schemes called ‘Aponar Apon Ghar’ & ‘Abhinandan’

The Assam state Government has launched twin schemes for the public welfare called ‘Aponar Apon Ghar Scheme’ (a home loan subsidy scheme) and the ‘Abhinandan’ (an Education Loan Subsidy scheme).

Aponar Apon Ghar: It is an upgraded version of the previous Apon Ghar home loan subsidy scheme, which will provide a subsidy of up to Rs 2.5 lakh on home loans up to Rs 40 lakh to all citizens of the state. Every permanent resident of Assam will be eligible to avail this scheme.

S.No	Loan amount	Subsidy
1	Rs 5.00 lakh – 10.00 lakh	Rs 1.00 lakh
2	Rs 10.00 lakh – 20.00 lakh	Rs 1.50 lakh
3	Rs 20.00 lakh – 30.00 lakh	Rs 2.00 lakh
4	Rs 30.00 lakh – 40.00 lakh	Rs 2.50 lakh

Abhinandan:  It is a Education Loan Subsidy scheme, under this every student in the state of Assam with having active education loan account regardless of the amount for pursuing higher education can get benefitted. The Assam government will provide a onetime subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 to all educational loans

Note: Assam Capital: Dispur; Chief minister: Sarbananda Sonowal; Governor: Jagdish Mukhi

3. Narendra Singh Tomar launches two agriculture-related Mobile Apps: The Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched two agriculture-related Mobile Applications, CHC Farm Machinery and Krishi Kisan in New Delhi.

CHC Farm Machinery App: The Custom Hiring Service Centers (CHC App) will allow farmers to avail the custom hiring services of CHCs located in the radius of 50 Kilometres. Using this App, small level farmers can avail agriculture Machinery on rental basis to enhance their production.

Krishi Kisan App: Krishi Kisan App will provide farmers with information of the best demonstration of high-yielding crops and seeds at nearby area. •     Farmer with high quality of crops can demonstrate his best practices of cultivation to other farmers so that production of these farmers could increase to a significant level. •  The App will also help in geo-tagging and geo-fencing of crop and give weather forecast message to farmers.

4. 5th Indian International Science Festival to be held in Kolkata: The Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences and Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced to organise the 5th edition of the Indian International Science Festival (IISF) that is to be held in Kolkata from November 5 to 8. The theme for 2019 is “RISEN India – Research, Innovation, and Science Empowering the Nation”. The event will be held at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, Science City, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Bose Institute and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology(IICB) in Kolkata. The aim of this festival is to celebrate India’s scientific and technological advancements with the participation of students, innovators, scientists, craftsmen and farmers.

5. Ponung Doming becomes Arunachal's first woman Lieutenant Colonel: Army officer Ponung Doming has become the first woman officer from Arunachal Pradesh to be elevated to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. She was commissioned into the Indian Army as a Lieutenant in 2008. Currently, she is posted in Pune, Maharashtra. Last month, Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami became the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force to be elevated as the Flight Commander of a flying unit.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Mahatma Gandhi Solar Park inaugurated at UN headquarters: Mr Modi along with other world leaders have inaugurated the Gandhi Solar Park (50 kilowatts) at the UN headquarters in New York. They also released a commemorative stamp issued by the UN on Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. Mr Modi said the platform is a living example that Mahatma Gandhi was from India but did not belong only to India.

2. World Pharmacists day: 25 September: World Pharmacists Day was observed all over the world on September 25. The aim of this day is to promote and spread awareness about the pharmacist’s (health professionals who practice in pharmacy) key role in improving health in every part of the world. The theme for the year 2019 is “Safe and effective medicines for all”.

Note: The day was created by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Council at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009. Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Kushagra Rawat wins two golds at the Asian Age Group swimming championship: India’s Kushagra Rawat (19-yeara) has won two golds in the Asian Age Group swimming championship at the Padukone-Dravid Center for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru. Mr Rawat has already achieved the B-mark Olympic Standard Time in 800m freestyle, set a new meet record by clocking 8:10.05s. Elsewhere, Srihari Nataraj (in 25.30s) and Maana Patel (finished in 29.92) claimed golds in the men’s and women’s 50m backstroke events. India’s other two gold medals on the day came in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay (Srihari, Anand Anilkumar, Sajan Prakash and Virdhawal Khade) and through Shoan Ganguly in the Group II boys’ 200m individual medley.

2. Manipur wins 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship 2019: Defending champion Manipur won the 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship held at CHF Ground in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh by defeating Railways. This marks Manipur’s 20th championship title in the game. Bala Devi of Manipur was the highest scorer in the tournament with 20 goals while Railways’ Sanju emerged as the Player of the tournament. Manipur goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu was honoured with best goalkeeper award. Organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), this is the first time Arunachal Pradesh hosted National Football Championship.

3. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma move up in the latest ICC T20I player rankings: The latest International Cricket Council- Twenty twenty International(ICC-T20I) rankings were released. The ranking details are as follows.

Indian cricketer’s position: Indian skipper Virat Kohli moved up by one position to reach the 11th spot in the batting list and is currently in the 19th position in all-rounder rankings, while Shikar Dhawan moved three places up to 13th position in the batting list. Rohit Sharma is ranked at the 8th position tied with England’s Alex Hales.

Rankings:

Rank	T20I Batting rankings	T20I Bowling rankings	T20I all Rounder rankings
1	Babar Azam (Pakistan)	Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)	Glenn Maxwell (Australia)
2	Glenn Maxwell (Australia)	ImadWasim (Pakistan)	Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)
3	Colin Munroe (New Zealand)	Shadab Khan (Pakistan)	Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)
8	Rohit Sharma (India)
11	ViratKohli (India)
13	ShikarDhawan (India)

4. Overview of 20th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship for 2019 held in Tehran, Iran: The 20th Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship for 2019 was held in Tehran, Iran from September 13–21, 2019. The biennial tournament was organised by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) with Islamic Republic of Iran Volleyball Federation (IRIVF). It was held in 2 venues namely Azadi Indoor Stadium and Azadi Volleyball Hall, both located within the Azadi Sport Complex, Tehran, Iran.

The host nation, Iran emerged as champions by defeating Australia in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-21). It was their third title. Japan & South Korea bagged third and fourth place respectively. Indian team was ranked 8th. Indian team qualified for the 2020 Asian Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament (debut qualification) scheduled to be held in Jiangmen, China and for the 2021 Asian Men’s Championships.

5. Overview of Maldives International Future Series 2019 held in Male: The Maldives International Future Series 2019, an open international badminton tournament in Maldives was organized by the Badminton Association of Maldives and was sanctioned by the Badminton Asia Confederation and Badminton World Federation. The event was held from September 17-22, 2019 at the Malé sports complex, Male, Maldives. The total prize money of the event was US$15,000. Indian winners

Winners:

Sr. No.	Event	Winner	Runner
1	Women’s singles	Malvika Bansod (India)	ThetHtar Thuzar (Myanmar)
2	Women’s doubles	KuoYu Wen (Chunese Taipei) & Lin Wan Ching (Chinese Taipei)	Thilini Pramodika Hendahwewa (Sri Lanka) & Kavidi Sirimannage (Sri Lanka)
3	Men’s singles	KantawatLeelavaechabutr (Thailand)	Kevin Arokia Walter (India)
4	Men’s doubles	Vaibhaav (India) & Prakash Raj (India)	PakkaponTeeraratsakul (Thailand) & Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul (Thailand)
5	Mixed doubles	Lu Chia Pin (Chinese Taipei) & Lin Wan Ching (chinese Taipei)	Velayutham Roobenraj (Malaysia) & Venosha RadhaKrishnan (Malaysia)

6. Sebastian Coe re-appointed as IAAF chief at the 52nd IAAF Congress in Doha, Qatar: Britain’s Sebastian Coe was re-elected as the chief of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) for a second term. A former Olympic and world champion, Coe was previously elected as the head of IAAF in 2015. During his first term as the IAAF chief, Coe had set up Athletics Integrity Unit that serves as watchdog in cleaning sport corruptions.

7. Nelly Korda wins LET title at Ladies French Open: Nelly Korda has won the Ladies European Tour Title at Lacoste Ladies French Open. She shot a four-under 67 to win her first Ladies European Tour title. India’s Aditi Ashok was the best Indian at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France as she shot even par 71 in the final round to finish at 26th.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI bans PMC Bank, account holders will not be able to withdraw more than 1000 in a day: The country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Limited (PMC) on business transactions of any kind for the next 6 months following detection of alleged irregularities. The RBI has taken this action under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Under this decree, no depositor can withdraw more than 1,000 thousand money from his savings account, current account or any other deposit account. Apart from this, the issuance of new loans of the bank has also been banned.

2. SBI Life Insurance & Repco Home Finance signs corporate agency agreement: Repco Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), an Indian banking and financial services company has signed corporate agency agreement with SBI (State Bank of India) Life Insurance, a leading life insurance company in India to provide SBI Life’s range of products to its customers. SBI Life Insurance will now be available in RHFL’s over 148 branches and 27 satellite centres of RHFL spread across the country. Through this partnership, SBI Life Insurance will reach its product offers and enable more new customers across geographies to meet their diverse insurance needs.

Note: SBI Life Insurance Headquarters:  Mumbai; Founded: March 2001; MD & CEO: Mr. Sanjeev Nautiyal

3. Federal Bank and Pine Labs join hands to provide monthly EMIs for offline debit card transactions: Pine Labs, an Indian merchant platform company has joined hands with Federal Bank, a Private Sector, scheduled commercial bank in India to offer EMIs (equated monthly instalments) for offline debit card transactions. Federal Bank’s 57 lakh debit card customers will now be able to instantly avail loans on EMI at the Pine Labs terminals. The tie-up focused on technology and analytics to deliver customer-centric digital services. Pine Labs currently offers credit and debit card EMI services in over 1.20 lakh stores across 85,000 merchants in India. It has created a network of 90 brands and 19 banking and financial institutions.

Note: Federal Bank: Founded: 2 December 1949; Headquarters: Kochi, Kerala; MD & CEO : Shyam Srinivasan

Note Pine Labs: Founded: 1998; Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh; Executive Chairman : Lokvir Kapoor; Chief Executive Officer:  Vicky Bindra

4. SEBI penalises Aurobindo Pharma and promoters for insider trading: Securities and Exchange Board of India has imposed a penalty of over Rs 22 crore on Aurobindo Pharma and its promoters. They have been penalised for violating insider trading norms.         The regulator had conducted an investigation into the trading in the scrip of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. SEBI found that these entities purchased shares while in possession of the UPSI pertaining to Aurobindo, and made unlawful gains from having purchased its shares at a lower price before the publication of the unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI).

Note: Headquarter of SEBI: Mumbai; Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

1. Wipro ties up with FEBRABAN to develop online business platform:             Wipro, the Bengaluru based software services provider has tied up with Febraban, an industry body representing the Brazil’s financial services industry. Wipro will develop an online platform “Noomis” for the financial services industry in Brazil. Noomis will serve as a meeting point and a discussion platform for the finance professionals in Brazil who will participate in CIAB, an information technology trade show for financial services organized by FEBRABAN.

2. Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in India: IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2019: According to the IIFL (India Infoline Finance Limited) Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2019, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) emerged as the richest person in India with wealth of Rs 3.8 lakh crore for the eighth straight year. The Reliance Industries chief has topped the list for the eighth consecutive year. Globally, he is the 8th richest man. As per the Hurun report, 25 of the wealthiest names in India hold wealth which is equal to a tenth of India’s GDP.

Top 10 Wealthiest People In India

Rank	Name	Wealth
1	Mukesh Ambani	Rs 3.8 lakh crore
2	London-based SP Hinduja and family	Rs 1.5 lakh crore
3	Wipro founder Azim Premji	Rs 1.2 lakh crore
4	Cyrus Poonawalla	Rs 89,800 crore
5	Lakshmi Mittal	Rs 87,900 crore
6	Uday Kotak	Rs 75,600 crore
7	Gautam Adani	Rs 70,600 crore
8	Dilip Sanghvi	Rs 67,300 crore
9	Cyrus Pallonji Mistry and Shapoor Pallonji Mistry	Rs 67,100 crore

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. A 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg wins 2019 Right Livelihood Award: Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg (16) has been awarded with Sweden’s Alternative Nobel Prize called “Right Livelihood Award 2019” for prompting and amplifying political demands, scientific facts for immediate climate action in Stockholm, Sweden. She has shared the award with Brazilian Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa of the Yanomami people, and the Hutukara Yanomami Association (Brazil), women’s rights lawyer Guo Jianmei (China) and human rights defender Aminatou Haidar (Western Sahara). Each awardee has received 1 million SEK- Swedish krona (94,000 EUR).

Note: Right Livelihood Award is an international award to “honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us at present. The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, and is presented annually.

2. UK Mathematician Adam Harper Wins SASTRA Ramanujan prize for 2019: Mathematician Adam Harper, Assistant Professor at University of Warwick, England has been selected for the SASTRA Ramanujan prize for the year 2019. He will be awarded on December 22 (Ramanujan’s birth anniversary), by SASTRA University in Tamil Nadu.

The SASTRA (Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy) Ramanujan Prize is awarded every year to a young mathematician who have done outstanding work in mathematics. The age limit to be eligible for award is 32 (the age at which Indian mathematician Ramanujan died). It carries a cash award of USD 10,000 and citation.

3. India’s former athlete PT Usha honoured with Vetran Pin by IAAF: Indian track and field former athlete PT Usha was presented with Veteran Pin by the world athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), in recognition of her contribution to the growth of sport. The award was given by IAAF chief Sebastian Coe at the 52nd IAAF Congress held in Doha, Qatar. Familiarly known as ‘Payyoli Express’ and ‘queen of track and field’, PT Usha was one among the three persons from Asia to receive the Veteran Pin.

4. Amitabh Bachchan unanimously selected for Dada Saheb Phalke award 2019: The Union minister of information and broadcasting Shri Prakash Javadekar announced that Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was selected for the 2019 Dada Saheb Phalke award which is the highest award in Indian cinema. It is conferred to a person for his/her lifetime achievement in cinema. He will be presented with a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh during the award presentation.

Previous achievements: Amitabh previously was awarded the Padma Shri in 1984, Padma Bhushan in 2001, and Padma Vibhushan in 2015. He was also conferred the France’s highest civilian honour, ‘the Knight of the Legion of Honour’ by the French govt. in 2007. Mr. Bachchan has won fifteen Filmfare Awards.

5. Pooja Desai from Guajarat crowned as Mrs India 2019: Pooja Desai from Guajarat has been crowned as Mrs India– Pride of the Nation 2019 (a beauty pageant for married women that celebrates and admires the accomplishments and achievements of a wife, daughter and a mother) in grand finale at The Leela Ambience Gurgaon, Haryana. ii. Saloni Bhakri from Maharashtra also crowned Mrs. India – Pride of Nation 2019 in the different category. Presented by Glamour Gurgaon, the third edition aimed towards creating breast cancer awareness. Cini star Padmini Kolhapure and Nayani Dixit, known for her role as Kangana Ranaut’s friend in the movie Queen were the part of the jury panel.

DEFENCE

1. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS Varaha: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘ICGS Varaha’ (98-metre offshore patrol vessel) at a special function held at Chennai Port.  The ship is the fourth in the series of seven offshore patrol vessels of the Coast Guard. It is equipped with 30 milli-metre gun and has an integrated bridge system, platform management systems, automated power management system and high-power external fire-fighting system. It can carry a twin-engine helicopter and four high-speed boats for swift boarding, search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrolling operations.

2. 23rd edition of “Malabar 2019” naval joint exercise of India, US and Japan commenced at Sasebo, Japan: The 23rd edition of the trilateral maritime exercise of India, Japan and the United States (US) named “Malabar 2019” exercise begun at Sasebo, Japan.

Indian participation: India fields 6,100-tonne stealth frigate Indian Navy Ship (INS) Sahyadri, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan along with first time deployment of Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft. US & Japan participation: The United States fields Arleigh Burke-class destroyer United States Ship (USS) McCampbell, amphibious warship USS Green Bay and a Los Angeles class nuclear fast attack submarine, while Japan fields 27,000-tonne Izumo-class helicopter carrier JS Kaga, destroyer Samidare and cruiser Chokai.

Note: Malabar exercise: It originally began as a bilateral exercise in 1992 between India and China until Japan joined as a permanent member in 2015. Previous nonmember participants- Australia and Singapore. Previous edition- Malabar 2018 took place in coast of Guam in the Philippine Sea.

OBITUARIES

1. Ex-PTI correspondent B R Vats, who covered 1st LS polls, passes away: Bhagat Ram Vats a former PTI senior correspondent passed away. He travelled extensively with first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and covered the country’s maiden Lok Sabha polls for 14 years, covering his activities in India and abroad, especially his election tours in 1952, 1957 and 1962. He started his career with The Statesman, New Delhi, and later joined the Press Trust of India.