Current Affairs
National News
- Indian Railways’ has extended the pact with IIT Kanpur for research on railway infrastructure modernisation.
- The National Medical Commission has replaced the Medical Council of India as per the information released by the Health Ministry. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi has appointed Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma (Former head of ENT) as its chairman for three years.
- The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has identified The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) and the New India Assurance Co. as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (DSII) for 2020-21.
- Kerala has won the United Nations award on September 24, 2020, for its excellent contribution towards the non-communicable diseases-related sustainable development goals.
- Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has developed the indigenously made microprocessor “MOUSHIK”, a processor cum “system-on-chip” for the internet of things devices. This project was funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has rolled out “Centralised Farm Machinery Performance Testing Portal” to improve services of farm machinery. This portal is developed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation of Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture.
- Ministry of AYUSH has entered into an agreement with Herbal Industry Bodies in the presence of Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha (Secretary of AYUSH) to promote medical plants cultivation and e-marathon which will be held from 28th September to 10th October 2020. The Theme of e-marathon is — Recharge Mental Health – During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 270 million dollar for the construction of water supply and Integrated stormwater and sewage management infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh.
- Vodafone has won an international arbitration case against the Indian government in a Rs 20,000 crore retrospective tax dispute.
- Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the city’s unified water utility, has initiated the process of appointing a consultant that would give recommendations on 24×7 water supply to every household.
- Harley-Davidson is pulling out of India, the world’s biggest motorcycle market.
International News
- Barbados will become the first country in almost three decades to sever ties with the British royal family and become a republic because Queen Elizabeth II will be dropped as monarch by Barbados next year.
- Deputy Chief of Mission of Embassy of India Namgya Khampa handed over 1.54 billion NR (Nepalese Rupees) to Nepal as post-earthquake reconstruction assistance.
- The fourth edition of the India-Japan maritime exercise JIMEX will start from 26th September 2020 in the North Arabian Sea. It is a three days long maritime military exercise.
- India has offered a Line of Credit worth $ 100 million to Sri Lanka for three solar projects in the country.
- India and Japan have decided to join hands in the technical development of 5G and 5G plus technologies with the help of other QUAD strategic dialogue members—US, Australia and Israel.
- Social media giant Facebook has announced the launch of Forecast, an iOS app that will create a community around predictions related to world events including the Covid-19 pandemic.
State News
- Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma appointed drug control officers at Oxygen Production farms and companies to keep a watch on Oxygen manufacturing in Jaipur to ensure an adequate supply of Oxygen.
- Kerala Tourism’s internationally acclaimed ‘Human by Nature’ campaign has bagged the prestigious PATA Grand Award 2020 for marketing.
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has approved the “Rajya Purohit Kalyan Prokolpo” scheme for Brahmin priests.
National and International Appointments
- Cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Akash Educational Services Ltd.
- Amir Khan has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Ceat Tyres.
- The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has appointed Sunil Sheti, a leading personality in the Indian fashion industry, as its advisor.
- Citigroup has appointed Arjun Chowdhry as the acting head of its consumer banking business in India.
Awards and Honor
A professor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Regina Barzilay specialised in computer science and artificial intelligence has won the inaugural Artificial Intelligence award for cancer research and discovery of new drugs, given by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and funded by Chinese online education Company Squirrel AI.
Banking News (Domestic and International Banks)
- Fino Payments Bank Limited in collaboration with fintech partners has introduced Near Field Communication (NFC) based contactless payments solution for mass transit systems.
- Reserve Bank of India has released “Technology Vision for Cyber Security” for Urban Cooperative Banks from 2020-2023.
- The 15th Exim Bank Conclave of India-Africa project was held virtually from 22nd to 24th September 2020 in New Delhi and organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Exim Bank with the support of Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- The Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce from January 1, 2021, the ‘positive pay system’ for the cheque to check Banking fraud. Under this system, re-confirmation of key details may be needed for payments beyond Rs 50,000. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will develop the facility of positive pay in CTS and make it available to participant banks.
- Life sciences firm Bayer has partnered with private sector lender Axis Bank for its better life farming (BLF) initiative in India to provide enhanced and holistic financial solutions to smallholder farmers and rural farming communities.
- The Reserve Bank of India has approved the proposal of Vakrangee Ltd to set up Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) to handle payment services related to bills.
Sports
- Indian men’s team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sadhu and women squad’s midfielder Sanju were declared the winners of the All India Football Federation Footballer of the year awards for the 2019-20 session.
Ratanbala Devi and Anirudh Thapa have won the best Emerging Footballer of the Year award in women’s men’s category respectively.
Important Days
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is observed on 26th September.
