Daily Current Affairs Update September-12 2017

1. India, Sri Lanka hold ministerial level talks in New Delhi
 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Sri Lankan counterpart Tilak Marapana held wide-ranging talks to deepen bilateral relationship between the two countries

2. West Bengal cabinet approves changing state’s name to Bangla

3. Kochi will host the 5th edition of the ‘Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017’ on 22nd of September at Hotel Crowne Plaza.

4. The traditional Bonderam festival has started in Divar Island of Goa

5. Asian Development Bank to provide $152 million to Nepal to enhance power transmission

6. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has given the message to the South East Asian countries toassimilate their national plans and mobilise and utilise resources efficiently to reach the Tuberculosis elimination target of 2030.

7. During a ceremony at Germany’s Lagau on the occasion of the One World Festival Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was honoured for his pioneering work in the field of organic farming.

8. Reliance Energy has launched a digital assistance robot named ELEKTRA. This system provides automated responses to customers for their queries and requests.

9. Egypt announced the discovery of a tomb belonging to a royal goldsmith who lived more than 3,500 years ago, in Luxor, Egypt.

The tomb was discovered by Egyptian archaeologists.

10. Joycilline Jepkosgei of Kenya broke her own 10 km road world record, in Prague, Czech Republic.

She has become the first woman to run 10 km distance under 30 minutes on road.

She ran for 29 minutes 43 seconds at the Birell Prague Grand Prix and broke her previous record of 30 minutes 4 seconds.

11. Former Odisha Health Minister Syed Mustafiz Ahmed (76) passed away today following a prolonged illness.

12. The Union Cabinet has approved proposal for hiving off mobile tower assets of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) into a separate tower infrastructure company, fully owned by BSNL

13. The Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Japan for collaborative research in the field of silkworm and silk industries. The MoU was signed between Central Silk Board (CSB), India and National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), Japan

14. The Union Government has reconstituted six Committees of the Cabinet after recent ministry reshuffle

The six Committees of the Cabinet are

• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC): It is responsible for all appointments of higher ranks in the Central Secretariat, Public Enterprises, Public Enterprises and Financial Institutions.
• Cabinet Committee on Accommodation (CCA): It is responsible for the allotment of accommodation for various top positions in the Government of India.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA): It deals with the activities pertaining to the economics of the country.
• Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA): It looks into the matters related to the progress of government business in the Parliament of India. It is headed by Union Home Minister.
• Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA): It is responsible for all issues related to domestic and foreign affairs. It is most powerful cabinet committee and is described as Super Cabinet.
• Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS): It is one of the most important committees in India, it looks into the matters of defece expenditures and National Security.

15. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched ‘FoSCoRIS’, a nationwide online platform to bring in transparency in food safety inspection and sampling. The food regulator has asked all states to adopt this system as it would help eliminate discrepancy and make food safety officers accountable.

16. London has topped in the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) among 92 financial centres released by the Z/Yen and China Development Institute. India’s financial capital Mumbai was ranked at 60th position, up by three positions compared to previous edition.

17. India’s second largest software services firm Infosys has completed the acquisition of London-based Brilliant Basics.

18. The International Balzan Foundation has announced the winners of the 2017 Balzan Prize. This year, Indian Economist Bina Agarwal was recognised among other awardees for her work on women’s contributions to agriculture in India

19 The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) announced that the upper age limit for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) had been raised to 65 years, from the current 60.

20. India and Belarus are signed agreements on their bilateral cooperation, including in defence and security, as the Eastern European country’s President Alexander Lukashenko is on a two-day visit to New Delhi.

21. Badminton Prakash Padukone conferred with the first Lifetime Achievement Award instituted by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for his rich contribution to the sport.

22. Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Taiwan’s Chan Yung-Jan won the US Open Women’s Doubles title.

23. This is the first time in India, Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Senior Badminton Championship tournament started in Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium of Kochi which will continue till 17th September.

24. Farm loan waiver may push inflation by 0.2%: RBI paper

25. Uttarakhand-based Hemawati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University has signed a MoU with Namami Gange Project for Ganga Conservation.

26. Scientists are developing an ultra-thin spacecraft that can remove space debris – which potentially threaten satellites or astronauts – by enveloping junk in the Earth’s orbit and dragging it through the atmosphere, causing it to burn up. The Brane Craft, being developed by US-based Aerospace Corporation, is a flexible and less than half the thickness of a human hair.

27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has address a students’ convention to mark the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago address and BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya’s centenary celebrations.

The theme of the convention is ‘Young India, New India’.

28. Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card.

29.  The World Bank had shared its feedback, stating that it had accepted many of the reforms claimed by the government. India’s rank had improved by just one spot to 130 among 190 countries.

The ease of doing business index is an index created by the World Bank Group. Higher rankings (a low numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights

30. Madam Halimah Yacob was issued a Certificate of Eligibility by the Presidential Elections Committee.

31. Priyanka Panwar, part of the 4×400 metre relay team which won gold at the 2014 Incheon Asian, has been banned for eight years — the sanction period for an athlete committing a second doping offence.

32. The second World Congress of Optometry began in Hyderabad to discuss new ideas and share research and knowledge about various facets of optometry.

33. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India is organizing the Second State Startup Conference on 12 September, 2017 in New Delhi.

34. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, inaugurated the 7th International Conference and Workshop on Cost Effective Use of Technology in eHealth Care at AIIMS, New Delhi.

35. Kochi will host the fifth edition of Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017 on September 22.

36. Post-demonetisation, India has become one of the fastest growing markets for digital currencies like bitcoin, according to Nicolas Cary, co-founder and president of Blockchain, the largest software provider for crypto-currencies in the world.