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Contents
INDIAN AFFAIRS .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Cabinet Approvals...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Schemes ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Launches & Inaugurations ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Festivals ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Other News Related to Indian Affairs .............................................................................................................................. 22
STATE NEWS .................................................................................................................................................................................. 33
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ........................................................................................................................................................ 52
VISITS ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 55
Indian Visits .............................................................................................................................................................................. 55
Foreign Visits ............................................................................................................................................................................ 63
BANKING & FINANCE .................................................................................................................................................................. 79
RBI in News................................................................................................................................................................................ 79
Technology in Banking.......................................................................................................................................................... 90
Other News Related to Banking & Finance ................................................................................................................... 92
MoUs & AGREEMENTS IN NEWS ............................................................................................................................................110
COMMITTEES IN NEWS.............................................................................................................................................................114
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES .....................................................................................................................................................118
INDEX .............................................................................................................................................................................................142
Rankings ...................................................................................................................................................................................142
Reports......................................................................................................................................................................................150
BUSINESS & ECONOMY .............................................................................................................................................................155
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS ....................................................................................................................................................172
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS ...................................................................................................................................................202
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................215
DEFENCE ........................................................................................................................................................................................223
ENVIRONMENT............................................................................................................................................................................236
SPORTS ..........................................................................................................................................................................................241
OBITUARY .....................................................................................................................................................................................271
BOOKS & AUTHORS ...................................................................................................................................................................277
IMPORTANT DAYS .....................................................................................................................................................................281
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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet Approvals
Cabinet approval on September 18, 2019

The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister(PM) Shri Narendra Modi approved the following proposal:
Approval to Payment Productivity Linked Bonus to railway employees for the FY 2018-19
Approval was given to payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) which is equivalent to 78 days’ wages for
the Financial Year (FY) 2018-19, to all 11.52 Lakh non-gazetted eligible railway employees excluding Railway
Protection Force (RPF)/ Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) personnel, for maintaining industrial peace and
railwaymen motivation. This would lead to an expenditure of Rs. 2024.40 crores to the exchequer(treasury).
Key points:
It is also to be noted that this is the 6th consecutive year under Modi government that maintained 78 day wages
bonus.
Benefit of PLB:
i. This 78 day wages provision would motivate the railway employees in improving the railway performances
and productivity enhancements besides maintaining the industrial peace.
ii. The PLB would be an acknowledgement to all the non-gazetted railway employees for running the railways
efficiently.
iii. This acknowledgement will enhance the sense of inclusiveness and equity among railwaymen and their
families.
About Indian railways:
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Founded- 8 May 1845.
Union railway minister- Piyush Goyal (constituency- Maharashtra).
Minister of State(MoS)- Angadi Suresh Channabasappa (constituency- Belgaum, Karnataka).
President Ram Nath Kovind approved the Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes
Ordinance, 2019
President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind approved the Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic
Cigarettes (production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and
advertisement) Ordinance, 2019 after the cabinet approved it on September 18, 2019.
E-Cigarettes
• Electronic Cigarettes/ e-Cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a
solution containing nicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes.
• They include all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Heat Not Burn Products, e-
Hookah and the like devices.
• Association of Vapers India (AVI) is an organisation representing e-cigarette users.
Panel to study e-Cigarettes
A Group of Ministers (GoM) from commerce, health, agriculture, chemicals and petrochemicals, and food
processing departments chaired by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had studied the proposal
submitted by the Ministry of Health, to ban the production and import of e-cigarettes.
Features of Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019
• The ordinance will ensure effective and timely action against the use of e-cigarettes.
• It will advance tobacco control efforts and lead in reduction of tobacco usage and in turn decline the
associated economic and disease burden.
Powers of Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019
• The ordinance allows authorised officials to conduct searches in premises.
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• The places where such searches are not permissible, authorities may attach properties, stocks of e-
cigarettes or records maintained by the manufacturer, producer exporter, transporter, importer, stockist
against whom a complaint has been made.
Punishment
• Any production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale (including online sale), distribution or
advertisement (including online advertisement) of e-cigarettes shall be a cognizable offence punishable
with imprisonment of up to 1 year or fine up to Rs. 1 lakh or both for the first offence.
• Imprisonment of up to 3 years and a fine up to Rs. 5 lakh for a subsequent offence.
• Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall also be punishable with imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to
Rs 50,000 or both.
Action against the existing stock
• The owners of existing stocks of e-cigarettes on the date of commencement of the Ordinance will have to
suo moto declare and deposit these stocks with the nearest police stations.
• The Sub-Inspector of Police has been designated as the Authorized Officer to take action under the
Ordinance.
• The Central or State Governments may also designate any other equivalent officer(s) as Authorized
Officer for enforcement of the provisions of the Ordinance.
Background
• The current decision comes after an advisory issued by the Government in 2018 to all States to consider
banning e-cigarettes.
• 16 States and 1 Union territory have already banned e cigarettes in their jurisdictions.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recommended a complete ban on e-cigarettes based
on currently available scientific evidence.
• The World Health Organization(WHO) had also urged member countries to take appropriate steps.
About ICMR:
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi
♦ Founded: 1911
♦ Director General: Professor Balram Bhargava
About WHO:
♦ Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
♦ Founded: 7 April 1948
Defence Minister Rajnath singh approves for writing history of India’s borders
On September 17, 2019 the Union Minister of Defence Shri Rajnath Singh gave approval for writing history
on India’s borders for better understanding of the borders. The proposed work will include making and
unmaking and shifting of borders, the role of people in the border & their socio economic aspects of life etc. This
project is expected to be completed in two years.
Key points
Meeting:The decision was taken after conducting a meeting with eminent personalities of the Indian Council of
Historical Research(ICHR) and officials of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the Directorate General of
Archives, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.
Schemes
3 Lakh houses sanctioned under PMAY(U) in the 46th CSMC for 2019
In the 46th meeting of the Central Approval and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the year 2019, which was
chaired by Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in New Delhi, approved
865 fresh proposals from 10 States for the construction of 2.99 lakh houses with an overall investment of Rs.
15,109 cr. The Central assistance will be Rs. 4,482 crore.
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Key Points:
i. Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) [PMAY (U)], Uttar Pradesh came up with 149 proposals for
construction of 45,770 houses to meet overall target for construction of 13.96 lakh houses which is said to be
highest in overall sanction among all states/UTs .
ii. Andhra Pradesh did not participate in CSMC, but it has overall sanctions for 12.48 lakh houses under PMAY(U).
Maharashtra participated with 62 proposals for construction of 1.23 lakh houses which is highest in new fresh
proposals among all 10 participating States.
iii. The 10 states are Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh.
iv. At present, Cumulative sanctions of houses under PMAY (U) is 88.16 lakh against a validated demand of 1.12
crore.
About PMAY:
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is an initiative by the Government of India in which affordable housing will
be provided to the urban poor with a target of building 20 million affordable houses by 31 March 2022. It has
two components: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awaas
Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY-G and also PMAY-R) for the rural poor.
New health insurance scheme, ‘AB-MGRSBY’ launched in Rajasthan

On September 1, 2019, The Rajasthan state government has launched a new health insurance scheme
called Ayushman Bharat-Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojna (AB-MGRSBY) by integrating
the Bhamashah Health Insurance Scheme(BSBY) of the State Government and Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri
Jan Arogya Yojna Scheme(AB-PMJAY) of the Central Government.
Key points:
i. Around 1.1 crore families will be covered under this Health Scheme.
ii. The sum insured now is Rs. 30000 for general diseases and Rs. 3 lakh per year for serious diseases, despite
merger with Centre’s AB-PMJAY, which provides coverage of Rs5lakh per year.
iii. People will be able to avail the AB-MGRSBY Scheme benefits in all empanelled private and public hospitals& It
also has a cashless treatment facility.
iv. Eligibility: Only the natives of Rajasthan can take advantage of this scheme. The poor families covered in any
of National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 are considered eligible for
the scheme.
v. The eligible families should have Aadhaar card and ration card linked with Bhamashah card (Jan Adhaar card)
for availing the benefits. if they do not have Bhamashah card, they can get it from e-Mitra, an ambitious e-
Governance initiative of Government of Rajasthan.
vi. The scheme will be available till December 12, 2019.
Beneficiaries under PMMVY scheme crossed 1 crore

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) achieved a mark of reaching 1 crore (1,00,11,200)
beneficiaries in India. The total amount disbursed under the scheme crossed Rs. 4,000 crores.
Key Points:
i. Top 5 states: Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Rajasthan are
the top 5 states/ union territories (UTs) in the implementation of scheme.
ii. Odisha and Telangana have not implemented the scheme.
iii. Its implementation is monitored by the central and state governments through a web based software
application named PMMVY-CAS.
About PMMVY:
It is a flagship scheme of the Government for Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM). It is a direct
benefit transfer (DBT) scheme under which PW&LM receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three installments on
fulfilling certain conditions. The eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana
(JSY). Thus, on average, a woman gets Rs. 6,000.
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HRD ministry announces National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) Scheme for Higher
Education learning outcomes
On September 19, 2019 the Union Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD) has announced a new
scheme named National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) for better learning outcomes in higher
education and is expected to be operational in early november 2019. The main objective of this scheme is to use
Artificial Intelligence(AI) in making personalized learning and will be developed through Public-private
partnership (PPP) model. AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) will be the implementing agency of
this scheme.
Key points
i. EdTech(Education Technology) companies will be responsible for managing the learners’ registration though
the NEAT portal.
47th CSMC approves construction of 1.23 lakh houses with an overall investment of Rs. 4,988 cr under
PMAY-U
The 47th Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) headed by Union Housing and Urban Affairs
Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra approved 630 proposals from participating states for the construction of 1.23
lakh houses with an overall investment of Rs. 4,988 cr under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–
Urban (PMAY-U). With this, cumulative sanctions of houses under PMAY(U) crossed 90 lakh houses against the
validated demand of 1.12 crore.
Key Points:
i. Participating states: 10 states namely West Bengal for 27,746 houses, Tamil Nadu for 26,709, Gujarat for
20,903, Punjab for 10,332, Chhattisgarh for 10,079, Jharkhand for 8,674, Madhya Pradesh for 8,314, Karnataka
for 5,021, Rajasthan for 2,822 and Uttarakhand for 2,501 houses had participated in the meeting.
ii. The union government will provide the assistance worth Rs. 1,805 cr.
iii. The overall investment approved till date is Rs. 5.54 lakh crore (Rs. 3.01 lakh crore from Central and State
Governments & Rs. 2.53 lakh crore from private investment)
iv. Out of the Rs. 1.43 lakh crore committed by the union government, Rs. 57,758 crore has already been
released.
v. The government aspires to achieve the target of ‘Housing for All’ in 2020, two years before the deadline of
2022.
About PMAY:
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is an initiative by the Government of India in which affordable housing will
be provided to the urban poor with a target of building 20 million affordable houses by 31 March 2022. It has
two components: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) for the urban poor and Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (Gramin) (PMAY-G or PMAY-R) for the rural poor.
Gujarat launches India’s first ‘Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)’ to combat particulate air pollution
The State Government of Gujarat has launched India’s 1st trading program called “Emissions Trading Scheme
(ETS)” in Surat, Gujarat to combat particulate air pollution.
Key points:
i. About ETS: ETS, an initiative of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), is a market-based system where the
government sets a cap on emissions and allows industries to buy and sell permits (in kilograms) to stay below
the cap. For this reason, ETS is also called a cap-and-trade market.
It is designed with the help of a team of researchers from different institutions.
ii. Cap-and-trade market: Under this, the GPCB initially determine the total mass of pollution that can be put
into the air over a fixed period by all factories/Industries as a whole.
A permit is then created in which each is allowed some degree of pollution emissions and the total permit is
equal to the maximum fixed pollution emissions. This permit is usually a number/unit that can be bought or sold.
iii. Why Surat: Surat is a densely populated industrial center where textile and dye mills emit large amounts of
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air pollution & it is equipped with Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems already which makes it possible to
predict the mass of Particulate Matter (PM ) being released.
Launches & Inaugurations
India’s longest electrified rail tunnel in Andhra Pradesh inaugurated by Vice president
On August 28, 2019, the Vice President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the longest electrified railway
tunnel (6.7km) between Cherlopalli and Rapuru costing Rs 437 crores, and the electrified railway line (112km)
between Venkatachalam (Krishnapatnam) and Obulavaripalli costing Rs 1,993 crores in Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
i. Remodelled yard of Guduru railway station and new intercity superfast express between Guduru and
Vijayawada were also inaugurated.
ii. Other members: Union Ministers of State Suresh C. Angadi (Railway), G. Kishan Reddy (Home), P. Anil Kumar,
Water Resources Minister of Andhra Pradesh, South Central Railway General Manager(GM) GajananMallya, and
other officials were present during the event.
Prakash Javadekar launched the new logo and certificate design of Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC)
The Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting (I&B) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri
Prakash Javadekar has unveiled the new logo and certificate design of Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC) at an event in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Key points:
i. The launching event was done during a special interaction between the film industry of India and board
members of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
ii. Apart from Secretary, I & B, Amit Khare, and Chairman, CBFC, Prasoon Joshi, famous industry dignitaries were
also present at the meeting.
New logo and identity of CBFC designed by Rohit Devgun in collaboration with NSDL
The design of the new logo has been designed by designer Rohit Devgan in collaboration with the technical
support team of National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).
The new certificate will have QR (Quick Response ) code, from which many types of information can be obtained.
The certificate that was issued earlier, many information was given in it and it appeared to be full. However, now
it has been changed and the information is less than before.
About NSDL:
♦ Founded: 8 August 1996
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai
♦ MD & CEO: Mr. G. V. Nageswara Rao
About CBFC:
♦ Founded: 1951
♦ Chairman: Prasoon Joshi
CGHS Bhawan inaugurated in Sector 13 of R K Puram in New Delhi

On September 1, 2019, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the state-
of-the-art Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) Bhawan in Sector 13 of R K Puram in New Delhi in the
presence of Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament, New Delhi, Smt. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (Health), Shri
Sanjeeva Kumar, Spl. Secretary (Health), Dr Atul Prakash, Director (CGHS), Dr Sanjay Jain, Addl Director-HQ
(CGHS) along with other senior officers from the Ministry and CGHS. It is the Headquarters of CGHS and has the
administrative section, the CGHS Card section, and a state-of-the-art modern and well equipped Wellness Centre.
Key Points:
i. Present status: CGHS services, started in 1954 from Government of India Market in Delhi, was expanded to
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only 25 cities till 2014. In the last 5 years (Till 2019), the Modi government has extended it to 71 cities.
ii.Aim: CGHS services should be made available in 100 cities by 2022. Under Ayushman Bharat, 150000 Health
and Wellness Centres are planned to come up by 2022.
iii. Annual Health Check-up: The Minister unveiled a new scheme of Annual Health Check-up of CGHS
beneficiaries who are pensioners of the age of 75 years and above.
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:
♦ Formed: 1976
♦ Constituency of Dr Harsh Vardhan: Chandni Chowk, New Delhi
Election Commission of India launches “Electors Verification Programme” voter verification &
authentication
On September 1, 2019 The election commission of India (ECI) has launched Electors Verification
Programme(EVP), that seeks updation of electoral rolls through crowdsourcing. A special camp was held at the
election commission’s headquarters in New Delhi, where National Voters’ Service Portal (NVSP) and Voter
helpline app were unveiled by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora. The portal
is https://www.nvsp.in/
Key points
i. Aim: Improvement of electoral rolls and betterment of the electoral services to the citizens thereby increasing
communication between commission and citizens.
ii. The programme which was launched at all India level with 32 Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of India will
continue till october 15, 2019.
iii. With this EVP voter can avail facilities like verification of voter details and authentication etc.
“Garvi Gujarat Bhavan” inaugurated by PM Modi in New Delhi

On September 2, 2019 the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Garvi Gujarat Bhavan” at Akbar
Road in New Delhi. The building was built by the Gujarat government at a cost of Rs 131 crore which will serve
as a home for Gujarati people in Delhi and the old Gujarat Bhavan at Chanakyapuri, Delhi will also continue to
function.
Key points
i. Members present: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister(Gujarat) Nitin Patel and other
officials were present during the event.
ii. Building features: It is built on an area of 20,325 sq.mts with 7066 square mts grant from the central
government and has 19 suits rooms, 59 regular rooms, a restaurant, a public dining hall, a business centre, a
souvenir shop, a multi-purpose hall etc, all with modern and traditional architecture blend.
iii.Gujarat’s development: The efforts by Gujarat government toward development was appreciated by the
Prime Minister and assured the state’s piped drinking water facility at every household would be accomplished
by 2024.
‘Terracotta Grinder’ Launched by KVIC at Varanasi to Re-use wasted pottery

On September 2, 2019 the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) based at Mumbai, has launched
‘Terracotta grinder’ at Sewapuri, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It is manufactured under KVIC’s
project REPLAN (REducingPLAstic in Nature) and grinds waste and broken pottery items for reuse in pottery
making. It is designed by KVIC chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena and Fabricated by Rajkot(Gujarat) based
engineering unit.
Key points
i. Saxena, also distributed 200 electric pottery wheels and pottery machines to the villagers whereby job
opportunity will also be increased and has also created demand for terracotta products by the Ministry of
Railways to Zonal Railways and IRCTC(Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) in Varanasi and
Raebareilly stations.
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Govt. launches POSHAN Maah 2019 campaign to promote ‘eat right India movement’
On September 5, 2019, the Union Health Minister Shri Harsh Vardhan launched mass media campaign POSHAN
Maah (nutrition campaign) 2019 to promote the “eat right India movement” (launched 10th July 2018) to
improve public health and combat negative nutritional trends. The campaign will have weekly themes in the
upcoming 365 days. This movement is aligned with the government’s flagship public health programmes such as
POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and Swachh Bharat Mission.
Other launches:
i. FSSAI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has designed the eat right quiz which could be
downloaded from Amazon Alexa skill store to enhance nutritional knowledge. It has also launched ‘Eat Right
Online Store’ offering goods carrying campaign messages. The three major pillars for the programare : Eat
Safe, Eat Healthy and Eat Sustainably.
ii.Online course: In order to combat the malnourished cases, a 4-week online course was also launched to train
the front line health workers. The course focuses on the importance of nutrition in the first 1000 days of a child’s
birth, food safety measures, etc.
iii. Logo: Logo for eating right India movement was launched. It represents a healthy plate in the logo.
Ladakh’s first ever Mobile Science Exhibition (SCIENCE EXPLORER) of NCSM in Leh flagged off by Shri
Prahlad Singh Patel
On September 5, 2019, first-ever Mobile Science Exhibition (SCIENCE EXPLORER) was flagged off in Leh,
Ladakh by Union culture and tourism minister (Independent charge) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and would be
available as first of its kind in the entire Ladakh region. He also launched 25 new Mobile Science
Exhibition(MSE) buses for Aspirational Districts across the country in order to reach the unserved/unreached
areas and it is fully funded by the culture ministry.
Key points
i. First MSE programme: The program was originally launched as, Mobile Science Museum (MSM) in 17
November 1965 and is still the longest-running outreach programme of National Council of Science Museums
(NCSM) with mission “If the people cannot visit the museum, let the museum visit the people at their doorsteps.”
In 1965 it was first launched at Ramakrishna Mission Boys’ School, Narendrapur, near Kolkata with the theme
“Our Familiar Electricity”.
ii. First MSE bus: The first MSE bus was launched in 1966 from Birla Industrial and Technological
Museum(BITM), Kolkata.
iii. Other science programmes: Various programs like sky Observation programme through telescope, science
films show, Science Demonstration Lectures etcwere also launched along with the MSE program.
iv. MSE objective in Ladakh: Create awareness, popularize, and inspire scientific knowledge to students and the
general public.
v. Members present:
Shri Gyal P Wangyal- Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council(LAHDC).
Shri ArunGoel – Culture secretary.
Smt Usha Sharma- Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India(DG-ASI), representative of NCSM and
other officials.
About NCSM: It is an autonomous organisation under culture ministry with the aim of engaging people in science
through its 25 countrywide centres.
Formation- 4 April 1978.
Headquarters- Kolkata.
Director General- A D Choudhury.
About Culture & tourism ministry:
Headquarters- New Delhi
Constituency of Prahlad Singh Patel- Damoh, Madhya Pradesh.
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First ‘Make in India’ Metro Coach In Mumbai inaugurated by PM Modi in Mumbai

On September 7, 2019, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Metro Coach in Mumbai under
the ‘Make in India’ initiative at Jio World Centre, Maharashtra, Mumbai. He also launched Rs.19,000 crore worth
metro projects with previous investment of Rs 1.5Lakh crore and laid foundation stone of 3 Metro lines to the
metro network of the city expected to be operational from 2031.
Visit to Mumbai
i. Metro projects: The metro projects were launched with vision ‘Mumbai in Minutes’.
ii. Metro Bhavan: PM laid foundation stone of the state-of-the-art Metro Bhavan which is a 32 storey centre and
would control 14 metro lines around 337 km radius. It would be constructed on the 20,387 square meter plot
with buildable area 1,14,088 square meters.
iii. Metro Coach: The metro coach was made in a record time of 75 days with design speed 90 kmph and
operational speed 80 kmph. It was designed by Bharat Earth Movers Ltd(BEML) in Mumbai.
iv.Metro station: Bandongri Metro Station in Kandivali East of Maharashtra was inaugurated by PM.
v. The three metro lines:
• 9.2 km long Gaimukh to ShivajiChowk Metro-10 corridor
• 12.7 km long Wadala to ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj Terminus Metro-11 corridor and
• 20.7 km long Kalyan to Taloja Metro-12 corridor.
vi. Document release: Brand Vision Document for Maha Mumbai Metro developed by Mumbai Metropolitan
Region Development Authority (MMDRA) was released.
Visit to Aurangabad:
In Aurangabad shri Modi addressed ‘MahilaSakshamMelava’ (Empowered Women’s Meet) of the Self Help
Groups(SHG) organised by the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (MSRLM).
i. AURIC: The first phase of Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) of 10,000 acre area developed under Delhi-
Mumbai Corridor at the Shendra industrial area, Maharashtra was observed to become an industrial centre in the
near future with more job generation. AURIC in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, is the first Greenfield
industrial smart city in the country.
ii. AURIC hall and chatbot: A 6 storey AURIC hall was inaugurated and an Auricchatbot to address city
administration problem was launched.
iii. LPG distribution: Achievement of 8 crore Liquified Petroleum Gas(LPG) connections distributed under the
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was made on the occasion. This marks the achievement of 8 crore gas
connections 7 months ahead of the target period.
iv. Book release: PM launched a book titled “Transforming Rural Maharashtra”.
v. Mega water scheme: Under the JalJeevan mission the government is to spend Rs. 3.5 lakh crore in the next 5
years to provide piped water connection (HarGharJal) to all rural households by 2024. This move is dedicated to
legendary socialist late Ram ManoharLohia for his dream of providing water to lessen the water issues faced by
women.
vi. Members present:
• Bhagat Singh Koshyari- Governor of Maharashtra.
• Shri Devendra Fadnavis- Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
• Shri PiyushGoyal- Union minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways and other officials.
PM of India & Nepal jointly inaugurate South Asia’s first cross-border petroleum products pipeline from
Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal
On September 10, 2019, Prime Minister (PM) of India Shri Narendra Modi and PM of Nepal K.P. Sharma
Oli jointly inaugurated South Asia’s first cross-border petroleum products pipeline of 69-km from Motihari in
Bihar, India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal through video conference.
Key Points:
i. It has a capacity of 2 million metric ton per annum.
ii. The price of petroleum products will be reduced by Rs. 2 per litre in Nepal.
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PM Shri Narendra Modi launched NADCP in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

On September 11, 2019, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi launched National Animal Disease
Control Programme (NADCP) in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath and Mathura Member of Parliament (MP) Hema Malini. NADCP aims to control the Foot and Mouth
Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the livestock by 2025 and eradicate them by 2030.
Key Points:
i. The cost of the project, funded entirely by the government, is Rs 12,652 crores for a period of five years
till 2024.
ii. Vaccination will be provided against the FMD to more than 500 million livestock including cattle, buffalo,
sheep, goats and pigs and 36 million female bovine calves annually to fight against the brucellosis disease.
Launch of other programmes
i. PM launched National Artificial Insemination Programme, Babugarh Sex Semen facility and Swachhta Hi Seva
Programme 2019 in Mathura.
ii. He requested the public to eliminate single use plastic from October 2, 2019.
iii. He also visited the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Pashu Arogya Mela.
DPIIT launched plastic waste management ‘Swachhta hi Sewa 2019’ campaign on September 11, 2019
The Department of Promotion and Industry and Internal Trade(DPITT) under the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry launched ‘Swachhta hi Sewa 2019′ campaign on September 11, 2019 as part of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s call to action against plastic waste from industrial estates, parks and other areas by all states
and Union Territories(UT). The theme of the campaign is Plastic Waste Management.
Key points
i. DPITT report: DPITT acts as a twofold role(having two aspects of qualities) for the campaign’s success
mandated by Jal Shakthi ministry’s Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation to collect the plastic waste by
2019 Diwali.
• First role: Recycle plastic waste collected on October 2 by DPITT personnel, in cement kilns
• Second role: Collection of plastic waste through nationwide ‘ShramDaan’(voluntary labour
contribution)
Key points
• The Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) was renamed as the Department For
Promotion Of Industry And Internal Trade (DPIIT)in January 2019.
• Established- 1995
PM Modi Launched “Swachhta Hi Seva 2019” Campaign at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

On september 11, 2019 the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi launched nationwide campaign
“Swachhta Hi Seva 2019”(SHS) in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh(UP). The theme for 2019 is ‘plastic waste
awareness and management’. This SHS which means “Cleanliness is service” is observed from 11th
September to October 2nd 2019 as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) that also aims to make the nation
Open Defecation Free(ODF) on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on September 2, 2019.
Swachhta Hi Seva 2019
It is a nationwide mass campaign aimed to collect the plastic waste in the country by 150th birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi(October 2,2019) and to dispose the plastic waste before 2019 Diwali (27th October).
i. The launch of SHS campaign 2019 in UP, is jointly organised by Departments of Animal Husbandry and
Dairying (AH&D), Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation(MDWS) and the Government of UP.
ii. PM also visited the Pashudhan Arogya Vigyan Mela, where the cows were operated to remove plastics from
their stomach.
iii. Members present: Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister
of State(MoS) of Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria and other officials were present.
iv. Department engagement under SHS 2019: The Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade
(DPIIT), ensured recycling of plastic waste with Cement Kilns, the Railway ministry has installed plastic crushers
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in various railway stations, the Jal ministry indulges in plastic waste segregation with Women’s Group etc.
v. Portal: A special portal and web page on MyGov.in is available where people can upload pre and post
intervention photos of their shramdaan(Voluntary work) and other interventions.
vi. WHO estimates: The World Health Organisation(WHO) as of 2017, estimated that through this sanitation
drive, nearly 3 lakh lives would be saved and also the cases of diarrhoea would fall by 30% in the country.
About SHS:
The First SHS was launched on September 15, 2017 by the President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind in Kanpur,
Uttar Pradesh.
i. Coordinator: The campaign is coordinated by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation(DDWS),
which is concerned ministry managing the Swachh Bharat Mission
ii. Objective: To urge people to reinforce them in Jan Andolan (mass movement) in the sanitation drive to
contribute for Gandhi’s dream of clean India.
About SBM:
The swachh Bharat mission also called as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan(SBA) is a nationwide campaign from 2014-19
with the objectives of clean environment across the country and also 100% ODF by october 2, 2019.
• Launch- 2 October 2014.
• Cost- the cleanliness drive cost is expected to be over ₹620 billion (US$9.0 billion).
Questions:
1. Who launched SHS 2019 in Mathura, UP
2. Coordinator of SHS?
3. Theme of SHS 2019
4. ODF target achievement date
Ravi Shankar Prasad launches India’s first Maritime Communication Services and CEIR system in India
On September 13, 2019, Nelco, (National Radio & Electronics Company) a security service provider company of
the TATA group, announced the launch of maritime communication services. By this launch, Nelco became the
first Indian company to provide broadband services in maritime sector. This communication service that
provides uninterrupted Broadband internet to any maritime vessel sailing in Indian waters was launched by
Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar
Prasad in Mumbai along with pilot launch of Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system to track stolen
mobile phones.
Maritime communication service
i. Features of service: Voice, data and video services to communicate between sailing vessels, cruise ships using
satellite technology.
ii. Nelco partnerships: For this maritime communication service, Nelco has partnered with Indian Space
Research Organisation(ISRO) for transponder capacity(wireless communication device capacity that responds to
signals) and other partners globally.
iii. IFMC license: The In-flight and Maritime Communications (IFMC) license which was announced in December
2018 for flights and vessels(ships) on water by Telecom ministry, provides operational efficiency for people
onboard in the ship.
CEIR) system pilot launch
i. Pilot project for stolen mobiles: International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a 15-digit code to
uniquely identify a mobile phone device. With the help of IMEI number, stolen mobile devices can be easily
tracked and it can also help in blocking the devices. Cloning of IMEI illegally by miscreants, may affect genuine
customers also. Hence the DoT undertook a project called Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system to
address the theft, reprogramming the mobile handsets etc.
ii. TSP: This pilot project in Maharashtra will be undertaken by Telecom Service Providers(TSP) such as Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd(BSNL), RJio(Reliance-jio), Airtel, Vodafone-Idea.
iii. Pilot project feature: The project provides the facility to report the loss/theft of mobile phones and blocking
such devices across the telecom network so as to prevent reuse of the stolen device. Re-usage of the device by
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any user will also let the TSP to track the device location and also this system would reduce duplication of IMEI.
iv. Other members present:
• Sanjay Dhotre- Minister of State for Communication.
• Shri Anshu Prakash- secretary in the Department of Telecommunications(DoT) of Communication
ministry, and other officials.
About Nelco:
♦ It is a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) solution provider.
♦ Formed- 1940.
♦ Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Mr. P J Nath.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot launched India’s first ‘Jan Soochna Portal’ RAJIV campaign
On September 13, 2019 the Chief Minister(CM) Shri Ashok Gehlot, of the govt. of Rajasthan has launched a portal
called ‘Jan Soochna Portal‘ under the Rajasthan Innovation Vision (RAJIV) campaign that was started to
commemorate former Prime minister(PM) Rajiv Gandhi’s 75th anniversary. This portal designed by the
information and technology(IT) department, is a first of its kind in India to provide access to information about
govt. departments in a single platform. This portal will provide people to seek the Right to Information(RTI) with
transparency and accountability.
Key points
Portal detail: The portal provides information of 13 departments in a single platform under Section 4 (2) of the
RTI act 2005. This act provides voluntary disclosure of information from different authorities and government
departments.
Members present:
• Sachin Pilot- Deputy CM of Rajasthan.
• Renata LokDessallien– UN(United Nations) resident coordinator.
• Rajasthan chief secretary- D B Gupta.
• Aruna Roy- Social activist.
• AP Shah- former Chief Justice(CJ) of Delhi High Court and other officials were present.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar flags off ‘Jaldoot’ bus for water conservation initiative in Pune
On September 14, 2019 the union minister for environment, forest and climate change Shri Prakash
Javadekar (also Information & Broadcasting minister) flagged off a bus named “Jaldoot” in Pune, Maharashtra
which showcases the importance of water conservation. This bus which is redesigned to create “Jaldoot:
Travelling Exhibition on Jalshakti Abhiyan”, would travel to 8 districts of Maharashtra for 2 months and
would also convey to people about the work of govt. in last 100 days, along with bold initiatives and decisions
undertaken.
Key points
i. The bus was developed by Regional Outreach Bureau(ROB) of Pune under the ministry of information and
broadcasting in association with MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation). Oath on
‘swachhta’(cleanliness) was undertaken in the event, administered by Javdekar.
ii. The aim of jal shakti ministry to provide piped drinking water by 2024 was reminded.
iii. Members present: Girish Bapat and Supria Sule(both Members of Parliament(MP)), Satyendra Sharan-
Director General of ROB, RN Mishra- director general of Press Information Bureau(PIB)- west zone and other
officials were present.
Javadekar inaugurates the renovated Jayakar bungalow at NFAI in Pune, Maharashtra

On September 15, 2019, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Environment,
Forest and Climate Change has inaugurated the renovated Jayakar bungalow (a famous heritage building of
Pune) at National Film Archive of India (NFAI)in Pune, Maharashtra. The bungalow has been renovated with
an outlay of 3 crore rupees.
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Key points:
i. The renovated bungalow have a digital film library and private space to watch the films of NFAI’s collection.
Javadekar also released a special booklet ‘Parampara: An ode to Jayakar Bungalow’, which tells the history of
the bungalow as well as its restoration. The special feature of this booklet is that eminent film personalities like
Shabana Azmi and Rehana Sultan have shared their experiences. Javadekar also launched a mobile app for
booking to watch movies at NFAI.
ii. Jayakar Bungalow was originally built in 1910. It is named after the first Vice Chancellor of the University of
Pune, MR Jayakar. In the past, the ownership of the bungalow came from the hands of Jayakar to the Indian Law
Society and then to FTII (Film and Television Institute of India ) and finally to NFAI.
iii. The two-storey bungalow is designed with wooden floors, The narrow staircases and high shelves of books
symbolize British architecture.
About NFAI:
i. It is India’s premier organization for film preservation, conservation, and restoration.
ii. It works under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Polish Minister Marcin Przydacz unveils memorial pillar in Valivade, Kolhapur in memory of refugee
Polish families during WWII
On September 14, 2019, Marcin Przydacz, the deputy foreign minister of Poland unveiled a memorial pillar
in Valivade in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra in memory of the 5000 polish refugee families that settled in
Valivade during World War II (WWII) 80 years ago.
Key points
i. A permanent museum is also expected to be set up within 1 year in memory of the refugees containing
Photographs, paintings, and other important materials from that era.
ii. Members present: Polish Ambassador to India Adam Burakowski and Guardian Minister of Kolhapur
Chandrakant Patil and other officials were present during the event.
Union Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated NCCCR&D at IISc-Bengaluru
On September 16, 2019, Union Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, inaugurated the National
Centre for Clean Coal Research and Development (NCCCR&D) at Indian Institute of Science (IISc)-
Bengaluru, Karnataka which was set up by the union government through the Department of Science &
Technology (DST), in the presence of Secretary, DST ,Prof. Ashutosh Sharma and Director, IISc, Prof. Anurag
Kumar. Key Points:
i. It is a national level consortium on clean coal Research & Development (R&D) and it is led by the IISc-
Bengaluru. IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)- Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati, Bombay, and Hyderabad are its
partners.
ii. Organisations such as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL),
Bharat Heavy Electronics Ltd. (BHEL), Tata Power, and Triveni Turbines Ltd are the target beneficiaries of
NCCCR&D.
iii. The Minister also dedicated India’s first of its kind centre equipped with state-of-art facilities-
an Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research (ICER) to the nation. It is one of the youngest centres at IISc-
Bengaluru.
iv. India has an aim to generate 175 GW(Giga-Watt) of clean energy by 2022. Out of this, 100 GW would be
through solar and remaining through other sources.
v. The target to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases stands between 33% and 35% by 2030 and country has
reduced it to 21%.
About Ministry of Science & Technology:
♦ Formed: May 1971
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EAM and MHRD launched PhD fellowship programme for ASEAN students in IITs
On September 16, 2019, External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India Dr S Jaishankar and Minister of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the PhD (Doctor of
Philosophy) fellowship programme, initially launched by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in Indian
Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the students from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In
January 2018, prime minister Modi had notified to offer 1000 integrated PhD fellowships for ASEAN students in
IITs at the 25th Anniversary ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi.
Key Points:
i. IIT-Delhi is designated by the MHRD as the coordinating IIT for the fellowship programme and it has developed
a web portal (http://asean.iitd.ac.in) to administer the application and admission process.
ii. The total budget outlay for the fellowship programme is Rs 300 crore (approximately US $ 45 million).
iii. Fellowship programme is the single-largest capacity development initiative of India in its partnership with
ASEAN.
India’s first National Antimicrobial Resistance Hub inaugurated in Kolkata, West Bengal
On September 16, 2019, The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) inaugurated India’s first National
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Hub in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was developed by ICMR in association with
the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services. ICMR director-general Balram Bhargava,
National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) director Shanta Dutta and US ambassador to India
Kenneth I Juster were among the dignitaries present at the inaugural ceremony.
Key Points:
i. It is also the hub for research on antibiotic resistance for South Asia which is aimed to identify antibiotics that
work best for diseases and frame a policy for antibiotic use.
ii. A National Antimicrobial Treatment Guideline was also released on the occasion.
iii. ICMR will launch an indigenous dengue vaccine designed to counter the outbreak of the vector-borne virus
in 2020.
iv. Recently, India had joined the Global AMR Research and Development (R&D) hub as its 16th member.
About ICMR:
♦ Founded: 1911
Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched various initiatives of AICTE in New Delhi
On September 18, 2019, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal
‘Nishank’ launched various initiatives of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi.
Key Points:
• Initiatives: The initiatives are Facilitation through Margadarshan and Margadarshak, Model Curriculum
for Diploma Courses, Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE
Summit 2019) and 360-degree Feedback of Faculty.
• Margadarshan initiative: Under this scheme, institutions having good accreditation record/ highly
performing institutions are provided funding upto Rs. 50 lakhs per institution over a period of three
years in instalments for carrying out various activities. For FY 2019-20, amount of Rs 6.45 crore is
sanctioned to 26 institutions.
• Margdarshak initiative: Under this scheme, mentor teachers or Margdarshaks are identified and they
will guide the mentee institutions to get accreditation by National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Their
tenure will be initially for 6 months but extendable on year on year basis.
• 360-degree Feedback of Faculty: AICTE 7th Pay Regulation defines the process of collecting the 360-
degree Feedback Data that will be submitted by the education institutes.
• WAWE Summit 2019: The WAWE Summit will be held in November-December 2019 which will be
jointly organized by the AICTE and Institute of Waste Management (IIWM) at Jaipur, Rajasthan. Theme
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will be ‘Make your own bag’. It will be the largest gathering of young women students to promote
entrepreneurship in waste management.
About AICTE:
♦ Formed: November 1945
♦ Chairman: Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe
Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched Ayushman Bharat Pakhwara ahead of first anniversary of
AB-PMJAY in Delhi
On September 15, 2019, the Union health & family welfare minister Shri Harsh Vardhan launched Ayushman
Bharat Pakhwara, a fortnight-long awareness about the Ayushman Bharat scheme and other initiatives like
Poshan Abhiyaan and Swachhta Abhiyaan in New Delhi, to focus on promotive and curative aspects of healthcare,
nutrition, yoga, and healthy lifestyle. It is observed from September 15-30, 2019 celebrating one-year launch of
Ayushman Bharat- the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) on September 23, 2019.
Key points
i. Achievements: About 21000 health and wellness centres have been established so far and over 47 lakh people
have benefited from the scheme in the first year.
ii. Future targets: 1.5 Lakh Health Centres are to be set up by 2022 under the Ayushman Bharat scheme which
provides Rs 5lakh per year under the insurance cover.
iii. Workshop: To mark one year of the PM-JAY, the National Health Authority will be organizing a 2-day
national workshop, Arogya Manthan, on September 30th and October 1st, 2019.
NASSCOM’s DSCI, MeitY and Google India launched a nationwide ‘Digital Payment Abhiyan’
The National Association of Software and Services Company’s (NASSCOM) Data Security Council of
India (DSCI), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and Google India had collaborated
together to launch a nationwide awareness campaign ‘Digital Payment Abhiyan‘. The campaign was launched
by the Communications and Electronics & Information Technology (IT) Minister Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad on
September 19, 2019 at the 5th edition of Google for India event in New Delhi.
Key Points:
• The campaign in 7 languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi is aimed to
educate people on the benefits of making digital payments and adopt security and safety best practices.
• The digital payments ecosystem partners to expand the program are Airtel Payments Bank Ltd, Axis
Bank, BharatPe, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Karnataka, Google Pay, Government of
Telangana, HDFC Bank, MasterCard, National Bank of Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD),
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Paypal, Paytm Payments Bank Limited, PayU, State Bank
of India (SBI) and VISA.
Launch of other initiatives
• Google launched an integrated payment, jobs app and its first Google Research India- an artificial
intelligence (AI) research lab in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• It partnered with Swiggy, Dunzo, 24Seven, Fabhotels and HealthKart to post jobs on the platform.
• The jobs platform is part of a bigger “Spot” platform which was added to Google Pay.
• The AI lab is by Manish Gupta, a computer scientist and an Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
fellow.
Agreements
• Google partnered with National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) and Skill India to introduce
the job-centric Spot codes to offline locations and NSDC centres.
• Google and Vodafone-Idea entered into an agreement to introduce Google Assistant to 2G and feature
phone users. Google Assistant function will be made available in 9 local languages in India.
• Hindi is the second-most used ‘Assistant’ language globally after English.
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Google Inc:
♦ Founded: 1998, California
♦ Founders: Larry page, Sergey Brin
♦ Headquarters: California
♦ CEO: Sundar Pichai
Indian Railways for the first time installed PET bottle crush machine in Mumbai Rajdhani express
For the first time in India, Indian Railways installed Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle crush machine
in Mumbai Rajdhani Express which runs between Mumbai Central and New Delhi. It was implemented by
the Western Railways as part of the Indian Railways’ Swachh Bharat and Go Green missions associated with the
ban of single-use plastic imposed by the Centre.
Key Points:
i. This machine can crush up to 3,000 bottles per day, enable recycling of 90% PET waste bottles from 200 ml-2.5
litre size, reduce carbon footprint by 100% recycling and avoid littering in landfill from bottle waste.
ii. It has an internal storage bin of approx 20 litres which is equivalent to 1500 bottles.
iii. Western Railways has set up selfie points at Churchgate and Andheri stations, Mumbai to raise awareness on
plastic ban.
About Western Railways:
♦ Headquarters: Churchgate, Mumbai
♦ General Manager: Shri Anil Kumar Gupta
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launched ‘UMMID’ initiative for new born babies and inaugurated NIDAN
kendras in New Delhi
On September 23, 2019 the union minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare
Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched ‘UMMID’ (Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders)
initiative designed on the concept of “prevention is better than cure” to make efforts to tackle genetic diseases
inherited by new born babies, in New Delhi. He also inaugurated ‘NIDAN’ (National Inherited Diseases
Administration) Kendras, under the aegis of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and
Technology.
Key points
i. UMMID aim: The aim of UMMID is
• To establish NIDAN kendras for testing, diagnosis and treatment of genetic disease with multidisciplinary
care especially in govt. Hospitals as a part of first phase.
• Producing skilled clinicians in Human Genetics and
• Screening of pregnant women and the newborn for genetic disease in aspirational districts.
ii. UMMID initiative will work under the National Health Policy, 2017 that aims to shift focus from “sick-care” to
“wellness”. This initiative will be taken to other countries in its next phases.
iii. Initially 5 NIDAN kendras have been established for providing clinical care.
iv. Genetics training: Madras Medical Mission- Chennai; Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical
Sciences (SGPGIMS) Lucknow; The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) , Hyderabad; All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi; Maulana Azad Medical College(MAMC) New Delhi; National
Institute of Immunohaematology(NIIH) Mumbai and Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore have been
supported to provide training in Biochemical Genetics, Cytogenetics, Molecular Genetics, and Clinical Genetics to
the clinicians of government hospitals. Screening of 10,000 pregnant women and 5000 new born babies per year
will be done in the following 7 aspirational districts.
Aspirational districts:
No. Institute Aspirational district State name
1 SGPGIMS, Lucknow Sharawasti Uttar Pradesh
2 NIIH, Mumbai Nandurbar Maharashtra
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3 CMC, Vellore Washim Maharashtra

4 CDFD, Hyderabad Yadgir Karnataka
5 LHMC, New Delhi Mewat Haryana
6 AIIMS, New Delhi Haridwar Uttarakhand
7 MAMC, New Delhi Ranchi/Bokaro Jharkhand
Initial 5 NIDAN kendras:
No. NIDAN kendra
1 Lady Hardinge Medical College(LHMC), Delhi.
2 Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences(NIMS), Hyderabad, Telangana.
3 AIIMS, Jodhpur.
4 Army Hospital Research Camp,Referral Delhi
5 Nil RatanSircar(NRS) Medical College and hospital, Kolkata
About union health ministry:
Founded- 1976.
Minister of State (MoS)- Ashwini Kumar Choubey (constituency- Buxar, Bihar)
Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘TB Harega Desh Jeetega’ campaign & National TB Prevalence Survey 2019
On September 25, 2019, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare (HFW) Dr Harsh Vardhan launched ‘TB
Harega Desh Jeetega’ campaign & National TB Prevalence Survey 2019 in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the
India’ s aim of eradication of Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, ahead of the United Nations (UN) deadline of 2030 in its
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). TB is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)
bacteria which affects the lungs.
Key Points:
i.About the campaign: The 3 pillars of the campaign are clinical approach, public health component and active
community participation and the patients will receive treatment including the private sector, free-of-cost with
high quality TB care.
ii. Other initiatives: He flagged off a van for the National TB Prevalence Survey 2019 (25 vans will be part of the
survey for 6 months) and unveiled TB India Report (2019), the Work Place Policy Framework for TB, Operational
Guideline for Employer Led Model on TB, Training module for transforming TB survivor to TB champion, and
Elected Representative’s Handbook on TB and an all oral regimen kit for multi-drug resistant TB patients.
iii. National TB Report 2019: 21.5 lakh TB cases were reported in 2018 compared to 18 lakhs in 2017 (increase
of 17%). Notifications from private sector health care providers stood at 5.4 lakhs, an increase of 40%,
contributing to 25% of all TB notifications.
iv. Tie-up: A partnership with the World Bank was also announced. The World Bank will provide $400
million credit for accelerating TB response in 9 states through private sector engagement and other critical
interventions. Already, govt has tied up with Global Fund to launch JEET (Joint Effort for Elimination of TB).
v. Awards: Among states with a large population (>50 lakhs), Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were awarded as
best performers in tackling TB. Among medium population (less than 50 lakhs) states, Tripura & Sikkim; among
Union Territories (UT), Puducherry and Daman and Diu were awarded as best performers.
vi. Measures taken to eliminate TB: It also launched the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, a direct benefit transfer (DBT)
scheme to provide nutritional support to TB patients where patients receive Rs. 500 per month for the entire
duration of treatment. Till now, a total amount of Rs. 427 crore has been paid to over 26 lakhs beneficiaries.
viii. Other members present during the launch: Mr Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State (HFW), Dr
Vinod K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India); Smt. Preeti Sudan,
Secretary (HFW); Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) &
Secretary Department of Health Research (DHR); Shri Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary (HFW); Dr Sanjay
Tyagi, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS); Dr Henk Bekedam, World Health Organization (WHO)
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Representative to India, Mr. Jorge Coarasa, Program Leader, World Bank and representatives of other UN
organisations.
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare:
♦ Formed: 1976
Dr Jitendra Singh launched CPGRAMS reforms in Department of Posts

On September 25, 2019, Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr.
Jitendra Singh unveiled the Centralised Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)
reforms in Department of Posts. The event was organised by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and
Pensions in New Delhi.
Key Points:
i. The new CPGRAMS 7.0 version by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) is
the platform which receives, redresses and monitors grievances from the public which can be accessed
through www.pgportal.nic.in. It will cut processing time by 50% in the Department of Posts.
ii. The minister also inaugurated CPGRAMS 7.0 exhibition.
iii. Other members present: Shri K. V. Eapen, Secretary (DARPG & Pensions), Smt Meera Handa, Director
General Posts, Shri V. Srinivas, Additional Secretary, DARPG and senior officers were present on the occasion.
Pilot Project for ‘Industry 4.0’ launched at the Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
On September 28, 2019 The Ministry of Railways and Department of Science & Technology in partnership with
Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Kanpur launched a pilot project for implementation of ,‘Industry 4.0’ which is
a subset of the 4th industrial revolution, at Modern Coach Factory (MCF) at Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh (UP). This
newly launched project would be undertaken under the aegis of “Technology Mission for Indian Railways”
(TMIR).
Key points
i. The project would be implemented by a consortium of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource
Development(MHRD) and Ministry of Science & Technology based on an investment sharing model in taking up
railway projects for research purpose and implement it in Indian Railways for its advancement. This move in the
manufacturing sector is expected to contribute at least 25% to GDP(Gross Domestic Product).
ii. ICPS: The research projects are expected to function smoothly with the recent launch of DST’s new
R&D(Research & Development) programme named “Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems” (ICPS). Around Rs
4000crore is expected to be sent in this area in the coming years.
iii. Industry 4.0: It is the name given to current trends in automation and data exchange in manufacturing
technologies for productivity increment. Industry 4.0 makes use of Internet of Things(IoT), Artificial
Intelligence(AI), Big Data & Analytics, Machine Learning and Cloud Computing. As Industry 4.0 is a complex
system, the architecture will have to be gradually expanded in phased manner only inorder to achieve Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Members present: Railway Board (Member Rolling Stock), Shri Rajesh Agrawal, Secretary in Department of
Science & Technology(DST) Shri Ashutosh Sharma, Professor N.S.Vyas of IIT Kanpur, Director General in
Research Design and Standards Organisation(DG-RDSO) Shri Virendra Kumar, General Manager(GM) of MCF
Shri V.M. Srivatsava,other senior Officials of the Railway Board and the HRD Ministry.
About MCF, Raebareli:
Founded: 2012.
Headquarters: Raebareli, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
This MCF has the capacity to manufacture 1000 passenger coaches annually.
It has increased its production 710 Linke Hofmann Busch(LHB) coaches in 2017-2018 to 1425 LHB coaches in
2018-2019.
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DDWS, Jal Shakti Ministry and GoI launched the 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029)
On September 27, 2019 the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti,
Government of India(GoI) launched 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029) to focus on sustaining the
change in sanitation behaviour that has been achieved under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G). This is
done to dedicate the Swachh Bharat to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary by ensuring increase in
access to solid and liquid waste management and also ensuring no one is left behind. Shri Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, launched the strategy book.
Key points
i. Achievements: Since SBM-Gs launch in 2014, 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas across the country
and nearly 5.9 lakh villages, 699 districts, 35states and Union Territories(UT) were declared Open Defecation
Free (ODF) by themselves. This strategy in planning for ODF Plus has been prepared by DDWS.
ii. 10-year strategy: With India seeing the sanitation revolution and SBM-G transformation to Jan Andolan
(people’s movement), the 10-year strategy focuses on the need for States and UTs to continue their efforts to
sustain the mission gains through capacity strengthening, IEC (Information, education and communication),
organic waste management, plastic waste management, grey water management and black water management.
About SBM-G:
♦ The nirmal bharat abhiyan in 1999, which was a total Sanitation Campaign was restructured to form the
Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) in 2014.
♦ The aim of this SBM-G is to make the nation ODF in 5 years from its implementation i.e, 2019 on Mahatma
Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
Festivals
3-day International Snacks Festival 2019 inaugurated in Hyderabad

On August 30, 2019, A 3-day International Snacks Festival 2019 was inaugurated in Hyderabad, Telangana. It
was inaugurated at the Ameerpet Metro station by Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMRL) Managing Director (MD) NVS
Reddy, along with secretary to Tourism, Culture & Youth Affairs of Telangana, B Venkatesham and Larsen &
Toubro Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) project director MP Naidu and others.
Key Points:
i. It showcased snacks and ethnic sweets from 7 countries and 10 states.
ii. The snacks are sold at 4 metro stations namely Ameerpet, Hitec City, Uppal and the Mahatma Gandhi Bus
Station (MGBS).
iii.The event was organized by CLIC ( Culture language Indian Connections) in association with HMR( Hyderabad
Metro Rail), L&T Metro, Telangana Tourism and the Department of Language & Culture, Govt of Telangana.
3 day 5th International Ramayana Festival organised by ICCR held in New Delhi
3 day long 5th International Ramayana Festival was inaugurated in New Delhi on September 17, 2019 by Union
minister of home affairs Shri Amit Shah. The festival is organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR)
to promote Indian culture and its values and will be held until September 19, 2019. 17 countries have
participated in the festival which is organised 5th time in a row.
Key points
i. The festival will be conducted in Lucknow between September 20-22 and in Pune on September 21, 2019.
5th Indian International Science Festival 2019 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) in Kolkata,
West Bengal 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.
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Key points
i. Aim: The aim of this festival is to celebrate India’s scientific and technological advancements with the
participation of students, innovators, scientists, craftsmen, and farmers.
ii. Organisers: The IISF is jointly organized by science & technology-related Ministries and departments of the
Government of India(GoI) and Vijnana Bharati. Vigyan Prasar an autonomous organisation of the Department of
Science and Technology(DST), will be the event coordinator
Tribal Affairs Ministry inaugurates National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav 2019” in Noida, Uttar
Pradesh
On September 28, 2019, The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Renuka Singh has inaugurated the National
Tribal Festival, ‘Adi Mahotsav 2019‘, which focuses on rich tribal culture, crafts, food and commerce, at India
Expo Centre, Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Key points:
i. Organized by the tribal ministry, the Festival has70 stalls of the exhibition cum-sale center, where tribal
handicrafts, art, paintings, textiles, jewelry has been displayed. About 200 tribal artisans from all over the
country participated in this festival.
ii. Tribal garments manufactured in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and
Gujarat in the West to Nagaland /Sikkim in the East available at the festival.
iii. For the first time tribal artisans received credit / debit card payments through Point of Sale (PoS) machine.
For this, State Bank of India(SBI) has provided special training.
iv. TRIBES India has tied up with Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Paytm and Government of India portal
Gem(Government e-Market place). Apart from this, TRIBES India has its own e-commerce portal –
http://www.tribesindia.com.
v. During the inauguration, Shri Deepal Khandekar, Secretary, Tribal Affairs and Shri R.C. Meena, Chairman,
TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India)were also present.
About Ministry of Tribal Affairs:
♦ Founded: 1999
♦ Cabinet Minister :Arjun Munda
About TRIFED:
♦ Formation: 1987
♦ Headquarter: New Delhi
Telangana begins to celebrate the floral festival, Bathukamma for the year 2019
Bathukamma, a 9-day wonderful festival of flowers celebrated by the women on a grand scale has commenced
in the Warangal city of Telangana on September 28, 2019, & will conclude on October 6, 2019.
Key points:
i. The festival is celebrated for the entire 9 days of Navratri (begins on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya and ends
on Saddula Bathukamma festival on Durgashtami, two days before Dussehra).
ii. In Navratri, Hindu deity Gauri Devi is worshiped as Batukamma idols, which is made up of flower stack.
iii. The women pray to Batukamma, sing folklore and ask deity a boon of health, prosperity, and happiness for
her family. Bathukamma means a beautiful pile of flowers. Most of the flowers with medicinal properties are
used in Bathukamma.
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Other News Related to Indian Affairs
Secretary-General of INTERPOL, Mr. Jurgen Stock, called on Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, in New
Delhi
On August 31, 2019, International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Secretary General, Mr. Jürgen
Stock, called on Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, in New Delhi. He assured the best support of INTERPOL
for the fight against terror.
Key Points:
i. The proposal was made to host the INTERPOL General Assembly in New Delhi in the year 2022, as part of
celebrations of the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence.
ii. India expressed its willingness to be a Regional Hub of INTERPOL Global Academy by extending assistance &
infrastructural support.
About INTERPOL:
♦ Motto: Connecting police for a safer world
♦ Established: 1923 (As International Criminal Police Commission)
♦ Renamed as INTERPOL: 1956
♦ Headquarters: Lyon, France
Cultural event ‘Namaste pacific’ organised in Delhi

On August 27, 2019, cultural event ‘Namaste Pacific’ was organised in Delhi jointly by the high commissions of
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji to showcase pacific region cultures in India.
Key points
i. Para-athlete Deepa Malik (Shot Put player) and future Secretary (East) of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
from October 1, 2019 Vijay Thakur Singh were the guest of honours at the event.
ii. During the event, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Pollinate energy based in Australia, Nepal and
India was also showcased.
Central Government to invest Rs 25,000 crore in different sectors of fisheries in next 5 years
With an aim to improve the fisheries sector, the Union government has plans to invest Rs. 25,000 crore in
different sectors of fisheries in the next 5 years. It will help in the accomplishment of the goals of the ambitious
Blue Revolution (Fisheries) project.
Key Points:
• Aim: Center has an aim to expand the scope of inland fisheries, increase productivity in aquaculture
farms by monitoring disease, double the aquaculture productivity from 3 million tonnes at present to 6
million tonnes, implement traceability to double seafood exports in 5 years from around Rs 47,000 crore
at present.
• Funds: Funds will be brought in from different schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Sampada Yojana
(Matsya) and World Bank schemes which will be launched in 2020. Fishery infrastructure development
fund has been started with Rs 7,300 crore.
• MoU: The Ministry of Fisheries has signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Norway and it
will sign an agreement with Iceland and Denmark for breeding high value fishes like trout.
• Marine Fisheries Regulation and Management Bill: It will help to regulate the entire exclusive
economic zone and prevent poaching by foreign fishing vessels. Trawlers, fishing gear and net will also be
regulated. At present, the bill is in the public domain for discussion.
• Inland fisheries contribute only 50% of the total fish production.
• Recently, Aqua Aquaria India 2019 (5th Edition) was held at Hyderabad, Telangana.
About Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying:
♦ Formed: May 2019
♦ Minister In-charge: Giriraj Singh (Constituency: Begusarai, Bihar)
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Health ministry proposes The Health Care Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of
Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019
On September 3, 2019 in order to address the issue of violence faced by doctors and the damages caused to
clinical establishment properties, the Union health ministry has decided to propose a legislation bill titled “The
Health Care Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property)
Bill”, 2019, which provides 10yr imprisonment treating it as a non-bailable offence and fine of upto Rs.10 lakhs
to a person assaulting doctor or other health care personnel.
Key points
i. The health ministry has also invited suggestions from public within 30 days of drafting the legislation.
ii. Penalty: In case of committing violence, fine would be from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 5 lakh attracting jail term from
6months-3years. In case of grievous hurt then fine would range from Rs.2lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs. Non-payment of
compensation will be covered as arrears of land revenue under Revenue Recovery Act 1890.
About health ministry:
♦ Founded- 1976
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi
♦ Union minister- Harsh Vardhan (constituency- ChandniChowk, Delhi)
♦ Minister of State(MoS)- Faggan Singh Kulaste (constituency- Mandla, Madhya Pradesh).
DST selects IIT-Delhi & IIT Kharagpur to establish shared science and technology infrastructure facility
SATHI
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and IIT Kharagpur have been selected by the Department of
Science and Technology (DST) to establish a shared science and technology infrastructure facility
named Sophisticated Analytical and Technical Help Institute (SATHI).
Key Points:
i. DST will provide Rs 125 Crore over a period of 3 years, starting from 2019-20, to set up SATHI.
ii. The centre will provide professionally managed services to meet the demands of industry, start-ups and
academia which will be accessible to them and to manufacturing units and research & development labs.
iii. IIT Kharagpur will treat the SATHI Centre as its Social Scientific Responsibility (SSR) programme.
iv. The centre will be set up in the Sonepat campus (Haryana) of IIT Delhi.
v. SATHI Centre will run the clock in a year.
Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, declared Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-
ur-Rehman Lakhvi & Dawood Ibrahim as individual terrorists
On September 4, 2019, The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a gazette notification stating Jaish-e-
Mohammad (JeM) chief and Pulwama terror attack (February 14, 2019) mastermind Maulana Masood Azhar,
Jamaat ud Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, LeT’s chief operational commander and
26/11 attack key accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and United Nations (UN) designated global
terrorist Dawood Ibrahim as individual terrorists under Clause (a) of Sub-section (1) of Section 35 of
the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. They are the first individuals to be designated as
terrorists under the law.
Key Points:
i. Pakistan based terrorists will be the first ones to be designated as terrorists on a priority basis. The decisions
have been after Parliament approved an amendment to the UAPA Act last month, which states individuals can
be declared as terrorists.
ii. They have been designated as terrorists in support with the laws in European Union (EU) countries, the United
States of America (USA), China, Israel, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.
iii. MHA mentioned 5 terror cases on Azhar, 4 cases on Hafiz Saeed- Red Fort attack (2000), Rampur attack
(2008), 26/11 Mumbai attack (2008) BSF (Border Security Force) convoy attack at Udhampur in Jammu &
Kashmir (2015); and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi in 4 cases.
iv. Dawood was designated as a global terrorist by the UN under the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
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Resolution 1267. In addition, he is listed in al-Qaida sanction list on November 3, 2003. UNSC had also issued a
special notice in his name on April 6, 2006.
Union environment ministry to draft a master plan for tigers at high altitude
On September 3, 2019, the Union environment minister Shri Prakash Javadekar (also information &
broadcasting minister) decided to draft a master plan for the tigers after releasing a report on the presence of
tigers in high altitude ecosystems prepared by the Global Tiger Forum (GTF).
Key points
i. The GTF report in collaboration with the government of Bhutan, India and Nepal, along with World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF) and supported by Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP) of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), states that life at very high altitude for tigers is
compatible.
About GTF:
♦ Formed- 1993.
♦ Member countries- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.
♦ Chairperson- Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji.
♦ Secretary-General – Dr. Rajesh Gopal.
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi.
Food ministry announces single-use plastic bottles ban from Sep 15

On September 5, 2019 the Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Shri Ram Vilas Paswan announced the
ban of single-use plastic bottles in various departments and Public Sector Units(PSU) which also includes the
Food Corporation of India (FCI). The ban becomes effective from September 15 onwards.
Key points
i. The decision was taken during a high-level meeting in the ministry with all high officials from FCI, consumer
affairs and food ministry and Bureau of International Standards(BIS).
5 public institutes were awarded IoE status by the HRD Ministry

On September 5, 2019 the Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD) awarded Institute of
Eminence (IoE) status to a total of 5 institutions, and Letter of Intent (LoI) for granting the IoE to 5 private
universities, based on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission(UGC). They are as follows
IoE
Delhi University (DU- New Delhi)
Banaras Hindu University (BHU-Varanasi- Uttar Pradesh)
University of Hyderabad(UoH- Telangana)
Indian Institute of Technology- Madras (IIT-M- Tamilnadu)
IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp- West Bengal)
LoI:
Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham University (Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu)
Vellore Institute of technology (VIT-Tamilnadu)
JamiaHamdard University (New Delhi)
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology(KIIT-Odisha)
Bharti Institute of Public Policy (Mohali, Punjab)
Recommended universities for IoE:
The panel recommended Shiv Nadar University in Noida,Utta Pradesh and OP Jindal University in Sonipat,
Haryana for the IoE status. Similarly, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments were asked to indicate their
commitment in contribution to Jadavpur University and Anna University respectively to enable them to have the
IoE tag.
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IoE recommended universities:

Shiv Nadar University (SNU-Noida, Uttar Pradesh)
OP Jindal University (Haryana)
Jadavpur University (Kolkata, West Bengal)
Anna University(TamilNadu)
Institutions selected for IoE in first round:
Earlier 6 institutions (3private, 3public) were selected for IoE in first round of selection. These 3 public
institutions were declared IoEs, while the 3 private institutions were issued LoI. The institutions are as follows,
Public Institution Private Institution
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Manipal Academy of Higher Education
Bangalore, Karnataka (MAHE), Manipal, Karnataka
IIT-Delhi Birla Institute of Technology& Sciences
(BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan
IIT- Bombay Jio Institute under the Greenfield category
Current status:
Currently, there are 16 institutions as IoEs, apart from those 4 recommended institutions where the State
Government’s confirmation and commitment is awaited.
IoE:
i. It was proposed by the MHRD in 2018 to establish world-class institutes in the country, as no Indian
Universities were ranked in the 2017 World University Rankings. By this framework, 10 public and 10 private
institutions would be given the status of world-class teaching institutes.
ii. The 10 public institutions granted with IoE status will be provided Rs.1000 crore each from MHRD in order to
achieve world-class status.
LoI:
It means outlining general plans of an agreement between two or more parties before legal agreement
finalization. The LoI is not a contract and so it cannot be legally enforced.
About UGC:
Founded- 1956.
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chairman- Dhirendra Pal Singh (D.P Singh)
An upcoming movie ‘Coolie No.1’ is the first Bollywood film which is set to go plastic-free
An upcoming movie featuring Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan and Paresh Rawal named Coolie No. 1 is the first
Bollywood film to go plastic-free. The film, directed by David Dhawan and produced by Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky
Bhagnani and Deepshika Deshmukh will be released on May 1, 2020.
i. In the Independence Day speech of 2019, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had persuaded people to
avoid single-use plastic and encourage the usage of jute and cloth bags to protect the environment.
Indian railways first Fun zone has been set up at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station
A fun zone, the first of its kind in Indian Railways, has been set up at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station,
Andhra Pradesh. The Gaming zone was inaugurated at platform number 1.
Key Points:
i. The children can enjoy games during their waiting period for trains.
ii. The gaming zone has different interesting games to children & adults.
About Indian Railways:
♦ Founded: May 8, 1845
♦ Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal
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India announces $1 mn disaster relief aid for Bahamas as it is affected by Hurricane Dorian
On September 8, 2019, The Government of India (GoI) announced humanitarian assistance of $1 million as
immediate disaster relief to help people in The Bahamas affected by Hurricane (tropical cyclone) Dorian which
has caused large scale destruction. The death toll is more than 40 and is likely to increase.
India declares free from H5N1 avian influenza

On September 3, 2019, India has been declared free from H5N1 avian influenza (commonly known as bird flu)
by OIE (Office International des Epizooties)-World Organisation for Animal Health. The flu was last reported in
2017 with disease outbreaks in Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
Key points
i. H5N1 is non contagious but has a mortality rate of 60%, when infected. The influenza virus, which causes the
illness, is of four types: A, B, C, and D. Only nly the influenza A and B viruses are known to cause epidemics.
Kerala to set up India’s first iWTC in Kozhikode

In consonance with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), Kerala will set up India’s
first International Women’s Trade Centre (iWTC) in Kozhikode to boost women entrepreneurship and secure
gender parity. It is an important Gender Park under the Department of Social Justice of Kerala Government.
Key Points:
i. It will have women’s start-up and incubation centre, retail fashion and technology outlets, health and wellness
centres, business centres and offices, conference-convention-exhibition spaces, performing arts centre,
residential suites and day-care for seniors and children.
ii. The first phase of iWTC will be completed by 2021. It is executed under the Gender Park’s “Vision 2020”.
iii. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Gender Park is P T Mohammed Sunish.
About Kerala:
♦ Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
♦ Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
♦ Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan
♦ Festivals: Onam, Vishu, Thrissur Pooram, Nehru Trophy Boat Race
♦ National Parks: Anamudi Shola National Park, Eravikulam National Park, Mathikettan Shola National Park,
Pambadum Shola National Park, Periyar National Park,Silent Valley National Park
♦ Wildlife Sanctuaries: Aralam WLS, Chimmony WLS, Idukki WLS, Periyar WLS, Wayanad WLS, Peppara WLS,
Neyyar WLS, Kurinjimala WLS, Malabar WLS et
MP govt. to offer cows for online adoption

On September 10, 2019 the Madhya Pradesh (MP) govt. announced to launch online service for cow adoption
and shed provisions under the MP govt’s initiative “Project Gaushala”at Gaushalas(cow shelters). In this project
a cow can be adopted for a minimum period of 15days.
Key points
i. Currently there are 626 gaushalas in the state. 15day cow feed would cost Rs. 1100, 10years would cost Rs.
3Lakhs and for 6months it costs Rs. 11,100.
India joins as a 16th member of global AMR research hub

On September 12, 2019 the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science & Technology, in New
Delhi, has announced that Indiahas joined as the new and 16th member of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance
(AMR) Research and Development (R & D) hub. This partnership would address the challenges and enhance
collaboration in the AMR research of the 16 countries, European Commission, 2 philanthropic foundations and 4
International organisations.
Key points
i. India’s focus: To hold new research to address drug-resistant infections.
ii. Global AMR R&D hub: The hub was launched in May 2018 during the 71st World Health Assembly in Geneva,
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Switzerland following a call from the G20 leaders to set up global AMR R&D using the One Health approach. It
had a total of 15 member nations during its formation.
iii. Work of the hub: The hub works on evidence based decision making based on resource allocation through
collaborations.
iv. Operation support: The hub is supported by a secretariat based in Berlin, the Capital of Germany and is
financed by German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Health
(BMG).
About AMR:
♦ Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and parasites) to stop
an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard
treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.
♦ Recently in August 2019, Madhya Pradesh became the second state in India after Kerala to implement action
plan to manage AMR
♦ On September 9, 2019 The president of India Shri Ram NathKovindhonoured Prof. AsadUllah Khan with 2019
visitors award for in Biological Sciences for his research and control in AMR.
Rail project connecting Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) to be completed by 2020: Jitendra Singh
On September 12, 2019, The union minister of state (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern
Region (DoNER), Dr. Jitendra Singh stated that
the 15 km railway route between Agartala (Tripura) and Akhaura (Bangladesh) through Nischintapur in
Indo-Bangla border will be started in 2020 while meeting the Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly
Das in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 972.52 crore. For the Indian side, the funding borne by the DoNER
Ministry, while for the Bangladesh side, the funding borne by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
ii. Once operational, the journey time between Agartala(Tripura ) and Kolkata(West Bengal), through
Bangladesh, would be reduced by a third, from 38 hours and 1,613-km through mountainous terrain to a mere
15 hours and 514 km. It improves trade and eases commuting, while also aiding economic development in the
region, benefiting both India’s Northeast and Bangladesh.
iii. The project is also likely to give thrust to the tourism, trade and cultural exchange between the two
neighboring countries.
iv. The project was executed by IRCON International Limited, Government of India(GoI), for the Indian side and
also Project Management Consultant for Bangladesh Railways.
MoS for Health & Family Welfare Aswini Kumar Choubey announces plans to set up National Genomic
Grid for cancer research
Union Minister of State (MoS) for Health & Family Welfare Aswini Kumar Choubey announced the plan to set
up National Genomic Grid for cancer research in line with the National Cancer Tissue Biobank (NCTB) set up at
the Indian Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. This was announced by the minister on the sidelines of
the launch of the campaign War Against Cancer at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
Key Points:
i. The Grid, having 4 parts- with India divided into east, west, north and south, will study genomic data of cancer
patients from India, collect samples from cancer patients to study genomic factors influencing cancer and identify
the right treatment modalities.
ii. NCTB functions in association with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and has the capacity to
stock 50,000 genomic samples from cancer patients.
iii. The Grid will be established in the same style with pan-India collection centres by bringing all cancer
treatment institutions together.
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About the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW):

♦ Formed:1976
♦ Minister In-charge: Dr. Harsh Vardhan (Constituency: Chandni Chowk, New Delhi)
Skill India gets its first batch of IES officers to the ISDS cadre; Training at ATI, Mysuru
The first batch of Indian Engineering Service (IES) Officers who have joined the Indian Skill Development
Services (ISDS) through the Indian Engineering Service Examination conducted by the Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC) have started receiving the training at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in
Mysuru, Karnataka.
i. The objective is to attract young and talented administrators towards institutionalizing the Skill Development
environment.
ii. The officers will be inducted into the Union Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
Special training program for Maldivian civil servants to be run from September 16 – 28, 2019 at
Mussoorie and New Delhi
India will conduct a two-week special training programme (STP) for 32-member delegation (70% of delegates
are women officials) of Maldivian Civil Servants at the Mussoorie (Uttarakhand) and New Delhi from 16 – 28
September 2019.
Key points:
i. The training drive is a part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ‘Training and Capacity Building
Programme’ between India’s National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and Maldives Civil Service
Commission (CSC) signed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi during his visit to Male ,Maldives in June
2019.During the visit PM also emphasised India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and affirmed India’s support to
the Indian Ocean archipelago for socio-economic development and boosting of democratic and independent
organization.
ii. Under the MoU, 10 training programmes will be conducted from September 2019 to December 2020.
iii. The inaugural event would be chaired by K. V. Eapen, Secretary DARPG (Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievance), Fatimath Amira, Member Civil Services Commission and V. Srinivas, Additional
Secretary DARPG.
GSTN makes Aadhaar verification or physical verification mandatory for new dealers from January 1,
2020
On September 14, 2019, The group of ministers of Good and Service Tax Network (GSTN) headed by Sushil
Kumar Modi (Bihar deputy chief minister) notified that all the new dealers will have to mandatorily make
Aadhaar verification or physical verification from January 1, 2020. This move is aimed to check malpractices in
GST.
Key Points:
i. Earlier, it was optional for the dealers.
ii.Those who don’t want Aadhaar authentication, physical verification will be carried out, which will be
completed in three days.
iii. The GST refunds will be made online from September 24, 2019, from a single source either by the Central GST
or State GST.
Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019 comes into effect
On September 16, 2019 The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill,
2019 which provides for the eviction of unauthorized occupants from public premises in certain cases has come
into effect. It amends the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. The new bill is
expected to increase the availability of government residential accommodations for eligible beneficiaries and
reduce the waiting period.
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Key Points:
• Background: The bill was introduced by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, in Lok Sabha on July 8, 2019, and was passed on July
31, 2019. Rajya Sabha passed it on August 06, 2019.
• Definition: The Bill defines ‘residential accommodation occupation’ as the occupation of public premises
by a person on the grant of a license for such an occupation. The license must be given for a fixed tenure,
or for the period the person holds office. The occupation must be allowed under the rules made by the
central, state or union territory government, or statutory authority.
• Notice for eviction: The estate officer must issue a written notice to a person if he is in unauthorized
occupation of residential accommodation. The notice will require the person to show cause why an
eviction order should not be made against him, and it must be done within three working days. The
written notice must be fixed to a conspicuous part of the accommodation, in a prescribed manner.
• Order of eviction: The estate officer will make an order for eviction. If the person fails to comply with
the order, the estate officer may evict such person from the residential accommodation, and take
possession of it. The estate officer may also use such force as necessary.
• Payment of damages: The person in unauthorized occupation will be required to pay damages for every
month of such occupation.
• Changes: Changes have been made in sections 4 and 5 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised
Occupants) Act, 1971.
About residential accommodation:
The government provides residential accommodation to its employees including the Members of Parliament
(MPs) and other dignitaries on a license basis while they are in service or till the term of their office.
New amendments made to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2011

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified that it has amended the rules governing the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2011.
Rules on gifts received
• As per the amended rules, the individuals who receive gifts up to Rs 1 lakhare not required to inform the
government.
• Before the amendment, the threshold limit was Rs 25,000 as per the market value of the gift in India.
Rules on emergency medical aid
• In case of emergency medical aid needed during a visit abroad, the acceptance of foreign hospitality has
to
be intimated including the source, approximate value in Indian rupees and the purpose for which the aid
has been taken and the manner in which it was utilized to the government within 1 monthof such
receipt. The earlier limit was 2 months (within).
• No such intimation is required if the value of such hospitality in emergent medical aid is up to Rs
1,00,000.
Rules on declaration
• The office bearers, key functionaries and members of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who
receive foreign funds will have to mandatorily declare before the government that they were not
prosecuted or convicted for religious conversion.
• Earlier, as per the FCRA 2010, only the applicants such as directors who were seeking permission to
receive foreign contribution were required to make such a declaration.
• Every member of an NGO must certify, under oath, through an affidavit, that they have never been
involved in diverting foreign funds or propagating sedition or advocating violent means.
• Earlier, this declaration was to be only given by the applicant of an NGO.
About MHA:
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♦ Minister In-charge: Amit Shah (Constituency: Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat)
Indian Railways undertakes “Massive Shramdan” drive with main focus on collection of plastic waste
On September 17, 2019, The Indian Railways has once again carrying out a “Massive Shramdan” drive
movement aimed at collecting plastic waste from all railway premises to create awareness for a greater impact
against single-use plastic.
Key points:
i. Railways has carried out such movements from September 2, 2019 (a 10 days cleanliness drive for trains and
stations).
ii. For the best work to make cleanliness work culture, Railways had won the Best Union Ministry Swachhata
award by the President of India on 6th September 2019 for the year 2018-19.
iii. To mark the Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2, 2019, Railways also undertaking
various activities relating to Swachhata Pakhwada from September 11 – October 2, 2019.
About Indian Railways:
♦ Founded : 8 May 1845
♦ Headquarters : New Delhi
♦ Union Minister: Piyush Goyal
Country’s first Central Police University to be built in Greater Noida,Uttar Pradesh

India’s first Central Police University will be established in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh near the Yamuna
Expressway with the aim to improve the law and order of the country. In-Principle approval has been given by
the centre for the establishment of the university and 100 acres of land has also been identified for this in Sector
Techzone, Greater Noida.
Key points:
i. The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has also confirmed the allocation of land for the
Police University for Rs 372 crore. The authority has got 10% of the land as advance & another 20% of the
amount will be received in the next week. After getting 30 % of the land amount, it will give possession of the
land.
ii. The varsity will offer undergraduate (UG) & post-graduate (PG) courses on policing, internal security,
cybercrime & forensic sciences. State-level colleges could be affiliated to this university.
iii. Even the states such as Rajasthan, Gujarat & Jharkhand have dedicated police varsities, India
Govt gives special attention to 250 Districts under Poshan Maah

The central government is giving special attention to those 250 Districts of India where the malnutrition level is
higher than the national average during the celebration of “Rashtriya Poshan Maah” (National Nutrition
Month), the entire month of September, 2019 with the theme of ‘Complementary Feeding’.
Key points:
i. Rashtriya Poshan Maah: The initiative aimed at addressing issues of malnutrition & undernutrition and
obesity in some sections and also stemmening existing nationwide campaign for ‘malnutrition-free India’.5
pillars of Poshan Maah are the importance of First 1000 days of the Child, Anaemia, Diarrhoea, Hand Wash
and Sanitation and Poshtik.
ii. In order to make India a healthy nation, the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had launched POSHAN
Abhiyan (Prime Minister’s Overreaching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment).
Target year: It is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the aim to make india free from malnutrition by
2022.
Aim: To reduce stunting in identified Districts of the country with the highest malnutrition burden by improving
utilization of key Anganwadi Services and improving the quality of Anganwadi Services delivery.
iii. UNICEF report: According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund)data, the
child malnutrition rate has reduced to 34 % from 38 % in the past 4 years, while in case of anemic mothers, the
rate of prevalence of anemia has declined to about 48 % from 50 % in the last 4 years.
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About malnutrition:
It is a condition that results from eating a diet in which one or more nutrients are either not enough or are too
much such that the diet causes health problems. It may involve calories, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins or
minerals. Not enough nutrients is called undernutrition or undernourishment while too much is called
overnutrition.
Sitharaman handed over the 12th-century Buddha statue brought back from London to the Minister of
Culture
On September 18, 2019, The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman handed over the 12th-century Buddha
statue to Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel.The statue was stolen 57 years ago and was finally acquired
during an auction in Masstricht ,Netherlands organized by dealer Rossi & Rossi (London). This 12th century
statue of Buddha was stolen from the Museum of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Nalanda,Bihar in August
1961.
Key points:
i. This copper statue of Buddha (Ht. 6.5″) seated in the Bhumipasara mudra was among the 19 statues and
statues that were stolen from this museum.
ii. An online volunteer group of Art enthusiast, the India Pride Project has played a key role in identification of
the idol and the statue was restituted to the country.
NTPC Ltd to set up 5 GW solar park- biggest in the country, in Gujarat

On September 18, 2019 the NTPC ltd (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) announced to set
up a 5GW (gigawatt) solar national park in Gujarat and is also expected to be the biggest in the country.
Key points
i. The cost of the site set up is expected to be Rs 25,000 crores ($3.5 billion) and is to be operational in 2024. This
solar park is part of NTPC’s aim to build 32GW renewable energy by 2032 and reduce the energy mix of fossil
fuels from 96% to 70%.
ii. 2022 target by PM: The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has set a target of producing 175GW of
renewable capacity by 2022.NTPC also considers to build a 500MW(megawatts) hydropower project in Himachal
Pradesh.
About NTPC:
♦ Founded- 1975.
♦ Chairman and Managing Director (MD)- Gurdeep Singh.
CBDT sets up NeAC & appoints Krishna Mohan Prasad as its first Principal Chief Commissioner of Income
Tax of NeAC
On September 21, 2019 the Central Board of Direct Tax(CBDT) has newly set up National e-Assessment
Centre (NeAC) for electronically assessing the tax returns which would reduce the human interventions thereby
reducing the possibility of corruption. CBDT has also appointed 1984 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS)
officer Krishna Mohan Prasad as the first Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax(Pr.CCIT) of NeAC.
Key points
i. Cases for assessment will be assigned for 8 regional centres. They are New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata,
Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru.
ii. Mr. Prasad will be assisted by Ashish Abrol, newly appointed Commissioner of NeAC.
Home Minister Amit Shah announced first ever “digital census” in 2021
On September 23, 2019, during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of a new building of
Registrar General of India (Janganana Bhawan/Census Building) in New Delhi, which conducts the census
exercise, Union Minister of Home Affairs(MHA) Shri Amit Shah, announced to conduct first-ever “digital
census” in 2021. He also suggested a single multipurpose identity card i.e., one card facility for all utilities in
the future.
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Key points
i. The digital census is expected to have the potential in bringing all the cards like Aadhaar, passport, bank
account, driving license etc. under a single platform. Rs. 12, 000 crores will be spent on preparation of National
Population Register (NPR) and census 2021. It will be a transformation from paper census to digital census as
mobile app will be used to collect data.
.
Govt hikes family pension for Central govt. employee dying within 7 years of service from 30 to 50 %
The government has hiked the family pension for the govt. employee who dies within 7 years of service. He/she
will now avail the pension at 50% of the last pay drawn from previous 30% for a period of 10 years. This hike
will come into effect from October 1, 2019 after the govt. amended Rule 54 of the Central Civil Services
(Pension) Rules, 1972 recently.
Key points
i. The families of government servants who died before completion of service of seven years within 10 years
before October 1, 2019, will also be eligible for family pension at enhanced rates.
ii. The benefit is available to all govt. servants including personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
UIDAI announces applying for Aadhaar on arrival by NRIs without 182-day wait
On September 23, 2019 the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) announced that Non-resident
Indians (NRIs) with valid Indian passport could apply for the Aadhaar on arrival, without the need to wait
for 182-day period by scheduling a prior appointment. A valid Indian passport will be accepted as proof of
identity, proof of address (PoA) and date of birth document.
PIO cards along with foreign passport will continue as valid travel document till March 31, 2020
On September 29, 2019, The Indian Consulate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) stated that, the Bureau of
Immigration (BoI) will now accept Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards as valid travel document till 31
March 2020 along with valid foreign passport. The Immigration Check Post(s) in India will continue to allow all
PIO cards valid for exit/entry into India till 31 March 2020.
Key points:
i. However, the extension of time limit is subject to the condition that if in the meantime any deadline is notified
by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) thereby making handwritten PIO cards invalid, then PIO
cardholders may have to obtain an appropriate visa from the Indian missions/posts.
ii. Background: GoI (Government of India) had earlier advised that the conversion of all Persons of Indian Origin
(PIO) cards to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards had to be done by September 30, 2019.
About PIO card:
It was a form of identification issued to a Person of Indian Origin who held a passport in a country other than
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.It was first implemented in 2002 as a
benefit to foreign nationals who could establish at least a third generation tie to Indian origin.
OCI card :
It was implemented in 2005, carried more expansive benefits than the PIO card, and was valid for the holder’s
lifetime. In 2014, Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi had announced that the two types of cards would be
merged and the Indian diaspora would be given the maximum possible benefits.
West bengal’s Midnapore railway station became the 5000th railway station to be Wi-fi enabled
On September 28, 2019 the Midnapore railway station of West Bengal became the 5000th railway station to be
enabled with Wi-fi. The project for providing Wi-fi was started by RailTel in 2016, with Mumbai central railway
station being the first for wifi implementation.
Key points
i. The RailTel roped in Tata trust in providing the wifi facilities to B, C, D, E category railway stations across the
country, where Mumbai central railway station was the first to have fast and free RailWire.
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About RailTel:
i. It is a Public Sector Unit(PSU) under the Ministry of Railways.
ii. It is the largest neutral telecom services providers in the country owning a Pan-India optic fiber network.
iii. It covers areas of 70% of India’s population.
STATE NEWS
West Bengal assembly passes (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 to prevent and punish mob assaults
and lynching
On August 30, 2019, In view of the increasing case of mob lynching, the West Bengal Assembly
passed (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019, which aims to protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable
persons and prevent incidents of lynching. The bill also proposes action against those involved in perpetrating
the crime.
Key points:
i. In this bill, mob lynching has been classified as a crime. It provides three years of imprisonment and life
imprisonment for the crime of assault and injuring a victim. If the victim dies in such a fight, then the persons
responsible for it may face death penalty or life imprisonment and a fine up to 5 lakh.
ii. Opposition CPI (M) and Congress party supported this bill brought by TMC(Trinamool Congress). The
BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party), which emerged as the main opposition party, neither supported nor opposed the bill
because it believes that this law can be used to gain political advantage.
Justice Harish Chandra Mishra is the new Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand HC
The Central Government appointed Justice Harish Chandra Mishra as the Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand
High Court (HC) with effect from August 30, 2019. At present, he is the senior-most judge at the Jharkhand HC.
He succeeded Justice Prashant Kumar who passed away on August 30, 2019.
i. He received a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from the Patna Law College in 1984 and began his practice at the
Patna High Court.
ii. He has served in Bihar Superior Judicial Service as an Additional District and Sessions Judge at Chapra in 1997
and was promoted as a District and Sessions Judge at Deoghar in 2002.
iii. He worked as the Registrar (Establishment) of the Jharkhand High Court (2006), District and Sessions Judge,
Chaibasa (2008 -2009), Registrar General of the Jharkhand High Court (2009) and continued until his elevation
to the Bench.
iv. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Jharkhand High Court in April 2011 and was made a
permanent judge of the High Court in January 2013.
Nuakhai- harvesting festival celebrated in Odisha

September 3, 2019 marks this year’s Nuakhai festival, as the day is celebrated one day after the Indian festival
Ganesh Chathurthi (September 2, 2019) in Odisha, especially in its western part. The name is derived from ‘nua’
which means new and ‘khai’ means food, thus denoting the newly harvested food by the farmers. The festival is
also called as Nuakhai Parab or Nuakhai Bhetghat.
Odisha rolls out “One nation one ration card” scheme on September 1, 2019
On September 1, 2019 the Odisha government implemented the “One nation one ration card” programme on a
pilot basis initially in areas under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), to people possessing ration
card ensuring inter-state portability of ration cards.
Key points
i. Outlets: The beneficiaries can avail the ration from any Public Distribution System (PDS) outlet under the
National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).
ii. Aadhar linkage: To avail the facility, the beneficiaries should link their Aadhar cards with ration card and the
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deadline for linkage has been made till September 15 by the Odisha government.
About “One nation one ration card” scheme:
The scheme aims at making poor migrant workers and others to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration
shop in the country. The scheme will be available across the country from July 1, 2020 onwards.
About NFSA:
The National Food Security Act 2013, also called as the right to food was launched on 12 September 2013, to
provide subsidized food to 67% people of India.
WB to fund UP’s “Pro-Poor Tourism”(PPT) Development Project worth $57 million

On September 2, 2019, the World Bank(WB) announced its partnership to fund the Uttar Pradesh(UP)
government’s ‘pro-poor tourism’ (PPT) development projects with funding worth more than $57 million. PPT
project is a poverty alleviation concept by the UP government in tourism hubs with 70% funding from the WB
and the remaining by the UP government.
Key points
i. In the project signed by the WB and union Finance Ministry (FM), top tourist spots of the Agra and Braj-
Mathura regions will be aimed.
ii. Statistics: UP ranked second after tamilnadu in attracting high no. of tourists in the country as of 2017 and
also ranked third after maharashtra and TamilNadu in terms of attracting high no. of foreign tourists in the
country as of 2017.
iii. Similar projects: Earlier project similar to PPT includes the Buddhist Circuit in Kapilavastu, Sarnath,
Kaushambi, Sankisa, Kushinagar and Sravasti regions of UP. Other circuits such as the Ramayana circuit, Krishna
circuit, Sufi circuit are also on the path of development.
iv. Records of UP tourism: Recently the UP government created 3 Guinness world records during its
Kumbhmela event (2019). Those were for the largest sanitation drive, largest handprint painting exercise on the
theme of ‘Jai Gange’ in 8 hours and for largest parade of buses.
Cabinet of Delhi included OBC, general category students in ‘Jai Bheem Mukhyamantri Yojana’
On September 4, 2019, The cabinet of Delhi decided to include Other Backward Class (OBC) and General
category students in its ‘Jai Bheem Mukhyamantri Yojana’ which was initially meant for the Scheduled Caste
(SC) category students who were provided financial assistance of Rs 40,000.
Key Points:
i. It hiked the financial assistance from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh for coaching for various competitive exams.
ii. A civil service aspirant will be provided Rs 1 lakh financial assistance for 12-month coaching and Rs 50,000
will be given for coaching for the entrance examination for other professional courses like MBA (Master of
Business Administration), CLAT (Common Law Admission Test), etc.
iii. 11-month coaching will be provided with the financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the entrance examination
for professional courses for students with science stream like engineering, NDA (National Defence Academy) and
CDS (Combined Defence Service).
iv. Delhi students belonging to SC, ST (Scheduled Tribe), OBC and EWS (Economically Weaker section) categories
with total family income less than Rs 8 lakh per annum will be eligible for the scheme.
Haryana Govt waived interest and penalty of Rs 4,750 crore on crop loans taken from cooperative banks
On September 2, 2019, the Haryana govt headed by its Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has waived interest
and penalty of Rs 4,750 crore on crop loans taken from cooperative banks, Primary Agriculture Cooperative
Societies (PACS), District Cooperative Central Banks (DCCB), Land Mortgage Bank (LMB) and Haryana Land
Reforms and Development Bank. This will benefit around 10 lakh farmers of the state.
Key points:
i. With this announcement, the bank accounts of the farmers, which declared Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) by
these banks, will now allowed to change the cycle of loan accounts of their crops.
ii.PACS: The accounts of over 8 lakh had turned into NPAs, out of 13 lakh farmers who taken a loan from
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PACS.5% fine imposed on farmers who failed to repay loans borrowed from PACS will now be completely waived
off in the state.The farmers will benefit by around Rs 2,500 crore with this move.
iii. DCCB: The accounts of 32,000 farmers involving an amount of 800 crore rupees have turned NPAs out of
85,000 farmers, who had borrowed loans worth 3,000 crore rupees from DCCB. Farmers will only have to pay
2% interest for loans less than Rs 5 lakh, 5% for loans from Rs 5 lakh – Rs 10 lakh and 10 % for larger loans. The
DCCB borrowers will gain by Rs 1,800 crore with this decision.
iv. LMB: A total of 1.10 lakh indebted farmers of Haryana Land Reforms and Development Bank (Land Mortgage
Bank). Out of this, accounts of 70,000 have been declared NPAs. The basic loan amount of these farmers is Rs
750 crore and Rs 1,400 crore interest and penalty. The entire interest of the farmers of these banks has been
waived off. Farmers will only have to pay 50 % of the general interest, the state government will bear the
remaining 50%. Farmers of this bank will get a benefit of Rs 450 crore from this scheme.
“C-plan” app to aid community policing by UP police launched

On September 3, 2019, the Uttar Pradesh(UP) police have launched a new app name “C-app” in its new police
headquarters at Lucknow, UP to aid community policing throughout the state whereby the police would be
involved in tracking anti-social elements in time. This app helps at being informed about communal tensions and
also in verifying the received information.
Key points
i. Aim: To bring down the crime rate and enhance police-public relationship with the help of technology.
ii. Trial run: The project that involved 10 members known as Sambhrant-10 in each village to inform about
disputes through the app, was run on a pilot basis during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The information was
monitored from old Director General of Police(DGP) headquarters(Lucknow). The app which now covers entire
UP having 1.6lakh villages has selected 10lakh people to be engaged in the project.
iii. App integration: The “C-app” is to be integrated with UP dial 100 service and the Sambhrant-10 will also
have the facility to connect with police personnel in Police Response Vehicles(PRV).
Former Kalahandi king of Odisha Udit Pratap Deo passed away

Udit Pratap Deo, the Former king of Kalahandi which was a princely state of Odisha, but now a district, has
passed away in a private hospital at the age of 71 on September 2, 2019.
Key points
i. The former king was coronated as the 32nd king of Kalahandi in 2001. He served as a lawmaker in the Odisha
assembly from Junagarh while serving the Swatantra party in 1974 and later joined BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party)
along with his wife, queen Padma Manjari Devi.
For the 1st time, Gujarat govt signs sister state MoU with American state Delaware
On September 4, 2019, For the 1st time, the State Government of Gujarat signed sister-state MoU (memorandum
of understanding) with Delaware State of America in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Key points:
i. An 8-member American delegation led by Jeffery Bullock, Secretary of the State of Delaware called on Gujarat
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the state capital to sign the MoU.
ii. Both the leaders discussed to boost bilateral relations between the two states by way of tie-ups in the field of
services and investment opportunities for investors from Delaware in GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-
City) IFSC(International Financial Services Centre).
iii. The American delegation also showed interest in future cooperation in sectors of the biosciences, animal
husbandry, and financial services.
iv. Information about biotechnology universities and Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBT) were also
provided by Vijay Rupani. The American delegation which included Secretary of State, Secretary of Agriculture,
Deputy Secretary of State and senior officials has also invited Gujarat Chief Minister to visit Delaware State.
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Veteran congress leader sukhdev singh libra from Punjab passed away
Sukhdev Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former MP (Member of Parliament) has passed away after a
prolonged illness. He was 87.
Key points:
i. Libra, who was born on 7 November 1932 at Ludhiana district of Punjab, was a member of the 14th and 15th
Lok Sabhas.
ii. In 1985, Libra became MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly ) from Khanna in Ludhiana. He was also a
Rajya Sabha member from 1998 to 2004.
iii. He contested from Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar parliamentary constituencies.
iv. In 2009, the Congress gave him a ticket but later, he rejoined the Shiromani Akali Dal.
v. He has been close to SGPC’s (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) late former president Gurcharan
Singh Tohra. He has also been a member of SGPC.
Mini conclave of first J&K investor summit -2019 is held at Leh

On September 5, 2019, The Mini Conclave of First Jammu and Kashmir Investor Summit-2019 is held
in Leh in Ladakh after the revocation of Article 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution that gives special status to
J&K.
Key points:
i. The conclave was attended by the Leh Hill council CEC Gyal P Wangyal, LAHDC officials, CII representatives and
the investors from across the state.
ii. Navin Kumar Choudhary (Principal Secretary, Jammu, and Kashmir Industries & Commerce), was the Guest of
Honour for the conclave, stated that the new political developments are taken for rapid development in the state
despite the bifurcation the state into 2 Union territories(UT) as Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh from November
1, 2019. He also informed to reduce the premium of SIDCO (Small Industries Development Corporation. Small
Industries Development Corporations) Land in Ladakh.
J&K Global Investors Summit 2019 will be held at Ladakh
J&K Global Investors Summit 2019 will be held in Ladakh which will provide the state an opportunity to
showcase the immense potential for promoting local produce, especially White Seed Apricot.
Key points:
i. Partner: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) will be the national partner for the investor’s summit,
which has signed an MoU(Memorandum of understanding) with Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion
Organisation (JKTPO).
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurates food park of Telangana

On September 6, 2019, the Union Minister of food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal, inaugurated the
first Mega Food Park of Telangana that is promoted by Smart Agro Food Park at Lakkampally village,
Nizamabad, Telangana.
Key points
i. Profit: A total of Rs 14,000 crore turnover is expected through this food park with 50,000 job generation and
would also benefit 1 lakh farmers. During the inauguration, the farmers were informed about the Pradhan Mantri
KisanSammanNidhi (PMKSN) Yojana that provides Rs 6000 per annum to the farmers.
ii. Food park aim: The aim of the food park is to double farmers income by 2022 and to reduce harvest loss thus
by overall contributing to the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.
iii. Financial assistance: The food park is financially assisted by the government of up to Rs 50 crore per Mega
Food Park project. The Smart Agro Mega Food Park set up at a cost of Rs 108.95 crores in 78acre land.
iv. Park facilities: 5000 tonne warehouse for each raw material, and other laboratories.
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Hyderabad-Karnataka Regional Development Board renamed as Kalyana –Karnataka Regional

Development Board by Karnataka government
Law Minister of Karnataka, J C Madhuswamy informed that the Government of Karnataka has approved to
rename the Hyderabad-Karnataka Regional Development Board (HKRDB) as Kalyana Karnataka Regional
Development Board.
Key Points:
i. It was announced after the legislators and others from the region demanded to do away with the colonial-era
nomenclature that associated the region with the erstwhile Nizams of Hyderabad.
ii. The Hyderabad-Karnataka region enjoys special status under the Constitution (Article 371J) owing to its
backwardness. It comprises 6 districts- Bidar, Bellary, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur and Yadgir and 40 assembly
constituencies.
iii. State cabinet authorised Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to form a panel to review the progress in the
development of the Kalyana Karnataka region.
Odia writer Pradeep Dash wins 40th Sarala Puraskar award for 2019
On September 7, 2019, noted Odia poet Pradeep Dash was selected for the 40th edition of 2019 Sarala Puraskar
award for his poetry work Charu Chibar O Charjya. The award which is the foremost literary honour in Odisha
comprises of a citation with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and will be presented on October 26, 2019, by the governor
of Odisha Shri Ganeshi Lal.
Key points
i. Other awardees: Apart from Pradeep, two more notable personalities namely Pandit Harmohan
Khuntia and Lalat Mohan Patnaik will be honoured for their contribution in the field of music and art. While
Harmohan would be honoured with ‘Ila Panda Sangeet Samman’, Lalat would be honoured with ‘Ila Panda
Chitrakala Samman’, each with a cash prize of Rs 1,50,000 and citations.
ii. Sarala Puraskar: This award is instituted in 1979 by Odia industrialist Late Bansidhar Panda and Late Ila
Panda and is awarded by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT) which is the charitable wing of Indian
Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA Ltd).
iii.Other award by IMPaCT: IMPaCT also felicitates Ekalabya Puraskar for sports talents of Odisha.
Justice Vikram Nath designated as the new Chief Justice of Gujarat HC

On September 8, 2019, The Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry appointed Justice Vikram Nath as
the new Gujarat High Court (HC) Chief Justice succeeding Justice Anant Surendraray Dave who was the
acting chief justice of the Gujarat HC as Gujrat HC had been without a regular chief justice since November 2018
as the then Chief Justice R S Reddy was elevated to the Supreme Court (SC).
i. Currently, he is posted as a judge in the Allahabad High Court. He has been appointed by clause (1) of Article
217 of the Constitution of India.
ii. In 1987, he practised in the Allahabad HC & was elevated as Additional Judge on 24 September, 2004 and took
oath as permanent judge on 27 February 2006.
Anupriya Lakra becomes first Woman Pilot from Odisha’s maoist-hit Malkangiri district
Anupriya Lakra, aged 27, a tribal woman from Odisha’s Maoist-hit Malkangiri district (tribal area) has become
the first female pilot from the backward region. She will join a private airline as a co-pilot.
i. She completed her matriculation from a convent school in Malkangiri, higher secondary from a school in
Semiliguda & joined the Pilot Training Institute in Bhubaneswar in 2012.
Senior Journalist Dilip Satpathy from Cuttack, Odisha passed away

On September 9, 2019, Senior journalist Dilip Satpathy, aged 56, from Cuttack, Odisha passed away. The bone
marrow cancer had relapsed him 3 years ago.
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i. He started his career as a reporter in a city-based English daily and become the Resident Editor of the
Bhubaneswar edition of Business Standard.
ii. He was also associated with journalism schools in Bhubaneswar.
Telangana CM Chandrashekar Rao presents Rs 1.46 lakh crore annual budget for FY 20
On September 9, 2019, the Chief Minister(CM) of Telangana, Shri K Chandrashekar Rao presented the annual
budget for 2019-20 of Rs 1.46 lakh crore. The total expenditure in 2019-20 pegged at Rs 1,82,017 crore
(Revenue expenditure: Rs 1,31,629 crore and Capital expenditure: Rs 32,815 crore) .
Key points
Budget presentation: Despite the state finance minister T Harish Rao, the CM himself presented the Budget but
it is to be presented in the Legislative Council by Harish Rao.
GSDP: The Gross State Domestic Product(GSDP) of the state has increased to Rs 8.65 lakh crore in 2018-19 from
Rs 4.51 lakh crore in 2013-14.
Revenue receipts: The growth rate is expected to be slowed in terms of revenue receipt, due to which budget is
to be pared(reduced) and pegged at about Rs.1.70 lakh crore based on vote-on-account (interim permission to
spend money as against a full Budget). The expected revenue surplus is ₹6,564 crores and the fiscal deficit is
₹27,749 crore.
Budget allocation: Some of the important budget allocated sectors are as follows,
Budget Allocation
Farmers’ welfare Rs. 12,000 crore.
Farmers’ insurance Rs. 1,137 crore.
Crop loan debt Rs. 6,000 crore.
Electricity subsidies Rs. 8,000 crore.
Pensions Rs. 9,402 crore.
Gram panchayats Rs. 2,714 crore.
Municipalities Rs. 1,764 crore.
State government’s welfare programmes will continue like Rythu Bandhu which was allocated Rs 12,000 crore
and Aasara Pensions which was provided Rs 9,402 crore.
Actor, cinematographer and director Raja sekar passes away at the age of 61 years in Tamil Nadu
On September 8, 2019, Tamil Film Director, Actor and Cinematographer Raja Sekar passed away due to cardiac
arrest in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, at the age of 61 years. He worked in television Shows. He also populated
for Robert Rajasekar Director Duo. His famous films include “Palaivanacholai”, “Chinnapoove Mella Pesu”,
“Dhooram Adhigamillai”, “Manasukkula Mathappu”.
Rajasthan Health minister Raghu Sharma launches a personal website and a mobile app
On September 10, 2019, Health Minister of Rajasthan, Raghu Sharma launched a personal website and a mobile
app to stay connected with the public. Details of the programmes of the minister and other important
information will be updated on the platforms on a real-time basis.
Happiness department of Madhya Pradesh opens “Time Bank”

On september 9,2019,The Madhya Pradesh’s Happiness department has planned to set up “Time Bank” that is
mutual exchange of services. In Time bank, The units of time in an hour is valued as currency. It would provide
money for an hour that could be exchanged to acquire a new skill without the need of any paper money.
Whenever a bank member needs to get a skill or service ,for example gardening , playing guitar, by knowing the
particular skill ,the member could exchange an hour of credited money to another bank member.The member
can start with zero credit.
Key points:
i. Time bank was first set up in Japan in 1973. Later, it was famous in the idea of Time Dollar by USA CEO of
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Timebanks.
ii.There are over 500 such communities across 32 countries.
ONGC will invest over Rs. 13,000 crore in Assam to dig oil wells
Indian multinational oil and gas company, ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ) has signed an MoU
(memorandum of understanding ) with the Assam state government to invest more than Rs. 13,000 crore in the
next 5 years to excavate over 220 oil and gas wells in Assam.
Key points:
i. ONGC is working towards reducing imports by 10 % by the year 2022 according to the call of the Prime
Minister and the Northeast hydrocarbon vision 2030.
ii. At present, the company has implemented 27 projects across India at an investment of more than Rs 86,000
crore.
About ONGC:
♦ Headquarters: Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
♦ Chairman and MD: Shashi Shankar
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar launched 2 insurance schemes “Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji
Durghatna Beema Yojana” and “Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Beema Yojana” for traders
On September 11, 2019, The Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar launched 2 insurance schemes
named “Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Beema Yojana” and “Mukhyamantri Vyapari
Kshatipurti Beema Yojana‘” for traders registered under the Haryana Goods and Service Tax (HGST) Act,
2017. Premium of Rs 38 crore for both the schemes will be paid by the Haryana state government.
Key Points:
i. Under the Mukhyamantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Beema Yojana, an accident insurance cover of Rs 5
lakh will be provided for 3.75 lakh registered traders.
ii. Under the Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Beema Yojana, an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh will
be provided for 3.13 lakh registered small and medium traders. Haryana became the first state in India to
implement this scheme.
iii. All the families in Haryana with an annual family income of Rs 1.80 lakh will be covered under the Ayushman
Bharat Yojana.
iv. The monthly wages of ‘Safai Karamcharis’ working in urban areas was hiked to Rs 15,000 from Rs 13,500 and
in rural areas to Rs 12,500 from Rs 11,000.
v. Families living in electricity-deprived habitats outside a radius of one kilometer from villages will be covered
under the Manohar Jyoti Yojana.
Overview of TN CM Palaniswami’s visit to three-nation tour to the US, UK and UAE

The Chief Minister(CM) of Tamil Nadu (TN) KPalaniswami paid a three nation tour of 14 days to the United
States(US), United Kingdom (UK) and United Arab Emirates(UAE) from August 28- September 10 2019 to attract
investment in the state. The tour has fetched total investment worth Rs 8,830 crore from 41 Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) signed with the three nations and could provide job opportunities to 35520 people of TN.
This is the first trip abroad travel by an active Chief Minister.
Cm’s visit to United Kingdom
i. TN Delegation: Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, lead the delegation along with TN health minister C
Vijayabaskar and also other ministers such as Industries minister MC Sampath, Revenue and IT minister RB
Udhayakumar, and Dairy Development minister RajenthraBhalaji and Bureaucrats for an interactive session with
the British Members of Parliament (MP) in capital city London scheduled on August 28, 2019.
ii. Healthcare:The CM signed agreements related to healthcare in order to boost healthcare services in the state.
He visited the Emergency Operations Centre of the London Ambulance Service and is to implement it to fine tune
the response in case of emergency in the 108 ambulance service of TN. Other areas of collaboration include
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maternal and child healthcare, organ transplantations and state-of-the-art neurology treatments.
iii. Tie ups: The TN govt. tied up with International Skills Development Corporation (ISDC), a skill development
company based in London, UK. The tie up is done to train the workforce of the health sector especially nurses and
doctors. This tie up also has a proposal to recruit trained nurses of TN for specialized training courses to serve
the National Health Service(NHS) of UK.
iv. SoI: The London school of hygiene and tropical medicine which works on malaria research mainly signed a
Statement of Intent(SoI) with TN to expertise in control of vector borne diseases, especially malaria and dengue.
v. Flagship hospital: The King’s College Hospital, London will be established in TN as a flagship hospital
facilitated by the TN government. The King’s College, London presented MoU with TN for collaboration.
vi. Visit to Suffolk: The CM visited UK power network company Enzen in Ipswich, Suffolk county for the purpose
of solar and wind power collaboration and also assessed smart grid system to make use of the thermal and
renewable sources. TN with more than 8000MW wind power and 2500MW of solar power is in need of the smart
grid system to minimize power loss.
Visit to USA
i. MoUs: Some of the companies that signed Mou with TN are Scitus Pharma, Novitium Labs, Aspire Consulting
and Zillion Technologies and Jean Martin.Besides, Haldia Petrochemicals, one of the largest companies in India,
signed an in-principle agreement to establish a naphtha cracker unit in TN with Rs 50,000 crore investment in
the first phase.
ii. Investors meet in New York: 16 MoUsworth Rs 2780 crores were signed in the investors meet that was held
in New York. Mr. Palaniswamy launched a website for attracting more investments, where interested investors
can offer suggestions based on investment. The website will be managed by Tamil Nadu Industrial Guidance and
Exports Promotion Bureau(TNIGEPB). He also launched YaadhumOore (the world is our home) scheme for non-
resident Tamils willing to invest in projects in TN.
iii. Investors meet in San Jose: 19 companies signed MoU worthRs. 2,300crores at the investors meet held in
San Jose, California. Around 250 investors including firms like Foxconn and Zoho Corporation, who have already
invested in TN participated in the meet.
• Digital accelerator: Digital accelerator scheme was launched along with American Tamil Entrepreneurs
Association (ATEA) to fund new ventures by state based entrepreneurs. The TN state govt has allocated
Rs. 50 crores for this purpose and 10% of total investment as part of assistance.
iv. Visit to San Francisco: In San Francisco, CM visited TESLA Electric Vehicle(EV) unit and laid a proposal to
establish a unit in TN. He visited the manufacturing unit and viewed the battery production, EV production to
make TN use those technologies and make it an environment friendly state. He also visited Bloomberg Energy
firm and interacted with the founder KR Sridhar, a Tamilian, on clean energy production.
v. Visit to Los Angeles:In Los Angeles, Mr. Palaniswamy visited Anaheim city and visited the wastewater
treatment plant. He discussed about the techniques used for wastewater treatment and recycling.
vi. Trip to Buffalo: On his visit to Buffalo, the second largest city of New York, the CM visited dairy farms to find
ways of boosting the dairy sector in TN and also to set up a livestock park in Thalaivasal, Salem.
Visit to Dubai, UAE
The chief minister visited investors of Dubai, UAE on September 9, 2019 and held various business level talks.
i. Business Leaders Forum(BLF): The round table conference, Business Leaders Forum(BLF) was hosted by the
UAE’s Ministry of Economy, the Indian Embassy to the UAE, Consulate General of India in Dubai and India Trade
and Exhibition Centre. CM was invited as the guest of honour in this forum. Various initiatives to promote e-
vehicle manufacturing, electronics, food processing, hardware and software were discussed.
ii. Investments: TN inked pact with 6 firms worthRs. 3750 crores. This pact is expected to create employment
opportunities to 10, 800 people of TN.
Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat launches “Mukhya Mantri Dal Poshit Yojana” scheme in the state
On September 12 2019 the Chief Minister(CM) of UttarakhandshriTrivendra Singh Rawat has launched
“MukhyaMantri Dal PoshitYojana” scheme in which ration card holders will be provided 2kg of pulses at
subsidised price every month in the state.
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Key points
i. Beneficiaries: This scheme would benefit 23.32 lakh ration card holders in the state.
ii. Subsided price: 2kg of chana dal (chickpeas split) would be available at subsided price of Rs. 44kg per month
where its actual price is Rs 65-Rs 70 per kg in the open market.
iii. The scheme was launched as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of healthy India.
Renowned writer of Kerala Sivaraman Cheriyanad passed away at the age of 78 years
On September 12, 2019 famous Writer and author SivaramanCheriyanad passed away at the age of 78. Born in
Chengannur, Kerala,in December 13, 1941, Sivaraman initially worked as a school teacher and then started to
write many novels, stories, especially children’s literature. Some of his famous works include Adhyeham, Koda,
Tholu, BhagavathitheruvileKattu, Puthiya Padangal, Oru Pavam Kazhutha, Engane Oro Vidditham, Asidhara,
Valiyavarude Maranam Valiya Maranam, Neethipeedathile Kurudan, Vietnam Kathakal, Kattinte Niram.
Key points
i. Awards: He was honoured with Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award in 1988, A.P.Kalakkad Award(2009), Kerala Sahitya
Akademi scholarship in 1990-91 for study on the writings of writer Parappuram and also received National
Teachers Award in 1989.
ii. Positions held: He was the State office-bearer of the Purogamana Kala SahithyaSangam and also served as the
president of the SahithyaPravarthaka Cooperative Society and vice president of the A.R. Rajaraja Varma
Memorial Committee. He was an executive member of the Kerala SahityaAkademi’s Publication wing
Ayushman Bharat Haryana: Income limit raised to Rs 1.8 lakh p.a for PMJAY benefits
The Government of Haryana raised the income limit to Rs 1.8 lakh per annum (p.a) in order to claim the
benefits under Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme. People will get a
‘Ayushman Bharat Card’.
Key Points:
i. The state government of Haryana will bear the cost of free treatment for families with annual income up to Rs
1.8 lakh.
ii. The people will have to get their ‘Parivaar Pahchan Patra (Family Identity Card)’. It can be made at any ‘Atal
Seva Kendra’.
About Ayushman Bharat PMJAY scheme:
Under this scheme, eligible beneficiaries can get free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh at empanelled hospitals. It was
launched on September 23, 2018. The union government has decided to celebrate September 23, 2019 as
‘Ayushman Bharat Divas’ and September 15-30, 2019 will be celebrated as ‘Ayushman Bharat Pakhwada’. A two-
day workshop – ‘Ayushman Gyan Sangam’ will also be organised on September 29 and September 30, 2019 in
New Delhi.
Meenakshi Madan Rai takes charge as acting CJ of the Sikkim HC

On September 14, 2019, The central government has appointed Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai, senior-most
Judge of the Sikkim High Court, as the acting Chief Justice of the high court by replacing Justice Vijai Kumar Bist,
who set to retire on September 16, 2019. The appointment has been made by exercising the powers conferred by
Article 223 of the Constitution of India.
Key points:
i. After earning her LLB (Bachelor of Laws) degree from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1989, Rai
enrolled as an advocate in Delhi in the year 1990.
ii. In December 1990, Rai was chosen as a Judicial Magistrate 1st Class in Gangtok, Sikkim(the 1st woman to hold
the post of Sikkim) & in 2000 she was promoted to the position of Chief Judicial Magistrate cum Civil Judge.
iii. In 2004, she promoted to become a District & Sessions Judge, and then later appointed as Registrar of the
High Court that same year.
iv. Chief justice: The chief justice is the presiding member of a supreme court in any of many countries with a
justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the Supreme Court of
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Canada, and provincial or state supreme courts/high courts. As primary duties, the chief justice presides over
oral arguments before the Supreme Court and sets the agenda for the court’s meetings.
Veteran music director Usha Khanna to be honoured with Maharashtra government’s “Lata Mangeshkar
Award” for the year 2019-20
The Cultural Affairs Minister of the government of Maharashtra, Mr. Vinod Tawde announced that Veteran music
director Usha Khanna, aged 78, has been awarded the Maharashtra government’s “Lata Mangeshkar
Award” for the year 2019-20.
Key Points:
i. Khanna began his career through the Bollywood film “Dil Deke Dekho” (1959). Her last movie as a music
composer was “Dil Pardesi Ho Gaya” (2003). She also composed music for some Hindi television serials. Yesudas,
bagged the Filmfare Award 1980 for male playback singer for the song “Dil Ke Tukde, Tukde Karke” (Dada, 1979)
composed by Khanna.
ii. The award was instituted in 1993 and consists of Rs 5,00,000 cash, a citation and a memento.
iii. The previous recipients of the award include Krishna Kalle, Ram-Laxman, Uttam Singh, Pushpa Pagdhare and
other personalities.
First speaker of bifurcated AP, Dr Kodela Siprasada Rao passed away at the age of 72
Former first speaker of the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Legislative Assembly, after bifurcation of AP, and one of the key
leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, aged 72, passed away in Hyderabad,
Telangana. He was found hanging in his house and expired while undergoing treatment at Basava Tarakam
Cancer Hospital in Hyderabad.
i. He was a 6 time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Narsaraopet constituency in Guntur district,
Andhra Pradesh.
ii. He had also served as a Minister in the Cabinets of the late N.T. Rama Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu.
iii. A medical doctor by profession, he had served as the Chairman of the hospital set up by NT Rama Rao’s family
in memory of NTR’s wife, Basava Tarakam.
Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu inaugurated 24 kW Dikshi Hydroelectric Project, state’s first
community-managed mini-hydroelectric project
On September 14, 2019, The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu has inaugurated the 24
kW(Kilowatt ) Dikshi Hydroelectric Project on the Phudungto river at Dikshi village in West Kameng district of
Arunachal Pradesh. The project was developed by a Hyderabad (Telangana) based firm Devi Energies Private
Limited. It is State’s first community-managed mini-hydro electric project and also the first independent
power project of its kind in the Northeast.
Key points:
i. The power plant is expected to generate 112.40 gigawatt-hours of electricity for addressing the power
requirements of East and West Kameng districts besides major defence establishments.
ii. The plant consists 3 Francis type turbo-generators having capacity of 8.0 MW each, was completed in a record
time of 4 years since commencement in 2016 with an investment amount of about 430 crore rupees.
iii. The Arunachal State government will get 10% as free power from the 2nd year of the plant’s operation.
Justice P Laxman Reddy appointed as the first Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh, will serve a term of 5 years
On september 15 2019, Justice P. Lakshmana Reddy was sworn in as the Andhra Pradesh’s (AP) first
Lokayukta after the state’s bifurcation in 2014. Reddy will have a five-year term as Lokayukta. AP Governor
Biswabhushan Harichandan administered the oath of office to Justice Reddy at a function in Vijayawada.
Key points:
i. AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, High Court judges, senior government officials were present on the
occasion.
ii. Born on April 18, 1945in an agriculture family in Paidipalem of Simhadripuram mandal in Kadapa district,
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Reddy completed his education in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh ) and Bangalore (Karnataka).
iii. In December 1972, he enrolled himself as an advocate in the Kadapa district court. Then he became principal
district and sessions judge (PDJ) and was uplifted to the status of judge in the AP High Court in May 2005.He was
the vice-chairman of the Central Administrative Tribunal at Hyderabad from April 2007 – April 2010.
HP CM Jai Ram Thakur launched the Mukhya Mantri Seva Sankalp Helpline ‘1100’ for redressal of public
grievances
On September 16, 2019, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh (HP) Shri Jai Ram Thakur launched the
“Mukhya Mantri Seva Sankalp Helpline ‘1100’ (Chief Minister’s Service Resolution Helpline) for redressal of
public grievances in a speedy and time bound manner. The helpline functions from 7am-10pm from monday-
saturday. By this service, HP became the fourth state in the country after Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh to launch this helpline.
About Mukhya Mantri SevaSankalp Helpline ‘1100’:
56 state departments are involved in this helpline by geo-mapping and geo-tagging.
Grievances will be addressed within a minimum period of 1 week and a maximum of 2 weeks.
A 3-day long traditional Neermahal Jal Utsav concluded in Agartala, Tripura

A 3-day long traditional Neermahal Jal Utsav concluded with boat race & swimming competitions at Rudrasagar
lake in Agartala, Tripura. Chief Minister (CM) of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb flagged off the boat race.
Key points:
i. The Jal Utsav has number of events including Manasha mangal as well as cultural programmes.
ii. Neermahal is a water palace constructed by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya in the middle of Rudrasagar
lake in 1930 as Manikya’s summer spot being greatly inspired by Mughal style of architecture.
Udhampur district of J&K organized the first women-only marathon against drug addiction
On September 15, 2019, The Udhampur district of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) along with non-governmental
organization (NGO) Dogra Kranti Dal organized the first women-only marathon on the theme of drug
awareness in lines with Prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Fit India movement. It was attended by chief
patron Dogra Kranti Dal and former Member of the Legislative Assembly(MLA) Balwant Singh Mankotia and
others.
i. Women from different age groups participated in the marathon.
ii. The first 3 winners were given the cash prize of ₹31,00, ₹21,00 and ₹11,00 respectively.
Children’s week organized in Anganwadi centers of the Uttar Pradesh from 16 – 21 September, 2019
Children’s week celebrated from September 16- 21, 2019 at Anganwadi centers in Uttar Pradesh.
As September is named as Nutrition Month, a variety of activities are taking place at the Anganwadi centers
across the state.
Key points:
i. Mamta Day was organized on the first day of children’s week as a part of bal suposhan utsav. Mothers cooked
food from their homes and brought them to the Anganwadi centers and fed the children in groups.
ii. On the second day of the week, the Suposhan goonj was organized, that was started with Nutrition Ferry.
Children, adolescent girls and women participated to take pledge of giving proper food to children.
iii. Rural Health Cleanliness and awareness campaigns are also included in the week long celebration.
Congress veteran & freedom fighter BJ Khatal Patil passed away at 100 in Maharashtra
On September 16, 2019 Congress veteran BJ Khatal Patil passed away at the age of 100 due to Pneumonia at his
residence in Rangaragalli in Sangamner town of Maharashtra. Born on March 26, 1919, in Sangamner town in
Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, Khatal served as a lawyer and took part in the Indian independence struggle
and Non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Key points
i. He served in the Maharashtra legislative assembly as a minister between 1962 and 1985.
ii. He also authored several books where his first book “Antariche Dhave” was first published in the year 2011.
TN unveils ‘Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicle Policy 2019’ with Rs.50,000-cr investment target
On September 16, 2019 the Chief Minister of TamilNadu Shri Edappadi K Palaniswami unveiled new ‘Tamil
Nadu Electric Vehicle Policy 2019’ in the state that would attract Rs. 50,000 crore investment and also create
1.5lakh jobs. An EV park is also decided to be created in the future with plug-and-play facilities.
Key points
i. Aim: To create Electric Vehicle(EV) ecosystem and also make TN, a preferred hub for EVs and Original
Equipment Manufacturer(OEM) that includes charging infrastructure, battery making etc.
ii. Subsidies: 50-100% exemption of road tax will be made for all EVs till the end of 2022, capital subsidies,
reimbursement(repayment of paid money) of SGST(State-Goods and Service Tax), land cost subsidy, waivers on
registration fee under central govt. policy and special incentives for job-creating EV projects.
• The land cost is subsidized at 50% for investors if the investment is made to obtain land from govt
agencies in southern districts of TN whereas it is only 15% in other districts.
• Capital subsidy for EV manufacturers will be payable on eligible investments made in TN till December
2025. The land cost for such manufacturers will not exceed 20% of total investments made.
• 100% tax exemption is made for electric transport vehicles such as taxis and tourist cars. The permit
fee is also waived off till december 2022.
• Reimbursement is made for SGST paid on sale of EV manufactured, sold and registered till 2030. Capital
subsidy of 15% is given on eligible investments over 10 years, incase of intermediate parts in which SGST
is not applicable.
iii. Incentives: The policy also offers incentives to investments that were made from April 1, 2018, with more
than Rs 50 crore along with 50 direct jobs creation in the form of projects or project expansion.
iv. Charging stations: TamilNadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) will offer public-
private partnership (PPP) model for charging port installations in the state, which will be available in every
25kms of the national and state highways chosen based on priority.
v. Number plates: To distinguish between the EV and other vehicles, EV numbers will be exhibited in yellow
colour with a green background for transport vehicle while for all other EVs, the number will be exhibited in
white on a green background.
Maharashtra govt. to set up “Swachh Bharat World University” at Sevagram in wardha district of
Maharashtra
On September 18, 2019 In order to focus on cleanliness and sanitation research, the state govt
of Maharashtra has decided to set up ‘Swachh Bharat World University’ to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th
birth anniversary. The university will be set up at Sevagram town, Wardha, in vidarbha region of Maharashtra. A
seven-member committee headed by Vinod Tawde, education minister of Maharashtra has been formed to study
about the university requirements.
Key points
The reason Wardha region was selected to establish the university was because, the region also has Mahatma
Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram and Institute of Gandhian Studies (Gandhi VicharParishad).
The book titled “The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of their Senas” by Dhaval Kulkarni
released
The book titled “The Cousins Thackeray: Uddhav, Raj and the Shadow of their Senas” written by the
journalist Dhaval Kulkarni was released. It is published by Penguin Random House. The book depicts the
political journey of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj
Thackeray.
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Telangana declares 2020 as Artificial Intelligence(AI) year

The Telangana state Government will celebrate 2020 as Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by organising
multiple programs and activities related to the new age technology throughout the year. The decision comes in
the backdrop of the emerging talent workforce and renewed focus by industry and other ecosystem players on
this space in the past four to five years.
Key points:
i. Telangana government has signed up with NITI Aayog(National Institution for Transforming India), which has
come out with the ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ to organize pilot projects in the state.Telangana
was the 1st State to sign up with NITI Aayog when they prepared ‘AI for All’ document.
ii. During the celebration, a lot of hackathons & meetings will be held and the government organization will give
challenges and make available data sets on which companies can run algorithms.
iii. A Centre of Excellence in Data Sciences and AI will be set up by NASSCOM(National Association of Software
and Services Companies), a trade association of Indian Information Technology and Business Process
Outsourcing industry.
iv. IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology), Kharagpur is also coming up with its regional centre in Hyderabad to
initiate first program in AI in Telangana.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal launched a new mobile app named “Tatpar” for accessing over 50
citizen-centric services
On September 18, 2019, The Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has launched a new mobile app
called ‘Tatpar’ developed by various units of Delhi Police over the last three years . people will be able to do
more than 50 works of their need through this app with a single touch.The app was designed by the IT ministry
along with the National e-Governance Division, the app amalgamates all the websites and mobile applications of
Delhi Police.
Key points:
i. The application required to be separately installed by the specific user and to access the web-based service
delivery portals, the correct URL (Uniform Resource Locator)was required to be remembered by them.
ii. By visiting this app, people can navigate to their nearest police station, traffic pit and prepaid taxi booth & can
also get complete contact details of the concerned Station House Officer (SHO) of a police station.
iii. Along with this, a charm SOS (save our souls) button has also been given in this one touch app. If a person
presses the SOS button, he is able to call the Emergency Contact Number of his choice or reach the Police Control
Room at 100 number with one touch.
iv. Delhi Police Commissioner Amnulya Patnaik and other senior government and police officials were present at
the launching event.
Maharashtra set to become India’s first state to formulate vertical property rules
The cabinet of Maharashtra cleared the “vertical property rules” to create a database of all flats, buildings and
commercial complexes with an aim to prevent property-related frauds. It is set to become India’s first state to
formulate vertical property rules.
Key Points:
i. The draft rules will be inserted into the Maharashtra Land Revenue Record of Rights and Registers for
Apartments and Building Rules 2019 by the Revenue Department of the Maharashtra government.
ii. After the implementation, the current property cards, or 7/12 extract (a property document where there are
no city survey numbers) will become the main document of ownership.
iii. The property card of the apartment will be the supplementary document.
Noted Malayalam actor Sathar passed away in Kochi, Kerala

Sathar, veteran Malayalam actor, has passed away in Kochi, Kerala after suffering from liver ailments. He was
67.
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i. Born on 25 May 1952, Kadungalloor near Aluva in Ernakulam district of Kerala, has over 300 movies to his
credit, including Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films.
ii. He made his acting debut in 1975 with Malayalam movie Bharyaye Aavashyamundu directed by M. Krishnan
Nair & in 1976 with Vincent Master’s directorial Anavaranam.
iii. Some of his famous films include God For Sale, Kaanchi, No. 66 Madura Bus, 22 Female Kottayam, Roudram,
Pakal, Arayannangalude Veedu, Kalapam, Lelam, Boxer, Mafia. He has acted in popular Tamil films, including
Mayil and Soundaryame Varuga Varuga.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched ‘champions campaign’ against dengue

On September 19, 2019, The Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
launched “champions campaign” in the fight against dengue.
i. Earlier, he had also launched 10Hafte 10Baje 10Minute campaign. He had urged the Delhi residents to give 10
minutes every Sunday from September 1- November 15, 2019, to check the surroundings to prevent the breeding
of dengue-carrier mosquitoes.
Home Affairs minister Amit Shah launched ‘ERSS – Dial 112’, ‘E-Beat Book’ System and the ‘E-Saathi App’
at the 29th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Chandigarh
On September 20, 2019 the union Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) shriAmit Shah launched 3 citizen centric
services of chandigarh police at the 29th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in chandigarh, the capital of
Punjab and Haryana. The three services are ‘E-Beat Book’ System, ‘E-Saathi App’ and Emergency Response
Support System (ERSS – Dial 112).
Key points
i. ERSS-Dial 112: This system is mainly used for the purpose of reducing crime, especially against women. The
ERSS which is one of the key projects of the home minister and the Nirbhaya fund is provided with a single
emergency number 112 with computer aided dispatch of resources to the location of the user. This no. would
enhance community policing and a user can send his/her emergency information through call, mail, SMS(short
message Service) and also through the 112 India mobile app.
• Emergency numbers like 1073 for road accidents, 1091, 181 for women helpline and other helpline
services would be added under the ERSS-Dial 112 soon.
ii. ‘E-Beat Book’: It is a web and mobile based app that provides information about crime and criminals in real
time. This E-beat book system would be linked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS),
for real time updation of crime oriented data. Citizens can approach the ‘Atal Sehbhagita Kendra’(Atal
participation centre) which is available in all 54 divisions of Chandigarh under a beat officer(patrolling police
officer involved in community policing) for redressal of grievances.
iii. ‘E-Saathi’: The E-Saathi app would help the citizens to keep in touch with the police and also would help
in facilitating community policing which is a ‘your police at your doorstep initiative’. In a single click through this
app, services such as passport verification, servant verification, character verification etc would be done by the
beat officer at citizens’ houses directly.
About home ministry:
Formed- 15 August 1947.
Minister of State(MoS)- G. Kishan Reddy(constituency- Secunderabad) and Nityanand Rai (constituency-
Ujiarpur, Bihar).
Veteran actor and multi-faceted artiste S.K. Padmadevi who was part of the first Kannada talkie film
‘Bhakta Dhruva’ passed away
On September 19, 2019, Veteran actor and multi-faceted artiste S.K. Padmadevi, aged 95, who was part of the
first Kannada talkie film ‘Bhakta Dhruva’ (1934) passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka from age-related illness.
She also starred in ‘Samsara Nouke’, first Kannada social film (1936).
She hailed from Bangalore, Karnataka.
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She was the recipient of R. Nagendra Rao award for lifetime achievement by Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy in
2016.
Actor Govinda appointed as the brand ambassador of Madhya Pradesh to promote the state’s traditions
and tourist places
Public Relations Minister of Madhya Pradesh government, PC Sharma notified that Indian Bollywood
actor Govinda, aged 55, is appointed as the brand ambassador of Madhya Pradesh to promote the state’s
traditions and tourist places. The government also has plans to set up a film city in the state.
Senior TDP leader, Naramalli Shivprasad passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Chittoor Member of Parliament (MP), Naramalli
Sivaprasad has passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu after suffering from kidney ailments. He was 68.
i. Born on 11 July 1951, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh (AP) , he won the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections from
Chittoor Lok Sabha constituency. He also made a lot of efforts to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh.
ii. A doctor by profession, he has acted in movies like Pilla Zamindar, Thakita Thakita. He also worked as a
minister in former AP Chief Minister(CM), Chandrababu Naidu’s cabinet.
Centre introduced a new scheme named ‘Assistance for Deep Sea Fishing’ for the fishermen in Tamil
Nadu
Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Giriraj Singh notified that a new scheme
named ‘Assistance for Deep Sea Fishing’ was introduced for fishermen in Tamil Nadu as a part of ‘Blue
Revolution Scheme’. Rs 300 crore was released for this scheme by the union government.
Key Points:
i. The total cost of the scheme is Rs 1600 crore. The share of the Central government is Rs 800 cr and Rs 320 cr
will be borne by the state.
ii. The government of Tamil Nadu will implement a deep sea fishing scheme in 4 districts of Palk Bay, including
Ramanathapuram district which will prevent fishermen from crossing the IMBL (International Maritime
Boundary Line).
Election Commission appoints Ms Madhu Mahajan & Shri B Murali Kumar as special expenditure
observers for Maharashtra
On September 23, 2019, The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed two former Indian Revenue
Service (IRS) officers Madhu Mahajan (ex IRS 1982) and B. Murali Kumar (ex IRS 1983) as Special
Expenditure Supervisors for the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Key points:
i. The appointment was made by ECI exercising the powers conferred on it under Article 324 of the Constitution
and Section 20B of The Representation of the People Act 1951.
ii. In consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer at Mumbai , Maharashtra, Mahajan will oversee the conduct of
Elections with special emphasis on controlling the abuse of money power, while Kumar would similarly be based
in Pune to oversee matters in rest of the state with officers and election authorities
iii. They will watch the work being done by the electoral department and ensure that stringent action taken
based on intelligence inputs and complaints received through the app C-VIGIL (citizens’ vigil), Voter Helpline
1950 against all persons/entities trying to induce voters in order to impair the poll exercise.
About ECI:
Formed: 25 January 1950
Headquarters: New Delhi
Chief Election Commissioner: Sunil Arora
Election Commissioner : Ashok Lavasa, Sushil Chandra
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Senior bureaucrat Nirmal chandra mishra appointed as the chairman of the Odisha Staff Selection
Commission (OSSC)
On September 23, 2019, Senior bureaucrat & present director of the tourism department, Nirmal Chandra
Mishra, has been appointed as the chairman of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC). He will
succeed Major General Bhabani Shankar Das, as he completes his term a few days back.
i. Mishra also holds the additional charge of managing director (MD), Odisha Tourism Development Corporation
(OTDC).
About OSSC:
It was set up by Govt. of Odisha as a statutory body in 1994 for the purpose of carrying out direct recruitment
against Group-C posts in the State cadre (as against District cadre) as may be scheduled in the OSSC Rules, 1993.
The Commission’s office located at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Actress Madhuri Dixit appointed as a goodwill ambassador for Maharashtra Assembly polls
Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Office appointed Indian actress Madhuri Dixit as a goodwill ambassador
for Maharashtra Assembly polls to create awareness among people about the importance of voting which are
scheduled to be held on October 21, 2019. She will be seen in a video titled ‘Let’s Vote’.
Assam launches of 3 public welfare schemes called ‘Aponar Apon Ghar’, ‘Abhinandan’ & ‘Free Drugs
Scheme for 651 Tea Garden Hospitals’
On September 24, 2019, The Assam state Government has launched twin schemes for the public welfare
called ‘Aponar Apon Ghar Scheme’(a home loan subsidy scheme), ‘Abhinandan’ (an Education Loan Subsidy
scheme), and Free Drugs Scheme for 651 Tea Garden Hospitals.Key points:
i. Aponar Apon Ghar: It is an upgraded version of the previous Apun 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.
S.No Loan amount Subsidy

1 Rs 5.00 lakh – 10.00 lakh Rs 1.00 lakh
Benefits:
Every permanent resident of Assam will be eligible to avail this scheme. Government, as well as private
employees and even journalists, can avail the scheme.
ii. Abhinandan: It is an Education Loan Subsidy scheme, under this every student in the state of assam having
active education loan account regardless of the amount for pursuing higher education can get benefitted. The
Assam government will provide a one-time subsidy of up to Rs 50,000 to all educational loans.
iii. Free Drugs Scheme for 651 Tea Garden Hospitals – Under this scheme, 142 essential drugs, 47 surgical
items, 45 consumables/linens and 6 numbers of disinfectants would be provided free of cost to the 651 tea
garden hospitals of the state. An amount of Rs 20 crore would be spent every year on the scheme. The scheme is
for the patients of the tea tribe community.
CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal launched Mukhyamantri Kirayedar Bijli Meter Yojana

On September 25, 2019, Chief Minister (CM) of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal notified the launch of Mukhyamantri
Kirayedar Bijli Meter Yojana under which tenants residing in Delhi will be able to avail power subsidy. They
will get a separate power meter.
Key Points:
i. Through this new scheme, tenants will get a prepaid meter using 2 documents – rent agreement or rent receipt
and current address proof. They will have to deposit security money of Rs 3,000.
ii. The meters will be delivered to their respective houses by calling the helpline numbers of power distribution
companies – 19122 for BSES (Bombay Suburban Electric Supply) Yamuna, 19123 for BSES Rajdhani and 19124
48 | P a g e
for Tata Power.

iii. Under the existing power subsidy scheme in Delhi, public are not required to pay bills for the electricity
consumption of up to 200 units and 50% subsidy is given on bills for power consumption between 201 units and
400 units.
Madhya Pradesh government launched a month long “Swachhata hi Seva Abhiyan”

On September 25, 2019, The government of Madhya Pradesh launched a month-long “Swachhata hi Seva
Abhiyan” against the single-use plastic which will be observed till October 25, 2019. It will also coincide with the
150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Key Points:
i. It has an aim to administer oath to at least 50 lakh citizens against the use of single-use plastic and targets to
reach 2 crore urban population.
ii. In order to collect waste, a total 2000 km long plog run will be organised in 378 cities of the state. The
campaign will also emphasize on the establishment of utensil banks in the state.
Rs.6000 rupees will be given annually to women suffering from triple talaq: UP Govt.
On September 25, 2019, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government led by its Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath will
provide an annual assistance of Rs. 6,000 to the triple talaq victims till their rehabilitation and also they will
get free legal aid.
Key points:
i. Apart from this, they will also be given affordable housing, their children’s education, government jobs as per
their qualifications, scholarship and health cover under Ayushman Yojana or under the Chief Minister Arogya
Scheme. Special plans will be made for the welfare of such women.
ii. As many as 300 women from across the UP state attended the event,where Adityanath interacted with the
victims of triple talaq under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK).
Triple Talaq:
It is a personal practice followed by Muslim communities in the country as a form of divorce wherein a man can
unilaterally and arbitrarily end his marriage by merely pronouncing the word Talaq thrice. The man pronouncing
the divorce may deliver it through a letter, text message, email or even through a video recording.
Telugu film comedian Venu madhav passes away in Secunderabad, Telangana

Venu Madhav, an Indian Telugu film actor, television presenter, mimicry artist, and comedian has passed away
in a corporate hospital in Secunderabad, Telangana after suffering from liver and renal related ailment. He was
50.
i. Born on 30 December 1979, Kodad, Telangana, he was best known for his comic roles in over 600 films.
ii. Mimicry artist-turned-comedian, Venu has received the state Nandi Award for Best Male Comedian for his
work in Lakshmi in 2006.
iii. He got his credit with movie Sampradayam in 1996 and was last seen in 2016’s film Dr. Paramanandaiah
Students Gang.
iv. He is one of the finest comedians & is remembered for some of his comic roles in Master (1997), and Tholi
Prema (1998).
MoS for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy launched street crime patrol van ‘prakhar’ and emergency
response number ‘112’
On September 25, 2019, the Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri G Kishan Reddy, flagged off “Prakhar” street
crime patrol vans in New Delhi in order to control crimes in the city and also launched single emergency helpline
number 112 for immediate assistance. The main call centre has been set up at Shalimar Bagh in New Delhi for
this purpose.
Key points
i. About helpline no: Emergency Response Support System no 112 (ERSS-112) will be a common helpline no.
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for all emergency services to approach police, ambulance, fire brigade, and others. A person can avail help either
through a dial or through the mobile app. In a smartphone device, a panic call can be created by pressing the
power button thrice to activate a panic call to Emergency Response Centre (ERC) whereby the person’s location
will be identified by the police in the Police Control Room(PCR). Distress calls could also be made through social
media, email, Short Message Service(SMS), etc.
ii. Prakhar vans: For now, a total of 15 Prakhar vans (Scorpio Sport Utility Vehicle(SUV)) will conduct patrolling
at vulnerable spots to control crime in Delhi. This Prakhar crime control patrol was made under the ‘Safe City
Project’ to curb street crime.
iii. Over the years the crime rate in Delhi has reduced by 20%. By this, Delhi has become the 19th state to have
adopted ERSS-112.
Bhopal metro of Madhya Pradesh will be named after Raja Bhoj : Kamal Nath
On September 26, 2019, Chief Minister (CM ) Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government has announced that
the name of the metro of its capital Bhopal will be ‘Bhoja Metro’ after the late king Raja Bhoj. CM Kamal Nath
laid the foundation stone of the Bhopal Metro Rail Project to be built at a cost of about Rs 6,941.4 crore rupees.
Key points:
i. The first phase of the metro project will be completed by the end of 2022 or early 2023. Two corridors will be
built in 27.87 km (from Karond Circle to AIIMS (14.99 km) and Bhadbhada Square to Ratnagiri Tiraha (12.88 km)
at an outlay of Rs 7,000 crore) in Bhopal Metro Rail Project .
ii. The Indore and Bhopal Metro Rail Project will be implemented by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation, a
joint venture company with 50:50 share of the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The
company will act as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to complete the project.
Raja Bhoj
He was an Indian king from the Paramara dynasty. His kingdom was centered around the Malwa region of
western Madhya Pradesh in central India, where his capital Dhara-nagara (modern Dhar) was located.
Senior HC judge, Justice C.K. Abdul Rehim, appointed as Acting CJ of the Kerala High Court
On September 21, 2019 according to law and justice ministry’s notification the President of India, Shri Ram Nath
Kovind has appointed senior High Court (HC) judge Justice C.K. Abdul Rehim as the acting Chief Justice(CJ) of
the Kerala High Court after incumbent Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy was elevated as the Supreme Court (SC)
Judge.
Key points
Abdul served as a lawyer and worked as Government Pleader and Senior government pleader during 1991-96
and 2001-2006 respectively. He was appointed as the permanent High Court judge of Kerala in 2010.
Justice Vineet Kothari of Rajasthan appointed as the Acting CJ of Madras

On September 22, 2019 according to law and justice ministry’s notification the President of India, Shri Ram
NathKovind has appointed Justice Vineet Kothari of Rajasthan, the senior-most judge of Madras High Court
(HC), as its Acting Chief Justice (ACJ). He replaces Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani who recently resigned her
post.
Key points
Vineeth was appointed as judge of Rajasthan HC in 2005 and was transferred to Karnataka in 2016 and then to
Madras HC in 2018.
About HC
The ACJ is appointed by the president under article 223 of the Indian constitution.
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest high court in the country, established on 2 July 1862 in West Bengal.
Odisha unveils mascot “Tikki Mausi” to combat malnutrition among women and children
On September 26, 2019 the Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti Department of Odisha unveiled a
mascot named “Tikki Mausi” in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for nutrition
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awareness purpose. A state-level communication strategy in partnership with UNICEF was also launched to
make the public aware of nutrition in child and women for development.
Key points
i. The mascot and the state level communication strategy was unveiled by Odisha’s Women and Child
Development Minister TukuniSahu and UNICEF’s state chief Monika O Nielsen.
ii. The mascot was named as “TikkiMausi” with reference to second mother of a child.
Rupa Gurunath appointed as first woman president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association
On September 26, 2019 Rupa Gurunath was appointed as the first woman president of Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association (TNCA) at the 87th Annual General Meeting of TNCA held at Chepauk MA Chidambaram Stadium in
Chennai, TamilNadu. With this appointment she also became the first woman to head a state level cricket body in
the country.
Key points
i. Whole-time director of India Cements, Rupa is the daughter of former Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) chief N Srinivasan and wife of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is currently serving life ban for involvement in
the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.
ii. Justice K. Kannan, retired judge of Punjab and Haryana Courts, was appointed as the ombudsman and Justice
M. Jeyapaul, retired judge Madras High Court, was appointed as the ethics officer during the meeting.
Delhi HC chief D.N Patel launched ‘Delhi High Court’ app for lawyers and litigants
On September 26, 2019 the DelhiHigh Court(HC) has launched official mobile app named “Delhi High Court” for
lawyers and litigants (person involved in a lawsuit). The app was launched by its Chief Justice(CJ)
DhirubhaiNaranbhai Patel.
Key points
i. App use: The app provides details about case status, display board, cause list and access to other important
links of the website of HC. Under the ‘Advocate Login’ section in the app, a lawyer can keep and manage personal
case diary online. The ‘important links’ section allows information access of CJ, sitting judges, their roster,
judgments, case history etc.
ii. Features: The app can also be accessed by a guest user, thus allowing the litigants to apply for entry pass
issuance to visit the HC. Advocates registered with the high court’s e-filing software will also be able to apply for
the e-inspection and online gate pass. The HC’s cause list and calendar will also be available in the app.
iii. Availability: The app is currently available for Android devices in Google Play Store and soon would be made
available for Iphone devices in its App store.
Indian writer, V J James’s novel ‘Nireeswaran’ wins Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Literature Award 2019
An Indian writer who primarily writes in Malayalam language, V. J. James’s novel ‘Nireeswaran’ (Atheist,a
person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God) has been selected for the Vayalar Ramavarma
Memorial Literature Award 2019.
The author would be presented with this award at a function held in Thiruvananthapuram on October 27,2019,
the death anniversary of the late Ramavarma.
Key points:
i. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1-lakh, a sculpture designed by Kanayi Kunhiraman and felicitation letter.
ii. Hailing from Vazhappally in Changanassery (Kerala), V. J. James is an engineer in Vikram Sarabhai Space
Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. His novel ‘Nireeswaran’ poses the principles of God and faith. It
has been published by D.C. Books.
iii. James’s major works include ‘Purappadinte Pusthakam’, ‘Dathapaharam’ and ‘Chorashatram’
About Vayalar Award:
It is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1977 by the Vayalar Ramavarma
Memorial Trust in memory of the poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma (1928-1975).
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
WHO to eliminate measles & rubella by South-East Asia region sets targets 2023
In a bid to prevent deaths and disabilities, Member countries of WHO (World Health Organisation) South-East
Asia Region have vowed to eradicate the highly infectious childhood killers diseases of measles & rubella by
2023.
Key points:
i.Aim: Setting the goal of elimination of both these diseases was taken during the 72nd session of the Regional
Committee of southeast Asia of WHO in New Delhi.
ii. Political commitment: Dr. Poonam Khetarpal Singh, Regional Director of South-East Asia at WHO stated that
the new goal of elimination of both diseases is the political commitment of the present government, their efforts
to tackle this disease and various means in this direction depends on the progress made.
iii. Successful elimination: Elimination of measles and rubella has been a priority since 2014. 5 countries have
successfully eliminated measles. These include Bhutan, DPR Korea, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. On
the other hand, Rubella has been taken under control by six countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, and Timor-Leste.
iv. Immunisation system: In order to achieve the goals, the member countries resolved to strengthen the
immunisation system in their respective countries. It includes an even more active lab testing and case-based
monitoring system. At the same time, the authorities will also have to be more actively prepared for the outbreak
and response of these two diseases.
v. The member states adopted the “Strategic Plan for Measles and Rubella Eradication 2020-2024”, which
focuses on the road map and focus areas to achieve the region’s eradication goals.
vi. Eliminating measles will prevent 500,000 deaths a year in the region. At the same time, it will promote the
health and well-being of pregnant women and infants by preventing about 55,000 deaths from rubella, while
eliminating rubella/ CRS(congenital rubella syndrome).
About Measles:
It is a highly infectious illness caused by the rubeola virus. It is particularly dangerous for the poor, as it attacks
malnourished children and those with reduced immunity. It can cause serious complications, including blindness,
encephalitis, severe diarrhoea, ear infection.
About Rubella:
It is a contagious, generally mild viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults. It is best
known by a distinctive red rash.
About WHO:
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Founded: 7 April 1948
Director-General: Tedros Adhanom
Thailand became the first Asian nation to unveil plain cigarette packaging
On September 10, 2019, Thailand became the first Asian nation to unveil plain cigarette packaging to reduce
the appeal of smoking and complied with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines.
Key Points:
i. The stocks must be cleared by December 8, 2019 or else the entities will have to pay a fine of 40,000 baht
($1,300).
ii. Australia became the first country to require tobacco products to be sold without colourful brand logos in
2012 and other European countries including France, Hungary and the United Kingdom have also followed the
same path..
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U.S. designates TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud as global terrorist on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the
9/11 attacks
On September 10, 2019, on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United
States (US) Department of State designated the chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Noor
Wali Mehsud, also known as Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, as a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ (SDGT).
TTP has held over 1400 terrorists attacks in Pakistan in last 12 years.
i. He became the chief of TTP in June 2018 after the death of Mullah Fazlullah in Afghanistan.
ii. He is among the 12 SDGT leaders of previously designated groups which includes TTP, Hizbullah, Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic State (IS), IS-Philippines, ISIS-West Africa and an al Qaeda affiliated group
fighting in Syria.
SL’s new luxury train Pulathisi Express by Indian railways ‘make in india’ product flagged off
On September 11, 2019 the new luxurious train of Sri Lanka(SL), Pulathisi Express which was produced under
the ‘Make in India’ project of the Indian Railways was launched. The president of SL Shri Maithripala Sirisena
flagged off the new train from Fort railway station in Colombo to Polonnaruwa, North central province of SL.
Earlier, an agreement was signed between Indian Railways and Sri Lanka Railways for supply six DEMU train
sets to Sri Lanka.
Key points
i. The train was supplied under Line of Credit (LoC) by Rail India Technical and Economic Service(RITES) ltd and
was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai .
Vietnam unveils southeast asia’s largest solar power farm

On September 12, 2019, Vietnam has inaugurated Southeast Asia’s largest solar power farm called ‘Dau Tieng
Solar Power Complex’. It occupies 540 hectares in Tay Ninh province, some 100 km from Ho Chi Minh City,
having the capacity to generate 688 million kWh (kilowatt-hour) of electricity annually.
Key points:
i. The solar complex, which is constructed on the Dau Tieng Reservoir (the largest artificial lake in Vietnam), is a
joint venture with the Thai industrial group B.Grimm Power Public Company.
ii. The plant has an investment of over $ 391 million and is expected to produce 10 % of the Vietnam’s solar
energy to guarantee supply to 320,000 homes. It will also avert the emission of 595,000 tons of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere every year.
Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena unveiled Lotus tower- the tallest tower of South Asia, funded
by China in Colombo
On September 16, 2019, President of Sri Lanka(SL) Shri Maithripala Sirisena unveiled “Lotus tower” which is
the tallest tower of South Asia that cost over $100 million. 80% of the funding cost of the tower situated
in Colombo, Srilanka has been done by China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Key points
i. The building though under construction was opened by the SL president for public access. This building which
is expected to be SL’s ‘digital TV tower’, is foreseen as an epitome of SL’s culture, economy and development.
ii. Building features: It is a 350-meter-tall building having 17 storeys spread over an area of 30,600 sq. metres.
A television tower, telecommunications museum, restaurants, observation deck, shopping mall, auditorium and a
conference centre is comprised within the building. It is built with fibre optic cables equipped with
telecommunication equipment.
iii. Lotus Tower agreement: The lotus tower agreement was signed between China and Srilanka by the then SL
president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2012 under BRI to build highest TV tower in South Asia. The general contractor
for the agreement was China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (CEIEC).
iv. Critics: India has been critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project BRI, as it comprises of $50billion
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through Pakistan occupied Kashmir(POK).
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v. The tallest TV tower of India is the Rameswaram Television Tower in Rameswaram, TamilNadu with height
323mts (1060 ft).
Overview of 44th Toronto International Film Festival for 2019

The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for 2019 was held from September 5-15, 2019
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Key Points:
i. The film ‘Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band’ directed by Daniel Roher was premiered as the
opening film of the festival (first Canadian documentary film).
ii. The film ‘Radioactive’ directed by Marjane Satrapi was showcased as the closing film of the festival.
iii .Mission of TIFF: To transform the way people see the world through film.
iv. Malayalam-Hindi bilingual film, Geetu Mohandas’s Moothon (The Elder One), shot guerrilla style in Mumbai’s
red-light district, premiered at the 44th TIFF.
List of winners:
Award Film Director
People’s Choice Award Jojo Rabbit Taika Waititi
People’s Choice Award: Documentary The Cave Feras Fayyad
People’s Choice Award: Midnight Madness The Platform Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Best International Short Film All Cats Are Grey Lasse Linder
in the Dark
Indian delegation
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) of the Government of India in collaboration
with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) participated in the 44th TIFF. i. The delegation included Shri
Chaitanya Prasad, Additional Director General, Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and Ms. Dhanpreet Kaur,
Deputy Secretary (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and others.
India Pavilion
• The India Pavilion was inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India to Canada Shri Vikas Swarup.
• Nearly 60 eminent personalities from the film-making sector & film festivals had participated.
IFFI
• The 50th, the Golden Jubilee Edition, of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be held
in Goa from November 20-28, 2019.
• IFFI 2019 poster and brochure were also released at the 44th TIFF.
India Breakfast Networking Session
i. An India Breakfast Networking Session was hosted by I&B Ministry on the side-line of its participation at the
44th TIFF. It was attended by Ms Apoorva Srivastava, Consul General of India, Toronto; Mr Cameron Bailey,
Artistic Director & Co-Head, TIFF and others.
ii. As part of policy outreach, the Indian Delegation met Canadian Government officials.
iii. India and Canada will to take proactive measures to facilitate Co-Production.
iv. India is positioned on the global stage as the ‘All in one destination to make films’.
Heartland International Film Festival
Ms Hannah Fisher, Programming Head of Heartland International Film Festival of United States of America,
notified that there could be a special focus on India under the ‘Foreign Language Category’ in the Heartland
International Film Festival 2019 (28th Edition) scheduled to be held from October 10-20, 2019 in Indianapolis,
Indiana, United States.
About TIFF:
♦ First held: 1976
Tripartite step on Rohingya return agreed by Bangladesh, Myanmar and China

On September 26, 2019, A tripartite mechanism to monitor and assess on-the-ground repatriation process of
the displaced Rohingya people to Myanmar was jointly agreed by the nations of Bangladesh, Myanmar and
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China.
Key points:
i. The proposal for the formation tripartite group was placed by China,Myanmar and Bangladesh already have a
joint working group signed November 2017 for return of the Rohingyas and China is only helping in
implementing the agreements taken by two countries.
ii. In October 2019, tripartite group (which consists of the Chinese and Myanmar ambassadors in Dhaka and a
director general from the Bangladesh foreign ministry) will hold its first meeting.
iii. 7 lakh 50 thousand refugees mostly women, children, and aged people, entered in Bangladesh after the
Myanmar government rapids the process of ethnic cleansing in 2016 & 2017, and Rohingya were forced to cross
the border into Bangladesh beginning from August 25, 2017.
For the first time, Saudi Arabia to offer tourist visas

Saudi Arabia will offer tourist visas for the first time as a measure to expand its economy away from oil. As a
part, it will open applications for online tourist visas to citizens of 49 countries. Enhancing tourism is a one
among the targets in Vision 2030 reform programme of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. It
also launched e-tourist visa during the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) in Riyadh.
Nepal’s biggest hindu festival named Bada Dashain begun

On September 29, 2019 the greatest and longest hindu festival of Nepal named as Bada Dashain formally began.
The first day of this Dashain marks the beginning of Navaratri festival too.
Key points
i. Seeds of maize, wheat, barley, etc are sowed in a “Ghada” (earthen pot) and kept in houses or temples as part of
the vedic tradition. The sprouts are taken on 10th day which is observed as vijayadashami.
ii. This festival is also simply called as Dashain.
VISITS
Indian Visits
Overview of France’s NSA Emmanuel Bonne visit to India

On August 29, 2019, Emmanuel Bonne, Diplomatic Adviser and G7 Sherpa to French President Emmanuel
Macron, arrived in New Delhi for the biannual Indo-French Strategic Dialogue 2019. He is also the National
Security Advisor (NSA) of France.
Key Points:
i. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with him.
ii. He met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and spoke on all aspects of the Indo-French strategic
partnership, major regional and international issues, and G7 priorities on global challenges backed by India.
iii. The first Rafale fighter jets manufactured by French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation will be handed over to
India on September 20, 2019 which will be received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Indian Air Force
(IAF) Chief- Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.
iv. In September 2016, India had signed a deal with the French government and Dassault Aviation to acquire 36
Rafale fighter jets for over 7.8 billion euros.
Overview of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Haryana

Prime Minister (PM) of India, Shri Narendra Modi visited Haryana. He participated in BJP’s Vijay Sankalp Rally
which marked the culmination of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’. It was
Modi’s third visit to Rohtak, Haryana. Following are the highlights of the visit:
Foundation stone to Mega Food Park at IMT, Rohtak
PM laid a foundation stone of Mega Food Park on September 8, 2019.
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• Rs 179.75 crore project will be setup by Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing
Federation Limited (HAFED) at Industrial Model Township (IMT), Rohtak on National Highway-10,
linking Delhi with Rohtak, Haryana.
• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries of the Government of India, will provide grant-in-aid of Rs 50
crore.
• 3 primary processing centers (PPCs) will also be set up in Districts Yamunanagar, Sonipat and Sirsa.
• The aim of the Mega Food Park Scheme (MFPS) is to provide modern infrastructure facilities for the food
processing along the value chain from the farm to the market.
Foundation stone to Rs 2,000-cr projects
• PM inaugurated affordable housing complexes in Rohtak, the revival of Dulhera distributary and
Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC) in Faridabad, degree colleges in Nuh, Sirsa and Palwal for
imparting higher education to the girls.
• He laid the foundation stone to various development projects worth Rs 2,000 crore in Haryana.
• He laid the foundation for Shri Sheetla Mata Devi Medical College in Gurugram, 576 housing units for
police officials in Bhondsi, and Integrated Command and Control Center in Karnal.
• Inauguration and foundation stone was laid to 10 development projects.
‘Vijay Sankalp’ Rally
PM addressed the ‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally during his visit to the state. He stated that over the last five years, the
state has got the benefit of the double-engine – Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Central and state governments.
Union Ministers Narender Singh Tomar, Rao Inderjeet Singh, Krishan Pal Gurjar and Ratan Lal Kataria,
lawmakers, legislators and Panna Pramukh of 20,441 booths were present at the occasion.
• Projects worth Rs 25,000 crore of the Central government are in progress in the state.
• He requested the people of Haryana to support Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the upcoming
assembly elections.
• Haryana is a leading state in ‘Swachhta’ campaign. It has been declared open-defecation-free, a kerosene-
free state and is a leading state in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
• An amount of Rs 3.5 lakh crore would be spent to provide drinking water to every household by the year
2024.
• The target to distribute LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) cylinders to 8 crore households under the
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is achieved and in Haryana, 7 lakh families have been distributed
cylinders.
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN), more than 7 crore farmers’ families
have got the benefit of this scheme out of which 13 lakh farmers are from Haryana.
• An amount of Rs 21,000 crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of farmers in the country,
including Rs 425 crore in the bank accounts of farmers in Haryana.
• PM applauded the CM of Haryana for providing new direction to state in the last five years. He
appreciated the efforts for the effective implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme
in the state.
Overview of PM Modi’s visit to Jharkhand on September 12, 2019

On September 12, 2019 the Prime Minister(PM) of India Shri Narendra Modi paid a one-day visit to Jharkhand
and launched schemes namely KMY, PMLVMY and Swarojgar. He also inaugurated Jharkhand assembly and
schools in the state.
Scheme Launched in Ranchi, Jharkhand
KMDY:
The “Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana”(KMY) for small and marginal farmers was launched in Ranchi, the capital city of
Jharkhand. This scheme would benefit 5crore farmers nationwide.
i. Outlay: The scheme is outlayed at a cost of Rs 10,774 Crores for the next three years.
ii. Contribution: Farmers can contribute to KMDY in terms of installments from PM-KISAN scheme and through
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Common Service Centres(CSC).

About KMY:
• It is a monthly pension scheme launched in 9thAugust, 2019 for small and marginal farmers between 18-
40years and provides Rs 3000 after the age of 60.
• The monthly contribution ranges from Rs55-Rs200 depending on the age of entry in this scheme.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India(LIC) is the pension fund manager of this scheme.
• The supervisor of this scheme is Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(MAFW).
PMLVMY:
Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Mandhan Yojana (PMLVMY) was launched with the aim of providing pension to
small shopkeepers and traders benefiting 3crore people in the country. Government has earmarked Rs 750 crore
for the scheme in the Union Budget 2019-20. The Life Insurance Corporation of India has been chosen as a
pension fund manager responsible for managing the pension fund, central recordkeeping agency and responsible
for pension payout.
About PMLVMY:
• It provides a pension of Rs 3000 per month after 60years of age.
• This scheme was announced on 5 July 2019 during the budget presentation.
• Eligibility: Shopkeepers, traders and also self-employed people aged between 18-40years with less than
1.5 crore turnover.
Multi Modal Terminal at Sahibganj, Jharkhand
PM dedicated the nation’s second Multi-Modal Terminal(MMT) at the Sahibganj town of Jharkhand built across
river Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). The phase1 building cost of the terminal was 290 crores.
Terminal features:
• Built by: Inland Waterways Authority of India(IWAI).
• Phase 1 cost: 290 crores.
• Project launch: 10 November, 2016
• Project completion: September, 2019
• Phase 2: Phase 2 of the terminal is expected to cost around ₹376 crores.
Terminal benefits: This terminal will boost the cargo connectivity between India and Nepal and also enhance
domestic coal transportation from the local mines in Rajmahal area of Jharkhand to various thermal power
plants. The other transportation products include coal, stone chips, fertilisers, cement and sugar.
Route connectivity: The road rail river transport will connect remote areas to Kolkata, Haldia and other places
near the bay of bengal. River-sea connectivity will also enhance route between North eastern states and
Bangladesh.
Phase 2: The terminal capacity under phase 1 which is currently 30 lakh tonnes per annum will increase to 54.8
lakh tonnes per annum in its second phase under the Public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
Freight village: A freight village which is a specialised industrial estate attracting companies that requires
logistics services is to be set up on 335 acres of proposed land.
First MMT: The first MMT was inaugurated by Modi in Varanasi, UP in November 2018.
Building inaugurations
i. Jharkhand assembly: New Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha (state assembly building) was inaugurated by PM in
presence of Jharkhand Chief Minister(CM) Raghubardas and governor Droupadi Murmu and had also laid
foundation stone for the New Secretariat Building at Ranchi.
ii. Assembly Feature:
• Area: The three storey building was built on an area of 39 acres of land.
• Cost: The cost of construction was Rs 465 crore.
• Foundation stone: Jharkand’s Chief Minister(CM) Raghubardas laid the foundation stone June 12, 2015.
• This assembly becomes the first paperless assembly of the country.
iii. Residential Schools: 462 Eklavya Model Residential Schools were inaugurated to provide education from
basic till higher secondary education to Scheduled Tribe(ST) students in tribal dominated areas.
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Overview of the PM of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Hon’ble Ralph Everard Gonsalves’s visit to India
from September 8-12, 2019
The Prime Minister (PM) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Dr. Hon’ble Ralph Everard Gonsalves visited
India on September 8-12, 2019. He became the first ever Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to
make an official visit India.
High-level UNCCD Symposium in New Delhi
The PM of St Vincent and Grenadines, Dr Ralph Everard Gonsalves and Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi
participated in the high-level United Nations Convention on Combating
Desertification (UNCCD) Symposium held in New Delhi. They agreed to improve the cooperation between the
two countries in various fields including in the areas of skill development, education, culture and disaster
management.
Bilateral Meetings
Meeting with Indian PM Narendra Modi
Dr Ralph Everard Gonsalves met Indian PM Modi in New Delhi and held bilateral discussions.
i. Dr Gonsalves noted the enormous goodwill for India in St Vincent and the Grenadines and also in the Carribean
and Latin American region.
ii. He appreciated India’s development cooperation with the region and India’s assistance subsequent to natural
calamities.
iii. PM Modi congratulated St Vincent and the Grenadines for becoming the smallest country ever to be elected
as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Meeting with EAM Dr S Jaishankar
i. Dr Ralph Everard Gonsalves met External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar and held bilateral discussions.
ii. St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the 79thmember of International Solar Alliance (ISA).
iii. Countries which have signed the agreement until now include Bolivia, Palau, France, Australia, the United
Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Japan, amongst others. The agreement was opened for signature during the
Conference of the Parties (COP) 22 at Marrakech, Morocco on November 15, 2016.
About ISA:
♦ Founded at: Paris, France
♦ Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
♦ Director General: Mr. Upendra Tripathy
About COP 14 of UNCCD 2019:
The 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) was held at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India from 2-13
September 2019 under the theme “Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities”. It was presided by Prakash
Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary,
UNCCD.
Overview of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy visit to India

The governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy, paid a six-city tour to India from September 15-22, 2019 with focus on
inviting companies to invest and create jobs. By this visit, Phil Murphy became the first sitting New Jersey
governor, US (United States) to visit India. The six places visited were New Delhi, Mumbai, Agra, Hyderabad,
Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. India is New Jersey’s second-largest foreign direct investor.
New jersey delegation:
Murphy was accompanied by his wife Tammy Murphy (first lady of New Jersey) and the delegation included New
Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) CEO Tim Sullivan, Senator Vin Gopal, Assemblyman Raj
Mukherji and Senator Sam Thompson, as well as executives from sectors of technology, higher education,
healthcare, economic development, energy and professional services.
MoU’s signed:
Various Memorandum of Understandings(MoU) were signed during Murphy’s visit to India which are listed
below.
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Mou’s signed in Gujarat:

• Sister state agreement: New Jersey and Gujarat signed ‘sister state agreement’ MoU for cooperation in
economic development, clean energy, higher education, tourism, cultural exchange, health and also trade-
investment.
• IIT Gandhinagar: The Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)- Gandhinagar signed MoU with 4 universities
in New Jersey for collaboration in academia and research. The 4 universities are New Jersey Institute of
Technology, New Jersey City University, Rutgers University and Rowan University.
Mou’s in Delhi:
• Nasscom: The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has signed an MoU
with VentureLink @NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) and Choose New Jersey(NJ), to create a
“Nasscom Launchpad” to ease partnerships between the State of New Jersey and India and to promote
technology-based Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) between the two places. The MoU was signed by
Shivendra Singh, Vice president & Head – Global Trade Development at Nasscom, Jose Lozano, President
and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Choose NJ and Simon Nynens, Vice President(VP) of
VentureLink@NJIT.
• Princeton University: Princeton University in New Jersey has signed two MoUs with IIT
Delhi and ReNew power, which is India’s largest independent renewable energy producer for
exploration in clean energy research with Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton
University.
• NRDC: National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Delhi which is an enterprise of Department
of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under the science and technology ministry, signed an MoU with
New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) And Rowan University, New Jersey for
intensifying cooperation in innovation. The MoU was signed by Dr. H Purushotham, Chairman &
Managing Director(MD) of NRDC, Mr. Tim Sullivan, CEO of NJEDA and Dr. Beena Sukumaran, Vice
President for Research, Rowan University.
MoU in Telangana:
• Sister state partnership agreement: Telangana and New jersey has signed a sister state partnership
agreement in Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. The MoU was signed by Murphy and SK Joshi, Chief
Secretary of the state. This MoU will enhance cooperation in areas like IT(Information Technology),
Pharma & Life Sciences, Biotech, Fintech, Media, Data Centres, Clean Energy, Higher Education, Tourism,
Culture, and Healthcare sectors.
• MoU on film production: A pact was signed with Active Telugu Film Producers Guild with New Jersey to
support film production. This MoU will further enhance mutual relationship and facilitate the shooting of
Indian films in New Jersey.
• T-hub: T-hub which is India’s largest incubator for startups based in Hyderabad, Telangana, signed a
tripartite MoU with Choose New Jersey’, an economic development organisation and ‘VentureLink’. This
tripartite agreement would provide collaboration in areas of startup innovation, funding and
entrepreneurship. Under the agreement, two individuals per startup will get complementary space for 2
months in New Jersey.
MoU in Mumbai:
• TiE Mumbai:TiE Mumbai, which is a not-for-profit network of entrepreneurs, New Jersey City
University (NJCU) and Choose New Jersey which is a privately funded non-profit economic development
organization, entered into an MoU for the purpose of promoting technology and technology-based
investment exchanges between India and New Jersey. The MoU was signed by Atul Nishar, President of
TiE Mumbai, Tamara Cunningham, Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives of the New Jersey
university and Margie Piliere, Chief Economic Development Officer at Choose New Jersey.
• MoU by SNDT University: An MoU between SNDT Women’s University and Rutgers University in New
Jersey was signed for collaboration in food science and nutrition and food certification for businesses.
The SNDT university will also be mentored by Rutgers in new incubator creation. The MoU was signed
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during First Lady Tammy Murphy’s visit to SNDT university to give a speech on “Gender Equality through
Women Empowerment.” SNDT is India’s and South-East Asia’s first Women’s University.
• MoU on film production: Producers Guild of India Today signed MoU with Choose New Jersey, New
Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission for enhancing mutual relationships and also for
shooting Indian films in New Jersey. This MoU offers 2% diversity credit tax bonus for television and
filmmakers.
Other important events during the visit:
• Murphy opened second overseas office in New Delhi, tasked with the sole mission of luring(offering)
businesses and jobs to New Jersey.
• New Jersey India Center: Murphy opened New Jersey India Center in Gurugram. This centre will
enhance the trade relationship between India and New Jersey. Mr. Tarun Gupta, CEO and Managing
Partner of T&A Consulting, will serve as New Jersey’s liaison to the Indian business community.
• New Jersey- India Inaugural Business Roundtable: Governor Murphy attended the New Jersey- India
Inaugural Business Roundtable hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.
• New Jersey representation office: Murphy announced a New Jersey representation office in Delhi to
cultivate international investments in New Jersey.
• 1st Sustainability Innovation Summit: Murphy addressed the 1st Sustainability Innovation Summit
held in Hyderabad, Telangana. The summit was organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in
partnership with the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Limited (TSREDCO),
Department of Energy, and Government of Telangana.
• CFO Engage: A 2-day conference CFO (Chief Financial Officers) Engage was organized in Mumbai where
Murphy met corporate level executives.
• Choose New Jersey hosted ‘Second NJ & India: Connecting Transatlantic Gateways’ event in Mumbai,
in partnership with the event sponsor United Airlines, with the goal of promoting New Jersey to Indian
companies and underscoring how New Jersey views India as a vital economic partner.
Meeting with Indian Delegations:
• Meet with the PM: Governor Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, Deputy Chief of Mission Edgard Kagan,
and NJEDA’s Wesley Mathews met with Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and discussed on
India-New Jersey relations.
• Meet with EAM: Murphy met External Affairs Minister (EAM)r Shri Subramanyam Jaishankar in New
Delhi and discussed the mutual relationships of the two places.
• Meet with Piyush Goyal: The New Jersey governor Murphy met with Indian Commerce Minister Piyush
Goyal, and he promoted New Jersey as business destination at the Indo American Chamber of Commerce
(IACC).
Overview of Mongolian President Battulga’s Visit to India

President of the Republic of Mongolia His Excellency Mr. Khaltmaagiin Battulga paid a visit to India from 19-23
September 2019. He was received by Union Sports minister Kiren Rijiju and was given a ceremonial reception at
Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on his arrival. It is the first state visit by a Mongolian president in the last 10 years.
• Mongolian delegation: Khaltmaagiin Battulga was accompanied by Foreign Minister Mr.
DamdinTsogtbaatar, Mr. ByambasurenEnkhamgalan, Minister of Road & Transport Development, other
senior officials, along with a 25-member business delegation.
The details of the visit are as follows:
Important MoUs signed:
The two nations signed 4 Memoranda of Understandings(MoU). They are
MoU Purpose
CulturalExchangeProtocol from For promoting cooperation and cultural exchanges in the field of dance,
2019-2023 art, music, library, museums etc. Indian side announced 10 ICCR (Indian
Council for Cultural Relations) scholarships to Mongolian
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students wishing to undertake Buddhist monastic studies in India, while

the Mongolian side announced two scholarships for Indian students
interested in pursuing Mongolian studies.
Disaster Management and Disaster For cooperation and collaboration to perform in situations of disaster
Risk Reduction. signed between National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of
Mongolia and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India
Cooperation and Usage of Outer For promoting cooperation in space exploration for peaceful and civilian
Space for peaceful and civilian purposes. between Deptt of Space (India) and Communications and
purposes. Information Technology Authority (Mongolia).
Comprehensive Work Plan for Based on the 2015 Agreement between India and Mongolia on
cooperation in the field of Animal cooperation in the field of Animal Health and Dairy, the Work Plan lays
Health and Dairy. out a series of activities to intensify the cooperation.
Joint unveiling of Buddha statue:
• Shri Modi and Battulga, jointly unveiled a statue of Lord Buddha and his two disciples, installed at the
historic Gandan Tegchenling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar through video conference via remote.Modi on his
last visit to GandanTegchenling Monastery in 2015, announced to gift Buddha statue linking the Buddhist
heritage and civilization of both nations.
• Gangajal gift: Prime Minister Modi gifted a Kalash of Gangajal to be poured into the ‘Ganganuur’ lake of
Mongolia to the Mongolian president. As per Mongolian legend, one of the Buddhist monks from India
had carried sacred water from river Ganga and poured it into a lake which led to this lake being named
‘Ganganuur’.
India-Mongolia Business Forum held in New Delhi:
FICCI organized “Joint Business Meeting in honour Mr Khaltmaagiin Battulga, President of Mongolia” with other
industry chambers in New Delhi. The meet was addressed by Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum
& Natural Gas and Steel, Government of India. During the business forum two MoUs were signed which are as
follows:
• The MoU between Mongol Em Impex Concern LLC and Cadila Pharmaceuticals will establish a new
pharma manufacturing facility in Mongolia.
• The second agreement was between Lovely Professional University and Governor’s office of
Mongolia for cooperation in education.
Important events during the visit:
• Delegation level talks: The Mongolian president met his Indian counterpart Shri Ram Nath Kovind,
Prime Minister(PM) Shri Narendra Modi, Vice president Venkaiah Naidu and also the Minister of
State(MoS) for External Affairs(EA) V. Muraleedharan at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Both sides
decided to hold the next meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation in New Delhi in
the future. Indian President stated both nations as ‘spiritual neighbours’ along with ‘strategic partners’.
• 65th anniversary of India-Mongolia ties in 2020: The year 2020 will mark the 65th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Mongolia. In this regard, Government of India
would organize a “Festival of India” in Mongolia in 2020 to celebrate this historic occasion.
• Visa-on-arrival scheme by Mongolia: In reciprocation of India’s gesture in e-visa scheme exploration
for short term travelers of Mongolia, the Mongolian govt. also announced a visa-on-arrival scheme for
Indian short term travelers.
• LoC: On the request from Mongolia, India announced an additional 236 million dollars Line of Credit
(LoC) for the ongoing Petrochemical Refinery Project of Mongolia. Previously India announced US(United
States) $ 1 billion LoC for the Oil Refinery Project in Mongolia that would reduce the oil dependence of
Mongolia with neighbouring countries and also contribute to economic development. Both sides decided
to train engineers and technicians to be employed at the “Mongol Refinery Project” in India through
Indian Government scholarship under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
programme.
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• Membership with ISA: Mongolia has shown interest in becoming a member of the International Solar
Alliance(ISA) which is headquartered at Gurugram, Haryana to promote renewable energy and also
support India’s candidature for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership.
• Preventing terror financing: Both the nations discussed terrorism issues and agreed to work on
preventing terror financing.
• Indo pacific vision: Mongolia expressed its support to India’s “Indo-Pacific Vision” that aims to create an
open, free and inclusive architecture in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Visit to Agra, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Bengaluru: Battulga travelled to Bodhgaya in Bihar where he
visited the Mahabodhi temple and was gifted a memento and a sacred scarf at the shrine. Later he visited
Nalanda, Bihar and viewed the architecture there. After moving to Bengaluru he visited the Indian Space
Research Organisation(ISRO) headquartered in the state. He also visited the Taj Mahal at Agra.
Armed forces in exercises between India and Mongolia:
“Nomadic Elephant” in India and “Khaan Quest” in Mongolia
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit visited India for the 1st
time
The Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister of Thailand Mr Jurin Laksanawisit was on a first trade visit
to Mumbai and Chennai, India to promote Thai products from September 25-28, 2019.
Thai delegation: It comprised of officials from the International Trade Promotion Department, Ministry of
Commerce, Thailand Rubber Authority and many private sector officials.
Launch of Agri-Trade Supply Chain Alliance
• Mr Jurin Laksanawisit launched the Agri-Trade Supply Chain Alliance (ATSCHA) which will ease the
trade relations and increase trade commodity supply between the countries.
• He addressed the Thai Indo Business Networking (TIBN), a trade networking platform organised by The
Department of International Trade Promotion and Ministry of Commerce, Thailand which was held in
Mumbai, Maharashtra.
MoUs
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Association of Furniture Manufacturers
& Traders, India and Thai Hevae Wood Association; Thailand-India Business
Council and GlobalLinker to create an online platform for SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises)
from both countries.
• Thailand also invited a business delegation from India in November 2019 and Indian onliner
retailer BigBasket.com to sign a deal with the Thailand government for the promotion of Thai products
on its e-commerce platform.
Thailand, India sign trade agreements worth Rs 2,400 crore
• Thailand and India signed agreements worth Rs 2,400 crore to boost trade ties in the field of rubber,
construction material, food and beverages, logistics.
• Agreements signed in Mumbai accounted to 4.45 billion Thai baht (about Rs 900 crore) and in Chennai,
it was 7.623 billion Thai baht (about Rs 1,500 crore).
• For Mumbai, the focus on partnerships was on food, construction material, logistics and real estate
development. For Chennai, the focus was on rubber market from Thailand to India.
Rubber Industry
Thailand is the largest producer of rubber and the rubber industry in Thailand is targeting Chennai’s automobile
and textile manufacturing hubs. The demand for rubber from India is about one million tonne.
Food Industry
Thailand wants to sell ready-to-eat, frozen and chilled food products in India and looks forward to build co-
operation with Reliance Retail and Future Group in India. It also seeks to supply its biodegradable plastics.
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Foreign Visits
Overview of Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan’s visit to Russia
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan visited Moscow, Russia from
August 29-30, 2019 on the invitation of Minister of Energy of Russian Federation Mr Alexander Novak to
strengthen bilateral relationship between India and Russia in energy and steel sectors.
• The minister was accompanied by a 25-member strong business delegation comprising of Chief Executive
Officers (CEOs) of some of the largest Indian oil & gas, steel and engineering consulting companies.
• He held a series of high-level bilateral engagements with Russian Government and private sector entities
from energy and steel sectors.
• The visit was in preparation for the upcoming visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to
Vladivostok on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will participate in the 5th Eastern
Economic Forum as the Chief Guest and the 20th Annual Bilateral Summit which will be held between the
two countries during the first week of September 2019.
Bilateral meetings
Meeting with Mr Yury P Trutnev
• Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to
the Far Eastern Federal Districts of Russia, Yury P Trutnev.
• They discussed on further co-operation in sourcing of metallurgical coal and crude oil from the Far East
of Russia and about potential Indian investments in oil and gas and steel sectors in Far Eastern Russia.
They reviewed the progress in these sectors.
Meeting with Mr. Viktor Evtukhov
The minister held a meeting with State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian
Federation Mr. Viktor Evtukhov. They explored avenues for strengthening economic cooperation, enhancing the
flow of investments between the two countries.
Other Meetings
• The minister met Mr. Didier Casemiro, Deputy CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Mr Krysz Zielicki, Head
Business Development, Mr Anand, CEO – Nayara Energy representing Rosneft, which is Russia’s
petroleum industry and the world’s largest publicly traded petroleum company.
• He met Minister of Energy of Russia, Mr. Alexander Novak and reviewed the entire spectrum of oil & gas
cooperation. The two sides agreed to propose concrete recommendations including a roadmap and
action plan for cooperation in oil & gas sector to the Eastern Economic Forum and 20th Annual Bilateral
Summit. They discussed about the price volatility in the global oil market.
Highlights of the visit
• A special session was organized for the Indian delegation to discuss specific projects of immediate
interest to Indian companies. The session which was organised with the support of Russia’s Far East
Investment and Export Agency was attended by around 40 representatives from top Russian companies.
• This platform provided an opportunity for high-level interaction between the Indian and Russian
companies.
• During the event, presentations were made on specific opportunities for Indian companies in the oil, gas
and coking coal and steel sectors–in both greenfield and brownfield investments. Companies on both
sides held separate B2B (Business to Business) follow-up meetings to concretize the ideas discussed in
the expanded session.
• Shri Pradhan and the delegation also visited the Innovation Centre and Moscow Business
School in Skolkovo.
India nudges Russia to get OPEC to price oil at reasonable rates
• Dharmendra Pradhan met his Russian counterpart Alexander Valentinovich Novak and reviewed the
entire spectrum of oil and gas cooperation.
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• India has nudged Russia to use its influence on oil suppliers cartel Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) to balance the global oil market, ensuring adequate supply with responsible and
reasonable price.
• India, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer, has been pressing the OPEC for responsible pricing of oil
and gas, saying the volatility in rates are far detached from market fundamentals and are hurting
importing nations.
• Russia is collaborating with the OPEC in fixing oil production quota with a view to controlling the prices.
• India imports over 83% of its crude oil needs. Of the total crude oil imported, about 85% comes from
OPEC nations. Also, 80% of gas imports come from those countries.
• He also sought Russian investment in Indian oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), oil refining,
petrochemicals and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) import facilities.
Overview of EAM Dr. S Jaishankar’s visit to Maldives for IOC 2019

External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Male, Maldives on September 3-4, 2019 which
was his first high-level bilateral visit from India to Maldives after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State Visit on
June 8-9, 2019. He also participated in the 4th edition of Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) 2019.
A Treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters signed
i. India and Maldives signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) on criminal matters which aims to
increase the effectiveness in investigation and prosecution of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal
assistance in criminal matters of both countries. It was the first MLAT signed by Maldives.
ii. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Shahid discussed the ongoing
cooperation in various fields and ways to further strengthen the bilateral ties between both nations at Paradise
Island Resort, Maldives.
iii. An MLAT is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging
information in an effort to enforce public laws or criminal laws.
New building of the Indian Embassy
EAM Dr Jaishankar, along with his counterpart Abdulla Shahid laid the foundation stone of the new building of
the Indian Embassy in Maldives.
Bilateral meetings
i. EAM met Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and briefed him on the satisfactory status of
implementation of decisions taken during President Solih’s visit to India in December, 2018 and Prime Minister
Modi’s visit to Maldives in June, 2019. EAM assured India’s commitment to develop Maldives.
ii. He met the Speaker of Maldivian Parliament Mohamed Nasheed and held talks with him. Mr Nasheed was the
fourth President of the Maldives (2008 to 2012). He was the first democratically elected president of the
Maldives and one of the founders of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
iii. He met Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and held bilateral talks with him. They reviewed the state
of bilateral relations of both the nations of the past 9 months.
4th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) for the year 2019 held at Paradise Island Resort in Maldives
The 4th edition of Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) for 2019 was held on September 3-4, 2019 at Paradise
Island Resort in Maldives with the theme “Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and Non-
Traditional Challenges”. It was organised by India Foundation in association with the Government of Maldives
and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore.
i. Speakers from different countries participated in the conference.
ii. The Organizing Committee of the Conference was chaired by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil
Wickremasinghe. Vice chairmen were EAM Dr. S Jaishankar, Mr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Singapore and Mr Abdulla Shahid, Foreign Minister of Maldives.
iii. The discussions were held on developing effective regional institutional mechanism for implementation of
prevailing norms and rules.
iv. The themes that were discussed in the conference are as follows:
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• Marine Ecology: Climate Change, Global warming and consequent rise of Sea Levels, Pollution,
Sustainable harnessing of Oceanic Resources.
• Terrorism: Rising Specter of Terrorism in Indian Ocean Region, Marine Terrorism.
• Navigational Security: Freedom of Navigation, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) and its effective implementation, Natural and Manmade hazards to Navigation, Piracy.
v. During an address at the conference, EAM stated that Indo-Pacific is the logical step after Act East and a break
out from the confines of South Asia.
Meetings on the side-lines of the Conference
The EAM spoke to the following persons on the sidelines of the conference:
i. He called on Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremasinghe.
ii. He met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of
Mauritius Nandcoomar Bodha.
iii. He met Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman Sayyid bin Hamad Albusaidi.
Overview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vladivostok, Russia

Prime Minister (PM) of India, Shri Narendra Modi visited Vladivostok, Russia on September 4-5, 2019. It was
the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Far East Region of Russia. He participated as the Chief Guest at
the 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) for 2019 at the invitation of President of the Russian Federation Mr
Vladimir Putin and also attended the 20th India-Russia Annual Summit for 2019.
During his visit, PM recalled the visit to Russia for the India-Russia Summit of November 2001 as Gujarat chief
minister as part of the then PM Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s delegation.
Guard of honour
PM received a guard of honour at the Vladivostok International Airport in the presence of Russia’s Deputy
Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov.
List of MoUs signed
Following is the list of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed between India and Russia:
• Joint Statement “Reaching New Heights of Cooperation through Trust and Partnership”.
• Joint Strategy for the Enhancement of India- Russia Trade and Investments.
• Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Russian
Federation on cooperation in the production of spare parts for Russian/Soviet military equipment.
• Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Russian
Federation on Cooperation in Audiovisual Co-production.
• MoU between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of the Republic of India and the Ministry of
Transport of the Russian Federation on bilateral cooperation in the road transport and road industry.
• Memorandum of Intent between the Ministry of Shipping of the Republic of India and the Ministry of
Transport of the Russian Federation on the Development of Maritime Communications between the Port
of Chennai, Republic of India and the Port of Vladivostok, Russian Federation.
• Plan for cooperation between the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Ministry of
Finance, Republic of India and the Federal Customs Service (Russian Federation), for combating customs
violations in 2019-2022.
• MoU between the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas of the Republic of India on the use of Natural Gas for Transportation.
• Program between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of the Republic of India and the Ministry of
Energy of the Russian Federation on expansion of cooperation in oil and gas sector.
• MoU between Coal India Limited and Far East Investment and Export Agency to cooperate in coking coal
mining projects implementation in the Russian Far East.
• Cooperation Agreement between Invest India and the Russian Direct Investment Fund for Investment
Collaboration.
• Cooperation agreement between the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) &
the Roscongress Foundation.
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• MoU between the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Autonomous Non-
profit Organization Agency for Strategic Initiatives to promote New Projects.
• MoU between the Joint Stock Company NOVATEK and PETRONET LNG Limited on cooperation with
respect to the joint development of downstream Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Business and LNG supplies.
• Agreement on Cooperation between Joint-Stock Company Rosgeologia and Srei Infrastructure Finance
Limited;
MoU to promote Trade & Investments
India and Russia have signed 30 MoUs to promote trade and investment. Among those, 16 were in the private
sector and the remaining 14 in government-to-government sector.
List of Commercial Documents signed by various Russian and Indian entities on the sidelines of the
Prime Minister’s visit to Vladivostok
• MoU for the Manufacture and Assembly of Primary Trainer Aircraft, DAKSH between Yakovlev Design
Bureau and Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).
• MoU between Zarubezhneft and Sungroup Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.
• MoU between Far Eastern Mining Company and the State Trading Corporation of India Ltd.
• Cooperation Agreement between Far Eastern Mining Company and SUN Gold Eurasia.
• MoU between Autonomous Non-Profit Organization ‘Agency for Strategic Initiatives’ and the Global
Education and Leadership Foundation.
• MoU between the Skolkovo Foundation and the Global Education and Leadership Foundation.
• MoU between National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Manav Rachna Vidyantariksha Pvt.
Ltd. and JSC ROBBO.
• Letter of Intent (LOI) ‘Communicating Culture, Consolidating Relationships’ between Federal State
Unitary Enterprise ‘Rossiya Segodbya’, International Information Agency, founder of the Russian Media
Outlet “Sputnik Information Agency” and Zee Media Corporation Limited’s entity WION (World Is One
News).
• MoU between Invest India and Skolkovo Foundation.
• Cooperation Agreement and Collaboration between RUS Education Pvt. Ltd. , Far East Federal University,
and Far East Investment and Export Agency.
• Cooperation Agreement between autonomous non-commercial organization Far East Investment and
Export Agency and SAS Fininvest LLP
• Cooperation Agreement on the implementation of investment project between autonomous non-
commercial organization Far East Investment and Export Agency and KGK Sudima Evergreen Pvt.
Limited and the Government of Zabaikalsky Krai.
• Agreement for the Establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre between Far East Federal University,
Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation and the Global Education & Leadership Foundation.
• Cooperation Agreement between LLC RITE and Star Overseas Ltd.
• MoU between National Skill Development Corporation, Magic Billion and LS-Ruspacific Co. Ltd.
• MoU between Magadan Region Government and LLC SUN Eurasia;
• MoU between National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Limited Liability Company Far
East Mining Company
• Cooperation Agreement between NLC India Ltd (formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) and Far
East Mining Company
• Cooperation Agreement between Far East Mining Company and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
• Cooperation Agreement between Far East Mining Company and MMTC Ltd (Metals and Minerals Trading
Corporation of India).
• Cooperation Agreement between Limited Liability Company Far East Mining Company and Khanij Bidesh
India Ltd (KABIL).
• Cooperation Agreement between Far East Mining Company and Coal India Limited (CIL).
• Cooperation Agreement between Russian Direct Investment Fund and UPL Limited on Joint investments
in agriculture and crop protection market in Russian Federation
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• MoU on mutual business collaboration (Financial Cooperation initiative for development of the Russian
Far East and State of Tamil Nadu, India) between Joint Stock Company “The Far East and Baikal Region
Development Fund” and Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation
• MoU between H-Energy Global Ltd and Joint Stock Company NOVATEK for cooperation in LNG sphere
• MoU between Far East Federal University (Vladivostok, Russian Federation) and Pandit Deendayal
Petroleum University (Gandhinagar , Gujarat, Republic of India)
• Agreement of Intent on the implementation of the investment project of LLC KGK DV in Primorsky
Territory
• Agreement between Volzhsky Abrasive Works and Murugappan Group
• Cooperation Agreement between Limited Liability Company “RITE” and Rooman Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
• MoU to explore the possibilities of developing renewable energy projects between State Development
Corporation VEB.RF, Joint Stock Company Zarubezhneft, Havel Limited Liability Company, Indian Oil
Corporation Limited and Sungroup Enterprises Private Limited
• International MoU between Amity Universities & Institutions, India and Ministry of Investment
Development of Zabaikalski Krai, Russia
• MoU between Government of Chukotka autonomous Region (Anadyr, Russian Federation) and Amity
University (New Delhi, Republic of India)
• MoU between FEFU Technology Entrepreneurship Fund (Russky Technopark) and Amity University
• Agreement on operating in an Advanced Special Economic Zone between JSC Far East Development
Corporation and Limited Liability Company Far Eastern Natural Resources Limited (100% subsidiary of
the Tata Power Co. Ltd.)
• Agreement of Intent on implementation of project on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia between
the Government of the Republic of Buryatia and Star Overseas Ltd.
Visit to Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex
• PM Modi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Zvezda shipbuilding complex and
interacted with the management and workers of the shipyard.
• The Zvezda shipyard is being set up on the base of the Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center
by a consortium of Rosneft, Rosneftegaz and Gazprombank.
• The shipyard will produce heavy tonnage ships, offshore platform elements, ice-class vessels, special
vessels, and other marine equipment
• The ships built at the shipyard will be used to deliver Russian oil and liquefied natural gas to world
markets.
Bilateral High Level Tiger Forum 2020
• In a bilateral meeting held between PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the port city of
Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East Region, India and Russia decided to hold a joint high level tiger
forum in the year 2020.
• India welcomed Russia’s initiative to hold the Second International Tiger Conservation
Forum in 2022. First forum was held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia in 2010.
Other Highlights
• Russia has plans to set up more than 20 Russian-designed nuclear units in India in the next 20 years.
• PM Modi accepted the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the 75th anniversary
celebrations of the victory of the Russian Federation and the erstwhile Soviet Union in World War II
scheduled to be held in May 2020 at Moscow, Russia.
• India invited Russian companies to invest in its oil refining and petrochemical projects. India-Russia
hydrocarbon cooperation is a major pillar of India-Russia strategic partnership.
• India’s economic relations with Russia have improved and two countries were keen to realise the full
potential of their ties.
• Russia launched the third export line at its largest coal terminal in the Far East region. It loaded the first
cargo for Indian company JSW Steel.
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• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the ‘Far East Street’ exhibition with Russian President Vladimir
Putin.
20th India-Russia annual summit for 2019 held in Vladivostok, Russia
PM Modi participated in the 20th India-Russia Annual Summit for 2019 held in Vladivostok, Russia. He
described Russia as a reliable partner and special friend.
• India and Russia decided to step up industrial cooperation and create new technological and investment
partnership, especially in advanced high-tech areas, with an aim to increase bilateral trade to $30
billion by 2025.
• The bilateral merchandise trade between both countries was about $8.2 billion during 2018-19.
• They agreed to speed up preparations for signing of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Agreement on
Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments.
• They agreed to intensify work for eliminating trade barriers facilitated by the proposed Trading
Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Republic of India.
Russia proposes joint development of submarines with India
Russia has offered India the submarines for Navy’s Project 75I on the basis of an Inter Governmental Agreement
(IGA). Under Project 75(I), India plans to indigenously construct 6 submarines for the Indian Navy at a cost of
over Rs 40,000 crores.
• It has offered to jointly develop the AIP (Air-independent propulsion) for the submarine through IGA.
• India has ordered $14.5 billion worth of weapons from Russia.
5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) for 2019
PM Modi presided over the 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) for 2019 as the Chief Guest in Vladivostok,
Russia. India has the status of a guest country at the EEF 2019. He also addressed the plenary session of 5th EEF.
He stated that India and Russia are beginning a new era of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to make it open,
free and inclusive.
• India extended a credit line of $1 billion for the development of Russia’s Far East. This is the first-ever
region-specific line of credit in a foreign country extended by India.
• PM launched ‘Act Far East’ Policy for Russia.
• PM emphasised India’s commitment to turn India into a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and elaborated
some of the steps initiated by the country to achieve this target.
Bilateral meetings on the sidelines of 5th EEF
Meeting with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and discussed the bilateral ties shared
between India and Japan.
i. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe will visit India in December 2019 for Indo-Japan Annual Summit 2019.
ii. They spoke on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the regional cooperation agreement
that is being negotiated by 16 countries including those of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
countries.
iii. They shared similar views on the Indo-pacific region.
• Both leaders decided to hold the first 2 plus 2 ministerial meeting of Foreign and Defence
ministers of both countries ahead of the annual bilateral summit in New Delhi.
• They also discussed to continue the trilateral meeting of India, Japan and the United States for enhancing
regional cooperation.
Meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad
Prime Minister Modi met the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad and held discussions to diversify
the bilateral ties to benefit people in both the countries. He explained the rationale behind Indian government’s
decision on Jammu and Kashmir and sought the extradition of radical televangelist Zakir Naik who is alleged for
money laundering and inciting extremism.
Meeting with President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga
PM met the President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga and discussed a range of issues of bilateral interest,
including strengthening of cultural, spiritual and people-to-people ties.
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PM Modi visited India Business Pavilion called ‘India Lounge’

• Prime Minister Modi visited the pavilion, called ‘India Lounge‘ and launched an Indo-Russian
Innovation Bridge, an online platform to bridge the gap between Indian and Russian startup
ecosystems. The pavilion is with the support of the Roscongress Foundation of Russia.
• He also launched Startup India Kalyani EdTech Challenge where Invest India & Kalyani Group joined
hands to support top Indian & Russian startups. The Challenge is open to all startups & innovators & will
be hosted on Startup India website.
Cooperation in hydrocarbon sector for 2019-24 with Russia
India expressed cooperation in hydrocarbon sector for 2019-24 with Russia. Both sides affirmed their
determination to deepen cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, bilaterally and in third country projects in the
Natural gas sector, Upstream & Downstream sector and in training, technology & third party cooperation.
Overview of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Japan and South Korea
The Defence Minister of India, Shri Rajnath Singh visited Japan and South Korea. He held a 5-day visit to the
countries with an aim to strengthen military and defence from September 2-6, 2019.
Visit to Japan
Mr Rajnath Singh visited Japan at the invitation of Mr. Takeshi Iwaya, Defence Minister of Japan from September
2 – 3, 2019.
Japan–India Defence Ministerial Meeting 2019
i. Mr Rajnath Singh co-chaired the Japan – India Defence Ministerial Meeting 2019 with Defence Minister of
Japan Mr Takeshi lwaya in Tokyo, Japan. Various issues of mutual concern were discussed in the meeting.
ii. Mr Rajnath Singh invited the participation of Japanese companies and other stakeholders at biennial DefExpo
2020 to be held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from February 5 -8, 2020.
iii. Both ministers shared their views to promote cooperation and exchanges in various areas.
iv. Japan-India-U.S trilateral maritime exercise “MALABAR 2019” will be held from late September to early
October, 2019.
v. India, Japan Annual Defence Dialogue 2019 resolved to further deepen bilateral defence and strategic ties.
Upcoming Meetings
i. The first India-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) on Indo-Pacific cooperation will be
held in 2019. It will be held ahead of India-Japan Annual Summit 2019.
ii. The Fifth Joint Working Group on Defence Equipment and Technology Cooperation (JWG-DETC) will also
be held in 2019.
Other highlights
i. Mr Rajnath Singh called on Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe and held discussions with him.
ii. He paid homage to the martyrs of Japanese Self-Defence Forces at Ichigaya in Tokyo.
iii. He inspected the Guard of Honour at Ministry of Defence Headquarters, Japan.
iv. India & Japan decided to accelerate cooperation in the area of defence equipment and technology & urged
deeper discussions between the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) and the Department of
Defence Production (DDP).
v. He paid a visit to the Hamamatsu Airbase in Japan & inspected the functioning of F-15 fighter aircraft and
Kawasaki Trainer plane.
vi. He visited the Japan Maritime United Yokohama Shipyard Isogo Works in Yokohama.
Visit to South Korea
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh arrived in Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK)
on the second leg of his two-nation tour to Japan and South Korea on September 4, 2019.
Guard of Honour
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received the Guard of Honour by the Tri-Services in South Korea. India’s
national anthem was played out at the Ministry of National Defence in Seoul.
8th Seoul Defence Dialogue for 2019
The 8th Edition of Seoul Defence Dialogue 2019 was held with the theme “Building Peace Together:
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Challenges and Visions” in Seoul, South Korea. It is an annual international security forum hosted by the
Ministry of National Defense of South Korea.
i. It had 4 plenary sessions. The themes of the four plenary sessions are “Peace Process on the Korean Peninsula
and International Cooperation,” “Peace in Northeast Asia: Challenges and Tasks,” “International Peacekeeping
Operations and Humanitarian Assistance” and “National Strategy and Crisis Management in Cyberspace.”
ii. Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the dialogue. He called for a collective international action to
check perpetrators of terrorism and advocated strong measures against those who support and finance
terrorism and provide sanctuary to terrorists.
iii. Raksha Mantri emphasised that good relations with neighbours are a priority for India’s foreign policy as part
of its Neighbourhood First Policy.
MoUs
India and South Korea signed 2 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to enhance defence educational
exchanges and extend logistical support to each other’s Navies. It will help to enhance defence cooperation
between India-Republic of Korea.
Bilateral Meetings
i. Defence Minister met Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK), Mr. Lee Nak-Yon and had a
comprehensive interaction over different issues. The two leaders further noted with appreciation that South
Korea’s ‘New Southern Policy’ and India’s ‘Act East Policy’ shared the same perspective and goals.
ii. He held discussions with Mr Jeong Kyeong – Doo, the Minister of National Defence of South Korea.
iii. He engaged in a discussion with South Korea’s minister of Defence Acquisition Program Administration
(DAPA) Mr Wang Jung-hong.
Other Highlights
i. The Defence Minister laid a wreath at the National Cemetery in Seoul.
ii. He attended the CEO’s (Chief Executive Officer) Forum in Seoul. The Forum was jointly organised by the
Embassy of India and Department, Defence Production, Ministry of Defence (MoD), South Korea.
iii. He attended a Business-to-Government (B2G) meeting with the participation of members of the defence
industry from both sides with an aim to encourage cooperation between the defence industries of India and
South Korea.
iv. He visited the War Memorial to which he presented a copy of the citation received by the Indian 60th Para
Field Hospital for its exceptional contributions during the Korean War.
v. Shri Rajnath Singh addressed CEOs of Korean and Indian Defence Industries in Seoul, in the presence of
Minister of Defence Acquisition and Program Administration, ROK, Mr Wang Jung-hong & invited the Korean
Industry to explore the feasibility of local production of items, used in main weapon system, imported by Indian
Defence PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings). He proposed setting up of a task force which identifies such items
which are economically viable and locally produced in India resulting in reduction of import bill.
About Japan:
♦ Capital: Tokyo
♦ Currency: Japanese Yen
About South Korea:
♦ Currency: South Korean won
♦ Capital: Seoul
2019 South Asian Parliamentarian conference for Children of UNICEF held in Colombo
On September 2, 2019, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) along with the parliament of Srilanka at
the Colombo city conducted the two-day-long 2019 UNICEF South Asian Parliamentarian Conference on
Children Rights Convention to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the convention of the rights of
the child. This is the 3rd convention conducted by UNICEF with parliamentarians for children where the meeting
aims to discuss the issues faced by children and on the challenges to improve the child rights.
Key points
i. Convention adoption: The UN General Assembly adopted the convention under the resolution 44/25 of 20
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November 1989 and came into force entry force on 2 September 1990.
ii. Child rights convention: It is the most ratified human rights treaty that has so far changed the lives of t 627
million South Asian children.
iii. Commemorative event: A commemorative event to celebrate the adoption of child rights convention is to be
held in New York in September 25, 2019
India Pakistan participation:
i. Delegations:The Indian delegation was led by Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Gaurav Gogoi and
BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party) MP Sanjay Jaiswal whereas the Pakistani side was led by MehnazAkber Aziz, Member
of the National Assembly.
ii. Interruption in Pakistan’s declaration: Mehnaz raised the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh into a
Union Territory and so the declaration was rejected citing that it was against the agenda of the conference. This
is the second time Pakistan’s declaration was interrupted for the same reason after the 4th South Asian Speakers’
Summit organised in Maldives of 2019.
Overview of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s visit to Indonesia and Singapore from September
4-10, 2019
The External Affairs Minister(EAM) of India, Dr S Jaishankar paid an official visit
to Indonesia and Singapore from September 4-10, 2019.
Visit to Indonesia (September 04-06, 2019)
Dr. S. Jaishankar EAM visited Indonesia and it was his first bilateral visit in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) region and maiden visit to Indonesia, after assuming charge as External Affairs Minister.
Bilateral trade target of $50 billion by 2025
• India and Indonesia have committed to reach a target of$50 billion bilateral trade by 2025. In 2018, the
trade between the two nations crossed $20 billion.
• Indonesia requested India to reduce tariff for its palm oil.
India, Indonesia condemn ‘Selective Approaches’ in dealing with terrorism
India and Indonesia unequivocally condemned terrorism and the selective approaches in dealing with terrorism
and affirmed their shared interests in the territorial integrity and unity.
Other highlights
• EAM presided over the web launch of the Representative office of Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mr. Thomas Trikasih Lembong, Chairman of Indonesia Investment
Coordinating Board was also present at the inaugural function.
• EAM launched a commemorative stampto mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Indonesia invited India to join Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand-Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) as the
Dialogue Partner.
• EAM visited the National Museum of Indonesia.
Bilateral talks
Meeting with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi
• EAM Dr S Jaishankar met Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudiand held bilateral talks on a number of
regional, global, economic, political and security issues. He invited him to visit India for the Joint
Commission Meeting to be held later in 2019.
• They agreed to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation.
• They agreed to step up cooperation in connecting Aceh and Andaman and Nicobar islands to promote
trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts. Aceh province is located on the northern end of Sumatra. In
2018, India and Indonesia had agreed to set up a special task force to enhance connectivity between the
strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands and provinces in Sumatra Island.
Meeting with Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of Indonesia
EAM called on Jusuf Kalla, Hon’ble Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and discussed
steps to further scale up the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Indonesia. He extended an
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invitation to Vice President to join the launch of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)
initiative at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Other meetings
• EAM met Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Gen(Retd) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitanand discussed
on closer cooperation between Andaman and Nicobar and Aceh.
• He met coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs,Gen (Retd) H. Wiranto and
discussed on cooperation in counter terrorism and defence.
• He called on the former President and Chairwoman of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDIP) Megawati Sukarnoputri and recalled her strong association with India. He also extended an
invitation to visit India.
Visit to Singapore (September 6-10, 2019)
EAM Dr S Jaishankar visited Singapore, a valued strategic partner, from 6-10 September 2019. He was
accompanied by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Hardeep S. Puri. He was received by Singapore Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The Next Phase- Business & Innovation Summit 2019
On September 9-10, 2019, India-Singapore: The Next Phase- Business and Innovation Summit 2019 was
inaugurated at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore. It was attended by EAM Dr S
Jaishankar, his counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan and was moderated by Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large
Professor Tommy Koh.
• It was organized by the High Commission of India, in partnership with agencies of the Governments of
India and Singapore, chambers of commerce, professional associations and innovation labs.
• It had 2 inter-related conferences: A business event and the third edition of the India-Singapore
Innovation and Start-up platform – InSpreneur.
• It included a session on ‘Setting the future framework on Trade’, chaired by Chandrajeet Banerjee,
Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• Business chambers like CII, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and PHD
Chamber of Commerce and Industry had participated along with state delegations from Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
• Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Housing, Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation and Commerce
and Industry, also addressed the India Singapore Business Summit.
• Finance, infrastructure development and macro-economics were on the agenda for the second day of the
India-Singapore: The Next Phase’ Business Summit.
• Singapore is India’s top foreign investor in 2018-2019 and around 20% of outbound investment from
India is going to Singapore.
• India is the third-largest source of tourists to Singapore.
InSpreneur3.0- Start-Up and Innovation Exhibition 2019
EAM visited InSpreneur3.0 -Start-up and Innovation Exhibition 2019 along with his Singaporean counterpart
Vivian Balakrishnan. There were around 60 startups from India including 1 from the Atal Tinker Labs set up by
the union government.
6th Joint Ministerial Commission 2019
The 6th Joint Ministerial Commission for 2019 was chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his
Singapore counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to fully realise the
enormous potential of their bilateral relations.
Other highlights
EAM visited INA memorial in Singapore.
Bilateral talks
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Singapore senior minister Teo Chee Heanand discussed the
challenges and opportunities of a changing world. Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep
Singh Puri was also present in the meeting.
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• EAM met Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Singand discussed about scaling up trade and
investment.
• He met Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and held talks with him.
• He met Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keatand the two leaders
discussed new avenues of relationship through the opportunities provided by “New India.”
• He held a meeting with Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.
• He called on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loongand discussed on bilateral ties and the issues
concerning the world.
Overview of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s visit to Poland and Belgium

The External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India Dr S Jaishankar made an official visit to Poland and Belgium.
Visit to Poland (August 28- 29, 2019)
EAM Dr S Jaishankar paid an official visit to Poland from August 28- 29, 2019 on the invitation of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Mr Jacek Czaputowicz (FM). He was received by Prime Minister Mateusz
Morawiecki.
• It is the first visit of an Indian EAM to Poland since 1987.
• The visit took place in the backdrop of the 65th anniversary of establishing bilateral relations between
Poland and India.
Launch of direct flight services
• EAM officially launched a direct flight services between Warsaw, and New Delhi operated by LOT Polish
Airlines, scheduled for September 2019.
• Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Marcin Przydacz had travelled on the inaugural flight from Warsaw to
Delhi on September 12, 2019.
Other highlights
• EAM expressed India’s desire to engage with Poland in the Visegrad format.
• The Polish side welcomed the invitation to President Andrzej Duda extended by the President of the
Republic of India, Mr Ram Nath Kovind.
• FM Prof. Czaputowicz expressed the commitment of Poland to support global efforts to combat terrorism
in all its forms.
• The Polish side appreciated India’s support for the candidature of Poland for non-permanent seat at the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the years 2018-2019 and expressed support for India’s
candidature for non-permanent seat for the years 2021-22.
Bilateral talks
• EAM met FM Prof. Czaputowicz and held talks with him in the fields of political cooperation, economy,
education and culture.
• He also held talks with the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki and Deputy PM of Poland Piotr
Gliński.
Visit to Belgium (August 29- 30, 2019)
On August 29, 2019, EAM Dr S Jaishankar arrived in Belgium after the completion of his three-nation tour to
Russia, Hungary and Poland.
Discussion on India-EU Strategic Partnership
EAM met David Maria Sassoli, President of European Parliament, along with other leaders and discussed on the
India-European Union (EU) Strategic Partnership on regional, global and multilateral issues in Brussels.
Bilateral talks
• EAM met his Belgian counterpart Didier Reynders and discussed issues of mutual interests.
• He met the European Union (EU) Commissioner Christos Stylianides and held talks with him.
• He also held talks with EU’s Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini.
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Overview of President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind visit to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia from Sep
9 -17, 2019
The president of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind paid an official visit to Iceland, Switzerland and Slovenia from
September 9-17, 2019 to strengthen economic and political ties with these countries. He was accompanied by
First Lady Savita Kovind and other high level delegations.
Visit to Iceland:
Ram Nath Kovind as his first leg of the tri nation visit, landed in Reykjavik, Iceland on September 9 2019. This is
the first visit by the President of India to Iceland since the visit of Dr.Abdul Kalam in 2005. He was welcomed by
President of Iceland, His Excellency Mr. Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson at his Bessastadir Residence.
Memorandum of Understandings(MoUs) signed:
The two nations signed 3 MoUs from 2019 till 2022 by Ram Nath Kovind and his counterpart Jóhannesson.
• Fisheries collaboration,
• Cultural cooperation
• Visa waiver by Iceland to holders of diplomatic and official passport.
Indian delegation: The president lead the Indian delegation which comprised of Smt. Debasree Chaudhury,
Minister of State(MoS) for Women and Child Development, Dr. Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Member of
Parliament(MP), Lok Sabha, Shri Basant Kumar Panda (MP) along with 35 member Indian business delegation
Delegation level talks:
• Both the nations committed to work together to strengthen the global fight against terrorism.
• Cooperation by India with Iceland to combat climate change, marine litter and other environmental
issues.
• India’s gratitude for the longstanding support that Iceland had expressed for its(India) candidature for
permanent membership of the UN(United Nations) Security Council was reiterated.
• Indian companies would provide opportunities to the people of Iceland in pharma, high-end
IT(Information & Technology) services, biotechnology, automobile, innovation and start-up areas.
Address by the president At the University of Iceland
• Shri Kovind delivered a lecture on the India-Iceland partnership on the theme “India-Iceland for a
Greener planet” in making a greener planet, at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik.
• Announcement of teaching Hindi language at the university in the near future was made where all the
formalities to set up the Hindi chair had already been completed.
• The Indian President said that though India remained as the fastest growing economy it still required a
huge expansion of energy production in a sustainable manner, and also considered its commitment under
the Paris Agreement along with its growth.
• He talked about the Around CHIPKO ANDOLAN(also called chipko movement), of India, to save trees,
forests and preserve mountain ecology.
• India’s commitment: India’s greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP(Gross Domestic Product) is to
be reduced by 33 to 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. India’s commitment to ban single use plastic
by 2022 was also discussed. Recently india also hosted the 14th UN Convention to Combat Desertification
in India from 2-13 September 2019.
Address by President at community reception hall:
The President also attended the Indian Community and Friends of India Reception, hosted by the Ambassador of
India to Iceland, Shri T. Armstrong Changsan on the eve of September 9, 2019.
• He thanked the people of Iceland for assisting the cultural ambassadors of India representing the old age
belief “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”(entire world is one family).
• He appreciated the efforts made by Iceland to maintain healthy relationship with India such as The Indo-
Icelandic Friendship Society and the Iceland-Pondicherry Friendship Association.
• Embassy commitment: He praised the commitment of Indian embassy in reaching the Icelandic people
through digital platforms such as MADAD (Mobile Application for Desired Assistance During travel) with
simpler E-visas and OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India)Card processes.
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Visits:
• He visited Iceland’s Prime Minister, Ms. Katrín Jakobsdóttir on September 10, 2019.
• He visited the 8th century parliament – ‘Althingi’. Also known as Thingvellir, it is one of the oldest
parliament in the world.
ISA invitation:
• Kovind congratulated the Iceland President Johannesson on assuming the chair of the Arctic Council
(high-level intergovernmental forum) in which India is an observer and had also invited Iceland to join
the International Solar Alliance(ISA) which is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, India.
India-Iceland Business Forum
The president addressed the India-Iceland business forum in Reykjavik on the final leg of his visit to Iceland on
September 11, 2019.
• The two nations discussed the expansion of trade, investment, technology and innovation collaborations
which would be part of India’s 5 trillion dollar economy by 2025, commitment of 175 GigaWatts (GW) of
electricity from renewable sources by 2022.
• The President also said that these two nation’s relationships could also lead to Fourth Industrial
Revolution and the machine-intelligence age.
• India expressed its will to use Iceland’s capacity in sustainable sectors such as fishery, marine economy,
shipping, green growth, energy, construction and agriculture.
• Professionals, especially in the field of geothermal energy from Iceland were invited to be part of the
transformational journey of India.
Painting of Lonar and book presentation:
• Painting of Lonar, which is the largest lake created by the impact of a meteor in the ballistic deccan
plateau of Maharashtra was gifted by Indian president to his Icelandic counterpart.
• Books on the story of valour and sacrifice of Indian soldiers during the World War I named “India and the
Great War” were also presented.
Visit to Switzerland
The president of india visited Switzerland from September 11-14, 2019 as part of the tri nation visit. The
president was welcomed by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer at Bern, Switzerland.The
important events are mentioned below as follows,
MoU signed:
On September 13, 2019 India and Switzerland signed 3 agreements by president Kovind and his Swiss
counterpart Ueli Maurer.
• Technical cooperation on climate change.
• Alliance in science and technology.
• Renewal of Hindi chair at the University of Lausanne..
Address at the Federal Council of Switzerland
• To prevent tax evasion and money laundering links with terrrorism, 1st automatic exchange
of information on tax matters was conducted after Indian president addressed the Federal
Council(highest executive authority) of Switzerland.
• The president, talked about the confidence in youth to script the machine-intelligence age and to draw
the contours of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
India-Switzerland Business CEOs Forum
The president of India addressed the India-Switzerland Business CEOs(Chief Executive Officers) Forum in Berne.
• In the forum he spoke about the target of producing 6 to 7 million electric and hybrid vehicles by 2020.
• India is the third largest Start-up network in the world with over 21,000 enterprises.
• He also talked about the Swiss partnership in the flagship Make in India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Clean
India, Startup India and Skill India programmes.
Gandhi statue unveiled:
Ram Nath Kovind unveiled unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Swiss town of Villeneuve situated on the
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shore of lake Geneva. It was a gift from the Indian govt. commissioned by Indian Council for Cultural
Relations(ICCR).
Visit to the university of Bern
• Shri Kovind addressed the University of Bern on the theme ‘India-Switzerland: New Age Partnership-
Connecting Himalayas with Alps”. The democracy of the two nations were spoken about, where
Switzerland is the oldest democracy and India is the largest democracy in the world with 900 million
electorate.
• He spoke about the india’s water conservation efforts and about the Jal Jeevan Abhiyan scheme that aims
to provide tap water to 146 million households by 2024. This mission is expected to provide
opportunities for Indo-Swiss collaboration.
• Later president addressed the Indian Community and Friends of India at a reception hosted by Shri
Sibi George, Ambassador of India to Switzerland in Berne.
• The two leaders committed to strengthening the ties of India and Switzerland.
• The Swiss nation extended its support to India to fight against terrorism.
Visit to Slovenia:
The president Shri Kovind made his final leg visit to Slovenia from Sep 15- 17, 2019 and held high level talks.
This is the first ever visit by an Indian president to Slovenia. He was welcomed by the president of Slovenia Borut
Pahor in Ljubljana.
MoU’s signed:
India and Slovenia signed 7 MoUs together by Indian and the Slovenian president. They are cooperation in the
field of
• Investment
• Sports
• Culture
• River rejuvenation(clean Ganga mission)
• Science
• Technology
• Standards
India Slovenia business forum
• The president addressed the Slovenia-India Business Forum in Lubliyana and focussed on various
business approaches. He called upon Slovenian business delegation to discover economic energy and
dynamism of New India which has a third largest scientific pool of scientists in the world and which
attracted 44.3 billion US dollars of Foreign Direct Investment in 2018-19.
• He also talked about the India-Europe 29 business forum conducted annually for business collaborations
• Simplified visa procedures that would enhance business partnerships were discussed.
• Both nation presidents discussed the Cooperation in High Tech, Clean Technology, Robotics and Artificial
Intelligence as a way of strengthening their partnerships.
• The president met the prime minister of Slovenia, Marjan Šarec at Ljubljana Castle.
Overview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States

The Prime Minister (PM) of India Mr Narendra Modi visited United States (US) from September 21-27, 2019.
Following are the highlights of his visit:
PM in Houston
Arrival
PM Modi arrived at the George Bush International Airport in Houston, US on September 21, 2019.
CEO round-table meet 2019 (September 21, 2019)
In the CEO (Chief Executive Officers) round-table meet 2019 held at Hotel Post Oak in Houston, PM interacted
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with the CEOs from the US oil and gas sectors. The meet focussed on working together for energy security and
expanding mutual investment opportunities between India and the United States.
• Participants: CEOs of 17 global energy companies participated and they have a combined net worth of
$1 trillion with a presence in 150 countries.
• MoU: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between US natural gas company Tellurian Inc.
and Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) of India was signed. PLL will invest $2.5 billion in Tellurian’s proposed
Driftwood LNG (Liquefied natural gas) export terminal, in exchange for the rights to 5 million metric tons
of LNG per year over 40 years. The transaction agreements will be finalised by March 31, 2020.
“Howdy, Modi” Event (September 22, 2019)
PM Modi attended the “Howdy, Modi” event at NRG stadium in Houston, Texas along with the US President
Donald J Trump. He addressed the Indian community over fifty thousand and extended an invitation to President
Trump and his family to visit India.
• The term “howdy” is a commonly used informal and friendly greeting in Texas and other southwestern
states of the US which means “How do you do?”
• Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner presented the ‘Key to Houston’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as
a mark of respect, solidarity and long standing India-Houston relationship.
Inaugurations/Meetings
• PM inaugurated Eternal Gandhi Museum in Houston.
• He also inaugurated the Gujarati Samaj Houston Event Centre along with Shri Siddhi Vinayak Temple
in Houston.
• PM met the Sikh community, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits and the members of the Dawoodi Bohra
community in Houston, Texas.
P.M in New York
74th UN Climate Action Summit (September 23, 2019)
PM addressed the 74th Edition of United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York, United
States which was held under the theme “Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must
Win”. Click here to read the detailed article about the 74th Edition of United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit
2019.
Leaders’ Dialogue on Strategic Responses to Terrorist and Violent Extremist Narratives
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Leaders’ Dialogue on Strategic Responses to Terrorist and
Violent Extremist Narratives at the UN headquarters, New York.
• It was jointly hosted by the King of Jordan Abdullah II, President of France Emmanuel Macron , Prime
Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the UN Secretary General António Guterres.
India-Pacific Islands Leaders’ Meeting (September 24, 2019)
The India-Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) Leaders’ Meeting was held on September 24, 2019 in New
York on the sidelines of the 74th UNGA. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the leaders of the Pacific Island
countries.
• It was the first time the PM met leaders of the PSIDS in a plurilateral format.
• He invited leaders of the PSIDS to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• Grant: PM announced allocation of USD 12 million grant (USD 1 million to each PSIDS) towards
implementation of high impact developmental projects in the area of their choice. A concessional Line of
Credit (LoC) of USD 150 Million which can be availed by the PSIDS for undertaking solar, renewable
energy and climate related projects based on each country’s requirement was announced.
• PM Modi offered to organise a Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp in a Pacific regional hub under
the “India for Humanity” programme and announced a Distinguished Visitors Programme under which
eminent persons from these countries can visit India.
• 3rd FIPIC Summit: He extended an invitation to all the leaders for the 3rd Forum for India-Pacific
Island Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit to be held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in first half of
2020.
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• Participants: The meeting was attended by the Heads of delegation of Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic
of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau,
Independent State of Papua New Guinea, The Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kingdom of
Tonga, Tuvalu and Republic of Vanuatu.
Inauguration of Gandhi Solar Park and Gandhi Peace Garden
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with UN chief Antonio Guterres and other world leaders,
inaugurated the 50-kilowatt Gandhi Solar Park at the UN Headquarters, New York and Gandhi Peace
Garden at State University of New York College at Old Westbury. Gandhi Solar Park is funded by India at
a cost of 1 million dollars.
• The special commemorative event ‘Leadership Matters: Relevance of Gandhi in the Contemporary
World’ was hosted by Modi to mark Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary at the Economic and Social Council
Chamber (ECOSOC) at UN headquarters in New York.
• A special UN Postage stamp on Gandhi’s 150 years brought out by the UN Postal Administration was also
released.
• India gifted solar panels have been installed on the roof of the UN Headquarters, one panel each for every
193 UN member states.
• The Gandhi Solar Park is a first of its kind symbolic Indian effort at the UN that highlights India’s
willingness to go beyond the talk on climate change and climate action.
• The ‘Gandhi Peace Garden’ is an innovative initiative under which the Consulate General of India in New
York, Long Island-based NGO (Non Governmental Organization) Shanti Fund and the State University of
New York – Old Westbury have entered into an agreement to plant 150 trees.
Global Goalkeeper Award 2019
PM Modi received the Global Goalkeeper Award 2019 at Lincoln Centre by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA).
3rd Edition of Bloomberg Business Forum (September 25, 2019)
PM addressed the 3rd Edition of Bloomberg Global Business Forum for 2019 which was held under the
theme “Restoring Global Stability” in New York and urged the global investors and businesses to invest in
India.
• He also interacted with philanthropist and Bloomberg CEO Michael Bloomberg.
• In the Bloomberg National Brand Tracker 2018 survey, India was the top performing Asian economy
in attracting global investment. In 7 out of 10 indicators of this report i.e. political stability, currency
stability, high quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location and respect for
IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights), India has been ranked at the top position.
Investment round-table meeting with PM
An investment round-table meeting with the PM was organised by the Government of India and Invest India with
the CEOs of 42 companies from across 20 sectors. The agenda of the meeting was to bolster business, trade and
investment ties between India and the US.
• The companies that participated in the roundtable had a combined net worth of US$ 16.4 trillion, of
which their net worth in India is US$ 50 billion.
• The DPIIT and Invest India also organized a session in which Union Minister for Commerce and Industry,
Mr Piyush Goyal, and senior officials from the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
(DPIIT) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had participated.
• PM interacted with the leading American CEOs.
India- CARICOM Leaders Meeting 2019
PM Modi co-chaired a India- CARICOM Leaders Meeting 2019 with the member states of the Caribbean
Community and Common Market (CARICOM) on the margins of the UNGA meeting. Hon’ble Allen Chastenet,
Prime Minister of St Lucia and current Chairman of CARICOM co-chaired the meeting. CARICOM is a group of 20
developing countries in the Caribbean (15 member states and five associate members).
• It was the first-ever meeting of PM Modi with CARICOM leaders and he invited them to join the
International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
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• Grant: PM Modi announced a USD 14 million grant for community development projects in the
CARICOM and another 150 million Line of Credit for solar, renewable energy and climate- change
related projects.
• Announcement was made to set up of the Regional Center for Excellence in Information
Technology in Georgetown, Guyana and the Regional Vocational Training Center in Belize by
upgrading the existing India-funded centers in these countries.
• It was decided to set up a Joint Task Force to expeditiously look into possible areas of cooperation and
identify the way forward.
• Participants: Hon’ble Heads of Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, St.
Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Vice President of Suriname,
and Foreign Ministers of Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Haiti and Guyana participated in the meeting.
Bilateral meetings (September 26, 2019)
PM Modi held bilateral meetings with different heads of nations.
• He met Prime Minister of New Zealand (NZ) Ms. Jacinda Ardern. She informed Modi about their New
strategic paper “India 2022- Investing in the relationship”, which is a continuation of the NZ Inc. India
Strategy 2011.
• He met President of the Republic of Estonia Ms Kersti Kaljulaid and discussed steps to deepen bilateral
cooperation in the domain of e-Governance, Cyber security and Innovation.
• He met the President of Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Hassan Rouhani. It was agreed to mark
the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between countries in 2020.
• He met President of the Republic of Cyprus Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh
Hasina, Prime Minister of Bhutan Dr. Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic (Greece) Mr.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Armenia Mr Nikol Pashinyan, US President Donald Trump and
Prime Minister of Belgium Mr. Charles Michel.
PM addressed the 74th session of UNGA (September 27, 2019)
PM Modi addressed the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. He
mentioned the targets and other plans formulated by Indian government which are to be achieved in the next 5
years. He conveyed that the entire world is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
BANKING & FINANCE

RBI in News
T N Manoharan taskforce on secondary market for corporate loans submits its report to RBI
On September 3, 2019, A 6-member taskforce on secondary market for corporate loans, headed by Canara
Bank Chairman TN Manoharan has submitted its report to RBI (Reserve Bank of India) Governor Shaktikanta
Das.
Key recommendations:
i. Self-Regulatory Body: RBI’s task force proposed to setting up of a Self-Regulatory Body for the
standardization of corporate loan documents.
ii. Central Loan Registry: It also favoured to set up Central Loan Contract Registry and online loan sales
platform, which enable to conduct auctions and sale of secondary market loans.
iii. Relaxation: It also recommended easing rules around the securitization of loan assets by suggesting to
consider single loan securitization to incentivize investors to acquire loans through the secondary market
mechanism.
• Background: At present, the securitization process is permitted only for a high volume of homogenous
assets.
iv. FPIs: It also called to ease the regulations to enable foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to directly purchase
distressed loans from banks.
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• Background: Currently FPIs are permitted to invest in stressed assets through asset reconstruction
companies (ARCs).
v. Boosting the secondary market: It also proposed to amend regulations provided by the entities of
SEBI(Securities and Exchange Board of India), IRDA(Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) and
PFRDA(Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) to allow wider participation of non-banking firms
such as mutual funds, insurance companies, and pension funds in trading the securities. This move will develop
the secondary market.
• Background: Currently, only the banks and NBFCs are the participants in the primary and secondary
loan markets. Globally, secondary loan market is participated by diverse and high number of groups,
including investment banks, commercial banks, hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds, insurance
companies, private equity funds, and specialist loan brokers.
vi. On May 29, 2019, The 6- member Task Force on Development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans under
the Chairmanship of T. N. Manoharan, Chairman, Canara Bank was constituted by RBI.
The composition of the panel include,
• Shri V. G. Kannan, Chief Executive, Indian Banks’ Association
• Shri Bahram Vakil, Founding Partner, AZB and Partners
• Anand Srinivasan, Additional Director (Research), CAFRAL
• Sajjid Z. Chinoy, Chief India Economist, J P Morgan
• Shri Abizer Diwanji, Head – Restructuring & Turnaround Services, EY India
vii. The RBI will now placed the report for public comments by September 30, 2019.
About RBI:
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Deputy Governors: 4 (BP Kanungo, Mahesh Kumar Jain, N S Vishwanathan & the 4th is yet to be appointed).
Loans will be cheaper from October 1, 2019 as RBI makes repo-linked interest rates mandatory
The Country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has asked banks to link all new types of floating-rate
loans (home, auto loans & and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)) to external benchmark
like repo rate from October 1, 2019.
Key points:
i.Reason: The move comes after the borrowers of industry and retail loans have been complaining that despite
the reduction in the repo rate by the Reserve Bank, commercial banks are not giving full benefits to the
consumers. RBI has cut the repo rate by 110 basis points(bps) in 2019, but only up to 40 bps of this benefit has
been given to consumers by banks.
ii.Benefit: With this decision, the benefit of the reduction in policy interest rates is expected to reach the
borrowing consumers relatively fast & all kinds of loans are to be cheap.
iii. External benchmark: The external benchmark will be the repo rate fixed by the Reserve Bank / the
Treasury bill of 3 months or 6 months /any other benchmark published by the Financial Benchmarks India
Private Ltd (FBIL). Banks will be exempt to add margin if they want to spread as much as they want above the
benchmark. The banks will have to re-set the external benchmark every 3 months.
iv. The Customers who are on existing MCLR /Base Rate/BPLR(Benchmark Prime Lending Rate) system can
switch over to a new benchmarked loan after repayment or renewal of their existing loan.
v.1st bank: The State Bank of India (SBI) is the 1st bank to link some of its loans to repos. After many more banks
have also linked their loans to repo / any other external standard.
vi. Background: The Reserve Bank formed the Internal Study Group (ISG) – (Chairman: Dr. Janak Raj) in August
2017 to review the working of the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) System, that
recommended linking of loans to external standards.
About RBI:
Governor: Shaktikanta Das
Headquarters: Mumbai
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UAE tops in non-residents investments in Indian MFs with the share of 16%
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notified that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as a top nation in
making non-resident investments in Indian mutual funds (MFs). As of March 31, 2019, the foreign liabilities of
units in Indian MFs made by UAE stood at Rs 14,979 crore, registering a share of 16%.
Key Points:
i. The second place was acquired by the United States (US) with Rs 8,989 crore (9.6% share) followed by the
United Kingdom (UK) with Rs 7,751 crore (8.3% share).
ii. The top 3 nations were the largest investors together accounting for one-third of the MF units held by non-
residents.
iii. Non-resident investments, led by the UAE, in Indian MFs at Rs 93,340 crore ($13.5 billion) as of March 2019
exceeded the investments made by MFs in the form of overseas equity investments at Rs 4,482 crore ($ 0.7
billion).
iv. Non-resident investments (foreign liabilities) registered a rise by 8.95% from Rs 85,670 crore in March 2018.
v. MF units held by non-residents in Mauritius and Singapore declined after the amendment of Double Taxation
Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
vi. Non-resident investments from Singapore declined from Rs 6,897 crore to Rs 5,683 crore and investments
from Mauritius declined from Rs 5,649 crore to Rs 3,831 crore.
vii. The preferred investment destinations for Indian MF companies are the US (44.6% in total foreign assets)
and Luxembourg (41.1%).
viii. Foreign liabilities of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) at $3.3 billion exceeded the foreign assets which
stood at $0.1 billion in March 2019.
ix. Net foreign liabilities of AMCs increased by 68% in 2019.
x. Non-residents in the UK held over half of the foreign liabilities of AMCs in March 2019 and AMCs’ equity
liabilities to non-residents in Japan, Mauritius and Hong Kong declined.
xi. Overseas assets of AMCs were largely held in Guernsey, Mauritius and Singapore.
About Mutual Fund:
A Mutual Fund is an investment scheme operated by professional money managers where money is collected
from the people and invested in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other assets.
About DTAA:
The DTAA is a tax treaty signed between India and another country ( or any two/multiple countries) so that
taxpayers can avoid paying double taxes on their income earned from the source country as well as the residence
country.
RBI barred ESFB from opening new branches

The apex bank of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the Equitas Small Finance Bank (ESFB)
from opening new branches. The decision comes after ESFB missed the deadline to list its shares on stock
exchanges.
Key Points:
i. It also froze the salary of ESFB’s Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vasudevan PN.
ii. As per the RBI’s licensing conditions issued in November 2014, a small finance bank’s shares have to be
mandatorily listed on the stock exchanges within 3 years of touching a net worth of Rs 500 crore & 3-year period
of ESFB lapsed on September 4, 2019. It had received the license in July 2016.
iii. RBI has warned ESFB that it may impose more restrictions if it fails to make “satisfactory progress” towards
listing its shares.
About ESFB:
♦ Headquarters: Chennai
♦ Founded: 2007
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Overview of the report submitted to RBI by a panel headed by Harsh Vardhan for the development of
housing finance securitisation market
The panel headed by Harsh Vardhan, senior advisor, Bain and Co., for the development of housing finance
securitisation market has submitted its report to the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shaktikanta
Das.
Key Points:
i. Background: The six-member committee was set up by RBI on May 29, 2019.
ii. Creation of Intermediary: The panel suggested that the National Housing Bank (NHB) should create an
intermediary for standard-setting and market-making for the instruments. Intermediary could operate either
directly through the NHB, the Indian Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC), or the RBI could set up a new
organisation.
iii. Ownership in the intermediary: The new entity would have 51% ownership by the government through
the NHB initially. The government ownership in the entity would then be gradually reduced to 26% over a period
of 5 years. The remaining capital of 49% may be initially raised from multilateral agencies. It will start with Rs
500 crore of initial capital and it would be allowed to invest in each pool it securitizes to the extent of 5% of the
pool, or 5% of its own capital base, whichever is lower.
iv. Need for securitisation: Securitisation is needed to widen the pool of resources available to Housing Finance
Companies (HFCs). Except for the top 5 HFCs, which account for over 85% of the loans, the remaining HFCs are
dependent on bank loans and refinancing from the NHB. There are at least 90 HFCs registered with NHB.
v. Need of HFCs: India will need anywhere between 80 million and 100 million additional housing units
by 2022. The building costs will be Rs 100 trillion to Rs 115 trillion.
vi. PTCs: It suggests pass-through certificates (PTCs)- a form of securitisation where pooled assets are sold to a
special purpose vehicle which issues securities against those assets. But in India, most of the securitisation
happens under direct assignment (DA) route, which is actually a form of loan sell-down. PTC is just a quarter of
the total volume of the securitisation market. Therefore, there should be a balance between the DA and PTC
forms of securitisation, so that the interests of small players are protected.
vii. Listing: PTCs issued in mortgaged-backed securitisation should be mandatorily listed if the securitisation
pool is larger than Rs 500 crore.
viii. Loan origination standards: NHB should undertake efforts to establish the loan origination standards, at
least for affordable housing loans, on a priority basis and set up the infrastructure for obtaining and
disseminating pool performance data for all securitisation transactions.
ix. Remedy for lack of standardisation: The best option to drive lack of standardisation in the near- to
medium-term would be a credible intermediary that can not only evolve these standards with industry inputs
but also commit capital to securities that adhere to these standards.
x. Exemption: The central government should exempt mortgage-backed securitisation from stamp duty as has
been done in the case of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs).
xi. Standardised stamp duty: The government could also consider standardised stamp duty on assignment of
mortgage pools and cap them at a reasonable level across all states.
xii. Digital registry: In order to ensure that public records are maintained for such exempt transactions, a
requirement to register such transactions through a digital registry such as the Central Registry for
Securitisation Assets Reconstruction and Security Interest (CERSAI) with a nominal registration fee can be
considered.
xiii. Linking home loans pricing to an external benchmark: The committee has recommended that home
loans pricing should be linked to an external, objectively observable benchmark such as the repo rate.
xiv. Comments: The RBI has invited comments from the stakeholders by September 13, 2019.
An internal group of RBI to assess the adequacy of forex reserves

An internal group of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will frame a formal mechanism to assess the adequacy of
its foreign exchange (forex) reserves. RBI had recently adapted the fresh Economic Capital Framework (ECF)
as recommended by Bimal Jalan Committee on ECF which noted that RBI’s forex reserves in 2008 were higher
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than India’s external debt.

Key Points:
i. The panel will study whether forex reserves are adequate or not and how much reserves are adequate to cover
various risks.
ii. At present, the forex reserves (more than $400 billion) are lower than India’s total external liabilities ($1
trillion) and even lower than total external debt ($500 billion).
iii. As on August 16, 2019, India’s forex reserves stood at $430.5 billion, an increase of $17.6 billion over March
31, 2019 ($412.9 billion).
RBI selects Daffodil Software Pvt Ltd for developing mobile app for visually impaired
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) selected Daffodil Software Pvt Ltd to develop a mobile phone-based
application for visually impaired people to identify currency notes. It informed the Bombay High Court that an
internet connection would not be required for its proposed mobile application.
Key Points:
i. Out of the 16 vendors, 5 made into the final ranking to develop the application.
ii. Intaglio printing based identification marks are present in the banknotes of Rs 100 and above denominations
to help nearly 80 lakh blind or visually impaired people of India.
iii. The proposed mobile app will help to identify the denomination of notes of Mahatma Gandhi Series and
Mahatma Gandhi (New) series by capturing the image of the notes placed in front of the mobile camera. It will
generate “audio notification” intimating the currency note denomination to the user if the image is captured
correctly, else intimating the user to try again in case of image is not readable.
RBI panel chaired by Mahesh Kumar Jain suggests to set up of a federal body like GST council for the
agriculture sector
On September 13, 2019, The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) panel has suggested creating an institution like the GST
(Goods and Services Tax ) Council to implement reforms in the agricultural sector. It was also recommended to
transfer subsidy directly to the account and avoid debt waiver.
Key recommendations:
i. Banks are required to develop a management information system (MIS) to sanction loans against gold as
collateral in core banking solution (CBS) platform for better monitoring of end-use of funds.
ii. The panel stated that subsidy on interest subvention or agricultural credit should be converted into direct
benefit transfer (DBT) like LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) and fertilizer with an overall limit of Rs 3 lakh per
individual farmer through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) mode.
iii. Banks should increase credit supply for agricultural activities and give consumption loans to farmers up to Rs
1 lakh.
iv. The panel has also stated that the central government should insist on states to update the process of
digitization and land records in due time. State governments should give banks access to digitized land records.
After this, banks should not insist on submitting documents of land from those taking agricultural loans.
v. As per the Model Land Leasing Act proposed by NITI Aayog(National Institute for Transforming India)/ Land
Licensed Cultivators’ Act, 2011 of Andhra Pradesh, the state governments having a highly restrictive legal
framework should be encouraged to reform their legal framework.
vi. The panel stressed to revise priority sector lending (PSL) norms and the National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development (NABARD) should increase the corpus of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) in
central, eastern & northeastern states over a period of time.
vii. In a bid to increase credit supply to agriculture activities, the panel suggested that the government to set a
target for working capital and term loan towards allied activities under ground-level credit flow (GLC).
viii. It also suggested easing the guidelines for making easy available credit for allied activities of up to Rs 2 lakh.
ix. Central Government works together with state governments to set up a credit guarantee fund for the
agriculture sector on the lines of credit guarantee schemes implemented in the MSME sector(Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises).
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x. It stressed to create a centralised database of the Indian agriculture sector which will help in planning policy
formulation.
xi. without any intermediaries, the limit of Rs 3 lakh for waiving collateral security by the banks in case of tie-up
arrangements should be revisited to Rs 5 lakh under the existing KCC (Kisan Credit Card ) norms subject to the
condition that the tie-up arrangements are between the producers and processing units.
xii. The Reserve Bank of India has created the Internal Working Group (IWG) to Review Agricultural Credit
chaired by Mahesh kumar Jain on February 13, 2019.
other member of the panel include , Ashok gulati, surekha marandi, Amalorpavanathan, Rajiv ranjan, J.P.Sharma,
Sonalai sen Gupta.
RBI proposes new rule to set up Rs 200 crore minimum capital for SFB under ‘on tap’ license regime
On September 13, 2019 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has framed new guidelines in licensing Small Finance
Banks(SFB) under ‘On-tap’ regime in order to make more participants in the finance banking section. As per the
new guideline, the SFBs should have Rs. 200 crores minimum capital except for such small finance banks which
are converted from Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). UCB’s should initially have at least Rs.100 crores from the
start of the operation, however, it should make it to Rs. 200 crores capital within 5 years, from the date of
commencement of business.
Guidelines and background in brief:
i. On- tap licencing: It is a time-efficient feature that will allow eligible parties to obtain license on-demand basis
and without the need to wait. RBI allows license to the applicants throughout the year.
ii. Revised guidelines:
• Promoters of payment banks can hold 40% stake in an SFB for a lock-in-period of 5 years. This can be
brought down to a maximum of 30% within 10 years and then to a maximum of 15% in the 15 years.
• CAR: The proposed CAR is to be maintained at 15%.
iii. Listing: RBI maintained that SFBs will be listed within three years of reaching a net worth of Rs 500 crores.
iv. Eligiblity/Entities to be covered: Small private entities, payment banks, NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial
Company), Micro Finance Institution(MFI), and cooperative banks to apply for the SFB status having successful
track record of running their businesses for at least a period of five years, can also opt for conversion into small
finance banks after complying with all legal and regulatory requirements.
v. Payment bank new features: Promoters of payment banks in its eligibility under non-operating financial
holding company (NOFHC) structure, will be able to expand its operations in accepting deposits of any amount
and also lending money, as previously they were restricted to lend money and were also deprived to collect
deposits above Rs.1lakh. Their main focus will be on small scale industries, farmers and Small and Medium
Enterprises(SME)
• Functions of payment banks as SFB: They can provide remittances, have Automated Teller
Machines(ATM) and also sell pensions. Previously payment banks were allowed to sell Mutual
Funds(MF), third party loans and insurance.
vi. Entities that are not eligible: Only small private entities can apply for SFB and no large industrial and public
sector entities will be allowed to become SFB. Business groups, autonomous bodies, joint venture companies and
promoters of universal banks will also not be allowed to become SFB.
vii. Holding company: In the case of holding company (a company that holds another company), it can hold
another financial firm, but it shouldn’t do the same business as that of an SFB.
viii. Previous guidelines:
• In the previous guideline of 2014, SFBs should have minimum capital of Rs. 100 crores for operation.
• Promoters can hold 40% in an SFB and can be brought down to 26% within 12 years of operation.
• CAR: The Capital Adequacy Ratio(CAR) should be maintained as commercial banks at 9%.
ix. First SFBs: 10 SFBs were given licence initially in 2015. They are Ujjivan, Janalakshmi, ESAF (Evangelical
Social Action Forum), Equitas, Au Financiers, Capital Local Area, Disha, RGVN, Suryoday and Utkarsh. Out of these
10 SFBs 8 SFBs were included in the second schedule of the RBI Act, 1934.
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About SFB:
♦ They are generally a niche banks (banks focussing on a particular sector alone) in India offering basic banking
services especially to small businesses, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries, and the
unorganized sector.
♦ Registeration: They are registered as public ltd company under the Companies Act, 2013.
♦ License: SFBs are licensed under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
RBI reduces the risk weight on consumer credit required by banks from 125 % to 100 %
On September 12, 2019, The country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the risk weight of
consumer credit, including personal loans from 125 % to 100 %.
Now banks will be able to give more loans to customers for purchasing consumer products such as mobile
phones, home appliances, two-wheelers, and three-wheelers.
Key points:
i. This will reduce the cost of banks on personal loans, consumer loans and they can reduce the interest rates for
them. However, this exemption has not been given in the case of credit cards.
ii. Risk weight is actually the capital that banks have to keep separately in the provision that if the loan is default
then it will not be difficult. For all loans considered unsecured like personal loans, credit cards, till now there was
a provision to keep a risk weight of at least 125 %.
About RBI:
♦ Governor: Shaktikanta Das
RBI increases loan exposure limit of banks to a single NBFC (excluding gold loan companies) from 15% to
20%
On September 13, 2019, As announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated August
7, 2019 on ‘Harmonisation of single counterparty exposure limit for banks’ exposures to a single NBFC with
general single counterparty exposure limit’, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made amendments in the
Large Exposures Framework (LEF). It has increased the bank’s loan exposure limit to a single NBFC (non-
banking financial company) to 20% from 15% of its eligible capital base. However, this is not applicable to gold
loan companies.
Key points:
i. Whereas, the general single counterparty exposure limit is 20%, which can be extended to 25 % by banks’
Boards under unusual circumstances.
ii. The decision will help boost credit supply to the crisis-ridden banking sector.
iii. The liquidity crunch in the NBFC sector has hit hard the retail loan segment in India leading to decline in
consumer sector lending.
About NBFC:
It is a financial institution that does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or
international banking regulatory agency. It facilitates bank-related financial services, such as investment, risk
pooling, contractual savings, and market brokering. They are not providing the cheque book nor saving account
and current account. It only takes fixed deposit or time deposits.
Indian banks’ 2018-19 savings deposits stood at Rs 39.72 lakh crore

According to the Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy 2018-19 released by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) on September 15, 2019, the aggregate savings deposits in the Indian private and public sector banks
(PSBs) reached Rs 39.72 lakh crore as on March 31, 2019. The foreign banks had a share of Rs 58,630 crore.
Key Points:
• Savings deposits: The total savings deposits with commercial banks (including foreign banks) in 2018-
19 stood at Rs 40.31 lakh crore, up from Rs 36.55 lakh crore in 2017-18.
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• Credit growth:The PSB credit growth for Q1 June 2019-20, increased to 8.7%. The aggregate deposits
growth stood at 6.7%. The credit growth of foreign banks stood at 5.4% and the aggregate deposits
growth was 19.3%. Bank credit between April and June 2019 grew by 11.7%, against a growth of 11.1%
in April and June 2018. But it was lower than the 13.1% growth in bank credit in the Q4 of 2018-19.
• GDP growth: India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth recorded for the Q1 2019-20 is 5% which is
at a six-year low.
• Deposits: Aggregate deposits grew 10.1% in the quarter ended June 30, 2019 against 7% of Q1 2018.
This is the highest growth since the quarter ended June 2017 (12.6%).
• Growth statistics: Private banks registered a growth of 16.3% in aggregate deposits and of 17.5% in
bank credit in the first quarter of the fiscal, against public sector banks that had a deposit growth of 6.7%
and bank credit growth of 8.7% in the same quarter.
RBI allows all recurring bill payments through BBPS

On September 16, 2019 the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has extended the use of the Bharat Bill Payment
System(BBPS) for all recurring(repetitive) payments such as school fees, insurance premiums and municipal
taxes, Equated Monthly Installments (EMI) on a voluntary basis except for prepaid recharges to extend the scope
and coverage of BBPS.
Key points
i. Current facility: The BBPS is currently available only in 5 segments. They are Direct To Home (DTH),
electricity, gas, telecom and water.
ii. The biller categories are expected to increase the user base of BBPS according to analysts.
About BBPS:
i. BBPS was formed in the year 2013 under the aegis of National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) which acts
as authorized Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU).
ii. The NPCI sets protocols for technical and business requirements for participants of BBPS and also undertakes
clearing and settlement activities.
iii. Formation: The BBPS was formed after theCommittee headed by G. Padmanabhan – RBI’s former Executive
Director was in 2013 to study giro based payment’s feasibility and implementation.
Giro: Payment transfer from one bank account to another bank account and initiated by the payer, not the payee
(person to whom money is paid).
Reserve Bank bars unregulated fintech firms from accessing the consumer credit data
On September 16, 2019, The country’s central Bank, Reserve Bank Of India(RBI) has directed the banks and
non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to stop sharing the pattern of consumer’s credit information held
by credit information companies (CICs) with analytics firms , IT (Information Technology) companies,
institutional agents and unregulated parties. The banking bodies have been given 15 days time period to
implement the measure.
Key points:
i. The report by RBI highlights that such data sharing actions are against the Credit Information Companies
(Regulation) Act, 2005 (CICRA) and any further default will face strict actions and penalties.
ii. The data will be provided by Banks & NBFCs to 4 consumer credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian ,
TransUnion CIBIL ( Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited) and CRIF High Mark and it will be confidential
manner.
iii. The decision will strongly affects digitally lending institutions that rely on their partner banks & NBFCs to get
access consumer data by using credit companies.
Reserve Bank comes out with a new order regarding ‘failed’ transactions
The country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a new order for banks and
payment system operators regarding the failed transaction of customers. Under this, the time period has been
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fixed for the disposal of grievances and auto reversal of the amount on the failed transaction for the banks, which
has been termed as Turn Around Time (TAT).
Key points:
i. Banks will have to pay compensation to the customers if there is no settlement or reversal of the transaction
within this time period. This compensation will be as per Rs 100 per day after completion of the time period. This
RBI order will come into effect on October 15, 2019.
ii. Under this decree, all Authorized Payment Systems like ATM (Automated Teller Machines)Transaction, Card
to Card Fund Transfer, PoS (Point of Sale) Transactions, Cardless e-Commerce, IMPS (Immediate Payment
System) Transaction, UPI (Unified Payments Interface)Transactions, Aadhaar Enabled Transaction, National
Automated Clearing House (NACH) and Mobile app transaction will be covered.
Transaction and compensation details
Description of the Matter Timeline of auto Compensation from
incident reversal of bank on delay
transaction
ATM Transaction Money was deducted from Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
customer’s bank account but 5 Days Maximum completion of T + 5
cash was not withdrawn (T + 5) period
Card to card transfer The amount debited from Maximum 1 day Rs 100 / day after
one card but did not reach after transaction completion of T + 1
another card (T + 1) period
Transactions from PoS Money was deducted from Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
machine, including cash the account but the 5 Days Maximum completion of T + 5
merchant did not get (T + 5) period
confirmation or charge slip
was generated.
E-commerce where card Money deducted from Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
is not present account but merchant did 5 Days Maximum completion of T + 5
not get confirmation (T + 5) period
Transactions from IMPS The amount was deducted Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
from the account but did not 1 Day Maximum completion of T + 1
reach the recipient’s account (T + 1) for period
Beneficiary Bank
Fund transfer from UPI Amount deducted from Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
account but did not reach 1 Day Maximum completion of T + 1
beneficiary account (T + 1) for period
Beneficiary Bank
Payment to merchant Money was deducted from Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
from UPI account but merchant did 5 Days Maximum completion of T + 5
not get confirmation (T + 5) period
Aadhaar enabled Money deducted from Transaction day + Rs 100 / day after
payment system (AePS), account but merchant did 5 days maximum completion of T + 5
including Aadhaar not get confirmation / did (T + 5) for credit period
not reach beneficiary adjustment
account in fund transfer
Aadhaar Payment Delay in credit of money in Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
Bridge System (APBS) beneficiary account 1 Day Maximum completion of T + 1
(T + 1) for period
Beneficiary Bank
National Automated Delay in credit or reversal of Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
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Clearing House (NACH) money in beneficiary 1 Day Maximum completion of T + 1

account (T + 1) for period
Beneficiary Bank
Prepaid Payment Money in PPI of Beneficiary Transaction Day + Rs 100 / day after
Instruments (PPIs) – not credited / Money 1 Day Maximum completion of T + 1
Card / Wallet deducted from PPI but (T + 1) period
merchant did not get
confirmation
Note: T means day of transaction.
RBI revises guidelines on concurrent audit system as per the recommendations of an expert committee
headed by Y.H. Malegam
On September 20,2019, Following the recommendations of an expert committee headed by Y.H.Malegam,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the guidelines on concurrent audit system.
Key Highlights:
i. Tenure: As per the new guideline, concurrent auditors will be appointed for a period of not more than 3 years
as against earlier tenure of 5 years & the age limit for retired staff of concurrent auditors will be capped at 70
years.
ii. Coverage: The detailed purview of work for concurrent auditors, coverage of business/branches is left to the
discretion of the internal audit head of banks, with the prior approval of the Audit Committee of the Board of
Directors (ACB) or Local Management Committee ((LMC) for the case of foreign banks) of the bank.
iii. Appointment of Auditors: The banks having the option of selecting whether concurrent audit should be
done by the bank’s own staff or external auditors will remains to be left to the discretion of individual banks.
They should be experienced, well trained and sufficiently senior person. They must be independent of the
branch/business unit, where concurrent audit is conducted.
iv. Accountability: The appointment will be cancelled if any serious acts of omission or commission are noticed
in their (concurrent auditors ) working. All banks should frame a policy for fixing accountability in these cases.
v. Remuneration: ACB/ LMC of the bank will decide the remuneration, which is to be paid to external
concurrent auditors. The remuneration should meet the scope and coverage of audit, required skill sets, staff
numbers and the time to be spent for the audit.
vi. Review of effectiveness: Effectiveness of the Concurrent Audit system and the performance of the
concurrent auditors will be reviewed by the ACB/ LMC of the bank on an annual basis & take required steps to
strengthen the system.
vii. Reporting System: After getting approval from the ACB/ LMC , Banks’ Internal Audit Department should
develop a reporting system in a structured format.
RBI &SEBI jointly working on a framework for accurate exchange of borrower data between banks and
CRAs
India’s central Banking Institution, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the regulator for the securities market
in India, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India ) are jointly working on a framework that will freely
enable exchange of borrower information between banks and credit rating agencies (CRAs) in more accurate
manner.
Key points:
i. Aim : The joint framework aimed at bridging the gap between the default rates divulged by rating agencies
differed from the report computed by the RBI’s Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), a
borrower-level database focusing on systemically important credit exposures.
ii. Background: A working group of officials from financial sector regulators including members of the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority(PFRDA) have found out these divergence in data in meeting held on September 9, 2019. An internal
analysis undertaken by RBI also notified theses differences at the recent meeting.
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iii. Reason for differences: This divergence is due to the banks’ reluctance to exchange on any data about delays
in payment of principal/interest to CRAs. Also, the CRAs do not have access to CRILC. Banks usually report to
CRILC credit data set on all their borrowed customers having total fund based and non-fund based exposure of
₹5 crore & above.
iv. Mandate: RBI will also advise the banks to update the borrower data with CIC (credit information companies)
regularly and to maintain the quality of the information.
v. On September 16, 2019, RBI has directed the banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to stop
sharing the consumer’s credit data held by credit information companies (CICs) with analytics firms , IT
(Information Technology) companies, institutional agents and unregulated parties.
About CRAs:
It is a company that assigns credit ratings, which rate a debtor’s ability to pay back debt by making timely
principal and interest payments and the likelihood of default.
About SEBI:
♦ Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi
RBI increased the loan sanction limit for small exporters to Rs 40 crore per borrower from Rs 25 crore
On September 20, 2019, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the loan sanction limit for small exporters as
priority sector lending (PSL) by banks to Rs 40 crore per borrower from Rs 25 crore in order to boost credit to
the export sector.
Key Points:
i. The existing criteria of ‘units having a turnover of up to Rs 100 crore’ was removed.
ii. Existing guidelines for domestic scheduled commercial banks to classify ‘incremental export credit over
corresponding date of the preceding year, up to 2% of adjusted net bank credit or credit equivalent amount of
off-balance sheet exposure, whichever is higher’ under PSL will continue to be applicable.
iii. No changes were made in the present instructions with respect to foreign banks.
About PSL:
Priority sector lending is a mandatory requirement under which lenders are required to devote a portion of their
advances to empower focused groups of the economy. All sectors put together, this adds up to 42% of the total
lending for each bank.
RBI Placed Lakshmi Vilas Bank Under Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) Framework
On September 27, 2019, The country’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put the Prompt
Corrective Action (PCA) Framework against Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) after an inquiry against the directors
of the bank over the alleged fraud.
Key points:
i. RBI puts the bank in PCA due to reasons like high net NPA (Non Performing Assets), insufficient capital to risk-
weighted assets ratio (CRR) and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) negative RoA (Return on assets) for two
consecutive years and high leverage, based on the on-site inspection under the Risk Based Supervision carried
out for the year ended 31 March, 2019. The bank’s net NPA registered at 7.49%, capital adequacy ratio was at
7.72% and its RoA was -2.32% as on March 2019.
ii. The Economic Offenses Wing of the Delhi Police is investigating allegations of fraud and criminal breach of
trust against the directors on the board of the bank. An FIR (first information report) has been lodged against the
directors on a complaint from Religare Finvest Limited ( RFL ), which stated that the bank has rigged its FD (fixed
deposit) of Rs 790 crore.
iii. United Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank (Industrial Development
Bank of India )and UCO Bank are currently under PCA framework.
iv. About NPA: A non performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment
remained overdue for a period of 90 days.
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v. About RoA:It is a profitability ratio that provides how much profit a company is able to generate from its
assets.
vi.About CRR: is the amount of funds that banks have to maintain with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at all
times.
vi.About CET 1: It is a component of Tier 1 capital that consists mostly of common stock held by a bank or other
financial institution.
About PCA:
To ensure that banks don’t go bust, RBI has put in place some trigger points (on the basis of Capital Adequacy
Ratio (CAR- a metric to measure balance sheet strength), NPA and ROA ) to assess, monitor, control and take
corrective actions on banks which are weak and troubled. The process or mechanism under which such actions
are taken is known as PCA.The objective of putting it in the PCA is to improve the performance of the bank and to
keep it free from any adverse effect on daily functioning.
About LVB: In April, LVB’s board approved a merger with mortgage financier Indiabulls Housing Finance
Ltd in an all stock deal. The merged entity, will be called Indiabulls Lakshmi Vilas Bank. The proposed merger
had also got the Competition Commission of India (CCI) nod in June.
Founded :1926
Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Non – Executive Chairman: Shri. B K Manjunath
Tagline: The Changing Face of Prosperity
Technology in Banking
ICICI becomes the country’s first bank to deploy ‘Robotic Arms’ for counting currency at its chests
ICICI Bank(Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), the leading private sector lender, has
become the 1st bank in India to deploy industrial ‘robotic arms’ to count millions of notes in currency chests
across the country. 14 machines (robotic arms) have been deployed in 12 cities so that all these can count 6
million notes in a working day or about 1.80 billion notes annually.
Key points:
i. Robotic arms operate continuously and seamlessly, without any breaks, using different sensors at more than 70
parameters.
ii. These 14 robots have been deployed in New Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,
Bhopal, Sangli, Mangaluru, Raipur, Siliguri, and Varanasi.
iii. This will bring more precision and flexibility in handling large amounts of notes.
About ICICI Bank:
♦ Founded: 5 January 1994
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Managing Director & CEO: Mr. Sandeep Bakhshi
♦ Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka
Standard Chartered Bank launches new “DigiSmart” credit card

On September 4, 2019, The Standard Chartered Bank, a British multinational banking and financial services
company has launched its “DigiSmart” credit card primarily focused on the ever-growing segment of
millennials.
Key points:
i. The new credit card is available for a nominal monthly fee of only Rs 49. However, this fee will be waived off if
the spends of the customer are Rs 5,000 or above in the previous month.
ii. Instant discounts and other benefits make this card special. Key e-commerce portals, travel, entertainment,
fashion, grocery and food delivery can be discounted on various categories of products.
iii. Standard Chartered Bank has partnered with several companies such as Myntra, Grofers, Yatra, Zomato, Ola
and INOX in the initial phase to offer customers with discounts and other benefits.
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About Standard Chartered Bank:

♦ Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
♦ Chairman: Jose Vinals
♦ Tagline: Your Right Partner
IDBI & LIC CSL to launch a co-branded credit card

The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) and Life Insurance Corporation of India Credit
Cards Services (LIC CSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of LIC, will launch a co-branded credit card. It will be
marketed to customers, agents, and employees of the corporation and its subsidiaries. At present, IDBI Bank
offers 5 credit card variants as LIC has ties up with Axis Bank and Corporation Bank for issuance of credit cards
under co-branded/white label agreements.
About IDBI Bank:
♦ Tag Line: Aao Sochein Bada
About LIC:
♦ Tag Line: Zindagi ke Saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi
BoB launches agri digital platform called “Baroda Kisan”

On September 21, 2019, Indian multinational, public sector banking and financial services company,Bank of
Baroda (BoB) has launched an agriculture digital platform called “Baroda Kisan” in Bardoli, Surat,Gujarat. It is
a web-based portal that can also be accessed by farmers through mobile.
Key points:
i. The digital portal will address all the various needs of farmers, including weather forecasts, crop conditions,
the moisture levels of the soil,vital information on crop worms, market prices, special crop-related consultation,
inputs for purchase of seeds ,fertilisers, pesticides, agricultural equipment on rent, consultancy services and
innovative financing options for the sale of agricultural products.
ii. BoB has also launched a system for centralised processing offices of agricultural proposals in two places,
Gandhinagar in Gujarat Hyderabad in Telangana.
iii. The bank introduced 2 loan schemes (loan for construction/refurbishment of toilets and domestic drinking
water facilities & loans for construction of houses in rural areas).
iv. On March 27, 2019, BoB has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 6 firms namely Skymet
Weather Services, Weather Risk Management Services, BigHaat, Agrostar India, EM3 Agri Services and Poorti
Agri Services to develop “Baroda Kisan”.
About BoB:
♦ Founded : 20 July 1908
♦ Headquarters : Alkapuri, Vadodara, Gujarat
♦ MD & CEO : PS Jayakumar
♦ Tagline : India’s International Bank
PNB launches 1st of its kind Preventive Vigilance portal to facilitate all staff to contribute towards
arresting procedural lapses
On September 25, 2019, In order to promote vigilance awareness,the Punjab National Bank(PNB) has
introduced 1st of its kind Preventive Vigilance (PV) portal to facilitate all staff members to contribute towards
arresting procedural lapses and unhealthy practices at a function held at PNB Corporate Office, chaired by Sharad
Kumar,Central Vigilance Commissioner.
Key points:
i. In a bid to promote a central theme of ‘Integrity – A way of Life’, the bank introduced e-pledge mission, social
outreach through technological platforms & modern technology based solutions through the Preventive Vigilance
(PV) portal.
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About PNB:
♦ Founded: 19 May 1894
♦ Managing Director: Sunil Mehta
♦ Tagline: The Name you can Bank Upon
Other News Related to Banking & Finance
ECL Finance Ltd and Central Bank of India entered into an agreement to co-lend to MSMEs
On September 1, 2019, A leading Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) & a subsidiary of Edelweiss Financial
Services, ECL Finance Limited and Central Bank of India (CBI) have entered into an agreement for priority
sector lending to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Key points:
i. This is the first such partnership which was made following the announcement of a progressive co-origination
policy issued by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India)in September 2018.
ii. Under this agreement, businessmen will be given loans for various types of products, machinery, and other
activities.
iii. Many MSMEs are unable to take loans due to high-interest rates and lack of banking services. Under this
partnership, loan facility will be provided to MSMEs working in more than 100 cities of the country.
iv. With this innovative model of loan, MSMEs will be able to take advantage of loans at the cheap interest rate
and this will help them to grow their business.
About Central Bank of India:
♦ Founded: 21 December 1911
♦ MD and CEO: Pallav Mohapatra
♦ Tagline: Build A Better Life Around Us, Central to you since 1911
About ECL Finance Ltd:
♦ Founded: 2005
Cabinet approves Rs 9,300 crore package capital infusion for IDBI Bank
On September 2, 2019, Information and Broadcasting(I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar stated that the central
Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Government of India(GoI) has approved a capital
infusion of Rs 9,300 crore in IDBI Bank(Industrial Development Bank of India). The objective behind the
government’s move is to increase the bank’s capital base.
Key points:
i. Out of Rs 9,300 crore, the government (49%) will give Rs 4,557 crore, while Rs 4,743 crore will be given by
LIC- Life Insurance Corporation (51%).
ii. LIC completed the acquisition of a controlling 51% stake in the troubled IDBI Bank in January 2019. After this,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed IDBI Bank in the category of private sector bank.
iii. IDBI Bank was placed under the immediate corrective action framework of RBI. It prohibits loans to
companies and branch expansion, increments and other regular activities. This infusion will be through recap
bonds ( Government infusing capital into the bank and the bank buying the recap bond from Government the
same day) will help the bank to come out of RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework sometimes in
2020.
iv. The Bank has over 800 branches, about 1.5 crore retail customers and has about 18,000 employees.
About IDBI Bank:
♦ Founded: 1 July 1964
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♦ MD & CEO: Rakesh Sharma

♦ Tagline: Aao Sochein Bada
India increases contribution to Global Fund, $ 22 mn for 6th cycle

On September 3, 2019, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that the central
government will contribute $22 million to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFTAM) for
the 6th replenishment cycle (2020-22), an 10% jump of the amount US$ 20 million contributed in the 5th cycle.
So far, India has contributed US$ 46.5 million till 2019.
key points:
i. India stands strong to its long-standing partnership with the Global Fund in fighting the epidemics of these
three diseases(AIDS- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, TB- Tuberculosis, and Malaria) & has now become
the first among G20 (an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries
and the European Union), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and implementer countries to
announce the pledge for the 6th Replenishment cycle.
ii. India adequately financing to eliminate three diseases has now stepping towards to strengthen health systems
and save 16 million more lives across the world.
iii. since the year 2002, India has a strong partnership with the Global Fund both as recipient and as a donor.
Global Fund support with the amount of US $ 2.0 billion so far has made to fight against three diseases. It has
allocated US$ 500 million to India for the present funding cycle (2018-21).
About Global Fund:
Joint India- NDB workshop on Enhancing NDB’s engagement with the India private and public sector held
in New Delhi
On September 3, 2019, Joint India- New Development Bank (NDB) workshop on Enhancing NDB’s engagement
with the Indian private and public sector was held for a day in New Delhi. It was co-organized by NDB and
the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance of the Government of India.
Key Points:
• Guests: It was co-chaired by Shri K. Rajaraman, Additional Secretary of DEA, Mr. Xian Zhu, Vice President
and Chief Operations Officer (COO) of NDB. There were more than 100 representatives from Indian
public and private sector, including Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Member of BRICS Business Council and the
former President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
• Requirement: India needs an investment of about $1.30 trillion in the infrastructure sector over the next
5 years.
• Areas of NDB financing: Priority areas of NDB financing comprises of transportation (metro, inter-city
mobility), digital infrastructure, agriculture (irrigation, agricultural supply chain, storage) and social
sector (education, healthcare, skilling). NDB can consider raising green bonds for financing water and
sanitation projects. It can also provide credit enhancement to municipalities for raising bonds.
• Present status: NDB has approved 28% of the loan to India which is the second highest amongst the
BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries. Highest loan was allocated to China.
States like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Assam have received the funds.
• NDB may setup a regional center in India in future to expand its local footprint in India.
About NDB:
♦ It is the first Multilateral Development Bank established by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)
nations.
♦ India holds 20% stake in the bank.
♦ Headquarters: Shanghai, China
♦ President: KV Kamath
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Panel set by IRDAI to revisit 3-yr old trade credit insurance guidelines
On September 2, 2019 the insurance regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India) has set up a 9-member panel headed by New India Assurance Company Ltd (NIACL) Chief Managing
Director(CMD) Atul Sahai, in order to review its three-year old guidelines (set up in 2016) on trade credit
insurance due to the changing market requirements.
Key points
i. Panel’s role: The panel which has to submit its report within 3 months, would study the scope of changes and
suggest suitable amendments to be added or changed to the guidelines based on Terms of Reference(ToR) after
complete examination on the current guidelines.
ii.Trade credit Insurance:It is a risk management product, given to business entities by private as well as
governmental export credit agencies to protect them from loss due to credit risks. The policy provides coverage
against delay in payment or non-payments of credit also.
iii. ToR:It means the purpose and structures of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar
collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal.
About IRDAI:
♦ Founded- 1999.
♦ Headquarters- Hyderabad, Telangana.
♦ Chairperson-Subhash Chandra Khuntia.
♦ Act- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999.
About NIACL:
♦ Headquarters- Mumbai.
♦ Founder- Sir Dorabji Tata.
♦ Founded- 1919.
♦ Nationalised- 1973.
ESIC entered into an agreement with SBI for direct benefit transfer facility for all ESIC beneficiaries
On September 3, 2019, A multidimensional social system tailored to provide socio-economic protection to
worker population, the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI) for the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) facility to all
the insured beneficiaries of ESIC.
Key points:
i. As per the agreement, SBI will provide e-payment services to all the beneficiaries of ESIC directly in their bank
account. It will be integrated with the enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes of ESIC through its cash
management product (CMP) e-payment technology platform & automated process without any human
intervention.
ii. SBI will provide real-time benefits to the beneficiaries of ESIC as well as other payment recipients by e-
payment. It will save time, reduce payment delays, and it will also help to eliminate errors caused by repetitive
and manual data entries.
iii. The agreement was signed by Shri Rajkumar, DG (Director General), ESIC and Shri Sunil Wadhera, DGM, SBI.
About ESIC:
♦ Founded: 24 February 1952
♦ It is a Statutory Body and the administrative Ministry is Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of
India(GoI).
♦ ESI: Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian
workers & the fund is managed ESIC according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948.
About SBI:
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♦ Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar

♦ Tagline: The Nation banks on us; Pure Banking Nothing Else; With you all the way.
ECL Finance Ltd and State Bank of India entered into an agreement to co-lend to MSMEs
A leading Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) & a subsidiary of Edelweiss Financial Services, ECL Finance
Limited and State Bank of India (SBI) have entered into an agreement for priority sector lending (PSL) to
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
Key points:
i. This partnership was made following the announcement of a progressive co-origination policy issued by the
RBI (Reserve Bank of India)in September 2018. This is a third such co-origination tie-up for Edelweiss after the
Bank of Baroda(BoB) and Central Bank of India(CBI).
ii. The partnership will help provide the timely disbursal of loans to MSMEs for the growth of their business.
iii. This agreement comes close on the SBI setting up a special NBFC alliance department for priority sector
lending.
About SBI:
♦ Chairman: Shri Rajnish Kumar
♦ Tagline: The Nation banks on us; Pure Banking Nothing Else; With you all the way
About ECL Finance Ltd:
♦ Founded: 2005
MSME ministry launched updated Credit linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS)
In the 2-day event (September 5& 6, 2019) of national workshop on ‘Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and
Delayed Payment of MSMEs’ held at New Delhi, the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Shri Nitin Gadkari has launched the updated Credit linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) to enable micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to capital.
Key points:
i. U.K. Sinha committee:
Gadkari stated that the government will take a decision on the recommendations of the U.K. Sinha committee
which had been set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the strength of micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSME) sector. The Finance Secretary and MSME Secretary will give a final report on the
recommendations of the committee after consultation with the parties concerned & it will be implemented in 15
days after that.
Recommendation:
• The committee suggested to create a Rs 5,000 crore distressed asset fund for domestic MSMEs hurt by
demonetization, the GST(Goods and Service Tax) and an existing liquidity crunch.
• The committee also suggested the government to make PAN (Permanent Account Number) numbers a
‘Unique Enterprise Identifiers’ for procurement, availing government-sponsored benefits, and other
purposes.
ii. About CLCSS scheme:
• It offers an upfront subsidy of 15 % on institutional credit up to Rs 1 crore for MSMEs sectors in the
specified 51 sub-sectors.In the new updated scheme, there is an additional 10 % subsidy for Scheduled
Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes(ST) entrepreneurs while special provisions have been offered for 117
‘aspirational’ districts, hill states and the northeastern region in India.
• Benefits: The scheme would be crucial in raising MSME contribution to gross domestic product
(GDP).The current stake in the scheme is to be increased from 29 % to 50 %. Also, exports from the
region will have to be increased from the current 40 percent to 50 percent.
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• Background: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Government of India(GoI)has approved an

outlay of Rs 2,900 crore for the scheme In February 2019.
Delayed payments:
Gadkari stated that committee was being formed under the MSME secretary to oversee the issue of delayed
payments. The central government takes effective steps to improve the TReDS (Trade Receivables Discounting
System) platform and the online bill discounting platform, which helps sectors of MSMEs to raise funds by selling
their trade receivables to corporate.
• The ministry has already notified that all companies registered with Companies Act, 2013 with a
turnover of more than Rs.500 crore as well as all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to get
themselves on the TReDS. But as per the government data, only 27 CPSEs and about 750 corporates have
registered under the platform.
• The Centre provided a 30-day window period for all pending goods and services tax (GST) dues owed to
MSMEs.
Gadkari asked all the stakeholders to use MSME Samadhan Portal to collect data about wilful defaulters,
register themselves on stock exchanges &the ministry assured them that the ministry will launch a
marketing portal ‘Bharat Craft’ for the marketing of their products.
About MSME ministry:
• Founded: 2007
• Headquarters: Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi
• Secretary: Dr. Dinesh Rai
UPI transactions reaches 918 million, crossed all time high of 900 million mark for August,2019
On September 5, 2019 the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has released a data on the new record
created by Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions that reached an overall high of 918 million
transactions worth Rs 1.54 lakh crore by the end of August, 2019 crossing the 900 million transaction mark.
Key points
i. Reason: The new milestone in transaction was due to increase in adoption to payment channel and improved
smartphone usage in certain states. The payment adoption increased by 11.6% and by 5.5% in value in the
month of July with 822 million transactions leading to value Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the month.
ii. 1 billion transaction: A milestone of 1 billion transaction mark is expected between September and
December months of 2019.
State analysis: Government data Digidhan dashboard shows that Andhra Pradesh tops in the UPI transactions
with 17 transactions per person followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha, whereas the least
transaction is made by Chattisgarh with 0.08 transactions per person.
About UPI:
It is a real time payment system connecting multiple bank accounts in a single mobile application. Owned by
NPCI, it caters to the Peer to Peer system (transactions done without an intermediary like a bank)
Pilot Launch: 11th April 2016 (by Dr. Raghuram G Rajan, former Governor, Reserve Bank of India at Mumbai).
Official launch: 25th August 2016.
Banks begin in-principle approval of retail loan in 59 minutes

All 19 public sector banks (PSB) including State Bank of India(SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of
Baroda (BOB) have initiated in-principle retail loan approval for customers availing housing and personal loans
under the online lending platform ‘PSB Loans in 59 Minutes’.
Key points:
i. Currently, this platform is providing loan approval to the MSME(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector.
Through this platform, in-principle approval will also be started soon for vehicle loans.
ii. Applicants can choose the bank and the product they like, and will fastly avail home and personal loans,
irrespective of whether they have an account with any of the available banks.
iii. The government launched the platform in 2018 for small businessmen and MSMEs, in which they were
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provided loans up to Rs 1 crore in less than an hour.

iv. More than 50,706 proposals had received in-principle approvals and 27,893 proposals been sanctioned as of
31 March 2019, as per the latest figures.
ADB will provide $200 million loans to Maharashtra for rural road project
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $ 200 million (about Rs 1,400 crore) loan to upgrade about
2,100 kilometers of rural roads to all-weather standards in Maharashtra’s 34 districts for better connecting
rural areas with markets and services.
Key points:
i. Under the project, a provision of contractual maintenance for 5 years following construction has also been
provided.
ii. In addition to the loan amount, $1 million will be provided for institutional strengthening of the Maharashtra
Rural Roads Development Association in areas such as road asset management, road safety, climate-resilient
design and construction, and web-based real-time project monitoring.
iii. The project will develop road safety, road asset management, contract management, and climate-resilient
design.
About ADB:
♦ Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines
♦ President: Takehiko Nakao
♦ Membership: 68 countries
IPPB launched AePS services

On September 9, 2019, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law &
Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched Aadhaar
Enabled Payment System (AePS) Services at the first anniversary of its business operations. With this, IPPB
became the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to the customers
of any bank including the 34 crore Jan Dhan account holders.
Key Points:
i. With the help of AEPS services anyone with a bank account linked to Aadhaar can carry out basic banking
services like cash withdrawals and balance enquiry irrespective of the bank they hold their account with. Thus, it
will benefit the unbanked and underbanked customers and help in doorstep banking access to millions of
underbanked customers.
ii. In August 2019, the transaction value of AePS stood at Rs. 10,034.12 crores.
iii. To avail these services, a customer with an Aadhaar linked account can authenticate his/her identity with
fingerprint scan & Aadhaar authentication to complete a transaction.
About IPPB:
IPPB has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned
by Government of India. It was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The
fundamental mandate of IPPB is to remove barriers for the unbanked & underbanked and reach the last mile
leveraging the Postal network comprising 155,000 Post Offices (135,000 in rural areas) and 300,000 Postal
employees.
Finance ministry notifies code of conduct for non-official directors of PSBs

The Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance of the Government of India has issued a code of
conduct for non-official directors (NOD) of Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The boards of the banks will have to
send an annual performance report which rates a director based on professional and ethical conduct, and
contribution to the board.
Key Points:
i. This was brought out to establish certain measures to improve corporate governance. The ‘Code for NODs’ will
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be in addition to the existing ‘Guidelines on Role and Responsibilities’ and ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ for NODs issued by
the Finance Ministry in September 2002.
ii. The director’s performance will be measured on various parameters like avoidance of direct or indirect
conflict of interest, acting according to rules and in the best interest of the bank, avoiding any gain to self or
associates and maintaining confidentiality.
iii. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) already has the code for independent directors under the
Companies Act.
India Ratings cuts FY20 growth forecast for NBFCs to 10-12%

On September 9, 2019 credit rating agency India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) downgraded growth forecast for
Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) to 10-12% from the previous estimate of 15% due to slowdown in
economic activity. It also revised NBFC’s outlook from stable to ‘negative’ while large ticket Housing Finance
Companies (HFCs) are maintained at negative outlook.
Key points
i. Other factors for rate cut: Fall in auto industries’ sales, slowed rural infra activity, challenges faced in the
Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors, the slowdown in real estate and moderation in refinancing
opportunities.
ii. End of repayment exemption: The NBFCs providing loans to real estate companies may further come under
pressure in the first half of 2020 when 70,000 crore advances would no longer be preferred as mandatory
repayment exemption.
iii. Recovery measures: The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) have also announced recovery
measures in August 2019, to provide additional liquidity support of Rs 20,000 crores by the National Housing
Bank to NBFCs and HFC’s resulting in Rs 30,000 crore liquidity.
iv. India’s GDP forecast: Recently Ind-Ra had also reduced the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) forecast to 6.7%
for FY20 from its previous estimate of 7.3% in August, 2019.
About (Ind-Ra):
Ind-Ra is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.
Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer(CEO)-RohitkaranSawhney(Since 2017).
Karnataka Bank MD & CEO MS Mahabaleshwara inducted into IBA’s Managing Committee
On September 11, 2019, The Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Karnataka Bank, M S
Mahabaleshwara was included in the Managing Committee of Indian Banks Association (IBA). He was
elected unopposed from the private sector member banks category.
i. This announcement was made during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IBA held at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
ii. The total membership of IBA stands at 253 consisting of public sector, private sector and foreign banks.
IFC & FIDC sign a MoU to train NBFCs

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group and the Finance Industry
Development Council (FIDC), a representative body of asset and loan Financing of Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to train the NBFCs in India on “Commercial
Credit Reporting” with an objective to build the capacities of NBFCs to improve reporting and enquiring on
Commercial Credit Information Data from the Credit Bureaus.
i. Training will be conducted under the guidance of leading consultants from the World Bank Group in India at
different centers.
About IFC:
♦ Formed: July 20, 1956
♦ Headquarters: Washington, DC, US
♦ CEO: Philippe Le Houérou
About FIDC:
♦ Registered with: RBI
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♦ Director General: Mr. Mahesh Thakkar

About NBFC:
It is a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 of India, engaged in the business of loans and
advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, hire-purchase insurance business or chit-fund business, agriculture,
industrial activity and sale, purchase and construction of immovable property.
SBI revises service charges for deposits and withdrawals from October 1, 2019
On September 12, 2019 the State Bank of India(SBI) has announced revision in charges of deposits and
withdrawals that will be effective from October 1, 2019. The new revision is applicable to cash withdrawals,
non-maintenance in Average Monthly Balance(AMB) and deposits.
CBDT notifies E-assessment Scheme 2019 for faceless scrutiny of income tax return
On September 12, 2019, The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the e-assessment scheme
2019 for conducting faceless scrutiny assessment of income tax returns (ITR). It will be established at regional
and national level with auto-allocation of different scrutiny matters.
Key Points:
i. The E-assessment Scheme, 2019 was framed in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3A) of
section 143 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
ii. The National e-assessment Centre will facilitate the conduct of e-assessment proceedings in a centralised
manner.
iii. Information will be communicated to the taxpayers and assessment centres in an electronic form and it will
be digitally authenticated.
iv. The assessee will not make personal appearance at centres and the assessment will be governed by certain
predetermined risk assessment criteria and other pre-fixed broad parameters.
v. The scrutiny notice will be issued to the individual under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 if he has
under-reported his income or overstated losses and the assessee must file his response to the National e-
assessment Centre within 15 days from the date of receipt of notice.
About CBDT:
♦ Parent Organization: Ministry of Finance
♦ Chairman: Pramod Chandra Mody
NPCI reduced merchant discount rate on RuPay Debit Card to 0.60 % on transactions above Rs 2,000
An umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems, National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) has rationalized merchant discount rate (MDR) on transactions with RuPay debit
cards. The new rate will be effective from 20 October 2019.
key points:
i. MDR has been revised to 0.60 percent on transactions above Rs 2,000. There will be a maximum of Rs 150 per
transaction. Currently, MDR of 0.90 percent is charged on transactions above Rs 2,000. The maximum limit was
fixed at Rs 1,000 per transaction.
ii. Bharat QR (Quick Response) i.e. card-based QR transactions also reduce MDR to 0. 50 percent has been
reduced and the maximum MDR will be Rs 150 per transaction.hjkl;’
iii. This rebate given on debit card transactions will be applicable to all types of Point of Sale (POS). Apart from
this, the new rate will also be applicable on Ecom and BharatQR code based merchant transactions.
iv. The lowering the MDR rate and lowering the cap would now encourage businesses to deal with debit cards.
v. MDR: It is the is the rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on debit and credit card
transactions.
About NPCI:
♦ Founded: 2008
♦ MD and CEO: Dilip Asbe
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Government exempts 2% TDS on cash payments of over Rs 1 crore made through APMCs
Finance Minister of India Smt Nirmala Sitharaman notified that 2% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on cash
payments above Rs 1 crore made through Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will be exempted
and it is set to be effective from October 1, 2019. This is aimed to discourage cash transactions and move towards
a less-cash economy.
Other announcements:
i. An additional 15% depreciation was declared to be allowed on motor vehicles purchased between August 23,
2019, and March 31, 2020, taking the depreciation rate to 45%.
ii. The depreciation on cars purchased during the period was declared at the rate of 30% as against the normal
rate of 15%.
iii. For buses, lorries and taxis, the depreciation rate was increased to 45% from 30%.
About TDS:
It is the collection of revenue at the very source of income. It is essentially an indirect method of collecting tax
which combines the concepts of “pay as you earn” and “collect as it is being earned.”
About Depreciation:
Depreciation is the reduction in value of tangible fixed assets like plants and machinery, buildings, vehicles, etc
due to normal usage, wear and tear, new technology or unfavourable market conditions.
Code for Responsible Lending (CRL) for the micro-credit industry launched by MFIN, Sa-Dhan and FIDC
In order to bring more transparency & address customer-centric issue, the Code for Responsible Lending
(CRL) for the microcredit industry was jointly launched by Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), the
RBI-recognised self-regulatory organization & and industry association for the microfinance industry, Sa-
Dhan along with FIDC(Finance Industry Development Council) at Sa-Dhan’s 15th Annual National
Conference 2019 held in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. A revised industry Code of Conduct (CoC) was also unveiled during the Conference for Microfinance
Institutions (MFIs) that will act as a binding and requisite set of guidelines with respect to lending exercises.
ii. The revised microfinance code mandates that only three microcredit entities can lend loans to a single client
and cap the size of total lending to Rs 1 lakh per microfinance customer (a person who has an annual household
income of Rs 1 lakh in rural India and Rs 1.6 lakh in urban India). It also bars lending to a customer whose loan
has turned non-performing & lending will not be allowed without update credit bureau report.
iii. More than 90 microcredit entities have signed up for the code, with more expected to endorse it.
iv. At present, a wide range of credit lenders such as NBFC-MFIs(Non-Banking Financial Company- Micro finance
Institutions), banks, small finance banks (SFBs), NBFCs and Non-profit/Section 8 MFIs, under different
regulatory framework, provide micro-credit to over 5 crore women customers from low-income households.
v. Banks hold 40.9 % share of the total micro-credit at the end of June 2019 while NBFC-MFIs are the second
largest lender registering for 30.2 % share. SFBs (Small Finance Banks) have a share of 17%, NBFCs 10.8 % and
other MFIs witnessed for 1% share.
ECGC introduces ‘NIRVIK’ scheme to provide 90% insurance cover on the loan amount of exporters:
Piyush Goyal
On September 16, 2019, The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) has released a new Export Credit
Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called NIRVIK (Niryat Rin Vikash Yojana) to ease the lending of loan to exporters so
that they can get loans easily from banks. The details of the scheme were shared by Union Minister of Commerce
and Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal during a press conference at New Delhi. Central government will also
give support of 8,500 crore rupees to ECGC in the next five years.
Key points:
i. The scheme provides 90% insurance cover on the loan amount of exporters & it covers on both principal and
interest. The insurance cover will include both pre and post-shipment credit. At present ECGC provides credit
guarantee of up to 60 % loss for both Principal and Interest.The enhanced cover mandates that foreign and rupee
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export credit interest rates should be below 4 % and 8 5 respectively for exporters.The ECIS support will be
effective for 5years.
ii. Small Exporter, who has an Outstanding Limit below 80 crores can get ECGC’s insurance premium rate for 0.60
per annum and for those exceeding Rs.80 crore, it will be 0.72 per annum for the same enhanced cover.
Banks will pay premium on a monthly basis on the Principal & Interest to ECGC as the cover is offered for both
outstandings. Under the scheme, inspection of bank documents and records by ECGC officials shall be mandatory
for losses exceeding Rs.10 crore as against the current Rs.1crore.
iii. Under this arrangement, if an Exporter is unable to repay the loan and makes an insurance claim, then ECGC
will pay 50% of the claim amount within 30 days.
About ECGC:
♦ Founded :30 July 1957
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra,
♦ Chairman & MD : Geetha Muralidhar
♦ It provides export credit insurance support to Indian exporters and is controlled by the Ministry of Commerce.
Government of India.
ZestMoney join hands with PayU for cardless EMI payment

On September 17, 2019, Consumer lending platform, ZestMoney has partnered with PayU, a fintech firm that
provides payment technology to online merchants to offer cardless EMI (equated monthly installment) payment
option to consumers.
Key points:
i. With this partnership, more than 2,500 merchants that are equipped with PayU, Billdesk, Cashfree, and
Razorpay can start accepting ZestMoney (which has over 3,500 unique data points (2,500 data points for new to
credit) to ease risk decisioning) as a payment solution quickly.
ii. ZestMoney, which has diverse customer base spread across different segments and risk profiles, aims to offer
loans of amount starting from Rs 1,000 – Rs 5 lakh as per the demand of the customer anywhere.
About ZestMoney:
♦ Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
♦ Formation: 2015
♦ CEO: Lizzie Chapman
About PayU:
♦ Founded: 2002
♦ Parent organization: Naspers
♦ CEO: Laurent Le Moal
Visa in partnership with BillDesk to launch interface for recurring payments , “standing instructions (SI)
Hub”
On September 16, 2019, Visa Inc, the world’s leader in digital payments technology and BillDesk, an Indian
online payment gateway company have partnered for the launch of SI (standing instructions )-Hub which is a
smooth and secure way to make recurring payments using cards with a one-time enrollment. This comes after
the introduction of guidelines for e-mandate on cards for recurring transactions by RBI(Reserve Bank of India).
Key points:
i. Banks & merchants will now be able to provide recurring payments/ standing instructions (SI) services
(powered by BillDesk’s SI-Hub and Visa’s global recurring transaction framework for merchant-initiated
transactions) to their customers to help control payment across utilities, subscription services, and mutual fund
SIPs(systematic investment plan), etc.
ii. As per the report by the World Bank, lower-middle-income category pays an average of 42 utility bills in a
year, of these only 3 are paid digitally.
About Visa Inc:
♦ Founded: 1958
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♦ Headquarters: California, United States

♦ CEO: Alfred F. Kelly Jr.
About BillDesk:
♦ Founded: 2000
♦ Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Founder(s) :M.N. Srinivasu Ajay Kaushal Karthik Ganapathy
Airtel Payments Bank launched ‘Bharosa’ savings account

On September 17, 2019, Airtel Payments Bank, a public limited company with its headquarters in New Delhi
has launched “Bharosa” savings account services with the aim of deepening the financial inclusion in India.
Key features of the account:
i. Customers of Airtel Payments Bank will get personal accident insurance up to Rs 5 Lakh, even with the
minimum balance of 500. However, the customer will need to make a debit transaction at least once a month.
ii. If the account holder transfers the government subsidy to this account, then the bank will also offer cashback
on each transaction.
iii. The customers can withdraw cash, check their balance or access a mini statement of their account from any of
the outlets across India that have AePS (Aadhaar-enabled payment system) enabled.
iv.Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank to start its operations in India. It provides convenient
digital banking services to customers through a network of over 500,000 banking points in all states of India.
About Airtel Payment Bank:
♦ MD, CEO : Anubrata Biswas
EPFO to credit 8.65% interest in over 6 crore accounts for 2018-19

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar
Gangwar notified that over 6 crore members of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will
get 8.65% interest on deposits, which will be credited to the accounts, for 2018-19 after the approval from the
Ministry of Finance. The decision was made on February 21, 2019.
Key Points:
i. At present, EPFO pays an interest rate of 8.55% for 2018-19 under Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)
withdrawal claims. The 8.55% interest rate on EPF deposits was fixed for 2017-18.
ii. The rate which was increased to 8.65% for the year 2018-19 was the first increase in the past 2 years.
iii. As per EPFO’s estimates, there would be a surplus of Rs 151.67 crore after providing an 8.65% rate of interest
for 2018-19 on EPF.
iv. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is the apex decision-making body of the EPFO.
Other announcements:
i. Ministry is in the process of developing infrastructure in newly established union territories Ladakh and
Jammu & Kashmir.
ii. Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) will start a 100-bed hospital Srinagar and a 30-bed hospital in
Leh.
iii. 2 offices of EPFO in Srinagar and Jammu will also be established.
iv. Ministry is working for over 40 crore unorganized workers in India to provide suitable work environment.
About EPFO:
♦ Founded: 4 March 1952
♦ Central Provident Fund Commissioner: Sunil Barthwal
♦ Parent Organization: Ministry of Labour & Employment
India Post launches speed post service for six new countries
The Department of Posts has expanded its speed post service to 6 new overseas destinations in Asia, Europe
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and South America. It has introduced International Speed Post (EMS) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil,
Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and North McDonia.
Key points:
i. EMS (Express Mail Service) :It is a premium service that enables its users to send documents and merchandise
faster and in this service goods can be monitored online with the help of the internet.
ii. With the introduction of this service, people in these 6 countries will be able to contact each other and it will
also promote business as EMS service is very popular among small and medium enterprises. EMS service for
these countries will be available at major post offices across India. Currently India Post is providing speed post
service to 100 countries.
About Indian Post:
Till March 31, 2020, Banks to not declare stressed assets of MSMEs as NPAs: Sitharaman
On September 19, 2019, After meeting with the heads of public sector banks(PSB) to discuss various issues,
including follow up on transmission of monetary policy rates, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that
in order to overcome the slowdown in the economy and increase business activities, the government asked
banks not to declare stressed loans of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as Non Performing
Assets (NPAs) until March 31, 2020.
Key points:
i. Public Sector Banks will also hold an open meeting with NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) and retail
borrowers in 200 districts before September 29, 2019 with the intention of giving loans to farmers, retail loan
creditors , loans for housing, vehicles and other purposes. In the second phase, such meetings named “Shamiana
meetings” will be held in 200 other districts from October 10 – October 15, 2019. That is, there will be meetings
of this kind in 400 districts in total. They will focus on ‘RAM’ category – retail, agriculture and MSMEs.
ii. On September 5, 2019, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has asked banks to link all new types of floating-rate loans
(home, auto loans & and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)) to external benchmark like repo rate
from October 1, 2019 for the welfare of the consumers.
About Stressed assets:
♦ Stressed assets = NPAs + Restructured loans + Written off assets.
♦ NPAs: It means a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of
90 days.
♦ Restructured loans: The assets of the loan which got an extended repayment period, reduced interest rate,
converting a part of the loan into equity, providing additional financing, or some combination of these measures.
♦ Written off assets : A write off is the process of removing assets from the accounting records and financial
statements of the bank, which tend to write off assets because the assets are no longer available or valid.
Max Bupa and Indian Bank signed bancassurance corporate agency agreement
On September 21, 2019, A state-owned bank, Indian Bank has signed a bancassurance agreement with a
standalone health insurance player, Max Bupa to provide Max bupa’s suite of health insurance products to its
customers.
Key points:
i. Services: Max Bupa’s comprehensive health insurance solutions and services will be available in Indian bank’s
over 40 million customer base spread across its 2800 branch network.
ii. Portfolio: The product portfolio comprises Max Bupa’s both retail & group health insurance products besides
Indemnity and Fixed Benefit products.
iii. Infinity: Max Bupa will equip proprietary digital platform, “ Infinity” that integrates with the bank’s systems,
in which customers can purchase the health insurance product of their choice quickly and avail their policy
documents at the Indian bank branch itself.
iv. InstaInsure: In addition, Max Bupa will design digital seller application called “InstaInsure” that enable
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Indian bank to sell Max Bupa products through handheld devices in safe , secure and simplified manner. The
relationship managers of the bank can use the app to outright the sale exercise, including the collection of
payment electronically from customers.
v. Penetration: In South India, Indian Bank has a strong presence. Through this partnership, Max Bupa will
deepen the penetration of its wide range of product offers and enable more customers to access their risk
solutions anytime, anywhere.
About Indian Bank:
♦ Headquarters : Chennai, Tamil Nadu
♦ MD & CEO: Ms. Padmaja Chunduru
♦ Tagline: Your Tech-friendly bank
About Max Bupa:
♦ Founded: 2008
♦ MD & CEO: Ashish Mehrotra
SEBI tightens guidelines for debt mutual fund applicable from April 1, 2020
On September 22, 2019,In order to improve the risk management & ensure sufficient liquidity, the regulator for
the securities market in India, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has tightened the rules for
mutual funds, in which it make it mandatory for liquid schemes to hold at least 20 % in liquid assets such as
cash and cash equivalents like treasury bills and repo on government securities.The new guideline comes into
force from April 1, 2020.
Key points:
i. In addition, It will not allow asset management company (AMC) to charge fees for investment management &
advisory for the parking of funds in short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks. This rule will be
applicable from May, 2020.
ii. Before making additional fresh investments, AMC will have to ensure compliance with the requirement if the
investment exposure in liquid assets drops below 20 % of net assets of the liquid scheme.
iii. SEBI also not permitted liquid and overnight schemes from investing in short-term deposits, debt and money
market instruments having structured obligations or credit enhancements provisions. But, debt securities with
government guarantee will be debarred from such restriction.
iv.If the investor who dropped out from the liquid fund within 7 days of his/her investment, the mutual Fund
shall levy exit load on them. But the requirement to levy exit load shall not be applicable to any investments
made in liquid funds before the prescribed date.
v. An industry standards organisation,AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) has been asked to provide the
minimum exit load in a liquid fund in consultation with SEBI on a graded basis.
vi. Instead of existing 2 pm, the cut-off timings for applicability of Net Asset Value (NAV- the value of an entity’s
assets minus the value of its liabilities), for the purchase of liquid units & overnight funds will be at 1:30 pm.
Debt Mutual Fund:
Mutual funds with fixed maturity date & fixed rate of interest, is known as Debt Mutual Fund. It is a mix of debt or
fixed income securities such as Treasury Bills, Government Securities, Corporate Bonds, Money Market
instruments and other debt securities of different time horizons.
About SEBI:
Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi
Paisalo Digital inks co-origination of loan agreement with Bank of Maharashtra

On September 20, 2019, Paisalo Digital (Formerly known as S.E Investments Limited) has signed its second co-
origination of loan agreement with major public sector bank in India, Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) with the aim
to necessitate the joint contribution of credit flow by BoM and Paisalo Digital. The arrangement also involve
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sharing of risks & gains between them.

Key points:
i. On August 12, 2019, Paisalo digital has signed the 1st co-origination loan agreement (designed at Rs.10,000 to
2 lakh) with State Bank of India (SBI) to pay out 200,000 loan applications in 2019 (FY-Fiscal Year 2020).
About Paisalo Digital:
♦ Managing Director: Sunil Agarwal
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi.
♦ It is a leading systemically important non-deposit taking NBFC(Non Banking Financial Company), registered
with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is in operations since the year1992.
♦ Objective : To ensure rural development, self-employment, and women-empowerment on small finances . It
has AUM (Assets Under Management) of over 2000 crore and a net worth of Rs. 671.9 crore.
About BoM:
♦ Founded :1935
♦ Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra
♦ MD & CEO: A. S. Rajeev
♦ Tagline: One Family One Bank
Bharti Airtel & Bharti AXA Life Insurance tie up to offer pre-paid plan with insurance protection cover
On September 23, 2019, An Indian global telecommunications services company, Bharti Airtel has tied up
with Bharti AXA Life Insurance, one of the best insurance companies in India to offer prepaid plan for its users
along with insurance protection plan.
Key points:
i. Special Plan & insurance cover: Airtel has brought a special prepaid plan of Rs 599, in which customers will
get 2GB (gigabyte) data per day, unlimited calling and 100 SMS (Short Message Service) per day on any network,
as well as a life insurance cover of Rs 4 lakh from Bharti AXA Life Insurance.
ii. Validity: There will be a validity of 84 days on this recharge. After 3 months, this insurance cover will be
automatically maintained on every recharge.
iii. Eligibility: This plan of insurance cover with Airtel prepaid plans will be available for people between 18 and
54 years of age. For this, no paperwork is required nor medical certificate of any kind is needed. On the request
of the customer, a copy of the insurance will also be delivered to the customer’s doorstep. Airtel has developed a
special system for this, through which this entire process is completed within a few minutes.
iv. At present, this prepaid plan of Airtel which provides insurance cover is available to customers of Tamil Nadu
and Pondicherry circle and to be extended pan-India in a few months.
About Bharti Airtel:
♦ Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal
♦ Headquarters :New Delhi, India
♦ Chairman: Sunil Bharti Mittal
♦ MD & CEO: Gopal Vittal
About Bharti AXA Life Insurance:
♦ Founded: 2005
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai,Maharashtra
♦ Managing Director and CEO : Vikas Seth
RBI bans PMC Bank, account holders will not be able to withdraw more than 1000 in a day
On September 23, 2019, 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 the detection of alleged irregularities. The RBI has taken this action under section 35A of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949.
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Key points:
i. 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.
ii. As on March 2019, PMC Bank had business of Rs 20,000 crore consisting of Rs 11,617 crore deposits and Rs
8,383 crore advances.The bank will do business with restrictions till further notice or directions by RBI.
iii. The bank has 137 branches in 6 states including those in New Delhi. It had 3.76% gross non-performing
assets (NPAs) and net 2.19 % NPAs as at the end of March 2019.
About PMC Bank:
♦ Formation:1983
♦ Chairman :S.Waryam Singh
SBI Life Insurance & Repco Home Finance signs corporate agency agreement
On September 24, 2019, 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.
Key points:
i. SBI Life Insurance will now be available in RHFL’s over 148 branches and 27 satellite centres of RHFL spread
across the country.
ii. Through this partnership, SBI Life Insurance will reach more new customers across geographies to meet their
diverse insurance needs.
iii. The corporate agency agreement was signed by RHFL CFO T Karunakaran, General Manager K Prabhu and SBI
Life, Regional Director, E Thirumudi Pandian in the presence of Repco Home Finance Ltd MD and CEO, Yashpal
Gupta and others.
About SBI Life Insurance:
♦ Founded : March 2001
♦ MD & CEO: Mr. Sanjeev Nautiyal
About RHFL :
♦ Founded: 2000
♦ Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Federal Bank and Pine Labs join hands to provide monthly EMIs for offline debit card transactions
On September 23, 2019, 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.
Key points:
i. Federal Bank’s 57 lakh debit card customers will now be able to instantly avail loans on EMI at the Pine Labs
terminals.
ii. The tie-up focused on technology and analytics to deliver customer-centric digital services.
iii. 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.
About EMI:
A fixed payment amount made by a borrower to a lender at a specified date each calendar month. Equated
monthly installments are used to pay off both interest and principal each month.
About Federal Bank:
♦ Founded : 2 December 1949 (as Federal Bank)
♦ Founder : K.P Hormis
♦ Headquarters: Kochi, Kerala
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♦ MD & CEO : Shyam Srinivasan

♦ Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner
About Pine Labs:
♦ Founded :1998
♦ Headquarters : Noida,Uttar Pradesh
♦ Executive Chairman : Lokvir Kapoor
♦ Chief Executive Officer: Vicky Bindra
Airtel payments bank joins hands with HDFC ERGO to offer mosquito-borne diseases protection policy
On September 26, 2019, India’s first Payments Bank, the Airtel Payments Bank has joined hands with India’s
leading private sector general insurance company, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company to offer
unique Mosquito Diseases Protection Policy (MDPP) to protect against mosquito-borne diseases.
Key points:
i. This partnership aims to contribute to the financial inclusion of the country through the strong distribution
network of Airtel Payments Bank and strong innovation of HDFC ERGO (Housing Development Finance
Corporation Ltd).
ii. The MDPP will provide cover on 7 common mosquito-borne diseases, including Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya,
Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar, Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis) and Zika virus. The product, which is part
of HDFC Ergo’s ‘wallet insurance portfolio’, will be offered to Airtel Payments Bank remittance consumers at a
nominal premium of Rs 99 per year.
iii. At present, the policy available to over 40 lakh remittance customers of Airtel Payments Bank. This segment
of consumers consists mostly of migrant workers, who are usually the sole earners of the family.
iv. This pocket-friendly product is quite different in the insurance industry, being the only policy that provides
the insured with the benefit of the sum assured even when hospitalized for 24 hours for treatment.
About Airtel Payments Bank:
♦ Founded :2019
♦ MD, CEO: Anubrata Biswas
About HDFC ERGO:
♦ Founded: 2002
♦ Managing Director & CEO: Mr. Ritesh Kumar
Hyundai motor signs agreement with BoB for vehicle finance

On September 25, 2019, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has signed an agreement with Bank of Baroda
(BoB) to provide preferred financing to its dealers and consumers. Under this partnership, BoB will create a
detailed financing structure (as per its existing product program of supply chain finance) for customers and
dealers, which will help the bank expand its presence in the Hyundai Motor India Limited network.
About HMIL:
♦ Founded :6 May 1996
♦ Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
♦ CEO :Mr. Seon Seob Kim
About BoB:
♦ Headquarters :Vadodara, Gujarat
♦ MD & CEO : P. S. Jayakumar
♦ Tagline: India’s International Bank
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PNB MetLife & Religare Health Insurance join hands to offer insurance products covering health, death
and illness
On September 26, 2019, PNB MetLife India Insurance Co. Ltd, one of the leading life insurance companies in
India has joined hands with Religare Health Insurance to bundle and sell the live covers of Religare comprising
health, death and illness.The policy package will be offered from mid December 2019.
Key points:
i. With this integration, the customer of PNB MetLife will get this in a single policy.
ii. Target : PNB MetLife is targeting about 18-20% growth in 2019 (FY –fiscal year 20) & increase the number of
branches to 200 from 107 within 2 years time.
It has the largest life insurance market Maharashtra, New Delhi and Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. It has the blended
total premium policy of about ₹4,000 crore in its last fiscal (2018- FY 19) & in 2019 it logged ₹1,200 crore with
around 18-20 % business growth.
About PNB MetLife India Insurance:
♦ Founded: 2001
♦ Managing Director & CEO: Ashish Kumar Srivastava
♦ It an associate of Punjab National Bank (PNB), wherein MetLife International Holdings Inc and PNB are the
shareholders to the extent of 26% and 30% respectively.
About Religare Health Insurance:
♦ Establishment : July 2015
♦ Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana
Basel-based BIS launches ‘green’ bond fund for central banks to promote green finance
On September 26, 2019, In the latest dimension of global central bank’s interest in environmental sustainability,
the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has launched a dollar green bond fund enabling central banks
around the world to invest in “green bonds”.
Key points:
i. Aim: The primary aim of this initiative is to let the central banks incorporate environmental sustainability into
reserve management without destroying assets & value of their reserves.
ii. About the bond: It is an open-ended bond & drawn the pool of assets from a global group of central banks to
develop green finance through sizeable climate-friendly investments. It is structured under the swiss law & will
be managed in-house by Asset Management handout of BIS, which is owned by 60 central banks. These are
denominated in US dollars.
iii. Eligibility: The bonds which have eligible for inclusion in the fund should have a minimum rating of A- and
adhere to the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Green Bond Principles or the Climate Bond
Standard published by the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI).
iv. Scenario: Although the green bond market is small, it is growing rapidly with fourfold in size over a period of
4-year, from some $50 billion in 2014 to $230 billion in 2018.
v. Institutional investors having assets worth $11 trillion have now pledged to divest from fossil fuel assets and
shift to renewables, especially since the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
About Green Bond:
It is a bond whose proceeds are used to fund environment-friendly projects related to clean water, renewable
energy, energy efficiency, river and habitat restoration, acquisition of land, or mitigation of climate change
impacts.
The first entity to issue green bonds was the World Bank, which began the practice in 2008.
About BIS:
Established :17 May 1930
Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland
Membership : 60 central banks
General manager: Agustín Carstens
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Nepal Central Bank issued 3 coins bearing Sikh emblem to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of
Guru Nanak Dev
On September 27, 2019, The Governor of Nepal’s Central Bank ‘Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal
& Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri have jointly released three coins (100, 1000 and 2500 Nepali
rupees) bearing the Sikh symbol to commemorate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. These
coins will be available in the market from September 30, 2019, as they possess monetary value.
Key points:
i. A book titled “Sikh Heritage of Nepal” based on the Sikh heritage of Nepal was also launched in the program.
This book has been published by BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation in association with the Indian Embassy in
Nepal.
ii. Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee President Sardar Gobind Singh Longowal, Jathedar of Akal
Takht Giani Harpreet Singh and many other prominent Sikh leaders from Punjab were also present during this
occasion.
Guru Nanak dev :
He was Nirguna Bhakti saint and social reformer was born at Nankana Sahib (formerly known as Rai Bhoi Di
Talwandi) near Lahore, Pakistan on April 15, 1469. He was the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism. The verses
composed by him were collected in Adi Granth, written in Gurmukhi script. Guru Nanak Jayanti festival
celebrates the birth of Guru Nanak.
He is said to have visited Balaju area on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal five hundred years ago.
The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev will be celebrated on 12 November 2019.
About NRB:
♦ Headquarters: Kathmandu, Nepal
♦ Prime Minister: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
Paytm & Aegon Life Insurance signed corporate agency agreement

On September 27, 2019, Indian life insurance provider, Aegon Life Insurance has signed a Corporate Agency
Agreement with Paytm, an Indian e-commerce payment system to offer comprehensive life insurance products.
Key points:
i. As per this agreement, Paytm will distribute Aegon Life products to its customers. The product portfolio
comprises existing and co-created tailor-made propositions.
ii. Through this partnership, Aegon Life will deepen the penetration of its product offers and enable more policy
holders to access their risk solutions.
About Paytm :
♦ Founded : 2010
♦ Headquarters :Noida, Uttar Pradesh
♦ CEO and MD: Pravin Jadhav
About Aegon Life Insurance :
♦ Founded :2008
♦ Headquarters : Mumbai
♦ MD & CEO : Mr. Vineet Arora
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MoUs & AGREEMENTS IN NEWS

UNESCO ties up with Rajasthan to promote state’s intangible cultural heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), a specialized agency of the
United Nations based in Paris, France has joined hands with Rajasthan state government to further enhance
music, art and craft forms, and other intangible cultural heritage of the state.
Key points:
i. MoU signed: For this, An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed for the first time between Eric
Falt, Director, UNESCO Office in New Delhi and Rajasthan’s Minister of Tourism Vishvendra Singh in Jaipur,
Rajasthan at an event held at Paryatan Bhawan with the aim to revive traditional cultural heritage and improve
livelihoods.
ii. 10 new cultural hubs: According to the MoU, now UNESCO with an NGO, Contact Base will build a special
tourist circuit in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Barmer and Jaisalmer for around three-and-a-half years. Under this, 10 new
cultural hubs will be developed, which help promote various types of cultural heritage through hosting of events,
performances, and sale of handicrafts.
iii.Focus: In order to create community-led and community-benefitting tourism opportunities, the project will
focus on rich intangible cultural heritage and traditions, such as pottery, weaving music traditions, and other
crafts.
iv. The UNESCO in July 2019 has added the ‘Pink City’ Jaipur/Walled City of Jaipur of Rajasthan, known for its
iconic architectural legacy, into the list of the World Heritage Sites. Rajasthan, a special state among tourists, is
home to 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
v. The Rajasthan project is based on a successfully developed model in the state of West Bengal by UNESCO and
contact base over the last 6 years. It has “renovated 22 different art forms, offered clear economic benefits to
15,000 artists and households and converted 18 marginalized villages into vibrant cultural destinations in some
of the districts of West Bengal.
About UNESCO:
Formation: 4 November 1946
Director-General: Audrey Azoulay
It has 193 member states and 11 associate members & pursues its objectives through 5 major programs such as
education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and communication/information.
Ministry of railways & Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) sign MoU on green initiatives
On September 13, 2019, Ministry of Railways has signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding )
with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for facilitation of green initiatives in Indian Railways at New
Delhi. Coffee Table Publications on Energy Efficiency, GreenCo Rating (developed by CII) and Green Buildings
(including railway stations) were also released during the signing ceremony.
Key points:
i. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Minister of State of Railways, Shri Suresh C. Angadi, Director
General of CII Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Member, Rolling Stock, Shri Rajesh Agarwal, and other Railway Board
Officials.
ii. The partnership aimed at Greening of Railway properties , Energy efficiency in manufacturing facilities and
railway workshops, Demonstrative pilots of ‘net-zero energy buildings/ railway stations’, Capacity and skill
development by continuous sharing of environmentally sustainable practices on energy through training
programmes, and development of green procurement policy, better water management policy, disposal of solid
waste, carbon neutrality, phytoremediation.
iii. A total of 50 Railway units including workshops and production units, 12 Railway stations and 16 more
buildings and other facilities have received Green Certification.
iv. Since signing of MOU in 2016, CII in association with Ministry of Railways working together on Green Rating &
Energy Efficiency Studies of IR’s Production Units & major workshops.
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v. GreenCo rating system estimates the green activities and the rate of performance of industrial firms who are
doing environmentally sustainable practice and also certifies green building, green campus and green schools,
etc.
About Ministry of Railways:
♦ Union Minister : Piyush Goyal
About CII:
♦ Founded: 1895
♦ President: Vikram Shreekant Kirloskar
Kerala govt and RCC jointly signs MoU with Maldives on cancer care
On September 16, 2019 the govt. of Kerala and the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) jointly signed Memorandum of
Understanding(MoU) with Maldives to strengthen cancer care in the island nation by giving training to doctors.
Maldivian minister Abdulla Ameen and Kerala’s health minister KK Shylaja signed the MoU in presence of Kerala
Chief Minister(CM) Pinarayi Vijayan.
About Kerala:
♦ Capital- Thiruvananthapuram.
♦ Governor- Arif Mohammad Khan.
♦ Important rivers-Bharathapuzha River, ChalakkudyRiver,Neyyar River, Periyar River, Kurumali River.
Agreement between Skill India and IBM for nationwide Train-the-Trainer program in AI
On September 18, 2019, The Directorate General of Training (DGT) division of the Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship, has signed a pact with the world’s leading IT(Information Technology)
company IBM (International Business Machines Corporation), under which a nationwide program to train
trainers in Basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be carried out.
Key points:
i. As part of the program, ITI (Industrial Training Institutes) trainers will be trained on AI skills for use of
technology in their daily training exercises.
ii. Objective: The objective of the program is to help trainers in basic approach, workflow and AI application, so
that they can use it in their training modules.
IBM aims to train 10,000 ITI faculty members across India. The program will be of one year duration and will
have 14 instructors at 7 locations with over 200 workshops.
These programs will equip youth with modern technological knowledge and skills. The digital skills will provide
quality to the instructors, who is responsible for training the students.
iii. Description: The program was announced at the Kaushalaycharya Samadar ceremony on the occasion of
Teachers Day on September 5, 2019, a total of 53 trainers were honored at the ceremony.Among them were
experts who trained the WorldSkills Competition winners, trainers from National Skill Training Institutes
(NSTIs), Industrial Training Centres (ITI), Jan Sikshan Sansthans (JSS) and trainers from reputed corporate
houses.
iv. IBM will impart the required training at 7centres including 6 National Skills Training Institutes (NSTI) and an
Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Pune.
v. The training course will be divided into 2 parts, where the workshop will be supported by online modules, so
that the faculty members have the chance to learn holistically. Every person participated in this workshop will be
pre evaluated so that their skills can be tested.Participating online courses will be obtained with technical
support of the trainees.Those who involved in the workshop will be evaluated after the program.
About IBM:
Founded: 16 June 1911
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Headquarters: New York, United States

Chairman, President and CEO: Ginni Rometty
About ministry of skill development & entrepreneurship:
Founded: 9 November 2014
Cabinet Minister:Mahendra Nath Pandey
DRDO ink pact with Central University of Jammu to set up Kalam centre for science and technology
On September 26, 2019, The premier R&D (Research & Development) organization of India, DRDO (Defence
Research and Development Organisation) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) to set up a processing center called “ Kalam Center for Science and
Technology (KCST)” at the university for research purposes.
Key points:
i. The main aim of the MoU is to develop multidisciplinary basic and applied research and technology
development in ‘Computational System Security and Sensor’.
ii. The ‘Kalam centre will have modern day facilities & equipment will create a pool of research scholars in these
areas.
iii. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh & Vice Chancellor of CUJ Prof Ashok Aima and Director General
(Technology Management) DRDO Shri Sudhir Gupta were also present on this signing event.
About DRDO:
♦ Formed: 1958
♦ Motto: “Strength’s Origin is in Science”
♦ Chairman: Dr G. Satheesh Reddy
About CUJ:
♦ Motto: Knowledge is Power
♦ It is a Central Government funded University, established under Central Universities Act 2009, with the vision
to contribute knowledge and technology innovation to the country and the world.
Ayushman Bharat signs MoU with Ola to extend healthcare benefits for its driver-partners and families
On September 19, 2019 the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme which is
the world’s largest healthcare scheme signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with mobility
platform Ola whereby the scheme would provide health insurance to 2 million driver partners of Ola. The MoU
was signed between Vijay Ghadge, Vice President(Operations) of Ola and Dr. Praveen Gedam, Deputy Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of AB-PMJAY and National Health Authority(NHA) in presence of Dr. InduBhushan, CEO,
AB-PMJAY and NHA.
Key points
i. This MoU would extend the benefits of the healthcare scheme in providing healthcare to secondary and tertiary
driver partners. The MoU was also signed by a representative from Common Service Centres (CSC) under the
Electronics and Information Technology (IT) ministry as part of the third party administrator.
ii. First phase: The first phase of this partnership will be rolled out in Delhi as a pilot project after which it will
be extended to other states.
iii. AB card: All Ola employees and eligible driver-partners can avail the AB card at a cost of Rs.30.
About PMJAY:
♦ It is a flagship health scheme launched after the recommendation by National Health Policy 2017 to achieve
Universal Health Coverage(UHC).
♦ The scheme provides health insurance of Rs 5lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care
hospitalization.
♦ Launched- 23 September 2018.
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MoU signed between MCX & ZCE for co-operation and the exchange of information
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX)
and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), a commodity exchanges in China, for co-operation and the
exchange of information. It will help in cooperation between the two exchanges in areas like knowledge sharing,
education & training, organizing events and exploration of the areas of mutual interests between the exchanges.
Key Points:
i. MCX trades commodity futures contracts in bullion, base metals, energy and agricultural commodities, options
on Gold, Silver, Crude Oil, Copper and Zinc futures.
ii. ZCE offers commodity futures with both Agricultural and non-agricultural products like Cotton, Rapeseed Oil,
Seed & Meal, Sugar, Flat Glass, Methanol, Pure Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Thermal Coal, option products on
White Sugar and Cotton.
About MCX:
♦ Founded: November 10, 2003
♦ MD & CEO: P.S. Reddy
About ZCE:
♦ Founded:1990
♦ President: Jun Xiong
CBSE ties up with Microsoft for capacity building of teachers

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has joined hands with American multinational technology
company, Microsoft to incorporate cloud-based technology in high school teachers’ capacity building
programs and teaching. This program, designed for teachers of 8th to 10th grade, will be run in 10 cities across
India from September 11, 2019.
Key points:
i. Under the program, at least 1,000 teachers nominated by CBSE will be given 3 days of project-based training.
During this period, they will be given practical and practical knowledge of Microsoft 365 programs like OneNote,
FlipGrid, Teams, and Outlook, etc.
ii. This initiative will help teachers and students to gain early education and skills in new technologies like
Artificial intelligence(AI) and cloud so that they can become the pioneers of growth in a rapidly changing world.
About CBSE:
Founded: 2011
Chairperson: Anita Karwal
About Microsoft:
Founded: April 4, 1975
Founders: Bill Gates Paul Allen
Headquarters: Washington, U.S
Chairman: John W. Thompson
CEO: Satya Nadella
Wipro Infrastructure and BEML signs MoU to work together in technical sections in Bengaluru
On September 16 2019, the Public Sector Unit (PSU) Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)
and Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), to work in areas
such as aerospace components through special economic zone(SEZ) , industrial automation processing, 3-D
printing, artificial intelligence and hydraulic system engineering. The MoU was signed in Bengaluru between DK
Hota, the Chief Managing Director(CMD) of BEML and Pratik Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of WIN.
Key points
i. The two firms will work together on projects, products, systems, services for Defence Research and
Development Organisation(DRDO) labs and other govt. entities.
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COMMITTEES IN NEWS
A ministerial panel chaired by FM Nirmala Sitharaman to study Health Ministry proposal to ban e-
cigarette
A panel of ministers from commerce, health, agriculture, chemicals and petrochemicals, and food processing
departments chaired by finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman will study the proposal of Ministry of
Health, Government of India(GoI) to ban the production and import of e-cigarettes, through an ordinance.
Key points:
i. The health ministry in august 2018, has proposed a nation-wide ban on electronic cigarettes /electronic
nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) with a prison sentence up to one year and stiff monetary penalties of ₹1 lakh
for first-time offenders & up to three years and Rs 5 lakh for repeat offenders.
ii. More than 460 e-cigarette brands with over 7,700 flavours are available in the country as per the Government
data.
iii. ENDS: It is used to describe various types of e-cigarettes and vapes, some of these work on the basis of ‘heat
not burn’, where tobacco or nicotine solutions are heated to temperatures lower than cigarettes.
iv. As a part of the ‘first 100 days’ agenda of the Narendra Modi government, the health ministry also proposed
to ban the battery-operated products. The deadline for which is 7 September 2019.
A task force headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Mr Atanu Chakraborty set up to draw up National
Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 100 lakh crore
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman constituted a task force headed by Secretary of the Department of
Economic Affairs (DEA) Mr Atanu Chakraborty for drawing up National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 100
lakh crore ($1.4 trillion) from the fiscal year 2019-20 to 2024-25.
Key Points:
i. Members: It includes the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog Mr Amitabh Kant or his nominee;
Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance or his nominee; Secretary of the Administrative
Ministry; Additional Secretary (Investment), Department of Economic Affairs & Joint Secretary, Infrastructure
Policy & Finance Division, DEA.
ii. ToR: The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the task force is to identify technically feasible and financially/
economically viable infrastructure projects that can be initiated in FY 2019-20; To list the projects that can be
included in the pipeline for each of the remaining 5 years between FY 2021-25; To estimate annual infrastructure
investment/capital costs; To guide the Ministries in identifying appropriate sources of financing; and to suggest
measures to monitor the projects so that cost and time overrun is minimized.
iii. Constituents: The National Infrastructure Pipeline will include greenfield and brownfield projects costing
above Rs 100 crore. It enables robust marketing of the pipeline of projects requiring private investment through
the India Investment Grid and National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
iv. Purpose: The task force has been set up to make the country $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. For this, India
needs to spend about Rs 100 lakh crore over these years on infrastructure.
v.Deadline: The Task Force will submit its Report on Pipeline by 31st of October for the fiscal year 2019-20 and
on the indicative pipeline for fiscal years 2021- 25 by 31st of December 2019.
About Ministry of Finance:
♦ Founded: 29 October 1946
Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra to head 3 member panel to look into assets, liabilities of J&K
On September 9, 2019, the centre has appointed defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra to head a 3-member panel
to look into assets, liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir(J&K) between two successor Union territories(UT) J&K and
Ladakh, that comes into effect on October 31, 2019.
Background: The centre, announced the withdrawal of the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under
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Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of the state into two UTs on August 5, 2019.
i. Other members of the panel: With Sanjay Mitra being the chairperson, the other members on the panel
include,
• ArunGoyal- retired Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officer.
• Giriraj Prasad Gupta- Retired Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer.
ii. Committee: The committee is constituted by the powers conferred by Section 84 and Section 85 of the Jammu
and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
• Section 84: J&K assets and liabilities should be apportioned (divided up) between UT of J&K.
• Section 85: Establishment of one or more Advisory Committees within a period of 90 days of
announcement regarding apportion, power supply, financial corporation, companies and institution.
NGT forms committee headed by AK Goel to prevent illegal groundwater extraction

On September 12, 2019 the National Green Tribunal(NGT) formed a committee inorder to look into the issues
related to illegal groundwater extraction and prevent them. The committee headed by NGT chairperson
Adharsh Kumar Goel directed the panel to frame mechanism to prevent the unauthorized extraction and also to
monitor the functioning of Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
Key points
i. Nodal agency of the committee: The direct concerned committee of the agency is Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Water Resources(MoWR) for coordination and compliance. The committee has to submit its report within two
months to the tribunal.
ii. Committee members: The committee has joint secretaries of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and
Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, National Remote
Sensing Centre and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) New Delhi, and Central Ground Water Board(CGWB).
iii. Tribunal current report: The tribunal reported that the groundwater level has gone down despite Supreme
Court’s(SC) order in 1996 to form a committee to prevent groundwater depletion, in which the CGWA resisted to
take up ownership of the committee to lack of infrastructure.
About CGWA:
♦ Act- Section 3 (3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 under Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
About NGT:
♦ It was formed to dispose cases relating to environment protection.
♦ Established- 18 October 2010.
♦ Act- National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
Government constitutes Company Law Committee for examining provisions and issues related to
Companies Act 2013 implementation
On September 18, 2019 the corporate affairs ministry in line with the govt’s objective to promote the ease of
living and by providing Ease of Doing Business to the companies abiding the law decided to be set up, a company
law committee to look into the issues pertaining to the implementation of the Companies Act, 2013 and the
Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
i. The 11- member company law committee will be headed by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas. The
Committee shall submit its recommendations in phases and subject-wise to the Government.
Key points
i. Committee responsibility: The committee will analyze the nature of offence, examining the feasibility of
settlement mechanism, study changes needed under Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 framework,
improving the functioning of National Company Law Tribunal(NCLT),removing any bottlenecks in the overall
functioning of the statutory bodies like Serious Fraud Investigation Office(SFIO), Investor Education and
Protection Fund Authority(IEPFA), National Financial Reporting Authority(NFRA).
ii. The report shall be submitted any time as decided by the chairperson and will also meet after one-year tenure.
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About ministry of corporate affairs:

♦ Union minister- Nirmala Sitharaman (constituency- Karnataka)
Minister of State(MoS)- Anurag Singh Thakur( constituency- Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh)
Government reconstitutes EAC-PM till 2021

On September 25, 2019, Union Government reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister (EAC-PM) for a period of 2 years with effect from September 26, 2019. Dr. Bibek Debroy will continue
as Chairman and Mr Ratan P. Watal will continue as the Member Secretary. These are the 2 full time members.
Key Points:
i. The strength of the EAC-PM was reduced to 4 from 5, with 2 full-time members and 2 part-time members.
ii. Part-Time Members: Dr Sajjid Chinoy, Indian economist at JP Morgan is the new part-time member and
Ashima Goel of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) will continue to be the Part-Time
Member.
iii. Rathin Roy from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and Shamika Ravi of Brookings
Institution were dropped as part-time members.
iv. The EAC-PM was revived in September 2017 with a term of two years and it has submitted papers on issues
like employment, fiscal situation, economic growth, manufacturing and infrastructure to the Prime Minister’s
office (PMO).
About EAC-PM:
It is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to the
Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister on key economic issues like inflation, microfinance, and
industrial output.
Panel on Fintech related issues formulated by the ministry of finance submits its final report
On September 2, 2019, An Inter-Ministerial committee set up by the Ministry of Finance, Department of
Economic Affairs, Government of India(GoI) on Fintech (Financial technology) related issues headed by Shri
Atanu Chakraborty, DEA(Department of Economic Affairs) Secretary, submitted its final report “‘Steering
Committee on Fintech related issues 2019 ” to the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman in New Delhi.
Key recommendation:
i. Framework: In a view to protect consumers from digital services, the panel recommends to form a
comprehensive legal framework.
ii. Development of Fintech space: The report highlights the present landscape of the Fintech space in India as
well as globally. It documents key issues relating to the development of Fintech & makes recommendations
focusing on how fintech can be leveraged to promote the financial inclusion of MSMEs(Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises).
iii.Financing: The panel in its report recommends that the RBI(Reserve Bank of India) may consider using
fintech in financing space for MSMEs in the form of cash-flow basis, development of an open-API MSME stack
(Application Programming Interface) based on TReDS data(Trade Receivable Discounting System) verified by
GSTN(Goods and Service Tax Network) & a standardised and trusted e-invoice infrastructure designed around
TReDS-GSTN integration.
iv. Technology and risk reduction: It recommends the ministry to encourage insurance companies and lending
firms to use drone and remote sensing technology for cropland, damage and location assessments to help risk
reduction in insurance/lending business & also recommends Department of Financial Services(DFS) to jointly
work with PSU(public sector undertaking) banks to reduce fraud and security risks.
v. Credit registry for farmers: It recommends NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
)to create a credit registry for farmers by using fintech along with core banking solutions (CBS) offered by agri-
financial institutions, including cooperative societies.
vi. Digitization of Land records: The panel suggested to set up dedicated National Digital Land Records Mission
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based on a common National Land Records Standards with State Land and Registration departments for
standardization & modernization of land records to make land ownership data online to financial entities.
vii.Progress review: The panel also favoured to set up an inter-ministerial steering committee on fintech
applications in the department of economic affairs (DEA) to monitor the progress of the report.
viii.Adoption of RegTech: It has also recommended adoption of regulation technology (or RegTech) by all
financial sector regulators and develop an institutional framework for specific use-cases of supervisory
technology (or SupTech).
ix. Setting up of team for coordination on FinTech: A dedicated team on Digital Economy and Fintech is being
set up in the Investment Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance for coordination on
FinTech with relevant Ministries.
Others: The other members of the committee are Secretary (MeitY), Secretary (DFS), Secretary (MSME),
Chairperson (CBIC), CEO (UIDAI), Deputy Governor (RBI), Executive Director (SEBI), CEO, Invest India with
Additional Secretary (Investment).
Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan to head expert panel to examine non-personal data regulation
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has framed an 8-membered high-level panel headed
by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan to study issues related to non-personal data and suggest the ways
to regulate non-personal data.
Key points:
i. The taskforce of the panel is to have a separate and independent consultation on non-personal data, and decide
the contours regulation of personal data, whether as guidelines, rules, or a separate policy.
ii. IT (Information Technology )Ministry asked a group seeking clarifications on some points on the regulation
on community, anonymous or e-commerce data and case for mandating free access to such data. The draft Data
Protection Bill 2019, submitted by the Justice Srikrishna Committee on 18 July 2018, is yet to be tabled in
Parliament.
iii. Additional / joint secretary of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, National Association
of Software and Services Companies President Debjani Ghosh, National Informatics Centre Director General
Neeta Verma, Avanti Finance Chief Technology Officer(CTO) Lalitesh Katragadda, Indraprastha Institute of
Information Technology, Delhi Professor Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, IT for Change member Parminder Singh
and Joint Secretary MeitY Gopalakrishnan S are the other members of the high level committee.
SEBI sets up committee to suggest structure and norms for social stock exchanges
On September 19, 2019 Capital market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has formed a 15-
member committee headed by Ishaat Hussain, Director at State Bank of India(SBI) Foundation and former Tata
Sons Director, to suggest possible measures and regulations in creating the ‘social stock exchanges’. The
formation of this committee comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden union budget speech to
take the capital markets closer to inclusive growth and financial inclusion.
Key points
i. Committee’s work: The work of the committee is to examine and make recommendations for the social stock
exchanges within the securities market domain in order to facilitate the fund raisings by social enterprises and
voluntary organizations.
ii. Committee members: The committee members include T V Mohandas Pai (Chairman of Manipal Global
Education and former director of Infosys), RoopaKudva of Omidyar Network India, Amit Chandra of Bain Capital,
Saurabh Garg (Principal Secretary to Odisha government), Shamika Ravi (Brookings India Director of Research
and member of PM’s Economic Advisory Council), Vineet Rai of Aavishkaar Venture and Girish G Sohani of BAIF
Development Research Foundation and other members from stock exchanges, corporate and economic affairs.
About SEBI:
♦ Founded- 12 April 1992.
♦ Headquarters- Mumbai.
♦ Chairperson- Ajay Tyagi.
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SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held meeting with Australian Minister for Resources and Northern
Australia Senator, Matthew Canavan in New Delhi
On August 28, 2019, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting with
Australian Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Senator, Matthew Canavan in New Delhi. They agreed
to work towards strengthening the energy pillar of bilateral engagement.
Key Points:
i. Both ministers discussed the importance of energy and resources in India-Australia bilateral relationship and
to enhance cooperation in the area of coking coal.
ii. They agreed to expand the scope of cooperation on a wider range of energy resources.
iii. India is the largest importer of Australian metallurgical coal
Amit Shah meets his Singaporean counterpart in New Delhi, discusses bilateral issues
On August 31, 2019, The Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah met his Singaporean counterpart K
Shanmugam in New Delhi and they discussed bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
Key points:
i. The two sides agreed to step up cooperation in dealing with trans-national organized crime, including drug
trafficking and economic offenses.
ii. Shah noted that the two countries relations are based on shared values and approaches, economic
opportunities and convergence of interest on key challenges. Shanmugam highlighted the importance of
Singapore’s strategic partnership with India & also invited Shah to visit Singapore.
iii. Both sides also exchanged views and concerns on the challenges of terrorism and extremism & agreed to
strengthen the current bilateral institutional mechanisms on security issues.
5th edition of Aqua Aquaria India for the year 2019 held in Hyderabad
On August 30, 2019, The 5th edition of Aqua Aquaria India 2019 was held at Hitex International Convention
& Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad, Telangana with the theme “To take Blue Revolution to India’s
hinterland”. It was inaugurated by the Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. The 3-day biennial event
was organized by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Commerce
Ministry. It is the largest aquaculture exhibition in India.
Key Points:
i. India is the second-largest fish producer in the world with a production of 13.70 million tonnes during 2018-
19. It earns 10% of its total exports from fisheries.
ii. The 2017 edition of the Aqua Aquaria India held at Nehru Maidan, Mangalore, Karnataka.
iii. It is the fourth largest exporter of fish in revenue terms with the export earnings of $7 billion.
About MPEDA:
♦ Established: August 24, 1972
♦ Headquarters: Kochi, Kerala
‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’ held in New Delhi
On September 2, 2019 Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW) Dr. Harsh Vardhan inaugurated
the ‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’ in New Delhi and was also unanimously
elected as the chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO(World Health Organisation) Regional Committee for South-
East Asia.This is the second time that India is hosting this session and the previous one was also hosted by India
in New Delhi.
During the Ministerial meeting regarding ‘Emergency Preparedness’ 2nd day of ‘72nd Session of the WHO
Regional Committee for South-East Asia’,India confirmed its support by providing 200,000 US dollars towards
implementation of the preparedness stream under the South East Asia Health Emergency Response Fund
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(SEARHEF).Health Ministers of the South-East Asia Region of WHO also signed the Delhi Declaration on
Emergency Preparedness.
Key points
i. Members present: During the inaugural function, 8 health ministers from the 11 countries of the WHO South
East Asia Region (SEAR), SmtPreeti Sudan, Health and Family Welfare(HFW)Secretary, DrPoonamKhetrapal
Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region were present.
ii. Address by Harsh Vardhan:
• PoshanMaah: The month of September is observing as “PoshanMaah” (Nutrition Month) addressing
malnutrition problems and improve healthy eating and move towards ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.
• Eat Right India: With the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) adoption of ‘food
system approach’, the citizens are committed to the people’s movement called the “Eat Right India”
movement with the tagline “SahiBhojan. BehtarJeevan” which means ‘Right diet leads to better quality of
life’.
• Fit India movement: The health minister credited Indian Cricketer ViratKohli in helping to launch the
Fit India Movement on National Sports Day(August 29) that would encourage people to include physical
activity and sports as a routine in their life.
• Road to universal healthcare: The health minister targeted Ayushman Bharat’s universal health care by
2022 with the help of two components with the first one being the establishment of 1.5lakh health and
wellness centre and the second being health protection cover to 100 million poor and vulnerable families
for secondary and tertiary care.
• Key features of PMJAY: Ayushman Bharat which is also known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya
Yojana(PMJAY) provides health cover of upto Rs.5 lakh per family with 17,000 hospitals enlisted under
the scheme. The scheme met with 4.1million beneficiaries saving Rs.120billion on health expenditure.
• Mission Indradhanush: Plans to increase immunisation coverage to 90% with Indhradhanush mission
were charted out. The mission was launched in 2014 to achieve and sustain the immunisation coverage
by 2020.
About MoHFW:
Founded-1976.
Minister of State(MoS) –Faggan Singh Kulaste(constituency- Mandla, Madhya Pradesh).
Harsh Vardhan constituency- ChandniChowk, Delhi.
The 4th General Assembly of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) for the year 2019 held in
Bengaluru
The Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted the 4th General Assembly of the Association of World
Election Bodies (A-WEB) for the year 2019. It was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka from September 2-4,
2019. India took over as A-WEB’s Chair for the 2019-21 term.
• The General Assembly meeting was presided by the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shri Sunil
Arora.
• The meeting of the Executive Board of A-WEB was held on September 2, 2019.
Participants:
More than 120 Participants from over 50 countries across the world participated in the event.
Agenda
Detailed considerations were made on Challenges and future of furthering partnership amongst Election
Management Bodies (EMBs); appointment of office bearers; programmes and activities to be undertaken by A-
WEB during 2020, etc.
Role of ECI in A-WEB
• ECI has been associated with the process of formation of A-WEB since 2011-12.
• It has been its Executive Board Member since AWEB’s inception in October 2013 for two consecutive
terms – 2013-15 and 2015-17.
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• At the A-WEB General Assembly which was held in Bucharest, Romania on August 31, 2017, Romania
took over as Chair and ECI was unanimously elected as Vice-Chair of A-WEB for 2017-19.
• ECI will continue to remain on the Executive Board of A-WEB for 2021-23 in its capacity as immediate
former Chair of A-WEB.
Conference on “Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and Information Technology in Elections”
On September 4, 2019, An International Conference on “Initiatives and Challenges of Social Media and
Information Technology in Elections” was held in Bengaluru. 11 countries namely Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia –
Herzegovina, Cameroon, Malawi, Mauritius, Palestine, Romania, Russia, Sierra Leone and Togo participated in the
event and made their presentations on the subject.
Executive Board of AWEB 2017-19
It has 21 members- Dominican Republic is the Immediate Past Chair; 5 members from Africa, namely Burkina
Faso, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi & Tunisia; 4 members from America -Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador & Paraguay;
4 members from Asia – Bangladesh, Palestine, Taiwan & Uzbekistan; 3 members from Europe – Albania, Belarus
& Croatia and Fiji as the member from Oceania.
Office-bearers
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Shri Sunil Arora assumed the Chairmanship of Association of
World Election Bodies (AWEB) for the term 2019-21. India took over the Chair from Romania. The AWEB Flag
was handed over to the new Chairman, Shri Sunil Arora by the Representative of Outgoing Chair, Mr. Ion Mincu
Radulescu, Advisor, Permanent Election Authority Romania. It will remain with ECI for the 2 year term till 2021.
Other office bearers are as follows:
Designation Name
Vice Chairman Mr. Glen Vuma Mashinini, Chairperson of Election Commission of South
Africa
Secretary General Mr Jonghyun Choe, from the Republic of Korea
Executive Board EMBs from Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Oversight and Audit EMBs from Burkina Faso, Mauritius and Samoa
Committee
Members EMBs from Ukraine, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Political Parties Registration
Commission of Sierra Leone, Indonesia and Mauritius
Associate Member Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA)
Outgoing Representatives
Following were the outgoing representatives:
• Outgoing Chairman- Mr. Constantin – Florin Mituletu – Buica, Hon’ble President of the Permanent
Electoral Authority of Romania.
• Outgoing Secretary General- Mr. Yong-Hi Kim.
Launch of ECI’s quarterly magazine – ‘VOICE International’
CEC of India, Shri Sunil Arora along with the two Election Commissioners of India Shri Ashok Lavasa and Shri
Sushil Chandra and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Umesh Sinha launched ECI’s quarterly magazine –
‘VOICE International’. It shares best practices from over 25 Countries.
AWEB Centre
• An AWEB Centre will be setup at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election
Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi. It will facilitate in documentation, research and training; for sharing
best practices and capacity building among the member EMBs of the Association.
• The Institute has conducted over 750 training programmes for over 27,000 election officials in India
along with the organisation of 62 International Capacity Building Programmes for over 1165 election
officials from 96 countries.
• Standard training modules for National & International participants are developed by a team of Indian
and International experts.
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Meetings
India’s Election Commission officials met their South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of the 4th General
Assembly of A-WEB.
• Mr. Kwon Soon-il, Chairperson National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea met Mr. Sunil
Arora, Chief Election Commissioner of India and discussed bilateral matters of mutual interest.
• Sunil Arora, along with other senior officials, held a bilateral meeting with the President of the
International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), Anthony Banbury, during a meeting of the
Executive Board of the A-WEB.
About A-WEB:
♦ It is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.
♦ It was established on October 14, 2013 in Song-do, South Korea.
♦ The permanent secretariat of A-WEB is located at Seoul, South Korea.
♦ It’s vision is to foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting free, fair, transparent and participative
elections worldwide.
♦ It has 120 EMBs from 111 countries as its Members and 21 International Organisations as Associate Members.
India-Pakistan 3rd round of negotiations on Kartarpur Sahib corridor held in Attari, Amritsar
On September 4, 2019, The 3rd round of meeting between officials of India & Pakistan on the modalities for
operationalization of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor held at Attari in Amritsar, Punjab. This is the second
meeting between the two countries in the backdrop of tensions arising between India and Pakistan after the
withdrawal of special state status from Jammu and Kashmir(J&K). The Indian delegation was led by SCL Das,
Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Pakistani delegation led by Dr. Mohammad Faisal, Director
General (South Asia and SAARC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Key points:
i. The meeting reviewed the progress reached in the two rounds of Joint Secretary Level meetings held on 14th
March 2019 at Attari, India & on 14th July 2019 at Wagah, Pakistan and four rounds of Technical Level meetings.
ii. Key understanding arrived by both the delegations are,
• Both sides signed agreement on visa-free travel of Indian pilgrims, without any restrictions. Persons of
Indian origin holding OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) card can also visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib
using Kartarpur Corridor.
• Pakistan allows 5,000 Sikhpilgrims to visit Holy Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Corridor every
day. While additional pilgrims (above of 5,000) can also visit on special occasions such as Gurpurab and
Baisakhi, subject to capacity expansion by the side of Pakistan.
• The Corridor will be open throughout the year, seven days a week. Indian Pilgrims can visit gurdwara
as individuals /in groups and on foot.
• The two countries agreed to build the bridge at the Budhi Ravi Channel & both sides agreed to share
the temporary service crossing point coordinates until the pending construction of the bridge is
completed on Pakistan side.
• The Pakistan side has also agreed to make enough provision for preparation and distribution of ‘Langar’
and ‘Prasad’ for the pilgrims.
iii. These agreements were not be finalized as Pakistan demanded on charging a service fee for allowing pilgrims
to visit Gurdwara & also it expressed its unwillingness to permit the presence of protocol officials at the
Gurdwara premises to accompany the pilgrims.
iv. Both sides have also agreed upon maintaining a safe and secure environment for the movement of pilgrims.
v. Significant progress has been made in setting up a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including passenger
terminal on the Indian side that can handle over 15000 pilgrims in a day and it is targeted to be completed by
31st October, 2019.
Kartarpur Sahib corridor:
It is a proposed border corridor between the nations of India and Pakistan, connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera
Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur (in Punjab, Pakistan).
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3rd India-Australia Cyber Dialogue for the year 2019 held in New Delhi
On September 4, 2019, 3rd India-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue for the year 2019 was held in New
Delhi. Shri Upender Singh Rawat, Joint Secretary in charge of e-Governance, Information Technology and Cyber
Diplomacy at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation and Australian delegation was led
by the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Dr. Tobias Feakin.
Key Points:
• The Indian delegation included representatives from National Security Council System (NSCS), Ministry
of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Tele-
communication (DoT), Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-In) and National Critical
Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC). Australian delegation included representatives
from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Signals
Directorate’s (ASD) Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), and Australian Federal Police (AFP).
• Discussions were made on the current and emerging cyber security issues including emerging
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) technologies, national approaches to cyber security
policy and legislation, international issues including the respective views on the United Nations Group of
Governmental Experts and Open Ended Working Group, critical technologies, and cooperation to address
cybercrime.
• Both countries assured to implement the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE)
reports of the 2013 and 2015 on the application of international law, in particular the United Nations
(UN) Charter, agreed norms of responsible state behavior, confidence building measures and capacity
building.
• They agreed to work towards the establishment of a Joint Working Group on Cyber Security Cooperation
and to commence negotiations for a Framework Agreement on Cyber Cooperation.
• They agreed to share information on Internet of Things (IoT) security standards and best practices.
• They agreed to enhance practical cyber security policy cooperation through reciprocal expert exchanges
on the information of policy development, on telecommunications, legislative developments, and
engagement with the private sector.
About Australia:
♦ Capital: Canberra
♦ Currency: Australian dollar
“National Conference on India-Africa Partnership in a Changing Global Order” addressed by vice

president
On September 4, 2019 the Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu addressed the valedictory session of the
national conference on 2019 ‘India-Africa Partnership in a Changing Global Order–Priorities, Prospects and
Challenges’ in New Delhi organised by Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA).
Key addresses
i. World communities were called to root out terrorism and also for enlargement and democratization of the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
ii. Trade partnership of Africa: Bilateral trade investment of Africa in the year 2017-18 was USD 62.66 billion,
where India was the fourth largest investor in Africa with cumulative investments USD 54 billion. India had also
signed the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) to make Africa the largest trade area in the
world.
iii. Publications: During the conference Shri Naidu, released two books on Indian Council of World Affairs
(ICWA) named “Shakti Ki Manyata- Samyukta Rashtra Suraksha Parishad” written by Dilip Sinha and
“Bharat Aur European Sangh: Ek Antarangik Drishtikon” by Bhaswati Mukherjee.
iv. Initiatives by India: In-order to strengthen the Indo-African relationship various initiatives like the 2004
Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement-9 (TEAM-9) initiative, Focus Africa Programme and
India Africa Forums Summit were started. The no. 9 of TEAM-9 denotes India and its relationship with 8 west
African countries.
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v. Africa agenda 2063: Africa’s 2063 Agenda adopted in January 2015 to strengthen its economy just like India’s
aspiration to become $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 were discussed.
Indian contribution to Africa:
India has provided 189 LOCs (Lines of Credit) to 42 African countries with total worth $11 billion. It is 42% of
the total amount of LOCs offered by India through EXIM(Export-Import) Bank.
Members present:
• Mr. Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam- Ambassador of the Republic of Etria and Dean of African Groups of
Heads of Mission.
• Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan- Director General(DG) of ICWA.
• Dr. Nivedita Ray- Director (Research) of ICWA and other members from ICWA.
About ICWA:
Founded- 1943.
Founder President- Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru.
Ex-officio President- Venkaiah Naidu.
Vice-President- S Jaishankar (Minister of External Affairs).
First National Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics held in New Delhi
The Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Rishi Kumar Shukla inaugurated the first National
Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics in New Delhi at the CBI headquarters. It was a
2-day conference held on September 4-5, 2019.
Key Points:
i. It included one of the mandates of CBI which notifies to investigate crimes with inter-state & international
ramifications.
ii. It aimed to create a platform and bring together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to
discuss challenges related to cybercrime and ways to find solutions.
About CBI:
♦ Parent Crime Branch: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
♦ Motto: Industry, Impartiality, Integrity
Kochi to host 22nd India International Seafood Show after 12 years

The 22nd edition of the India International Seafood Show (IISS) which is one of the largest seafood fairs in Asia,
is to be hosted by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) in association with Seafood
Exporters Association of India (SEAI) in Kochi (known as queen of Arabian sea) at Hotel Grand Hyatt from
February 7-9, in 2020. This biennial show would be Kochi’s first hosting after 12 years.
Key points
i. First and last show: The first Seafood Show was held in Mumbai in 1973 and the 21st/previous edition of the
IISS was held in Margao, Goa in 2018.
ii. This 22nd edition includes delegates such as seafood processors, buyers, and stakeholders from other related
sectors.
Amit Shah chairs 68th Plenary session of the North Eastern Council 2019 in Guwahati, Assam
Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 2-day (8th & 9th September , 2019) event of 68th Plenary session of
the North Eastern Council 2019 (NEC, a nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North
East which consists of 8 states of the region) at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Guwahati, Assam.
Key points:
i. Governors and Chief Ministers of 8 northeastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura,
Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim) participated in the event.
ii. Shah reviewed the ongoing development projects in the Northeast. He stressed on preparing a roadmap to
enhance the rich culture and heritage of the North East region. He also affirmed that the central government will
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not touch Article 371 which grants special provisions to the North East.
Apart from this, he reviewed the development of the northeastern states.
iii. Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr. Jitendra Singh attended the event, where he
stated that NEC has been given its highest budgetary outlay of 1476 crore rupees for the year 2019-20 aimed at
the development of North East.
iv. The second day of the Plenary meet will witness presentations by various Chief Secretaries of the NEC
member states. Secretaries of 13 Central ministries will also discuss interventions by their respective Ministries
in development works of the region.
v. This North East visit of Shah is considered very important as after the final list of National Citizenship Register
(NRC) was published in Assam on August 2019, in which 19 lakh people lost their names.
About NEC
It is set up under North Eastern Council Act, 1972.
Composition: It is chaired by Union Home Minister. Minister of Development of North East Region (DoNER) is its
Vice-Chairman. Governors and Chief Ministers of all the 8 North Eastern States are its members.
About Assam:
Capital: Dispur
Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal
Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
National Parks: Dibru-Saikhowa National Park ,Kaziranga National Park ,Manas National Park Assam , Nameri
National Park .
President inaugurates 2-day National Youth Summit 2019 in New Delhi

On September 7, 2019, The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the National Youth
Summit 2019 held in New Delhi. It was organized by Youth Awakening Mission (a wing of Paavan Chintan
Dhara Charitable Trust, Ghaziabad).
Key points:
i. The 2-day summit was concluded at the ALT Center in Rajnagar, Ghaziabad on 8 September 2019. Defense
Minister Rajnath Singh was involved in this.
ii. Paavan Chintan Dhara Charitable Trust devoted to the promotion and publicity of functional spirituality,
service to the nation and knowledge of India, was founded on February 17, 2010, by Shriguru Pawan Ji. The
organization has contributed in the sectors of education, personality development, environment, social
equality,etc in the past 9 years.
iii. Youth Awakening Mission (YAM) is the important project of this trust, whose aim is to inculcate confidence,
will power, knowledge, and develop skills, logic, values, leadership qualities and patriotism among the youth
between the ages of 18-40 years in India. Under it, youth are given training. The youth is also given a duty under
the Rishikulshala project whose slogan is “Educate India Rebuild Nation”.
6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue 2019 held in New Delhi

Three day organised 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) was held in New Delhi from September
7-9, 2019 between India and China.
Delegation:
• The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman(VC) of National Institution of
Transforming India Aayog(NITI).
• The delegation from China was led by Mr. He Lifeng, chairman of National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC)
Meeting:
• The dialogue was held among Joint Working Groups (JWG) on Infrastructure, Energy, High-Tech,
Resource Conservation, Pharmaceuticals and Policy coordination.
• Senior representatives of policy making, industry and other fields participated in the dialogue.
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Background of SED:
i. SED formation: Formation of SED was planned by both the Indian and Chinese sides during the Indian visit of
the then Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in December 2010.
ii. SED structure: Niti Aayog and NDRC conducts the dialogue each year alternatively in both the capital of India
and China.
iii. First SED: The first SED dialogue was hosted by China at its capital in Beijing on 26 November 2011 and the
second SED dialogue was conducted by India in Delhi on 26 November 2012.
Appointees:
Both sides appointed 6 Standing JWG along with co-chairs to address all the economic and commercial issues
across various fields of infrastructure, pharma, resources etc.
Previous SED:
• The 5th edition of the SED was held in Beijing on April 14 2018, with the Indian delegation led by Dr.
Rajiv Kumar, VC of NITI aayog.
• Event encounters: A special JWG on pharmaceuticals was framed by the Indian side to address market
access and related issues under the SED umbrella. Since then JWG on Pharmaceuticals was constituted
after which the first meeting of “Working Group on Pharmaceuticals” was conducted in May 2019 by the
Department of Pharmaceutical in Beijing, China.
About NITI aayog:
♦ Formed- 1 January 2015.
♦ Chairperson- Narendra Modi.
♦ Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Amitabh Kant.
Recently in June 2019, Amitabh Kant was given extension of 2 years till june 30, 2021 as its CEO.
First edition of helicopter summit 2019 by aviation ministry held in Dehradun

On September 8, 2019, the ministry of Aviation jointly with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) organized the first helicopter summit 2019 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand to discuss the issues
related to connectivity through helicopters. The Indian Air Force(IAF) were invited for a talk on ‘Role of IAF
helicopters in MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) at National level’.The summit was based on the theme “expanding
connectivity through helicopters”.
Key points
i. Members present:
• Trivendra Singh Rawat- Uttarakhand Chief Minister.
• P S Kharola- secretary of aviation ministry.
• Usha Padhee- joint Secretary in Aviation Ministry and other officials were present.
About Civil aviation ministry:
Headquarters- Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi.
Minister of State (independent charge)- Hardeep Singh Puri (constituency- Amritsar, Punjab).
2019 National conference on crop residue management held in New Delhi

On September 8, 2019, the National Conference on crop residue management organised by govt. of India n
collaboration with ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) was held in New Delhi with nearly 1000
farmers participating in the conference. Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh
Tomar addressed the event.
Key points
i. States participated: Farmers from 4 states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh & Delhi participated in the
event.
ii. Honours: 20 farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were felicitated for their contribution in crop
management and also for promoting the in-situ crop residue management.
iii. “CHC Farm Machinery” app: The Minister of State(MoS) for agriculture and farmer’s welfare,
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Shri Parshottam Rupala launched the “CHC Farm Machinery” app for the farmers to connect them with Custom
Hiring Service Centres located within 50km radius. The Custom Hiring Centres(CHC) app is available for android
devices and could be downloaded from the Google Play store.
About agriculture ministry:
Founded- 1947.
Parshottam Rupala constituency- Gujarat.
MoS- Kailash Choudhary(constituency- Barmer, Rajasthan)
NarendhrasinghTomar constituency- Morena, Madhya Pradesh.
Secretary-Kahan Singh Pannu.
22nd session of UN Committee on CRPD held at UNHRC, Geneva

The 22nd session of the United Nations (UN) Committee on Convention on Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) was held at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Geneva,
Switzerland from September 2-3, 2019.
Key Points:
i. Indian delegation was led by Mrs. Shakuntala D. Gamlin, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities (DEPwD).
ii .UN Committee on CRPD took up India’s First Country Report for consideration.
iii. Secretary of DEPwD highlighted on enactment of the Comprehensive Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(RPWD) Act, 2016, launch of Accessible India Campaign, establishment of National Institute of Mental Health
Rehabilitation (NIMHR) , establishment of Centre for Disability Sports, achievements in distribution of aids and
assistive devices, etc while speaking in the different initiatives taken by the Indian Government.
India & UNCRPD
India is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It ratified
this Convention on 01-10-2007 in pursuance of Article 35 of the Convention. India submitted its First Country
Report on the Status of Disability in India in November 2015.
The first meeting of the Apex Committee for DefExpo 2020 held in New Delhi
On September 9, 2019, The first meeting of the Apex Committee for DefExpo 2020 was held in New Delhi. It
was chaired by the Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and it was also attended by Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath. 11th edition of DefExpo will be held for the first time in Lucknow, Uttar
Pradesh from February 05 – 08, 2020 with the theme ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.
Key Points:
i. DefExpo India 2020 Brochure was released during the meeting.
ii. An MoU was signed between the officials of the Ministry of Defence and Uttar Pradesh Government
highlighting the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders.
iii. Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Naik, Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral
Karambir Singh, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Subhash Chandra,
Secretary (Defence Finance) Smt Gargi Kaul, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D (research & development)
and Chairman, DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) Dr. G Satheesh Reddy and other senior
officials of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Chief Secretary of Government of Uttar Pradesh, and Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited – the nodal agency of the event had participated in the meeting.
About DefExpo 2020:
DefExpo is an exhibition conducted under the aegis of Ministry of Defence. It will showcase India’s Defence
manufacturing capabilities & world’s top defence manufacturing companies. It will highlight the logo
depicting ‘India – The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub
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AMER8 for the year 2019 held in Abu Dhabi

On September 10, 2019, The 8th Edition of Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER8) for the year 2019
was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and India was the co host along with UAE. It was held
alongside the 24th Edition of World Energy Congress (WEC). From the Indian side, it was attended by the
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Mr Dharmendra Pradhan who is on a 3 day visit to UAE.
Key Points:
i. Plenary sessions: AMER8 had 2 Plenary sessions which focussed on the role of new technologies for a more
competitive & productive world energy mix and advancing inclusive access to secure, affordable, and sustainable
energy services.
ii. Participants: There were 18 Asian Energy Ministers and 10 Heads of International Organisations who held
debates on Global Energy Security in the Age of Change and empower responsible growth in Asia and the
world.
iii. Discussions: Roundtable discussions were held on the outcomes of the 7th Edition of Asian Ministerial
Energy Roundtable (November 1-3, 2017) and 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial (April 10-12,
2018) held in Bangkok, Thailand and in New Delhi, India respectively.
iv. 17th Ministerial IEF: The findings from the AMER8 will help the 17th ministerial IEF scheduled to be held
in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on 17 April 2020 with Morocco and Nigeria as co-hosts.
v. AMER9: It is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in 2021.
vi. Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan is on a 3 nation visit to Saudi Arabia,
UAE and Qatar from 7-12 September 2019 where he will engage with his counterparts in oil & gas as well as steel
sector.
vii. 24th WEC: The 24th Edition of World Energy Congress (WEC) for 2019 was held from September 9-12,
2019 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE under the theme “Energy for Prosperity”. It is a
triennial event.
1st military conference for SCO member states held in New Delhi from sep12-13 2019
The first conference on military medicine for Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO) member countries was
organised in New Delhi from September 12-13, 2019 by the Indian Armed Forces under the aegis of
Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS). The aim of the conference was to share the best medicinal
practice and render medical support in military field and to overcome common challenges involved. Sri Lanka
and Nepal are the dialogue partners of this first military cooperation event hosted by India, under “SCO Defence
Cooperation Plan 2019-2020”, after India became SCO member state in 2017.
Key points
i. This conference had participation of senior military medical practitioners of SCO member countries after
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s invite to Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) of SCO countries.
ii. Events: Demonstration of the Rapid Action Medical Team was exhibited and also visit to the Army Research
and Referral Hospital was organised. The defence people will be trained in handling situations during disaster
management and improve patient safety.
About SCO:
♦ Headquarters-Beijing, China.
♦ Members- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
♦ Secretary General- Vladimir Norov.
♦ Formation- 15 June 2001
COP 14 of UNCCD held at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi
The 12-day, 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) was held at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India from
September 2-13, 2019 under the theme “Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities”. It was for the first time,
India had hosted the conference.
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i. It washosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of India and presided by
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate.
ii. It was jointly inaugurated by Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India,
and Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD.
iii. Aim: The objective of the COP 14, accompanied with fourteenth meeting of the Committee on Science and
Technology (CST 14) and eighteenth meeting of Committee to Review the Implementation of the Convention
(CRIC 18), was to discuss on various issues of land such as sustainable land management, reversing land
degradation, mitigating drought, halting desertification, addressing sand and dust storms, linkages with gender,
tenure, etc. and guide the Convention as global and national circumstances needs change.
iv. Logo: The logo of the COP 14 was launched by Mr. Prakash Javedkar, Minister of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change during World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) 2019 (Theme- “Let’s Grow the Future
Together”) celebrations on June 17, 2019 in New Delhi.
v. Participants: Nearly 9,000 participants from all over the world had participated in the event.
Delegates from 197 countries comprising of scientists and representatives of national and local governments,
global business leaders, Non governmental organizations, gender-based organisations, youth groups, journalists,
and faith and community groups had participated in the conference.
vi. COP14 hosted ‘thematic days’ that focused on the different areas of work of the Convention.
Core Agenda
Reversing land degradation and its outcomes while accelerating positive achievements for people and for
ecosystems with a view to deliver on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was the core agenda of the UNCCD
COP14.
Highlights of the official conference agenda
• People first: The health and well-being of 3.2 billion people was given importance.
• Security and Stability: Importance was given to the security and stability of natural resources.
• Turning plans into action: Evaluations were made on the drought initiatives to improve their
preparedness, management and response to drought.
• Enhancing resilience:Evaluations were made on the initiatives to transform and accelerate the recovery
of nature.
• Science at the service of nature:Evaluations were made on improvements that can be made to provide
better and actionable information for decision-makers and increase performance of the resources on
land.
• Pulling together on a global scale:Commitments and actions at large scales to support the resilience of
the environment and livelihoods were dealt.
• High level segment: Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the High Level Segment
(HLS) of UNCCD COP14 on September 9, 2019 in the presence of heads of the UN and other international
organizations, leaders of states and ministers from many countries.
Special events and the Rio Conventions Pavilion
• The side events featured case studies, actions or new knowledge that is related to the issues under
consideration at the Conference.
• The Rio Conventions Pavilion also took part at COP14, hosting “thematic days” that focused on the
different areas of work of the Convention and synergies among the Rio Conventions on climate change,
biodiversity and desertification.
• The events included a Youth Forum, a Gender Caucus, a Science Day, a Sand and Dust Storms Day, a
Business Day, a Local and Regional Governments Day, the GEF (Global Environment Facility) Day, the
Land for Life Day and a Drought Day.
India pledges to restore 50 lakh hectares of degraded land by 2030
With the provisions of New Delhi Declaration which was adopted at COP 14 UNCCD, India pledged to convert
degraded land of nearly 50 lakh hectares to fertile land in the next 10 years i.e by 2030.
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India takes over COP Presidency from China for the next two years till 2021
• Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change was elected as the COP
President for the next two years.
• India took over the COP Presidency from China for the next two years till 2021.
• India is one among the selected few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on
climate change, biodiversity and land.
Second day of COP14 seized deliberations on Science & Technology
• On the second day of the COP14 to UNCCD under the theme “Restore land, Sustain future”, a Committee
meeting on Science & Technology with a focus on adoption of the COP 14 agenda and organization of
work was held.
• Items resulting from the work programme of the Science-Policy Interface for the biennium 2018-19 were
discussed.
• 18th Meeting of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and key
discussions such as “Climate Co-Benefits of Programmes to Combat Land Degradation” were organized.
Shri CK Mishra, Secretary (MoEF&CC) chairs Open-Dialogue session on inclusion of activities of civil
society organizations
• The 4th day of COP14 was observed as “Science Day”. Shri CK Mishra, Secretary,(MoEF&CC) chaired an
Open-Dialogue session on inclusion of activities of civil society organizations within the official
programme of work of the Conference of the Parties (COP) at the UNCCD COP 14.
• To address migration driven by land degradation, 14 African countries launched the Initiative of
Sustainability, Stability and Security (3S) which aims at restoring land and creating green jobs for
migrants and vulnerable groups.
5th Day of COP14 reflected upon the importance of organic agriculture in combating land degradation
• The fifth day of the COP14 to UNCCD discussed on important matters concerning how to reverse land
degradation.
• The UNCCD, the World Future Council (WFC) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM – Organics International) pointed out the importance of agroecology and organic
agriculture in India.
• The India Pavilion discussed on Renewable Energy in India – towards sustainable energy transition &
combating Desertification- conducted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• The Rio Conventions Pavilion held a technical session on mapping of Sand and Dust Storms (SDS).
• An interactive session was also held by Committee of the Whole (COW): A working group set up by COPto
facilitate discussions on issues concerning land management.
Local and Regional Governments Day observed on Day 6 of the COP14
• “Local and Regional Governments Day” was observed on day 6 of COP 14 providing a platform for key
stakeholders to interact with global peers on matters concerning land degradation.
• Network for Certification and Conservation of Forest (NCCF) hosted a side event Panel Discussion on
“Certification of Natural Resources to Combat Desertification and Restoring Landscapes”.
• The global Youth Caucus on Desertification and Land convened its first official gathering in conjunction
with the UNCCD COP14.
Union Environment Minister holds bilateral meeting with China on Day 7 of COP14
• The Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change , Shri Prakash Javadekar held a bilateral
meeting with China. Both countries discussed in length and explored opportunities for bilateral
cooperation in the area of combating desertification within the framework of UNCCD.
• Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary UNCCD; Mr. L I Bijian, Minister of Chinese Embassy in India; Mr.
Ohn Win Union Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation of Myanmar
and Mr. Zhang Jianlong National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China, were amongst other
dignitaries present during the discussion.
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3 animal species in India are extinct due to desertification

• Researchers at UNCCD COP 14 informed that 3 species of animals – the Indian cheetah, pink-headed
duck, and the Great Indian Bustardhave become extinct due to desertification in India and many more
are on the verge of becoming extinct.
• The specimens have been reduced to less than 150.
• There is a database of more than 5.6 million specimens, collected from all over India and from the
neighbouring countries before independence.
• India also has a growing crisis of land degradation. More than 30% of its land area has been degraded
through deforestation, over-cultivation, soil erosion and depletion of wetlands.
Launch of UNCCD Drought toolbox
On the 10th day of UNCCD COP 14 under the theme of Drought, the UNCCD Drought toolbox was launched. It is
a sort of knowledge bank which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare
for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts.
• India Pavilion witnessed a panel discussion by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
on Agriscapes. Mr. Deepak Kumar Sinha, IGF, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Dr
VivekSaxena, Country Representative, IUCN India were among the panelists of the session.
• Important sessions on issues related to Land Degradation Neutrality, Sustainable Development Goals etc.
were also conducted.
PM Modi addresses COP 14 to UNCCD
On September 9, 2019, The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the High-Level Segment
Meeting of the COP14 to UNCCD in the presence of Mr.Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines; Ms. Amina Jane Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General United Nations; Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw,
Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change
(MoEF&CC); Shri Babul Supriyo, MoS, MoEF&CC and other dignitaries.
• India would raise its ambition of the total area that would be restored from its land degradation status,
from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectaresbetween 2019 and 2030.
• India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming unfit for cultivation. About 29% or
about 96.4 million hectares is considered degraded.
• India has a proposal to setup a global technical support institute for the member countries of the UNCCD
for their capacity building and support regarding the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting
Program.
• Prime Minister Modi exhorted UNCCD to include A Global Water Action Agenda which is central to the
Land Degradation Neutrality strategy and condemned the use of single-use plastic.
• PM Modi took India’s remote sensing and space technology to the world stage by mentioning it at the
COP14 to UNCCD.
Statistics on land
• India lost 31%, or 5.65 million hectares (mha), of grassland area in a decade. The total area under
grasslands reduced to 12.3 mha from 18 mha between 2005 and 2015.
• Grasslands in the Aravalli range in Rajasthan underwent severe degradation. Other states where land has
been severely destroyed include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujaratand Uttar Pradesh.
• India lost around 19% of its common lands. The area under common lands decreased to 73.02 mha from
around 90.5 mha between 2005 and 2015.
• Around 4.74 mha of grazing land was diverted as agricultural land.
• 29.11 mha of common land was diverted for croplands in the decade.
• Area under cropland saw nearly an 18% increase to 134.5 mha from 113.6 mha.
• Productivity of at least 26 mha of land has decreased and of this, close to 0.8 mha was grazing land and
5.9 mha common lands.
Launch of biggest tribal movement at ‘COP 14 UNCCD: TRIFED-GIZ’
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda launched the biggest Tribal movement to promote tribal
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enterprise through Bamboonomics for combating desertification and climate change at “The Indian Perspective
through Bamboonomics” session at ‘COP 14 UNCCD: TRIFED-GIZ’ organized at Greater Noida Expo.
Delhi Declaration adopted to combat land degradation
i. The outcome of the COP 14 of UNCCD was the ‘New Delhi Declaration’, which lays down measures to combat
desertification was released.
ii. It forms the future course of action.
iii. Delhi Declaration is an ambitious statement of global action by each country on how to achieve Land
Degradation Neutrality.
iv. A call was made for synergy between all three Rio Conventions- UNCCD, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
v. In Delhi Declaration, the parties expressed support for new initiatives aiming to improve human health and
well-being, the health of ecosystems and to advance peace and security.
vi. In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, country parties have agreed to make the
Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 a national target for
action.
vii. The 12 main points in the Delhi Declaration highlighted the following:
• Promoting projects to prevent land degradation at local, national and regional levels.
• Promote projects to prevent drought and erosion, and to make barren land cultivable.
• Plan to prevent drought, so that land degradation can be prevented.
• Creating green jobs by promoting technology and investment in collaboration with all stakeholders.
• Need to work towards preventing land degradation taking forward Paris Agreement.
• Implementing UN Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) program on behalf of all countries.
• To further programs initiated by African countries to prevent land degradation .
• Peace Forest Initiative benefits accepted. Appeal to work together to prevent land from becoming barren.
• Appeal to make local governments more accountable to prevent land degradation and make right to land
transparent.
• To make local governments more accountable for maintaining natural resources and ecosystem.
• COP-14 member countries appreciate India’s efforts.
• PM Modi’s efforts to achieve the major goal of land restoration and increase south-south cooperation
were praised.
About UNCCD
UNCCD was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and was ratified by 196 countries & European Union. India ratified
the UNCCD Convention on 17th December 1996. This convention can be called as “Mother convention” of the
other two Rio Conventions that emerged as a major outcome of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit viz. United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). UNCCD
is located in Bonn, Germany.
15th Indo-US Economic Summit 2019 under the aegis of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce- North
India Council (IACC-NIC) held in New Delhi
On September 13, 2019, 15th Indo-US (United States) Economic Summit 2019 organized by the Indo-
American Chamber of Commerce- North India Council (IACC- NIC) held in Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.
Defence minister Shri Rajnath Singh was the chief guest of the summit.
World Bank to provide Rs 3,000 crore aid for food parks
Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Rameswar Teli stated that the World Bank has
approved to sanction Rs 3,000 crore to grant mini and mega food parks across India, particularly in Northeast
so that processing of grains produced by farmers is done optimally, and help promote farmers’ income.
i. He also suggested India Inc to set up food processing units in India in which the element of subsidies go to an
extent of 75 %.
ii. In a bid to boost the food processing sector, the budget outlay will be increased to Rs 3,000 crore a year from
Rs 1,400 crore.
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iii. Nitin Puri, Yes Bank Senior President (Global Head Food and Agri Strategic Advisory and Research), Jagmohan
Singh, Frick India Managing Director and Mark Wallace , US(United States) Embassy official were present at the
summit.
First International Conference on Sustainability Education 2019 held at the India Habitat Centre in New
Delhi
The first of its kind International Conference on Sustainability Education (ICSE) 2019 was held at the India
Habitat Centre in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2019. It was jointly organised by Mobius Foundation, the
Climate Reality Project, India in partnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) New Delhi office.
Key Points:
i. It was attended by Dr Ram Boojh, Director Programmes, Former UNESCO and Environment Programme
Specialist; Pradip Burman, Chairman, Mobius Foundation among others.
ii. Conference looked into the ways to address the challenges of sustainable education, climate change education
and environmental education in the current course curriculum.
iii. The other partners of the conference were Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and Young Reporters for
the Environment (YRE).
Launch of Asia’s first environment school- WESc
i. Asia’s first environment school named World Environment School, Coorg (WESc) was launched on the
occasion. It is set up in Coorg, Karnataka.
ii. It will be operational from 2021 for grade 6 to 12 students and educate the next generation of environmental
leaders.
iii. It will create a nurturing environment, in which young people can unleash and realise their potential in
making a positive contribution to society and the nation.
About UNESCO:
♦ Headquarters: Paris, France
♦ Director General: Audrey Azoulay
16th Session of the Joint Economic Commission 2019 between India and BLEU held in New Delhi
On September 17, 2019, The 16th Session of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) 2019 between India &
Belgium -Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) was held in New Delhi with the aim to improve bilateral
economic and trade relations between the two countries
Key points:
i. The importance of JEC between India and BLEU was reiterated & both sides negotiate cooperation on a wide
range of issues of mutual interest, such as, transportation and logistics, renewable energy, aerospace and
satellites, audio and visual industry, agro and food processing industry, life sciences, ICT(Information and
communications technology), traditional medicine, Ayurveda and yoga, and tourism .
ii. The Session was co-chaired by Commerce Secretary ,Anup Wadhawan and Ms. Sylvie Lucas, Secretary General
of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg & was attended by various officials of External
Affairs Ministry, New & Renewable Energy, Information and Broadcasting and railways.
iii. JEC: This Sessions were established based on the agreement signed in 1990 in New Delhi. It organized every
other year in capital cities of the three countries alternatively and are the main vehicle for discussing economic
and commercial issues between India & BLEU.
iv. Trade report: The bilateral trade between India-Luxembourg was $ 161.98 million in 2018-19 & $ 17.2
billion between India-Belgium in 2018-19.
v. BLEU: It is an economic union between Belgium and Luxembourg, was created by a treaty, signed on 25 July
1921, despite a referendum against such a proposal, between Belgium and Luxembourg, and came into effect
upon ratification by the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies on 22 December 1922.
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35th Tri-Services Commanders Conference for 2019 held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

The 35th Tri-Services Commanders Conference for 2019 was held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan from September
18-20, 2019. It was held under the aegis of the Army Southern Command headquartered in Pune and was
hosted by Southern Army Commander Lieutenant-General SK Saini.
Key Points:
i. It focussed on joint planning and execution of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) scenarios.
ii. The three service commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force had participated in the annual conference and
many issues like coastal security, protection of island territories and vital installations in the southern and south-
western region were discussed.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Shri RK Singh inaugurated National Conclave on Energy Efficiency in
MSME sector in New Delhi
On September 23, 2019 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 long National
Conclave on Energy Efficiency in MSME sector in New Delhi. The conclave was organised by the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency (BEE). The ministers also inaugurated Exhibition on Energy Efficient Technologies for MSME sector.
Launch of Knowledge Management Portal “SIDHIEE”:
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.
MoU signed:
A Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed between Shri Surendra Nath Tripathi, Development
Commissioner of MSME and Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General,Bureau of Energy Efficiency on enhancement
of energy security in MSMEs.
i. The MoU will enhance cooperation in the field of energy mapping of MSMEs on pan India, development of
appropriate schemes etc.
Key points
i. The event saw participation from entrepreneurs, Industry Associations, technology and service providers,
sectoral energy experts and senior officials from the Government.
ii. The industrial energy demand in India has doubled in the last 5 years and is further expected to expand by
over 3 times between 2012 and 2040.
iii. The upcoming New Tariff Policy proposing DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) method for transfer of power
subsidies would incentivize consumers’ energy saving.
iv. The base of Indian MSME is considered one of the largest in the world after China. This MSME sector also
holds good strength in manufacturing services with well established value added supply chain.
v. BEE: so far BEE has implemented 50 energy efficient technologies on a pilot project basis and conducted
nationwide awareness and capacity building workshops/training programs including support to 40 MSME units
as per International Standards Organization(ISO)- 50001 standard.
About MSME:
Founded- 2006.
Minister of State(MoS)-Pratap Chandra Sarangi (constituency- Balasore, Odisha).
About BEE
Founded- 1 March 2002.
Agency responsible- Ministry of Power.
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16th Global SME Business Summit for 2019 held in New Delhi
The 16th Global SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) Business Summit for 2019 was held in New Delhi under
the theme “Making Indian MSMEs Globally Competitive” on September 24-25, 2019. The summit organized by
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) was
inaugurated by union minister for MSME and Road Transport & Highways Mr Nitin Gadkari in the presence of
Arun Kumar Panda, Secretary, MSME and others.
Key Points:
i. It was attended by more than 500 delegates from over 15 countries.
ii. The target of the government is to increase MSME’s share of 29% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to 50% in
the next 5 years and raise its export contribution from 49% to 60%.
iii. Rooftop solar plants will be provided to MSMEs with support from KfW, a German state-owned development
bank and government is engaged in talks with Asian Development Bank (ADB), KfW and World Bank for their
credit line.
iv. A new E-Commerce website ‘Bharat Mart’ will be launched to enable MSMEs to sell their products in the
domestic and international markets.
v. Workshops on Trade through E-Commerce Digitization, Country Sessions, Regional Sessions and B2B
(business-to-business) meetings were also held.
About CII:
♦ Founded: 1895
21st session of FAO-WHO Coordinating Committee of Asia for 2019 held in Panaji, Goa
The 21st session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Health
Organisation (WHO) Coordinating Committee of Asia for 2019 was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Goa-
Panaji, Goa from September 23-27, 2019. It was the second session of the Coordinating Committee in Asia,
organized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in collaboration with
the WHO and FAO of the United Nations (UN).
Key Points:
i. The aim of the session was to identify issues and explore best practices in food safety at primary production in
the region and delegates from 18 member countries participated in the session.
ii. The committee was initially elected in July 2015 and was re-elected in July 2017 by the Codex Alimentations
Commission (CAC).
7th World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) 2019 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra
A 3-day event of 7th World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) 2019 held at Hotel Grand Hyatt in Mumbai,
Maharashtra from 27- 29, September, 2019 with the theme “Prosperous Society: Stronger Society” to bring
together financially successful members in Hindu society such as such as traders, bankers, technocrats, investors,
industrialists to share business knowledge, expertise and resources with their fellow brethren.
Key points:
i. The event witnessed the keynote speeches of UP (Uttar Pradesh) Chief Minister Adityanath & and Maharashtra
chief minister,Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of forefront industry leaders including Piramal Group’s
chairman Ajay Piramal, and senior executives from Lockheed Martin US (United States), Tata Sons’ defence
business and Larsen & Toubro(L&T), Indian Space Research Organisation Chairperson AS Kiran Kumar, State
Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson Rajnish Kumar.
ii. More than 1000 delegates comprising business stalwarts and policy makers were present on this occasion.
iii. The WHEF journey began in 2012 in Hong Kong, followed by successful annual forums in Bangkok 2013, New
Delhi 2014, London 2015, Los Angeles 2016, Chicago 2018.
WHEF 2020 will be organized in The Hague, Netherlands.
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6th edition of MASCRADE for 2019 held in New Delhi

The 6th edition of International Conference Movement Against Smuggling and Counterfeit
Trade (MASCRADE) for 2019 was held at the Hyatt Regency, New Delhi on September 26-27, 2019 under the
theme “Containing Counterfeiting, Smuggling and Piracy: A Winning Strategy”. This annual flagship event
was organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (FICCI) Committee Against
Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying the Economy (CASCADE).
Key Points:
i. Release of report: A detailed report titled – Invisible Enemy – Impact of Smuggling on Indian Economy
and Employment 2019 was released. The study was commissioned by FICCI CASCADE and conducted by
Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI) for the first time in India.
ii. Findings of the report: It pointed out that
• Smuggling of goods in 5 sectors namely textiles, ready-made garments, cigarettes, machinery & parts and
consumer electronics prevented the addition of over 16 lakh jobs in India in 2017-18 and Indian
economy lost Rs 1.17 trillion.
• Of 16 lakh jobs, over 5 lakh jobs addition was directly impacted because of smuggling and over 11 lakh
jobs were lost because of backward linkage and multiplier effects of these industries.
• Smuggling and output loss to the domestic readymade garments industry increased to Rs 5,509 crore in
2017-18 from Rs 3,780 crore in 2015-16.
• Trade in smuggling, contraband, counterfeit and pirated goods has increased steadily in the last few years
and stood at 3% of global trade.
iii. Honour: During the event, the Best Performing Officers who have contributed to combat illegal activities
were felicitated.
iv. Members present: Mr Nityanand Rai, Hon’ble Minister of State, Home Affairs, Government of India; Mr
Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Minister of State, Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India; Mr Anil
Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE; Mr. P. K Das, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)
and others were present.
About FICCI:
♦ Established: 1927
4th South Asian Speakers’ Summit organised in Maldives

Two day 4th South Asian Speakers’ summit on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) was held in
Malé, Maldives from September 1-2, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the People’s
Majlis(single legislative body of the Maldives). The summit was attended by Secretary-General of the IPU, Martin
Chungong and senior lawmakers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, and Maldives.
Key points
i. Delegations: The Indian delegation was led by Om Birla, 17th Lok sabha speaker. Rajya Sabha’s Deputy
Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh was also part of it..
ii. Malé declaration rejects Pakistan’s Kashmir issue concerns: The Malé declaration ignored Pakistan
delegate Qasim Suri’s concern on bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into Union Territories(UT),
raised during the summit citing the reasons that the issue wasn’t part of the summit’s agenda.
iii. Summit agenda: The agenda for the summit was on equal pay, youth employment, nutrition, food security
and delivering the Paris agreement on climate change. The summit hold discussions on the themes
• ‘Promoting equality at work including equal remuneration and creating jobs for young people’.
• ‘Achieving SDGs 2 and 3 – Nutrition and food security as drivers of maternal, child and adolescent health
in the Asia-Pacific region’ and
• ‘Catalyzing the global agenda on climate change-overcoming challenges and utilizing opportunities to
strengthen the regional agenda for delivering on the Paris Agreement.
iv. Previous summit: The previous/3rd summit was held by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2018.
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India participates in 84th Edition of TIF 2019 in Greece

India participates in the 84th Edition of Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) for the year 2019
in Greece from 7-15 September 2019. Indian delegation was led by Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and
Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri and it was attended by officials of Indian Government from the Ministries of
Commerce and Industry, Electronics & Information Technology, and Tourism, and officers of Embassy of India in
Greece, International Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) and
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) & other prominent Indian entrepreneurs.
Key Points:
i. New India Pavilion: It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis
and the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Hardeep Singh Puri.
ii. India welcomed investments in different sectors.
iii. Exhibitors from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC),
Agricultural Produce Export Development Authority (APEDA), companies from the Micro Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) sector and tiles and ceramics industry and handicrafts from Rajasthan, Moradabad and
Jammu & Kashmir had also participated in the fair.
iv. The rank of India in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 is 52 amongst 129 countries in the list.
Commerce & industry minister attended the 7th RCEP ministerial meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand
from 8-10september 2019
Commerce & Industry and Railways minister Shri Piyush Goyal attended the 7th Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting of the 10members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)
countries and its 6 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners in Bangkok, Thailand from September 8-10, 2019.
Along with this meeting, he also attended the 16th ASEAN India Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting and the 7th
East Asia Economic Ministers Summit held at the same place.
Key points
i. Piyush Goyal held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Japan, Singapore, China, Indonesia, Australia, New
Zealand, Philippines, Thailand and Russia.
ii. Recently the 8th RCEP meeting was conducted in the month of August, one month ahead of the 7th RCEP
in Beijing, China and was attended by commerce secretary Dr. Anup Wadhawan
24th Edition of World Energy Congress for 2019 was held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, in Abu
Dhabi UAE
The 24th Edition of World Energy Congress (WEC) for 2019 was held from September 9-12, 2019 at the Abu
Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the
theme “Energy for Prosperity”. The triennial event is a global flagship event of World Energy Council. It was
held under the patronage of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. It provided a unique
platform for global energy leaders to explore new energy futures, critical innovation areas, and new strategies.
Key Points:
i. 24th WEC was aimed to bring together international energy stakeholders which included governments, private
and state corporations, academia and media.
ii. It witnessed over 250 star speakers, 50 ministers, 500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), 500 Media personnel.
From Indian side, Mr. Ravi Sehgal, Chairman, EEPC India & Mr. Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Ministry of
Power, Government of India, and Mr. Vivek Kumar Dewangan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power attended the
WEC.
iii. The 25th Edition of WEC will be held in Moscow, Russia in the year 2022.
iv. The 23rd Edition was held in Istanbul, Turkey in 2016.
About World Energy Council:
♦ Headquarters: London, UK
♦ Founded: July 11, 1924
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5 days long 63rd General Conference of IAEA held in Vienna, Austria

The 63rd Annual Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference was held
in Vienna, the capital of Austria with participation from 171 IAEA member states from September 16-20, 2019.
The conference is conducted to jointly discuss about the issues related to the IAEA’s work, budget and priorities.
Key points
i. Indian Delegation: The Indian delegation to the conference was led by Dr. K N Vyas, Chairman of the Atomic
Energy Commission(AEC) and Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy(DEA). Vyas talked about various
achievements made by the Indian government that formed part of support in the IAEA’s growth.
ii. NCG Vishwam Cancer Care Connect: The National Cancer Grid- Vishwam Cancer Care Connect (NCG-
Vishwam 3C), which is a global cancer care network, was launched by Vyas in Vienna. The NCG-Vishwam’s key
work is to integrate hospitals and relevant cancer care institutes from partner countries with the National Cancer
Grid (NCG) of India.
• As of now,10 countries namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan,
Jamaica, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Zambia have agreed to be a part of the NCG-Vishwam.
iii. Future plans: India currently has 21 power generation reactors under construction and planning, and has
plans for nuclear power capacity additions in these reactors of capacity 15,000 MWe.
iv. 11 new members of IAEA Board of Governors: 11 new countries have been elected to serve the 35 member
IAEA Board of Governors for the year 2019-2020. The 11 countries are Estonia, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Kuwait,
Mongolia, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, and Saudi Arabia.
About IAEA:
Founded- 1957.
Headquarters- Vienna, Austria.
Overview of EAM Dr S Jaishankar’s visit to Finland

The External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India, Dr S Jaishankar made an official visit to Finland from 19-21
September, 2019. It was his first visit to Finland, after assuming charge as EAM.
Key Points:
• He was received by Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland.
• He unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Helsinki, sculpted by Gautam Pal. It was gifted by the
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Government of India to the Government of Finland to
commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji.
• He also met the Indian community in Finland; Visited the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
and delivered a speech on “India and the World – Priorities of Indian Foreign Policy”.
Bilateral meetings
i. EAM met Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and held talks with them.
ii. He met his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and reviewed bilateral relationships between the countries.
iii. He visited the Finnish Parliament and met First Deputy Speaker Tuula Haatainen and held discussions on
gender equality and microfinance.
iv. He met the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament and held discussions on contemporary
developments in Asia.
About Finland:
♦ Finland is the new president of the European Union Council.
♦ Capital: Helsinki
♦ Currency: Euro
Overview of Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal 2 day visit to UAE (Sep 21 & 22, 2019)
The Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri.Piyush Goyal has made a two-day visit to UAE
(United Arab Emirates) from 21st – 22nd September 2019 for the meeting of the 7th India-UAE High Level Task
Force on Investment (HLTFI).
i. Piyush Goyal has unveiled the design of the India Pavilion for ‘Dubai Expo 2020’, in Dubai, UAE and hailed
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the recent tax measures as a leap towards making India a hub of investment. He also visited the site of the ‘Dubai
Expo 2020’ and took stock of the preparations.
ii. India will invest Rs 230 crore to build the India Pavilion at the World Expo 2020, of which Rs 200 crore will
be raised for construction, curation, interiors, maintenance and security from participation charges, publicity and
sponsorships
The Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri.Piyush Goyal has made a two-day visit to UAE
(United Arab Emirates) from 21st – 22nd September 2019 for the meeting of the 7th India-UAE High Level Task
Force on Investment (HLTFI).
Goyal addressed the 7th India-UAE high level task force on investment (HLTFI) meeting 2019
Piyush Goyal has co-chaired the 7th India-UAE High Level Task Force on Investment 2019 held in Abu
Dhabi, UAE with his highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Managing Director(MD) of Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority (ADIA) and Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi .
Key points:
i. Aim : The aim of the meeting is to review & maintain the significant progress made in enhancing bilateral trade
relations and investment between the two countries.
ii. Review: The meet reviewed and raised satisfaction on various achievements and areas of progress made by
the task force since its inception in the year 2012, including,
• Signing of a bilateral agreement for the promotion of investments and its protection, which is now being
renegotiated as a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
• The contribution of UAE to India’s strategic petroleum reserve,
• The participation of ADIA in India as the first foreign institutional investor (FII) in National Infrastructure
Investment Fund (NIIF).
• The better progress being made in addressing the stock of issue of UAE investment firms for the purpose
of the foreign investment limit in Indian listed companies.
iii. The two sides discussed the future cooperation in the areas of growth opportunities for Indian banks, asset
managers, private banks and technology companies at ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market). They also appreciated
the functioning of ‘UAE PLUS’ special desk & the ‘Fast Track Mechanism’, which was formed at the 6th HLTFI to
promote & resolve issues relating to UAE Investments into India.
iv. HLTFI: It was established in May 2012 as a key forum to promote economic ties between the UAE and India.
Goyal unveiled design of India Pavilion for World Expo 2020
Piyush Goyal has unveiled the design of the India Pavilion for ‘Dubai Expo 2020’, in Dubai, UAE and hailed
the recent tax measures as a leap towards making India a hub of investment. He also visited the site of the ‘Dubai
Expo 2020’ and took stock of the preparations.
Key points:
i. The expo will be hosted by Dubai Exhibition Centre, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) opening on
October 20, 2020 up to 10th April 2021 with the theme of connecting minds, creating the future with three sub
themes include Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.
ii. India Pavilion to be a Permanent Showcase for the Country in Dubai and is being constructed in the
‘Opportunity’ segment. It showcases the entertainment industry, the hospitality and tourism sector, cultural
diversity of India among others and will have stalls displaying Indian handlooms. It will also showcases
150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi being celebrated in 2019.
iii. This is in line with opportunity for economic activity and it provides India a path to achieve $5 trillion
economy by 2025.
India will invest Rs 230 crore in World Expo pavilion
India will invest Rs 230 crore to build the India Pavilion at the World Expo 2020, of which Rs 200 crore will be
raised for construction, curation, interiors, maintenance and security from participation charges, publicity and
sponsorships.
Key points:
i. In order to showcase India’s advances in space, pharmaceuticals, information technology, renewable energy
,telecom sectors & innovation in space, 27 focus sectors have been identified.
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ii. Background: For setting up of India’s pavilion on an extra-large plot (about one acre) in the World Expo,
which held once in 5 years, India and World Expo 2020 signed participants contract on 10th April 2018.
iii. National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd. (NBCC) of Delhi got the project to build the Pavilion &
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) will help the Government to prepare for Indian
presence at the Expo.
Goyal meets Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem Group Chairman & CEO, DP World, UAE
Piyush Goyal met Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman & CEO, DP World, UAE for boosting investment
in India’s logistics and infrastructure sector. He also held brief discussion with fund managers from the Indian
diaspora in UAE, to promote investment in India and strengthen economic relation between the two countries.
Overview of United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019 held at UN Headquarters in New York, United
States
The United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit 2019 was held in the General Assembly Hall of the UN
Headquarters in New York, United States on September 23, 2019.
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was conferred with the prestigious ‘Vaccine Hero’ award
2019 in recognition of the country’s outstanding success in vaccination
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with UN chief Antonio Guterres and other world leaders,
inaugurated the 50-kilowatt Gandhi Solar Park and Gandhi Peace Garden at the UN Headquarters,
New York. It is funded by India at a cost of 1 million dollars.
• Prime Minister Modi addressed the first-ever United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level
meeting on universal health coverage which was held under the theme “Universal Health Coverage:
Moving Together to Build a Healthier World” which is aimed to accelerate progress toward universal
health coverage (UHC)
The 74th edition of United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit 2019 was held in the General Assembly Hall
of the UN Headquarters in New York, United States on September 23, 2019. It was hosted/convened by the UN
Secretary-General António Guterres in order to meet the urgent need to address climate change; to achieve the
goals of the Paris Agreement and to galvanize action that can limit climate change to 2°C and even to 1.5°C. Luis
Alfonso de Alba was the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the 2019 Climate Action Summit.
The theme of this summit was “Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win”.
Key Points:
• The Climate Investment Platform (CIP) was officially announced which will seek to directly mobilize US$
1 trillion in clean energy investment by 2025 in 20 Least Developed Countries in its first year.
• The leaders across the globe were invited to the summit with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 45% over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.
• The Summit brought together governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other
international organizations to develop ambitious solutions.
• Indian delegation: Indian Prime Minister (PM) Mr Narendra Modi, Union Environment Minister, Shri
Prakash Javadekar, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar were among the
participants of the Indian delegation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Climate Action Summit 2019
Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi addressed the Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York, United
States. Following are the highlights
i. Success of the clean cooking gas initiative which positively impacted the lives of 150 million families,
particularly women and children was pointed.
PM launched Global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
• PM launched a global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) which aims to achieve the
objectives of expanding universal access to basic services and enable prosperity as enshrined in the
sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• He urged the member states to join it.
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• It will uphold the UN Agenda 2030 principle.

PM’s address at 1st UNGA
Prime Minister Modi addressed the first-ever United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level meeting on
universal health coverage which was held under the theme “Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to
Build a Healthier World” which is aimed to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC).
• PM spoke on the various initiatives taken by the government in India to improve the health sector.
• “Water Conservation Campaign” is targeted to solve the water crisis situation and approximately $50
billion will be spent to ensure water security.
• India has aimed to eradicate Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, ahead of the UN deadline of 2030 in its SDGs.
Vaccine Hero Award 2019
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was conferred with the prestigious ‘Vaccine Hero’ award
2019 in recognition of the country’s outstanding success in vaccination, especially for her role in
eliminating polio, cholera and various communicable diseases at a ceremony at the UN Headquarters in
New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
• She received the award from Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisations (GAVI) Board Chair Dr
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Other highlights
• Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old climate crusader, delivered a very powerful speech at the UN Climate
Action Summit 2019.
• The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25 in Santiago, Chile from
December 2-13, 2019.
Advisory committees
There were 3 key advisory committees namely Steering Committee, Climate Science Advisory Group and
Ambition Advisory Group.
• Steering Committee consisted of 25 members and it was chaired by the Special Envoy of the Secretary
General for the 2019 Climate Action Summit Mr. Luis Alfonso de Alba.
• The Climate Science Advisory Group was co-chaired by Mr. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-general of the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Ms. Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI) School of Advanced Studies (SAS), New Delhi.
• The Ambition Advisory Group was co-chaired by Ms. Laurence Tubiana, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
the European Climate Foundation and Mr. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Leader of the Global Climate & Energy
Practice at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Paris Agreement
• It is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed on 22 April 2016. It
was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) of
the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015.
• The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by
keeping a global temperature rise in this century below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and
to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
New Leadership Group for Industry Transition
• A new Leadership Group for Industry Transition was launched at the summit to guide the world’s
heaviest greenhouse gas emitting industries towards low-carbon economy.
• It is led by India and Sweden together with Argentina, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, South Korea and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as a group of companies.
• It is supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), Mission
Innovation, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and the European Climate Foundation (ECF) among
many others.
• It focuses on 3 central pillars- Public private collaboration, Industry commitment and Innovation &
technology exchange.
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UN 77 countries vow carbon neutrality by 2050: UN

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres notified that 77 countries vowed to achieve net zero carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. 70 countries announced they will either boost their national action
plans by 2020 or have started the process of doing so.
• The UN estimates that the world needs to increase its current efforts five-fold to contain climate change
to the levels dictated by science – a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 to avoid escalating
climate damage.
About United Nations:
♦ Founded: 1945
♦ Headquarters: New York City, US
50th Edition of WEF Annual Meeting for 2020 to be held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland
The 50th Edition of World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting for 2020 will be held in Davos-Klosters,
Switzerland from January 21-24, 2020. The Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh will be
attending the meeting as he has accepted the invitation of WEF president Borge Brende which was issued on
behalf of the Forum Board of Trustees.
About WEF:
♦ Motto: Committed to improving the state of the world
♦ Founded: January 1971
♦ Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference for 2019 held in Kampala, Uganda

The 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) for 2019 was held in Kampala, Uganda from
September 22- 29, 2019 under the theme ‘Adaption, engagement, and evolution of parliaments in a rapidly
changing Commonwealth’. It was organized by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Uganda
Branch and the Parliament of Uganda and hosted by the CPA President Designate (2018-2019), Rt Hon. Rebecca
Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.
Key Points:
i. Indian delegation: It was led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Other members were Dr Rajeev Bindal, Speaker
of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Mohd Ahmed Sharif, Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative
Council, P Sreeramakrishnan, Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly and Prem Chand Aggarwal, Speaker of
Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, Aparajita Sarangi, Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), Congress leader in Lok
Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Hanumanthaiah, MP (Rajya Sabha), Snehlata Shrivastava, Secretary General, Lok
Sabha, Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly and other Presiding Officers and Secretaries of State Legislatures.
ii. Workshops: 10 workshops were held on various subjects. Aparajita Sarangi, Lok Sabha MP, was the
Discussion Leader’ in a workshop on ‘Strategies to deal with Youth Unemployment’; Rajya Sabha member Roopa
Ganguly spoke as the ‘Lead Speaker’ in a workshop on ‘Fostering a Culture of Respect, Fairness and Dignity:
Sexual Harassment has no place in legislature’.
iii. Other Conferences and Meetings: The other conferences and meetings which were held are 37th CPA Small
Branches Conference; 6th triennial Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Conference; 64th CPA
General Assembly; meetings of the CPA Executive Committee; and the Society of Clerks at the Table (SOCATT)
meetings. It also held elections for the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), the
CPA Treasurer and the CPA Small Branches Chairperson for new three-year terms.
iv. India strongly opposed Pakistan’s propaganda on Kashmir.
About CPA:
♦ It was previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association.
♦ Chairperson: Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka
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INDEX
Rankings
J&K tops in coverage of iodised salt in the first Nutrition International’s survey 2019
The Country’s first of its kind survey named “India Iodine Survey 2018-19” to measure iodized salt coverage
conducted by Nutrition International in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),
Indian Coalition for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), and Kantar has reported that Jammu
and Kashmir (J&K) has topped the list of best performers in iodised salt coverage. J&K is followed by Nagaland
and Manipur in the second and third place respectively. Meanwhile the country’s third largest iodized salt
producer Tamil Nadu was reported to be the lowest iodised salt consuming state in the country.
Key points
i. Study report: 76.3% of Indian households consumed adequate iodized salt.The survey covered a total of
21,406 households in 29 States and 7 Union Territories in India and conducted from October 2018 till March
2019
ii. Top salt producers: Gujarat is the top salt producer of the country producing 71% of the nation’s salt and is
followed by Rajasthan (17%) and TamilNadu(11%) at second and third positions respectively.
Top 5 states Bottom 5 states

Jammu & Kashmir TamilNadu
Nagaland Andhra Pradesh
Manipur Rajasthan
Mizoram Odisha
Meghalaya Jharkhand
India is the fourth country in the world to export bulletproof jackets to over 100 countries
According to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India is the fourth country in the world to have its
own national standard on bulletproof jackets after the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, which
provides 360-degree protection.
i. The bulletproof jackets are being exported from India to more than 100 countries,including European nations.
ii. They are manufactured at 2 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) Medani and Ordnance factory at Avadi, Chennai
and private firms SNPP (Palwal), Starwire (Faridabad) in Haryana and MKU (originally incorporated as M Kumar
Udyog) in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
iii. The national standard for bulletproof jackets were framed by BIS after the directions issued by the Prime
Minister’s Office and the Niti Aayog (December 2018).
NITI Aayog releases School Education Quality Index (SEQI) 2019

A policy think tank of the Government of India (GoI) , NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming
India) has released its first edition of School Education Quality Index (SEQI) 2019 with the aim to evaluate
the performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector with the reference year
2016-17. West Bengal did not participate in the Niti Aayog exercise.
i. Overall performance for large and Small states & UT
• Large states category: As per the Index , Kerala has emerged at the top with 76.6 percent points in
overall performance in large states category in 2016-17. Uttar Pradesh ranked at the bottom with 36.4 %
points.
• Small states category: Among Small States , Manipur has claimed the top spot with 68.8% & Arunachal
Pradesh ranked at the bottom with 24.6 percent points.
• UT (Union Territory) category : In UTs list, Chandigarh got 1st place in the overall performance with
82.9 percent & Lakshadweep is at the bottom position with 31.9 %
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• A policy think tank of the Government of India (GoI) , NITI Aayog (National nstitution for
Transforming India) has released its first edition of School Education Quality Index (SEQI)
2019 with the aim to evaluate the performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school
education sector with the reference year 2016-17. West Bengal did not participate in the Niti Aayog
exercise.
• Key points:
i.The Index was released by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, in the presence of NITI Aayog
Member Dr Vinod Paul, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Mr Amitabh Kant and Ms Rina Ray, Secretary,
Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development and
representatives from the World Bank( WB) in New Delhi.
Ranking : In this index, the quality of school education of 20 larger states, 8 smaller states & 7
UT’s (Union Territory) has been ranked by a number between base year ( 2015-16) and Reference Year
(2016-17).
• Index Categories:
SEQI is based on 4 index categories, which includes
1. Overall performance for large and Small states & UT (Union Territory)
2.Incremental performance ranking for large and Small states & UT (Union Territory)
3.Learning Outcomes category
4.Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes category
• 1. Overall performance for large and Small states & UT
Large states category: As per the Index , Kerala has emerged at the top with 76.6 percent points in
overall performance in large states category in 2016-17. Uttar Pradesh ranked at the bottom with 36.4 %
points.
Small states category: Among Small States , Manipur has claimed the top spot with 68.8% & Arunachal
Pradesh ranked at the bottom with 24.6 percent points.
UT (Union Territory) category : In UTs list, Chandigarh got 1st place in the overall performance with
82.9 percent & Lakshadweep is at the bottom position with 31.9 %.
• The top three & bottom three states/UTs in the list are,
States/UTs Overall Performance Ranking (2016-17)
Large States 1. Kerala 18. Punjab
2. Rajasthan 19. Jammu & Kashmir
3. Karnataka 20. Uttar Pradesh
Small States 1. Manipur 6. Sikkim
2. Tripura 7. Meghalaya
3. Goa 8. Arunachal Pradesh
Union Territories 1. Chandigarh 4. Daman & Diu
2. Dadra and Nagar Haveli 5. Andaman & Nicobar Islands
3. Delhi 6. Lakshadweep
• 2. Incremental performance ranking for large and Small states & UT
Large States Category: Haryana showed high rates of improvement with increases of 18.5% points
between 2015-16 and 2016-17 followed by Assam(16.8 %), Uttar Pradesh(13.7%), Odisha(12.4%),
Gujarat (10.6 %).
Small states category: Meghalaya got first place in incremental performance ranking with gains of
14.1%, followed by Nagaland (13.5 %) and Goa (8.2 %).
UT (Union Territory) category: All seven UTs showed an improvement in their overall performance
score between 2015-16 and 2016-17. Daman & Diu stood 1st for the size of the increase, with gains of
16.5 %, followed by Dadra & Nagar Haveli (15 %) ,Puducherry (14.3 %) .
States/UTs Annual Incremental Performance (Between Base Year: 2015-16 and Reference Year: 2016-
17)
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Large States 1. Haryana 18. Jharkhand

2. Assam 19. Uttarakhand
3. Uttar Pradesh 20. Karnataka
Small States 1. Meghalaya 6. Sikkim
2. Nagaland 7. Mizoram
3. Goa 8. Arunachal Pradesh
Union 1. Daman & Diu 4. Lakshadweep
Territories 2. Dadra and Nagar Haveli 5. Chandigarh
3. Puducherry 6. Andaman & Nicobar Islands
• 3. Learning Outcomes category

Large states Category: Karnataka leads the Large States on the Outcomes category with a score of 81.9
% & Uttar Pradesh scores the lowest at 34.1 percent.
Top three larger states in this list are,
Rank State Name
1 Karnataka
2 Rajasthan
3 Andhra Pradesh
• Small states Category: Manipur received first score among the Small States on the Outcomes category,
with 82.1 percent. Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest score at 27.2 %.
Union Territory category: Chandigarh secured the best performing UT on the Outcomes category, with
a score of 88.4 %, while Lakshadweep ranks the lowest position with 28.9 % points.
• 4. Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes category
Large States category: Kerala (79%) leads the Large States in Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes
category , which accounts for about 30 percent of the overall score. It includes indicators related to
student and teacher attendance systems, availability of in-service teacher professional development,
school leadership, accountability, transparency in teacher recruitment and financial discipline.
Jharkhand has the lowest score of 21.0 % in this category.
Small states Category: Mizoram ranks first among Small States with a score of 47.5 % points, while
Arunachal Pradesh ranks last with a score of 18.3 % points.
Union Territory category: Chandigarh is the best-performing UT with a score of 69.5 percent, while
Dadra & Nagar Haveli received the lowest score of 33.5 percent.
• About SEQI : It is a platform through which NITI Aayog evaluates the performance of schools in a
particular state or UT and benchmarks them against other states.
Benefits: The index helps government understand the challenges that school education sector faces in
different states and UTs while also evaluating their strengths that can help solve problems in other states
with similar problems.
Data shared by states and UTs and was prepared with the help of World Bank (WB) and other technical
experts by Niti Aayog.
• About NITI Aayog:
Formed: 1 January 2015
Headquarters : Delhi
Chairperson : Narendra Modi,
Vice Chairperson : Rajiv Kumar,
CEO: Amitabh Kant
India ranks 9th on happiness index among 28 nations: Global Happiness Survey
As per the “Global Happiness Survey” conducted by market research firm Ipsos, India is
ranked 9th with 77% on happiness index among 28 global markets. The top determinants for Indians to stay
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happy are Personal safety and security, friends and feeling in control of life, good financial conditions and
physical well-being along with hobbies and interests.
i. There has been a 6% drop from 83% in 2018 to 77 per cent in 2019.
Top 8 Happiest countries in the world are as follows:
Country Percentage
Australia and Canada 86%
China 83%
Great Britain 82%
France 80%
United States 79%
Saudi Arabia and Germany 78%
Bottom 3 countries are:
Country Percentage
Argentina 34%
Spain 46%
Russia 47%
About Ipsos:
♦ Founded: 1975
India ranks 34th in 2019 world travel & tourism competitiveness index, Spain tops
According to the recent Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) for the year 2019 released by the
World Economic Forum(WEF) on September 4, 2019, India was ranked at the 34th spot, an improvement by 6
places from the 2017 report (40th rank). The index was topped by Spain followed by France and Germany in
the second and third places respectively. Index reports
i. Categorising: a total of 140 countries were ranked based on four sub-indexes. They are
• Infrastructure.
• Travel and Tourism policy enabling conditions
• Natural and cultural sources and
• Enabling environment.
ii. Japan ranked 4th overall, topped the list in the Asia-Pacific region for the most competitive travel and
tourism economy, whereas Pakistan which ranks 134th place overall, was ranked at 121st place in Asia Pacific
Region (South Asia) making it the least tourism competitive country.
iii. Yemen was ranked last in the index at 140th position.
iv. India still needs to improve in the enabling environment, tourist service infrastructure and environmental
sustainability as it ranks 98th, 109th and 128th respectively.
Overall ranking:
Rank Country
1 Spain
2 France
3 Germany
4 Japan (tops in Asia pacific Region)
34 India
121 Pakistan (least in South Asia region)
140 Yemen (overall lowest)
Category ranking of India:
Rank Category
39 Business environment
69 Travel & Tourism policy and enabling conditions
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55 Infrastructure
105 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) readiness
About WEF:
♦ Motto- Committed to improving the state of the world.
♦ Formed- January 1971.
♦ Headquarters- Cologny, Switzerland.
♦ Founder- Klaus Schwab.
India ranks 9th among the top 10 individual nations in gold reserves with US ranking 1st in the list
On September 4, 2019, the World Gold Council (WGC) released the 2019 list of gold reserves in each country. The
list was topped by United States(US) with gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany (3,366.8 tonnes)
at second place. India entered the top 10 list this year ranking at 10th spot surpassing Netherlands (612.5
tonnes) whereas it is ranked at 9th position in terms of individual countries with 618.2 tonnes, as the
International Monetary Fund(IMF) ranks third (2,451.8 tonnes) in the gold reserve list.
Key points
i. India’s previous report: In the previous report of 2018 India’s gold reserve stood at 607 tonnes and also it’s
gold reserve has grown from 357.8 tonnes in the first quarter of 2000 to 618.2 tonnes at present. India’s
neighbouring country Pakistan stood at 45th position (64.6 tonnes) in 2019 list.
Rankings:
Rank Country
1 United States
2 Germany
3 International Monetary Fund(IMF)
4 Italy
5 France
10 India (overall, including IMF)
9 India (individual country ranking, excluding IMF)
About WGC:
♦ Headquarters- United Kingdom(UK).
♦ Founded- 1987.
♦ Chief Executive Officer (CEO)- David Tait.
♦ President- David Harquail.
Mumbai ranks 5th and New Delhi 11th in the 2019 Knight Frank Co-Living Index across Asia-Pacific,
Beijing tops
On September 9, 2019, the Co-living index for the year 2019 titled “Insights on Co-living – An Asia-Pacific
Perspective” across the Asia-Pacific region was released by London based consultancy agency Knight Frank.
Among the Indian cities, Mumbai ranked at the 5th spot, New Delhi ranked at the 11th spot and the electronic
city of India, Bengaluru ranked at the 19th spot in the index. The index was topped by Beijing (China) followed
by Tokyo(Japan) and Shanghai(China) in the second and third position respectively.
Key points
i. Ranking factor: The index was made on 6 key attributes namely, Tech & Financial Hub, housing affordability,
University population, venture capital deals & growth, quality of life and general population & human
development index. It has covered twenty major Asia-Pacific cities.
Rankings:
Rank City
1 Beijing(China)
2 Tokyo (Japan)
3 Shanghai (China)
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5 Mumbai( Maharashtra, India)

11 New Delhi(Delhi, India)
19 Bengaluru (Karnataka, India)
About Knight Frank:
Founded- 1896.
Founder- John Knight, Howard Frank, William Rutley.
Headquarters- London, England.
Eritrea tops the list of 10 countries in press censorship by CPJ

On September 10, 2019, New York-based media watchdog “Committee to Protect Journalists” (CPJ)
released “10 Most Censored Countries list” that have high press censorship. The list was topped by East
African country Eritrea that shut all independent media in 2001and has only 1% of the country’s population in
internet penetration. The country was also labeled as “the worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa,” in the
report as it has jailed nearly 16 journalists in the country since December 2018. Eritrea is followed by North
Korea and Turkmenistan in the second and third place respectively.
Key points
i. Most of these countries were framed to have been jailing and harassing journalists and their families and also
engaging in digital monitoring and censorship of internet access. Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and receive news and express opinions.
ii. Press freedom is restricted to countries like Yemen, Syria, and Somalia but it is due to the fact of violent
conflict, insufficient infrastructure that are dangerous for the press.
Ranks:
Rank Country
1 Eritrea
2 North Korea
3 Turkmenistan
4 Saudi Arabia
5 China
India with 17.5million international migrants, tops country of origin of international migrants in 2019 by
UN’s ‘International Migrant Stock 2019’ report
On September 17, 2019 according to the report by the United Nations(UN) named ‘The International Migrant
Stock 2019’, India topped the country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with 17.5 million migrants
globally, making it the largest diaspora in the world. Currently the world’s migrant population stands at 272
million in 2019, according to the report which grew by 23% over a decade. Country wise, United States(US)
hosted large no. of international migrants at 51 million equaling 19% of the world’s total.
Key points
i. Report preparation: The International Migrant Stock 2019 report which provides latest estimates on
International Migrants by age, sex and origin globally based on population census, national surveys etc, was
prepared by population division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
ii. Report on India:
• India has 5.1million international migrants in 2019 which is 5.2 million less when compared to the
migration list of 2015 and the international migrants shared 0.4% of the total population in India steadily
from 2010-2019.
• High no. of international migrants in India were from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
• India accounted for 4% of international migrants in terms of refugees that stood at 207,000. Among the
international migrants in the nation, 48.8% were female. Median age of international migrants in the
country was 47.1 years.
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iii. General reports:

• Migrants account for 3.5% of the world’s population compared with 2.8 percent in the year 2000. The top
10 countries constituting high no of international migrants accounted for one-third of all international
migrants. Region wise, Europe hosted the largest number of international migrants of 82 million people.
• One out of every 7 international migrants were below the age of 20 years. Northern Africa and Western
Asia hosted 46% of the global number of refugees and asylum seekers.
• Half of international migrants reside in just 10 countries and The share of migrant women was highest in
Northern America (52%).
Leading country of origin of international migrants:
Rank Country leading with origin of international Host countries of large no. of
migrants international migrants
1 India United States(US)
2 Mexico Germany
3 China Saudi Arabia
4 Russia Russia
5 Syria United Kingdom
About United Nations:
Headquarters- New York City.
Secretary general-AntónioGuterres.
India ranks 44th in IMDs World Digital Competitiveness Rankings 2019

On September 26, 2019 according to the latest report of the International Institute for Management
Development’s (IMD) World Digital Competitiveness Rankings (WDCR) 2019, India has moved up by 4 places
from 48th rank in 2018 to rank at 44th position in 2019. The list was topped by United State (US) followed by
Singapore and Sweden in the second and third places respectively.
Key points
i. According to the report, India’s biggest improvement was in the technology sub-factor level, where it holds first
position in telecommunications investment.
ii. Other reports: The largest leap in the overall ranking was marked by China, moving from 30th to 22nd, and
Indonesia, from 62nd to 56th position.
iii. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) (8th) and the Republic of Korea (10th) were the two South
Asian nations that entered the top-10 list for the first time.
iv. About the ranking: The Ranking is done based on the measure in capacity and readiness of 63 nations in
adopting digital technology for economic transformation in terms of business, government etc.
v. Factors: The evaluation was done based on 3 factors they are knowledge, technology and future readiness.
Ranks:
Rank Country
1 United States
2 Singapore
3 Sweden
4 Denmark
5 Switzerland
44 India
About IMD:
♦ Established- 1990.
♦ Location- Switzerland.
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Gujarat again tops the second edition of perception based 2019 LEADS index
On September 11, 2019 the Commerce and industry minister Shri PiyushGoyal released a report on
the 2nd edition of perception-based index of mobility of goods and efficiency, the Logistics Ease Across Different
States (LEADS) index in New Delhi. The list is topped by Gujarat, followed by Punjab and Andhra Pradesh in the
second and third places respectively while among Union Territories, Chandigarh topped the list followed by
Delhi and Puducherry in the second and third place respectively. The index is developed by commerce and
industry ministry along with the company Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd (Deloitte).
Highlights:
i. LEADS purpose: To establish the performance of the logistics sector based on user and stakeholder
perception. The 2019 index widened its focus on domestic and International trade also.
ii. Indicators: The ranking was based on key indicators such as infrastructure, services, timelines, traceability,
competitiveness, security, operating environment and efficiency of regulation.
iii. Other states’ 2019 report: Himachal Pradesh ranked last in the index at 22nd spot.
iv. Previous index report: The top three ranking states in 2019 were ranked in the same position in its previous
index also.
v. Ranks:
Top 5 states Bottom five states Top 3 UT Top 3 hilly states
Gujarat Himachal Pradesh Chandigarh Tripura
Punjab Goa Delhi Sikkim
Andhra Pradesh Bihar Puducherry Arunachal Pradesh
Maharashtra Uttarakhand
Tamilnadu Jammu & Kashmir
The US becomes the world’s top oil exporter surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia
The International Energy Agency (IEA) notified that the United States (US) became the top oil exporter in the
world by overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia. In June 2019, crude exports grew above 3 million barrels per day
(bpd) in the US.
Key Points:
i. IEA has estimated the growth in global oil demand in 2019 at 1.1 million bpd and 1.3 million bpd for 2020.
ii. Non- Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production growth will grow to 2.3 million
bpd in 2020, up 400,000 from 2019.
iii. The demand for OPEC crude is set to reach 28.3 million bpd in the first half of 2020.
About IEA:
♦ Established: November 1974
According to a report published in the Lancet journal, India is ranked fourth in Global Malaria Cases in
2017
According to a report published in the Lancet journal, India is ranked fourth in Global Malaria Cases in 2017.
India has 4% of the cases worldwide behind the African countries Nigeria, Democratic Republic of
Congo and Mozambique.
Key Points:
i. Statistics: In 2017, there were 10 million malaria cases in India out of the 219 million cases of malaria
worldwide.
ii. Experts: The report was compiled by more than 40 experts including malariologists, biomedical scientists,
economists, and health policy experts, assimilating existing evidence with new epidemiological and financial
analyses.
iii. Estimation: New modelling techniques were used to estimate how prevalent and intense malaria could be in
2030 and 2050. Analysis indicated that socioeconomic and environmental trends will lead to low levels of
malaria that persist in pockets across roughly ten countries in equatorial Africa in 2050.
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iv. Elimination: India, eastern Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea will struggle to eliminate malaria by 2030
based on current trajectories.
v. Peculiar case of malaria in India: Authors noted that in 2017, 71% of the cases in Tamil Nadu occurred in
Chennai with a population of 7 million people.
vi. Reason: The reason for high urban incidence in India is due to the main malaria vector being Anopheles
stephensi which is particularly suited for Indian urban environments which provide breeding habitats with
water storage containers, wells, gutters, and construction sites. The lack of assistance for health expenditure,
forcing people to spend money out of their pockets are the other reasons. According to a 2017 report by the
World Health Organization (WHO), out-of-pocket spending should not be more than 20 per cent of total health
expenditure.
vii. Remedy: Strategies and interventions are needed to be framed beyond the typically deployed strategies in
rural settings for eliminating malaria transmission in urban settings. Improving municipal water supply
infrastructure, and reducing the need for rooftop water storage are priority interventions needed in India. The
report recommends driving down out-of-pocket spending, and reallocating these funds to prepaid social health
insurance schemes.
About the Lancet journal:
♦ Founded: 1823
♦ Editor-in-Chief: Richard Horton
Reports
SRB increased by 13 points in 4 years; Stood at 931 in 2018-19

Women and Child Development and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani notified that the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB)
increased by 13 points nationally since the implementation of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP)
programme from 918 in 2014-15 to 931 in 2018-19. These figures vary from the second Health Index Report
released by NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in June 2019 which showed decline in SRB
in 12 out of 21 states between 2013-15 and 2014-16.
Key Points:
• Reason for variance: The data compiled by the ministry was drawn from the Health Management
Information System (HMIS) updated by Anganwadi and Asha workers, which considers home deliveries
and births in government institutions only. It lacks information from private hospitals and institutions.
• Data of Niti Aayog: It is based on the National Family Health Survey-4. It collected the information from
household surveys too. As per the Aayog’s figures, based on sample registration data, in the 2014-2016
period, of the 21 large states, only 2 – Kerala and Chhattisgarh – had an SRB of above 950 girls per 1,000
boys.
• Improvement: Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were felicitated for
improvement in SRB at a function in New Delhi by the minister Smriti Irani. Kameng District of
Arunachal Pradesh has registered a sharp improvement in SRB from 807 in 2014-15 to 1039 in 2018-19.
In Mahendragarh district of Haryana, the SRB had risen to 916 from below 800 mark in 2001. Tiruvallur
District of Tamil Nadu recorded an impressive increase of 38 points in SRB from 925 to 963 in the last
one year.
• Awards: 10 districts selected for improvement in SRB- East Kameng (Arunachal Pradesh), Mahendragarh
and Bhiwani (Haryana), Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), Namakkal (Tamil Nadu), Jalgaon
(Maharashtra) Etawah (Uttar Pradesh), Raigarh (Chhattisgarh), Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) and Jodhpur
(Rajasthan) were also felicitated during the programme. 10 districts selected for good work in awareness
generation and outreach activities under BBBP were also felicitated- Tiruvallur (Tamil Nadu),
Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh) Kishtwar (J&K), Gadag (Karnataka),
Wokha (Nagaland), Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh), and Nagaur (Rajasthan).
About BBBP Scheme:
The BBBP scheme was launched on 22nd January, 2015. It is being implemented in 640 districts and all districts
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are covered through advocacy and media campaign. Out of these districts, 405 are covered under Multi-Sectoral
Intervention in which 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme grant is provided directly to the District
Magistrate/District Collector for BBBP.
India has seen an improvement in overall life expectancy at birth to 69 years: SRS 2013-17
According to the Sample Registration Survey (SRS) document named “SRS Based Abridged Life Tables,
2013-17” released by the Registrar General of India, the overall life expectancy at birth in India improved
to 69 years from 68.7 years in 2012-16.
Key Points:
• Men & Women life expectancy: As per SRS 2013-17, women are expected to live for 70.4 years and men
for 67.8 years. In 2012-16, the life expectancy for women was 70.2 years and for men, it was 67.4 years.
• Rural & urban life expectancy: Life expectancy for women was 73.70 years in urban centres and 69 in
rural areas and for men, it was 71.20 years and 66.40 years respectively.
• Difference: The variance was about 2.6 years in female-male life expectancy at birth at the national level.
The difference in life expectancy between urban and rural India decreased to 4.7 years in 2013-17 from
4.8 years in 2010-14.
• Highest difference in in female-male life expectancy: It was recorded at about 6.2 years
for Uttarakhand
• Reasons for improvement: Increase in life expectancy was mainly by improvements in sanitation,
housing, and education which led to a steady decline in mortality. Women enjoy a higher life expectancy
than men because they get more benefits from the advances in healthcare and living conditions.
• Global life expectancy: India’s life expectancy in 2013-17 was lower than the global life expectancy
of 72.6 years (2019) according to the United Nations’ ‘World Population Prospects’ report published in
June 2019. Global life expectancy is expected to increase to 77.1 years by 2050.
• Best chance of living: Delhi born males and Kerala-born females stood the best chance of living the
longest in the country, with life expectancy of 73.3 years and 77.8 years respectively at birth.
• Worst chance of living: Men born in Chhattisgarh and women born in Uttar Pradesh appeared to have
the worst odds, with life expectancy of 63.8 years and 65.60 years respectively at birth.
• Age wise overall life expectancy: At age 70, the overall life expectancy among men and women was the
highest in Punjab, at 14.2 years, and the lowest in Chhattisgarh, at nine years. Among those aged 80 and
more than 85 years, Uttarakhand recorded the highest life expectancy. Women at the retirement age of
60 years were more likely to survive than their male counterparts in all states and union territories
(UTs), barring Bihar and Jharkhand, with the highest life expectancy in Jammu & Kashmir-J&K (24.3
years), followed by Himachal Pradesh (22.3 years) and Kerala (21.9 years).
• Age wise difference: Among those aged 70 years, there was a difference of 1.1 years in life expectancy
between men and women at the national level, with J&K registering the highest difference of 3.1 years.
While women in J&K had the highest life expectancy of 16.8 years at age 70, those in Bihar had the lowest
life expectancy of 9.5 years. The comparative figures for men were the highest in Punjab, at 13.9 years,
and the lowest in Chhattisgarh at 8.1 years.
Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India
Works under: Ministry of Home Affairs
Registrar General & Census Commissioner: Shri Vivek Joshi
Open defecation decreased by 47 % between 2000 – 2017 in India: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring
Programme (JMP) report 2019
As per the WHO/UNICEF (World Health Organization/United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund)
Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, report 2019, “Progress on
drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2000-2017: Special focus on inequalities”, the open defecation
practices in India between 2000 and 2017 has decreased by 47 % & 43 % of Indian people have gained access
to basic sanitation facilities.
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Key points:
i. Development: The report highlights that one-third of the population of Nepal and Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, more than half of the population of Cambodia and Ethiopia, and nearly half of the population of India
have stopped open defecation practices since the year 2000.
ii. Global report: A total of 91 nations decreased open defecation by a total strength of 696 million people, with
Central and Southern Asia witnessing for three-quarters of this reduction from 2000-17. 2.1 billion people gained
access to at least basic services with Central and South Asia (807 million) and in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia
(698 million).
iii. Initiatives: The Indian Government has launched Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014 (by Prime
Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi) to achieve a clean and open defecation free India by October 2, 2019. It
consists of two sub-missions Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)-(SBM-G) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).The
Mission has got global recognition as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Washington, U.S) will give its Global
Gatekeeper Award 2019 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 24, 2019 his work under the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) Mission.
About WHO:
♦ Director-General: Tedros Adhanom
About UNICEF:
♦ Headquarters: New York, United States
♦ Executive Director: Henrietta H. Fore
Malnutrition among children reduced by two-thirds in 27 years, but 68.2 % of children under five years
are still malnourished in the country: Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
According to the report, “The burden of child and maternal malnutrition and trends in its indicators in the
states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017” published in a monthly journal of the Lancet
Child & Adolescent Health by India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Malnutrition Collaborators , two-
thirds of the children below 5 years deaths in 2017 (706,000 out of 1.04 million) in India are still attributable to
malnutrition.
Key points:
i. However, the deaths caused by malnutrition have shown a much smaller decrease to 68.2% in 2017 from
70.4% in 1991.
ii. The report found a difference in malnutrition-related disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rate of up to seven
times in different states. The top states witnessed death rates due to malnutrition are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar and Assam, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Nagaland, and Tripura.
iii. The highest proportion of malnutrition DALYs in children below 5 years in India in 2017 was from low birth
weight and short gestation followed by child growth failure.
iv. The joint initiative of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative undertaken by Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in
association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (GoI) along with experts and
stakeholders from over 100 Indian institutions, involving many leading health scientists and policy makers from
India.
Proposition of death in under five attributable to malnutrition:
S.No Category Boys Girls
1 child and maternal malnutrition 69.1% 67.3%.
2 low weight and premature birth 49.4 % 42.7 %
3 Stunting , wasting, underweight 19.1% 23.7%
4 vitamin A deficiency 4.97% 5.62%
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5 zinc deficiency 0.35% 0.48%

About malnutrition:
overnutrition
UNCTAD released a report titled ‘Digital Economy Report 2019’

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the first ever Digital Economy
Report (DER) titled “Digital Economy Report 2019 – Value Creation and Capture: Implications for
developing countries”. DER was formerly known as the Information Economy Report. It examines the scope
for value creation and capture in the digital economy by developing countries.
Highlights of DER 2019
Following are the highlights of the report:
Main components of the digital economy
The 3 main components of the digital economy as stated in the DER 2019 include:
• Core aspects: Core aspects or foundational aspects of the digital economy comprises of fundamental
innovations (semiconductors, processors), core technologies (computers, telecommunication devices)
and enabling infrastructures (Internet and telecoms networks).
• Digital and IT sectors: It includes key products or services that rely on core digital technologies,
including digital platforms, mobile applications and payment services.
• Digitalizing sectors: It includes those products where digital products and services are being
increasingly used e.g. for e-commerce.
Global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic
• Global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic has grown from about 100 gigabytes (GB) per day in 1992 to more
than 45,000 GB per second in 2017.
• By 2022, global IP traffic is projected to reach 150,700 GB per second.
Value in digital economy
• Estimates of the size of the digital economy range from 4.5% to 15.5% of the world’s GDP (Gross
Domestic Product).
• Regarding value added in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, the United
States and China together account for almost 40% of the world’s total.
• ICT sector is the largest in Taiwan Province of China, Ireland, and Malaysia.
• The global computer services industry is dominated by the United States.
• India has the largest share among developing countries in the computer services industry. Also, India
ranked fourth in terms of growth in the share of the ICT sector’s value-added in GDP between 2010 and
2017.
• In “Share of ICT services in total exports of services: Top 20 countries,
2017”, India ranked 2nd which is topped by Ireland. India is the largest developing-country exporter of
such services.
• In 2018, digitally deliverable service exports amounted to $2.9 trillion, or 50% of global services exports.
In the least developed countries (LDCs), such services accounted for an estimated 16% of total services
exports, and they more than tripled from 2005 to 2018.
• Google has nearly 90% of the market for Internet searches. Facebook accounts for two-thirds of the
global social media market and is the top social media platform in more than 90% of the world’s
economies.
• The global value of e-commerce is estimated by UNCTAD to have reached $29 trillion in 2017, which is
equivalent to 36% of GDP.
• The drivers of value creation in the digital economy include the digital platforms and the central role of
data and digital intelligence in the digital economy.
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• The three of the largest producers of telecommunication services are developing countries,
namely China, India and Brazil.
Factors for the rapid rise to dominance of the digital giants
Digital giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, WeChat etc have achieved strong market positions in certain areas.
The factors for the rapid rise to dominance include
• Network effects (i.e. the more users on the platform, the more valuable it becomes for everyone).
• The platforms’ ability to extract, control and analyse data.
• Once a platform begins to gain traction and starts offering different integrated services, the costs to users
of switching to an alternative service provider start to increase.
• Investment in research and development (R&D) and lobbying in domestic and international policy-
making circles.
• Strategic partnership between multinational enterprises (MNEs) in traditional sectors and global digital
platform corporations.
Recent trends in emerging Digital economy
Following are the recent trends in the digital economy:
• Blockchain technologies
• Three-dimensional (3D) printing (additive manufacturing)
• Internet of things (IoT)
• 5G mobile broadband
• Cloud computing
• Automation and robotics
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics
Top 10 countries (2017) in emerging E-commerce sales
Rank Country Total ecommerce sales (($ As a share of GDP
billion) (%)
1 United States 8883 46
2 Japan 2975 61
3 China 1931 16
4 Germany 1503 41
5 Republic of Korea 1290 84
6 United Kingdom 755 29
7 France 734 28
8 Canada 512 31
9 India 400 15
10 Italy 333 17
Estimated cross-border Business to Customer (B2C) sales: Top 10 merchandise exporters of 2017
Rank Country Cross border B2C sales ($ billion)
1 United States 102
2 China 79
3 United Kingdom 31
4 Japan 18
5 Germany 15
6 France 10
7 Canada 8
8 Italy 4
9 Republic of Korea 3
10 Netherlands 1
Other Highlights:
• Geographically, the development of the digital economy is highly uneven.
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• The digital era requires updating of competition and taxation policies.

• New policies at national and international levels are needed to build an inclusive digital economy.
• The United States and China account for 75% of all patents related to blockchain technologies, 50% of
global spending on the Internet of Things (IoT), and more than 75% of the world market for public cloud
computing.
• At the current scenario, the only mandatory rule on data localisation in India is by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) for payment systems. Other one is the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 which
consists of specific requirements on cross-border data transfers.
About UNCTAD:
♦ Established: 1964
♦ Secretary General: Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi
♦ Reports published by UNCTAD:
• Information and Economy Report/ DER
• World Economic Situation and Prospects Report
• Trade and Development Report
• World Investment Report
• The Least Developed Countries Report
• Technology and Innovation Report
• Commodities and Development Report
BUSINESS & ECONOMY

India will overtake China as the largest importer of coking coal by 2025
According to the report of Fitch Solutions Macro Research, India will overtake China as the largest importer of
coking coal by 2025. It has been estimated that India’s coking coal consumption will grow at an annual average
rate of 5.4% between 2019 and 2028, driven by an equally robust expansion in steel production.
Key Points:
i. China will remain dominant in terms of overall market share. But India will become increasingly important in
terms of seaborne demand.
ii. India is the largest importer of Australian coking coal. It saw a 25.8% year-on-year (YoY) increase in coking
coal imports from Australia in the second quarter of 2019.
iii. China is the second largest importer of Australian coking coal. It decreased imports by 8.8% YoY in the second
quarter of 2019.
iv. China will continue to account for roughly two-thirds of global coking coal production and consumption over
the coming years.
MeitY partners with Google to roll-out ‘Build for Digital India’ programme
On August 31, 2019, The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) has signed a statement
of intent with multinational technology company, Google for rolling out ‘Build for Digital India’ programme,
which will provide engineering students with a platform to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions
that deals with key social challenges.
Key points:
i. The program will look for college students’ bright ideas and solutions to focus on areas such as healthcare,
agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, women safety, smart mobility and transportation,
environment, accessibility and disability, and digital literacy.
ii. As part of the program, engineering students from different regions of the country can apply and join in a
learning journey that will help turn their bright ideas into real-world solutions.
iii. Participants will be provided online as well as offline learning opportunities on important new-age
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technologies like Machine Learning(ML), Android, Cloud and artificial intelligence(AI) available through the
Developer Student Club network of Google and other Google Developer networks.
iv. Mentorship sessions will also be offered by Google in product strategy, design, and technology to some of the
most potential products and prototypes.
About MeitY:
♦ Union Minister: Ravi Shankar Prasad
About Google:
♦ Founded: 4 September 1998
♦ Headquarters: California, U.S.
♦ CEO: Sundar Pichai
Sabka Vishwas – Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme operationalised from 1st September 2019
Sabka Vishwas legacy dispute resolution scheme for taxpayers announced by finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman in the 2019-20 union budget has started off with its operation from September 1, 2019, and will be
operational till December 31, 2019.
Key points
Aim: The scheme aims to free taxpayers in closing their pending disputes related to legacy Service Tax and
Central Excise cases which are now included under Goods and Service Tax(GST).
Two components: The two main components of the scheme are Dispute resolution and Amnesty (pardoning of
cancelling offence).
Dispute resolution:
It functions in Dissolving the legacy cases of Central Excise and Service Tax included in GST and taking legal
actions at various forums.
Amnesty:
This component gives the taxpayer an opportunity to pay the outstanding tax, avoiding any consequence under
the law and relieved considerably in certain features like the waiver of interest, penalty.
Relief facility: The taxpayer is relieved based on the following circumstances,
i.Pending cases: 70% relief from the duty demand if an amount less than or equal to Rs. 50 lakh whereas it is
50% if it is more than Rs. 50 lakh.
ii.Non pending cases: 60% relief of the confirmed duty amount for a sum less than or equal to Rs. 50 lakhs
whereas it is 40%, if the confirmed duty amount is more than Rs. 50 lakh.
iii.voluntary disclosure: The person availing the Scheme will only have to pay the full amount of disclosed duty.
Case type Amount range relief
Pending case Less than or equal to Rs. 50 lakhs. 70%
Pending case Greater than Rs. 50 lakh 50%
Non pending case Less than or equal to Rs. 50 lakh. 60%
Non pending case Greater than Rs. 50 lakh 40%
About legacy tax:
It is a tax levied on the privilege of passing title by will to property, especially personal property.
About income tax department:
Founded- 1860.
Minister responsible– Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
IIT-Kharagpur and Amazon Web Services collaborates to develop AI portal

On August 27, 2019, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) has partnered with e-commerce
giant Amazon’s subsidiary, Amazon Web Services (AWS) in developing National Artificial Intelligence
Resource Portal (NAIRP) to develop and promote Artificial Intelligence (AI) learning for all AI learners and
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Practitioners.
Key points
i. The NAIRP is powered by Amazon SageMaker (cloud machine learning platform) and is launched with initial
funds from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), as part of the National Digital Library of
India platform.
DBS lowers India’s FY20 GDP growth to 6.2%

The DBS bank (formerly Development Bank of Singapore Ltd) based in Singapore has reduced India’s GDP
to 6.2% from its previous forecast of 6.8%. The bank also expects for another GDP (Gross Domestic Product) rate
cut by 15-25 bps in the month of December. The DBS in its report “India: More policy support likely after weak
Q2 growth” stated that severe slowdown in India’s GDP lowered the trajectory for the year and is expected to
grow in FY21(Fiscal Year 2021).
About DBS bank:
♦ Founded-1968.
♦ Chairman- PeterSeah.
♦ Chief Executive Officer(CEO)-Piyush Gupta.
Reliance Power will give electricity to Bangladesh for next 22 years

On August 31, 2019, Bangladesh has signed a power project agreement to buy 718 megawatts(MW) of
electricity from India’s Anil Ambani led Reliance Power over the next 22 years. For which the company plans to
invest about $1 billion to set up a local plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj, over 20 km southeast of the capital
Dhaka, Bangladesh by 2022. It will be a combined cycle power plant, which will be set up in collaboration with
Japanese energy major JERA. Reliance Power will hold 51 per cent stake in the joint venture (JV) company while
JERA will hold 49 per cent stake.
Key points:
i. Bangladesh has signed an agreement with China earlier, under which renewable energy projects will be
prepared. These projects, to be built with an investment of $ 400 million, will generate 500 MW of power by
2023.
ii. Bangladesh currently has a power capacity of more than 20,000 MW. It is working to provide electricity to its
160 million population by 2020. Its energy sector has registered a growth of 12.5% in recent years. However,
Renewable Energy’s share in it is just 3%. It plans to boost this to 10% by 2022.
About Reliance Power:
♦ Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani
♦ Headquarters: Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
♦ Chairman: Anil Ambani
About Bangladesh:
♦ Capital: Dhaka
♦ Currency: Bangladeshi taka
♦ Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
Asia’s only 5th Generation VR based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre launched at Chennai
Rtn G Chandramohan, Rotary Governor, Rotary International District 3232 launched Asia’s first 5th Generation –
Virtual Reality (VR) based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre at the Automobile Association of
Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai, in the presence of T D Sadasivam, Chairman and other Executive
Committee members of AASI. It is aimed to reduce on-road fatalities and make Indian roads safer.
Key Points:
i. Under ‘Safe Drivers Campaign’, AASI will train 200 Ambulance drivers free of cost in the initial 6 months.
ii. The patented simulator was ideated, designed and developed by Chennai based Red Chariots Technologies Pvt
Ltd.
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iii. A team of 12 engineers developed the hardware and software which took them nearly 3 years to complete.
iv. The existing drivers can make use of this simulator at the nominal cost of Rs 100 for an 8-minute session.
About AASI:
♦ Headquarters: Chennai
♦ Vice chairman: Dr.M.S.Srinivasan
Ashok Leyland becomes the first OEM to meet BS-VI emission norms
Ashok Leyland, Indian automobile major headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu has become the 1st Indian
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to meet the Bharat Stage (BS ) VI emission standards for all its
heavy-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 16.2 tonnes and above.
Key points:
i. N Saravanan, Chief Technology Officer of Ashok Leyland got the certificates for compliance to BS-VI emission
standard from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), an autonomous body affiliated to the
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
ii. The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered that BS-IV vehicle will not be sold across the country from April 1, 2020.
iii. The difference between the current BS-IV and the upcoming BS-VI norms is the presence of sulfur in the fuel.
These emissions norms were prescribed by the central government to check pollutant levels emitted by vehicles
using combustion engines.
iv. Ashok Leyland was the 1st company to showcase Euro-VI trucks during Auto Expo 2016 held in New Delhi.
About Ashok Leyland:
♦ Parent organization: Hinduja Group
♦ Chairman: Dheeraj Hinduja.
CCEA approves ethanol price revision for supply to Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies
On September 3, 2019 the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, has approved revision of price of ethanol (ethyl alcohol) for the sugar season 2019-20 derived from
various raw materials under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme. The revision comes into effect from
1st December 2019 till 30th November 2020.
Key points
i. Cost revision:
• Ethanol from C type heavy molasses has been increased to Rs.43.75/litre from Rs.43.46/litre.
• Ethanol from B type heavy molasses has been increased to Rs.54.27/litre from Rs.52.43/litre.
• Ethanol price from sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup are to be fixed at Rs.59.48/litre.
• Goods and Service Tax(GST) and other Transportation charges will also be payable additionally and the
price rate are to be fixed by Oil Marketing Companies(OMC)
ii. Priority: Priority of ethanol by OMCs are to be given in the increasing order such as from sugarcane
juice/sugar/sugar syrup, then B heavy molasses, then C heavy molasses and finally to damaged food
grains/other sources.
iii. EBP availability: The programme which is extended across india except Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep
islands with effect from 1st April, 2019 is sold by OMCs blended 10% with petrol. The decision of implementing
differential price of ethanol by the government has increased the ethanol procurement by OMCs from 38crore
litre(2013-14) to 200crore litre in 2018-19.
About EBP:
The programme was launched in January 2003, to promote alternative and environment friendly fuels for
meeting the energy requirements. During its initial launch the OMCs were asked to supply 5% ethanol blended
Petrol.
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CBDT signed 26 advance pricing agreements (APA) during April – August 2019
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 26 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) of the
taxation issue in the first five months (April – August 2019) of the current financial year 2019-20.
Key points:
i. The number of such agreements entered by CBDT has reached 297. These include 32 bilateral APAs (BAPAs).
Of these, 26 APA so far the year 2019, one agreement has been reached with the UK(United Kingdom) on a
bilateral basis while the remaining 25 agreements have been unilateral. These agreements have been with
entities in information technology (IT), banking, semiconductor, power, pharmaceutical, hydrocarbon,
publishing, and automobiles sectors
ii. The multinational transactions covered under all these agreements include,
• Contract manufacturing
• Provision of software development services
• Back office engineering support service
• Provision of back office (ITeS) support services
• Provision of marketing support services
• Payment of royalty for use of technology and brand
• Trading and distribution
• Payment of charter charges
• Corporate guarantee
• Intra-group services
• Interest on financial instruments
iii. The agreements made with national and international companies to deal with the problem arising out of their
value transfer issues so as to avoid future tax disputes in a fair and transparent manner.
About CBDT:
♦ Formation: 1944
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi.
♦ Chairperson: Pramod Chander Mody
India’s FDI grew by 28% to $16.33 bn in Q1 FY 2019-20; Singapore emerged as the largest source
According to the official data from the Commerce and Industry Ministry, Government of India, the Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) into India grew by 28% to $16.33 billion in the first quarter (Q1)- April-June 2019-20.
FDI inflows in April-June of 2018-19 was $12.75 billion.
Key Points:
i. Maximum foreign inflows: Services Sector ($2.8 billion), computer software and hardware ($2.24 billion),
telecommunications ($4.22 billion), and trading ($1.13 billion) received the maximum foreign inflows during
April-June 2019-20.
ii. Sources: Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during April-June 2019-20 with $5.33
billion investment, followed by Mauritius ($4.67 billion), the United States ($1.45 billion), the Netherlands
($1.35 billion), and Japan ($472 million).
About Ministry of Commerce & Industry:
♦ Minister In-charge: Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha- Maharashtra)
CRISIL revises GDP growth of India to 6.3% FY2020

On September 4, 2019, Indian credit rating agency CRISIL (formerly Credit Rating Information Services of India
Limited) has reduced the India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth to 6.3% for FY20 (Fiscal Year 2020)
from its previous estimate of 6.9%. The lower GDP growth forecast states about the India’s deep economic
slowdown and is broad-based than suspected.
About CRISIL:
♦ Founded- 1987.
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♦ Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra.

♦ Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO)- Ashu Suyash.
New GDP series to align with global method unveiled by the Union Government
On September 6, 2019, Union government unveiled a linked back-series of India’s growth numbers from 1950-
51 to 2003-04, with 2011-12 as the base year with an aim to arrange the GDP (Gross Domestic Products) figures
from past years with the new internationally accepted methodology that facilitates comparisons.
Key Points:
i. When a new series of National Accounts Statistics is introduced with an updated base period, it is customary to
link the old series to the series on the new base period.
ii. Prior 2004-05, the GDP estimates were compiled by adopting the splicing method, retaining the same growth
rates of aggregates as in the old series.
iii. The current series uses the MCA-21 database that was stabilized after 2010-11. MCA-21, an e-Governance
initiative of Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), is a portal that allows electronic filings of various documents
under the Companies Act and that data is used in GDP estimates.
Under IBC, government plans to waive off the debts of small distressed borrowers
Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas notified that there are plans to waive off the debts of small
distressed borrowers using the ‘fresh start’ provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). It would
be for the most distressed individuals within the economically weaker section (EWS). The waiver will cost Rs
10,000 crore per annum.
Key Points:
i. Discussions are held by the government with the microfinance industry to select the criteria for the proposed
waiver for small distressed borrowers from the EWS.
ii. Criteria: There are various thresholds for ‘fresh start’ which includes the gross annual income of the debtor
does not exceed Rs 60,000. The aggregate value of the debtor’s assets should not be more than Rs 20,000 and
that the aggregate value of the qualifying debts does not exceed Rs 35,000. He should not own a dwelling unit,
irrespective of whether it is encumbered or not.
Niti Aayog selected McKinsey & Company to set up India’s first Digital Capability Centre in New Delho
National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog) has selected McKinsey & Company to set up India’s
first Digital Capability Centre (DCC) in New Delhi. McKinsey & Company supports 5 such centres globally- in
Aachen, Chicago, Singapore, Venice and Beijing.
Key Points:
i. The government will act as a facilitator to bring together industry, academia, and research on one platform by
forming DCC.
ii. DCC is a unique digital manufacturing learning centre offering company leaders and their workforces hands-
on experience and workshops in next-generation technology.
About McKinsey & Company:
♦ Founded: 1926
♦ Headquarters: New York City, US
IMF cuts India’s GDP growth to 7% from 7.3% for FY20

On September 13, 2019 the International Monetary Fund(IMF) has reduced the Gross Domestic Product(GDP)
growth rate of India to 7% from its previous estimate of 7.3% which is much weaker than expected by IMF. This
rate cut is attributed to uncertainty in corporate and environmental regulatory in some Non-Banking Financial
Companies (NBFC).
Key points
i. This economic growth rate is expected to rise to 7.2 % FY21, which is also a downgraded projected growth
rate of 7.5 in the earlier report.
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About IMF:
♦ Formed- 27 December 1945, after Brettonwood conference in 1994.
♦ Headquarters- Washington, D.C. (United States(US))
♦ Chief economist- Gita Gopinath.
♦ Director- Christine Lagarde
Overview of union minister of finance & corporate affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation on
measures to boost economic growth
On September 14, 2019, Union minister of finance & corporate affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman made another
presentation on the measures to boost economic growth. Earlier the announcements were made on August 23
and 30, 2019 regarding the series of measures to enhance economic growth of India.
i. Over Rs 70,000 crore package for the exports and real estate sectors was announced, including setting up of a
stressed asset fund.
ii. Inflation has been kept very much below the 4% mark.
iii. Buying new homes will become easier and more affordable in the country as Rs 10,000 crore special window
has been announced.
Launched schemes
Following are the measures launched by the Government recently and follow ups have been done:
• The E-assessment Scheme (Launched under section 143(3A) of the Income Tax Act 1961 notified on
12.09.2019)
• Document Identification Number (DIN) (Circular No.19/2019 issued on 14.08.2019)
• Compounding of Past Offences (Circular No. 25/2019 issued on 09.09.2019)
• Prosecution Easing Measures (Circular No. 24/2019 issued on 09.09.2019)
• Partial credit guarantee scheme for banks to buy assets of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) has
been implemented.
• Measures are being taken to improve credit outflows from banks.
• Transmission of interest rate cuts are being effected by banks
Measures to boost exports
Export promotion measures taken by the government in the last few years were highlighted in the presentation.
The new measures include the following:
Category: Incentives and Taxation
Extension of Reimbursement of Taxes & Duties for Export promotion scheme
• Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) will replace Merchandise Exports
from India Scheme (MEIS). It will come into effect from January 1, 2020.
• Existing dispensation in textiles of MEIS + old Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) will continue up to
31.12.2019
• Textiles and all other sectors which currently enjoy incentives upto 2% over MEIS will transit into
RODTEP from January 1, 2020.
• In effect, RODTEP will more than adequately incentivize exporters than existing schemes put together.
• Revenue foregone projected at up to Rs. 50,000 crores.
• The government is already providing Rs 40,000-45,000 crore refunds under existing schemes.
Fully automated electronic refund route for Input Tax Credits (ITC) in GST
• Fully electronic refund module (FORM GSAT RFD-01) for quick and automated refund of Input Tax
Credits(ITC) in Goods and Service Tax (GST) is near completion and will be implemented by the end of
September 2019.
• This is expected to monitor and speed up ITC refunds.
Category: Export Finance
Expanding scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) by ECGC
• Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) will expand the scope of Export Credit Insurance Scheme
(ECIS).
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• It will offer higher insurance cover to banks lending working capital for exports.
• Premium incidence for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be moderated suitably.
• It is expected that the initiative will cost about Rs 1700 crper annum.
• This will enable reduction in overall cost of export credit including interest rates, especially to MSMEs.
Revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Export Credit
• Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Export credit have been examined and enabling guidelines are
under consideration of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• This will release an additional Rs. 36,000 crores to Rs 68,000 crores as export credit under priority
sector.
Effective monitoring of Export Financing by Department of Commerce
• Data on Export Finance is regularly published by RBI.
• Export Finance will be actively monitored by an Inter Ministerial Working Group in Department of
Commerce, tracked through a dashboard, reviewed with institutions and active intervention will be
carried out.
Category: Export Facilitation
Leverage technology to reduce “Time to Export or Turn-around time”
• Technology will be further leveraged by timely completion of ongoing initiatives to further reduce “Time
to export” – through seamless process digitization of all export clearances (port/airport/customs, etc)
and elimination of offline/manual services.
• An action plan to reduce Time to export/turn-around time in airports and ports benchmarked to
international standards will be implemented by December 2019.
• Actual turnaround times will be published in real time for each port and airport to push them to improve
performance
• An Inter-Ministerial Group will be made accountable for this.
Annual mega shopping festivals
A mega shopping festival similar to the world-famous Dubai Shopping Festival, will be conducted at 4 places in
India in March 2020 on themes of gems and jewellery, handicraft/yoga/tourism, textiles and leather.
Category: Free Trade Agreements (FTA)
Special FTA Utilisation Mission
• FTA Utilisation Mission, headed by a Senior officer in the Department of Commerce, will be set up to work
exclusively with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and export houses and to utilise
concessional tariffs in each FTA.
• It will enhance awareness of preferential duty benefits among MSMEs, disseminate and facilitate
compliance requirements (Rules of Origin/ Certificate of Origin, etc.) under FTAs for importers and
exporters.
• It will set goals for FTA utilization and put in place an effective FTA monitoring system.
Online “Origin Management System”
• An Online “Origin Management System” for exporters to enable them to obtain Certificates of Origin –
CoO (under Rules of Origin) will be launched in the next few weeks by Directorate General of Foreign
Trade (DGFT) in collaboration with Exports Inspection Council (EIC).
• This is expected to significantly improve ease of doing business for exporters.
Category: Engineering
Time bound adoption of mandatory Technical Standards
• A Working Group on Standards will be set up in the Department of Commerce to work with industry to
lay down a roadmap for adoption of Standards, time lines and enforcement.
• This is expected to be a big boost in enabling Indian products overcome Non-tariff barriers in exports.
Affordable testing and certification infrastructure
• Affordable testing and certification infrastructure will be adequately expanded and developed in Public-
Private Partnership (PPP) mode to enable exporters to get all internationally accepted tests and
certification to be done within India.
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• This will reduce costs of adoption of standards and certification for Indian exporters to meet national
standards of FTA partners.
Category: Handicrafts
Enable handicrafts industry to effectively harness e-commerce for exports
• Special dispensation for facilitating and on-boarding handicrafts artisans and handicraft cooperatives
directly on e-commerce portals and enable seamless exports.
• Mass enrollment of artisans across India with help of M/o Textile and organisations like Tribal
Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), Cottage Industries Exposition
Ltd (CIE) etc.
Measures to Boost Housing Sector
Relaxation of ECB guidelines for Affordable Housing
• ECB- External Commercial Borrowing guidelines will be relaxed to facilitate financing of home buyers
who are eligible under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in consultation with RBI.
• This is in addition to the existing norms for ECB for affordable housing.
House Building Advance
• The interest rate on House Building Advance shall be lowered and linked with the 10 Year Government
Securities (G Sec) Yields.
• Government servants contribute to a major component of demand for houses. This will encourage more
government servants to buy new houses.
Special Window for affordable and middle income Housing
• A Special Window to provide last mile funding for housing projects which are non- NPA (Non Performing
Assets) and non-National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Projects and are Net worth positive in
affordable and middle income category to be set up.
• The objective is to focus on construction of unfinished units.
• Union government on the lines of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), can contribute to
the fund while the rest of the investors would be LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) and other
institutions and Private capital from banks / sovereign funds /development finance institutions (DFIs)
etc.
• The Fund shall be set up as a Category – II AIF trust and would be professionally run with experts from
Housing and Banking Sector.
• Stress fund of Rs 20,000 crorefor real estate: It will provide last-mile funding for housing projects that
are not in bankruptcy court or already tagged as bad debt and will benefit nearly 8.5 lakh home buyers.
• Fund size : 10,000 croreto be contributed by GOI and roughly the same amount from outside investors.
Commerce Minister PiyushGoyal launched digital platforms for origin certificate issuance and steel
import monitoring system (SIMS)
On September 16, 2019 the Commerce and industry minister Shri Piyush Goyal (also railway minister) and
Piyush Goyal and minister of State Hardeep Singh puri launched Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) for
obtaining steel import information by the govt and other stakeholders for efficient policy intervention. Piyush
also launched a Common digital platform for electronic Certificates of Origin (CoO) issuance. This platform will
act as a single access point for exporters, Free Trade Agreements(FTA)/ Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA)
and others.
Key points
i. SIMS registration: Importers of specified steel products can register in advance not earlier than the 60th day
and not later than the 15th day before arrival of import consignment in SIMS web portal. The registration
number granted will remain for 75 days.
ii. CoO registration: Exporters can register on the platform and apply for CoOs to any of the designated
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agencies. India has 15 FTA/PTA with various partner countries.

About Ministry of Commerce and Industry:
♦ Minister of state(MoS)- SomParkash (constituency- Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha Constituency, Punjab)
♦ Consituency of PiyushGoyal- Maharashtra.
Govt waives 3-year lock-in period on NRI investments in IDF bonds

On September 17, 2019, In order to boost foreign investment in the infrastructure sector, waived off the 3-year
lock-in period for investments made by Non-Resident Indians(NRI) in Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs), as
notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Key points
• To enhance infrastructure project flows of long term debt, tax law amendments were made in 2011 to
provide an income tax exemption to IDFs.
• Tax rate for foreign companies: To attract offshore investments in IDFs which act as long term debt
accelerators, any non-resident or foreign companies that receives interest amount, is charged at a
reduced tax rate of 5%.
• 3-year lock in period guidelines: Transferring Rupee denominated bonds of IDF by an NRI to another
NRI outside India, are not considered as transfers for capital gain purpose and no capital gain tax is
charged on such transfers. These benefits will be available only when IDF is set up under prescribed
guidelines and fulfill certain conditions. One of such conditions is an investment made by an NRI in bonds
should be subjected to a 3-year lock-in period except where the transfer is made to another non-resident.
Thus, NRI investors can now transfer IDF bonds freely.
• Govt. investment plan: Recently the govt has planned to invest Rs 100 lakh crore in the infrastructure
sector by 2024-2025 with the task force headed by economic affairs secretary Shri Atanu Chakraborty.
• IDF: They are investment pools sponsored by commercial banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies
(NBFC) in India where domestic and overseas investors, especially pension and insurance funds can
invest through bonds issued by IDF.
About CBDT:
Formation- 1944.
Chairperson- Pramod Chandra Mody.
An Allotment Agreement signed between Ministry of Coal and WBPDCL regarding world’s second-largest
Deocha Pachami Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal block
On September 16, 2019, Ministry of Coal and West Bengal Power Development Corporation
Limited (WBPDCL) signed an allotment agreement regarding the Deocha Pachami Dewanganj-Harinsingha
coal block which is the world’s second-largest coal block.
Key Points:
i. It was signed by Shri Ram Shiromani Saroj, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Shri Amit Bhattacharyya,
Director (Regulatory Affairs), WBPDCL, in presence of Shri Sumanta Chadhuri, Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Dr.
P.B. Salim, Chairman/Managing Director, WBPDCL.
ii. In accordance with the provisions of the Coal Block Allocation Rules, 2017, made under the Mines and
Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act, 1957, the WBPDCL has been allocated the Deocha Pachami
Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal block located in West Bengal containing an area of 12.28 sq. km. with estimated
reserves of 2102 Million Tonnes for generation of power.
iii. The coal block, which can supply coal for the next 100 years, will require investments ranging from Rs
12,000-15,000 crore over a period of time.
iv. It will take nearly 5 years to start commercial production.
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Overview of Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019

On September 20, 2019, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitaraman in a Press
Conference in Goa notified that Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 was introduced to make certain
amendments in the Income-tax Act 1961 and the Finance (No. 2) Act 2019. The new tax rate will be applicable
from the current fiscal which began on April 1.The features of the ordinance are as follows:
Total revenue foregone
The total revenue foregone for the reduction in corporate tax rate and other relief was estimated at Rs. 1,45,000
crore.
Corporate tax rates slashed to 22% for domestic companies
• A new provision was inserted in the Income-tax Act with effect from FY 2019-20 in order to encourage
growth and investments.
• The new provision gives any domestic company an option to pay income-tax at the rate of 22% from
earlier 30% subject to the condition that they will not avail any exemption/incentive.
• The effective tax rate will be 25.17% inclusive of surcharge & cess.
• They are not required to pay Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT).
15% income tax rate for new domestic manufacturing companies
• A new provision was inserted in the Income-tax Act with effect from FY 2019-20 to attract fresh
investments in manufacturing companies and boost ‘Make-in-India’ initiative.
• Any new domestic company incorporated on or after October 1, 2019 making fresh investment in
manufacturing was given an option to pay income-tax at the rate of 15% from earlier 25%.
• It is available to the companies which do not avail any exemption/incentive and commence their
production on or before March 31, 2023.
• The effective tax rate for these companies will be 17.01% inclusive of surcharge & cess.
• They are not required to pay Minimum Alternate Tax.
Tax at the pre-amended rate
• A company which does not opt for the concessional tax regime and avails the tax exemption/incentive
shall continue to pay tax at the pre-amended rate.
• They can opt for the concessional tax regime after expiry of their tax holiday/exemption period.
• After the exercise of the option they shall be liable to pay tax at the rate of 22% and option once
exercised cannot be subsequently withdrawn.
• In order to provide relief to companies which continue to avail exemptions/incentives, the rate of
Minimum Alternate Tax was reduced from existing 18.5% to 15%.
Non-applicability of enhanced surcharge on capital gains
• The enhanced surcharge introduced by the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 will not apply on capital gains
arising on sale of equity share in a company or a unit of an equity oriented fund or a unit of a business
trust liable for Securities Transaction Tax (STT), in the hands of an individual, Hindu Undivided Family
(HUF), Association of Persons (AOP), Body of Individuals (BOI) and Artificial Juridical Person (AJP).
• It shall also not apply to capital gains arising on sale of any security including derivatives, in the hands of
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).
Tax on buy-back of shares
In order to provide relief to listed companies which have already made a public announcement of buy-back
before July 5, 2019, tax on buy-back of shares for such companies will not be charged.
Expansion of the scope of CSR 2% spending
• Scope of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) 2% fund has been expanded.
• It can be spent on incubators funded by Central or State Government or any agency or Public Sector
Undertaking (PSU) of Central or State Government, and make contributions to public funded Universities,
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Laboratories and Autonomous Bodies (established under
the auspices of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Science & Technology ( DST) , Ministry
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of Electronics and Information Technology) engaged in conducting research in science, technology,

engineering and medicine aimed at promoting Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).
OECD lowers India’s economic growth forecast for 2019-20 to 5.9% from 7.2%
On September 20, 2019, As per the intergovernmental economic organisation, OECD (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development ) latest “Interim Economic Outlook” with title “Warning: Low
Growth Ahead”, India’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth expected to grow by 5.9 per cent for 2019 (FY-
Fiscal Year 2020) and 6.3 % in 2020 (FY21).
Key points:
i. Scaling down: It cut its forecast for FY20 to 5.9 % by 1.3 percentage points & for FY21 to 6.3 % by 1.1
percentage points ( which is higher than projected for china-5.7%) due to a broad-based slowdown in
consumption and investment demand in India.
ii. Global Growth: OECD also predicted the global growth to 2.9 percent for 2019 & 3 % growth for the 2020 due
to trade war between the US (United States) and China that affects global growth momentum toward the low
point last seen during the financial crisis.
iii. India is one of the 7 nations whose economic growth projections are slashed down by the OECD by more than
0.6 % points. The other countries are Argentina, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Australia.
iv. Other ratings: For FY 20,The World Bank (WB) projected India’s GDP growth rate remained at 7.5%,IMF
(International Monetary Fund) -7%, ADB(Asian Development Bank)-7%, Economic Survey of the finance
ministry -7%, Reserve BankIndia(RBI)-6.9%.
About OECD:
♦ Secretary-General: José Ángel Gurría
32 FMCG companies launched “Karo Sambhav”-packaging waste management venture aims to mobilise
Rs.1000 cr
On September 18, 2019, To address the growing concern of plastic wastes 32 leading Fast-Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCG) companies like Coca-Cola India, PepsiCo India, and Bislerietc are to jointly launch first-of-its-kind
packaging waste management venture named Karo Sambhav in the country that aims to create an ecosystem for
post-consumer packaging collections and optimization of material recycling processes.
Karosambhav developed by Packaging Association for a Clean Environment (PACE), an industrial body, over the
past year, also ensures no recyclable packaging material end up in landfills by 2025 by mobilising and converging
assets and resources of over Rs. 1,000 crores.
Key points
i. Lead: The setup of this venture is to be led by Pranshu Singhal who will be responsible in creating
partnerships with stakeholders and others for developing India-wide ecosystem for plastic waste management.
ii. Committed companies: Other leading companies committed in this venture are Diageo, Parle Agro,
Manjushree, Reliance Industries, SC Johnson, Varun Beverages Ltd , Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd etc.
iii. Plans: these FMCG companies have decided to set up collection systems with 125 material recovery systems
that would 2500 aggregators for the next three years
iv. The FMCG companies states that it recycles nearly 90% Polyethylene terephthalate(PET) bottles and
has alsobeen pushing for the 200ml bottles out of the likely to be banned products.
Overview of the 37th GST Council meeting for 2019 held in Panaji, Goa
The 37th Good and Service Tax (GST) Council Meeting under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate
Affairs Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman was held in Panaji, Goa on September 20, 2019. It was attended by
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Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Thakur, Chief Minister of Goa Shri Pramod
Sawant, Finance Ministers of States & Union territories (UTs) and senior officers of the Ministry of Finance.
Decisions in respect to rates related to goods
The council took the various decisions in respect to rates related to goods which will be effective from October 1,
2019.
Reduction in GST rates
Goods Original Reduced
Rate rate (new)
Parts of Slide Fasteners 18% 12%
Marine Fuel 0.5% (FO) 18% 5%
Wet Grinders(consisting of stone as a grinder) 12% 5%
Dried tamarind & Plates and cups made up of leaves/ flowers/bark 5% Nil
Cut and polished semi- precious stones 3% 0.25%
Specified goods for petroleum operations undertaken under Hydrocarbon 5%
Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP)
Exemptions from GST/ IGST
The following was exempted from GST/ Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST):
• Imports of specified defence goods not being manufactured indigenously (upto 2024).
• Supply of goods and services to FIFA (International Federation of Association Football ) and other
specified persons for organizing the Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup 2020 in India.
• Supply of goods and services to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for specified projects in India.
Increase in GST rates
Goods Original Increased
Rate rate (new)
Goods falling under chapter 86 of tariff like railway wagons, 5% 12%
coaches, rolling stock (without refund of accumulated ITC-Indian
Tariff Code)
Caffeinated Beverages 18% 28% + 12%
compensation
cess
Measures for Export Promotion
Exemption was given from GST/IGST:
i. At the time of import on Silver/Platinum by specified nominated agencies.
ii. Supply of Silver/Platinum by specified nominated agency to exporters for exports of Jewellery.
iii. Inclusion of Diamond India Limited (DIL) in the list of nominated agencies eligible for IGST exemption on
imports of Gold/ Silver/Platinum so as to supply at Nil GST to Jewellery exporters.
iv. A uniform GST rate of 12% on Polypropylene/Polyethylene Woven and Non- Woven Bags and sacks, whether
or not laminated, of a kind used for packing of goods (from present rates of 5%/12%/18%).
GST concession in certain cases for specific period
• Exemption to Fishmeal for the period 01.07.17 to 30.09.19. Any tax collected for this period shall be
required to be deposited.
• 12% GST during the period 1.07.2017 to 31.12.2018, on pulley, wheels and other parts (falling under
Heading 8483) and used as parts of agricultural machinery.
• Passenger vehicles of engine capacity 1500 cc in case of diesel, 1200 cc in case of petrol & length not
exceeding 4000mm designed for carrying upto 9 persons attract compensation cess of 1% for petrol and
3% for diesel vehicle.
• Council recommended same compensation cess rate for vehicles having these specifications (length and
engine capacity) but designed for carrying more than 10 persons but upto 13 persons. (Presently these
vehicles attract compensation cess at the rate of 15%).
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• It recommended lower 12% cess on 1,500 cc diesel, 1,200 cc petrol vehicles with capacity to carry up to
13 people.
Other miscellaneous changes
• Aerated drink manufacturers shall be excluded from composition scheme.
• Option to pay GST at the rate of 18% on transaction value at the time of disposal of specified goods for
petroleum operations (on which concessional GST rate of 5% was paid at the time of original supply)
provided that the goods are to be certified by Director General Hydrocarbon (DGH) as non-serviceable.
• Restriction on refund of compensation cess on tobacco products.
• It Prescribed modalities for allowing concessions on spare parts imported temporarily by foreign airlines
for repair of their aircraft, while in India in transit in terms of the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation.
• Certain other changes of technical nature for the sake of clarity in application of notification were made.
Clarifications as regards applicability of GST rate in respect of certain goods recommended by GST
Council which inter-alia includes
• Mere heating of leguminous vegetables (gram/lentil) for removing moisture, or to soften and puff it or
removing the skin, and not subjecting to any other processing or addition of any other ingredients (salt,
oil etc.) would be classified under HS code 0713.
• All “mechanical sprayers” falling under HS Code 8424 would attract 12% GST.
• Parts like Solar Evacuation tubes for solar power based devices like solar water heater, solar steam
generation systems, would be eligible to 5% GST rate.
• Exclusive parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with a medical device (falling under
heading 9018, 9019, 9021 or 9022) would fall in respective headings and attract GST at the concessional
rate of 12%.
• Almond milk is classifiable under HS code 22029990 and attracts GST rate of 18%.
• Imported stores for Navy would be entitled to exemption from IGST.
Decisions in respect to rates related to services
The council took the various decisions in respect to rates related to services which will be effective from October
1, 2019.
Rate reduction sector wise:
Hospitality and tourism:
i. Reduced rate of GST on hotel accommodation service is as follows:
Transaction Value per Unit (Rs) per day GST
Rs 1000 and less Nil
Rs 1001 to Rs 7500 12%
Rs 7501 and more 18% (28% till now)
ii. The GST rate on outdoor catering services other than in premises having daily tariff of unit of accommodation
of Rs 7501 was reduced from present 18% with ITC to 5% without ITC. It is made mandatory for all kinds of
catering.
iii. Catering in premises with daily tariff of unit of accommodation is Rs 7501 and above will remain at 18% with
ITC.
Job work service
• On supply of job work services in relation to diamonds, GST rate was reduced from 5% to 1.5%
• On supply of machine job work such as in engineering industry, GST rate was reduced from 18% to 12%,
except supply of job work in relation to bus body building which would remain at 18%.
Sector wise exemption
Warehousing
Exemption was given to prospectively services by way of storage or warehousing of cereals, pulses, fruits, nuts
and vegetables, spices, copra, sugarcane, jaggery, raw vegetable fibres such as cotton, flax, jute etc., indigo,
unmanufactured tobacco, betel leaves, tendu leaves, rice, coffee and tea.
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Transportation
The validity of conditional exemption of GST on export freight by air or sea was increased by another year, i.e. till
30.09.2020.
Insurance
• Exemption was given to Bangla Shashya Bima Yojana (BSB) crop insurance scheme of West Bengal
Government.
• Exemption of the services of life insurance business provided or agreed to be provided by the Central
Armed Paramilitary Forces (under Ministry of Home Affairs) Group Insurance Funds to their members
under the respective Group Insurance Schemes of these Central Armed Paramilitary forces.
Export promotion
• Exemption of the services provided by an intermediary to a supplier of goods or recipient of goods when
both the supplier and recipient are located outside the taxable territory.
• Notification will be issued under Section 13(13) of IGST Act notifying the place of supply of specified R&D
(research & development) services provided by Indian pharma companies to foreign service recipients,
as the place of effective use and enjoyment of a service i.e. location of the service recipient.
• It clarified that the place of supply of chip design software R&D services provided by Indian companies to
foreign clients by using sample test kits in India is the location of the service recipient and section
13(3)(a) of IGST Act, 2017 is not applicable for determining the place of supply in such cases.
Miscellaneous
• Registered authors were given an option to pay GST on royalty charged from publishers under forward
charge and they need to observe regular GST compliance.
• Indication should be made on grant of liquor licence by State Governments against payment of license
fees as a “no supply” to remove implementational ambiguity on the subject.
• Exemption of services related to FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2020 similar to existing exemption
given to FIFA U17 World Cup 2017.
Rationalization/ Trade Facilitation measures
• Allowance to the payment of GST on securities lending service under reverse charge mechanism (RCM) at
the merit rate of 18% and GST on securities lending service for period prior to RCM period shall be paid
on forward charge basis. IGST shall be payable on supply of these services and in cases where Central
GST (CGST)/ State GST (SGST)/ Union Territory GST (UTGST) have been paid, such taxpayers will not be
required to pay tax again.
• Allow RCM to suppliers paying GST at 5% on renting of vehicles, from registered person other than body
corporate (LLP, proprietorship) when services are provided to body corporate entities.
Recommendations related to laws & procedures
The council recommended the following Law & Procedure related changes :
i. Relaxation was given for filing the annual returns for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for FY 2017-
18 and FY 2018-19 as under:
• Waiver of the requirement of filing FORM GSTR-9A for Composition Taxpayers for the said tax periods;
• Filing of FORM GSTR-9 for those taxpayers who have aggregate turnover up to Rs. 2 crores was made
optional for the said tax periods.
ii. A Committee of Officers will be formed to examine the simplification of Forms for Annual Return and
reconciliation statement.
iii. Extension of last date for filing of appeals against the orders of Appellate Authority before the GST Appellate
Tribunal as the Appellate Tribunals are yet not functional.
iv. In order to nudge taxpayers to timely file their statement of outward supplies, imposition of restrictions on
availment of input tax credit by the recipients in cases where details of outward supplies are not furnished by the
suppliers in the statement under section 37 of the CGST Act, 2017.
v. New return system will be introduced from April, 2020 (earlier proposed from October, 2019), in order to give
ample opportunity to taxpayers and the system to adapt and accordingly specifying the due date for furnishing of
return in FORM GSTR-3B and details of outward supplies in FORM GSTR-1 for the period October, 2019 – March,
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2020.
vi. Issuance of circulars for uniformity in application of law across all jurisdictions:
• procedure to claim refund in FORM GST RFD-01A subsequent to favourable order in appeal or any other
forum;
• eligibility to file a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A for a period and category under which a NIL
refund application has already been filed;
• clarification regarding supply of Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS services) (in
supersession of Circular No. 107/26/2019-GST dated 18.07.2019) being made on own account or as
intermediary.
vii. Rescinding of Circular No.105/24/2019-GST dated 28.06.2019, from the beginning,which was issued in
respect of post-sales discount.
viii. Suitable amendments in CGST Act, UTGST Act, and the corresponding SGST Acts in view of creation of Union
territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
ix. Integrated refund system with disbursal by single authority to be introduced from 24th September, 2019.
x. In principle decision to link Aadhaar with registration of taxpayers under GST and examine the possibility of
making Aadhar mandatory for claiming refunds.
xi. In principle decision to prescribe reasonable restrictions on passing of credit by risky taxpayers including
risky new taxpayers.
ADB cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.5% from 7% for FY 2019-20
On September 25, 2019, The Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Asian Development
Outlook (ADO) 2019 update cut India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth to 6.5% from 7% for FY 2019-20
after the growth slowed down to 5% in the Q1 April–June FY 2019-20 which is a six-year low in the first quarter.
Key Points:
i. The reasons for the decline are an unexpected decline in manufacturing and investment, subdued lending by
banks and other financial institutions, stress in the rural economy, and a weakening external outlook.
ii. It predicted that India is expected to rebound to 7.2% growth in the FY 2020-21.
iii. South Asia’s growth forecasts are lowered to 6.2% for 2019 and 6.7% for 2020.
UNCTAD estimates India’s economic growth rate at a 7-year low of 6% in CY 2019 from 7.4% in 2018
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Trade and Development
Report 2019 forecasted India’s economic growth rate at a 7-year low of 6% in calendar year (CY) 2019 from
7.4% in 2018.
Key Points:
i. The estimates were reduced due to sharp fall of growth to 5.8% in the first quarter of CY19, the risk of shadow
banking in countries such as India and China, lower-than-targeted tax collections and limited public spending.
But still, India’s economy to be world’s 2nd fastest growing at 6% and China is first.
ii. It also expressed concerns over Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and suggested that it needs to rebuild
multilateralism around the idea of a ‘Global Green New Deal’.
About UNCTAD:
♦ Formation: 30 December 1964
♦ Secretary General: Dr Mukhisa Kituyi
SEBI relaxes norms to allow smart cities raise funds through ‘Muni Bonds’
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) eased its norms to allow smart cities to raise funds through
‘Muni Bonds‘. The entities working in areas of city planning and urban development work, including
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municipalities, special purpose vehicles (SPVs) set up under the central government’s ambitious ‘Smart Cities
Mission’ can also raise funds through debt securities.
Key Points:
• Background: SEBI had issued its Issue and Listing of Debt Securities by Municipalities (ILDM)
Regulations nearly 5 years ago and since then 7 municipalities have raised nearly Rs 1,400 crore by
issuing their debt securities, which are commonly known as ‘Muni Bonds’.
• Reason: Amendments were made to provide greater flexibility in raising funds and for strengthening
protection for investors.
• Requirements like the appointment of a monitoring agency, filing of viability certificate or Detailed
Project Appraisal Report, setting up of a separate project implementation cell, maintenance of 100%
asset cover with the specification of resources and mandatory backing of state or central government
were withdrawn.
• SEBI has allowed this route for other structures where a group of municipalities pools their resources
together to jointly raise funds through the issuance of bonds. These structures are generally known
as Pooled Finance Development Funds (PFDF).
• Rules pertaining to creation of escrow accounts were eased.
• The existing regulations (withdrawn now) allow issuance of only revenue bonds with a minimum tenure
of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years, if it is a public issue.
• In case of private placements, the minimum subscription amount per investor currently at Rs 25 lakh has
been reduced to Rs 10 lakh to align it with the regulations for corporate bonds.
• Any offer (private placement) or invitation made to qualified institutional buyers shall not be considered
while calculating the limit of 200 persons.
About Muni Bonds/Municipal Bonds:
It is a debt security issued by a state, municipality or county to finance its capital expenditures, including the
construction of highways, bridges or schools.
SEBI eases buyback rules for companies with housing finance, NBFC arms
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) eased its norms for buyback (repurchase) of shares by listed
companies, which is governed by the Buyback Regulations of SEBI & Companies Act, especially those having
subsidiaries in housing finance and Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) segments.
Key Points:
• Background: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had permitted the government companies carrying out
non-banking finance and housing finance activities to launch buybacks resulting in up to 6:1 debt to
equity ratio post the share repurchase.
• The financial statements of the companies would be considered on both standalone and consolidated
basis to determine the maximum permissible buyback size and other related requirements.
• The buyback offer cannot exceed 25% of the aggregate paid-up capital and free reserves of the company
and an approval from the shareholders is required through a special resolution in case the size exceeds
10%.
• A buyback is permitted only if the ratio of the aggregate of secured and unsecured debts owed by the
company after the buyback is not more than twice the paid-up capital and free reserves, unless a higher
debt-to-equity ratio is specified under the Companies Act.
• At present, the post-buyback debt-to-equity ratio is up to 2:1, except for companies for which a higher
ratio has been notified under the Companies Act, based on both standalone and consolidated basis.
• If the debt to equity ratio on consolidated basis exceeds 2:1 threshold, buybacks would be allowed after
excluding the subsidiaries that are NBFCs and housing finance companies regulated by the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) or National Housing Bank (NHB). The standalone debt to equity ratio of all such excluded
subsidiaries should not exceed 6:1.
• Earlier, Sebi had proposed to keep this threshold at 5:1.
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About buyback of shares:

It is when a company buys its own outstanding shares to reduce the number of shares available on the open
market. Companies buy back shares for a number of reasons, such as to increase the value of remaining shares
available by reducing the supply or to prevent other shareholders from taking a controlling stake.
About debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio:
It is used to evaluate a company’s financial leverage. It’s formula is as follows:
D/E Ratio = Total Liabilities divided by Total Shareholders’ Equity
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
PM Modi to get Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation’s “Global Goalkeeper Award 2019 ” for Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is to be honored with ‘Global Goalkeeper Award 2019’ by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation for his work under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) Mission. He will be honored
during his visit to United States (US) in September 2019.
Key points:
i. The Foundation will host the 4th annual Goalkeepers ‘Global Goals Awards’ on September 24, 2019.
ii. The award is presented to leaders who have demonstrated their commitment to the Global Goals through
impactful work in their country /globally. The awards are based on 5 categories such as Progress, Changemaker,
Campaign, Goalkeepers Voice and the Global Goalkeeper for their great efforts in achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
iii. PM will also address global leaders and corporate executives at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum 2019
during his visit for the 74th high-level UN General Assembly (UNGA) session to held in New York, US.
iii. Earlier in January 2019, Bill Gates praised Modi for the introduction of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, in which
the government has set a target of providing free health services to 10 crore people.
About Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
♦ It was launched by PM Modi in 2014 after coming to power for the 1st time to improve the overall cleanliness in
the country and eliminate open defecation nationwide in 5 years. This project was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.
So that it was launched on 2 October 2014. 90 million toilets have been built to eliminate open defecation by
October 2, 2019, and presently 98 %of India’s villages have rural sanitation coverage as against 38 % 4 years ago.
♦ It consists of two sub-missions Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)-(SBM-G) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
♦ Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (“Gramin” or ‘rural’): It runs under the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
♦ Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (‘urban’): It operates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
About Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation:
♦ Formation: 2000
♦ Founders: Bill Gates Melinda Gates
♦ Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Skill India felicitates 53 Skill Trainers in the annual Kaushalacharya Awards event for 2019
On September 5, 2019, Kaushalacharya Samadar 2019 was organized by the Skill India Mission, the Ministry
of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on the occasion of Teachers Day in New Delhi which
honoured 53 skill trainers from different sectors for their exceptional contribution. “Kaushalacharya Awards”
will become an annual event.
Key Points:
• Guests: It was attended by Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship and others.
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• Awardees: 53 trainers were the experts from different backgrounds which included WorldSkills
Competition winners, trainers from National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), Industrial Training Centres,
Jan Sikshan Sansthans (JSS) and trainers from reputed Corporate houses.
• Trainers: Trainers included 19 Experts of winners from Team India who competed at WorldSkills 2019
in Kazan, Russia; 15 Skill Trainers from the NSTI (National Skill Trainers Institute for Women) /ITI
(Industrial Training Institute) ecosystem; 9 Corporate trainers awarded from companies namely Adobe,
IBM (International Business Machines Corporation), Microsoft, Maruti, ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation), Bosch, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Aegis; and 10 Trainers from JSS.
• Launch of Workbook: A special workbook developed by the National Instructional Media Institute
(NIMI) which aimed at building a meaningful learning experience for students was launched by the
Directorate of General Training (DGT), the nodal body for vocational training in India.
• Launch of SOP manual: A manual of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was launched to boost training
of trainers and assessors. It provides instructions on how to implement and adhere to processes,
frameworks and systems specified in the ‘Training of Trainers and Assessors Guidelines for Short-term
skill development programmes’.
• MoU: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between DGT and Dhanbad (Jharkhand)
based Kaushalya Kameshwar Techno Solution Pvt Limited under which training will be provided in
Industrial environment in mining sector courses.
• Kaushalacharya Awards were also given to the trainers from the DGT.
About Skill India Mission:
It is a campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 July 2015 which aims to train over 40 crore
people in India in different skills by 2022.
OSDMA wins 2019 IT Excellence Award for SATARK app

On September 3, 2019, the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has won the 2019 “IT
Excellence Award” by Express India, for designing the app SATARK. The award for the app, which tracks and
alerts during disasters based on dynamic risk knowledge in real time, is to be received on September 18, 2019 by
OSDMA director B P Sethi, at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. SATARK is an acronym for System for
Assessing, Tracking and Alerting Disaster Risk Information based on Dynamic Risk Knowledge.
Key points
i. Available in English and Odia, both in mobile and web, the app gives warning information in case of heat waves,
lightning, drought, tsunami risk etc. including flood monitoring, road accident and snakebite monitoring.
IT- Information Technology.
President Ram Nath Kovind addresses Swachh Mahotsav 2019 held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
On September 6, 2019, The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has addressed the special function
‘Swachh Mahotsav 2019’, organized by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti held in Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan,
New Delhi. President has received the Swachh Bharat Mission’s book on Behavior Change Communication from
Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who formally released the book.
The President also presented the Swachh Bharat Awards 2019 in various categories for outstanding
contribution to Swachh Bharat Mission in New Delhi.
List of Swachh Bharat Awards 2019
S.No Name of the Award Award won by
1 Best Swachh Iconic Place award Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu and
Kashmir(J&K)
Category: Overall improvement in sanitation
2 Best Swachh Iconic Place Award Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)
Category: Swachh Bharat Mission Initiative
3 Best ministry for implementation of Ministry of Railways
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Swachhta Action Plan for 2018-19

4 Swachhta Pakhwada Award Department of Defence
5 Best Public Sector Undertakings Power Grid Corporation
(PSUs) (for its contribution to Swachh Bharat Kosh)
6 Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Gujarat and Sikkim
Behavior Change
7 Ganga Gram Award Village Baghori in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand
8 Swachh Bharat Summer Internship Ranjitha S for NCC(National Cadet Corps)
Bharatiya Shaheed Sainik School (Nainital) for
NSS(National Service Scheme)
Vision Youth Association
(Anantapuramu Andhra Pradesh) for Nehru Yuva
Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
Key Highlights:
i. The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, a religious pilgrimage atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu &
Kashmir (J&K) was adjudged as best Best Swachh Iconic Place in India 2019 for overall improvement in
sanitation by undertaking initiatives such as water kiosks, reverse vending machines, installation of kill waste
machine, etc.
President Kovind bestowed the award to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB).
Other awards: In 2017, the shrine got a special award from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for
retaining 2nd position, behind only to the Golden Temple. In 2018, the shrine was also declared as the cleanest
religious place by the India Today Group.
ii. The Victorian-era railway station & UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
)World Heritage Site ,the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai, Maharashtra has been
awarded the Best swachh iconic place in India 2019 under Swachh Bharat Mission Initiative such as
accomplishment of the action plan, involvement of stakeholders in execution of action plans, fund leverage, fund
utilization, cleanliness in peripheral area, etc.
The award has been received by Ministry of Railways jointly along with BrihanMumbai Municipal
Corporation(BMC) and CSR partner SBI (State Bank of India) Foundation.
iii. Indian Railways got selected as the best ministry for implementation of Swachhata action plan for 2018-
19. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board has received the award. Indian Railways had spent about
3000 crore on cleanliness campaign on its various properties during 2018-19.
As per Cleanliness Ranking Survey for 2018, three best stations Jodhpur, Jaipur & Tirupati were also awarded.
iv. Addressing the event, President stated that cleanliness as a pathway to success and also an essential condition
for success of government’s initiative ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’.
He also underscored the construction of toilets across India under Swachh Bharat Mission that helps in
maintaining dignity of women as well as their empowerment.
v. Over 1300 swachhata champions including school children, NCC cadets, volunteers from NSS and NYKS,
swachhagrahies, sarpanches, representatives from States and UTs, central government ministries and media
persons attended the event.
Swachh Iconic Places initiative:
It was launched in 2016 under Swachh Bharat Mission. It was initiated to implement Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s vision to take iconic places and their surroundings to higher standards of cleanliness.
About Swachh Bharat Mission:
It was launched on 2nd October 2014 by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi to achieve universal
sanitation coverage and to put the focus on sanitation.
It consists of 2 sub-missions Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)-(SBM-G) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
WCD minister facilitates states, districts under BBBP scheme for improved sex ratio
On September 6, 2019 the Minister of Woman and Child Affairs(WCD) Smt, SmritiZubinIrani awarded states
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and districts for sex ratio and awareness generation under the BetiBachaoBetiPadhao(BBBP) campaign in New
Delhi.Further 10 districts were also awarded for good work in awareness generation and outreach activities.The
awarded states were
State District
Arunachal Pradesh East Kameng
Haryana Mahendragarh
Haryana Bhiwani
Uttrakhand Udham Singh Nagar
Tamilnadu Namakkal
Maharashtra Jalgaon
Uttar Pradesh Etawah
Chattisgarh Raigarh
Rajasthan Jodhpur
10 districts were selected for good work in awareness generation under BBBP were also felicitated by the
Minister. These districts are: Tiruvallur (Tamil Nadu), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur (Himachal
Pradesh) Kishtwar (J&K), Gadag (Karnataka), Wokha (Nagaland), Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh), and Nagaur
(Rajasthan).
Objective:- To honor the States and Districts which are performing well in improving Sex Ratio at Birth as
per Health Management Information System (HMIS) of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data and
showed activities towards generation awareness among people.
Implementation:-On 22ndJanuary, 2015 Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme launched has been and
implemented in different segments. At present as per census 2011 , it executed in 640 districts through
promotion and media campaign.
About BBBP:
Launched- 22ndJanuary, 2015
Launch location- Panipat, Haryana
Current coverage- 640 districts.
Ministry responsible- Ministries of Women and Child Development(WCD), Health & Family Welfare(HFW) and
Human Resource Development(HRD)
Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus conferred ‘Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ‘ award by Vatican
On September 5, 2019 the Vatican city(smallest country in the world) conferred 2006 Noble laureate of
Bangladesh, Prof MuhammadYunus with 2019 ‘Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ‘ award at the historical Papal
Basilica of Assisi,Italy.
Key points
i. The lamp of peace award which recognizes distinguished work by an individual in promoting peace was first
awarded to Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa in 1981. Politicians Mikhail Gorbachev(Russia), Angela
Merkel(Germany) and spiritual leader Dalai Lama, were the few other prominent persons to receive this award.
“Oscars of science” awarded to Event Horizon Telescope Team who collaborated to produce the world’s
first image of a black hole
On September 5, 2019, An Event Horizon Telescope Team consisting of 347 scientists who produced the
world’s first image of a black hole were felicitated with Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. It is
known as the “Oscars of science” which was launched by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and it is the eighth year of
award. They won $3 million.
Key Points:
i. The team had published the image of black hole circled by a flame-orange halo of white hot plasma on the
Messier 87 (M87) galaxy on April 10, 2019.
ii. It was directed by Shep Doelman at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge,
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Massachusetts, United States.

iii. Other winners from the categories like life sciences, and mathematics, also received $3 million.
iv. Winners will be recognized at a gala awards ceremony which is scheduled to be held at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California on November
3, 2019.
Vedanta Resources chairman, Anil Agarwal honoured with a lifetime achievement award at 19th Annual
Asian Achievers Awards 2019 held in London
The founder and Chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited, Anil Agarwal (65) has been given the lifetime
achievement award at the 19th Annual Asian Achievers Awards 2019 with the
theme inclusivity at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, on Park Lane.
Key points:
i. London Deputy Mayor, Rajesh Agrawal has received the Editor’s Award 2019 for Public Services, while BBC
(British Broadcasting Corporation ) News Economics Editor, Faisal Islam was selected for the media
achievement award.
ii. Novelist Jeffery Archer, whose skillful auctioneering helped to raise a £150,000 for chosen 2019’ s
charity Yuva Unstoppable, a youth movement that works towards educating underprivileged children.
Other winners:
S.No Winner Category
1 Onkardeep Singh MBE Achievement in Community Services
2 Dr. Nilesh U Patel MD Editor’s Award for Contribution to Thoracic Surgery
3 Vipul Vadera Businessperson of the Year
4 Kush Kanodia Entrepreneur of the Year
5 Krishna Omkar Professional of the Year
6 Harjit Singh Bhania Sports Personality of the Year
7 Hafsa Qureshi Uniformed, Civil and Public Services Neeta Patel Woman of the Year
8 Pradip Dhamecha Editor’s Choice Award for Community service, Philanthropy and
Entrepreneurship
President’s secretariat announces recipients of Visitor’s Awards 2019

On September 9, 2019 the President’s secretariat announced the recipients of Visitor’s award 2019. The award
will be presented by the President Shri Ram NathKovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Key points
i. Award category: The award which is constituted in 2014 to create healthy competition among central
universities, is provided under four categories in research field. The award carries a citation and cash prize of Rs
2.5 Lakh. The categories are:
• Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Biological Sciences and
• Technology Development.
ii. Joint award: This year(2019) the award in the field of research in Biological science is jointly awarded to Dr
Partima and Prof. Asad Ullah Khan.
iii. Selection committee: President’s secretary Shri Sanjay Kothari, headed the committee along with other
officials, assisted by a Sub-Committee selected people for 2019 Visitor’s award.
Awards:
Award title Awardee Awarded for
Research in Prof. Sibnath Deb (Department of Child protection research, especially, focus
Humanities, Arts and Applied Psychology, Pondicherry on child abuse and neglect, student’s
Social Sciences University) mental health and on Human
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Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired

Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS).
Research in Physical Prof. Sanjay (School of Physical Research in non-equilibrium statistical
Sciences Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru physics and nonlinear dynamics.
University, Delhi)
Research in Prof. AsadUllah Khan (Inter- Identifying Antimicrobial resistance(AMR)
Biological Sciences disciplinary Biotechnology Unit, of spread and control of AMR
Aligarh Muslim University, Uttar
Pradesh)
DrPartima (Special Centre for Research on nanobiosensors and
Research in Nanoscience, Jawaharlal Nehru nanobiointeractions during early stage
Biological Sciences University, Delhi) cancer diagnosis by nanomaterials bases
biosensing platform.
Technology DrShaon Ray Chaudhuri Development of microbial biofilm reactor
Development (Department of Microbiology, for of dairy wastewater conversion into
Tripura University, Tripura) biofertilizer.
76th Venice International Film Festival Awards for 2019 held at Venice Lido, Italy
The 76th Edition of the annual Venice International Film Festival Awards for 2019 was held at Venice Lido in
Italy from August 28- September 7, 2019. It was organized by La Biennale di Venezia and was officially
recognized by FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association).
Key Points:
i. Film director from Argentina, Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury.
ii.It was hosted by an Italian actress Alessandra Mastronardi.
iii.Film The Truth, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the festival and the film The Burnt
Orange Heresy, directed by Giuseppe Capotondi was selected for the closing ceremony.
List of Winners:
Award Name of the film Director
Golden Lion for Best Film Joker Todd Phillips (USA)
Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize J’accuse (An Officer and Roman Polanski (France, Italy)
a Spy)
Special Jury Prize La Mafia Non È Piu Franco Maresco (Italy)
Quella Di Una Volta (The
Mafia is no longer what
it used to be)
Award Name Film
Volpi Cup for Best Actress Ariane Ascaride Loria Mundi by Robert Guédiguian
(France, Italy)
Volpi Cup for Best Actor Luca Marinelli Martin Eden by Pietro Marcello (Italy,
France)
Award for Best Screenplay Yonfan Ji Yuan Tai Qi Hao (No.7 CHERRY
LANE) by Yonfan (Hong Kong SAR,
China)
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI Toby Wallace Babyteeth by Shannon Murphy
AWARD for Best Young Actor or (Australia)
Actress
Silver Lion – Award for Best Roy Andersson Om Det Oandliga (About
Director Endlessness) (Sweden, Germany,
Norway)
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About Venice International Film Festival Awards:

♦ It is the oldest film festival in the world and one of the “Big Three” film festivals, alongside the Cannes Film
Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.
♦ Founded: August 1932
India’s DAIS, Mumbai ranks 10th in 2019 “Global Top 50 IB Schools 2019″ list, Anglo Chinese of
Singapore tops
In the “Global Top 50 IB Schools 2019″ list released on September 7, 2019, by United Kingdom(UK) based
education consultancy ‘Education Advisers ltd’, India’s Dhirubhai Ambani International School (DAIS), Mumbai,
Maharashtra was ranked at 10th position in the list. It is also the only Indian International Baccalaureate (IB)
school featured in the list.
Key points:
i. Since its inception in 2013, the DAIS has been ranked 1st position in International School in India by ‘Education
World’ for 7 consecutive years.
ii. The list is topped by Anglo Chinese of Singapore followed by Godolphin & Latymer of UK and St Josephs
Institution of Singapore at 2nd and 3rd position.
16-year-old Priyavrata becomes youngest person to clear 2019 “Mahapariksha” examination

On September 8, 2019, Priyavrata became the youngest person to pass the“Mahapariksha” at the age of 16. The
Mahapariksha contains 14 levels and is conducted twice in a year at Tenali (Andhra Pradesh) for the students
studying ‘Shastras’ (ancient scriptures).
UNESCO announces International Literacy Prizes 2019

On September 2, 2019, Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General (DG) of United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the winners of UNESCO International Literacy Prizes 2019.
i. The International jury, which recommended the prizes, comprised of John Benseman (New Zealand), Rana
Dajani (Jordan), Ms. Jianhong Dong (People’s Republic of China), Sowonne Tchang (Republic of Korea) and Dr.
Willy Ngaka (Uganda).
ii. The awards were distributed by the Director-General in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters-Paris on
September 9, 2019 on the occasion of International Literacy Day (ILD) 2019 (Theme-Literacy and
Multilingualism).
Awards
UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize
Awardee Programme
National Office of Literacy and Education for National Strategy for Multilingual Literacy
Adults (ONAEA), Algeria
Textile Fibres and Development Company Functional literacy and follow-up vocational
(SODEFITEX), Senegal training for farmers in southern Senegal in
national languages
UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy
Awardee Programme
Camacol Antioquia, Colombia Obras Escuala
BASAbali, Indonesia BASAbali Wiki
Nuovo Comitato il Nobel per I Disabili, Italy TELL ME – Theatre for Education and
Literacy Learning of Migrants in Europe
About the awardees:
i. ONAEA
The National Office of Literacy and Education for Adults (ONAEA) of the Algerian Ministry of Education was
awarded UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize for its ‘National Strategy for Multilingual Literacy’ programme.
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• ONAEA’s ‘National Strategy for Multilingual Literacy’ programme was launched in 2016 in support of the
implementation of the 2008 National Strategy for Literacy after the adoption of Tamazight as the official
national language in addition to Arabic.
• The strategy includes an 18-month literacy course for adults in both of the official languages.
• Director-General of ONAEA is Kamel Kherbouche.
ii. SODEFITEX
‘Textile Fibres and Development Company’(SODEFITEX) in Senegal was awarded UNESCO King Sejong
Literacy Prize for its ‘Functional literacy and follow-up vocational training for farmers in southern Senegal in
national languages’ programme.
• SODEFITEX started providing literacy courses in 1982 to farmers with limited or non-schooling in
Southern Senegal as part of their work.
• The company aims at creating a literate environment by guiding the farmers benefiting from the
programme, aged 20 to 45.
iii. Camacol Antioquia
‘Camacol Antioquia’ in Colombia was awarded UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its ‘Obras Escuala’
programme.
• The programme ‘Obras Escuela’ was launched in 2007, with the aim to promote literacy for workers in
this sector.
• The Director of corporate social responsibility at Camacol Antioquia is María Lucía Vélez.
iv. BASAbali
‘BASAbali’in Indonesia was awarded UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its ‘BASAbali Wiki’ programme.
• BASAbali Wiki is a multimedia, multilingual (Balinese-Indonesian-English) wiki dictionary, encyclopedia
and virtual library which intends to revitalize endangered local languages by creating a sense of
ownership.
• The main target group of the programme is younger generations, especially young women and girls.
• The programme was launched in 2011.
• The Chair of the BASAbali Wiki Board is presided by Gde Nala Antara.
v. Nuovo Comitato il Nobel per I Disabili
‘Nuovo Comitato il Nobel per I Disabili’in Italy was awarded UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy for its ‘TELL
ME – Theatre for Education and Literacy Learning of Migrants in Europe’ programme.
• Nuovo Comitato il Nobel per i Disabili (New Nobel Committee for People with Disabilities) is an Italian
non-profit organization created by Nobel laureate, Mr Dario Fo, in 1997 to support disadvantaged groups
through education, with particular regard to disabled people.
• In 2016, the committee decided to focus its efforts on the migrant population and launched the
programme ‘Tell Me’, an acronym for ‘Theatre for Education and Literacy Learning of Migrants in
Europe’.
• The programme is operating in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey.
About awards:
• UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize – Established in 1989, with the support of the Government of the
Republic of Korea, it gives special consideration to the development and use of mother-tongue literacy
education and training.
• UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy – The UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, established in 2005,
with the support of the Government of the People’s Republic of China. It gives special consideration to
literacy amongst adults in rural areas and out-of-school youth, particularly girls and women.
Prize money – Each of the five prize winners receives a medal, a diploma and US$20.000.
About UNESCO:
♦ Founded: November 4, 1946
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Telangana governor Tamilisai becomes the youngest governor at 58 years while Andhra governor
Harichandan becomes the oldest at 85
On September 8, 2019 former TamilNadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan who
was sworn in as the first woman governor of Telangana, became the youngest state governor at the age
of 58 among all the current governors. Andhra Pradesh governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan is the oldest at
the age of 85 among the current governors.
Key points
i. Dr. Tamilisai is the only current governor under the age of 60.
ii. The youngest governor of India overall is Swaraj Kaushal who served as the governor of Mizoram at the age of
37 between 1990 and 1993.
Indian Concrete Institute award 2019 honours MEIL for Kaleshwaram project’s outstanding concrete
structure in Hyderabad
On September 7, 2019 on the occasion of concrete day celebrations, Construction company Megha Engineering
and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) was recognised with Indian Concrete Institute award 2019 (ICI award)for
the outstanding concrete structure of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) in Telangana. The award
was received by N Venkateshwarlu, chief engineer of the project and B. Srinivas Reddy, MEIL director from ICI
president Vinay Gupta in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Key points
i. Best concrete structure: The ICI awarded the best concrete structure award 2019 to Amazon building and for
execution of the Khajaguda to Nanakramguda concrete road.
ii. Lecture: on the concrete day occasion a lecture on “Engineering challenges in the construction of
Kaleshwaram project” was delivered by the project chief engineer.
About (KLIP)
It is a multi-purpose irrigation and also the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project on Godavari
River built across the Kaleshwaram dam of Telangana.
Project worth- Rs 80,000 crore.
It was inaugurated on june 20, 2019 by the chief minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao.
About Telangana:
♦ Capital- Hyderabad.
♦ Governor- Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan.
♦ Dams- Srisailam dam, nagarjuna sagar dam(also cover Andhra Pradesh)
“Srivilliputtur Palkova” gets Geographical Indication(GI) tag in Chennai

On september 10, 2019 “Srivilliputtur Palkova” in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu has get Geographical
Indication(GI) tag in chennai.The sweet is prepared from high quality flavour of milk with sugar. The milk is
fetched only from in and around reared cows of Srivilliputtur. In 2014,The petition was filed by Srivilliputtur
Milk Producers’ Co-operative Society for Geographical Indication(GI) tag.It was approved by Geographical
Indication (GI) registry of Chennai.
IIT Ropar & IISc Bangalore ranked No 1 among the 56 Indian institutes in the Times Higher Education
World University Ranking 2020
In World University Rankings 2020, published by the United Kingdom (UK) based Times Higher
Education (THE), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar and Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Bangalore were ranked number 1 among the 56 Indian institutes on the list of the best universities of the
world, beating IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi. Since 2012, for the first time Indian institutions did not feature among
the top 300 in World University Rankings 2020. The University of Oxford tops the 2020 edition of the rankings
for the fourth consecutive year.
Key Points:
i. Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Panjab University, Savitribai Phule Pune University and
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Thapar University were in the top 601-800 universities of the world.

ii. Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University from Odisha made it to
the World University Rankings 2020.
iii. Mysore’s Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeswara (JSS) Academy of Higher Education and Research, which was
featured with IIT Bombay and IIT Roorkee in the 3rd place last year, did not make into the World University
Rankings 2020.
iv. The rankings were released on September 11, 2019, at the THE World Academic Summit in Zurich,
Switzerland and the event was hosted in partnership with ETH Zurich University.
v. IISc, which made into the top 300 last year, dropped into the 301-350 bracket this year.
vi. Overall 1,400-universities across the world from 92 countries featured in the list.
vii. India is the fifth most represented country in the list and the third most-represented in Asia after Japan and
mainland China.
Top 3 Indian Institutes:
Rank Institute
1 IIT Ropar & IISc Bangalore (301–350)
2 IIT Indore (351-400 band)
3 IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi & IIT Kharagpur (In the top 401-500 universities bracket)
Top 3 Universities of the World:
Rank Institute
1 University of Oxford, UK
2 California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States
3 University of Cambridge, UK
Top 3 Indian Institutes:
Rank Institute
1 IIT Ropar & IISc Bangalore
2 IIT Indore (351-400 band)
3 IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi & IIT Kharagpur (In the top 401-500 universities bracket)
Indian Ambassador to UAE Navdeep Suri conferred with UAE Order of Zayed II
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has honored Indian Ambassador Navdeep Singh Suri with its highest civilian
honor Order of Zayed II award. He has been given this honor for strengthening the relationship between the
two countries.
Key points:
i. UAE Minister for Foreign and International Affairs HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan presented the
honor to Suri, who has been serving as the Indian ambassador to the Gulf nation since October 2016. He will
retire in September 2019. Senior diplomat Pavan Kapoor will succeed him as the new ambassador to the UAE.
ii. The honor was instituted in the name of Dubai founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
iii. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given the Order of Zayed, UAE’s highest honor on 24 August 2019.
17 Indian peacekeepers deployed with the UNMISS felicitated with UN Service Medals
17 Indian peacekeepers who were deployed in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for over a
year were felicitated with UN Service Medals by the United Nations (UN) in recognition of their UN
Peacekeeping service to the people of South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, as UN Police officers. Among
the 17 peacekeepers, 5 were women police officers.
Key Points:
i. They were awarded the medals at a special ceremony held at a medal parade in the United Nations Mission
in Juba, South Sudan on September 10, 2019.
ii. The officers performed the duties like protecting displaced civilians, community policing and administrative
and operational duties and capacity building of local authorities.
iii. The women officers who were honoured for upholding the UN mandate of protection of civilians in South
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Sudan were Reena Yadav, Inspector, Chandigarh Police; Gopika Jahagirdar, Deputy Superintendent of Police
(DSP), Maharashtra Police; Bharati Samantray, DSP in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA); Ragini Kumari,
Inspector in the MHA and Kamal Shekhawat, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Rajasthan Police.
iv. Indian Army officer Lieutenant General Shailesh Sadashiv Tinaikar is the Force Commander of UNMISS.
India’s contribution to UN peacekeeping missions:
India is among the largest troop contributing countries in the world to UN peacekeeping missions. It is the
second highest troop contributor to the UNMISS, with 2,337 troops deployed with the mission (as on March
2019) and contributes 22 police personnel to the UNMISS.
About UNMISS:
♦ Formed: July 9, 2011
♦ Headquarters: Juba, South Sudan
♦ Head: David Shearer
UNESCO to translate and publish an anthology of Guru Nanak Dev’s writings in world languages on his
550th birth anniversary
Ministry of Culture of the union government notified that in commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of
Guru Nanak Dev, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will translate
and publish an anthology of Guru Nanak Dev’s writings in different major languages of the world.
i. Construction of Kartarpur Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district in Punjab to the international
border, the development of the historic town of Sultanpur Lodhi as a heritage town on the smart city principle,
the upgradation of Sultanpur Lodhi railway station and release of commemorative coins and postage stamps are
the other events and initiated projects to mark the anniversary.
About UNESCO:
23rd Session of the UNWTO General Assembly for 2019 held in Saint Petersburg, Russia
The 23rd session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) General Assembly for 2019
was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia from September 9-13, 2019. UNWTO is the leading international
organization in the field of tourism.
15th edition of the UNWTO Awards:
The 15th edition of the UNWTO Awards marked the launch of the Accessible Tourism Destinations (ATD)
initiative, organized by UNWTO in partnership with the Spanish NGO ONCE. Awards were given to the following:
i. San Sebastian, a Spanish city, was awarded the 2019 UNWTO prize for Public Policy and Governance
2019 for the initiative “Love San Sebastian, Live Donastia”.
ii. In the Enterprises category, it was given to “Community Impact by V Resorts”, an initiative of V Resorts
under the aegis of Bliss Inns Ltd, India.
iii. Fundación Once from Spain was awarded Best Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) 2019.
iv. Turismo Portugal was awarded the first international distinction of Accessible Tourism Destination (ATD)
2019.
v. Destino Barcelona (Spain) was awarded a special mention award as an exceptional urban tourism
destination.
vi. Thrissur in Kerala, India received a special mention award as an emerging destination on the global
accessible tourism market.
UNWTO Tourism Video Competition 2019
It was the 4th edition of the UNWTO Tourism Video Competition 2019. It had 2 categories: Outstanding Country
Promotional Videos and Exceptional Stories of Sustainable Tourism. Following are the awardees:
i. Chile won the award for Exceptional stories of sustainable tourism.
ii. Awards for Outstanding Country Promotional Videos were presented to: Tunisia from the African region,
Mexico from both North and South America combined, India from Asia & Pacific Region, Greece and Portugal
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from Europe, and Egypt from the Middle East.

iii. India’s ‘Yogi of the Racetrack’, a short promotional film on Yoga produced by the Union Ministry of
Tourism, was conferred ‘Best Video’ award 2019 for the Asia & Pacific Region.
Incredible India Pavilion
A 2-day event, Incredible India Pavilion was inaugurated at INWETEX 2019 by India’s Consular
General Deepak Miglani in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of the 23rd General Assembly of UNWTO. It
showcased various tourism products of India including classical and folk dance.
About UNWTO:
♦ Formed: October 1975
♦ Headquarters: Madrid, Spain
♦ Secretary General: Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili
IPS officer Chhaya Sharma to be honored with 2019 Asia Society Game Changers Award by Asia Society
On September 13, 2019, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Chhaya Sharma who led the investigation of *the
2012 Nirbhaya gangrape was selected for the 2019 Asia Society Game Changers Award along with six others
by Asia Society, which is a leading educational organization. She has been awarded for redefining the role of
female police officers.
Key points
i. Asia society promotes mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among people, leaders and
institutions of Asia and the United States(US).
Bangladesh school project, ‘Arcadia Education Project’ wins Aga Khan Architecture Award 2019 at Kajan,
republic of Tatarstan, Russia
The Arcadia Education Project in South Kanarchor of Bangladesh has won the prestigious Aga Khan
Architecture Award 2019 in Kajan, the republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The novel project is about the
construction of a floating school in an area which is underwater during monsoon for the welfare of marginalised
children in Bangladesh.
Key points:
i. The architect of the project was Saif Ul Haque, who designed a school and used only local materials such as
bamboo, used tyres and steel drums , local workforce and artisans for constructing the school, which remains on
the ground during the dry season and floats when the area is submerged in water during monsoon.
ii. Five other projects from other countries – Alioune Diop University Teaching and Research Unit (Senegal) ,
Palestinian Museum (Palestine) , Public Spaces Development Programme(Republic of Tatarstan) , Revitalisation
of Muharraq (Bahrain), and Wasit Wetland Centre(Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) ) were also given the award.
iii. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was instituted by the Aga Khan in 1977 , is given every three years to
projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and
landscape architecture.
Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ became the only Indian film in “The Guardian” list of 100 Best
Films of the 21st century
The Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s film ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ released in 2012 featuring Manoj Bajpayee,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra, and Richa Chadha, became the only Indian film in British daily “The
Guardian list of the 100 Best Films of the 21st century”. It claimed the 59th position.
Key Points:
i. The first spot was claimed by the film There Will Be Blood(2007).
ii. It was followed by 12 Years a Slave(2013) and Boyhood (2014).
Overview of 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for 2019

The 71st annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony for 2019 was held over two nights on
September 14- 15, 2019 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, United States. They were presented in
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technical and acting categories. They were given away before 71st Emmy Awards (Primetime Emmy Awards)
scheduled to be held on September 22, 2019.
Key Points:
• Home Box Office’s (HBO) Game of Thrones received 10 awards at Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2019.
• HBO’s “Chernobyl” won 7 awards and Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won 6 awards.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) won 2 Emmy Awards for interactive
programming focused on the SpaceX Demonstration Mission-1 and its Mars InSight mission.
• Norman Lear became the oldest Emmy Winner at the age of 97 for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) in
‘Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons special’. He surpassed
the record held by Sir David Attenborough (aged 93).
• The late TV personality and chef Anthony Bourdain, who passed away in June 2018, won 2 posthumous
Emmys for his series, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
• ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 has secured 32 nominations at 71st Emmy Awards, creating a record for the
most number of Emmy nominations received in a single year surpassing the record held by Drama series
‘NYPD Blue’ with 27 nominations in 1994.
• American television host James Corden, who anchors the late-night talk show ‘The Late Late Show,’
became the most-nominated person (6 categories) in the 71st Emmy Awards.
List of Winners:
Category Awardee
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series Cherry Jones for The Handmaid’s Tale,
“Holly”
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Star Trek: Discovery, “If Memory
Series, Movie or Special Serves”
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Barry, “ronny/lily”
Series (Half-Hour) And Animation
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie Chernobyl, “1:23:45”
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative The Handmaid’s Tale, “Holly”
Contemporary Program (One Hour or More)
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce on The
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: “All
Alone”)
Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming Kathryn Burns for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend –
(Juried) “Routines: Don’t Be a Lawyer,
Antidepressants Are So Not a Big Deal”
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Chernobyl
or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program Russian Doll, “Nothing In This World Is
(Half-Hour) Easy”
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Game Of Thrones, “The Long Night”
Series (One Hour)
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Barry, “ronny/lily”
Series (Half-Hour) And Animation
Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role Chernobyl, “1:23:45”
Outstanding Special Visual Effects Game Of Thrones, “The Bells”
Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes Game Of Thrones, “The Bells”
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph
Lawrence on The Handmaid’s Tale,
“Postpartum”
Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series The Ranch, “Reckless”
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Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Simone”

Series (One Hour)
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series ane Lynch as Sophie Lennon on The
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Vote For
Kennedy, Vote For Kennedy”
Outstanding Main Title Design Game Of Thrones
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Nicholas Britell for Succession
Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy or Drama Chris O’Dowd as Tom on State Of The
Series Union
Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Within A Scripted Program
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Ramin Djawadi for Game Of Thrones,
Dramatic Score) “The Long Night”
Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Hildur Guðnadóttir for Chernobyl,
Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) “Please Remain Calm”
Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series Fleabag
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series Game Of Thrones
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Game Of Thrones, “The Long Night”
Series (One Hour)
Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Chernobyl, “Please Remain Calm”
Movie
Outstanding Structured Reality Program Queer Eye
Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program Free Solo
Outstanding Narrator Sir David Attenborough for Our Planet,
“One Planet”
Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Brandon Roberts and Marco Beltrami
Series or Special (Original Dramatic Underscore) for Free Solo
Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Free Solo, 360
Within An Unscripted Program
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown,
“Kenya”
Outstanding Motion Design (juried) Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
Outstanding Informational Series or Special Anthony Bourdain for Parts Unknown
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special Leaving Neverland
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series Our Planet
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program Free Solo
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program Free Solo
(Single or Multi-Camera)
About Emmy Awards:
♦ First awarded: January 25, 1949
♦ Presented by: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS)/ National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
(NATAS)/ International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS)
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina was conferred 2019 Dr Kalam Smriti International Excellence Award in
Dhaka
On September 16, 2019 Bangladesh Prime Minister(PM) Sheik Hasina was awarded Dr Kalam Smriti
International Excellence Award for the year 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was awarded by T.P. Sreenivasan,
Chief Adviser of the Dr Kalam Smriti International Advisory Council for her contribution in holding a healthy
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relation between India and Bangladesh,International peace and cooperation. With this award, Hasina has so far
received 37 international accolades.
DrKalamSmriti International Excellence Award:
This award is constituted in memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the eminent scientist and former president of India.
The award honours statesmen or leaders having shown excellence in respective fields in achieving the best for
their countries. Constituted since 2015, the prestigious award was previously received by Presidents of the
Maldives, Ghana and Mauritius.
Trophy: The trophy of the award is created in wood and brass by renowned sculptor of Kerala, Kanayi
Kunhiraman.
Raghu Rai becomes first recipient of inaugural 2019 “Acadmie des beaux-arts Photography Award –
William Klein”
On September 16, 2019, renowned Indian photographer Raghu Rai was chosen as the first recipient of the
inaugural “Acadmie des beaux-arts Photography Award – William Klein” for the year 2019 and will be
awarded in the Palais de l’Institut de France, Paris, France on October 30. The award is named in honour of
William Klein, the American born French photographer and filmmaker. The award, which will be conducted once
in every two years alternating with Photography Prize Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, will reward the
photographer of all nationalities and ages for their entire career in photography. The award carries a monetary
prize of 1,20,000 euros.
Key points
i. Awards: Rai won Padma Shree in 1972, which is a first for any photographer, photographer of the year in 1992
in America for his story “Human Management of Wildlife in India” for the National Geographic, Officer des Arts et
des Letters award by the French government in 2009 and also Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian
Government in 2016.
Agnes Kharshiing- rights activist based in Meghalaya wins 11th International Hrant Dink award for the
year 2019
On September 15, 2019 Meghalaya based rights activist Agnes Kharshiing, the survivor of coal mafia assaults a
year ago, was honoured with Turkish award, the 11th International Hrant Dink award for the year 2019 along
with Nebahat Akkoç, Turkish activist against male violence at the Lutfi Kirdar International Convention and
Exhibition Centre, in Istanbul. Agnes is awarded for defending women, children and poor rights, environmental
rights. The award was presented to them commemorating the memory of Turkish-American journalist Hrant
Dink who was assassinated in 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Key points
i. The award is presented by Hrant Dink foundation on the birthday of Hrant Drink (September 15), since 2009
annually to individuals, organisations or groups working against discrimination, violence, racism by risking own
lives.
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg wins 2019 Amnesty’s ‘Ambassadors of Conscience’
award in Washington D.C
On September 16, 2019 Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg(16 years) and the ‘Fridays for Future
youth movement’ won the Amnesty International’s ‘Ambassadors of Conscience’ award for the year 2019. The
award ceremony which was held at the George Washington University, Washington D.C, America, is the highest
human rights award constituted by the Amnesty International.
About Amnesty International:
♦ It is a Britiish Non-Government Organisation(NGO) focused on human rights.
♦ Headquarters- London, United Kingdom.
♦ Founded- July 196.
♦ Founder- Peter Benenson.
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Overview of 20th Edition of NEXA IIFA Awards for 2019

The 20th Edition of NEXA International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA Awards) for 2019 was held on
September 18, 2019 at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai, Maharashtra. For the first time,
the award ceremony was held in India.
Key Points:
i. It is an annual award ceremony presented by the International Indian Film Academy and awarded for
excellence in cinematic achievements for Bollywood.
ii. It was hosted by an Indian actors, Ayushmann Khurrana and Aparshakti Khurana.
iii. The nominees were announced on August 28, 2019.
iv. The event was produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, an event management agency
headquartered in Mumbai.
v. Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushal, Madhuri Dixit, Katrina Kaif and Sara Ali Khan
entertained the guests with their on-stage performances.
List of Winners:
Category Awardee
Best Film Raazi
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) Alia Bhatt for Raazi
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) Ranveer Singh for Padmaavat
Best Director Sriram Raghavan for Andhadhun
Best Supporting Actor (Female) Aditi Rao Hydari for Padmaavat
Best Supporting Actor (Male) Vicky Kaushal for Sanju
Best Debutant (Female) Sara Ali Khan for Kedarnath
Best Debutant (Male) Ishaan Khatter for Dhadak and Beyond the Clouds
Best Playback Singer (Male) Arijit Singh for “Ae Watan”- Raazi
Best Playback Singer (Female) Harshdeep Kaur and Vibha Saraf for “Dilbaro” – Raazi
Best Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya for “Dhadak (Title Track)”-
“Dhadak”
Best Music Director Amaal Mallik, Guru Randhawa, Rochak Kohli, Saurabh-
Vaibhav, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Zack Knight (Sonu Ke
Titu Ki Sweety)
Best Story/ Screenplay Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti, Arijit Biswas,
Yogesh Chandekar and Hemanth Rao for Andhadhun
Best music direction in the last 20 years Pritam Chakraborty for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Best director in the last 20 years Rajkumar Hirani
Best film in the last 20 years Rakesh Roshan’s film Kaho Na Pyaar Hai
Best actor in the last 20 years Ranbir Kapoor for Barfi
Best actress in the last 20 years Deepika Padukone for Chennai Express
Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema Saroj Khan
(Dance & Choreography)
Critics’ Award for Best Film AndhaDhun
Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female) Neena Gupta, Badhaai Ho
Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male) Ranveer Singh, “Padmaavat”
Best Debut Director Amar Kaushik, Stree
Best Dialogue Akshat Ghildial, Badhaai Ho
Best Original Story Anubhav Sinha, Mulk
Best Actor (Male) in a Short Film Hussain Dalal, Shameless
Best Actor (Female) in a Short Film Kirti Kulhari, Maya
People’s Choice Award for Best Short Film Plus Minus
Best Short Film (Fiction) Rogan Josh
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Best Short Film (Non Fiction) The Soccer City

Best Music Album Padmaavat
Best Lyrics Gulzar for Ae Watan, Raazi & for AndhaDhun
Best Background Score Daniel George, AndhaDhun
Best Sound Design Kunal Sharma, Tumbbad
Best Choreography Kruti Mahesh Midya, Jyoti Tomaar for Ghoomar,
“Padmaavat”
Best Cinematography Sudeep Chatterjee — Padmaavat
Best Editing Pooja Ladha Surti, AndhaDhun
Best Costume Sheetal Sharma, Manto
Best Production Design Nitin Zihani Chaudhary and Rajesh Yadav (Tumbbad)
Best VFX (Visual Effects) Red Chillies Fx, Zero
Best Sound Mixing Ajay Kumar P.B (Post House)- Andhadhun
Best Special Effects Filmgate Films AB-Tumbbad
Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema Legendary actor and comedian, Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jafri,
(Lifetime Achievement Award ) aka Jagdeep
About IIFA Awards:
♦ IIFA awards were first awarded in the year 2000.
♦ IIFA Utsavam (first awarded in 2016) is the South Indian segment of annual IIFA awards.
Moti Bagh, a documentary film on the hard work of an elderly farmer, claims to have an entry at the
Oscars 2020
A documentary film, “Moti Bagh” based on the life of a farmer Vidya dutt Sharma (82) , who belongs to a
remote village in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand has been nominated for an Oscar 2020. The film,
directed by Nirmal Chander Dandriyal, shows the struggles of Sharma to keep his farm alive and on deserted
hilly land.
Key points:
i. The 60 minutes Short film is jointly produced by Doordarshan and Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT)
and is in a Hindi language.
ii. India’s largest public broadcasting agency, Prasar Bharati has funded the film, which will be released in Los
Angeles, California, USA(United States of America).
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony:
It will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honor the best films of
2019 and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US on February 9, 2020.
During the ceremony, AMPAS will present Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories.
Jindal Global University of Haryana receives ‘Institution of Eminence’ Status

OP Jindal Global University (JGU) of Haryana has been conferred the ‘Institution of Eminence (IOE)’ status
by the Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD) in recognition of its outstanding contribution of its
faculty, students and staff.
Key points:
i. In July 2019, London based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) gave JGU the top 150 global Universities in its World
University Rankings 2020.It was the youngest university on this list out of 50 new participants.
ii.Apart from achieving in promoting excellence and innovation, it will create new opportunities for university
expansion.
About IOE:
It was proposed by the MHRD in 2018 to establish world-class institutes in the country, as no Indian Universities
were ranked in the 2017 World University Rankings.
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It aims to help 20 higher education (10 public and 10 private) institutions from country break into top 500 global
rankings in 10 years, and then eventually break into top 100 over time.
Super 30 founder Anand Kumar honoured with Education Excellence Award 2019
Super 30 founder and noted mathematician Anand Kumar, aged 46, was awarded Education Excellence Award
2019 by the Foundation For Excellence (FFE) at the organisation’s 25th anniversary gala in San Jose,
California, United States for the contributions towards imparting education to the needy students.
i. Through the ‘Super 30’ initiative, Mr Kumar has been training 30 students free of cost for the last 18 years for
admission to India’s premier technology institutes i.e. Indian Institute of Technology- Joint Entrance Examination
(IIT-JEE).
Entrepreneur Kapil Pathare honoured with Doctorate in Business by Ballsbridge University

On September 17, 2019 Entrepreneur and author Kapil Pathare, the Director of VIP Clothing Ltd, was honoured
with Doctorate in Business from Ballsbridge University for extensive contribution to business and
entrepreneurship. The well-known entrepreneur for his iconic brand ‘VIP Innerwear’ was also awarded the
2019 Global leaders award ‘Enterprise Edition 2019’ in Dubai by Indian film director Madhur Bhandarkar for
promoting small business at International, national and regional level.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi confers the National Geoscience Awards for 2018 in Delhi
On September 19, 2019 the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Shri Pralhad Joshi conferred The
National Geoscience Awards for the year 2018 in New Delhi to 22 scientists for their outstanding contributions
in geoscience fields, mining and allied areas in the country.
Key points
i. Award areas: The awards were given in 10 disciplines covering the areas such as Mineral exploration,
Groundwater exploration, mining technology, Mineral beneficiation, Sustainable mineral development, Basic and
applied geosciences, Geo-environmental studies and Natural hazards investigation.
ii. Discussions: The geoscientific community were called upon to bring up with innovative ideas in finding
mineral resources due to its rising demand. The aim of increasing the mineral production by 200% in 7 years
through National Mineral Policy 2019 was discussed.
iii. Geophysical mapping programme: Through the National Aero-geophysical Mapping Program covering 27
lakh line km of Obvious Geological Potential by the GSI (Geological Survey of India) the mineral potential zones
are expected to be identified to lead the auctionable mineral blocks. The GSI has doubled its exploring activity
with 400 mineral projects in the current field season.
iv. Members present: Mines secretary Anil Mukhim, Shri S. N. Meshram, Director General(DG) of GSI, and other
officials were present in the event.
v. Award background:The award was first initiated in the year 1966 by the ministry of mines and has awarded
over 820 geoscientists and engineers till date.
Awards:
Name Award Awarded for
Prof. Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi,Council of Award for Global contributions in the
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Excellence field of aquatic
biogeochemical research
Dr. SohiniGanguly, Goa University Young Scientist Significant work in the fields
Award-2018 of petrology, volcanology and
geochemistry.
About Ministry of Mines:
Constituency of Prahlad Joshi- Dharwad, Karnataka.
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Rajnath Singh becomes first Indian defence minister to fly in home-built LCA Tejas from the HAL Airport,
Bengaluru
On September 19, 2019, Defence Minister of India, Mr Rajnath Singh became the first Indian defence minister to
fly (for 30 minutes) the indigenously-built light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas from the Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) Airport, also known as Hindustan Airport, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Key Points:
i. He was accompanied by Air Vice Marshal N Tiwari, who is also the Project Director, National Flight Test Centre
(NFTC), Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Bengaluru.
ii. The minister also participated in an exhibition of the products of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) which was held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
iii. The use of indigenous technology in armed forces will be 75% by 2029-30.
iv. Tejas is the smallest lightweight, multi-role, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft.
ISB Hyderabad ranked 7th globally & 1st in Asia in Forbes “Best International 1-Year Business Schools
2019” rankings; IMD Tops
The Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, Telangana whose another campus is in Mohali (Punjab), was
ranked 7th globally and 1st in Asia in the Forbes’ “Best International 1-Year Business Schools
2019” rankings. The annual Forbes’ list ranked the schools on their 5-year MBA (Master of Business
Administration) gain.
Key Points:
i. ISB had participated in the ranking for the first time .
ii. ISB’s Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) is currently ranked 24 worldwide as per the Financial
Times’ “Global MBA Rankings 2019”.
iii. Forbes surveyed more than 100 schools.
Top 5 schools:
Rank School Location

1 International Institute for Management Lausanne, Switzerland
Development (IMD)
2 Insead Fontainebleau (France) & Singapore
3 Judge Business School Cambridge, United Kingdom
4 SDA Bocconi School of Management Milan, Italy
5 Said Business School Oxford, United Kingdom
About Forbes:
♦ It is an American business magazine published bi-weekly.
♦ First published: September 15, 1917
♦ Editor in Chief: Steve Forbes
Bollywood actor Neena Gupta wins two awards at Indian International Film Festival 2019 of Boston at
Massachusetts, US
Indian actress and television director, Neena Gupta (60) of Delhi has won the two awards namely, Best Actress
award for the film ‘Badhaai Ho’ & her film “ Last Color” has won the Best Feature Film award at
Indian International Film Festival of Boston(IFFB) 2019 in John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum, Massachusetts, US(United States).
Key points:
i. The film ‘The Last Color’ is based on the widowed women in Vrindavan and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in India. It
is directed by famous chef Vikas Khanna.
ii. The first look of the film was revealed in Cannes Film Festival. It then appeared in several film festivals around
the world including the New York Indian Film Festival 2019 and the Indie Mem Film Festival 2019.
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IR’s Secunderabad station becomes 1st station to get IGBC green platinum rating
On September 18, 2019, the Secunderabad railway station of Indian Railways (IR) became the first station
awarded with green ‘Platinum rating’ by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) under the Confederation of
Indian Industries (CII) for its energy conservation initiatives and modern passenger amenities inclusion. C
Shekar Reddy, Chairman, IGBC Hyderabad, presented the IGBC plaque and certificate to Vinod Kumar Yadav,
General Manager at Secunderabad railway station in presence of PiyushGoyal, Union Minister for Railways.
Key points
i. The station has been awarded the Indian Standard Organisation (ISO) 14001-2015 Certificate- Environmental
Management system. It received the National Tourism Award 2016-2017. The station comes under
Secunderabad division of the South Central Railways (SCR) zone.
ii. Major initiatives of this railway station are Air-conditioned waiting halls equipped with CO2(carbon dioxide)
sensors, solar panel installations, station beautification, and waste management etc.
Home ministry announces new ‘Sardar Patel National Unity Award’ for promoting national integration
and unity
On September 20, 2019 the union home ministry announced a new honour on the Padma awards pattern named
theSardar Patel National Unity Award to individuals and persons for promoting national unity and integrity.
The award was first instituted by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in December 2018. The name of the
recipients of the award will be maintained under President’s direction and published in Gazette of India.
Key points
i. Eligibility: Any person irrespective of race, occupation, sex is eligible for the award. It may also be given
posthumously only in highly deserving and rase case scenarios.
ii. Award features: The decoration will be in shape of lotus leaf, with length 6cms and breadth 2cms. The
decoration which will be made of fine silver and gold would be of thickness 4mm. On the other side of the medal,
replica of lotus with petals will be embossed. ‘Sardar Patel National Unity Award’ will also be written in Hindi.
The decoration will be worn by men on the left breast , suspended from plain lotus tri-colour ribbon one and four
centimeters in width and by women with same features fashioned in a bow.
iii. Portrait: Patel’s portrait will be embossed on a circular shaped gold metal of 2cm diameter, with the reverse
side embossed with state emblem and motto in hindi. The inscription will be in gold and the emblem, lotus and
petals will be in silver plated with gold.
iv. Award miniature:The miniature of the decoration that could be worn on certain occasions will be half the
size of the award. A sealed pattern of the miniature shall be deposited and kept.
v. Cancellation of award: The president has the right to cancel the award to any person, and in such case, that
person’s name will be erased from the register and he/she or the institution/organisation would have to
surrender the award back.
About Sardar Vallabhai Patel:
♦ He was a freedom fighter whose contribution mainly lies in the unity of the nation.
♦ He served as the first deputy prime minister of India.
♦ The govthonoured him with his statue named ‘statue of unity’ which is now the world’s tallest statue near
sardarsarovar dam in Gujarat.
IIT Bombay tops the Indian institutes, and MIT overall, in 2020 QS Graduate Employability Rankings
On September 19, 2019, in the latest QS(Quacquarelli Symonds) Graduate Employability Rankings 2020, the
Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Bombay topped all the Indian institutes in the list with band ranking 111-
120, which is now up from 141-150 of the year 2018. The other two best ranked Indian institutes are IIT Delhi at
band ranking 151-160 and IIT Madras at band ranking 171-180.The Birla Institute of Science and Technology
(BITS) Pilani, Rajasthan, for the first time entered the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020 in the 201-250
band ranking. The list was topped overall by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States (US).
Key points
i. Other rankings: Globally, IIT Madras ranks 3rd in terms of ‘graduate employment rate indicator’, University of
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Delhi ranks 20th in ‘alumni outcomes’, BITs ranks 72nd in ‘employer-student connection indicator’.
ii. The ranking covers 500 universities globally under a unique five-metric method to rank them. Out of 15 Indian
institutes that participated in the list, only 10 made it to the publishing list.
Kerala tourism wins 3 awards in 2019 PATA gold awards in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
On September 18, 2019, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) awards for the year 2019 was held in Nur-
Sultan (Astana), the capital of Kazakhstan. The Kerala tourism has won 3 PATA gold awards at the event and the
awards are given for an ethnic food restaurant run by women at Kumarakom(Kerala) under its Responsible
Tourism(RT) mission, for Kerala tourism campaign advertisement ‘Come Out and Play’ and the third one was for
its website www.keralatourism.org
Key points
i. The award was received by state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran and Tourism Director P Bala
Kiran from Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macau Govt. tourism office and Dr Mario Hardy, Chief
Executive Officer(CEO) of PATA, during the PATA Travel Mart(PTM) 2019.
ii. The ad campaign was designed by Invis Multimedia and run by Stark Communication.
iii. This year(2019), Kerala Tourism won the highest number of PATA awards in South Asia region.
iv. Recently in July 2019, “Find the Incredible You” campaign under Incredible India campaign was declared the
winner of PATA gold award 2019 for “Marketing – Primary Government Destination” category.
Reliance Industries becomes the most valued domestic firm in market capitalisation surpassing TCS
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the most valued domestic firm in market capitalisation (m-cap) by
surpassing Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). RIL’s m-cap stood at Rs 7,95,179.62 crore at the close of trade on
September 20, 2019 while that of TCS stood at Rs 7,75,092.58 crore.
The top 5 most valued firms by m-cap are as follows:
1 RIL
2 TCS
3 HDFC Bank (Rs 6,56,546.37 crore)
4 Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Rs 4,26,467.98 crore)
5 HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd) (Rs 3,54,270.94 crore)
India’s IMPS rated as the world’s best real-time payment service in 6th annual Flavours of Fast report for
2019 by FIS
The Jacksonville, United States (US) based research firm Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) in
its 6th annual Flavours of Fast report for 2019 rated India’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) as the
world’s best real-time payment service in comparison to the similar facilities of 54 countries. It received the
only 5+ rating. It is rated highest in FIS’s ‘Faster Payments Innovation Index 2019’.
Key Points:
i. Australia, Denmark, Poland, Romania, Singapore, and Sweden received a 4+ rating.
ii. India witnessed a 10-fold increase in value and 8-fold increase in transaction volumes through IMPS in 2018.
iii .25 crore people in India still do not have phones and there are less than 40 lakh POS (Point of Sales) devices.
iv. Real-time payments systems have increased 35% globally in 2018 and nearly four-fold since 2014.
v. Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and QR (Quick Response) codes are the digital payment alternatives in India.
About IMPS:
It is an instant payment inter-bank electronic funds transfer system in India founded on 22 November 2010. It is
managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
Zoya Akhtar’s film ‘Gully Boy’ gets Oscar 2020 entry

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt starrer film ‘Gully Boy’ has been nominated for the Oscar
2020 Film Awards from India. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film has been sent for an Oscar for the Best
International Feature Film category.
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Key points:
i. The story of the film was inspired by the life of rap artists, Naezy and Divine, who have come out of the narrow
streets of Dharavi to realize their dream of becoming rappers. In February 2019, the film had earned Rs 134
crore in domestic box office collections upon release.
ii. The names of the films like Uri-The Surgical Strike, Kesari, Badhaai Ho, Article 15 and Andhadhun were being
considered by India to be sent at the Oscars Awards. But now ‘Gully Boy’ has been finalized.
iii. Gully Boy received the Best Film Award at the 10th edition of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2019
at iconic Palais Theatre in Melbourne, Australia.
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony:
It will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honor the best films of
2019 and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US on February 9, 2020.
During the ceremony, AMPAS will present Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories.
Ladakhi Shondol dance ,the royal dance of Ladakh creates history by entering into the Guinness book of
world records
Shondol dance, which is best known as the royal dance used to be performed by artists for King of Ladakh, has
created history by entering into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Ladakhi dance.
Key points:
i. On the occasion of 4 days long (September 16- 20, 2019) annual Naropa Festival 2019 themed
‘Environmental sustainability of Ladakh and the Himalayan region’, as many as 408 women attired in traditional
dresses and beautiful headgears performed the dance, which broke the previous record of 299 artists dance of
Shondol in the 2018 festival.
ii. The event was held on the concluding day of the ongoing Buddhist carnival Naropa festival near the Hemis
Monastery in Ladakh & was organized by the Live to Love India, Drukpa Charitable Trust and Young Drukpa
Association.
iii. The festival focuses on end use of plastics & also sensitise the leaders of religious community on plastic waste
management and recycling process.
iv. Naropa Festival : Celebrated every 12th year of the Tibetan calendar, the Naropa festival, also known as the
‘Kumbh Mela of the Himalayas’ to celebrate the life of Buddhist philosopher and scholar Naropa. people from
across the Himalayas celebrate the life of Naropa in their traditional ways with singing and cultural events.
Overview of 71st Primetime Emmy Awards for 2019 held at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los
Angeles, California, US
The 71st Edition of Primetime Emmy Awards for 2019 was held at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los
Angeles, California, United States (US) on September 22, 2019. This ceremony was preceded by the 71st
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards which was held on September 14 and 15, 2019.
Key Points:
i. The awards were presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
ii. They were given to the best in the US prime time television programming and individual achievement from
June 1, 2018 until May 31, 2019.
iii. The ceremony was broadcasted in the US by Fox Broadcasting Company and produced by Don Mischer
Productions and Done+Dusted. A total of 27 awards were presented.
iv. Fleabag, a British comedy-drama television show created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, won the
most awards with 4.
v. The nominations were announced by D’Arcy Carden and Ken Jeong on July 16, 2019 and Game of Thrones
(HBO) topped the nominations list with 14.
vii. Actor Billy Porter for his role “Pose” in Episode: “Love Is the Message” became the first openly gay, black man
to receive the outstanding Lead Actor in drama.
vii. The International Emmy Awards, which are awarded for Excellence in television programming outside the
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U.S, will be presented by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) on November 25,
2019 in New York City.
List of Winners:
Category Winner
Outstanding Comedy Series Fleabag (Prime Video)
Outstanding Drama Series Game of Thrones (HBO-Home Box Office)
Outstanding Limited Series Chernobyl (HBO)
Outstanding Television Movie Bandersnatch (Black Mirror) (Netflix)
Outstanding Variety Talk Series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series Saturday Night Live (NBC-National Broadcasting
Company)
Outstanding Competition Program RuPaul’s Drag Race (VH1- Video Hits One)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Bill Hader on Barry (Episode: “The Truth Has a Ring to
It”) (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Fleabag (Episode: “Episode
Series 1”) (Prime Video)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Billy Porter on Pose (Episode: “Love Is the Message”)
(FX)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Jodie Comer on Killing Eve (Episode: “I Hope You Like
Missionary!”) (BBC-British Broadcasting Corporation
America)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series Jharrel Jerome on When They See Us (Netflix)
or Movie
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Michelle Williams on Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Series or Movie
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Tony Shalhoub on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Series (Episode: “We’re Going to the Catskills!”) (Prime
Video)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Alex Borstein on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode:
Comedy Series “Vote for Kennedy, Vote for Kennedy”) (Prime Video)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones (Episode: “The
Series Iron Throne”) (HBO)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Julia Garner on Ozark (Episode: “The Gold Coast”)
Series (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Ben Whishaw on A Very English Scandal (Episode:
Series or Movie “Episode 3”) (Prime Video)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Patricia Arquette on The Act (Episode: “Teeth”) (Hulu)
Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Fleabag (Episode: “Episode 1”), Directed by Harry
Bradbeer (Prime Video)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Ozark (Episode: “Reparations”), Directed by Jason
Bateman (Netflix)
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Chernobyl, Directed by Johan Renck (HBO)
Movie, or Dramatic Special
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series Saturday Night Live (Episode: “Host: Adam Sandler”),
Directed by Don Roy King (NBC)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Fleabag (Episode: “Episode 1”), Written by Phoebe
Waller-Bridge (Prime Video)
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Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series Succession (Episode: “Nobody Is Ever Missing”),
Written by Jesse Armstrong (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Chernobyl, Written by Craig Mazin (HBO)
Movie, or Dramatic Special
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
About ATAS:
♦ Founded: 1946
♦ Headquarters: North Hollywood, California, US
Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam wins ‘Magnificent performing arts award 2019’ at 21st century
icon award ceremony held in UK
Bollywood’s famous playback singer Sonu Nigam (46) of Faridabad, Haryana was awarded the ‘Magnificent
Performing Arts Award 2019‘ at the annual ’21st Century Icon Awards’ held in London, United Kingdom (UK).
Key points:
i. Sonu was among the winners of various categories in a grandly organized ceremony held in UK, which was
chosen from among hundreds of entrepreneurs and successful nominees from all over the world. Nominations
were made from 22 countries.
ii. The panel of 3 judges , who met at the London Stock Exchange in August 2019 to decide on the final 18
winners. They are,
• Sandip Verma (British Indian peer Baroness)
• Ibukun Adebayo (London Stock Exchange’s International Markets Unit)
• Denise Lewis (former British Olympic champion)
List of other winners:
S.No Name of the award Winner
1 Outstanding Media and Kalli Purie (Vice-Chairperson of India Today Group)
Entertainment Award
2 Specialist Professional Award Charlotte Crosswell (CEO of Innovate Finance UK)
3 Inspirational Icon Award Asha De Vos (Marine Biologist, Ocean Educator and Pioneer
Blue Whale Research within Indian Ocean)
4 Competitive Sports Award Rachael Burford (Rugby Player and Founder of Burford
Academy UK)
About 21st Century Icon Awards:
These awards has been instituted by Indian-origin entrepreneurs based in Britain and co-founders of Squad
Watermelon Limited, Tarun Ghulati and Preeti Rana. This year (2019) around 700 nominations were received
for the award, out of which 44 were selected for the final round.
NDTV’s Ravish Kumar awarded 1st Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award 2019 in Bengaluru, Karnataka
Ravish Kumar (44) of Motihari, Bihar , an Indian TV anchor, writer, journalist and the Managing Editor of NDTV
India, the Hindi news channel of the NDTV (New Delhi Television Limited ) news network , has received the
1st Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award 2019 by the Gauri Lankesh Memorial Trust ( which is founded in
memory of the journalist, Gauri Lankesh) in Bengaluru , Karnataka.
Key points:
i. He was selected for this prestigious award in recognition of his sharp news analysis and uncompromising
secular stance. On August 2, 2019, he was awarded 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, regarded as the Asian
version of the Nobel Prize.
ii. A total of 3 books were launched at the Award giving ceremony, entitled ‘Delhi Nota’ by senior journalist D
Umapathi, Ravish Kumar’s ‘Free Voices’ translated as ‘Maatige Enu Kadime’, and ‘Neera Nade’ by Prof Vinaya
Okkunda.
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Overview of FIFA Football Awards 2019 held in Teatroalla Scala in Milan, Italy
On September 23, 2019, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) which is called as
International Federation of Association Football in english conducted the FIFA Football Awards 2019 held in
Teatroalla Scala in Milan, Italy. The awards are briefed below.
Lionel Messi wins Best Men’s Player of the Year for the first time
Argentinian football player Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini, commonly known as Lionel Messi won 2019 Best
FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award for the first time after the award’s revival. He also recently won the
European Golden Shoe for the sixth time after scoring 36 league goals in 2018/19. It is the sixth time Messi has
been voted the world’s best, after wins in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Megan Rapinoe has won The Best FIFA Women’s Player award
American soccer player Megan Rapinoe won the Best FIFA Women’s Player award 2019 for the first time. Megan
led the team for second successive triumph at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by France.
Other awards:
Award for coach:
• Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp was awarded The Best FIFA Men’s coach for the year 2019.
• American women’s national team Coach Jill Ellis won The Best FIFA Women’s coach for the year 2019.
Her coaching led American team to win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Award for goalkeeping:
• Brazilian footballer Alisson Becker was awarded the Best FIFA Men’s goalkeeper for 2019. He led the
team to win the 2019 Copa America cup.
• Dutch football player Sari van Veenendaalwon the Best FIFA Women’s goalkeeper award for 2019.Her
performances throughout the tournament at France in the 2019 FIFA world cup earned her the adidas
Golden Glove award.
FIFA Puskás Award: Hungarian footballer Daniel Zsori won the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award. The award is given to
players irrespective of the gender for having scored the most beautiful goal of the calendar year.
FIFA fan award: The 2019 FIFA fan award was given to Silvia Grecco. Silvia was awarded for taking her blind
son Nikolas to the stadium and explaining the match scenario thus developing a bond with the game.
FIFA fair play award: Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad were given the 2019 FIFA fair play award.
Awards:
Award Winner Football Club(FC)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player Lionel Messi (Argentina) Barcelona FC
The Best FIFA Women’s Player Megan Rapinoe (America) Reign FC
The Best FIFA Men’s coach JurgenKlopp (Germany) Liverpool FC
The Best FIFA Women’s coach Jill Ellis (America) –
Best FIFA Men’s goalkeeper Alisson Becker (Brazil) Liverpool FC
The Best FIFA Women’s goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands) Atlético Madrid
Femenino
FIFA Puskás Award Daniel Zsori (Hungary) Fehérvár FC
FIFA fan Award Silvia Grecco –
FIFA fair play award Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United –
squad
About FIFA:
Founded- 21 May 1904.
Headquarters- Zürich, Switzerland.
Motto- For the Game. For the World.
Infosys tops Indian companies in Forbes’ World’s best ‘regarded’ companies list 2019, Visa tops
On September 24, 2019, nearly 17 Indian companies were listed in the Forbes World’s best ‘regarded’
companies list 2019. The company which topped among other Indian firms is Infosys which ranked third in
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the overall list. The first and second place were held by global payments technology company Visa and Italian
car-maker Ferrari respectively.
Key points
i. Infosys which tops among the Indian companies, was ranked at 31st position in 2018.
ii. Indian firms in the top 50 list: Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) ranking 22nd and Tata Motors ranking (31)
featured among the top 50 in the coveted list.
iii. Other Indian companies: Other Indian companies which were ranked in the list were Tata Steel at 105th
rank, Larsen & Toubro- 115th rank, Mahindra & Mahindra- 117th rank , HDFC-135th, Bajaj Finserv- 143th,
Piramal Enterprises-149th, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)- 153th,Hindustan Computers Limited( HCL)
Technologies-155th, Hindalco Industries-157th, Wipro-168th, HDFC Bank- 204th, Sun Pharma Industries- 217th,
General Insurance Corporation Of India(GIC)-224th, Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited (ITC)-231st and
Asian Paints at 248th rank.
iv. The data was gathered by Statista that surveyed 15,000 respondents from more than 50 countries.
The top firms in the list are as follows:
Rank company
1 Visa
2 Ferrari
3 Infosys
4 Netflix
5 PayPal
6 Microsoft
Rank Indian company
22 TCS
31 Tata Motors
About Forbes:
♦ Editor-in-chief- Steve Forbes.
♦ Headquarters- Jersey City, New Jersey,America.
Mukesh Ambani is the richest person in India with wealth of Rs 3.8 lakh crore: 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 a wealth of Rs 3.8 lakh
crore for the eighth straight year.
Key Points:
i. London based SP Hinduja and family (Rs 1.86 lakh crore), Wipro founder Azim Premji (Rs 1.17 lakh crore), LN
Mittal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ArcelorMittal (Rs 1.07 lakh crore) secured the second, third
and fourth positions respectively.
ii. Ritesh Agarwal, aged 25, of Oyo Rooms with the net worth of Rs 7,500 crore is the youngest self made
entrepreneur.
iii. The wealthiest person under 40 years (age) is Divyank Turakhia (37) of Media.net.
iv. Roshni Nadar (37) of HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited) technologies emerged as the richest woman
followed by Smita V Crishna (68) of Godrej Group with a net worth of Rs 31,400 crore.
v. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon emerged as the richest self-made woman in India with a net worth of Rs
18,500 crore.
vi. The list evaluated the wealth status of 953 individuals.
vii. The list had entrants from 63 cities and Mumbai had the largest number of entrants with 246, followed by
New Delhi (175) and Bengaluru (77).
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A 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg wins 2019 Right Livelihood Award
On September 23, 2019, 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.
Key points:
i. 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) .
ii. Each awardee has received 1 million SEK- Swedish krona (94,000 EUR).
iii. Thunberg lashed out at all the leaders of the world during her speech at the United Nations Summit at the
United Nations (UN) in New York, United States (US) on september 23, 2019.
Right Livelihood Award
It 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.
The Right Livelihood Foundation has presented this award.
Greta Thunberg
♦ She is best known for initiating a movement, “Fridays for Future”, a climate movement that formed in
November 2018.
♦ She began protesting outside the Swedish parliament about the need for immediate action to combat climate
change in August 2018.
♦ In March 2019, three members of the Norwegian parliament nominated Thunberg for the Nobel Peace Prize.
UK mathematician Adam Harper wins the 2019 SASTRA Ramanujan prize

On September 25, 2019 mathematician and assistant professor of the University of Warwick, England, Adam
Harper, from the United Kingdom(UK) won the SASTRA Ramanujan prize for 2019. He will be awarded with a
citation and an award of $10,000. The award is given to people under the age of 32 working in the area
influenced by mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Key points
i. The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA)-Ramanujan award was first
instituted in 2005 by SASTRA University. The previous awardees were Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh
where they later went on to win the Fields Medal awarded to mathematicians.
ii. The award will be given every year on the birth anniversary of Ramanujam i.e. December 22, by SASTRA
University.
India’s former athlete PT Usha honoured with Veteran Pin by IAAF in 52nd IAAF Congress in Doha, Qatar
On September 25, 2019, 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.
Key points
i. 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.
Amitabh Bachchan unanimously selected for Dadasaheb Phalke award 2019

On September 24, 2019 the Union minister of information and broadcasting Shri Prakash Javadekar announced
that Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was selected for the 2019 Dadasaheb 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.
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Key points
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.
About DadasahebPhalke Award:
♦ The award is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals
under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
♦ First awarded year- 1969.
♦ First winner- Devika Rani.
Pooja Desai from Gujarat crowned as Mrs India 2019

On September 8, 2019, Pooja Desai from Vadodara, Gujarat 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. she is
the first from Gujarat to win this title.
Key points:
i. The housewife, Desai, appeared victorious after competing with over 4,500 contestants across the country.
ii. Saloni Bhakri from Maharashtra also crowned Mrs. India – Pride of Nation 2019 in a different category.
iii. Presented by Glamour Gurgaon, the third edition aimed towards creating breast cancer awareness.
iv.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.
HDFC Bank retains the top spot in India’s Most Valuable Brand for the 6th consecutive year: WPP and
Kantar Millward Brown report 2019
As per the report, “BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2019 ranking” released by WPP and
Kantar Millward Brown, HDFC Bank (Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited) was declared the
country’s most valuable brand for the sixth consecutive year with the brand value of $ 22.70 billion (1.61 lakh
crore rupees). LIC ( Life Insurance Corporation of India) stood at number two with a brand value of Rs 1.43 lakh
crore.
Key points:
i. The aggregate value of the top 75 brands rose to $228.2 billion, increasing at a moderate 6 % against 2018, far
slower than 34 % recorded in 2017.
ii. Other companies at top 10: Kotak Mahindra Bank came in at number six followed by Asian Paints (7th).Maruti
Suzuki slipped from 6th to 8th. Jio’s brand value grew by 34% in the last one year & ranked number 9 on the
list.It Ranked 10thin 2018. ICICI bank (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India)got the 10th place in
the chart.
Top 5 Valuable Brands of the Country
Rank Brand Category Brand value (Rupees) Change in
value
1 HDFC bank Bank 1.61 Lakh Crore + 5%
2 LIC Insurance 1.43 Lakh Crore + 2%
3 TCS (Tata Consultancy Technology 1.29 Lakh Crore + 21%
Services)
4 Airtel Telecom 72,988 Crore -10%
5 SBI (State Bank of India) Bank 59,640 crores + 7%
About the BrandZ top 75Most Valuable Indian Brands Ranking :
It was commissioned by WPP(a British multinational advertising and public relations company). The valuation
behind the brands was conducted by brand equity research experts Kantar.
About HDFC bank:
♦ Founded :August 1994
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♦ Headquarters :Mumbai, Maharashtra

♦ Managing Director :Aditya Puri
♦ Tagline: We Understand Your World
About WPP:
♦ Founded: 1971
♦ Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
♦ Chief Executive Officer :Mark Read
Rajasthan’s Payal Jangir becomes the first Indian to receive the Changemaker Award 2019
Rajasthan’s Payal Jangir, aged 17, became the first Indian to receive the Changemaker Award 2019 at the
Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards 2019 presented by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at a ceremony held
in New York, United States.
Key Points:
i. She hails from Hinsla village, Rajasthan and was awarded for her work towards the abolition of child marriage
in her village and other neighboring areas.
ii. She is the President of her village’s Children’s Parliament (Bal Panchayat).
iii. Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi was also conferred with Global Goalkeeper’ Award 2019 by Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA).
Infosys receives UN global climate action award 2019 in ‘climate neutral now’ category
On September 26, 2019, The Indian multinational corporation, Infosys Limited has won the United Nations
(UN) Global Climate Action Award 2019 in the ‘Climate Neutral Now’ category for its efforts to combat
climate change. It will be given this award during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Santiago, Chile
in December 2019.
Key points:
i. Infosys is the only company from India in whose name for award has been announced by UN Secretary General
Antnio Guterres after the UN Climate Summit in New York convened.
ii. Through its carbon offset drive, Infosys has implemented energy efficiency proceedings and transitioned to
renewable energy for all its electricity needs. Since 2008, It has decreased its per capita energy consumption by
over 51 %. It has made a voluntary commitment to the United Nations to become carbon neutral in 2011.
iii. Recently, Infosys has been ranked 3rd in the list of world’s most prestigious companies for 2019 by the famous
American magazine Forbes.
About Infosys:
♦ Headquarters :Bangalore, Karnataka
♦ Chief Executive Officer(CEO) & Managing Director (MD) : Salil S. Parekh
About UN:
♦ Headquarters :New York City
CIAL ranked as the best airport in terms of customer satisfaction for the year 2018: ACI Survey
In a survey conducted by Airport Council International (ACI), Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) at
Kochi, Kerala was named as the best airport in terms of services it offered to passengers for the year 2018. It
stood at the top spot in 5-15 million passenger category among the airports in the Asia-Pacific region.
Key Points:
i. The award was conferred at the 2nd annual ACI Customer Experience Global Summit held at Bali, Indonesia.
ii. The annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards by ACI ranks and awards the best airports in the world based
on ASQ departure survey.
iii. ASQ is the only global airport survey based on measuring passengers’ satisfaction taken while they are at the
airport.
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President of India, Shri Ram NathKovind awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes 2019
On September 26, 2019, the president of India Shri Ram NathKovind, presented the 2019 Shanti Swarup
Bhatnagar Prizes on the occasion of 77th Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Foundation Day in
New Delhi. This award is the highest multidisciplinary science award in India given to people engaged in science
and technology. This year, a total of 12 Indians were presented the award in 7 different fields.
Awardees:
Awarded field Awardee
Biological Sciences Dr. KayaratSai Krishnan, Indian Institute of Science Education and
Research(IISER), Pune. & Dr. SoumenBasak, National Institute of
Immunology (NII), New Delhi
Chemical Sciences Dr. Raghavan B Sunoj, India Institute of Technology(IIT), Bombay & Dr.
Tapas Kumar Maji, Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific
Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru
Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean Dr. Subimal Ghosh, IIT, Bombay
and Planetary Sciences
Engineering Sciences Dr. Manik Varma, Microsoft Research(MSR) India, Bengaluru.
Mathematical Sciences Dr. DishantMayur Bhai Pancholi Institute of Mathematical
Sciences(IMSc), Chennai
Dr. Neena Gupta, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata
Medical Sciences Dr. Dhiraj Kumar, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology(ICGEB), New Delhi.
Dr. Mohammad Javed Ali, LV Prasad Eye Institute(LVPEI), Hyderabad
Physical Sciences Dr. Aninda Sinha, Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bengaluru.
Dr. Shankar Ghosh, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR),
Mumbai
About Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Award:
♦ The award is given since 1958 as an honour to founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial
Research (CSIR) India, the late Dr (Sir) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and hence the award name ‘Shanti Swarup
Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Science and Technology’.
♦ Award: The award comprises a citation and a plaque, and a cash award of Rs 5 lakhs. In addition to it,
recipients get Rs 15,000 per month up to the age of 65 years.
♦ OCI and PIO eligibility: Any overseas citizen of India (OCI) and persons of Indian origin (PIO) working in India
and engaged in research in the field of science and technology up to the age of 45 years are eligible for the award.
Archeologist Dr. G. B. Deglurkar conferred with 31st Punyabhushan Award for 2019
The Vice President of India Mr Venkaiah Naidu presented 31st Punyabhushan Award for 2019 to eminent
Archeologist, Dr. G.B. Deglurkar in recognition of his immense contribution in the field of Archaeology during
the ceremony held in Pune, Maharashtra. The event was organised by Pune based Punyabhushan Foundation.
Key Points:
i. The award comprised of Rs.1 lakh cash and a memento showing young Shivaji Maharaj ploughing the land in
Pune with a gold hoe.
ii. Other honours: Injured war heroes and matyr’s mothers Mrs Lata Nair, Rifle Man Thansingh, Grenade Man
Balbir Singh, Naik Phoolsingh, Havaldar Pramod Sapkal and Havaldar Govind Biradar were also felicitated during
the event.
iii. Other members present: The Founder of Sancheti Hospital, Dr. K.H. Sancheti, the Founder of Symbiosis
International University, Dr. S.B. Majumdar, eminent classical vocalist, Dr. Prabha Atre, former Captain of Indian
Cricket Team, Shri Chandrakant Borde, the President, Punyabhushan Foundation, Dr. Satish Desai were among
the dignitaries present during the ceremony.
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About Punyabhushan Award:

It is awarded every year to an eminent personality from the field of art, music, culture, science, industry, social
service, or sports. It was first awarded in 1989.
Venkaiah Naidu conferred Telugu poet K Siva Reddy with 28th Saraswati Samman award 2018
On September 28, 2019, The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has honored the Telugu litterateur Dr. K
Siva Reddy with the 28th Saraswati Samman 2018 for the creation of his famous poetry collection ‘Pakkaki
Ottigilite’ (Turning aside while lying down) in 2016 during an award-giving ceremony organized by the KK
Birla Foundation in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. The selection council of KK Birla Samman, jury (Chayan Parishad), or selection committee, which includes
renowned scholars and writers and was headed by constitutionalist Subhash Kashyap, selected Dr. Reddy, who
has enriched Telugu literature through compositions of 23 poems.
About Saraswati Samman:
The prestigious Saraswati Samman instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation, is awarded every year for
significant contribution in the field of literature related to any of the 22 languages of India included in the Eighth
Schedule of the Constitution. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 15lakh, a citation and a plaque.
About Pakkaki Ottigilite:
It is an anthology of 104 poems in blank verse (a poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines)
published in 2016.
About KK Birla Foundation :
It was established in 1991 by Krishna Kumar (K K) Birla in Delhi. It has instituted three awards in the field of
literature to honour writers. Besides the Saraswati Samman, these are the Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari
Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).
Scientist Thanu Padmanabhan receives 2019 MP Birla Memorial Award

On September 29, 2019 Scientist Thanu Padmanabhan (Physicist) received 2019 M P Birla Memorial
Award for his contributions in the field of cosmology. The award was given in M P Birla Planetarium in Kolkata,
West Bengal. The award that comprises a citation, a trophy and a cheque for Rs 2,51,000 was given by H V Lodha,
Chairman of Madhav Prasad(MP) Birla Group.
Key points
i. During the event, ThanuPadmanabhan also gave a lecture on ’Gravity and the Cosmos’, about the role gravity
has played in shaping the Universe.
ii. Thanu is currently serving as a professor of Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune,
Maharashtra. He had received 1996 Shanti SwarupBhatnagar Prize, Padma Shri award in 2007, INSA(Indian
National Science Academy)Young Scientists Award etc.
iii. The previous awardees of the 1993 instituted MP Birla Memorial Award were former President Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam, Prof JV Narlikar, Prof Ashok Sen, Prof GovindSwarup, Prof K Kasturirangan etc
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Govt accepts the resignation of SBI’s MD Anshula Kant, following her appointment as MD and CFO of the
World Bank
On September 1, 2019, The Central Government has accepted the resignation of Anshula Kant, Managing
Director (MD) of State Bank of India (SBI). This comes after her appointment as the MD and Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) of World Bank Group.
Key points:
i. Anshula is from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. She is a graduate in Economic Honours from Lady Shri Ram College
for Women and a Post-Graduate in Economics from Delhi School of Economics.
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ii. She has more than 35 years of expertise in finance, banking will be responsible for financial and risk
management of the World Bank Group. She will also have to work closely with the World Bank CEO on the
mobilization of the International Development Association (IDA) of WB and other financial resources.
iii. She joined SBI in 1983 as a probationary officer (PO) and also worked as the Deputy MD of Operations for
National Banking Group. She has been a Managing Director and member of the Board since September 2018.
About SBI:
♦ Chairman: Shri Rajnish Kumar
♦ Tagline: The Nation banks on us; Pure Banking Nothing Else; With you all the way
About World Bank:
♦ Headquarters: Washington, D.C, U.S.
♦ President: David Malpass
♦ Chief Executive Officer: Kristalina Georgieva
IPS Vivek Kumar Johri takes over as Director-General of BSF

On August 31, 2019, Vivek Kumar (V.K) Johri, a 1984-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Madhya
Pradesh cadre took charge as the 25th Director General (DG) of the country’s primary border defence
organization, BSF (Border Security Force). He succeeds Rajni Kant Misra, who retired on August 31, 2019.
Key points:
i. Johri will attain superannuation on September 2020. He is an Engineering graduate from Maulana Azad
National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
ii. He worked as the Special Secretary in the external intelligence agency RAW(Research and Analysis Wing),
under the Cabinet Secretariat.
iii. On July 29, 2019, he was appointed as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Union home ministry.
iv. Mishra, an IPS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, took over as the BSF DG on October 2018.
About BSF:
♦ Motto: Duty Unto Death
♦ It is the largest Border Guarding Force of the world having the strength of over 2.6 lakh brave personnel,
protecting the International Borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
President appoints 5 new Governors

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind on August 31st, 2019 has appointed 5 new governors namely
Dr.Tamilisai Soundararajan, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Kalraj Mishra, Arif Mohammed Khan and Bandaru Dattatreya
for Telangana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
Key points
i. Tamilisai Soundararajan: She is appointed as the governor of Telangana. She is the former Tamilnadu chief
of the BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party) and its National secretary. The governor post was preceded by ESL
Narasimhan who was the Governor of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP) after its Bifurcation since 2014.
He is also recently replaced by Biswabhusan Harichandan as AP governor.
ii. Bhagat Singh Koshyari: He was the former Chief Minister(CM) of Uttarakhand (2nd CM), who also served as
National Vice President of BJP and party’s 1st State president in the state. He is now appointed as the governor
of Maharashtra succeeding VidyaSagar Rao whose 5-year term comes to an end.
iii. Kalraj Mishra: He is appointed as the Governor of Rajasthan replacing Kalyan Singh. He served as former
union minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) under Prime Minister Modi’s first government.
Prior to his appointment he served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
iv. Arif Mohammed Khan: He is appointed as the Governor of Kerala replacing P Sadhasivam (former chief
justice of india) whose 5-year term comes to an end. He served as Former civil aviation minister.
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v. Bandaru Dattatreya: He is appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh replacing Kalraj Mishra. He
previously served as the national vice-president of the BJP, labour&employment minister, and also as a Member
of Parliament
State New governor Preceded by
Telangana Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan E S L Narasimhan
Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari Vidya Sagar Rao
Rajasthan Kalraj Mishra Kalyan Singh
Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan P Sathasivam
Himachal Pradesh Bandaru Dattatreya Kalraj Mishra
Oleksiy Honcharuk named as a new prime minister of Ukraine

Ukrainian parliament of the 9th convocation appointed Oleksiy Honcharuk, a 35-year-old practicing lawyer, of
the political party Servant of the People, as the 17th Prime Minister of Ukraine. His nomination was
presented to the Ukrainian Parliament by its President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Mr Honcharuk, Ukraine’s
youngest ever head of government, succeeded Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman.
Key Points:
i. His candidacy was supported by 290 MPs (Members of Parliament) out of 419 members.
ii. He was a freelance adviser to the former First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Economic Development and
Trade of Ukraine, Stepan Kubiv and headed the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).
iii. He was appointed as the deputy head of the President’s Office for Economic Affairs in May 2019.
Manoj Mukund Naravane Takes Charge As VC Of Army Staff

On September 1, 2019 Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane took over as the new Vice chief of Army
staff (VCOAS) replacing Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu who was superannuated on August 31, 2019.
Key points
i. Awards: Naravane has been awarded Param Vishisht Seva Medal (2019), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (2017), Sena
Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal (2015) for his services.
ii. Naravane is expected to succeed Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat who is se to retire by the end of
December.
About Indian Army(IA):
♦ Commander-in-Chief- President Ram NathKovind.
♦ Motto- “Service Before Self”.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan Takes Charge As Eastern Army Commander

On September 1, 2019 Lt General Anil Chauhan took over as Eastern Army commander replacing
ManojMukundNaravane who took over as vice chief of the army staff(VCOAS).
Anil Chauhan was given a traditional Guard of Honour at Fort William, Kolkata and he took charge with a wreath
laying ceremony at Eastern Command War memorial at Kolkata’s fort William paying tribute to the fallen
soldiers.
Key points
i. Prior to joining as Eastern army commander, Anil Chauhan served as the Director-General of Military
Operations(DGMO) in New Delhi.
Paytm Money promotes Pravin Jadhav as its MD and CEO

On September 1, 2019, Paytm Money has promoted Pravin Jadhav as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO). Prior to this, Jadhav was in the position of full-time director.
Key points:
i. The company also plans to invest Rs 250 crore in the next 2 years as it is expected to start a new business
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including share bronzing, NPS(National Pension Scheme) in the financial year 20(FY 2019-20).
ii. Praveen has made Paytm Money as the largest mutual fund investment platform in India. Prior to Paytm
Money, he has worked with Rivify and Rediff.com.
iii. Paytm Money is a wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications, the company operating Paytm.
About Paytm:
♦ Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh
♦ Founded: 2010
♦ Founder: Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Sanjiv Ranjan concurrently becomes next Indian ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador
On September 2, 2019 Shri Sanjiv Ranjan, who is the present Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia,
has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Ecuador, with residence in
Bogota (high altitude capital of Columbia). He succeeded Ravi Bangar.
Key points
Sanjiv who is a 1993 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, previously served as Deputy high commissioner of
India to Mauritius from 2006 till 2009. Prior to this post, he was serving as Ambassador of India to Argentina
with concurrent accreditation to Uruguay and Paraguay.
Shri Jaideep Sarkar concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Kingdom of
Lesotho
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India(GoI) Shri Jaideep Sarkar, a 1987 batch Indian
Foreign Service (IFS) officer has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the
Kingdom of Lesotho, with residence in Pretoria. He succeeds Ms. Ruchi Ghanashyam.
Key points:
i. He presently served as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of South Africa.
ii. He also worked in Indian Missions in Tokyo, Seoul, and Bangladesh as well.
Dr. B. Bala Bhaskar is the next newly appointed Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Norway
On September 6, 2019, The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of the Government of India, appointed Dr. B. Bala
Bhaskar as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Norway. He is the Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
officer of 1993 batch. He succeeds Mr. Krishan Kumar.
ICC appoints Jonathan Hall as its General Counsel and Company Secretary
The International Cricket Council (ICC) appointed Jonathan Hall as its General Counsel and Company
Secretary who will take up the responsibility in mid-September 2019. He has legal experience of 27 years.
Key Points:
i. Priorly, he worked for The Football Association (The FA) for 11 years, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) (as
General Counsel and Company Secretary) & Senior International Vice President, Legal Affairs for IMG on
commercial legal matters across cricket, football, rugby, tennis, and golf.
About ICC:
♦ Motto: Cricket for good
♦ Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
♦ Chairman: Shashank Manohar
♦ CEO: Manu Sawhney
Vinai Kumar Saxena, chief of KVIC gets 3 year extension

With effect from September 5, 2019, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman Vinai Kumar
Saxena was given an extension of another 3 years.
Key points
i. He was first appointed as the chairman of KVIC in October 2015 and introduced many innovative schemes like
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the ‘Honey Mission'(2017 in New Delhi) after the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Sweet Revolution’ in
2016, ‘Kumhaar Sashaktikaran Scheme’ and also the artisan development centre.
ii. Achievements made: 33,000 New Model Charkhas, 6000 modern looms and 400 new Khadi institutions were
created that generated 15,000 direct jobs with 1.15 lakh Bee-Boxes distribution.
About KVIC:
Founded- 1956.
Headquarters- Mumbai.
Act-Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
Vijay Kumar Chopra & Vineet Jain elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman of PTI respectively
At a meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) of Press Trust of India (PTI), India’s premier news agency, after the
company’s 71st annual general meeting, Vijay Kumar Chopra & Vineet Jain were elected as Chairman and Vice
Chairman of PTI respectively.
Vijay Kumar Chopra’s appointment
Vijay Kumar Chopra, aged 87, who is the Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers, was
unanimously elected Chairman of PTI succeeding N Ravi, publisher and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu.
Key Points:
i.He had served as the Chairman of PTI in 2001-02 and 2009-10 & as the President of the Indian Newspaper
Society (INS).
ii.He was the recipient of Padma Shri award (Literature & Education : 1990), Munshi Prem Chand award (1991)
and his name was also entered in Limca Book of Records in 1997 as the writer of the longest travelogue.
iii.He had created history by running a Rotary Web Offset Press with the help of a tractor in 1974 when the
supply of electricity was cut off by the Punjab government for political reasons.
Vineet Jain’s appointment
Vineet Jain, Managing Director (MD) of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), the publisher of Times
of India, was elected as Vice-Chairman of PTI.
i.He is the writer of Instances of India.
ii.He had earlier served as the chairman of PTI in 2010.
PTI Board members
It includes Viveck Goenka (Express Group), Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), K N Shanth Kumar (Deccan
Herald), Riyad Mathew (Malayala Manorama), Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Anandabazar Patrika), M P Veerendra
Kumar (Mathrubhumi), R Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar), Hormusji N Cama (Bombay Samachar), Praveen
Someshwar (Hindustan Times), Justice R C Lahoti, Deepak Nayyar, Shyam Saran and J F Pochkhanawalla.
About PTI:
♦ Founded: August 27, 1947
Tenure of Pakistan’s army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa extended for 3 years
According to the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office, the tenure of Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed
Bajwa (58) has been extended by another 3 years.
Key points:
i. Bajwa’s work extended due to regional security, scheduled to retire on November 2019.
ii. In November 2016, the jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made General Bajwa the army chief.
iii. General Bajwa accompanied Khan on his first American visit, where he met US President Donald Trump.
Imran has also nominated him as a member of the National Development Council.
iv. The appointment of an army chief in Pakistan is a prerogative of the Prime Minister and his government. The
practice of being appointed army chief on the basis of seniority in Pakistan is not followed.
v. The extension comes amidst tension between India and Pakistan after the removal of Jammu and Kashmir’s
special status under Article 370. After revoking the special status, Pakistan decided to cut diplomatic relations
with India. Along with this, trade relations were also ended.
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About Pakistan:
♦ Capital: Islamabad
♦ Currency: Pakistani rupee
♦ Prime minister: Imran Khan
♦ President: Arif Alvi
It is the world’s 6th -most populous has a 1,046-kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in
the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China in the
northeast.
Rajiv Kumar appointed as the new MD of Microsoft India (R&D)

On September 9, 2019, the American multinational technology company Microsoft has appointed Rajiv
Kumar as the new Managing Director(MD) of Microsoft India Research & Development (R&D) Private Ltd
(MIRPL). Kumar, who is currently corporate vice president of the company’s Experiences and Devices (E+D)
group, succeeds Anil Bhansali and will be relocating to Redmond, United States(US).
Key points
i. Kumar’s key contributions are Kaizala (enterprise productivity chat app) & bootstrapping campus hiring
programme in India.
Madras HC Chief Justice Vijaya K. Tahilramani resigns after the Meghalaya HC transfer
On September 7, 2019, the High Court Chief Justice(HC-CJ) of Madras, Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani resigned
from her post after being transferred to Meghalaya HC. The resignation letter was handed over to the President
of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind and copy of it to Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi.
Key points
i. The resignation of Tahilramani who was appointed as the CJ of Madras in August 2018, comes after the
reconsideration appeal of her transfer was rejected.
ii. AK Mittal, Meghalaya HC was announced to be transferred to the Madras HC in place of Tahilramani.
Chinese firm Alibaba Group’s chairman Jack Ma steps down

On September 10, 2019, Jack Ma, Founder & Chairman of Chinese firm Alibaba Groups has stepped down from
his post at his 55th birthday and will remain on board till 2020. Jack will be replaced by Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) Daniel Zhang as its new chairman.
Key points
i. Jack Ma, a former English teacher who founded the firm in 1999 which is now worth $460 billion , was named
as China’s richest person in 2018 by Forbes magazine.
P K Mishra appointed as the new principal secretary to PM; P K Sinha appointed as principal advisor
P K Mishra’s appointment:
Pramod Kumar Mishra, aged 71, was appointed as the new principal secretary to Prime Minister (PM)
Narendra Modi succeeding Nripendra Misra with effect from September 11, 2019. He was the additional
principal secretary to the PM (2014-19) and was holding the rank of a Cabinet minister. He is the recipient of
United Nations Sasakawa Award 2019, the most prestigious international award in disaster management. He is a
retired 1972 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer.
P K Sinha’s appointment:
Former cabinet secretary P K Sinha, aged 64, was appointed as the principal advisor to the PM. He currently
serves as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). He is a 1977 Batch IAS (Indian
Administrative Service) officer from Uttar Pradesh Cadre.
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Bollywood Actor Ranveer Singh signed as JBL’s new global brand ambassador
On September 10,2019, Bollywood Actor Ranveer Singh is the new global brand ambassador of Audio equipment
Maker JBL owned by Harman International Industries.To strengthen JBL’s dominance in the country, He will
engage in all sequence of marketing initiatives and also endorse a range of new JBL’s consumer audio product.
Hima Das appointed as brand ambassador for Gatorade by PepsiCo India

On September 12, 2019 sprinter Hima Das(19yrs) from Assam was appointed as the ambassador of sports drink
brand Gatorade India which is a subsidiary of PepsiCo India. Hima, nicknamed as Dhing express, joins shuttler
P.V Sindhu and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as brand ambassadors in the country.
Key points
i. Hima das was honoured with Arjuna award in 2018 by the president Shri Ram NathKovind after her
performance in the 2018 Asian Games by winning gold in Women’s 4x400m and silver medals in mixed 4x400m
and 400m individual event.
Indian officer Abhijit Guha to lead UN’s peace mission in Yemen

United Nations(UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed former Indian Army Lieutenant General
(retired) Abhijit Guha to lead UN mission in the port city of Hodeida, Yemen. Apart from leading the UN
Mission in support of the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), Guha will also hold the post of Chairman of
the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) that is tasked with redeploying forces of the Yemeni
warring parties in accordance with their agreement.
Key points:
i. Abhijit will replace Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, who served as RCC president and UNMHA chief
from 31 January to 31 July 2019.
ii. Abhijit, who has 39 years of national and international military experience, worked as an ‘Expert Panel on
Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping’ in 2014 after retiring from the Indian Army in 2013. He then
served in the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations in 2015. Guha also served as the military
supervisor for the UN’s Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1992 to 1993.
iii. He also worked as deputy military adviser and then military adviser in the United Nations Department of
Peace Operations from 2009 – 2013.
About UN:
♦ It is an intergovernmental organization tasked with maintaining international peace and security, promoting
friendly relations among nations, achieving international co-operation, and being a centre for harmonizing the
actions of nations.
Overview of Key Parliamentary Panels and their heads

The Central government has announced the constitution of various parliamentary panels and standing
committees for the newly constituted 17th Lok Sabha.
The complete list is as follows:
S.No Panel Name Head Key members

1 Home Affairs Amit Shah. Anand Sharma, Sarmistha Sethi, Jamyang
Tsering Namgyal
2 Financial Affairs Jayant Sinha Pinaki Mishra, Amar Patnaik, Digvijaya
Singh
3 Defence Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Ganga Deb,
Jual Oram Rajashree Mallick, Sanjay raut,Abhishek
manu singhvi,Prem chand gupta
4 External affairs P P Choudhary Achyuta Samanta, P Chidambaram, Jaya
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Bachchan
5 Personnel, Public Grievances, Bhupender Yadav Suresh Pujari
Law and Justice.
6 Coal and Steel Rakesh Singh Basanta Panda, Prashanta Nanda
7 Petroleum &Natural Gas Ramesh Bidhuri Chandra Sekhar Sahu , Ahmed patel
8 Social Justice and Rama Devi Menaka Gandhi, Hans raj,Supriya sule
Empowerment
9 Human Resource Satynarayan Jatiya Chandrani Murmu, Sasmit Patra
Development
10 Industry K Keshava Rao
11 Urban Development Jagadambika Pal Aparajita Sarangi,Gautam gambir, Hema
malini,MJ akbar
12 Water Resources Sanjay Jaiswal
13 Commerce V Vijayasai Reddy Manjulata Mandal
14 Labour Bhartruhari Mehtab Varun Gandhi
15 Energy Rajiv Ranjan
16 Rural Development Prataprao Jadhav
17 Chemicals and Fertiliser M Kanimozhi Bishweswar Tudu, Ranjib Biswal
18 Railways Radha Mohan Singh Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Anubhav
Mohanty,Farooqabdullah, Pragya Sigh
Takur
18 Agriculture P C Gaddigoudar Ram kirpal yadav,Afzal ansari,Mulayam
singh yadav
19 Transport, Tourism and T G Venkatesh Ramesh Majhi and Prasanna Acharya,
Culture Sumalatha Ambareesh
20 Food Consumer Affairs and Sudhip Pramila Bisoyi, Saptagiri Ulaka, MC mary
PDS. Bandhyopadhyay kom, Bhagawant mann
21 Science and Technology and Jairam Ramesh N Bhaskar Rao and Ashwini Vaishnav
Environment and Forests
Wing Commander Anjali Singh becomes India’s first female military diplomat to join Indian Mission in
Russia
On September 10, 2019 Wing Commander Anjali Singh became India’s first female military diplomat posted on
an Indian mission abroad after joining the Indian Embassy in Russia as Deputy Air Attache (air force officer
involved in diplomatic operations). She previously served the Indian Air Force (IAF) for17 years as an
Aeronautical Engineer(AE) and is also trained on MiG-29 aircraft.
Cognizant India elevates R Ramamoorthy as its new CMD

Information Technology(IT) giant, Cognizant India has elevated Ramkumar Ramamoorthy currently the
executive director, as its new chairman and managing director(CMD).
Key points:
i. During 21 years with the company , he played a key role in its CSR(Corporate social responsibility) initiatives
through his work at Cognizant Foundation and Cognizant Outreach.
ii. Ramamoorthy will make a management committee & operating committee for the country, which will help
strengthen the company’s operations in India. He will also directly report to the parent company’s executive
committee.
iii. Prior to joining Cognizant, he worked with Tata Consultancy Services & before that, he was a lecturer at two
leading colleges in India, and went on to officiate as principal of one of them.
About Cognizant:
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♦ Founded :26 January 1994

♦ Headquarters: New Jersey, U.S.
♦ CEO: Brian Humphries
Former Delhi HC judge Sunil Gaur appointed as Chairperson of PMLA Appellate Tribunal
Former High Court Justice Sunil Gaur, who became famous after he denied protection from arrest to former
finance minister P Chidambaram, considered as the ‘kingpin’ of the INX media case 48 hours before his
retirement, was appointed as the new chairman of the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering
(PMLA) Act.
President of ADB Takehiko Nakao resigns

On September 17, 2019, The president of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Takehiko Nakao has announced
his resignation effective from January 16, 2020. The new president will be elected in accordance with an open,
transparent and merit-based principle.
Key points:
i. Takehiko joined as the president of ADB on April 28, 2013.
ii. With ADB, he has expanded the operation of the organization from $ 14 billion in 2013 to $ 22 billion in 2018
& also integrating more advanced technologies into projects of ADB.
iii. He played a major role in merger of Ordinary Capital Resources and concessional lending operations of the
Asian Development Fund (ADF) and the launch of ‘Strategy 2030’, etc.
About ADB:
♦ Headquarters: Mandaluyong, Philippines
♦ Purpose: Social and Economic Development
SC appoints 4 new judges, judges count goes up to Highest-ever of 34

On September 18, 2019 the Supreme Court(SC) of India has appointed 4 new judges which now took the total
strength of judges to 34. Recently the parliament increased the no. of judges to 34(inclusive of Chief Justice(CJ))
from previous count of 31. The four judges appointed to the supreme court are, Justices V Ramasubramanian,
Krishna Murari, S Ravindra Bhat and Hrishikesh Roy.
Key points
1. Increment in judges count: In order to complete the pending cases in the supreme court, the
government increased the no. of judges after CJ Ranjan Gogoi wrote to Prime Minister(PM) Shri Narendra
Modi. As of now there are currently 30 judges,and would become 34 under Supreme Court (Number of
Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019, once the 4 judges take an oath.
2. Previous amendment: Previously, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2009
increased the count of judges from 25 to 30.
New Judges and the high court they served:
No Name High Court served
1 V Ramasubramanian Himachal Pradesh
2 Krishna Murari Punjab and Haryana
3 S Ravindra Bhat Rajasthan
4 Hrishikesh Roy. Kerala
Appointment of supreme court judges:
The Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of
Article 124 of the Constitution.
About SC:
• Founded- 1950.
• Headquarters- New Delhi.
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Indian Air Force appoints Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria as the 26th Chief of Air Staff
On September 19, 2019, the Indian Air force (IAF) has appointed Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh
Bhadauria to take over as the next and 26th chief of air staff. Currently serving as the Vice Chief of the IAF,
Bhadauria will replace incumbent Chief BS Dhanoa who will be superannuated on September 30, 2019.
Key points
i. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy commissioned to IAF in 1980, Bhadauria headed the Cost
Negotiation Committee (CNC) for the Rafale deal.
ii. Service chiefs have either 3 year tenure or tenure until 62 years of age, whichever comes first.
About IAF:
♦ Founded- 8 October 1932.
Samuel Joseph Jebaraj appointed as DMD of IDBI Bank for 3 years

The Board of Directors (BoD) of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) approved the appointment
of Samuel Joseph Jebaraj as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) for a period of 3 years with effect from
September 19, 2019, succeeding KP Nair. This is the first major appointment on the Bank’s Board after Life
Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired a majority stake of 51% (January 2019) in the bank.
i. He currently serves as Chief General Manager of the Loan Administration and Human Resources Management
Groups of the Bank.
About IDBI Bank:
♦ Tagline: Aao Sochein Bada
Madhukar Kamath elected as the chairman of the ABC for 2019-20

Madhukar Kamath was elected as the chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2019-20
succeeding Hormusji N Cama. He is the chairman emeritus of an advertising firm DDB Mudra group and mentor
of Interbrand India. He has more than four decades of experience in advertising and marketing services.
About ABC:
♦ Founded: 1948
RBI approves the reappointment of Shyam Srinivasan as MD & CEO of Federal Bank for another year
The apex bank of the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the reappointment of Shyam
Srinivasan, aged 57, as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Federal Bank for
another year with effect from September 23, 2019 until September 22, 2020. With this, he will serve the bank as
the head for a decade (September 23, 2010-September 22, 2020).
About Federal Bank:
♦ Headquarters: Aluva, Kochi, Kerala
♦ Tagline: Your perfect banking partner
Nilesh Shah got appointed as Chairman of AMFI

On September 23, 2019, The Managing Director (MD) of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co Ltd., Nilesh
Shah has been appointed as Chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) at its board
meeting held in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Key points:
i. He will replace Nimesh Shah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI (Industrial Credit and
Investment Corporation of India )Prudential AMC, who was appointed to the position in the year 2018.
ii. The AMFI board has also elected Saurabh Nanavati, Chief Executive Officer, Invesco Mutual Fund as its new
vice-chairman.
iii. Nilesh has over 25 years of experience in capital markets and market related investments.
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iv. At present, there are 15 members in AMFI board of these 7 are from the top ten fund houses and 4 each from
mid and small sized AMCs(asset management company).
About AMFI:
Founded: 1995
Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas will be the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea Bissau
On September 23, 2019, According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (GoI), Shri
Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas, a 1993 batch IFS ( Indian Foreign Service) officer has been appointed as the
next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea Bissau, with residence in Dakar. He will succeed Partha
Satpathy.
Key points:
i. Srinivas currently served as India’s Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal.
ii. India and Guinea Bissau have maintained better friendly relations for decades & in May 2010, an Honorary
Consulate of India in Bissau was inaugurated.
Coach Kim Ji Hyun of South Korea, who guided world championship gold medalist PV Sindhu, resigns
India’s women’s singles badminton coach, Kim Ji Hyun (45) of South Korea, who guided World Championship
gold medalist PV Sindhu, has resigned from the post for personal reasons. She had to move to New Zealand with
her husband Richie Mer, who had suffered a ‘neuro stroke’ a few days earlier.
Key points:
i. Kim was signed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) earlier in 2019. It was under his guidance that
Sindhu won the gold medal at the World Championship 2019 in Basel, Switzerland.
ii. Kim was India’s third foreign coach who resigned before completing her term.
About BAI:
♦ Founded :1934
♦ President: Himanta Biswa Sarma
PV Sindhu named as brand ambassador of Visa for 2 years

On September 24, 2019, An Indian professional badminton player, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (PV Sindhu) has
been named as the brand ambassador of Visa, Inc, an American multinational financial services corporation for
two years.
Key points:
i. Sindhu will promote the brand through advertising campaigns & also become an athlete member of Team Visa
for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
ii. Team visa: It is a global athlete support program of Visa aimed at assisting the athletes who aspire to the
Olympic and Paralympic podiums. The athletes of this program are selected on the basis of their string of good
competitive performance at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, irrespective of their nationality and background.
Till now it has supported more than 400 Olympic, Paralympic athletes, and hopefuls from around the globe.
iii. Assistance: The payment company will offer financial assistance & financial literacy training to these
athletes.It supports the Olympic Games as a worldwide sponsor since 1986 & has signed a contract through 2032
as a partner.
PV Sindhu
Sindhu (Hyderabad,Telangana) became the first Indian to win gold in the 2019 Badminton World Federation
(BWF) World Championships, an annual tournament was held from August 19-25, 2019 at St. Jakobshalle in
Basel, Switzerland.She is also the recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award (highest sporting honour, named
after Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India), and Padma Shri,India’s 4th highest civilian award.
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About Visa Inc:

♦ Founded: 1958
♦ Headquarters: California, United States
♦ CEO: Alfred F. Kelly Jr.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games:
♦ Host city: Tokyo, Japan
♦ Schedule: 24 July, 2020 – 9 August, 2020
♦ Stadium: New National Stadium
Sebastian Coe re-appointed as IAAF chief and Adille Sumariwalla re-elected as member of its council
On September 25, 2019, 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. On the other hand, President of Athletics Federation of India, Adille
Sumariwalla also re-elected as member of the Council of IAAF for a second four-year term.
Key points
i. During his first term as the IAAF chief, Coe had set up Athletics Integrity Unit that serves as watchdog in
cleaning sport corruptions. The appointment has been made during the 52nd IAAF Congress at Doha, Qatar.
About IAAF:
♦ headquarters- Monaco.
♦ Formation- 17 July 1912.
Kristalina Georgieva is the IMF’s new chief, becomes 2nd woman to get the post
Bulgaria’s economist Kristalina Georgieva (66) has been elected as the new head of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). She will be the second woman chief of the 189-member IMF & will take over
as Managing Director of the IMF on October 1, 2019. She will replace Christine Lagarde, who resigned from her
post after being elected president of the European Central Bank (ECB).
Key points:
i. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank in January 2017. She was also the interim
president of the World Bank Group from February 1 – April 8,2019.
ii. Georgieva received a PhD (postgraduate doctoral degree) in Economic Sciences from the University of
National and World Economy, Bulgaria, and an MA (Master of Arts) in Political Economics and Social Sciences
degree obtained at this university from 1977 to 1991.
iii. She has served in the European Commission as the Commissioner for International Cooperation,
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response. After that, she was also the Vice President of the commission
for Budget and Human Resources.
About IMF:
♦ Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S
♦ It is an international organization which promotes international monetary cooperation and provides policy
advice and technical assistance to help countries build and maintain strong economies.It presently has 189
member countries
Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat appointed as new Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee
The army chief general Bipin Rawat took over as the new Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) by
succeeding Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa who retires on September 30, 2019.
Key points
i. Rawat, could possibly be the last in the post as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to appoint a
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who will replace the present tri-service committee (COCS).
ii. The COSC comprises chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force with the senior most member as its
chairperson.
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About Indian Army:

♦ Motto- “Service Before Self”
President & CEO of eBay Devin Wenig resigns

The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of eBay Mr. Devin Wenig, aged 52, resigned from his post. The
company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Scott Schenkel, will serve as an interim CEO of the firm.
i. Mr. Wenig had joined the firm in 2011 and appointed as CEO in 2015.
About Ebay:
♦ Founded: September 3, 1995
♦ Headquarters: San Jose, California, United States
Air Marshal HS Arora appointed as new IAF Vice Chief and B Suresh appointed as head of Western
Command
On September 27, 2019 Air marshal Harjit Singh Arora who currently heads the Gandhinagar (Gujarat)
headquartered South Western air command was appointed as the new Indian Air Force(IAF) Vice Chief. He will
succeed Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria who will take over as the Chief of Air Staff on September 30,
2019.
Air Marshal B Suresh appointed as the head of the Western Command of IAF
Air marshal Balakrishnan Suresh who is currently the air officer commanding-in-chief(AOC in-C) of Southern
Air Command was appointed as the Western Air commander of the IAF and will succeed kargil war veteran Air
Marshal RaghunathNambiar on October 31, 2019.
Key points
i. HS Arora: He served as the defence attache at the Embassy of India, Bangkok, Thailand from 2006-2009 and
later served as the Commander of an Air Defence Direction Centre in the western sector. He was the AOC in C in
1997 and was awarded the ‘AtiVishishtSeva Medal’ on 26 Jan 2011 by the then Indian PresidentPratibhaPatil.
ii. B Suresh: He was commissioned to the IAF as a fighter pilot in 1980 and received the Sword of Honour award
from the ‘Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment(TACDE). He is the recipient of ‘Vayu Sena Medal’,
‘AtiVishishtSeva Medal’ and the ‘ParamVishishtSeva Medal’.
About IAF:
Founded- 8 October 1932.
Commander-in-Chief- President Ram NathKovind.
Motto(s)-NabhaḥSprśaṁDīptam (Touch the sky with glory)
Suresh Chitturi becomes the first Asian to be appointed as chairman of the International Egg Commission
On September 26, 2019 Suresh Chitturi, Vice Chairman(VC) and Managing Director(MD) of India’s poultry firm
Srinivasa Farms was appointed as the new Chief of the International Egg Commission(IEC) for a 2-year tenure.
His appointment was announced at the IEC Global Leadership Conference in Copenhagen, the capital of
Denmark.He succeeds Tim Lambert from Canada.
Key points
He is also the first chair from Asian region. He also served as the vice chief of IEC for 2 years since 2017.
About IEC:
It is a membership organisation dedicated to the global egg industry.
World Egg Day is celebrated on the second Friday of October and was constituted by IEC at a conference held in
Vienna in 1996.
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DHFL Board approves Vaijinath M. Gavarshetty as its CEO & and key managerial personnel from October
1, 2019
On September 28, 2019, The board of directors of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL- a deposit-
taking housing finance company) has approved the appointment of Vaijinath M. Gavarshetty as its new Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from October 1, 2019. He will
succeed Harshil Mehta. Harshil Mehta resigned in Feb 2019 after that Kapil Wadhwan, chairman and managing
director of DHFL, held the additional responsibility of CEO.
Key points:
i. Vaijinath has over 33 years of professional experience in Banking with State Bank of India (SBI) in various
capacities & positions, including as Chief General Manager (CGM) and head of SBI’s Real Estate & Housing
Business Vertical and also as a nominee Director on the Board of a Corporate.
ii. After retirement, he has been working as an advisor with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation, Syndicate
Bank as also Kuliza Technologies Pvt. Ltd and with Pranjal International Resolutions Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, he served
as a member of the Advisory Board.
iii. From the second half of 2018 (FY-Fiscal year 2019), DHFL has been under substantial financial stress when
the then CEO Harshil Mehta stepped down from the post.
About DHFL:
♦ Founder: Rajesh Wadhawan
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai,Maharashtra
♦ Chairman & Managing director: Kapil Wadhawan
Jai Bhagwan Bhoria appointed as the new administrator of PMC Bank by RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI ) appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the new administrator of the Punjab and
Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank Ltd, Mumbai succeeding S.Waryam Singh and it superseded the existing
Board.
Key Points:
i. RBI provided a toll-free number- 1800223993 for enquiries to be used by customers for grievances & redressal
and they can also report it through the website www.pmcbank.com.
ii. RBI had recently increased the amount of withdrawal allowed to the depositors from Rs 1,000 to Rs
10,000 and the directives will remain in force for a period of six months.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Iranian army introduces a new homegrown jet-propelled drone called “Kian”
Iranian Army has unveiled a high-precision jet-propelled drone called “Kian”, which has the capacity of carrying
long-time surveillance missions and attack the targets far from the country’s borders.
Key points:
i. The unmanned military drone has been developed in two models & was fully developed by Iranian technicians
of the Army within about a year.
ii. The new drone comes at a time increasing tensions between Iran and the United States(US) since US President
Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal -2015 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
iii. Earlier in August 2019, It has unveiled its new home-grown air defense system called “Bavar-373”.
iv. On May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement on Iran’s
nuclear program reached in July 2015 by Iran, the P5+1 (the 5 Permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council-China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States + Germany) and the European Union.
‘Samudrayaan’- deep ocean mining project to be undertaken by India

On September 3, 2019, India’s deep-sea project “Samudrayaan” undertaken by National Institute of Ocean
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Technology, Chennai (NIOT) is proposed to be launched in 2021-22. The proposed project announced by NIOT
Director MA Atmanand, is a part of Ministry of Earth Sciences’ pilot project, and plans to send three persons to
depth in a submersible vehicle of 6000mtrs for underwater studies related to deep-sea mining of rare minerals.
Key points
i. Submersible vehicle: The vehicle crawls on the seabed, travelling 6kms for 72hours.
ii. Deep ocean mission: Rs. 200 crore Samudrayaan project is a part of ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ project worth Rs.
6000 crores awaiting Union Finance Ministry’s approval.
iii.Polymetallic nodules exploration: The International Sea-Bed Authority has allocated 75,000sq.km to India
in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) for exploring Polymetallic nodules which are rock concretions on the
sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core which are also called as
manganese nodules weighing 380million tonnes.
Features: The polymetallic nodules contain 4.7 million tonnes of nickel, 4.29 million tonnes of copper and 0.55
million tonnes of cobalt and 92.59 million tonnes of manganese.
About NIOT:
♦ Founded- November 1993.
♦ Headquarters- Chennai.
♦ Parent agency- Ministry of Earth Sciences.
ISRO lost the signal from chandrayaan 2’s lander Vikram

The communication from Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander of 1471 kg to Indian Space Research Organisation’s
(ISRO) ground station was lost before its soft landing on the unexplored lunar south pole of the Moon. The
contact was lost when the lander was 2.1km away from the surface of the moon.
Key Points:
i. Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019, from the rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
(GSLV) Mk-III, nicknamed ‘Bahubali’ from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra
Pradesh. Rs 978-crore project consisted of 3 components namely the Orbiter, the Lander ‘Vikram’, and the Rover
Pragyan (27kg).
ii. The mission life of the orbiter is 1 year & that of Rover’s is 1 lunar day (14 earth days).
About ISRO:
♦ Headquarters: Bengaluru
♦ Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
♦ Director: K Sivan
IAF Chief B S Dhanoa restored Ambala-based 17th Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ to operate first unit of
Rafale aircraft
On September 10, 2019, Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa restored Air
Force Station (AFS) Ambala-based 17th Squadron ‘Golden Arrows’ which will be committed to operate India-
Pakistan frontier. It will be the first unit to operate the newly-acquired Rafale aircraft. He also presented a
memento to Station Commander Group Captain Harkirat Singh to commemorate the occasion.
Key Points:
i. Golden Arrows was formed in Ambala, Haryana on October 1, 1951.
ii. Group Captain Harkirat Singh is designated as the Commanding Officer.
iii. The first Indian Rafale combat aircraft manufactured by French firm Dassault Aviation will be inducted into
IAF on October 8, 2019, which will be received by defence minister Rajnath Singh in France, and will start
arriving in India only in May 2020. It will be deployed in one squadron each at the air bases in Ambala in Haryana
and Hashimara in West Bengal. In September 2016, India and France had signed an agreement for the
procurement of 36 jets at a cost of Rs 58,000 crore.
iv. IAF has plans to restore former MiG-21, 101 Squadron ‘Falcons’ which will be based in Hashimara to operate
Sino-Indian front.
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About IAF:
♦ Founded: 8 October 1932, India
About 17th Squadron Golden Arrows:
It was formed under the command of Flight Lieutenant D L Springett and was then equipped with Harvard-II B
aircraft. By November 1955, Squadron was converted fully to De Havilland Vampire and by 1957, Hawker Hunter
aircraft were flown by the Golden Arrows. The Squadron was converted to the Mig-21 M in 1975. In November
1988, the Squadron has presented colours by then honorable President of India Shri R Venkataraman. Under the
command of then Wing Commander BS Dhanoa, Golden Arrows participated actively in Operation Safed Sagar in
1999.
Samsung unveils ‘Good Vibes’ and ‘Relumino’ app for deaf-blind and visually impaired people in India
On September 9, 2019 South Korean tech giant Samsung,has unveiled two apps namely “Good Vibes” a
communication tool for deaf and blind people and “Relumino” that helps the visually impaired people to see the
images clearer.
Key points
i. Good Vibes: It was developed in partnership with the Non-Profit Organisation(NPO) Sense India, and uses
Morse code that converts vibrations into text and vice versa, where a deaf-blind person can communicate with
the help of dots and dash combinations to send messages.
• Version: The first version of the Good Vibes app allowed communication between two deaf-blind people
but the current version(2nd) allows communication with caregivers as well.
• App availability:The app is currently available in Samsung Galaxy store and would soon be available in
Google Play store.
ii. Relumino app: It was developed by the Samsung employees in the global C-Lab programme in partnership
with the National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi. The NAB will make use of this relumino in classrooms
for students with low vision. This is expected to be a revolutionary move in communication to help the 253
million visually impaired people, 217 low vision people and 14million blind people as per 2017 data released by
the World Health Organisation(WHO) of which there are about 5,00,000 deafblind people in India.
About Samsung
♦ Founded- 1 March 1938.
♦ Founder-Lee Byung-chul.
♦ Headquarters-Seoul, South Korea.
BHEL commissions 1,320 MW thermal plant in Jharsuguda, Odisha

On September 11, 2019 Govt. of India owned state run engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
announced commissioning of 1320 MegaWatt(MW) power project in Ib Thermal Power Station(ITPS) in Odisha’s
Jharsuguda district. This generated power will be supplied to Grid Corporation of Odisha(GRIDCO).
Key points
i. The project is owned by Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited (OPGC), which is a joint venture
company between govt. Of Odisha and AES(Applied Energy Services), a United States(US) based energy company.
K2-18b: Water discovered for the first time in atmosphere of habitable exoplanet
Astronomers have found water for the first time in atmosphere of habitable exoplanet- K2-18b which orbits in
its star’s “habitable zone”. The article was published in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy and the lead
scientist of the research is Prof Giovanna Tinetti of University College London (UCL), United Kingdom.
Key Points:
i. Upto 50% of the atmosphere of K2-18b consists of water, which could support life.
ii. Scientists found the unmistakable signature of water vapour with concentrations between 0.1 and 50%.
iii. K2-18b, 111 light-years about 650 million million miles from Earth, is over twice the size of Earth in a planet
category known as a “super Earth” and has a temperature cool enough to have liquid water, between zero and
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40C.
iv. It is the first known exoplanet to combine a rocky surface and an atmosphere with water out of the discovered
4000 plus exoplanets.
v. K2-18b was initially discovered in December 2015 & spotted by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft
vi. It orbits a red dwarf star about 110 light years distant in the Leo constellation of the Milky Way galaxy.
About Exoplanet:
The planets that are beyond the solar system are called exoplanets. The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992,
orbiting a pulsar (a neutron star that emits electromagnetic radiation). They are believed to resemble Jupiter or
Neptune.
China launches 3 satellites, will help areas including disaster management and climate monitoring
On September 12, 2019, China has successfully launched three satellites ( a resource satellite- ZY-1 02D and
two small satellites). These satellites have been launched in a predetermined orbit that will help in disaster
management, urban construction and monitoring of polar regions and global climate change.
Key points:
i. The Resource Satellite and 2 other small satellites were launched by a long march-4B carrier rocket from
Taiyuan satellite launch center in Shanji Province, North China at 11.26 am (local time).
ii. The resource satellite, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), is an important part of
China’s space-based infrastructure. This resource satellite, aged about 5 years, will form a network with other
satellites. It will provide data by monitoring natural resource asset management, ecological monitoring, disaster
prevention and control, environmental protection, urban construction, transportation, and contingency
management.
iii. With the help of a near-infrared camera, 166-band hyperspectral camera, it can observe large and medium-
sized cities for urban planning & analyze complicated mineral compositions and distribution.
iv. One of the 2 small satellites sent by china belongs to Beijing Normal University, and is called BNU-1 (about 16
kilograms), will primarily monitor polar climate. another one belongs to a Shanghai-based private space
technology company. Both the satellites have the lifespan of 1 year.
Astronomers using NSF’s Green Bank Telescope discovered the most massive neutron star ever- MSP
J0740+6620
Astronomers at West Virginia University (U.S) using Green Bank Telescope (GBT) of the National Science
Foundation (NSF) in Pocahontas County, United States (US) have discovered the most massive neutron star ever
called MSP J0740+6620. It is one of the densest objects in the known universe. The research was published in
the journal Nature Astronomy.
Key Points:
i. It weighs 2.14 times more than the Sun occupying a space that was only 30 kilometers across.
ii. It is located some 4,600 light-years away from Earth. One light-year is about six trillion miles.
iii. The previous massive neutron star was J0348+0432, with a mass about 2.01 solar masses.
About neutron stars:
Neutron stars are objects formed from the collapsed cores of large stars following a supernova explosion. They
are also known as pulsars due to the pulses of radiation they emit as they rotate at high speeds.
ISRO and DRDO join hands for ‘Gaganyaan’ mission

On September 18, 2019, The Space agency of the Government of India(GoI), Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) and the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop human-centric systems for the ‘Gaganyaan’ project.
Key points:
i. A team of ISRO scientists, headed by Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nayar, director of the Human Space Flight Center
(HSFC), entered into agreements with various DRDO laboratories.
ii. Some of the important technologies provided by DRDO to ISRO include food-related technologies in space,
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health monitoring of space going teams, survival kits, radiation measurement and protection, parachutes, etc.
iii. DRDO is committed to providing all necessary support to ISRO for manned space mission. ISRO plans to
demonstrate man’s ability to reach space before the completion of 75 years of India’s independence in 2022.
iv. Gaganyaan: It is a proposed manned space mission by the Government of India (GoI) with an investment of
Rs 10,000 crore. This will be India’s first manned mission, to be launched by 2022. On August 15, 2018, the
mission was announced by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in his independence day speech from Red Fort.
About DRDO:
♦ Founded: 1958
♦ Chairman : Dr G. Satheesh Reddy
About ISRO:
♦ Headquarters: Bengaluru
♦ Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
♦ Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan
Thaawarchand Gehlot launches MIS portal under Accessible India Campaign in New Delhi
On September 18, 2019,TheUnion Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot has
launched a Management Information System (MIS)developed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities for stakeholders of Accessible India Campaign (AIC) in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. MIS: The aim of the portal is to bring all nodal ministries, states and the Union Territories (UT) on a common
platform to monitor the progress made against each target under Accessible India Campaign.
ii. Accessibility: The portal will be fully accessible for persons with disabilities, help maintain all the function on
digital platform and capture data on a real-time basis.The accessibility feature in monitoring of places will be
more efficient when there is a provision of uploading pictures.
iii. Accessible India Campaign:On December 3, 2015 (International Day of People with Disabilities), Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Accessible India Campaign / Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan.It was launched
to serve the differently-able community of the country and create an accessible physical environment that
benefits everyone, not just persons with disabilities.
Consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan launched online ‘national laboratory directory’
On August 30, 2019, the union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution Shri Ram Vilas
Paswan launched an online ‘National Laboratoy Directory’ ,a one-stop-shop that provides information about
testing infrastructure of industries, academia, researchers and various products of Indian standards for
stakeholder benefits, especially startups. The directory link www.labdirectory.bis.gov.in features accredited
and recognized Hallmarking Labs by National Accreditation Board Ltd (NABL).
‘Manak-Online’ – Public web interface and app have also been developed for to check authenticity of a BIS
Licence / Registration of a product.
Shri Paswan also launched a re-engineered Compulsory Registration Scheme of BIS (CRSBIS) Portal. The Testing
Facilities are being completely digitized so as to make these objectives & free from the existing Doc & PDF files.
Key points
i. Directory features: The directory provides details about what all products could be tested in the laboratory
against either Indian or International. Everyone at a single click can know about the testing requirements and the
location of the labs in the country through geographic information system (GIS).
ii. Labs in India: Currently there are 10,000 labs in the country out of which 4500 are owned by public and
private academic institutions. These 4500 labs are listed in the directory. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
owns only 8 labs and it has 200 more special purpose labs. It recognizes 208 labs certified by National
Accreditation Board(NAB) for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It also has labs certified by Food Safety and
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Standards Authority of India(FSSAI), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
(APEDA),Export Inspection Council (EIC), Central Drugs Standard Control Organization(CDSCO), and Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
iii. Members present: consumer affairs and commerce ministry secretaries, special secretary of home affairs
ministry and chiefs of Quality Control of India(QCI) and FSSAI were present during the event.
About Consumer affairs ministry:
♦ Founded- 2 September 1946.
♦ Minister of State- Danve Raosaheb Dadarao (constituency- Jalna, Maharashtra).
NASA successfully launches RamanSat 2, a miniature satellite made by Indian student Aabhaas Sikka
On September 23, 2019, An independent space agency of the United States(US) , NASA (National Aeronautics
and Space Administration) has successfully launched a miniature satellite called “RamanSat 2” made by a 17-
year old New Delhi-based Indian student Aabhaas Sikka ,from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in
New Mexico, US and achieved an altitude of 38 km.
Key points:
i. The minisatellite (measures 4 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm) designed by Sikka during his internship with SPACE-India (an
organisation working in the field of astronomy, space education and technology) with help from Sachin Bahmba,
Founder and CMD (Chief Managing Director) of SPACE Group, as well as the SPACE-India’s research team.
ii. With the help of its state-of-the-art equipment, the satellite measure the radiation from the sun and space to
make space exploration safer for humans and satellites.
iii. RamanSat 2 came after the success of Kalam Sat, named after former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, and
made by an Indian high school team (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) that attended in 2017 in this same programme.
About NASA:
♦ Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
♦ Founder: Dwight D. Eisenhower
♦ Administered by: Jim Bridenstine
Agri minister Narendra Singh Tomar launches CHC Farm Machinery and Krishi Kisan App in New Delhi
On September 24, 2019, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
launched 2 mobile apps named CHC Farm Machinery and Krishi Kisan App for geotagging purposes in New
Delhi for easy access of technical agricultural equipments at farmers’ doorstep.
Key points
i. CHC Farm Machinery App: Narendra Singh Tomar launched the CHC Farm Machinery App for the farmers to
connect with the Custom Hiring Centers(CHC) located within 50 km radius. So far, more than 40,000 custom
hiring service centers have been registered on this mobile app with over 1,20,000 agricultural machineries &
equipment rented. This app is already available to the custom service provides for registration and uploading
purposes.
ii. Krishi Kisan App: Through this app, farmer will be provided with information about high-yielding crops and
seeds in their nearby area. It helps in geo-tagging and geo-fencing of crop and also gives weather forecast
messages to farmers. Both the apps are available in the Google Play Store for android devices.
iii. CHC/ Farm Machinery banks: Hi tech hubs, CHC and farm machinery banks are established under various
schemes like Sub –Mission on Agricultural Mechanization, RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana and Crop Residue
Management Schemes of the Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare(DAC&FW) under
Agriculture and Farmers welfare ministry. These hubs provide farm equipment on a rental basis.
About agriculture ministry:
♦ Founded- 1947.
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♦ Narendra Singh Tomar constituency- Morena, Madhya Pradesh.

♦ His other ministries- Ministry of rural development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Home minister Amit Shah launches private security agency licensing portal in New Delhi
On September 25, 2019, the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah launched ‘Private Security Agency Licensing
Portal’ in New Delhi in order to help in reducing formalities in getting a license to the private security agencies.
Information such as no. of licensed agencies will also be available in the portal in order to prevent fraudulent
activities. This portal will be regulated under the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005.
Key points
i. This portal will also help people in cross-checking police verification of all security guard and will be made
available in languages like Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu and Tamil within 3 months. Currently, Gujarat has highest
number of agencies (2249), followed by Maharashtra 1309.
World’s biggest transport spaceship Kounotori8 launched by Japan

On September 25, 2019, Japan’s unmanned H-2B rocket lifted off with cargo vessel Kounotori8 also known
as HTV 8 towards the International Space Station (ISS) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA)
Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, which is considered as the world’s biggest transport
spaceship. It intends to deliver about 5.3 tonnes of supplies to astronauts at the ISS.
Key Points:
i. Kounotori8 means “white stork” in Japanese.
ii. The main contractor for the Japanese H-2B rocket was Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).
About JAXA:
♦ Formation: 1 October 2003
♦ Motto: One JAXA
♦ Headquarters: Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan
President Ram NathKovind launched First Indigenous High Temperature Fuel Cell System by CSIR under
NMITLI in Delhi
On September 26, 2019, the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, launched first Indigenous High
Temperature Fuel Cell System developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under flagship
programme named “New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)”. This system was
launched in partnership with Indian industries on the 78th foundation day of CSIR in New Delhi. A book titled
“Bhatnagar Laureates 1958-2018” was also released during the function.
Key points
i. About the system: The 5.0 kW fuel cell system generates power using methanol/bio-methane in an
ecofriendly way with heat and water as its bi-products. This amounts to an efficiency of more than 70%.
ii. Partnerships: This system was developed in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model among three CSIR labs-
CSIR National Chemical Laboratory( NCL)Pune, CSIR National Physical Laboratory (NPL) New Delhi and CSIR-
Central ElectroChemical Research Institute (CECRI) Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu and two Indian industries-Thermax
Limited, Pune and Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai (both from Maharashtra).
iii. Fuel cell development: The development of the fuel cells are based on High-Temperature Proton Exchange
Membrane (HTPEM) Technology which suits distributed stationary power applications such as for small offices,
commercial units, data centers, etc. It is expected to replace Diesel Generating (DG) sets thus reducing India’s
dependence on crude oil and would also enhance the use of green and alternate fuels.
About CSIR:
Established- 26 September 1942.
Director General(DG)-Shekhar C. Mande.
Second interstellar object 2I/Borisov discovered in the solar system

According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a second interstellar object named 2I/Borisov has
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been discovered in the solar system. It was discovered by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov from MARGO
observatory, Crimea on August 30, 2019, which looked like a comet from a 0.65-metre telescope built on his own.
The first interstellar object was 1I/Oumuamua.
Key Points:
i. It has an orbit as hyperbolic. It was formerly known as C/2019 Q4.
ii. 2I/Borisov will make its closest approach to the sun on 7 December 2019.
iii. The conclusions of the discovery has been supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s
(NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Solar System Dynamics (SSD) Group.
About an interstellar object:
An interstellar object is an astronomical object- an asteroid, comet or possibly planet, but not a star or substar,
that is located in interstellar space and is not gravitationally bound to a star. Interstellar space is the physical
space within a galaxy beyond the influence each star has upon the encompassed plasma.
ISRO initiated ‘Project NETRA’- A space situational awareness step to detect debris and other hazards to
Indian satellites
The Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) has initiated ‘Project NETRA’ (NETRA-Network for space object
Tracking and Analysis) in the middle of its Chandrayaan campaign last month, in-order to detect debris in space
and other hazards in Indian satellites which would act as a step for Space Situational Awareness(SSA). The
project is estimated to be worth of Rs. 400 Crore.
Key points
i. SSA: India will have its own SSA like other space powers in predicting debris to Indian satellites and this SSA
will be the first for low-earth orbits (LEO), having remote-sensing spacecraft.
ii. NETRA: NETRA is a network of observational tools like telescopes and radars, which will be connected to a
data processing units and a control centre, which have the ability to track objects/debris as small as 10cm upto a
range of 3400km and also equal to space orbit of 2000k m.
• Goal- NETRA’s goal is to capture the geosynchronous equatorial orbit(GEO) at 36,000 km where
communication satellites operate.
iii. Space debris: They are floating particles from dead satellites and rocket parts which may cripple the
electronic boards of an active satellite worth several hundred crore rupees. Even a small fragment of paint may
affect the active parts of a satellite. For this purpose, agencies are appointed to look for debris.
iv. Steps taken to get a broad SSA picture High-precision, long-range telescope in Leh region and a radar in the
North East are fixed where Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh have also been put up. Telescopes at Ponmudi, Kerala and at Mount Abu, Rajasthan
are set up to get a broad SSA picture. Currently, ISRO depends on data from the North American Aerospace
Defense Command (NORAD) which is a United States(US) and Canada initiative in sharing of the debris data.
v. Current satellites data: There are currently 15 functional Indian communication satellites in the 36,000 km
geostationary orbit, 13 remote sensing satellites in LEO of up to 2,000 km and 8 navigation satellites in medium
earth orbits(MEO).
About ISRO:
Headquarters- Bengaluru.
Founder- Vikram Sarabhai.
Founded- 15 August 1969.
Director- Kailasavadivoo Sivan(K.Sivan).
A new mineral ‘Goldschmidtite’ discovered inside a diamond

Nicole Meyer, a graduate student at the University of Alberta’s Diamond Exploration Research and Training
School (DERTS), Canada and the lead author of the research, discovered a new mineral
named ‘Goldschmidtite’ inside a diamond from a mine- Koffiefontein pipe in South Africa run by De Beers. It is
named goldschmidtite in honor of Victor Moritz Goldschmidt, the founder of modern geochemistry.
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Key Points:
i. The study “Goldschmidtite, (K,REE,Sr)(Nb,Cr)O3: a New Perovskite Supergroup Mineral Found in Diamond
from Koffiefontein, South Africa,” was published in American Mineralogist.
ii. It has high concentrations of niobium, potassium and the rare earth elements lanthanum and cerium and the
rest mantle is dominated by other elements, such as magnesium and iron. It was estimated that the mineral was
formed about 170 kilometers beneath Earth’s surface, at temperatures reaching nearly 1,200 C.
iii. This is the second new mineral discovered by DERTS student after Nixonite (Na2Ti6O13), which was
discovered by Garrett Harris.
Astronomers detect a Jupiter-like planet named “GJ 3512 b”

Astronomers unexpectedly discovered a gas giant Jupiter-like planet named “GJ 3512 b” which is orbiting a
dwarf star, located about 30 light-years from the sun. The discovery was published in the journal Science and the
lead author of the study is Juan Carlos Morales from the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia, Spain.
Key Points:
i. The planet completes one orbit around the star every 7 months and has a mass about half that of Jupiter.
ii. The red dwarf star has a mass of about 12% of the sun.
iii. It was detected using the radial velocity method with the CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M
dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Échelle Spectrographs).
iv. According to current theories, this planet shouldn’t exist.
Pandit Jasraj becomes first Indian Musician to have a minor planet 2006 VP32 named after him
On September 23, 2019 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named minor planet 2006 VP32
(number -300128), located between Mars and Jupiter, as “Panditjasraj”after Indian classical vocal musician
PanditJasraj. By this he became the first Indian musician to have a minor planet named after him.
Key points
i. The announcement was made by IAU followed by a citation.
ii. A permanent number to the minor planet is given by IAU’s Minor Planet Centre(MPC). ‘Panditjasraj’ minor
planet, discovered in 2006 with number 300128, denotes the musical maestro’s date of birth in reverse order
(28/01/30).
iii. PanditJasraj, the Padma Vibhushan recipient, joins the galaxy of immortal composers like Mozart, Beethoven
and Tenor Luciano Pavarotti to have a planet named after them
DEFENCE
Naval Quality Assurance Establishments hosted 2019 Joint Naval Annual Quality Conclave in Vizag
The Naval Quality Assurance Establishments with the support of Director General Quality Assurance (DGQA),
Ministry of Defence, hosted the 2019 Joint Naval Annual Quality Conclave (JNAQC) at Visakhapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh on September 5, 2019. The theme for 2019 is “Transformation of QA Paradigm: Opportunities and
Challenges”. Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command, was
the chief guest for the event.
Key points
Members present:
• Dr Tessy Thomas- Distinguished Scientist and Director General (DS & DG -Aero Systems), of Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Shri R Muralidharan- Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division (SED).
• Cmde Siddharth Mishra (Retd)- Chief Managing Director(CMD) Bharat Dynamics Ltd(BDL).
• Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital, (Retd)- Managing Director(MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
Conference & Exhibition Management Services(CEMS) India Ltd.
• Rear Admiral Surendra Ahuja, (Retd)- MD of Boeing India.
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• Rear Admiral S Chaubey (Retd)- CMD of Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).
• Kalidoss Srinivas- Project Director Ship Building Centre, Andhra Pradesh.
ii.Second session: The second session of the conclave on Quality Challenges of Emerging Technologies was
discussed by Rear Admiral SK Nair, Assistant Chief of Materiel (ACOM-Information Technology & Systems).
QA- Quality Assurance.
About Ministry of Defence:
♦ Founded- 15 August 1947.
♦ Union Defence minister- Rajnath Singh (constituency- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh).
♦ Minister of State- Shripad Yesso Naik (constituency- North Goa).
Centre clears over Rs 5,000 crore worth Akash missile project for Air Force
In a bid to strengthen the Indian Air Force (IAF), the central government has approved the procurement of 6
squadrons of indigenous Akash Air Defense missile for the Air Force at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore. They will be
deployed along the borders with Pakistan and China.
Key points:
i. With this approval, the number of Akash missile systems approved for the Air Force will be increased to 15.
The air force had initially ordered only 2 Akash systems.
ii. The approval of this 3-year-old proposal for the acquisition of Akash missiles is being seen as a wholehearted
acceptance of the indigenous missile system in the military forces.
iii. The Akash system was officially inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) in July 2015. In the exercise held at
Surya Lanka, Andhra Pradesh in 2018, all other air defense missiles, including the Israeli ones, were tested with
the Akash missile system and Akash had the best performance. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense chose Akash
instead of foreign systems.
iv. The Akash missile has also been selected by the Ministry of Defense over foreign systems as the government
took out military tenders worth more than Rs 17,000 crore to favor the Akash.
v. The missile proposal for the Air Force has been approved in wake of the February 27, 2019, post-Balakot strike
when Pakistanis have launched a counter-attack.
Akash missile:
It is a medium-range Surface-to-air missile with multi-target engagement capability. The missile is developed by
the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The missile has a strike range of 25 km. It can
reach an altitude of 18 km and can be fired from both tracked and wheeled platforms.
9th SLINEX 2019- Indo-Lanka maritime fleet exercise commenced in Vizag

On September 7, 2019 the 9th edition of weeklong joint maritime naval exercise between India and Srilanka(SL)
named SLINEX for the year 2019 has commenced in the port of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Two Sri
Lanka Navy Ships(SLNS) namely Sindurala and Suranimala that are offshore patrol vehicles left the
Trincomalee port of Srilanka to participate in the exercise.
Key points
i. Exercise features: Wide ranging naval exercise to enhance cooperation in the Indian Ocean region and
helicopter operations.
ii. SL participants: At about 323 SL navy personnel are participating in the exercise including the SriLankan Flag
Officer Commanding the Naval Fleet, Rear Admiral Upul De Silva.
iii. Conclusion: The exercise will conclude on September 14, 2019.
iv. Previous editions: The first SLINEX was held in the year 2005 and the the previous/8th edition took place in
Trincomalee, Srilanka.
Western Air Command Commanders’ conference 2019 held in New Delhi

A two-day long Western Air Command, Commanders’ Conference 2019 was held on September 5-6, 2019
in New Delhi. Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa was the chief guest of the Conference.
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Key points:
i. Participants: Air Officers Commanding or Station Commanders of all Air Force Stations under Western Air
Command participated in the conference.
ii. Discussion: The Conference witnessed the discussions on critical analysis of operational preparedness and
training including measures to promote high utility of combat assets.
iii. Addressing the Commanders, BS Dhanoa asked IAF (Indian Air Force ) personnel to upkeep high level of
operational orientation and preparedness to ensure the ground defense of the airbases against the backdrop of
the existing security environment.
About IAF:
♦ Motto: Touch the sky with glory
Indo-Thailand joint military exercise “Maitree – 2019” scheduled to be held at Foreign Training Node,
Umroi, Meghalaya
The joint military exercise between India and Thailand “Maitree – 2019” is scheduled to be held at Foreign
Training Node, Umroi, Meghalaya from September 16-29, 2019. Nearly 100 Indian and Royal Thailand Army
(RTA) soldiers will participate in the exercise.
Key Points:
i. Indo-Thailand have already conducted 2 such military exercises in the past one month.
ii. Both sides will share thier experiences gained during a various counter-terrorism operations.
iii. It will improve the level of defence co-operation between the Indian Army (IA) and Royal Thailand Army
(RTA).
About Maitree – 2019:
♦ It is an annual Joint Military Exercise which is being conducted alternatively in Thailand and India since 2006.
♦ It will be the third consecutive army engagement between India and Thailand’s forces.
In October 2019, the Indian army will conduct a large war exercise near china border named ‘HimVijay’
The Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) will jointly engage to conduct a large war exercise code-
named ‘HimVijay’ in October 2019 along the china border near Arunachal Pradesh. This would be the 1st and
biggest ever war game done by the strike corps in the eastern region. For the first time, 17 Mountain Corps will
be involved, over 2500 soldiers will participate in it.
Key points:
i. The Indian Army will deploy state-of-the-art American weapons. These include the M777 ultralight howitzers,
including Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Chinook heavy-lift helicopters were inducted into the Indian Air Force
at Chandigarh Airbase on 25 March 2019.
ii. The purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of war in the northeast. It will also include the recently
formed 17 Mountain Strike Corps. The Air Force will do everything to meet the Army’s needs during the war.
M777 ultra-light howitzers will be provided to 17 Mountain Strike Corps during the exercise.
iii. Tezpur -based 4 Corps will be deployed at high altitude in the exercise. They will be charged with the security
of their area. Meanwhile, a brigade-size force of 17 Mountain Strike Corps (comprising more than 2500 soldiers)
will be airlifted there by the Air Force to challenge them.
iv. The Air Force will use C-17, C-130J Super Hercules and AN-32 to airlift the troops. The Air Force will airlift
these soldiers from Baghdogra in West Bengal to the war zone located near Arunachal.
v. The army started forming IBGs (Integrated Battle Groups ) to make its organization more effective. Once it is
formed, the formations will be converted into leaner and more efficient fighting with the capability to strike
deeper and quicker against enemy targets.
vi. The IBG will be smaller than a division and as per the need of modern times will integrate the existing
elements of infantry, tank regiments, artillery, engineers and signals. 6 IBGs will be deployed and will be directly
under a Corps.
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vii. Background: After a local delegation-level meeting at the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point in Chusul
in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir, the issue between Soldiers of India and China near Pangong Tso lake in
eastern Ladakh ended. China holds a large part of Pangong Tso, which has seen scuffle in the past both the
countries over land and on the water as both sides patrol on speed boats. China also objected the conversion of
Ladakh into a Union Territory(UT) and supported Pakistan’s diplomatic moves at the United Nations(UN).
About Indian Army:
♦ Motto: “Service Before Self”
♦ Chief of the Army Staff (COAS): General Bipin Rawat
About IAF:
♦ Chief of the Air Staff (CAS): Birender Singh Dhanoa,
Rs 2,000 crore acquisition proposals approved by DAC, under ‘Make in India’ initiative
On September 13, 2019 the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the ministry of defence chaired by
Shri Rajnath Singh (defence minister) has approved proposals for procurement, for the India armed forces
Services, worth Rs 2000 crore as part of the “Make in India” initiative.
Key points
i. Proposals: Some of the acquisition proposals are
• Indigenous production of 125mm Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS)
ammunition for 2414 no. of T-72 and 2011 no. of T-90 tanks.
• Procurement of Mechanical Mine Layer (Self Propelled) developed and manufactured by Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to improve automated minelaying capability.
ii. Previous proposal: The Indian army is already in the process of buying 464 T-90MS Main Battle Tanks from
Russia worth Rs 13,448 crore to arm 10 armoured regiments.
iii. T-90MS tanks: The tanks which are a most lethal variety of the tanks will be assembled Heavy Vehicles
Factory (HVF) in Avadi, Chennai from semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits from Russian tank manufacturer
Uralvagonzavod.
About Make in India:
♦ Launched- 25 September2014.
♦ Objective- Job creation and skill enhancement in 25 sectors of the economy to make India a global
manufacturing hub.
First edition of SITMEX- Trilateral Maritime exercise of Singapore, India and Thailand of 2019 begins in
Port Blair
5 days maiden trilateral exercise of Singapore, India and Thailand named SITMEX (Singapore-India-Thailand
Maritime Exercise) was commenced on September 16, 2019 at Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar
islands to strengthen the maritime relationships of the three countries and to enhance security. The maiden IN-
RSN-RTN Trilateral exercise will conclude on September 20, 2019.
Key points
i. Navies:
• India-Indian navy (IN)
• Singapore- Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and
• Thailand- Royal Thailand Navy (RTN).
ii. Phases:
The exercise has two phases. They are,
• Shore phase at Port Blair which involves activities like professional exchanges, sports fixtures and cross
deck familiarisation visits.
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• Sea phase scheduled from September 18-20, 2019 at the Andaman sea involves activities like surface
and air operations with Gunnery, force protection measures and communication drills
iii. Exercise features:
Singapore’s RSN Tenacious(stealth frigate) and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship (HTMS)Kraburi(missile frigate) will
exercise with Indian Naval Ship(INS)-Ranvir- missile destroyer, Kora- missile corvette(a small warship designed
for convoy escort duty) and Sukanya- offshore patrol vessel along with P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance
aircraft.
About IN:
♦ Founded- 5 September 1612.
♦ Motto- Shaṁ No Varunaḥ (May the Lord of the Water be auspicious unto us).
♦ Commander in Chief- President Ram NathKovind.
♦ Chief of Naval Staff- Admiral Karambir Singh.
India to achieve $26 billion defence industry target by 2025

On september 18, 2019, The Defence Minister of India Mr Rajnath Singh at the 2nd annual session of the Society
of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) for 2019 in New Delhi addressed that India will achieve $26
billion defence industry target by 2025.
Key Points:
i. It is predicted that there will be an investment of $10 billion and it will create 2.3 million employment
opportunities.
ii. Simplified procedures for defence exports has resulted in exports to Rs 10 thousand 745 Crore in 2018-19 and
a target of $5 Billion for exports has been set till 2024.
iii. There are plans to develop 5 Defence Specific Artificial Intelligence products by 2024.
iv. The current size of the Indian economy is around $2.7 trillion and the aim is to make $5 trillion by 2024 and
$10 trillion by 2030.
Indian Army conducted ‘Chang Thang’ exercise in Eastern Ladakh

On September 18, 2019 the Indian army conducted massive integrated exercise named ‘Chang Thang’ in
the Eastern Ladakh region bordering China in a very high altitude area in order to test and improve its
capabilities in war fighting. The exercise involved all the arms of the Indian army like T-72 tanks, artillery guns
and helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles etc. The exercise was monitored by Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh,
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command.
Key points
i. Reason for the exercise: The exercise which happened first time in the region came from the backdrop of a
scuffle (a short struggle/fight) between India and Chinese troops on the northern bank of Pangong Tso (Tso
denotes lake) in Ladakh amid China feeling uneasy of the article 370 abrogation that provided special status to
Jammu & Kashmir and as Union territories(UT) bifurcation. The Indian Air Force participated in the exercise
that also involved parajumping of troops.
ii. Him Vijay: The army will also conduct another major exercise Him Vijay in next two months. The exercise
will be conducted in Arunachal Pradesh to test new fighting formation, Integrated Battle Group in mountain
warfare.
About Indian Army:
♦ Motto- “Service Before Self”.
♦ Commander-in-Chief- President Ram NathKovind.
Indo-US first tri-services exercise “Tiger Triumph” for 2019 to be held at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in
November
In November 2019, India and the United States(US) are set to host the first ever tri-services exercise codenamed
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“ExerciseTiger Triumph” at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, both of state Andhra Pradesh. The plan for this
exercise was discussed during the Final Planning Conference (FPC) for India-US Tri-Services Humanitarian Aid
and Disaster Relief (HADR) which was held from September 16-20 at heaquarters of Eastern Naval Command,
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
i. India held similar such tri-service exercise previously with Russia named “Indra” in 2017 in Vladivostok,
Russia. The announcement for the ‘Tiger Triumph’ was made by US president Donald Trump during the ‘Howdy
Modi!’ event in America.
ii. So far the two countries have conducted defence hardware trade around USD 18 billion over the last 10 years.
INS Sahyadri and Kiltan visit Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand for port call
On August 31, 2019, Two Indian Navy Warships- INS Sahyadri and Kiltan visited Laem Chabang,
Bangkok,Thailand for a port call which is scheduled till September 3, 2019, as a part of the Navy’s Overseas
Deployment to South East Asia and Western Pacific. Both ships represent the ‘coming of age’ of India’s warship
building capabilities.
Key Points:
i. Both the ships are a part of Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet under the Operational Command of Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, at Visakhapatnam.
ii. INS Sahyadri and Kiltan are multi-role Guided Missile Stealth Frigate and Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette
respectively.
iii. On completion of the visit, Indian Navy and Royal Thai Navy ships will participate in a Passage Exercise at sea.
First ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise begins in Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand

On September 2, 2019, The United States (US) and 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
countries began their first Asean-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand. The
5-day maritime drill will end in Singapore. It is a part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China
Sea. AUMX was proposed at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in 2017. It was confirmed
in the 12th ADMM in October 2018.
Key Points:
i. The exercise is co-led by the US and Royal Thai navies.
ii. It will consist of pre-sail activities in Thailand, Singapore, and Brunei, followed by a sea phase in international
waters in Southeast Asia, including the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea.
iii. It consists of 8 warships, 4 aircraft and thousands of personnel.
iv. The task force headquarters is located onboard the Royal Thai Navy vessel HTMS Krabi (OPV 551), and
include representatives from each Asean member state and the US.
v. The objective of the exercise is to prevent wrongdoing as Washington and Beijing are against each other for
influence in the region.
vi. The exercise will help to maintain maritime security, focus on prevention and pre-empt wrongdoing in the
sea.
About ASEAN:
♦ Motto: One Vision, One Identity, One Community
♦ Members: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand & Vietnam.
15th Indo-US military training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ 2019 commenced

2 Week Indo-US defence corporation’s 15th edition of biggest joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ 2019
between Indian and the United States(US) at Lewis McChord Joint Airforce Base,Washington(US) has commenced
on september 5, 2019 and will continue till 18th September.
Key points
i. Objective: To facilitate interoperability between two nations and train at Battalion level as well as brigade
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level.
ii. Representations: During the opening ceremony, the US side was represented by a company of 5-20 Infantry
Battalion of the US Army and the Indian side was represented by The Assam Regiment. The Indian army were
welcomed by Major General of US, Xavier Brunsen.
iii. Yudh Abhyas conclusion: The two armies at the end of the exercise will undertake a joint exercise under a
UN(United Nations) mandate where expert academic and military discussions will be held.
About US:
Capital- Washington DC.
Currency- US dollar.
President- Donald Trump.
Secretary of state- Mike Pompeo.
28th Indo-Thai CORPAT being conducted at Bangkok, Thailand

The 28th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol(Indo-Thai CORPAT) between India’s Indian Navy(IN)
and Thailand’s Royal Thai Navy (RTN) for the year 2019 is being conducted in Bangkok, Thailand from
September 05-15, 2019. Indian Naval Ship(INS) Kesari and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship(HTMS) Kraburi are
participating in the CORPAT along with both navies’s Maritime Patrol Aircrafts (MPA).
Key points
i. The Indian navy’s ship and aircraft participates in the biennial corpat ever since 2003 with RTN.
ii. Objectives:Ensuring effective implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the
Sea (UNCLOS) that regulates protection and conservation of natural resources including prevention of
unregulated activities.
iii. The 19 seaters Dornier aircraft of the IN arrived Bangkok on September 5, 2019 for the Single planning
conference in CORPAT.
About Indian Navy:
Founded- 5 September 1612.
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)-Admiral Karambir Singh.
Navy Day- 4 December.
Indian Navy ships Sahyadri and Kiltan are on a port call at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Indian Navy ships Sahyadri and Kiltan made a port call to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia for a 3 day visit from
September 12 – 15, 2019 as a part of Indian Navy’s Overseas Deployment to South East Asia and Western Pacific.
Key Points:
i. Both ships, representing the ‘coming of age’ of India’s warship building capabilities, are a part of the Indian
Navy’s Eastern Naval Command under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain,
Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
ii.T hey operate under the Command of Rear Admiral Suraj Berry, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.
Exercise Samudra Laksamana 2019
i. Indian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy will participate in the bilateral exercise named Samudra
Laksamana 2019 during the port call.
ii. The exercise includes a harbour phase and a sea phase.
SCO exercise “Tsentr (centre) 2019” commenced in DONGUZ Ranges, Russia

On September 14, 2019 the opening ceremony of exercise “TSENTR 2019” which forms part of the Russian
Armed Forces’ annual training cycle, under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) and Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR), was conducted at the DONGUZ ranges near Orenburg, Russia. 8 SCO member countries
inclusive of Russia namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan are
participating in the exercise that will conclude on 23 September 2019. The exercise which mainly focuses on
countering international terrorism, comprises of two modules where the first module focuses on counter-terror
operations,defensive measures and the second module focuses on offensive operations.
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23rd edition of “Malabar 2019” naval joint exercise of India, US and Japan commenced at Sasebo, Japan
On September 25, 2019 the 23rd edition of the trilateral maritime exercise of India, Japan and the United
States(US) named “Malabar 2019” exercise begun at Sasebo, Japan.
Key points:
i. 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.
ii. 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.
iii. Maritime patrol Aircraft deployment: The three nations are deploying their maritime patrol aircraft
equipped with radars, missiles and torpedoes as anti-submarine warfare is the important element in Malabar
exercise.
About Malabar exercise:
♦ It originally began as a bilateral exercise in 1992 between India and US, 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.
IAF receives 8 US-made ‘Apache AH-64E’ fighter helicopters

On September 2, 2019, The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received 8 US-made ‘Apache AH-64E’ fighter
helicopters from US (United States)aerospace major Boeing at Airforce Station, Pathankot, Punjab. Air Chief
Marshal B. S. Dhanoa was the chief guest of the ceremony held at the Pathankot Station.
Key points:
Order: In September 2015, IAF had signed a contract with US Government and Boeing for purchasing 22 AH-64E
Apache helicopters. Boeing delivered the first 4 out of 22 helicopters on 27 July 2019. The first batch was
delivered to the Indian Air Force at Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh(UP). The remaining of 22 will
get to India in a phased manner.
Apache helicopters:
i. About: It is the most modern multi-role combat helicopter in the world and the US Army also uses it. These
helicopters are equipped with laser sensors and night vision cameras, meaning they can carry out attacks even at
night.
ii. Manufacturer: Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company has developed and manufactured the Apache
helicopters. It has delivered more than 2,200 Apaches to customers around the world and India is 16th nation to
select it for its military.
iii. Feature: It is capable of simultaneous attacks on 128 targets. The helicopter, equipped with 16 anti-tank
missiles, can fire from 4.6 km away. Its flight range is 500 km, which flies at a maximum speed of 279 km per
hour.
iv. It also is equipped with a 330 mm chain gun that can fire 1,200 rounds, air to ground hellfire missiles, 70 MM
Hydra rockets and air to air stinger missiles. These will slowly replace the ageing Russian made Mi35 helicopters.
v. Importance: These new choppers have increased manifold capability to attack accurately & it will provide a
significant edge to Indian armed forces in future joint operations in support of land forces.
About IAF:
Founded: 8 October 1932
About Boeing:
CEO: Dennis Muilenburg
Headquarters: Chicago, US.
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DRDO successfully test fires indigenous MP-ATGM in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh

On September 11, 2019, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested
indigenously developed low weight, fire-and-forget Man Portable Anti Tank Guided Missile (MP-ATGM) from
a firing range in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
i. It was the third successful test-firing of the 100% indigenous ATGM, developed for the infantry battalions of
the Indian Army. The missile weighs around 14 kg with maximum range of around 2.5 kms, will replace Soviet-
era anti-tank missiles.
ii. The missile, incorporated with state-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics, was
launched from a man-portable tripod launcher and it hit the target of mimicking a functional tank in top attack
mode and destroyed it with precision.
DRDO gives second indigenously developed AEWC aircraft ‘Netra’ to Air Force
The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has handed over the 2nd indigenously
developed AEWC (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft, ‘Netra’ to the Indian Air Force(IAF).
Western Air Command Chief Air Marshal R Nambier Nambiar accepted the planes at the acceptance ceremony at
Bathinda Airbase in Punjab.
Key points:
i. At the time of the Balakot attack in February 2019, Netra has played a major role.
ii. The indigenously developed missile by DRDO with assistance from the Bengaluru-based Centre for Airborne
Systems is equipped with indigenously developed electronics and hardware.
iii. The maximum firepower of this missile is about 2.5 km. It can be used for surveillance, tracking, identification
and classification of airborne and sea surface targets and is useful in detecting upcoming ballistic missile threats.
About DRDO:
♦ Motto: “Strength’s Origin is in Science
♦ Founded: 1958
♦ Chairman: Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy
About IAF:
♦ Chief of the Air Staff (CAS): Birender Singh Dhanoa
First-ever arrested landing of LCA Tejas successfully executed by DRDO, ADA

On September 13, 2019 the first-ever arrested landing of the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) Tejas was
successfully executed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) and Aeronautical
Development agency(ADO) of DRDO at INS Hansa, Goa at a shore based facility centre. This achievement would
pave way to take up aircraft carrier landing demonstration on Indian Naval Aircraft Carrier, INS (Indian Naval
Ship) Vikramaditya.
Key points
i. LCA(navy): It is the naval version of Tejas after it was developed for Indian Air Force(IAF). The arrested
landing of the naval version of the LCA would be test on INS vikramaditya. INS vikrant which is also known as
Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1(IAC-1) will be delivered to the Indian Navy(IN) in 2021 and would also feature LCA
on its board.
ii. Flight test team: Commander JA Maolankar (Chief Test Pilot), Captain Shivnath Dahiya, Landing Safety
Officer(LSO) and Commander J D Raturi (Test Director) successfully executed the arrested landing after years of
flight testing and 4 dedicated campaign tests.
iii. Makers involved: ADA, DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-Air Research and Development
Command(HAL-ARDC), CSIR(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) labs.
About DRDO:
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♦ Minister responsible- Rajnath Singh (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh).

♦ Chairman- G.Satheesh Reddy.
Air-to-Air missile Astra successfully flight tested by IAF from Su-30 MKI from the Bay of Bengal off the
coast of Odisha
On September 17, 2019, The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully flight-tested air-to-air missile Astra from Su-30
MKI as a part of user trials from the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha. It is India’s first air-to-air missile
which is engaged accurately with the live aerial target demonstrating its capability.
Key Points:
• Astra, an indigenously developed sophisticated Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) is
capable of engaging targets of different ranges and altitudes including long-range and short-range
targets.
• It has a range of over 70 km and can fly towards its target at a speed of over 5,555 kilometres per hour.
• With highly advanced features like Electronic Counter- Counter Measures (ECCM), it has a 15-
kilogramme high-explosive pre-fragmented warhead.
• It was developed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) with Defence Research
and Development Laboratory (DRDL) as the lead laboratory and other 50 public and private
organisations.
• Modifications of the Sukhoi-30 MKI jets to accommodate Astra missiles were done by Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• The missile test was tracked by different Radars, Sensors and Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS).
About DRDO:
♦ Founded: 1958
♦ Chairman: Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy
DRDO presents war gaming software to the Indian Navy at ISSA Delhi
On September 16, 2019, the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) handed over New-
Generation Wargaming Software to the Indian Navy with the aim of enabling Maritime Warfare
Centres (MWCs) and train using the latest technologies. The software was handed over by DRDO chairman and
defence secretary G. Satheesh Reddy to G Ashok Kumar, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff at the Institute for Systems
Studies and Analysis (ISSA), Delhi. The software is developed by DRDO’s laboratory- ISSA, Delhi in collaboration
with MWC of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
Software: It enables global wargaming scenarios and also enables exercises to be conducted between
geographically-dispersed locations over a Wide Area Network(WAN).
Indian Air Force gets the first shipment of new version of Israeli Guided Bomb Spice 2000
On September 15, 2019, The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received the first consignment of the upgraded version
of the Guided Bomb Spice-2000 with Mark 84 warheads and bombs from Israel at the Gwalior airbase, Madhya
Pradesh. The bombs are being given to India under a contract worth about Rs 300 crore signed between India
and Israel in June 2019.
Key points:
i. The SPICE (stands for Smart, Precise Impact and Cost-Effective) is a guidance and maneuvering kit
manufactured by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
ii. In the Balakot airstrike, the IAF has successfully used this bomb, known as ‘Building Blaster’. This bomb has
the potential to completely demolish a building. The bomb was acquired by the Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft’s
home base Gwalior as the aircraft is capable of firing Israeli bombs.
iii. Balakot strike: India carried out airstrikes in Pakistan in the early hours of February 26, 2019, destroying the
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biggest terror camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and eliminating a very large number of JeM terrorists,
trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis.
About IAF:
♦ Motto:Touch the sky with glory
♦ Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) : Birender Singh Dhanoa
Defence Ministry signed Rs.5,500 crore contract for additional indigenous Akash SAM systems and LCAs
On September 17, 2019 the union defence ministry signed contracts worth Rs. 5,500crores for 7 squadrons
of Akash Surface to Air Missile (SAM) systems and 83 Light Combat Aircrafts (LCA) to be deployed by the Indian
Air Force (IAF) in the borders of China and Pakistan. The cabinet ministry headed by Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi cleared the project for IAF.The main vendors in this contract are Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) along with 150 private vendors.
Key points
i. Major deals: Contracts worth ₹70,000-80,000 crore are also expected to be signed by the defence ministry
with the Indian industry next year(2020) that includes Pinaka rocket launchers, LCA, Mk-1A, Light Combat
Helicopter and towed artillery guns.
ii. Defence exports: The defence exports were ₹10,745 crores in 2018-19, which was 7 times of export of 2016-
17.
iii. Targets set: The defence ministry targets for exports worth $5 billion till 2024 and aims to build $26 billion
turnover in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025. Defence being one of the most prominent sectors
in supporting the economy, the govt. also aims to build $10 trillion economy by 2032.
iv. Liabilities: The defence minister Shri Rajnath Singh stated that the committed liabilities were in excess of ₹1
lakh crore in spite of the union defence budget allocation of ₹81,000 crores.
About Indian Air Force:
♦ Founded- 8 October 1932.
♦ Motto(s)- NabhaḥSpr̥ śaṁDīptam (Touch the sky with glory).
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd delivered second Scorpenesubmarine“KHANDERI” to Indian Navy in

Mumbai
On September 19, 2019 India’s biggest warship builder Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd(MDL), delivered the
second of the 6 scorpene class submarine, Indian Naval Ship (INS) khanderi to the Indian Navy in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The submarine will be commissioned at Naval dockyard by the Union Defence Minister Shri
Rajnath Singh on September 28, 2019.The ship is designed by French company Naval Group (earlier known as
DCNS)
Key points
i. The acceptance document was signed by Rakesh Anand, Chairman & Managing Director(MD) of MDL and Rear
Admiral B Sivakumar, Chief of Staff Officer (Tech), Western Naval Command.
ii. The first of the scorpene submarine named INS Kalvari, was commissioned in the year 2018. The last of the
submarine is expected to be delivered by 2022.
iii. Khanderi name: The submarine Khanderi is named after wide snouted Sawfish, which is a deadly sea
predator of the Indian Ocean.
Defence Minister Mr Rajnath Singh commissions ICGS Varaha at the Chennai Port Trust
On September 25, 2019, Defence Minister of India, Mr Rajnath Singh commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship
(ICGS) Varaha at the Chennai Port Trust, Tamil Nadu in the presence of ICG Director General (DG)
Krishnaswamy Natarajan and others. It is the fourth in the series of seven 98-m Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) of
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the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). Mr Singh had also participated in the Investiture Ceremony of Coast Guard in
Chennai.
Key Points:
• ICGS Varaha, designed and built indigenously by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its Kattupalli ship building
yard in North Chennai, will be based at New Mangalore Port, Karnataka under the administrative and
operational control of Commander Coast Guard region (west).
• It will be commanded by Commandant Dushyant Kumar.
• It will have on board 14 officers and 89 men and has capabilities to operate twin engine Advanced Light
Helicopters (ALH) developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and can also carry
limited Pollution Response equipment to contain oil spill at Sea.
• Equipped with advanced state-of-the-art communication technology and navigation, sensor and
machinery, Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Automated Power Management System (APMS), Integrated
Platform Management System (IPMS), high power external fire fighting system and Help Traversing
System, the ship’s weaponry includes one 30 mm and two 12.7 mm guns to enhance the fighting
efficiency of the vessel.
• The ship can carry four high-speed boats including two rigid hull inflated boats for boarding operation,
search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol.
• It displaces 2,100 tonne and is capable of achieving maximum speed of 26 knots and endurance of 5000
nautical miles.
Rajnath Singh Commissions 2nd INS Khanderi Attack Submarine, 1st P-17 Shivalik-Class Frigate INS
Nilgiri & The Largest Aircraft Carrier Drydock
On September 28, 2019, The Defence Minister of India, Mr Rajnath Singh commissioned India’s second
Scorpene-class attack submarine INS Khanderi, India’s first P-17 Shivalik-class frigate INS Nilgiri and the
largest aircraft carrier drydock into the Indian Navy in a ceremony held at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai,
Maharashtra in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and others.
INS Khanderi
The motto of INS (Indian Navy Ship) Khanderi is ‘Akhand Abhedya Adrishya’ that implies unity of the crew and
its stealth capabilities. Its name and features are inspired by the fish named ‘Kanneri’, found in Arabian Sea.
The features of the submarine are as follows:
i. Launched in August 2017, it is the second class attack submarine under Project 75, the first being INS Kalvari.
ii. The diesel-electric fully automated submarine was manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
Limited (MDSL) in Mumbai.
iii. The state-of-the-art features of the submarine include superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling
attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons.
iv. It successfully cleared all the rigorous sea trials and tests over the last two and a half years.
v. It is capable of saving oxygen availability and can stay underwater for long periods.
vi. It reduces its noise when it is under the sea and can roll-in a crew of 36 members.
vii. It comprises a set of missiles and torpedoes along with a sonar suite which helps the submarine to detect the
enemies from a long distance and classify its targets.
viii. It is 67.5 metres long and 12.3 metres tall.
ix. The submarine’s permanently magnetised propulsion motor is powered by 360 battery cells. Each battery cell
weighs 750 kg.
Project 75/ P-75
India aims to build a total of 6 Scorpene-class submarines under P-75 in collaboration with France’s Transfer of
Technology from Naval Group at a cost of around Rs 25,000 crore. The other 4 ships are INS Karanj, INS Vagir,
INS Vagsheer and INS Vela.
INS Nilgiri
i. It is the first Alpha Shivalik-class frigate, a stealth warship built under a programme Project-17 worth over Rs
45,000 crore. Its launch weight was 2,650 tonnes.
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ii. The delivery date of the frigate is 2022.

iii. It consists of a series of 7 ships- 3 to be built by the MDSL in Mumbai and 4 by Garden Reach Shipbuilders &
Engineers (GSRE) in Kolkata.
iv. It is a follow-up to the first ever frigate by MDSL in 1970s (decommissioned now).
v. 5 ships of the Nilgiri-class (P-17A frigates) are named after the famous hill ranges of India- Himgiri, Udaygiri,
Dunagiri, Taragiri and Vindhyagiri. The last frigate (7th) will be named as Mahendragiri.
vi. Each of the frigate is expected to cost around $900 million which roughly translates to Rs 6,500 crore.
Other Specifications of Frigate
i. It is powered by two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines and two MAN manufactured diesel engines.
ii. It will be equipped with two long range surface to air Barak missile, surface to surface Brahmos supersonic
cruise missile to deal with threats from the air. The Barak missiles will be supplied by Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL) in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
iii. Its construction will adopt the modern Integrated Construction (IC) methodology.
iv. It will be fitted with a pair of RBU-6000 rocket launches and two triple tube torpedo launchers.
v. It would be also fitted with defence mechanisms like four decoy launchers and two anti-torpedo decoy
systems.
Aircraft carrier drydock
i. It is the largest drydock of the Indian Navy.
ii. It helps in maintenance works, provides facilities for refueling and repairs and is capable of dry docking INS
Vikramaditya, the modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier of Indian Navy.
iii. Defence minister termed it as an “edifice of modern India”.
About Indian Navy:
♦ Navy Day: 4th December
♦ Motto: Sham No Varunah (May the Lord of the water be auspicious unto us)
Land attack version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile test fired by DRDO from Chandipur coast of
Odisha
On September 30, 2019 the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), successfully test fired
the land attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise from Chandipur coast in Odisha in its Balasore
district. Having a strike range of 290 km, this missile can be fired from both land and sea based platforms and
also adds strength to the “Make in India” flagship programme.
Key points
In March 2017 the first extended version of the BrahMos missile, with a strike range of 450 km, was successfully
tested.
About BrahMos missile:
i. The BrahMos missile is a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPOM(NPO Mashinostroyeniya)
ii. It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.
iii. The name BrahMosis coined from the names the Brahmaputra river of India and the Moskva river of Russia.
About DRDO:
♦ Founded- 1958.
♦ Chairman- Dr G. Satheesh Reddy.
♦ Motto-“Strength’s Origin is in Science”.
Indian Armed Forces to organise HimVijay exercise on the Chinese border in October
The Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) will jointly engage to conduct a large war exercise code-
named ‘HimVijay’ in October 2019 along the china border near Arunachal Pradesh. This would be the 1st and
biggest ever war game done by the strike corps in the eastern region. For the first time, 17 Mountain Corps will
be involved, over 2500 soldiers will participate in it.
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Key points:
i. The Indian Army will deploy state-of-the-art American weapons. These include the M777 ultralight howitzers,
including Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Chinook heavy-lift helicopters were inducted into the Indian Air Force
at Chandigarh Airbase on 25 March 2019.
ii. The purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of war in the northeast. It will also include the recently
formed 17 Mountain Strike Corps. The Air Force will do everything to meet the Army’s needs during the war.
M777 ultra-light howitzers will be provided to 17 Mountain Strike Corps during the exercise.
iii. Tezpur -based 4 Corps will be deployed at high altitude in the exercise. They will be charged with the security
of their area. Meanwhile, a brigade-size force of 17 Mountain Strike Corps (comprising more than 2500 soldiers)
will be airlifted there by the Air Force to challenge them.
iv. The Air Force will use C-17, C-130J Super Hercules and AN-32 to airlift the troops. The Air Force will airlift
these soldiers from Baghdogra in West Bengal to the war zone located near Arunachal.
v. The army started forming IBGs (Integrated Battle Groups ) to make its organization more effective. Once it is
formed, the formations will be converted into leaner and more efficient fighting with the capability to strike
deeper and quicker against enemy targets.
vi. The IBG will be smaller than a division and as per the need of modern times will integrate the existing
elements of infantry, tank regiments, artillery, engineers and signals. 6 IBGs will be deployed and will be directly
under a Corps.
vii. Background: After a local delegation-level meeting at the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point in Chusul
in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir, the issue between Soldiers of India and China near Pangong Tso lake in
eastern Ladakh ended. China holds a large part of Pangong Tso, which has seen scuffle in the past both the
countries over land and on the water as both sides patrol on speed boats. China also objected the conversion of
Ladakh into a Union Territory(UT) and supported Pakistan’s diplomatic moves at the United Nations(UN).
About Indian Army:
♦ Motto: “Service Before Self”
♦ Chief of the Army Staff (COAS): General Bipin Rawat
About IAF:
♦ Chief of the Air Staff (CAS): Birender Singh Dhanoa
ENVIRONMENT
Scientists discover 8th continent, “Greater Adria” hidden under Europe
On September 27, 2019 Geologists under the principal researcher Douwe van Hinsbergen, Professor at Utrecht
University, Netherlands, have discovered a new continent named “Greater Adria” in the mediterranean region
under Europe, after successful analysation of mountain ranges from Spain to Iran in detail for 10 years. The
discovery of this continent is published in the journal ‘Gondwana Research’.
Key points
i. Greater Adria: This Greater Adria island is a piece of continental crust in the size of Greenland. It once
separated from North Africa and plunged into the Earth’s mantle under Southern Europe. It took Greater Adria
120 million years to be found by mankind. The only remaining part of this continent is a strip that runs from
Turin, Italy via the Adriatic Sea in the Italian peninsula, hence the name “Greater Adria”.
ii. Background: Millions of years ago, the Earth was consisted of just one massive chunk of land called Pangea,
which fragmented into smaller portions and led to the rise to continents. Pangea had broken down into
Gondwana and Laurasia. The former fragmented further to give birth to Europe, North America, and Asia, while
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the latter birthed Antarctica, South America, Africa, and Australia. During this process, the lost eighth continent
Greater Adria slipped underneath what now forms Southern Europe. Although it is considered as a part of
Gondwana.
iii. Reconstruction: Reconstructing the lost Greater Adria was difficult as the Mediterranean region remains the
most complex region on earth geologically. Plate tectonics, the theory that explains continents and oceans
formation states that various plates of the earth do not internally deform when they move with respect to each
other along large fault zones, is defied in case of the Mediterranean region.
About Mediteranean region:
♦ This region is also called as Mediterranean Basin or Mediterranea.
♦ This region covers three continents. They are Europe, Asia, and Africa.
♦ It has a varied and contrasting topography comprising of high mountains, rocky shores, impenetrable scrub,
semi-arid steppes, coastal wetlands, sandy beaches and a myriad island. Most areas in the Mediterranean basin
are hilly
Overview of Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian has affected the Bahamas and the Southeastern United States (US). It is the first major
hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. It was developed from a tropical wave on August 24, 2019 in the
Central Atlantic.
Key Points:
i. Dorian had maximum sustained winds of 175 kph (110 mph).
ii. The Miami-based (United States) National Hurricane Center (NHC) notified that as of September 3, 2019, it
started moving northwest, leaving Bahamas, carrying the powerful storm close to the Florida coast. It was about
70 kilometers (40 miles) north of Freeport, Grand Bahama, and nearly 170 kilometers (105 miles) east of Fort
Pierce, Florida, and heading northwest at 4 kph (2 mph).
iii. In the Bahamas, it killed at least 5 people.
iv. The U.S. states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency
and many coastal counties from Florida to North Carolina issued mandatory evacuation orders.
Categories of Hurricanes
Category 5: Major Hurricane; Sustained wind speed: 157 mph or higher
Category 4: Major Hurricane; Sustained wind speed: 130-156 mph
Category 3: Major Hurricane; Sustained wind speed: 111-129 mph
Category 2: Sustained wind speed: 96-110 mph
Category 1: Sustained wind speed: 74-95 mph
Cricketer Rohit Sharma’s new innings, “Rohit4Rhinos campaign” for conservation Rhinos in India
Indian cricket team’s star batsman Rohit Sharma is launching “Rohit4Rhinos campaign” in partnership
with WWF India and Animal Planet (wildlife channel) to spread awareness about the need for conservation of
one-horned rhinos.
Key points:
i. This rhino conservation campaign will be launched on September 22 on World Rhino Day.
ii. The one-horned rhinoceros, the state animal of Assam, faces several threats, including poaching, habitat loss
and mortality from in-breeding and disease. There are around 3,500 Indian rhinos present in the world. India is
home to 82 % of the rhinos.
iii. Rohit is the brand ambassador for rhino protection in WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) India and for this,
he joined in 2018.
About Animal Planet:
Formation: October 1, 1996
Owned by: Discovery
Headquarters: Silver Spring, United States
It is primarily devoted to series and documentaries about wild animals and domestic pets.
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About WWF India:

Formation: 27 November 1969
President: Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej
It is a science-based organization which addresses issues such as the conservation of species and its habitats,
climate change, water, and environmental education, among many others.
Typhoon Faxai hits Tokyo, Japan

On September 9, 2019, Typhoon Faxai has hit Tokyo, Japan. There were winds of up to 216 kilometres (134
miles) per hour. Authorities have issued non-compulsory evacuation warnings to more than 390,000 people.
i. About 100 bullet trains connecting Tokyo with central and western Japanese cities were cancelled.
ii. The Rugby World Cup 2019 (9th Edition) is scheduled to be held in Japan from September 20 and the
typhoon has affected the preparations
About Rugby World Cup 2023:
♦ Edition: 10th
♦ Host country: France
IMD released report titled ‘Mid-Monsoon 2019 Lightning’

On September 8, 2019, the India Meteorological Department(IMD) has released a report titled ‘Mid-Monsoon
2019 Lightning’ prepared by IMD’s research body Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council
(CROSPC). It is a first of its kind report in India about lighting incidents and lighting hotspots.
Key points
i. Data used: The data used for preparing the report are IMD’s lightning forecasts, Indian Institute of Tropical
Management(IITM)-Pune’s lightning network data, Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) inputs and other
satellite data based on the reports from lightning resilient India campaign.
ii. Statistics:
• Lightning strikes: Odisha was reported to have more lightning strikes than any other states in India
followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka in the second and third place respectively in the last 4 months.
• Lightning deaths: Uttar Pradesh witnessed more lightning deaths during the same period of time
followed by Bihar and Odisha in the second and third place respectively.
iii. Lightning prone area: Chota Nagpur plateau covering most parts of Jharkhand and adjacent parts of
Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh is the most lightning prone area with East Singhbhum district of
Jharkhand having highest no. of lightning strikes compared to any other districts in India.
iv. Climate change: It was observed that climate change was closely linked with lightning. Heatwave prone areas
were also prone to lightning with increase in pollution being the additional factor.
About IMD:
Formed- 1875.
Director General (DG)- Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.
Cryodrakon boreas- new species of Pterosaur reptile identified by scientists

The University of Southern California (USC) scientists and colleagues have discovered new reptile
species Cryodrakon boreas from the Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs, which is also called as “frozen dragon of
the north”. These species with a wingspan of up to 10mts and weight of about 250kg were once, one among the
largest flying animals that lived 77 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. The remains of the species
was first discovered in Alberta, Canada, 30 years ago. Its study is published in the journal of “Vertebrate
Paleontology” led by author David Hone from Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom (UK).
Scientists from BSI discovered two new species of ginger from Nagaland
Scientists from the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) discovered 2 new species of ginger- Zingiber
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namely Zingiber perenense and Zingiber dimapurense from Nagaland. The article on Zingiber dimapurense
was published in NeBIO, an International Journal of Environment and Biodiversity and the article on Zingiber
perenense was published in The Thailand Natural History Museum Journal.
i. Zingiber perenense was discovered from the Peren district of Nagaland. It’s the leafy shoots reach up to 70 cm
and the specimens were collected in September 2017, when botanists were working on the ‘State flora of
Nagaland’ in the Peren district.
ii. Zingiber dimapurense, discovered from the Dimapur district of Nagaland, is taller, with leafy shoots measuring
90-120 cm high. It’s specimens were collected in October 2016 from the Hekese village forest under the
Medziphema subdivision.
Protodontopteryx ruthae -world’s oldest bird species is discovered in Waipara, New zealand
On September 18, 2019 scientists from the Canterbury Museum(England) have discovered the world’s oldest
bird species’ fossils belonging to an ancient family of duge seafaring birds called as Protodontopteryx ruthae in
Waipara, New zealand that lived 62 million years ago. It was mentioned in the journal ‘Palaeontology’. The bird
which was smallest in size of its family, maintained size of an average sea gull while its descendants had
wingspans more than five metres. It was first found by palaeontologist Leigh Love of the Canterbury museumat
the Waipara Greensand fossil site in 2018.The last pelagornithid species went extinct about 2.5 million years ago.
Key points
i. Features: They had bony tooth like projections on their beaks’ edge and had evolved in the southern
hemisphere.
74-year-old museum specimen-species of giant salamander becomes the world’s largest amphibian
On September 19, 2019, researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and London’s Natural History
Museum discovered a new species of giant Chinese salamander is now considered to be the world’s largest
amphibian. The study of this species is mentioned in the journal “Ecology and Evolution” and its scientific name
is Andrias sligoi.
Key point
It is described in this journal that there are 3 distinct species of Chinese salamanders which are now considered
as critically endangered species. Apart from Andrias sligoli, the other salamander species is named as Andrias
davidianus while the third is yet to be named.
According to United in Science Report 2019 by UN, average global temperature between 2015-2019 set to
be the hottest of any five-year period on record
According to the report titled United in Science for 2019 by United Nations (UN), the average global
temperature between 2015-2019 will be the hottest of any five-year period on record. It is estimated to be 1.1
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial (1850-1900) times and 0.2 degrees Celsius warmer than 2011-2015. The
report was compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and was prepared by the Science
Advisory Group of the UN Climate Action Summit 2019.
Key Points:
i. Carbon dioxide grew 2% in 2018 and reached a record high of 37 billion tonnes.
ii. The extent of Arctic summer sea ice declined at a rate of 12% per decade over the past 40 years, and the four
lowest values were between 2015 and 2019.
iii. The Science Advisory Group was co-chaired by WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas and Leena Srivastava,
former Vice Chancellor of The Energy and Resources Institute School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS), New Delhi.
iv. The report consists of summaries contributed by WMO, Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Carbon Project (GCP), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), Future Earth, Earth League and the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).
New species of Cat snakes found in sahyadri tiger reserve of Maharashtra, named after Tejas Thackeray
A new species of snake called Thackeray’s Cat Snake (scientific name Boiga thackeray) named after Tejas
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Thackeray, younger son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, has been found in Sahyadri tiger reserve in
Koyna area of Satara district in Maharashtra after 125 years.
Key points:
i. Genus: This species usually falls in the category of cat snake or cat-eyed snakes and belongs to the
genus Boiga.
ii. Reason for the name: Tejas Thackeray first observed this species in 2015 and studied its behavior in detail.
He handed over the details to the Pune-based Biodiversity Conservation Foundation and helped in further
research.
iii. Habitat: These snakes belonging to this genus are found all over India, but some species are found only in the
Western Ghats.
iv. Description: The new Snake is non-venomous and arboreal species (living in trees and active mostly during
the night). It has tiger-like stripes on its body & a light yellow texture, dotted with black marks from its head to
the mid-section & it turns pink colour towards the other half of its body. The species have unique feature of
feeding eggs of Humayun’s Night Frog (Nyctibatrachushumayuni), apart from tree frogs.
v. Journal : The findings were published in the Journal of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) & the lead
author of the study was Varad Giri.
Keezhadi excavation in Tamil Nadu leads to a major turning point in the cultural historiography of the
ancient Sangam Age
As per the report, Keeladi-An Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of River Vaigai ’published by
the TNAD (Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department), One of the 6 samples from cultural deposits unearthed
during excavation at Keeladi in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu (TN)at a depth of 353 cm and sent for
carbon dating test in the Beta Analytic Lab, Miami, Florida,U.S (United States) ,goes back to 580 BCE(Before the
Common Era).
Key points:
i. Inference: Urban settlement on the banks of river vaigai (in Tamil Nadu) had happened in TN around the
6th century BCE as happened in Gangatic plains around the same time.
The fourth excavations (2018) findings pushes back the date of Tamil-Brahmi script to 6th century BCE.
ii. Background: In 2017, carbon dating of charcoal found at Keeladi had established that the settlement there
belonged to 200 BC. This was the concurrence with established time period of sangam age (300 BCE-300 CE).
iii. Significance of Keezhadi: It is the 1st intact habitation centre to be unearthed in Tamil Nadu . Urbanization of
Tamil land had begun to happen by the sangam era(sophistication of tamils depicted in the sangam literature).
History of excavation: In 2014, ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) conducted a survey of the banks of river
vaigai & Archaeological evidence were discovered at 293 location.Of those about 90-100 sites showed signs of
habitation & of theses 3 were chosen & studied(One was excavated i.e . Keezhadi.
77 new patch reef areas and 62 new marine species found in Gulf of Mannar
During a recent baseline study of biological resources in the Gulf of Mannar, 62 new species and 77 new patch
reef areas were discovered. This was recorded by the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research
Institute (SDMRI), Tamil Nadu.
Key Points:
i.The study, held from May 2017 to March 2019, was conducted as part of National Adaptation Fund for Climate
Change (NAFCC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and was done under
the supervision of Environment and Forest Departments of Government of Tamil Nadu and National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
ii. The number of species recorded in the Gulf of Mannar increased from 4,223 to 4,285.
iii. The 62 newly recorded species in the study includes 14 species of hard corals (the number of coral species
identified has increased from 117 to 131), 17 species of soft corals, 11 species of sponges, 16 species of mollusks
and 2 species of seaweeds and fish each.
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iv. Over 50 unidentified species were observed, which are believed to be new to Gulf of Mannar and a total of 39
new seagrass patches have been identified covering an area of 8.51 sq.km
SPORTS
India clinched SAFF U-15 Championship 2019 title for the 3rd time by beating Nepal
On August 31, 2019, The India Under-15 team has defeated Nepal with 7-0 score in the final of the SAFF (South
Asian Football Federation) U-15 Championship 2019 held in Kalyani Stadium, West Bengal from August 21
– 31, 2019. This victory means that India has now become the most successful team in the history of the
tournament as it won the title for the 3rd time. Earlier, India won the trophy in 2013 and 2017 in Nepal.
Key points:
i. Striker Sridarth Nongmeikapam’s hat-trick saw India lift the title. He scored 3 goals in this one-sided match &
while Maheson Singh, Amandeep, Sibajit Singh, and Himanshu Jangra scored one goal each. India scored 28 goals
without conceding any in the five matches they played in the tournament, including the final.
ii. The tournament was organized by South Asian Football Federation.
iii. Now the next challenge for the team will be the AFC Under-16 Championship 2020 Qualifier which will be
played from 18 – 22 September 2019. The Indian team is placed in Group B and will face hosts Uzbekistan,
Bahrain and Turkmenistan.
2019 SAFF U–15 Championship:
i. It is the 6th edition of the SAFF U–16 Championship, an international football competition for men’s under−15
national teams.
ii. Top scorer & Best player award: Himanshu Jangra(7 Goals)
iii. Indian Team Coach: Bibiano Fernandes
About SAFF:
♦ Motto: Strength in Unity
♦ Formation: 1997
♦ Headquarters: New Delhi, India
♦ President: Mr. Kazi Md. Salahuddin
After repeated postponement, now the 36th National Games to be held in Goa from October 20 –
November 4, 2020
On August 31, 2019, The Indian Olympic Association(IOA), a body responsible for selecting athletes to
represent India at the international athletic meets stated that the much-delayed 36th National Games will be
held in Goa from October 20 – November 4, 2020. The IOA fixed the date after meeting with the Goa delegation in
New Delhi.
Key points:
i. Top officials from IOA and Goa Sports Minister Babu Ajgaonkar, Sports Secretary J Ashok Kumar, VM
Prabhudesai were present in the meeting.
ii. IOA has awarded the hosting the 36th edition of the National Games in November 2019 to Goa. But the state
later set aside dates for the event from March 30 – April 14, 2019, then the state government expressed its
inability to host the Games during that period owing to the general elections.
iii. In April 2019, the IOA had asked Goa to pay a fine of 10 crore rupees for repeatedly postponing the national
game. After this, the Government of Goa had assured no further delay in organizing the Games.
About IOA:
♦ Formation: 1927
♦ President: Narinder Dhruv Batra
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Jinson Johnson of Kerala brokes his own 1500m national record by winning silver medal in Berlin,
qualifies for World C’ships
On September 1, 2019, The Indian middle-distance runner & 2018 Asian Games gold medalist, Jinson
Johnson(28) from Kerala has won the silver medal in 1500 meters at the 78th edition of ISTAF (International
Sepaktakraw Federation) event 2019 held in Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) Berlin, Germany.
Key points:
i. He finished 2nd behind Joshua Thompson of the United States (US) with a time of 3 minutes 35.24 seconds.
ii. He improved his own national record of 3 minutes 37.62 seconds, which he scored in Nijmegen, Netherlands
on June 2018. He also has a national record of 800 meters (1 minute 45.65 seconds) in his name.
iii. He also qualified for the World Championships scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar from September 28 –
October 6, 2019, with this performance. The qualifying time of the World Championship was 3 minutes 36.00 sec.
iv. ISTAF Berlin is part of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations )World Challenge meetings
and a second-tier event in the athletics event.
Shot putter, Tejinderpal Singh Toor clinched silver in Czech Republic, still missed World C’ships
standards
Indian shot-putter & Arjuna Awardee, Tejinderpal Singh Toor (24) from Punjab has won the silver medal for
India with a best throw of 20.09m in the V. Koci memorial athletics meet 2019 held at Decin, Czech Republic.
However, he could not meet the World Championship standards but his brilliant efforts won him the silver
medal.
Key points:
i. Thomas Stanek of the Czech Republic won the gold medal by throwing the ball at a distance of 20.86 meters.
ii. Tejinder has a personal best throw of 20.75 meters. He has already qualified for the World Championships as
Area Champion. He won the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in April 2019. Tejinderpal was
awarded the Arjuna Award in 2019.
For the 1st time, Arunachal Pradesh will host 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship 2019
For the 1st time, The 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship 2019 will be held in Pasighat,
East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh (AP)from September 10 – 24,2019. The tournament will be hosted by
Arunachal Pradesh Football Association (APFA).
i. 30 teams from across the country including AP, are expected to participate for the championship. Arunachal
Chief Minister Pema Khandu will be the chief guest of the event.
ii. The teams have been divided into 8 groups(A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H). Group H consists of Arunachal Pradesh,
Jammu &Kashmir (J&K)and Telangana. The inaugural match will be played between Railways and Mizoram.
iii. 24th Senior Women’s National Football Championships 2018 was held in Cuttack, Odisha.
iv. India Women’s Football Championship is the women’s football tournament which is contested by states and
government institutions in the country. It is organized by the All India Football Federation(AIFF).
About AIFF:
♦ Founded: 23 June 1937
♦ Headquarters: Dwarka, Delhi
Charles Leclerc wins maiden 2019 F1 Belgian Grand Prix

On September 1, 2019, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (21yr) from Monaco, won the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-
Francorchamps circuit marking his maiden victory in the event and became the third-youngest winner in
F1(Formula 1) history. It also marks Ferrari’s (Italian luxury sports car manufacturer) first victory in 2019.
Key points
i. The second and third place were won by Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton(England) and Mercedes’s ValtteriBottas
(Finland) respectively.
ii. His win was dedicated to France’s Anthoine Hubert who died in a car crash during the 2019 FIA
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(FédérationInternationale de l’Automobile) Formula 2 Championship at the same Spa-Francorchamps circuit on

August 31, 2019.
SL cricketer Lasith Malinga becomes highest T20I wicket-taker surpassing Afridi

Srilankan paceman (fast bowler) Separamadu Lasith Malinga on August 31, 2019, became the highest T20I
(Twenty-Twenty International) wicket-taker surpassing Pakistan’s all-rounder Shahid Afridi, during the tri-
match series of T20I between Srilanka and New Zealand at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri
Lanka. Malinga took a total of 99 wickets from 74 matches surpassing Afridi’s 98 wickets in 99 matches.
Key points
i. Malinga previously dismissed South Africa born New zealand cricketer Colin Munro to equal Afridi’s record.
Overview of Indian Cricket Team’s Tour to West Indies

Indian Men’s Cricket team toured the West Indies and the United States (US) from August 3-September 3, 2019.
It played 2 Tests, 3 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 3 Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The tour
started with 2 of the T20I matches played at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. The Test
series formed a part of the inaugural 2019–21 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship.
Captains:
• The captain of the Indian cricket team was Virat Kohli for all the matches.
• The captain of the West Indies cricket team for Tests & ODIs was Jason Holder and for T20s was Carlos
Brathwaite.
T20I Series
i. India won the 3 match series 3-0 against West Indies.
ii. The 3 matches were held in the following venues:
• Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida, US (2 matches)
• Providence Stadium, Guyana, South America.
iii. Following are the highlights of the series:
Most Runs
Indian Side Virat Kohli (106)
West Indies Side Kieron Pollard (115)
Most Wickets
Indian Side Navdeep Saini (5)
West Indies Side Sheldon Cottrell & Oshane Thomas (4 each)
Player of the Series Krunal Himanshu Pandya (India)
Records created
• Rohit Sharma of India became the most prolific six-hitter in T20 Internationals surpassing the record of
Chris Gayle (West Indies) of 105 sixes. The total number of sixes hit by Sharma stands at 107.
• Indian team captain Virat Kohli attained the pole position among Indians in the shortest format across all
competitions. He bettered Suresh Raina’s record to become the highest scorer among Indians in T20
cricket. Raina held the top spot with 8392 runs and now Kohli entered the game with 8416 runs.
• Pacer Navdeep Saini became the first Indian bowler to bowl the 20th over as a maiden in a T20I,
achieving the feat on his international debut against West Indies. Former New Zealand spinner Jeetan
Patel (2008), Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir (2010) and Singapore’s Janak Prakash (2019) are
the other three bowlers to have achieved the feat.
• India batsman Rishabh Pant broke the Indian record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in
T20Is when he hit a match-winning 65 for the team in the 3rd T20I against West Indies in Guyana. He
surpassed the record held by MS Dhoni of India who held a record of scoring 56 runs against England
(2017).
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ODI Series
i. India won the 3 match series 2-0 against West Indies. The first match finished as a no result.
• Providence Stadium, Guyana, US
• Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (2 matches)
Most Runs
Indian Side Virat Kohli (234)
West Indies Side Evin Lewis (148)
Most Wickets
Indian Side Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami & Khaleel Ahmed (4 each)
West Indies Side Carlos Brathwaite (3)
Player of the Series Virat Kohli (India)
Records created
Virat Kohli
• Indian captain Virat Kohli broke Pakistan’s Javed Miandad’s (1930 runs in 64 matches) 26-year-old
record to become the highest run-scorer, against West Indies in ODI cricket. He surpassed Javed
Miandad’s tally of 1930 runs in 34 matches.
• He eclipsed former captain Sourav Ganguly (11,363 runs in 311 ODIs) to become the second highest run-
scorer for India in ODIs. He scored 11,406 runs in 238 innings. He is only behind Sachin Tendulkar
(18,426 runs).
• He smashed his 42nd ODI century off 112 deliveries and has taken 12 innings to reach the 42nd from his
41. Sachin Tendulkar had taken 37 innings to go from 41 to 42.
• He became the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade with 20,502 runs across all
formats.
Chris Gayle of West Indies
He broke Brian Lara’s ( West Indies) ODI run-scoring and West Indies appearance records of most ODI runs by a
West Indies batsman. It was his 300th match in the 50-over format by bettering Lara’s tally of 10,348 runs.
Test Series
i. India won the 2 match series 2-0 against West Indies. It was India’s eighth straight Test series win over West
Indies.
• Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, West Indies.
• Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Most Runs
Indian Side Hanuma Vihari (289)
West Indies Side Jason Holder (104)
Most Wickets
Indian Side Jasprit Bumrah (13)
West Indies Side Kemar Roach (9)
Records created
• Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah became the fastest Indian bowler to take 50 Test wickets.
• Virat Kohli became the most successful Indian Captain in Overseas Tests. He has won 28 test matches as a
captain. In the first Test, with India’s victory Virat Kohli equalled MS Dhoni’s record of 27 Test wins.
• Jasprit Bumrah of India became the first Asian to take 5-wicket hauls in Tests in Australia, England, South
Africa and the West Indies. It was his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests.
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• Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane smashed his 10th hundred in Test cricket. It was his first hundred in
international cricket since his 132(222) against Sri Lanka in August 2017. He is the 16th Indian batsman
to hit at least 10 hundreds in Test cricket.
• India defeated West Indies by a massive 318-run margin in the first cricket Test match. With this win,
topped of the World Test Championship table with 60 points. Sri Lanka stood at the second place with
same points (60), Australia and England held third and fourth respectively with 32 points each.
• Ishant Sharma of India surpassed the record held by Kapil Dev as the most successful Indian pacer
outside Asia. Sharma has 156 wickets in his name whereas Dev held the record with 155 wickets outside
Asia. Spinner Anil Kumble has the most wickets outside Asia with 200 wickets.
• Indian Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant became the fastest Indian to claim 50 wicket-keeping
dismissals in Test cricket, surpassing the record held by MS Dhoni. He achieved this feat in the 11th test
whereas Dhoni achieved it in 15 Tests.
• Mohammed Shami became the 3rd fastest Indian pacer to take 150 Test wickets in his 42nd Test match,
surpassing the record held by Zaheer Khan of India. Kapil Dev is the fastest among Indian pacemen to
complete 150 Test wickets in 39 matches followed by Javagal Srinath (40).
About ICC:
♦ Headquarters:
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
♦ Chairman: Shashank Manohar
Overview of 2019 ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2019 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle / Pistol event was held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil from August 26-September 3, 2019. It was an annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the
Olympic Shooting events and governed by ISSF. India finished the tournament at the top spot with 5 Gold, 2
Silver & 2 Bronze medals, with 9 medals altogether.
Olympic Quota for 2020 Tokyo Olympics
• Sanjeev Rajput secured India’s 8th Olympic Quota for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the silver
medal in Men’s 50m rifle event.
• Yashaswini Singh Deswal secured the 9th Olympic Quota for India. She clinched a gold in Women’s 10m
air pistol.
List of Indian Shooters who got Olympic Quota for 2020 Tokyo Olympics earlier
Sl No Event Name
1 10m Air Rifle women Anjum Moudgil
2 10m Air Rifle women Apurvi Chandela
3 10m Air Pistol men Saurabh Chaudhary
4 10m Air Rifle men Divyansh Singh Panwar
5 10m Air Pistol men Abhishek Verma
6 25m Pistol women Rahi Sarnobat
7 10m Air Pistol women Manu Bhaker
Medals won by Indian Shooters in 2019 ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol
Sl No Event Winners Medal
1 Mixed 10m air pistol Manu Bhaker & Saurabh Chaudhary Gold
2 Women’s 10m air rifle Elavenil Valarivan Gold
3 Men’s 10m Air Pistol Abhishek Verma Gold
4 Women’s 10m air pistol Yashaswini Singh Deswal Gold
5 Mixed 10M Air Rifle Apurvi Chandela & Deepak Kumar Gold
6 Men’s 50m rifle Sanjeev Rajput Silver
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7 Mixed 10m air pistol Yashaswini Deswal & Abhishek Verma Silver
8 Men’s 10m Air Pistol Saurabh Chaudhary Bronze
9 Mixed 10m air pistol Anjum Moudgil & Divyansh Singh Panwar Bronze
About ISSF:
♦ Headquarters: Munich, Germany
♦ Founded: 1907
♦ President: Vladimir Lisin
About 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Games of the XXXII Olympiad/ 2020 Summer Olympics:
♦ Host city: Tokyo, Japan
♦ Schedule: July 24-August 9, 2020
♦ Venue: New National Stadium
Other Upcoming Olympic events:
♦ 2024 Summer Olympics: Paris, France
♦ 2028 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles, California, United States
♦ 2022 Winter Olympics: Beijing, China
♦ 2026 Winter Olympics: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Steve Smith claimed the top spot in ICC Test Rankings; Virat Kohli slips to second place
In the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Rankings, Steve Smith of Australia piped Indian captain Virat
Kohli and secured the top spot. He has a one-point (904 points) lead over Kohli (903 points).
Key Points:
i. Smith returned to the top spot riding on his twin centuries in the first Ashes Test against England and 92 in the
second match.
ii. Kohli slipped to the second place after his first-ball duck in the Jamaica Test.
iii. In Test Batting Rankings, Cheteshwar Pujara is at the 4th spot & Ajinkya Rahane at 7th place. In Test All
rounder Rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin is at 7th place.
iv. In Team rankings, India is at the top spot, followed by New Zealand and South Africa.
v. The rankings are as follows:
Ranking Test Batting Ranking Test Bowling Ranking Test All rounder
Ranking
1 Steve Smith (Australia) Pat Cummins (Australia) Jason Holder (West
Indies)
2 Virat Kohli (India) Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) Ben Stokes (England)
3 Kane Williamson (New Zealand) Jasprit Bumrah (India) Shakib Al Hasan
(Bangladesh)
About ICC:
♦ Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Virdhawal Khade and Rujuta becomes India’s fastest couple at 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatics
championships
At the 73rd Glenmark National senior aquatics championships 2019, held at Prakash Taran Pushkar Bhavan,
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Indian swimmer Rujuta became the fastest female swimmer of India winning the title
in 50m freestyle whereas her husband Virdhawal Khade(2010 Asian bronze medallist) broke his own national
record winning gold in the men’s 50m breaststroke event. The couple earned the title of becoming India’s fastest
couple in swimming. Gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke was won by Divya Satija (Haryana), who also broke
her own national record.
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Mithali Raj-Indian woman cricketer retires from T20 internationals

On September 3, 2019, former Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has announced her retirement
from T20 (twenty-twenty) International in order to focus on the upcoming 2021, 50 over World Cup to be hosted
by New Zealand. She represented India in 89 matches of shortest format, scoring 2,364 runs which is the highest
by any Indian Women to date.
Key points
i. Leading India into 32 matches and three World Cups, Rajasthan born Mithali made her debut in T20
international, in Derby in 2006, and has last played T20 international in March 2019 against England in
Guwahati, Assam.
ii. Mithali has also played in 203 ODIs and 10 Tests scoring 6720 runs with 7 centuries and 663 runs with one
century respectively.
Logo for 2022 FIFA World Cup launched by Qatar

On September 3, 2019, The host city for 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar unveiled the logo for the same displaying
it in public spaces in Doha and cities around the world. 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is the 22nd Edition, will be
hosted by the Gulf Emirate. FIFA and the Qatari organizing committee launched the logo/emblem in Doha,
capital of Qatar.
Key Points:
i. Design: The design is a stylised Arabic white unisex shawl with maroon patterning, which is displayed in a
figure-of-eight symbolising infinity while creating a heart shape above the words “FIFA WORLD CUP Qatar 2022”.
In its shape, the logo resembles the World Cup trophy.
ii. Description of the logo: The swooping curves of the emblem represent the undulations of desert dunes and
the unbroken loop depicts both the number eight – a reminder of the eight astonishing stadiums that will host
matches – and the infinity symbol, reflecting the interconnected nature of the event
iii .Inspiration: It was inspired by traditional woollen shawls worn during the winter months.
iv. Appearances: The emblem appeared on buildings and giant screens in New York, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo,
Santiago, Mexico City, Johannesburg, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Moscow, Mumbai, Seoul and 10
districts across Turkey.
v. Schedule: The tournament is scheduled to be held from November 21- December 18, 2022.
vi. 2026 FIFA World Cup: It will be hosted by 3 nations- Canada, Mexico and the United States (US).
About FIFA:
♦ FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association
♦ Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland
♦ Motto: For the Game. For the World
♦ President: Gianni Infantino
Former French footballer Eric Cantona felicitated with UEFA President’s Award 2019
Former Manchester United and France legend Eric Cantona, aged 53, was honoured with Union of European
Football Association’s (UEFA) President’s Award 2019 at the Champions League draw in Monaco. He has won
5 English championships with Leeds and Manchester United in the 1990s and 2 French titles with Marseille.
i. He became the third Manchester United player to receive the award after Bobby Charlton (2008) and David
Beckham (2018).
ii. The previous recipients of the award include Johann Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano and Eusebio.
iii. He played 45 times for France between 1983 – 1998. He was best known for his role in Ken Loach’s quirky
2009 comedy drama Looking for Eric. He was also nominated for a Palme d’Or.
iv. The President’s Award recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal
qualities
Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza retires from international cricket

On September 3, 2019, Zimbabwe cricket captain Hamilton Masakadza (36 years) has announced his
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retirement from international cricket, thus ending his international cricket career after the T20I (twenty-twenty
International) tri-series match with Bangladesh and Afghanistan from September 13 to 24.
Key points
i. Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Hamilton made his debut against West Indies in 2001 and has appeared in 38 Test,
209 ODIs (One Day International) and 62 T20I representing the country scoring 9410 international runs.
ii. He set a world record in 2001 by becoming the youngest player to make a century in test debut at the age of 17
years and 354 days, against the West Indies in Harare, Zimbabwe during Clive Lloyd Trophy. He held this record
for less than two months before it was broken by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful.
Anupama Swain clinched bronze in World Martial Arts Mastership Jiu-Jitsu 2019
Odisha’s woman athlete Anupama Swain clinched a bronze medal (52kg) in World Martial Arts Mastership
Jiu-Jitsu 2019 which was held at the Konkuk University Glocal Campus in Chungju, South Korea. With this,
she qualified for the 2022 Asian Games. She was trained by Hariprasad Patnayak.
i. Jiu-Jitsu is a form of martial art and combat sport and it puts the entire focus on grappling with particular
emphasis on ground fighting.
About 2022 Asian Games/IX Asiad:
♦ Host City: Hangzhou, China
♦ Main venue: Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center
♦ 2026 Asian Games: Nagoya, Japan
Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan becomes youngest test cricket captain

On September 5, 2019 Afghanistan test cricket captain Rashid Khan who led the match against Bangladesh at
the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong(Bangladesh) created record by becoming the youngest test
cricket captain released by International Cricket Council(ICC) at the age of 20 years and 350 days.
Key points
i. He surpassed Zimbabwe’s TatendaTaibu, who became the youngest test cricket captain in 2004 during the
match against Sri Lanka in Harare(Zimbabwe) at the age 20 years and 358 days.
ii. The third player in the list is Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi who became the youngest test cap
tain at the age of 21 years and 77 days against West Indies in Bridgetown(Barbados)in 1962.
World Wrestling Championships 2019 to be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from September 14- 22, 2019
The World Wrestling Championships 2019 are scheduled to be held from September 14-22, 2019 at Barys
Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. It will begin with the Greco-Roman wrestling competition. Wrestlers from
101 nations will be fighting for medals across Greco-Roman, freestyle and women’s wrestling categories. It is
organized by United World Wrestling (UWW), the Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Sports, the National Olympic
Committee (NOC of Kazakhstan), the Kazakh Confederation of Martial Arts and Power Sports and the Kazakh
Federation of Greco-Roman, Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling.
Key Points:
i. It is the first qualification event for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games and it will be the first Senior
World Championships in Kazakhstan.
ii. The top six finishers in each Olympic weight category will be entitled for an Olympic qualification for their
country.
iii. A 30 member Indian squad will participate in Freestyle wrestling, Women’s Wrestling and Greco-Roman
wrestling comprising 10 members in each category.
About Kazakhstan:
♦ Capital: Nur-Sultan (Previously Astana)
♦ Currency: Kazakhstani tenge
Cameroonian professional footballer Samuel Eto’o announces retirement

Cameroon football legend Samuel Eto’o(38) has announced retirement from all forms of football.
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Key points:
i. Born on 10 March 1981 at Douala in Cameroon, he is regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time.
In 1998, he was the youngest participant in the 1998 FIFA World Cup after making Cameroon’s team at the age of
17years and 3 months.
ii. He went on to join Football club Barcelona in 2004, where he was able to win 2 Champions League titles, 4 La
Liga titles, 2 Supercopa de Espana and 1 Copa del Rey. In 2010, he signed with Inter Milan, where he was able to
win his 3rd Champions League title.
iii. He was also voted African Player of the Year award four times (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010), an honour for
winning it for the most number of times that he shares with Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure.
iv. He was also the part of the Cameroon squad that won the Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympics& also won the
Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002.
IAF Chief B S Dhanoa flags off kargil to kohima ultra-marathon to mark 20 years of ‘Vijay Diwas’
In order to commemorate 20 years of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa has flagged off ultra-
marathon named as ‘Kargil to Kohima (K2K): Glory Run’ spanning more than 4,500 km from Kargil War
Memorial at Dras in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to Kohima War Cemetery in Nagaland commencing on September
21, 2019 & will culminate on 6 November 2019.
Key points:
i. The aim of this expedition is to spread awareness for the safety of pedestrians and ‘Fit India Movement’
launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 29, 2019&paying homage to the Kargil martyrs and the
war veterans who sacrificed and fought for the country.
ii. A team of 25 members, which was selected by two phases of training at Leh, Ladakh, comprising of officers and
airmen, including 1 woman officer Flight Lietutant Rishab Jeet Kaur and Warrant Officer Indra Pal Singh led by
Squadron Leader Suresh Razdan (Su-30 aircraft pilot) will cover the distance of over 4,500 mm in 45 days by
running an average of 100 mm per day.
The expedition team will undertake adventure tasks such as camping and living outdoors, managing and
surviving in snow through varied terrain of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, West-Bengal, Assam and Nagaland.
iii. Kohima and Kargil are the two forward most outposts in the East and in the North of India where 2 most
fierce battle of modern India were fought in the years 1944 and 1999 respectively.
iv. The Kargil War was between India & Pakistan took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district and
along the Line of Control (LOC) after which India launched Operation Vijay to clear the Kargil sector occupied by
the Pakistani Army.
About Indian Air Force (IAF):
♦ Motto: Touch the sky with glory
Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Prothishtan (BKSP) successfully lifts U17 Girls Subroto Cup International
Football 2019 title held in New Delhi
Bangladesh Krida Shiksha Prothishtan (BKSP) has successfully retained the 60th edition of the Under 17
Girls Subroto Cup International Football 2019 title by defeating Neelamani English School, Manipur with 4-0
scores in the final held in Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. BKSP won this title for the 3rd time in a row – 2017,
2018 and 2019.
Key points:
i. Aklima Akhtar scored her second goal of the match & Shirina Akhtar and Sapna Rani scored one each for the
winning BKSP to win the final to BKSP.
ii. The prize money of the tournament was Rs.4,00,000 and the runner up (Neelamani English School )won
Rs.2,50,000.
iii. Individual Award winners:
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Best Coach: Jaya Chakma, BKSP (Bangladesh)

Best goalkeeper: Surudhani Kisku, BKSP (Bangladesh)
Best Player: Afeida Khandaker, BKSP (Bangladesh)
Most Contributing School for Football: Nilmani English School (Manipur)
Fair play Award: Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai.
About Subroto cup:
♦ It is one of the famous inter-school football tournament in India, named after the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air
Marshal Subroto Mukerjee.It is conducted by IAF, with Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. It started in
1960 and has been conducted every year annually.
Snake boat Nadubhagam Chundan clinched the 67th Nehru Trophy for the year 2019 at Punnamada Lake
in Alappuzha, Kerala
Snake boat Nadubhagam Chundan which was rowed by Pallathuruthy Boat Club clinched the 67th Edition of
the Nehru Trophy 2019 in the boat race held at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, Kerala. 79 boats,
including 23 snakeboats participated in the event.
Key Points:
i. Champakulam chundan rowed by United Boat Club- Kainakary, Karichal chundan (Police Boat Club) & Devas
chundan (NCDC Boat Club, Kumarakom) finished second, third and fourth respectively.
ii. Saradhy of Police Boat Club won the final of Thekkanodi Women Tharavallam.
iii. Nehru Trophy 2019, the first race of the inaugural edition of the Champions Boat League (CBL), was
inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan in the presence of former Indian cricketer, Sachin
tendulkar who was the chief guest.
iv. CBL, India’s first boat race on the lines of IPL (Indian Premier League), is hosted by Kerala Tourism.
Afghanistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nabi to retire from test cricket

Afghanistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, aged 34, will retire from test cricket after the conclusion of the
ongoing test match against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium at Chattogram, Bangladesh. He
has played only 2 test matches for Afghanistan (25 runs & 4 wickets).
i. He played for Afghanistan for 18 years.
ii. He played 121 ODIs- One Day Internationals (2,699 runs & 128 wickets), 68 T20Is- Twenty20 Internationals
(1,161 runs with a highest score of 89 & 69 wickets).
iii. In the ICC (International Cricket Council) Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, he took 10 wickets in 9 matches.
Overview of US Open 2019 held at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, United
States
US Open 2019, annual hard-court tennis competition, was held from August 26- September 8, 2019 at USTA
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, New York, United States (US)
on 14 DecoTurf hard courts. It was the 139th edition of the tournament which was run by the International
Tennis Federation (ITF) and was a part of the 2019 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour and the 2019
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category.
i. It was the fourth and the last Grand Slam of 2019 hosted by the United States Tennis Association (USTA),
other 3 being Australian Open, French Open & Wimbledon.
ii. The total prize money of the tournament was $57,238,700 where singles champions received $3,850,000 &
doubles champions received $740,000.
List of Winners:
Category Winner Runner
Men’s Singles Rafael Nadal (Spain) Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
Women’s Bianca Andreescu (Canada) Serena Williams (USA)
Singles
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Men’s Doubles Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah Marcel Granollers (Spain)
(Colombia) & Horacio Zeballos (Argentina)
Women’s Elise Mertens (Belgium) & Aryna Sabalenka Ashleigh Barty (Australia) &
Doubles (Belarus) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
Mixed Doubles Jamie Murray (Great Britain) & Bethanie Michael Venus (New Zealand) &
Mattek-Sands (USA) Chan Hao-ching (Chinese Taipei)
Other Highlights:
i. Jamie Murray became the first man for almost 60 years to win 3 straight US Open mixed-doubles titles.
ii. Sumit Nagal, aged 22, became the first Indian to win a set against Roger Federer. But, he lost the match by 6-4,
1-6, 2-6, 4-6 points. He became the fourth Indian to face Federer, after Leander Paes, Somdev Devvarman and
Rohan Bopanna.
iii. Rafael Nadal became the oldest tennis player since Rod Laver (Australia) in 1969 to reach all four Grand Slam
semi-finals in a single season (2019). It was his 19th Grand Slam title and the 4th US Open title.
iv. Bianca Andreescu, aged 19, was the first teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade. She became the first teen to
win a Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova captured the 2006 US Open and became the youngest US Open
champion since Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004. She became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles
title.
About US Open:
♦ First played: 1881
Charles Leclerc wins second successive F1 win through 2019 Italian Grand Prix
On September 8, 2019 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc(Monaco) has won the 2019 Italian Grand Prix(formally known
as Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d’Italia 2019) Formula 1(F1) race at Monza, Italy. This marks Ferrari’s first
Italian Grand Prix win in 9 years (last win 2010) and also Charles’s second successive win in the F1 race after
winning the maiden 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
Key points
i. Charles was followed by Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas(Finland) and Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton(Britain) in the
second and third place respectively.
SL cricketer Malinga takes double hat-trick, became 1st bowler with 5 int’l hat-tricks
On September 6, 2019, Sri Lanka cricket captain Lasith Malinga became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in
the T20I (twenty-twenty International) format during a 3rd T20I match against New Zealand at Pallekele, Sri
Lanka after which he also became the first-ever bowler to take a double hat-trick. Currently, Malinga is the only
player with 5 limited-overs International hat-tricks.
Records:
• Malinga surpassed Wasim Akram(Pakistan) for most hat-tricks in international cricket where his first
T20I hat-trick was taken in April 2017 against Bangladesh in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has 3 hat-tricks in
One Day Internationals(ODI).
• He is the only bowler in international cricket to have picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls twice. As after hat-
trick in Pallekele he went on to pick up 4 wickets. He first achieved the feat in 2007 in an ODI against
South Africa.
India Red wins 2019 Duleep Trophy at Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru

On September 7, 2019, India Red defeated India green by an innings and 38 runs to win the 2019 Duleep
trophy held at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Akshay Wakhare (India red) of Vidarbha, Maharashtra took a
5 wicket haul leading to the team’s victory while Abhimanyu Easwaran(India red) was awarded player of the
match title.
Brigid Kosgei of Kenya ran fastest half marathon ever by a woman in 2019 Great North Run in UK
On September 8, 2019 Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei created record in the 2019 Great North Run event held in the
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United Kingdom(UK) making the fastest half-marathon run ever by a woman by winning the event in 1hr 4min
and 28 secs which is 23sec ahead of the 2017 world record set by Jocelyne Jepkosgei (Kenya).Britain’s Mo
Farah, the 4-time Olympic champion(2012,2016), won the men’s elite race for a record sixth time in the event.
Key points
Other winners:David Weir (Britain), the Paralympic wheelchair athlete won his 8th wheelchair title, while it is
the second win for Jade Jones-Hall (UK) in the female wheelchair category.
IOC won 93rd All-India MCC Hockey Tournament for 2019 in Chennai by defeating PNB
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) defeated Punjab National Bank (PNB) by 3-1 and clinched the 93rd All-
India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament title for the year 2019 held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
i. Gurjinder Singh (2) & Deepak Thakur scored the goals for IOC and Vishal Antil scored the goal for PNB.
ii. The trophy was handed over to the IOC by Murugappa Group Chairman M M Murugappan. Winners received
Rs 6 lakhs, runner-ups received Rs 3.5 lakhs and best forward, best midfielder, best goalkeeper, most promising
player of the tournament & man of the match of finals received Rs 10,000 & a high end bicycle, each.
iii. MCC Hockey tournament is the second oldest tournament in India, first being Beighton Cup in Kolkata, West
Bengal.
South Africa appoints Former Indian Batsman Amol Muzumpar as interim batting coach in test match
against India
On September 9, 2019, Former Indian Cricketer Amol Muzumpar has been appointed as South Africa’s Interim
batting coach for three test matches against India, starting from October 2. He replaces Dale Benkenstein, who
resigned after the team’s depressing performance in the World Cup 2019. Previously, Muzumpur acted as a
batting coach of IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals and domestically played for Mumbai and Assam.
Brazilian tennis player Diego Matos banned life time for match-fixing
On September 9, 2019, the 31-year old Brazilian tennis player Diego Matos has been banned for lifetime because
of match-fixing and was fined $125,000 by an independent anti-corruption hearing. Matos was ordered to repay
$12,000, received in the tournament of Ecuador. He was suspended from tennis since December 6 2018.
Key Points:
Currently Matos ranked 373rd in doubles, with 580th as his highest single ranking in April 2012.
8th edition of Ladakh Marathon, world’s highest marathon, for 2019 held in Leh, Ladakh
The 8th edition of Ladakh Marathon for 2019 was held from September 6-8, 2019 in Leh, Ladakh. It is the
highest marathon in the world as it is held at over 11,000 feet above the mean sea level. There were more than
5500 participants from 26 countries. The event was organised by Rimo Expeditions.
i. World highest Marathon Khardongla Challenge (72Km) was held on September 06, 2019.
ii. It was followed by events held in 3 categories of Full Marathon (42Km), Half Marathon (21Km) and Run of fun
(7KM).
iii. The 9th Edition which will be held in 2020 will be a qualifying race for the Abbot World Marathon Majors
(AWMM). The races for AWMM will be held in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.
Hero MotoCorp Chairman, MD and CEO Pawan Munjal to be inducted in 2019 Asia Pacific Golf Hall of
Fame
On September 10 2019, Pawan Munjal, the Chairman, Managing Director(MD) and Chief Executive Officer(CEO)
of Hero MotoCorp was selected to be inducted in the 2019 Asia Pacific Golf Hall of Fame for his support in
sports in India as well as globally. The award ceremony will be held on November 6, 2019 at DLF(Delhi Land &
Finance) Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, Haryana with his induction permanently installed at Dr David Chu
Golf Museum at Shenzhen in China. This museum will be the new home of hall of fame.
Key points
i. Other inductees: Munjal joins other inductees such as legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player,David
Chu(Mission Hills golf resort founder).
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ii.Co-Hostings: Munjal co-hosts one of the most high profile golf tournaments in the world,
The upcoming ‘Hero World Challenge’ in November-December 2019 and also sponsors many international golf
tournaments.
MYAS derecognises PCI for violating NSDCI, 2011

On September 10, 2019, The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) derecognised the Paralympic
Committee of India (PCI) for violating the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI), 2011 in
accordance with provisions under clause I (ix) and (x) of Annexure-III of NSDCI, 2011.
i. It has been penalised for misgovernance.
ii. Earlier, it was also suspended in 2015 on governance issues and re-recognised in 2016.
India tops medal tally in 6th Track Asia Cup cycling in New Delhi from sep 9-11
Three-day event of the 6th Track Asia Cup cycling competition 2019 hosted by Cycling Federation of India (CFI)
from Sep 9-11, 2019 was held in New Delhi at Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) Sports Complex. The list
was topped by India with 10 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze, totaling 25 medals in the event. India was followed by
Uzbekistan and Malaysia in the second and third places respectively.
Key points
i. Record created: India’s Ronaldo Laitonjam created new Asian record in men’s junior 200m time trial event
in 10.065 seconds breaking the record of China’s Liu Qi who clocked it in 10.149 seconds in 2018. Ronaldo
secured 4 gold medals in this meet.
ii. The Track Asia Cup cycling which serves as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, had 34 participants from
India.
Winners
Rank Country gold Silver Bronze Total
1 India 10 8 7 25
2 Uzbekistan 4 3 0 7
3 Malaysia 4 1 0 5
Australian cricketer Megan Schutt becomes 1st woman to claim 2 white-ball hat-tricks against WI in
Antigua
On September 12, 2019 Australian fast bowler Megan Schutt created record by becoming the first woman to
have two hat tricks in white ball cricket in third One Day International (ODI) matches against West Indies at Sir
Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua, Barbuda. She also became the first Australian woman to claim a hat
trick in ODI
Key points
i. Schutt took her first hat trick in a T20(Twenty-twenty) game against India at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in
March 2018.
Ranveer Duggal, aged 15 from Chandigarh, clinched bronze medal in IBSF World U-16 Snooker
Championship 2019 in Tyumen, Russia
In the International Billiards Snooker Federation’s (IBSF) World Under-16 Snooker Championship
2019 held in Tyumen, Russia, Ranveer Duggal, aged 15 from Chandigarh, clinched bronze medal. He is a
student of IX standard at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh.i. He was the youngest player at the age of 6
to play in national pool championship in Ludhiana, Punjab in 2011.
ii. He was also trained by his grandfather Rakesh Duggal and he is the son of Late Sandeep Duggal, a former
national champion.
25th Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships for 2019 held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The 25th Edition of Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships for 2019 was held at Buyant Ukhaa
Sport Complex in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from September 2-7, 2019. It was organized by the Mongolian Table
Tennis Association under the authority of Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU). Indian team clinched 2 silver
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medals.
Key Points:
i. New Delhi’s Payas Jain lost to top seed and World No. 1 Yuanyu Chen of China by 4-0 in the finals and settled
for silver. With this achievement, he made it into the Asian squad which will participate in the World Cadet
Challenge at Wladyslawowo, Poland in October 2019.
ii. The Indian boys team settled for a silver medal after losing the final 0-3 to top seed China. With this, they
qualified for the World Junior Championships to be held at Korat, Thailand in November 2019.
iii. India’s Raegan Alburquerque lost to Xu Yingbin, Manush Shah lost to Xiang Peng and Anukram Jain lost to Liu
Yebo.
About ATTU:
♦ Founded: May 7, 1972
♦ Headquarters: Beijing, China
Australian cricketer Steve Smith breaks world record, making 10th straight 50+ score against England at
The oval stadium, London
Australian international cricketer and former captain of the Australian national team Steve Smith created a
world record by scoring 10 consecutive half-centuries against England. He broke the record of most 50 plus
runs in a row against a single nation on the second day of 5th Ashes Test at the Oval Stadium, London, United
Kingdom(UK). The previous record was held by Pakistan cricketer Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had hit 9 straight 50-
plus scores against England from 2001 to 2006.
India won ACC U-19 Asia Cup 2019 by beating Bangladesh

On September 14, 2019, India won ACC (Asian Cricket Council) Under-19 Asia Cup 2019 by
beating Bangladesh for 5 runs. The final was held at R. Premadasa International Stadium, Colombo, Sri
Lanka.This was India’s seventh triumph in the continental tournament for junior cricketers.
Key Points:
i. India had scored 106 runs in 32.4 overs while Bangladesh was all out at 33 overs scoring only 101 runs
• Player of the match award – India’s left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar, aged 18, took 5 wickets for 28
runs from 8 overs.
• Player of the series honour – Arjun Azad of India, for scoring 202 runs in four games this tournament.
India to host 2020 FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup from Nov 2-21, 2020
The biennial international women’s youth football championship, 2020 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup,
will be held in India from November 2-21, 2020. It will be the 7th edition and India will host the FIFA women’s
football tournament for the first time. In the football tournament, 16 national teams of the member associations
of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) are expected to participate.
Key Points:
i. The age group showpiece event of the FIFA will be held in 4 cities of India.
ii. The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha is provisionally confirmed as a venue. But it is awaiting for the
approval from FIFA. Kolkata, Navi Mumbai, Panaji and Ahmedabad are competing for the other three host cities.
iii. Spain is the defending champion (2018).
iv. India had hosted the men’s U-17 World Cup in 2017.
v. FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was first held in 2008 in New Zealand.
Myanmar hosts first ever Myanmar International Series 2019 held at National Badminton stadium in
Yangon from September 10-15
The Myanmar Badminton Federation (MBF) hosted the first-ever International Series badminton tournament,
the “Myanmar International Series 2019” at the National Badminton Stadium in Yangon, the largest city of
Myanmar from September 10-15. MBF hosted the event after obtaining permission from the Badminton World
Federation(BWF) for the tournament. The total prize money of this tournament was US(United States) $10,000.
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Prize distribution:
i. Medals were distributed to the winners and runners up, where champions in singles event were provided cash
prize of US$750 each and the winners of all the three doubles event were provided US$790.
ii. The prize money was distributed to the runners up to the last 16 players alone.
Tournament categories: The tournament has 5 categories. They are men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s
doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
Kaushal Dharmamer wins men’s singles title in the Myanmar International Series 2019
Maharashtra based Indian shuttler Kaushal Dharmamer has won the Myanmar International Series 2019
By defeating Indonesia’s Karono Karono in the men’s singles event. He(Kaushal) also previously won the Hatzor
international tournament of Israel in 2018.
Winners
Rank Men’s singles Women’s Men’s doubles Women’s doubles Mixed doubles
singles
1 Kaushal Sri Fatmawati Emanuel Randhy Liu Chiao-Yun (Chinese Lin Yong Sheng
Dharmamer (Indonesia) Febrito (Indonesia) & Taipei) & Wang Yu Qiao (Chinese Taipei)
(India) Ferdian Mahardika (Chinese Taipei) & Liu Chiao-Yun
Ranialdy (Indonesia) (Chinese Taipei)
2 Karono Maharani se Ruttanapak Oupthong Pattaranan Chamnaktan Krit
Karono Batari (Thailand) & (Thailand) & Thanyasuda Tantianankul
(indonesia) (Indonesia) Nanthakarn Wongya (Thailand) (Thailand) &
Yordphaison Thanyasuda
(Thailand) Wongya
(Thailand)
3 Chong Yee Laksika Utkarsh Arora (India) Pichamon Mohammad
Han Kanlaha & Shivam Sharma Phatharaphisutsin Rezky Alfarez
(Malaysia) (Thailand) (India) (Thailand) & Pitchayanin (Indonesia) &
Ungka (Thailand) Nahla Aufa Dhia
Ulhaq
(Indonesia)
About BWF:
♦ Headquarters- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
♦ Founded- 5 July 1934.
♦ President- Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen.
Pankaj Advani wins IBSF World Billiards Championship 2019 title, becomes world champion for 22nd
time
On September 15, 2019, India’s top billiards and snooker player, Pankaj Advani (34) of Bangalore , Karnataka
has won the 22nd world title of his career with the fourth consecutive IBSF (International Billiards & Snooker
Federation) World Billiards title 2019 in the 150 up format held in Mandalay, Myanmar. This is his fifth title in
the last 6 years in the short billiards format. Like 2018, this year too, Advani won the final with 6–2 scores
against Nay Thway Oo of Myanmar.
Key points:
i. Advani got off to a great start to the match and soon took a 3–0 points lead with a break of 145, 89 and 127.
Thway Oo won the next frame with breaks of 63 and 62. Advani then won the match with an unbreakable break
of 150 and a break of 74 to settle for a second consecutive silver medal at Thway Oo.
IBSF World Billiards Championship:
It was previously known as the World Amateur Billiards Championship, is the premier, international, non-
professional tournament for the game of English billiards. Dating to some form to 1951, the event has been
sanctioned by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation since 1973.
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Indonesia’s Rory Hie wins maiden Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship 2019 in
Nuh, Haryana; India’s Rashid ranks second
On September 15, 2019, Indonesian golfer Rory Hie won Classic Golf and Country Club International
Championship 2019 and was awarded a cash prize of $300,000 and a trophy. He is also the first Indonesian to
win this title. The event was held from September 12-15 at Nuh city in Haryana. Indian golfer Rashid Khan and
Korea’s Byungjun Kim secured the second position.
Key points
i. The Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship is the newest tournament added to the Asian
Tour in 2019.
ii. The award is jointly sanctioned by Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
India clinched 125 medals in Western Asia Youth and Junior Chess Championship 2019
Western Asian Youth and Junior Chess Championships 2019 was held from September 6-10, 2019 at Tivoli
Grand Resort Hotel, New Delhi. It was organized by Delhi Chess Association (DCA). It was the first edition and
was held in 3 formats – standard, rapid, and blitz. India won 125 medals.
Key Points:
i. In the classical time format event, India clinched 41 out of 48 medals at stake out of which 14 were gold, 14
silver and 13 bronze.
ii. In the blitz format, India won 41 medals, including 15 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze.
iii. Over the three time-formats, India finished with 44 gold, 41 silver and 40 bronze medals.
iv. Winner of the under-20 section- Sakshi Chitlange of India received a Woman Grandmaster norm.
v. Only Uzbekistan’s Abdimalik Abdisalimov (under-20) and Kazakhstan’s Abilmansur Abdikhair (under-16)
clinched gold medals in their respective categories while all other gold medals were clinched by Indians.
Medals Tally
Top 3 countries were:
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
India 44 41 40 125
Uzbekistan 3 1 4 8
Kazakhstan 1 1 1 3
Spain wins 18th Men’s World Basketball Championship 2019 held in Beijing after 13 years
Spain defeated Argentina to win the18th Men’s FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball ) World
Basketball Championship 2019 in the final played Wukesong Sports Arena in Beijing, China from 31 August
2019 to 15 September 2019.
Key points:
i. The Spanish team won the match by a margin of 95-75 scores. It became the champion after 13 years. The last
time (2006) it won this title was in Japan. Spain became the fifth country to win the World Cup 2 times.
Yugoslavia and America are five-time champions. The Soviet Union won 3 title and Brazil became champions 2
times.
ii. France has won the bronze medal for the second consecutive time after defeating Australia.
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup:
*Most valuable player: Ricky Rubio of Serbia
*Coach of the Serbian side: Sergio Scariolo
*Top scorer: Bogdan Bogdanović of Serbia (183 points).
*Mascot – Son of Dreams
*Logo– The logo, which was inspired by the Beijing Opera was created by Shanghai based agency Flagship.
*Official song – “Champion” by American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo featuring Chinese singer Tia Ray.
Kohli holds on to 2nd spot with Smith retaining the first position in the latest ICC Test Rankings
The International Cricket Council(ICC) Test Rankings for batsmen released on September 16, 2019, has ranked
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Indian cricket captain Virat Kolhi at second place with 903 points, which is 34 points behind first positioned
Australian cricketer Steve Smith having 937 points. Australia’s Pat Cummins ranked first in the ICC test bowler
rankings followed by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and India’s Jasprit Bumrah in the second and third place
respectively.
Afghanistan breaks own record of most Consecutive T20I Victories and Equals Australia’s Top Record at
Dhaka, Bangladesh
On September 15, 2019, Afghanistan cricket team created a new record of most consecutive T20I (twenty
twenty International) victories after their 12th successive win in T20I during 2019 Bangladesh Tri-Nation
Series held at Dhaka, Bangladesh against Bangladesh. Afghanistan broke their own previous record of most
consecutive wins (11 wins in T20I) from 2016 to 2017 and now equals Australia with 12 consecutive victories.
Mayank Vaid becomes 1st Indian to complete Enduroman triathlon in 2019, breaks world record for
shortest completion time held between London and Paris
On September 15, 2019, Mayank Vaid became the first Indian and the 44th person to complete Enduroman, a
triathlon from England to France which is considered as toughest endurance competition in the world. The event
started in Marble Arch, London and ended in Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France. He also broke the world record for
the shortest completion time in the ‘Enduroman – Arch to Arc’ triathlon in 50 hours and 24 minutes.
Key points
i. Mayank who is also the first Asian to complete this triathlon in solo capacity broke the record of Julien Deneyer
of Belgium who completed the triathlon in 52 hours and 30 minutes.
Kenya’s Kamworor creates world record at the Copenhagen Half Marathon 2019
Kenya‘s Geoffrey Kamworor, aged 26, finished the Copenhagen Half Marathon 2019 in men’s category at
58min 01sec, 17 seconds earlier than the record held by Abraham Kiptum (58:18) of Kenya in the Valencia Half
Marathon in Valencia, Spain on 28 October 2018 and created a new world record.
i. The marathon was the 5th annual edition of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold
Label event, Copenhagen Half Marathon, held at Copenhagen, Denmark on September 15, 2019 covering a
distance of 21.098km.
ii. In women’s category, Birhane Dibaba of Ethiopia clinched the title by finishing the race at 1 hour 05 minutes
57 seconds.
Overview of YONEX Belgian International 2019

The YONEX Belgian International 2019, an annual badminton tournament, was held at Sportoase, Leuven,
Belgium from September 11-14, 2019. The total prize money of the tournament was $25,000.
i. Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen, aged 18, defeated second seed Victor Svendsen of Denmark and clinched the
men’s singles title by 21-14 21-15.
List of winners:
Men’s Singles Lakshya Sen (India) Victor Svendsen (Denmark)
Women’s Singles Line Christophersen (Denmark) Neslihan Yiğit (Turkey)
Men’s Doubles Ben Lane & Sean Vendy (England) Bjarne Geiss & Jan Colin Volker
(Germany)
Women’s Doubles Gabriela Stoeva & Stefani Rachel Honderich & Kristen Tsai
Stoeva (Bulgaria) (Canada)
Mixed Doubles Ben Lane & Jessica Pugh (England) Mikkel Mikkel & Amalie Magelund
(Denmark)
About Belgian International:
♦ First held: 1958
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Overview of YONEX-SUNRISE Vietnam Open 2019

The 2019 Vietnam Open, officially the YONEX-SUNRISE Vietnam Open 2019, an annual badminton tournament,
was held at Nguyen Du Cultural Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from September 10-15, 2019.
i. It was the seventh Super 100 tournament of the 2019 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour and a
part of the Vietnam Open championships.
ii. It was organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Badminton Association and was sanctioned by the BWF.
iii. The total prize money of the tournament was $75,000.
List of winners:
Men’s Singles Sourabh Verma (India) Sun Fei Xiang (China)
Women’s Singles Zhang Yi Man (China) Asuka Takahashi (Japan)
Men’s Doubles Choi SolGyu & Seo Seung Jae (South Korea) NA Sung Seung & Wang
Chan (Korea)
Women’s Doubles Della Destiara Haris & Rizki Amelia Pradipta Huang Jia & Zhang Shu Xian (China)
(Indonesia)
Mixed Doubles Guo Xin Wa & Zhang Shu Xian (China) Lee Jhe-Huei & Hsu Ya Ching
(Taiwan)
About BWF:
♦ Formation: 1934
♦ Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
♦ President: Poul-Erik Høyer
Novak Djokovic passes Jimmy Connors for fourth place in the all-time list of most weeks in top spot in
ATP Rankings
Serbian professional tennis player, Novak Djokovic has started his 269th week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings
2019 and surpassed Jimmy Connors (268 weeks) of United States (US) for 4th place in the all-time list of most
weeks in top spot.
Key points:
Roger Federer of Switzerland (310 weeks) got the top spot in the latest list followed by Pete Sampras(286
weeks) of US and Ivan Lendl (270 weeks) , who played for Czechoslovakia, and the US.
The top 5 players in all-time weeks at No.1
S.No No. 1 Player Total Weeks Longest Streak
1 Roger Federer 310 237 weeks
2 Pete Sampras 286 102 weeks
3 Ivan Lendl 270 157 weeks
4 Novak Djokovic 269 122 weeks
5 Jimmy Connors 268 160 weeks
Sumit Nagal (Haryana) jumped 15 places to get a career-best ranking of 159 in the ATP rankings
India’s rising tennis player Sumit Nagal (22) of Haryana , who made it a career-best position in the ATP
rankings & secured 159th position in the latest rankings released.
Other Indians in the list:
S.No Name of the player Rank
1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran 82nd
2 Ramkumar Ramanathan 179
3 Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan 43rd and 49th
(doubles rankings) position respectively
4 Leander Paes 78
Key points:
India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran is among the top 100 players in the ATP rankings. He is the only Indian in this list
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& is currently at 82nd position. Ramkumar Ramanathan has lost three places in the rankings and has slipped to
number 179.
WTA ranking:
In the WTA rankings, Ankita Raina remains to be India’s top-ranked player at 191st position and is followed by
Pranjala Yadlapalli, who is placed at 338th.
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
i. It is the principal organizing body of women’s professional tennis and is restricted to women.
The body governs WTA Tour which is a worldwide professional tennis tour for women.
iii. It was founded in 1973.
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)
It is the principal governing body of men’s professional tennis.
ii. It was founded in September 1972.
Czech tennis player Karolina Pliskova beats Petra Martic winning the 15th WTA singles career title at
2019 Zhengzhou Open in China
On September 15, 2019, World no.2 Czech tennis player Karolina Pliskova won her career 15th WTA (Women’s
Tennis Association) title by defeating Croatia’s Petra Martic at the 6th edition of the 2019 Zhengzhou Open at
Zhongyuan Tennis training base management Center, China. The prize money of the event that was held from
September 9-15 was $1,000,000.
Key points
Doubles: America’s Nicole Melichar and Czech republic’s Kveta Peschke won the doubles title by defeating
Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) and Tamara Zidansek (Slovenia).
Overview of 10th Asia Pacific Youth Games for 2019 held in Vladivostok, Russia
The 10th Asia Pacific Youth Games for 2019 were held in Vladivostok, Russia. India won a total of 16 gold, 13
silver and 5 bronze medals taking the total to 34 medals in 7 different sports events.
i. The Indian swimming team finished as the overall winners with 8 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze medal. Assam
swimmer Astha Choudhury won five medals including two gold (4×50 metre mixed freestyle & 4×50 mixed
individual medley relay) and three silver (100 metre freestyle, 200 metre freestyle & 100 metre individual
medley).
ii. Badminton team won the team Championship gold. The players were trained at the Pullela Gopichand
academy in Hyderabad, Telangana.
Following is the list of Indian gold medal winners:
Event Category Winner Medal
Indian 66 kg Mahesh Saini Gold
Judokas 81 kg Vishal Gold
50 kg Rohit Gold
Swimming 4×50 metre mixed freestyle & 4×50 mixed Astha Choudhury Gold
individual medley relay
50m, 100m and 200 m Freestyle events Veer Khatkar Gold
100 m event Swadesh Mondal Gold
50 m freestyle and 200 m freestyle Jhanavi Choudhury Gold
Chess Team Event CM Kushagra Gold
Mohan, L Srihari,
Poorna Sri M K and
Meenatchi Rajam V
Badminton Boys singles Pranav Gold
Girls singles Meghana Gold
Table Tennis Girls singles Yoshiki Gold
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Girl’s doubles Indian team Gold

About Ministry of Sports:
♦ Child Agency: Sports Authority of India (SAI)
♦ Minister In-charge: Kiren Rijiju
An official mascot for Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics 2022 revealed
On September 17, 2019, The smiling panda, named Bing Dwen Dwen was revealed as the official mascot
for Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 at a ceremony held at Shougang Ice Hockey Arena in Beijing, China. A
walking Chinese lantern Shuey Rhon Rhon was declared as the official mascot for Winter Paralympics 2022.
Key Points:
i.Description of Winter Olympic mascot: Colorful circles around its face symbolize skating tracks and 5G
technology. Bing, the Chinese word for “ice,” shows purity and strength. Dwen Dwen means sincerity, liveliness
and health.
ii.Description of Paralympic mascot: It is based on a traditional red lantern. It sports a yellow scarf, a circle of
yellow doves around its head and a traditional Chinese paper cutting. “Shuey” means snow in Chinese and the
characters for “Rhon Rhon” mean “inclusiveness” and “integration”.
iii.They were selected from over 5,800 submissions from 35 countries.
Olympic games venues:
♦ 2020 Summer Olympics: Tokyo, Japan
♦ 2024 Summer Olympics: Paris, France
♦ 2028 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles, United States
♦ 2026 Winter Olympics: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Dutch footballer Virgil van Dijk wins UEFA Men’s Player of the Year 2018/2019,and England’s Lucy
Bronze wins in the Women’s category
On August 30, 2019, Dutch football player of the Liverpool team Virgil van Dijk won the 2018/2019 “UEFA
(Union of European Football Associations) Men’s Player of the Year award” and ‘Defender of the Season award’.
He is the first defender to win the award since its inaugural edition of 2010-11. England player Lucy
Bronze of Olympique Lyonnais won the 2019 UEFA women’s player of the year award. She is the first english
player to win a UEFA player of the year award.
Key points
i. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi won the “Forward of the Season award” for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League
Meghalaya’s Hopewel Elias Higher Secondary School clinched the title of 60th edition of U-17 Junior Boys
Subroto Cup International Football Tournament 2019
Meghalaya’s Hopewel Elias Higher Secondary School clinched the title of 60th edition of Under-17 Junior
Boys Subroto Cup International Football Tournament 2019 by beating Bangladesh Krida Shiksha
Prothishtan (BKSP) by a scoreline of 1-0 at the tournament held in Dr. Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi. It was
Asia’s largest youth football tournament.
Key Points:
i. The closing ceremony was presided by Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa as the chief
guest, and former Indian international footballer, Victor Amalraj was the Guest of Honour.
ii. The winners were awarded Rs 4,00,000 and runners received Rs 2,50,000.
iii. It was organized by the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) under the aegis of the Air Force
Sports Control Board (AFSCB) and was supported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Human
Resource Development and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
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Former India all-rounder, Dinesh Mongia announces retirement from all forms of cricket career
On September 17, 2019, The Former Indian team all-rounder Dinesh Mongia (42) of Chandigarh has announced
his retirement from all formats of cricket.
Key points:
i. He played his last international match for the Indian team in 2007 against Bangladesh. Mongia, the left-handed
top-order batsman has made his debut against Australia in the year 2001.
ii. He was also a part of the Indian team in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup ,where the Indian team was runners-
up after losing to Australia.
iii. Mongia played 57 matches in his ODI career in & his best score was against Zimbabwe in a series decision
match where he scored 159 runs. He played his only T20 (Twenty20) International against South Africa, in which
he scored 38 runs. Mongia also played county cricket in England, being part of the Lancashire and Leicestershire
team.
American woman Sarah Thomas became the first person to swim English Channel 4 times non-stop
An American woman Sarah Thomas, aged 37, became the first person to swim the English Channel 4 times
non-stop. She successfully completed the 84-mile challenge in 54 hours and 13 minutes.
i. Earlier, 4 swimmers had successfully swam across the English Channel 3 times without stopping.
FIFA Rankings: India drops to 104,Belgium remained its top position

On 19th September 2019, Federation Internationale de Football Association(FIFA) has released the men’s
ranking. Indian football team has dropped one place from 103 to 104 in the latest FIFA Rankings. Belgium
remained its top position in the latest FIFA ranking.
i. France have surpassed Brazil to reach the second spot.2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar ranked in 62nd
position.
FIFA Rankings Men – Top 10 Teams
1. Belgium
2. France (+1)
3. Brazil (-1)
4. England
5. Portugal (+1)
6. Uruguay (-1)
7. Spain (+2)
8. Croatia (-1)
9. Colombia (-1)
10. Argentina
Click here to check complete rankings.
About Indian Football Team:
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the Captain of the Indian Football team.Igor Štimac was the coach of the Indian
Football team.
Facts to be known:
2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December, 2022.
Vinesh Phogat wins bronze medal in World Wrestling Championships 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
On September 18, 2019 Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, defeated Greece’s two-time world bronze medalist
Maria Prevolaraki and won a bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category at the “2019 World Wrestling
Championships” held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Earlier she won both matches of the repechage round in the
53kg category and became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She is only the 5th
Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the World tournament.
Key points
i. Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification: In the first repechage round Vinesh defeated Ukraine’s former World
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Championships bronze medallist YuliyaKhalvadzhy and defeated world championship silver medallist Sarah
Hildebrand (America) in the second repechage round to qualify for the Tokyo olympics.
ii. Vinesh Phogat achievements:
• She is the first Indian woman wrestler to win Gold in 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth games and gold in
2018 Asian games.
• She is the first Indian athlete nominated for the 2019 Laureus World Sports Awards.
• She was honoured with Arjuna award in the year 2016.
About Kazakhstan:
♦ Capital-Nur-Sultan.
♦ Currency- Kazakhstani tenge.
♦ President- Kassym-JomartTokayev.
♦ Official languages- Kazakh, Russian.
Former South African cricketer Kyle Abbott creates history with a total of 17 wickets in 120th Specsavers
County Championship 2019
Former South African cricket team fast bowler Kyle Abbott has created history in first-class cricket by
taking 17 wickets against Somerset in a match playing for Hampshire (the best figures in first-class cricket for
63 years ) in the 120th Specsavers County Championship 2019 held at Ageas Bowl Cricket ground in West End,
England.
Key point:
Kyle took 17 wickets for 86 runs. The record for best bowling in first-class cricket is for England spinner Jim
Laker, who took 19 wickets for 90 runs in 1956 against Australia.
About County Championship:
It is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales
Cricket Board (ECB). From 2016, the Championship has been sponsored by Specsavers, who replaced Liverpool
Victoria.
ICC imposed 12-month ban on Sri Lankan spinner, Akila Dananjaya for suspected bowling action
On September 19, 2019, The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Sri Lankan off-spinner Akila
Dhananjaya (25) for 12 months for illegal bowling action. An independent investigation on August 29, 2019 in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu revealed that his bowling action was illegal.
Key points:
i. The validity of his bowling action was questioned during the first Test against New Zealand in Galle, Sri Lanka
from 14-18 August, 2019.
ii. Earlier in December 2018, he was suspended from bowling. He then improved his bowling action and then
after his assessment he was allowed to resume bowling in February 2019.
iii. Due to the 2nd time his action has been found wrong, he was automatically banned for 12 months. After the
end of the one-year period, Dhananjaya can appeal an action investigation in the ICC.
About ICC:
♦ Founded: 15 June 1909
♦ Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
♦ Chairperson: Shashank Manohar
Zimbabwe’s batsman Hamilton Masakadza becomes the highest scorer in career’s last T20I match by
scoring 71 runs
Zimbabwe’s batsman Hamilton Masakadza created a record by becoming the highest individual scorer in the
career’s last Twenty-20 Internationals (T20I) game by scoring 71 runs (42 balls) against Afghanistan
during 2019 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series match held in Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury (ZAC) Stadium, Chittagong,
in south-eastern Bangladesh. It was his last match in international cricket.
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Key Points:
i. He is the 15th highest T20I run-scorer and the highest run-scorer for Zimbabwe (1,662 runs from 66 innings).
ii. He has played 38 Tests and 209 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Zimbabwe scoring 2,223 runs and 5,658
runs respectively.
iii. His score of 93 is the second-highest score for Zimbabwe in T20I cricket.
Ekaterinburg AIBA 2019 World Boxing Championships held in Ekaterinburg Expo, Yekaterinburg, Russia
A Biennial event, Ekaterinburg AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur or International Boxing
Association) 2019 World Boxing Championships was held in Ekaterinburg Expo, Yekaterinburg,
Russia from September 9-21, 2019. Indian boxers clinched 2 medals and it was for the first time that India had
won 2 medals in the championships.
Key Points:
i. Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal, aged 23, lost to Olympic champion Shokhobidin Zoirov of
Uzbekistan by 0-5 in the 52kg category and settled for silver. With this, he became the first Indian male boxer to
win a silver medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships and the 5th Indian boxer to clinch a AIBA World
Championships medal.
ii. India’s Manish Kaushik defeated top seed Andy Cruz Gomez from Cuba in the 63 kg category and secured
bronze medal.
iii. 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships will be held for the first time in New Delhi, India.
Medal Tally: Top 6 countries
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Uzbekistan 3 1 1 5
2 Russia 3 0 1 4
3 Kazakhstan 1 1 4 6
4 Cuba 1 1 1 3
5 England 0 1 2 3
6 India 0 1 1 2
About AIBA:
♦ Formed: 1946
♦ Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
World Wrestling Championships 2019 held at Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

The World Wrestling Championships 2019 was held at Barys Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan from
September 14-22, 2019. It was organized by the United World Wrestling (UWW). It was a qualifying event for
Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics where the top 6 wrestlers from each category qualified for the event.
Key Points:
i. Russia topped the medal tally with 19 medals (9 Gold, 5 Silver, 5 Bronze) followed by United States, Georgia,
Japan and Azerbaijan.
ii. India won 5 medals (1 Silver & 4 Bronze). It was ranked 17th in the list of medal table. It was India’s best-ever
medal haul at the World Wrestling Championships.
iii. In Men’s freestyle and Men’s Greco-Roman category, Russia emerged as champions and in Women’s freestyle
category Japan emerged as champions.
List of Winners:
Category Winner Medal
Men’s 86kg freestyle Deepak Punia Silver
Men’s 65 kg freestyle Bajrang Punia Bronze
Men’s 61kg freestyle Rahul Aware Bronze
Men’s 57-kg freestyle Ravi Kumar Dahiya Bronze
Women’s 53 kg freestyle Vinesh Phogat Bronze
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i. Deepak Punia became the fifth Indian to reach the final at the senior World Wrestling Championships. He
clinched silver medal by defeating Stefan Reichmuth of Switzerland.
ii. Vinesh Phogat became the fifth Indian female wrestler to win the world award and it was her first World
medal. She defeated Maria Prevolaraki of Greece to clinch bronze medal.
iii. Sushil Kumar is the India’s only world champion who had won a gold in the 66 kg in the 2010 World
Championship in Moscow, Russia.
iv. Olympic Quota: Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya qualified for 2020
Tokyo Summer Olympics. Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
About UWW:
♦ Motto: Welcome to the New World of Wrestling
♦ Formed: 1912
♦ Headquarters: Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
Overview of 2019 China Open held in Jiangsu, China

The 2019 China open, officially called as VICTOR China Open 2019 was held at Olympic Sports Center Xincheng
Gymnasium in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China from September 17-22, 2019. The tournament which was organized by
Chinese Badminton Association and sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), had a total prize
money of the United States(US) $1,000,000.
Carolina Marin wins women’s singles in China open 2019 by defeating Taiwanese player Tai Tzu Ying to
clinch a second consecutive title
Spanish badminton star Carolin Marin, the reigning Olympic champion and also three-time world champion
defeated former world no.1 Taiwanese player Tai Tzu Ying to win the second consecutive title at china open
2019.
Kento Momota wins men’s singles in China Open 2019 defeating Anthony Sinisuka Ginting
No.1 world ranking Japanese badminton player Kento Momota defeated Indonesian player Anthony Sinisuka
Ginting and won the men’s singles title in the 2019 China Open.
Other results:
i. Indonesian players Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo won the men’s doubles at the china
open 2019 by defeating Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, both from Indonesia while Chinese players
Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan won the Women’s doubles title by defeating Japanese players Misaki Matsutomo
and Ayaka Takahashi.
ii. Mixed doubles: Chinese badminton players Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong won the mixed doubles event in
the tournament by defeating Wang Yilü and Huang Dongping both from China.
List of winners:
Women’s Carolin Marin (Spain) Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan)
singles
Men’s singles KentoMomota (Japan) Anthony Sinisuka Ginting
(Indonesia)
Men’s doubles Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (Indonesia) & Kevin Mohammad Ahsan (Indonesia) &
Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia) Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia)
Women’s Chen Qingchen (China) & JiaYifan (China) Misaki Matsutomo (Japan) & Ayaka
doubles Takahashi (Japan)
Mixed doubles Zheng Siwei (China) & Huang Yaqiong (China) Wang Yilü (China) & Huang
Dongping (China)
About BWF:
Headquarters- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Founded- 5 July 1934.
President-Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen.
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Overview of T20I series held between South Africa and India

A 3-day Twenty 20 International (T20I) series was held between South Africa and India. The series concluded
with a draw 1-1 as the first match was abandoned. The captain of the Indian team was Virat Kohli and the
captain of the South African team was Quinton de Kock. The South Africa cricket team is scheduled to tour India
in September and October 2019 to play 3 Tests and 3 T20I matches.
Key Points:
i. Virat Kohli (2450 runs) surpassed the record held by Rohit Sharma (2443 runs) by becoming the highest run-
scorer in the history of T20I cricket in the 3rd T20I against South Africa.
ii. South African player David Miller equaled the record of most catches in T20Is in 3rd T20I match against India
with 50 catches (72 matches) along with the record held by Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik (50 catches in 111 matches).
iii. India’s Rohit Sharma equalled Indian MS Dhoni’s record of playing most T20Is for an Indian team in the 3rd
T20I against South Africa having played 98 T20I matches.
Venue of matches:
Series Date Venue

1st T20I 15 September 2019 Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala,
Himachal Pradesh
2nd T20I 18 September 2019 Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Capital Region
3rd T20I 22 September 2019 M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, Karnataka
16th Edition of Moselle Open (Tennis) for 2019 held at the Arènes de Metz, in Metz France
The 16th Edition of Moselle Open (Tennis) for 2019 was held at the Arènes de Metz, in Metz, France from
September 16-22, 2019. It is played on indoor hard courts and is a part of the Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP) World Tour 250 Series of the 2019 ATP Tour. The prize money of the tournament was 524,340 Euros.
Key Points:
i. In Men’s Singles category, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia in 3 sets and
clinched the singles title. He became the first man to win four singles titles at the Moselle Open.
ii. In Men’s Doubles, Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Jan-Lennard of Germany clinched the title by defeating
Nicolas Mahut & Édouard Roger-Vasselin of France.
About Moselle Open:
♦ Founded: 1980
24th St. Petersburg Open for 2019 held at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia
The 24th Edition of St. Petersburg Open for 2019 was held at Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia from
September 16- 22, 2019. It was played on indoor hard courts and was a part of the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP) World Tour 250 Series of the 2019 ATP Tour. The total prize money of the tournament was
$1,180,000.
Key Points:
i. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev defeated Crotia’s Borna Coric by 6–3, 6–1 and clinched the men’s singles title.
ii. India’s Divij Sharan along with Slovakia’s Igor Zelenay defeated Italian pair of Matteo Berrettini & Simone
Bolelli by 6–3, 3–6, [10–8] and clinched the men’s doubles title. It was the fifth Tour doubles title for Divij.
About St. Petersburg Open:
♦ Founded: 1995
♦ It is a professional men’s tennis tournament.
Sebastian Vettel wins Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 at Marina Bay Street
Circuit, Singapore
On September 22, 2019, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel of Germany won the Formula 1 (F1) Singapore
Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 held at Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore. He also became the first
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person to win the Singapore Grand Prix 5 times. The second and the third spot was won by Ferrari’s Charles
Leclerc (Monaco) and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (Belgium) respectively.
Key point:
Sebastian Vettel’s last win was in the Belgian Grand Prix on 26 September 2018.
Snooker player Laxman Rawat wins IBSF World 6Reds championships 2019 title in Mandalay, Myanmar
On September 21, 2019, The Mumbai-based snooker player Laxman Rawat won the men’s title after defeating
Muhammad Asif of Pakistan at the Myanmar Open Billiards, The 150 Up World Billiards Championship and
World 6Reds, World Team Snooker championships 2019 held from 9th September -25th September 2019
at Mandalay, Myanmar.
Key points:
i. Rawat got the victory over Asif with 6-5 scores in the final match.
ii. In the women’s tournament, The Three times World Junior champion, Wongharuthai Nutcharat (19) of
Thailand defeated India’s Amee Kamani (Madhya Pradesh) with 4-2 scores in the final.
iii. The event was hosted by Myanmar Billiards & Snooker Federation (MBSF). 6Reds Men Championship prize
fund was at $ 7200 & Women Championship prize fund was at $ 2400.
iv. The Six-red World Championship (also known as the SangSom 6 Red World Championship for sponsorship
purposes) is a six-red snooker match, played with the 6 colour balls and six reds.
About IBSF (International Billiards & Snooker Federation):
♦ Founded: 1971
♦ Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
♦ President: Mubarak Al-Khayarin
Indian chess player Koneru Hampi wins the Skolkova Fides Grand Prix title 2019 in Skolkovo, Russia
Indian chess grandmaster, Koneru Hampi (32) of Gudivada ( Andhra Pradesh) has cliched Fide World Grand
Prix 2019 title with 8 points from 11 rounds in Skolkovo, Russia. While other Indian ,D Harika secured the
sixth place with 5 points.
Key points:
i. The Fide Grand Prix 2019 is a series of four chess tournaments. The top 2 candidates from this series will
qualify for the match which will decide who will be the World Champion Challenger in 2021.It was organized by
World Chess, formerly known as Agon.
ii. The other 3 Grand Prix will be held in Monaco from December 2 – 15,2019 while the second Grand Prix will be
held in Lausanne from March 1 -14,2020 while the third Grand Prix in Sardinia will be between May 2 -15, 2020.
The list of top six winners at Fide World Grand Prix 2019:
Rank Winner
1 Koneru Humpy (India)
2 Ju Wenjun (China)
3 Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia)
4 Kateryna Lagno (Russia)
5 Valentina Gunina (Russia)
6 D. Harika (India)
Overview of 36th edition of Toray Pan Pacific Open 2019 held in Osaka, Japan
The 36th edition of Toray Pan Pacific Open 2019 professional women’s tennis tournament was held at Utsubo
Tennis Center in Osaka, Japan from September 16 – 22, 2019. The event which was a part of the Premier Series of
the 2019 Women’s Tennis Association(WTA) Tour had a total prize money of $823,000.
Winners:
i. Women’s singles: Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka won the women’s singles title by defeating
Netherlands tennis player Kiki Bertens. Naomi became the first Japanese to win the Pan Pacific Open since
Kimiko Date in 1995.
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ii. Women’s doubles: Taiwanese tennis players Latisha Chan and Chan Hao-ching won the women’s doubles
title by defeating Taiwanese players Hsieh Su-wei and Hsieh Yu-chieh.
Manipur wins 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh
On September 24, 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.
Key points
i. 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.
ii. Organised by the All India Football Federation(AIFF), this is the first time Arunachal Pradesh hosted National
Football Championship.
Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma move up in the latest ICC T20I player rankings
On September 25, 2019 the latest International Cricket Council- Twenty twenty International(ICC-T20I) rankings
were released. The ranking details are as follows.
Indian cricketers position:
i. Batting rankings: Indian skipper ViratKohli 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 ShikarDhawan 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 ImadWasim (Pakistan) Shakib Al Hasan
(Australia) (Bangladesh)
3 Colin Munroe Shadab Khan (Pakistan) Mohammad Nabi
(NewZealand) (Afghanistan)
8 Rohit Sharma (India)
11 ViratKohli (India)
13 ShikarDhawan (India)
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.
Key Points:
i. The host nation, Iran emerged as champions by defeating Australia in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-21). It was
their third title.
ii. Japan & South Korea bagged third and fourth place respectively. Indian team was ranked 8th.
iii. The top 8 teams, which earlier did not qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games, were qualified for the 2020 Asian
Olympic Qualification Tournament.
iv. 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.
Other awardees:
Award Awardee Country
Most Valuable Player Thomas Edgar Australia
Best Setter Saeid Marouf Iran
Best Outside Hitters (OH) Yūki Ishikawa Japan
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Samuel Walker Australia

Best Middle Blockers (MB) Shin Yung-suk South Korea
Mohammad Mousavi Iran
Best Opposite Hitters Amir Ghafour Iran
Best Libero Tomohiro Yamamoto Japan
Overview of Maldives International Future Series 2019 held in Male

The LI-NING Maldives International Future Series 2019, an open international badminton tournament in
Maldives was organized by the Badminton Association of Maldives (BAM) and was sanctioned by the Badminton
Asia Confederation (BAC) and Badminton World Federation (BWF). 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
i. Women’s singles: Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod from Nagpur, Maharashtra won her maiden women’s
singles Maldives International Future Series 2019 title by defeating Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar.
ii. Men’s doubles: In doubles event, Vaibhaav and Prakash Raj claimed the men’s doubles title by defeating
Thailand’s PakkaponTeeraratsakul and PanitchaphonTeeraratsakul.
Winners:
Event Winner Runner
Women’s Malvika Bansod (India) ThetHtar Thuzar (Myanmar)
singles
Men’s Vaibhaav (India) & Prakash Raj (India) PakkaponTeeraratsakul (Thailand) &
doubles PanitchaphonTeeraratsakul
(Thailand)
Men’s singles Kantawat Leelavaechabutr (Thailand) Kevin Arokia Walter (India)
Women’s KuoYu Wen (Chinese Taipei) & Lin Wan Thilini Pramodika Hendahwewa (Sri
doubles Ching (Chinese Taipei) Lanka) & Kavidi Sirimannage (Sri
Lanka)
Mixed Lu Chia Pin (Chinese Taipei) & Lin Wan Velayudham Roobenraj (Malaysia) &
doubles Ching (Chinese Taipei) Venosha RadhaKrishnan (Malaysia)
Indian duo of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta clinched IBSF World Snooker Team Championship 2019
The Indian duo of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta clinched International Billiards & Snooker
Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Team Championship 2019 held in Mandalay, Myanmar by defeating
Thailand’s C.Pongsakorn and D.Poramin by 5-2.
i. Myanmar Open Billiards 2019 which consisted of the 150 Up World Billiards Championship and World
6Reds, World Team Snooker championships 2019 was held from September 9-25, 2019 and was hosted by
Myanmar Billiards & Snooker Federation (MBSF).
ii. It was the 23rd world title for Advani and the first title for Mehta.
An American television producer & a 4-time Emmy Award winner J. Michael Mendel passed away in Los
Angeles, US
Michael Mendel, an American television producer & a four-time Emmy Award winner for his work on The
Simpsons and Rick and Morty has passed away at his home in Los Angeles from natural causes. He was 54.
i. Born on September 24, 1964, he joined ‘The Simpsons’ in 1989, where he produced shows such as The PJs, The
Oblongs, Drawn Together, Sit Down, Shut Up, and Napoleon Dynamite.
ii. He won three Emmys in 1995, 1997, and 1998 for “Lisa’s Wedding”, “Homer’s Phobia”, and “Trash of the
Titans”. He joined Rick and Morty in 2013, where he won his 4th Emmy Award for the episode “Pickle Rick” in
2018.
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Former French president Jacques Rene Chirac passed away at the age of 86
On September 26, 2019, A two-term (1995-2007) French president Jacques René Chirac, aged 86, passed away
in Paris, France. Born 29 November 1932 in Paris, he was the first leader to accept France’s role in the Holocaust
(World War II genocide) and opposed the United States invasion on Iraq in 2003.
i. Nicknamed as “Le Bulldozer”, he also served as the Prime Minister of France, Mayor of Paris, President of Rally
for the Republic, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister for
Parliamentary Relations of France, President of the Corrèze General Council and also served in the military.
ii. He has won many National and Foreign honours, Ig Nobel prize for peace (1996) and State Prize of the Russian
Federation (2007).
Deepak Punia clinched top spot in UWW’s rankings- 86 kg category

Indian wrestler Deepak Punia, aged 20, clinched the top spot in the rankings released by United World
Wrestling (UWW), an international federation for wrestling, in the 86 kg category with 82 points. He had
recently won silver in the World Wrestling Championships 2019 held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Iran’s Hassan
Aliazam Yazdanicharati was ranked second.
Key Points:
i. In the 65-kg category, Bajrang Punia lost the first spot to Russia’s Gadzhimurad Rashidov. Latter has a 9-point
lead over the former.
ii. In the 57-kg category, Ravi Kumar Dahiya was ranked 5th with 39 points. In the 61-kg category, Rahul Aware
was ranked 2nd.
iii. In women’s rankings, Vinesh Phogat jumped to number two in 53kg category. Seema Bisla ranked 3rd in 50
kg category while Pooja Dhanda is ranked 5th in 59kg, two places behind compatriot Manju Kumari.
About UWW:
♦ Motto: Welcome to the New World of Wrestling
♦ Formation: 1912
♦ Headquarters: Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
England women’s wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor announces retirement from international cricket
On September 27, 2019 England women’s wicket-keeper Sarah Taylor aged 30 retired from international
cricket career. The announcement was made by England Cricket Board(ECB).
Key points
i. Taylor made her debut in T20I(twenty twenty International) in 2006 where England was defeated by India in
the finals. She made 226 international appearances scoring 6533 runs which is a second on England Women’s all-
time list of run-scorers.
ii. Achievement: On 1 September 2008 she became the youngest woman cricketer to score 1000 runs in One
Day Internationals(ODI) when she scored 75 not out at Taunton(England) in England’s 10 wicket win against
India.
2019 IWF World Weightlifting Championships held in Pattaya, Thailand

2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships was held
at Eastern National Sports Training Center in Pattaya, Thailand from September 18-27, 2019. It was
organized by Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association and it was a qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics
2020.
i. China topped the medal tally with 10 Gold, 5 Silver & 3 Bronze followed by North Korea and Armenia.
ii. Egypt was banned from competing due to doping offenses.
India lift 2019 SAFF U-18 football C’ship title for first time defeating Bangladesh in Nepal
On September 29, 2019, India won the 3rd edition of South Asian Football Federation Under-18 (SAFF U-18)
football Championship 2019 title for the first time by defeating Bangladesh in the finals held in the host country
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Nepal, in Kathmandu’s Halchowk Stadium. India’s Vikram Partap Singh and Ravi Bahadur Rana, each scored a
goal to make up to the maiden championship title by defeating Bangladesh for 2-1.
Key points
i India’s NinthoinganbaMeetei is adjudged as the most valuable player(MVP) of the tournament. Fair play
award was given to team Bhutan.
ii. The most successful nation in winning the SAFF U-18 championship multiple times was Nepal (2times)
iii. Recently in the 2019 SAFF Women’s Championship held in March 2019, Indian women’s team emerged as the
champions by defeating Nepal.
About SAFF:
♦ Motto- Strength in Unity.
♦ Formation- 1997.
♦ President- Mr. Kazi Md. Salahuddin.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won 2019 Russia F1 Grand Prix, surpasses Schumacher’s GP win counts
On September 29, 2019 Britain’s Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton commonly known as Lewis Hamiltonof
Mercedes, won the 2019 Russia F1 Grand Prix (Formula 1 GP) at Sochi Autodrom race track in Russia.
Mercedes ValteriBottas(Finland) and Ferrari’s Charles Lecrec (Monaco) won the second and third spot
respectively. By this win, Hamilton became all-time record holder, winning his 143rd Grand Prix totally,
surpassing Michael Schumacher’s(Germany) mark which he held for 18 years.
Indian fencer Bhavani Devi wins silver in the 2019 Tournoi Satellite Fencing competition in Belgium
On September 29, 2019 Indian fencer CA Bhavani Devi (Chennai, Tamilnadu) won silver medal in women’s
sabre individual category in the 2019 Tournoi Satellite Fencingcompetition (World level)at Ghent, Belgium. She
lost to Azerbaijan’s Bashta Anna who won the gold medal in the event.
Key points
i. Bhavani Devi currently ranks 44th in the world rankings.
Overview of Challenger Buenos Aires 2019 (Tennis) held in Buenos Aires, Argentina
The 9th edition of Challenger Buenos Aires 2019 (Tennis) was held at Racket Club, Buenos Aires,
Argentina from September 23-29, 2019. It was a part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)
Challenger Tour and was played on outdoor red clay courts. The total prize money of the tournament
was $54,160.
Key Points:
i. In men’s singles, Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal, aged 22, defeated Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis and clinched
the title by 6-4, 6-2. He is currently ranked 135.
ii. In men’s doubles, Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi and Andrés Molteni defeated Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien and
Federico Zeballos and clinched the title by 6–7, 6–2.
Overview of Korea Open 2019 held in Incheon, South Korea

The Korea Open 2019, a badminton Super 500 tournament was held at Incheon International Airport
Skydom in Incheon, South Korea from September 24 – 29, 2019. It was the 19th tournament of the 2019
Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour and a part of the Korea Open championships.
Key Points:
i. It was organized by the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) with sanction from the BWF.
ii. The total prize money of the tournament was US$400,000.
iii. Indian player Parupalli Kashyap lost to Japan’s Kento Momota in the semifinals.
List of Winners:
Men’s Singles Kento Momota (Japan) Chou Tien-chen (Taiwan)
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Women’s Singles He Bingjiao (China) Ratchanok Intanon

(Thailand)
Men’s Doubles Fajar Alfian & Muhammad Rian Ardianto Takeshi Kamura & Keigo
(Indonesia) Sonoda (Japan)
Women’s Kim So-yeong & Kong Hee-yong (South Lee So-hee & Shin Seung-
Doubles Korea) chan (South Korea)
Mixed Doubles Dechapol Puavaranukroh & Sapsiree Zheng Siwei & Huang
Taerattanachai (Thailand) Yaqiong (China)
About BWF:
♦ Formation: 1934
♦ Headquarters: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
♦ President: Poul-Erik Høyer
OBITUARY
Italian born bodybuilder, powerlifter, actor and author, Franco Columbu passes away
Italian bodybuilder, powerlifter, actor and author, Franco Columbu (Nicknamed, “the Sardinian Strongman”)
has died at the age of 78 in his native Sardinia, Italy.
i. Franco started his athletic career as a boxer & advanced into Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, and then
bodybuilding.
ii. He won the title of Mr. Olympia in the year 1976 and 1981.
iii. He was best known for his decades-long friendship with Schwarzenegger& also appeared in popular TV series
and movies. He acted in Schwarzenegger’s films “The Terminator,” ”The Running Man” and “Conan the
Barbarian.” He also authored a book called, Coming On Strong.
iv. He competed in the first World’s Strongest Man competition & finished 5th in the year 1977.
Swedish billionaire Hans Rausing dies at the age of 93

On August 27, 2019 Swedish billionaire Hans Rausing who is credited for turning Pully (Switzerland)
based Tetra Pak food packaging company into a global giant, passed away at the age of 93 in London, United
Kingdom (UK). He was the son of tetra pak founder Ruben Rausing. He was Sweden’s second richest man, with a
net worth of $12 billion.
LaShawn Daniels- songwriter of ‘Destiny’s Child’ passed away

On September 4, 2019, United States(US) born songwriter LaShawn Daniels familiarly known as Big Shiz,
passed away at the age of 41 due to a car crash in South Carolina, US. The singer was honoured with grammy
award in 2001 for best R&B song (Rhythm & Blues song) for his part, in writing the song ‘Say My Name’ of the
group ‘Destiny’s Child’ which was further nominated 7 times.
Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe passed away

On September 6, 2019, Former President (2nd) and first prime minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe passed
away at the age of 95 in Singapore due to old age related ailments
Key points
i. Born in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe in 1924, Mugabe served as the president for 37 year since 1987 until he was
ousted from power in a military coup(forcible transition of power). He was a former guerrilla chief and took over
as president after the end of white minority rule.
Aalayam Sriram, producer of ‘Bombay’ movie passed away

On September 4, 2019 Chennai (Tamilnadu) born film producer S Sriram, also known as ‘Aalayam’ Sriram,
passed away in Chennai due to cardiac arrest. He headed the Alayam productions and mostly collaborated with
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Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam, including the 1996

National award winning film “Bombay”. His last production was tamil film ‘Samurai’ in 2002.
KiranNagarkar- noted novelist and playwright passed away in Mumbai

On September 5, 2019 Mumbai born noted novelist and playwright KiranNagarkar passed away at the age of 77
due to old age ailments at a hospital in Mumbai. He is known for authoring the books, ‘Cuckold,'(1997) which
won him the 2001 SahityaAkademi award and ‘Bedtime Stories’. He was also awarded the Order of Merit of the
Federal Republic of Germany in 2012.
Key points
i.His other famous works were ‘SaatSakkamTrechalis’ (Seven Sixes Are Forty Three) (1974), ‘Ravan and Eddie’
(1994).His most recent work(book) was “The Arsonist: Poet, Weaver, Seer, Blasphemer” that was released in
June 2019 and his last novel was written in November 2017 named “Jasoda”.
ii.He is also a novelist, playwright, film and drama critic, and screenwriter both in Marathi and English.
Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Qadir passed away

On September 7, 2019, Pakistan’s former cricketer Abdul Qadir passed away at the age of 63 due to cardiac
arrest. Born in Lahore, Pakistan on 15 September 1955, Qadir had played 67 Tests and 104 One Day
Internationals (ODI) taking a total of 368 wickets representing his country.
Key points
He also worked as a chief selector of Pakistan cricket squad in 2009 that won the International Cricket
Council(ICC) World T20 (Twenty twenty) match in England the same year.
Kathakali maestro Kottakkal Chandrasekharan passed away

On September 4, 2019, famous Kathakali maestro Kottakkal Chandrasekhara Warrier who was also the
Principal of P.S.V. Natyasangham, Kottakkal, Kerala passed away at the age of 74.
Key points
i. Awards: Born in Kerala , Warrier was honoured with various awards during his reign including the Sangeet
Natak Akademi Award (2006), Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award, Kalamandalam Award, Tulaseevanam
Award etc.
Bollywood actor and renowned Kathak dancer Veeru Krishnan passed away
Bollywood actor and renowned Kathak dancer Veeru Krishnan has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
i. He worked in many films such as “Ishq”, “Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke” and “Raja Hindustani”. He mostly appeared
in supporting roles in the films in the 1990s.
ii. Besides being an actor, he was also a famous kathak dancer. Many Bollywood celebrities like Katrina Kaif,
Athiya Shetty, Karanvir Bohra, and others were trained in Kathak by him.
Well known lawyer and former Union minister Ram Jethmalani passed away
Ram Jethmalani, Senior lawyer, and a former union law minister has passed away at his home in Delhi after
suffering from prolonged illness. He was 95.
i. Jethmalani was born on 14 September 1923 in Shikarpur, Sindh in the Sindh division of the then Bombay
Presidency, now part of Pakistan. The partition led him to move to Mumbai. He earned an LL.B.( Bachelor of Law)
degree from Bombay University with a first-class first at the young age of 17.
ii. He had worked as union law minister and in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of Atal
Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and then again in October 1999.
Freedom fighter Heeralal Sharma passes away

On September 6, 2019 Rajasthan born freedom fighter of India, Heeralal Sharma passed away at the age of 95
due to old age ailments at a government hospital in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
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Key points
i. Heeralal actively participated in the freedom movement and was jailed for two years.
Documentary photographer Robert Frank passed away at the age of 94

On September 10, 2019 Switzerland born famous documentary Photographer Robert Frank passed away at the
age of 94 in Nova Scotia, Canada. He rose to fame by his landmark book “The Americans” and for his 20th century
photographs.
Key points
Frank was born on November 9, 1924 in Zurich, Switzerland, and worked as a photo assistant and later moved to
the United States(US) after the Second World War. He produced 28,000 images compressed down to 83 for “the
Americans” which rewrote photography rules.
Veteran Politician Congress Leader Goverdhan Kalla passes away at the age of 89 years
On September 10, 2019, Veteran Congress Leader and Former MLA Goverdhan Kalla passed away at the age of 89
years after a prolonged illness in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Served as an MLA of Jaisalmer between 2003-08, his
funeral procession happened at Vyas Chhatri Cremation Ground. For five decades, He was in politics and a
Gandhian thinker, involved in Sarvodaya Movement
Climate change campaigner, Tongan PM Akilisi Pohiva, aged 78, passed away
On September 12, 2019, Climate change campaigner of the South Pacific, Tongan Prime Minister (PM), Akilisi
Pohiva, aged 78, passed away at Auckland hospital, New Zealand after suffering complications from pneumonia
and liver disease. He was the first prime minister of the South Pacific island nation elected by parliament rather
than appointed by the King. He was the 15th PM of Tonga.
i. Born on 7 April 1941, he was known as a champion for democracy and he was the longest-serving member of
parliament of Tonga since he was first elected in 1987.
ii. He served as the PM of Tonga from December 30, 2014- September 12, 2019, Minister of Foreign Affairs
(January 20, 2018- September 12, 2019) and the Minister of Health (January 4-13, 2011) of the Tongan
parliament.
Former Indonesian president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie passes away

Former Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf (B.J.) Habibie, who permitted democratic reforms and an
independence referendum for East Timor following the ouster of the dictator Suharto, has passed away due to
cardiac problem. He was 83.
i. Born on 25 June 1936, Parepare, Indonesia, Habibie succeeded Suharto(who had ruled Indonesia for 32 years)
as Indonesia’s third president from 1998 to 1999. He held power for just 16 months.
ii. An engineer by training, Habibie spent nearly two decades working for aerospace manufacturer
Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm ,Germany.
iii. He promised an early election, repealed some legislation, and ordered the release of political prisoners.
iv. He also eased discriminatory policies against ethnic Chinese, including lifting a three-decade-old ban on the
speaking and teaching of Mandarin and use of Chinese names.
Former bureaucrat BN Yugandhar, father of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, passes away in Hyderabad,
Telangana
Microsoft’s chief executive officer (CEO) Satya Nadela’s father and former bureaucrat BN Yugandhar has passed
away in Hyderabad, Telangana after a brief illness. He was 82.
i. Yugandhar, a 1962 batch Indian Administration Service (IAS) officer, worked as Secretary in the Union Rural
Development Ministry.
ii. As a member of the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog(National Institute for Transforming India)) from
2004 – 2009, he played an important role in including the entire chapter on matters related to disability issues
included in the Plan.
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iii. Yugandhar acted as the director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie
in Uttarakhand. Apart from this, he has also worked in Prime Minister’s Office during the tenure of the late PV
Narsimha Rao.
Photographer Charlie Cole, who took a picture of ‘Tank Man’ died at the age of 64
Charlie Cole, one of the photographers who took the picture of the famous Tank Man during the 1989
Tiananmen Square protests, has died of sepsis in Bali, Indonesia. He was 64.
i. Born in 1955 in Bonham, Texas, United States (US), Cole shifted to Japan in 1980, where he worked for
magazines and newspapers including Newsweek, Time and The New York Times.
ii. He was one of five photographers who photographed an unknown person wearing a white shirt with bags in
both hands standing next to the line of tanks on June 5, 1989, perhaps a day after the death of thousands.
iii. In the year1990, Cole won the World Press Photo Award for his photo, which became an image of the 1989
pro-democracy protest.
Writer and Dissident of Hungary’s movement of communist rule Gyorgy Konrad, passed away at the age
of 86
On September 14, 2019, Gyorgy Konrad, famous writer and sociologist who was also familiar in Hungary’s
dissident movement under Communist rule, passed away at the age of 86 in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
Key points
i. Born on April 2, 1933, in Debrecen, eastern Hungary, Konrad’s famous works were 1969 novel “The Case
Worker” and 2007 memoir “A Guest in My Own Country: A Hungarian Life”.
ii. He was president of the writers’ association PEN International from 1990-1993 and also served as president
of the Academy of Arts in Berlin in 1997-2003.
American historian and Francis Parkman awardee Jean Edward Smith passed away at 86
On September 14, 2019, Washington (America) born famous historian Jean Edward Smith, known for his books
on Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ulysses Grant passed away at the age of 86 in Huntington,
West Virginia, America, after suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Key points
i. Awards: Born on October 13, 1932, Edward won Francis Parkman award in 2007 for his book on Franklin
Roosevelt (32nd American president) named “FDR” as the best book of the year on American history.
ii. His final book “The Liberation of Paris,” about how Allied forces drove Nazi occupiers out of Paris in 1944, was
published in July 2019.
Former Tunisia president Zine el-Abidine Ben passed away at the age of 83 in Saudi Arabia
On September 19, 2019, former president of Tunisia Zine el-Abidine Ben has died in exile at the age of 83 in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He was ousted from power in 2011 at the start of the Arab spring movement in which many
leaders were swept from power.
Key point:
Born on September 3, 1936 in Hammam Sousse, French Tunisia, Ben ruled Tunisia as president from 1987 until
he was ousted in 2011 due to suppressed political freedom in the country.
Former Dutch football international Fernando Ricksen passes away

Former Rangers football player Fernando Ricksen of Netherlands has passed away in St Andrew’s Hospice in
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland after a 6-year battle with motor neuron disease. He was 43.
i. Born on 27 July 1976 in Hoensbroek, Limburg, Netherlands, earned 12 caps for the Netherlands between 2000
and 2003.
ii. In six years(2000-2006) with the club of Rangers (Glasgow, Scotland), he won 2 Scottish Premier League titles,
2 Scottish Cups and 3 Scottish League Cups.
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iii. In 2006, he shifted for Russian football club, Zenit Saint Petersburg and won honours including the
UEFA(Union of European Football Associations) Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2008.
Famous filmmaker Shyam Ramsay passes away at Mumbai, Maharashtra

Bollywood’s famous horror film producer Shyam Ramsay (one of the seven Ramsay Brothers) has passed away
in Mumbai, Maharashtra after suffering from pneumonia. He was 67.
i. Born on 17 May 1952, Shyam Ramsay has made a tremendous identity in Hindi cinema through horror films
such as,Purana Mandir (1984), Andhera (1975), saboot (1980), Purani Haveli (1989), and Dhund: The Fog
(2003) during his career. He also made films like Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh” (1954) and “Rustom Sohrab”
(1963).
ii. Ramsay Brothers (Kumar, Tulsi, Shyam, Keshu, Kiran, Ganguly and Arjun)came to Mumbai from Karachi after
partition and decided to get into the business of film production.
Veteran American journalist & Pulitzer Prize winner Robert S Boyd passes away
Noted American Journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Skinner Boyd has passed away in Philadelphia in
Pennsylvania, US(United States) due to congestive heart failure.He was 91.
i. Born on 28 January 1928, Chicago, Illinois, US, he shared a 1973 Pulitzer Prize with colleague Clark Hoyt for
uncovering the fact that Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton’s exit from the campaign due
to severe psychiatric problems and undergone three shock treatments.
ii. He worked as the Washington bureau chief of Knight Ridder for 20 years , once the nation’s 2nd -largest
newspaper chain with properties like The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald.
iii. Boyd toured the Bay of Pigs battlefield with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1961,covered the revolution in the
Dominican Republic in 1965, witnessed the secret US (United States) bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam
War.
iv. He became Knight Ridder’s Washington science writer in 1993.
B R Vats, former PTI correspondent who covered 1st LS polls passed away at the age of 97 in New Delhi
On September 19, 2019 Bhagat Ram Vats (BR Vats), who was a former senior correspondent of Press Trust of
India (PTI) passed away at the age of 97 due to head injury in New Delhi. He was well known for covering the 1st
Lok Sabha polls and had also travelled with the then Prime Minister (PM) Jawaharlal Nehru (1st PM) for 14 years
covering his political activities, especially the election tours in 1952, 1957 and 1962.
Key points:
i. Vats was given lifelong Russian press accreditation for reporting from the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) nearly half a decade.
ii. He also authored a book named ‘Foreign Intrigue Against India that portrays partition of India and its
neighbours.
Former Indian test cricketer Madhav Apte passed away at the age of 86 in Mumbai
On September 23, 2019, former Indian test cricketer and opener Madhav Apte passed away at the age of 86 in a
hospital in Mumbai due to cardiac arrest. Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra as Madhavrao Laxmanrao Apte in 1932,
he had played 67 first class matches inclusive of 46 Ranji trophy matches for Mumbai and three for Bengal
scoring 3336 runs with 6 centuries and 16 half centuries.
Key points
Apte who played seven tests in the early 1950s scoring 542 runs, with a lone hundred and three fifties to his
credit, also served as the President of the Cricket Club of India(CCI) for some years and the ‘Legends Club’ till his
last breath.
An active mountain skier, Davo Karnica of Slovenia passes away

Davo Karnicar of Slovenia , the 1st person who ski down Mount Everest on October 7, 2000, has passed away in
the tree cutting accident in his mountainous home region of Zgornje Jezersko, in northern Slovenia. He was 56.
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i. Born on 26 October 1962, Zgornje Jezersko, Slovenia, he had skied down the highest mountains in each of the
other six continents. The other Summits descents were
• Kilimanjaro (5895 m) in Africa in November 2001
• Mount Elbrus (5642 m) in Europe in May 2002
• Aconcagua (6960 m) in South America in January 2003
• Mount Kosciuszko (2228 m) in Australia in August 2003
• Denali (6194 m) in North America in June 2004
• Vinson Massif (4897 m) in Antarctica on November 11, 2006
ii. He also climbed the Matterhorn (Switzerland) & Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps in the border
between France and Italy .
Owner of the Britannia & Co restaurant, Boman Rashid Kohinoor passes away in Mumbai, Maharashtra
Mr Boman Rashid Kohinoor, senior partner at the iconic Britannia & Co restaurant (Mumbai) has passed
away at the Parsee General Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra due to cardiac arrest. He was 97.
i. Boman Kohinoor’s father Rashid Kohinoor, a Zoroastrian immigrant from Iran started this restaurant in the
south Mumbai, in the year 1923.
ii. Boman, who called himself “the Royal family’s fan number 1”, had taken over the responsibility of the hotel
(most famous for its berry pulao, sali boti, and dhansak) after his father died in an accident.
iii. Kohinoor had met Prince William and Catherine at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in the British dynasty in 2016.
This was the meeting that crossed the outline of the scheduled program.
Former foreign secretary K.P.S. Menon (junior) passes away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Former Foreign Secretary & a 1951 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Kumara Padma
Sivasankara Menon Jr.(junior) has passed away at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala due to age-
related ailments. He was 90.
i. He had served as the Foreign Secretary of India from 1987 to 1989. He had also served as Ambassador to
Bangladesh, Egypt, Japan, Hungary, and China.
ii. His father Kumara Padma Sivasankara Menon or K.P.S. Menon (Senior) was the first Foreign Secretary of
independent India. Sivasankara Menon, nephew of KPS Menon Jr, is the foreign secretary and national security
adviser.
iii. He worked as an ambassador to various countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Japan, and China.
Veteran Bollywood actor, Viju khote passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra

Bollywood veteran actor Viju Khote, best known for playing the role of ‘Kalia’ in the film Sholay, has passed
away at his home in Mumbai , Maharashtra due to multiple organ failure. He was 77.
i. Born on 17 December 1941, khote was most remembered for his work in more than 440 films in Hindi and
Marathi cinema.
ii. The several popular feature films that Khote was a part of also included , Robert in Andaz Apna Apna (1994),
Maan Singh in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988),Shirish Appa in Ventilator (2016) & TV (Television ) show
Zabaan Sambhalke (1993).
iii. He was the brother of Bollywood’s famous actress Shubha Khote.
INA veteran from Tamil Nadu V Ganesan passed away at the age of 94
On September 29, 2019, Indian National Army (INA) veteran V Ganesan, aged 94, passed away in Tamil Nadu. He
had joined Nethaji’s INA at the age of 18. He hailed from Sembodai village near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam
district of Tamil Nadu.
i. He was honoured by the President of India in 2012 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan and is a recipient of
Copper Plaques from the central and state governments.
ii. He is the founder of the Nethaji Hospital, at Sembodai village, Tamil Nadu.
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BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book titled “India’s Lost Frontier the Story of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan” written by
veteran civil servant Raghvendra Singh released
A book named “India’s Lost Frontier the Story of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan” written by
veteran civil servant Raghvendra Singh, who was the then Director General (DG) of the National Archives of
India (NAI) has been released. It is published by Rupa Publications, New Delhi.
i. The book presents the history of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was earlier known as the North-West
Frontier Province (NWFP).
ii. It reveals how the Congress leadership in 1947 surrendered India’s claim on the “tactically important”
province though there was resistance from Mahatma Gandhi and other political leaders.
A new book entitled “First They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks” to be released by Penguin
Random House (India)
A new book entitled “First They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks” penned by journalist Sophie
Ansel (France) will be formally released by Penguin Random House (India) on September 9, 2019.
Key points:
i. The book documents the troubles of Rohingya community, through the eyes of a Rohingya, “Habiburahman”,
who was born and raised in a small village in western Burma( now Myanmar), in 1979, grew up stateless with his
people when their own country’s military leader ordered that Rohingya were not one among the 135 recognized
ethnic groups that formed the 8 ‘national races’.
ii. As a result of utmost prejudice and persecution, millions of Rohingya people had left their homes since the
year 1982.
iii. The Myanmar government rapids the process of ethnic cleansing in 2016 & 2017, and about 600,000
Rohingya were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh.
Venkaiah Naidu will release books ‘Loktantra Ke Swar (Khand 2)’ & ‘The Republican Ethic (Volume 2)’ on
selected speeches of President
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will release 2nd edition of ‘Loktantra Ke Swar (Khand
2)’ and ‘The Republican Ethic (Volume 2)’ on September 6, 2019, at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. It
will be released with the aim to promote and diffuse selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind, President
of India.
Key points:
i. Directorate of Publications Division under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has published the
book.
ii. The books are a collection of 95 of his selected speeches delivered by the President in the second year of his
office from July 2018 – July 2019.
iii. They have been divided in 8 sections, viz ‘Addressing the Nation’, ‘Windows to the World’, ‘Educating India:
Equipping India’, ‘Dharma of Public Service’, ‘Honouring our Sentinels’, ‘Spirit of the Constitution and Law’,
‘Acknowledging Excellence’ and ‘Mahatma Gandhi: Moral Exemplar, Guiding Light’.To mark the 150th Birth
Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a separate section on President’s speech related to Gandhian world-view has
also been covered.
iv. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Minister of Information and
Broadcasting & Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment would be the Guests of
Honour on the occasion.
v.The first edition of the books was released Shri Venkaiah Naidu on 8 Dec 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
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Book titled “Phoolpur: Indian Flowers, Their Myths, Traditions and Usage” written by Jhelum Biswas
Bose set to release
A new book, “Phoolpur: Indian Flowers, Their Myths, Traditions and Usage” written by Jhelum Biswas
Bose is set to be released on September 8, 2019. It is published by Penguin India. The book’s foreword is
written by actor Lisa Ray.
i. The book explains the subtle power and meaning of different Indian flowers.
ii. It teaches the ways to use them in living spaces, food, beauty and healing treatments.
A Coffee Table Book called ‘Glorious Diaspora- Pride of India’ on Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awardees
was released by Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi
On September 5, 2019, The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has released a coffee table book
entitled ‘Glorious Diaspora- Pride of India’ on Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awardees in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. The book covers the complete profiles of overseas Indians (politicians, business leaders, scientists,
economists )who received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards (PBSA) from the year 2003 – 2019 in various
sectors. It has been brought out by Indian Diaspora Club.
ii. About Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (Overseas Indian Award): It is the highest honour constituted by the
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India in conjunction with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non-
Resident Indian Day), to honour exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen profession.
It was first launched in the year 2003. January 9 was chosen every year as the day to observe Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas (PBD) since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from
South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians.
Book titled ‘Fortune Turners: The Quartet that spun India to glory’ on spin quartet written by Aditya
Bhushan and Sachin Bajaj launched
Book titled ‘Fortune Turners: The Quartet that spun India to glory’ on spin quartet written by Aditya
Bhushan and Sachin Bajaj was launched in New Delhi. It is published by Global Cricket School.
i. It reveals the careers of the famous four spinners of Indian cricket team- Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna,
Bhagwat Chandrashekhar, and S. Venkataraghavan, who dominated Indian bowling in the 1960s-70s and were
instrumental in some of the team’s famous victories of the time.
ii. The launch ceremony was attended by former Indian cricketers Kapil Dev & Bishan Singh Bedi along with the
authors.
“Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past, 1883-1924” by Vikram Sampath released

Renowned Bengaluru-based historian and author Vikram Sampath’s recent book”Savarkar: Echoes from a
forgotten past, 1883-1924″ describing the life of freedom fighter and Philosopher Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,
popularly known as Veer Savarkar, was released on August 8, 2019, by Viking Penguin publishers.
Key points
i. It is a two-volume series of which the first volume alone is released currently.
Venkaiah Naidu releases the book ‘Rethinking Good Governance’ authored by the former CAG Vinod Rai
in New Delhi
On September 13, 2019, The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has released the book
entitled ‘Rethinking Good Governance’ penned by former Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), Vinod Rai in
New Delhi. The book has been published by Rupa Publications.
Key points:
i. While addressing the launching event, the vice president expressed worrisome over the high pendency of cases
for over 25 years in various courts in India & also called for the extension of Supreme Court (SC), increasing the
retirement age of High Court judges, the establishment of more benches in different parts in India. There is also a
need to improve the management of court and infrastructure facilities.
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ii. As suggested by the Law Commission, he stated the need for expansion of the Supreme Court (SC) into a
Constitution Bench at Delhi and Cassation benches in 4 regions ( Delhi, Chennai or Hyderabad, Kolkata, and
Mumbai).
iii. He also pointed out 3 main functions of legislatures (legislative, deliberative accountability) & asked political
leaders to adopt a code of conduct for their legislators and contribute to policymaking through informed
decisions and choose candidates carefully based upon their capacity, calibre, and good conduct.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu released ‘Himalayan Odyssey’ book by MP Veerendra Kumar in New Delhi
On September 19, 2019, the Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu released the book in New Delhi named
‘Himalayan Odyssey’ written by Member of Parliament (MP) Veerendra Kumar. The book is an English
translation of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi and Kerala Sahitya Akademi award-winning Malayalam
original ‘Haimavathabhuvil’ by Veerendra Kumar, who is also the Chief Managing Director(CMD) of
Mathrubhumi.
Key point:
Other Awards: The other awards for this book are MoorthideviPuraskar, Dr. ShivramKaranth award, Vayalar
award and Amrita KeerthiPuraskaram
.
Book titled ‘Turbulence & Triumph: The Modi Years’, jointly authored by Rahul Agarwal and Bharathi S
Pradhan set to release
The pictorial biography of PM Narendra Modi titled ‘Turbulence & Triumph: The Modi Years’ jointly authored
by Rahul Agarwal and Bharathi S Pradhan is set to release in October 2019. It is published by Om Books
International. It depicts the journey of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from this young days to becoming 14th
prime minister of India. The book also has photographs sourced from public and private archives.
A book on Gandhi titled “Being Gandhi” by Paro Anand set to release

A new book titled “Being Gandhi” written by award-winning author Paro Anand will be released on September
21, 2019. It marks the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The book, published by Harper Collins Children’s
Books, explores the life events of Gandhiji.
Roopa Pai’s “From Leeches to Slug Glue: 25 Explosive Ideas that Made (and Are Making) Modern
Medicine” to be released
A new book “From Leeches to Slug Glue: 25 Explosive Ideas that Made (and Are Making) Modern
Medicine” that traces the origins of experiments and discoveries in science and medicine evolution spanning
over 2,500 years and several geographies, is to be released on September 28, 2019. The book is authored
by Roopa Pai and will be published by publisher Puffin Books.
Key points
i. The book which has 25 chapters explores areas like vaccination, anaesthesia, X-rays and the germ theory etc.
‘Girl Power: Indian Women Who Broke The Rules’ by Neha J Hiranandani on 50 indian women role
models released
A new book named ‘Girl Power: Indian Women Who Broke The Rules‘ written by author Neha J
Hiranandani was released on September 23, 2019. The book is about the stories/achievements of 50 Indian
women role models. The book is published by Scholastic India.
Key point:
Some of the women featured in the list were badminton player PV Sindhu, actress Priyanka Chopraa and real life
heroines such as Subhasini Mistry, who won Padma Bhushan for healthcare,ChandroTomar, the octogenarian
sharpshooter, popularly known as ‘Revolver Dadi’, queen Abbakka of Chowta dynasty etc.
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New book titled “India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765” by professor and author Richard M Eaton
released
On September 24, 2019 a new book named “India in the Persianate Age: 1000-1765” by United States(US)
based professor and author, Richard M Eaton was released. This book mainly focuses on the rise of Persian
culture and also about the civilisations, architecture, upheavals, and the art of the Indian subcontinent between
11th and 18th centuries. The book is published by Penguin India.
‘Professor Ayushman’ comic book released by Ayush Ministry in New Delhi

On September 24, 2019, a new comic book series ‘Professor Ayushman’ conceived by the National Medicinal
Plants Board (NMPB) was unveiled by the Ayush ministry in New Delhi. This book will raise awareness in
children about the importance of medicinal plants and their usage.
Key points
i. This book is available for free and could be bought by schools approaching NMPB.
ii. During the event, the Ayush minister Shripad Yesso Naik announced the target set to operationalise 4,200
AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) under Ayushman Bharat(AB) scheme during 2019-20.
Pranab Mukherjee launches the book titled ‘Reset: Regaining India’s Economic Legacy’ written by BJP MP
Subramanian Swamy
On September 25, 2019, Pranab Mukherjee, the former president of India has released a book entitled ‘Reset:
Regaining India’s Economic Legacy’ penned by BJP MP (Bharatiya janata party -member of
parliament) Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi. The book has been published by Rupa Publications India.
Key points:
i. The book documents economic growth of India over the years & provides the master solutions for future
growth.
ii. Swamy, who often criticizes the government’s economic policies, is of the opinion that the government now
needs a team of experienced politicians and professionals for crisis management.
iii. The author also denounced the present Government’s (BJP-led NDA government) handling of macroeconomic
issue
Award-winning author Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi comes out with a new book titled “Loss”
Mumbai based Indian author Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (42) is coming back with a new book
entitled “Loss” which is a record on death and grief, drawing on a stock of personal losses of his parents and a
beloved pet (Bruschetta). The book has been published by HarperCollins India.
Key points:
i. Loss ,a collection of three essays, has takes the reader down the dark, winding path to healing.It is scheduled to
come out in the summer of 2020.
ii. Some of the other books by Siddharth are, “The Last Song of Dusk” (won the Betty Trask Award, one of the
UK’s (United Kingdom) most prestigious prizes for debut novels), “The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay” (shortlisted
for the Man Asian Prize ) and “The Rabbit & the Squirrel”.
Book “Game of Votes: Visual Media Politics and Elections in the Digital Era” penned by Farhat Basir Khan
launched
The seniormost faculty member at the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at the Jamia Millia Islamia
(New Delhi ), Farhat Basir Khan’s new book “Game of Votes: Visual Media Politics and Elections in the
Digital Era” details the evolution of election campaigns in India. It has been published by SAGE Publication.
Key points:
i. The book focusing key leaders of political parties & role of modern mass media platforms (beginning with the
elections of the 1950s to the feverish social media-driven elections of the 21st century), and the emergence of
fake news that impacting poll results in India & across the world.
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ii. The book also discusses the practice political alliances, methodologies of electoral campaigning.
iii. The preface of the book has been written by Former President Pranab Mukherjee.
Book titled “Lal Bahadur Shastri: Politics and Beyond” authored by Sandeep Shastri set to be released
Book titled “Lal Bahadur Shastri: Politics and Beyond” authored by political analyst Sandeep
Shastri commemorating Late Shashtri’s 113th birth anniversary on October 2, 2019 is set to be released. It is
published by Rupa Publications. It depicts the early influences, political associations and historical decisions of
Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s second prime minister.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Coconut Day 2019 observed on September 2
World Coconut Day was observed on September 2, 2019. It was established in 2009 to commemorate the
formation day of Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) which is under the aegis of the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). The day highlights the importance and
uses of coconuts.
i. In India, Coconut Development Board (CDB) celebrated the 21st Edition of World Coconut Day at Kalinga
Institute of Industrial Technology in Odisha. The theme was “Coconut for Family Wellness”.
ii. The chief guest of the event was Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar. He
has assured additional assistance for Odisha’s coconut farmers affected by cyclone Fani apart from the support of
Rs 29.65 crore given by the CDB.
About APCC:
♦ Type: Inter-governmental organisation
♦ Headquarters: Jakarta, Indonesia
National teachers’ day celebrated on September 5, 2019

On September 5, 2019, National teachers’ day was celebrated across the country. The aim of this day is to
honour the efforts of teachers all over India. It is celebrated since 1962 to honor Dr. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan who was born on 5th September 1888.
About Radhakrishnan:
i. He hailed from Thiruthani, Tamil Nadu.
ii. Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President (from 1952–1962) and the second President of
independent India (from 1962 to 1967). He was a great scholar of the 20th century, philosopher and teacher of
modern India and was conferred with the Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award) in the year 1954. He was
the first recipient of Bharat Ratna along with politician C. Rajagopalachari, scientist C. V. Raman in recognition of
his meritorious service to mankind.
iii. He was also awarded several awards such as knighthood in 1931, Templeton Prize in 1975, Peace Prize of the
German Book Trade in 1961 and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.
iv. He was nominated 16 times for the Nobel prize in literature, and 11 times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Kovind felicitates winners of National Teachers’ Award 2018 on Teachers’ Day
On September 5, 2019, The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred National Award 2018 to 46
teachers from across the country in New Delhi for their distinguished services. The award comprises a silver
medal, certificate, and Rs. 50,000/- as award money. It was the 61st edition of the award, instituted in 1958.
Key points:
i. The Independent national jury recommended the name of 46 teachers & online self-nomination process
followed by 3 tier selection process at District, State, and National level was adopted. The basic criteria to be
nominated for this award is the school teachers and heads of schools, who had shown innovation in their work
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and had added value to the school and to their students, working in recognized primary/ middle/ higher
secondary schools in the country.
Other key events on this day:
1763: Mir Qasim fought the British at Udayana near Rajmahal and lost the battle.
1957: Wealth Tax Bill was formed.
1997: Mother Teresa passed away in Kolkata.
UN observes International Day of Charity on 5th September

The United Nations(UN) officially declared to observe September 5 annually as the International Day of Charity
in its 2012 UN General Assembly. The first International Day of Charity under the resolution/A/RES/67/105 was
observed in the year 2013. The day aims to create awareness about the role of charity to alleviate poverty and
hunger.
Key points
i. The day was chosen to commemorate the death anniversary of “Mother Teresa” who received the 1979 Nobel
Peace Prize for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat
to peace.
National Nutrition Week 2019 observed from September 1 to 7

National Nutrition Week (NNW) was observed from September 1 to 7, 2019 to educate people about the
importance of their health and well-being. It is an annual nutrition event organized by the Food and Nutrition
Board within the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India.
Key Points:
i. It was launched by the Food and Nutrition Board in 1982.
ii. In order to make India a healthy nation, the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had
launched POSHAN Abhiyan from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on March 8, 2018. Its vision is to make India
malnutrition free by 2022.
iii. 5 pillars of POSHAN Abhiyaan are the importance of First 1000 days, detection and right treatment of Anemia
& Diarrhea, Personal Hygiene, Sanitation, and Paushtik Aahaar.
National Nutrition Month
Union Government is conducting a month-long campaign called Rashtriya Poshan Maah or the National
Nutrition Month (NNM) from September 1 to September 30, 2019 to mark the fight against malnutrition with
the focus on adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers and to create a Jan Andolan to imbibe
behavioural changes into the daily lives of the masses, with the slogan “Poshan Tyohar Se Vyavahar”.
About malnutrition:
overnutrition.
International Literacy Day 2019 observed on September 8

International Literacy Day (ILD) was observed on September 8, 2019, with the theme ‘Literacy and
Multilingualism’. It highlights the importance of literacy or the ability to read and write for individuals,
communities, and societies.
Key Points:
i. ILD was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 26
October 1966 at 14th session of UNESCO’s General Conference & was celebrated for the first time in 1967.
ii. The day is an opportunity to express solidarity with the celebrations of the 2019 International Year of
Indigenous Languages and the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Special Needs Education, at which
the Salamanca Statement on Inclusive Education was adopted.
iii. The day was adopted as part of the UNSDG program in 2015.
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iv. The issue of literacy is a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and
the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Himalaya day 2019 celebrated on September 9

Himalaya Day 2019 was observed on September 9. It was celebrated in the Biotech Auditorium of the
Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. It was first celebrated in the
year 2010.
SIWI organised 2019 World water week observed in Stockholm, Sweden from 25th to 30th August
Week-long conference on global water issues, the 2019 World Water Week organised by the Stockholm
International Water Institute(SIWI) was observed in Stockholm, Sweden from 25 to 30 August with the theme
“Water for society – Including all”. Dr. Jackie King was awarded the 2019 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate
during the conference for her contribution to global river management.
Key points
i. Agenda: Form partnerships, discuss water stress issues, review implementation thus by overall improving the
health, livelihood and poverty reduction.
ii. Participants: The conference was attended by 4,000 participants from 138 countries globally. The Indian
representatives were Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, the Director-
General(DG) of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
iii. Address by India: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat addressed the event during the session titled ‘High-level
dialogue: Building a Resilient Future through Water’. The Women + Water Alliance, initiated by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US-based apparel company Gap Inc is planning to
increase its social activities in India to provide more support to 2 lakh women in minimizing water woes. At
present, the project is assisting women in textile and cotton hubs of India, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
iv. Namami Gange mission: A pavilion on the ‘Namami Gange’ mission was set up during the conference.
v. Mission Paani: The Jal minister launched ‘Mission Paani’ global campaign in Stockholm. It was launched in
Mumbai, India on September 7, 2019 by News 18 and Reckitt Benckiser hygiene home product company’s brand
Harpic along with Bollywood actor Amitabh Bhachan (campaign ambassador).
vi. Closing ceremony: Drinking water and Sanitation department secretary Parameswaran Iyer (Retired Indian
Administrative Service(IAS) Officer) who resigned his job to head India’s cleanliness drive ‘Swachh Bharat
Mission’ concluded at the closing ceremony of the conference about India’s massive undertaking for access to
clean water and safe sanitation before 2024.
About Sweden:
Capital- Stockholm (also largest city).
Currency-Swedish Krona.
World Suicide Prevention Day 2019 observed on 10th of September

On September 10, 2019, the annual World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was observed with a theme “Working
Together to Prevent Suicide”. In order to raise awareness and to prevent people from committing suicide,
International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) host this day in collaboration with global partners World
Health Organisation(WHO) and World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) every year.
Key points:
i. This year they had launched 40 seconds of action Campaign, which will conclude on World Mental Health Day,
10 October.
ii.World Health Organisation(WHO) publication releases ”Preventing Suicide:a resource for pesticide
registrars and regulators”.
iii. ISAP launched Cycling Around the Globe to raise awareness of the risks of suicide and to fund suicide
prevention activities.
iii.The day was first observed in 2003.
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United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation was observed on September 12, 2019
The International Day for South-South Cooperation was observed on 12 September 2019 by United Nations
(UN) aims to raise awareness of the UN’s efforts to work on technical cooperation among developing countries.
The day also celebrates the political, social and economical developments made by regions and countries in the
south in recent years.
Key points:
i. The theme for the year 2019 is “South-South Cooperation is From Commitment to Action — Follow up to
Buenos Aires Plan of Action+40”. The theme focuses on Promoting and implementing the commitments
adopted in the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40) was held in
Buenos Aires, Argentina on March 20 to 22, 2019.
ii. In the year 2003, the United Nations(UN) General Assembly declared December 19 as the UN Day for South-
South Cooperation(SSC). But the day was fully adopted by the UN on 12 September 2011. It commemorates the
day when the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) in 1978 to promote
and implement technical cooperation among developing countries.
South-South Cooperation ‘accelerates’ us toward 2030 goals: UN Chief
On the occasion of International Day for South-South Cooperation (September 12, 2019), The UN Secretary-
General, Antonio Guterres stated that cooperation among countries of the global south offers a “unique pathway”
that accelerates towards the key 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals(SDG).
i. A total of 2.4 billion people, living in the South, do not have adequate sanitation, while some 840 million are
without electricity, and 885 million lack access to clean water.
ii. The UN’s office on the issue (UNOSCC) exemplifying characteristics of effective collaboration by underlining
the needs and specific SDGs for southern countries. It also outlines incorporation of Triangular Cooperation,
where traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through
funding, training, management and technological systems and other forms of support.
National forest martyrs day observed on September 11, 2019 at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
To commemorate foresters who had laid their lives to protect nature and wildlife in the remote corners of the
country, National Forest Martyrs’ Day was observed on September 11, 2019, at Forester Memorial in the
Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Key points:
i. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Director Dr. SC Gairola and senior forest officials, scientists
and employees of ICFRE (Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education) and FRI were present on the
occasion to paid tributes to all men & women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for forests and wildlife in
India.
ii. A total of 1,400 forest personnel have been martyred while protecting the country’s forest wealth and wildlife.
iii. On September 11, 1730, more than 360 people of the Bishnoi tribe were killed in Khejarli (now in Rajasthan)
because they had disagreed to felling of Khejri trees by the king of Jodhpur.
Hindi Diwas observed on September 14 2019

Every year on September 14, Hindi Diwas (hindi day) is observed. This day marks the adoption of Hindi
language (written in Devanagari script) as official language of the nation, under article 343 of the Indian
constitution in 1949. Union home minister Shri Amit Shah presented 2019 Rajbhasha Gaurav
Puraskar and Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar awards to the chiefs of various departments, Ministries and other
officers for promoting the language.
Key points
i .Hindi Divas Samaroh: Shri Shah, announced public program Hindi Divas Samaroh that will be launched in
2020 to promote Hindi outside Delhi and celebrate Hindi Saptah(hindi week) across the country.
ii. App launched: The home minister launched E-Saral Hindi Vakya Kosh and E-Maha Shabda Kosh Mobile
App for growth of Hindi language through information and technology.
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iii.Other members present: Ministers of State(MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, G.Kishan Reddy and other
officials were also present.
iv. Notable persons: Some of the most notable stalwarts with whose efforts Hindi was adopted as the national
language were, Beohar Rajendra Simha along with other pro-Hindi speakers including Hazari Prasad Dwivedi,
Kaka Kalelkar, Maithili Sharan Gupta and Seth Govind.
Engineers Day 2019 observed on September 15

52nd Engineers Day was celebrated in India on September 15, 2019 under the theme “Engineering for
change”. It was also celebrated in SriLanka and Tanzania while others countries celebrate this day on other
dates. The day was first observed in 1967. On this ocassion, The Union Minister for Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, awarded Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board with
Eminent Engineers Award.
Key Points:
i. The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of the greatest Indian engineer Bharat Ratna
(1955) Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Sir MV)who was born on 15 September 1861 in Muddenahalli village in
the erstwhile Mysore State. (Now Karnataka)
ii. He was the chief engineer for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam on Kaveri river in Mysuru,
Karnataka and chief engineer of flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad, Telangana.
iii. He was a great Indian engineer, scholar, statesman, and the 19th Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918 and was
famously known as the Father of Modern Mysore & Father of Engineers in India.
International Day of Democracy 2019 observed on September 15

The International Day of Democracy was observed on September 15, 2019 under the theme ‘Participation’.
The day emphasizes to provide an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world and raises
awareness about democracy.
Key Points:
i. The day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in November 2007 and it was first
celebrated in 2008by marking the 20th anniversary of the First International Conference of New or Restored
Democracies.
ii. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development addresses democracy in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
16- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
About UNGA:
♦ Headquarters: New York, US
♦ President: María Fernanda Espinosa (73rd session), Prof. Tijjani Muhammad Bande (designated for the 74th
session-Sept 2019)
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer or World ozone day observed on September 16
The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer by the United Nations (UN) proclaimed in
December 19, 1994, is observed annually on September 16 under the resolution A/RES/49/114. This day marks
the drafting of the Montreal Protocol under the Vienna convention for the protection of the ozone layer signed
by 28 nations in Montreal, Canada on substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, in 1987. The theme for the year
2019 is “32 Years and Healing”. The year 2019 marked the 25th World Ozone Day celebrations.
Key points
i. This day was first observed in the year 1995. Montreal Protocol is regarded as the world’s most successful
environmental agreement.
Celebration in India:
i. The event for World Ozone Day 2019 was held in New Delhi, which was addressed by Union Minister of State
(MoS) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Shri Babul Supriyo.
ii. MoEFCC signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering &
Technology (CIPET), for providing Competency Enhancement of System Houses and Micro, Small and Medium
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Enterprises (MSMEs) in the foam manufacturing sector for ensuring smooth and sustainable phase-out of HCFC-
141b.
iii. Four publications related to RAC (Refrigeration and Air-conditioning) service sector which have been
developed by Ozone Cell, MoEF&CC along with GIZ (German development agency) and UN Environment were
also launched.
iv. A booklet on ‘Montreal Protocol – India’s Success Story’ and poster and sticker of award-winning students
were also released.
v. Important – In March 2019, India became one of the first countries in the world to launch a comprehensive
Cooling Action plan title “India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP)”.
10th edition of World Bamboo Day for 2019 observed on September 18

10th World Bamboo Day (WBD) was observed on September 18, 2019 to increase the awareness of bamboo
globally by the World Bamboo Organization (WBO). Bamboo is known as poor man’s timber and green gold.
Key Points:
i. It was started by Mr. Kamesh Salam, former president of World Bamboo Organization, during the 8th World
Bamboo Congress (WBC) at Prachan Buri, Bangkok, Thaïland in 2009.
ii. According to the State of Environment report 2018, India is the world’s second-largest cultivator of bamboo
after China, with 136 species and 23 genera spread over 13.96 million hectares.
Celebration in India:
The Bamboo Forum of India celebrated WBD under the theme ‘Bamboo for sustainable development goals‘
at Lamyanba Shanglen, Palace Compound, Imphal, Manipur. The dignitaries present during the celebration were
Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) RK Ranjan, Deputy Chairman Planning and Chairman of Manipur
Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd (MHHDC) S Rajen Singh, Former President WBO and CF,
South Asia Bamboo Foundation (SABF) Kamesh Salam and Chairperson, Manipur State Minorities Commission
Anwar Hussain and others.
i. A 2-day International Bamboo Artisans Conclave was organised by the Government of Jharkhand in Dumka on
September 18 and 19, 2019.
ii. National Bamboo Mission (NBM) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare promotes holistic
growth of bamboo sector in India.
iii. Under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), the focus to revive the
traditional industries like bamboo, khadi and honey, through a cluster-based approach was announced in the
union budget 2019-20.
About WBO:
♦ It was originally founded as the International Bamboo Association (IBA).
First World Patient Safety Day by WHO observed on 17th September 2019
The first ever world patient safety day (WPSD) is observed on September 17, 2019 launched by World Health
Organisation (WHO) to mark the importance of patient safety under the campaign ‘Medication without Harm’.
The theme for the year 2019 is ‘Patient Safety: a global health priority’ and its slogan is ‘Speak up for patient
safety’. On May 24, 2019, this day was first endorsed by the member states from all the 194 countries of WHO in
the 72nd World Health Assembly(WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland to observe it on September 17 officially under
the resolution WHA72.6.
Key points
i. This day marks the coming togetherness of all global stakeholders for the patients’ safety that also includes
patients’ groups, care givers, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
ii. WHO report: According to WHO reports, 4 out of 10 patients are harmed in primary and ambulatory care. 134
adverse million events occur in lower middle income countries (LMICs) that contributes to 2.6 million deaths
annually out of which 80% of these deaths however could be avoided.
iii. Medication safety report: The WHO also launched three technical reports on medication. They are
• medication safety in transitions of care
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• medication safety in polypharmacy

• medication safety in high-risk situations.
iv. On this day Cities around the world such as Jet d’Eau in Geneva, the Pyramids in Cairo, Kuala Lumpur Tower
in Malaysia, The Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman, and the Zakim bridge in Boston etc, lightened up
monuments in orange color to show their commitment to safety of patients on 17 September.
v. GPSC: The WHO and the United Kingdom(UK) entered into a collaboration for the establishment of Global
Patient Safety Collaborative(GPSC) to improve patient health systems.
About WHO:
Headquarters- Geneva, Switzerland.
Director-General- TedrosAdhanom.
Parent Organisation- United Nations Economic and Social Council.
International Day of Peace or World Peace Day observed on 21 September, 2019

The International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day, is observed all over the world by the United
Nations (UN) annually on 21st September. The day aims to strengthen the ideals of peace and recognises the
efforts of those people who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. The theme of this Day for 2019
was ‘Climate Action for Peace’. The theme focuses on the need of fighting climate change by protecting and
promoting peace throughout the world.
Key points:
i. The day was first celebrated in 1982, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and
peoples.
ii. In 2015, the United Nations (UN) member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ((SDG)
including poverty, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment) to
obtain peace from focusing on the economic and social development.
iii. SDG 13 focuses on Climate Action, need for immediate call to all to lower greenhouse gas emissions & to build
resilience and promote education on climate change.
About UN:
♦ Secretary general: António Guterres
World Alzheimer’s Day 2019 observed on September 21

World Alzheimer’s Day (WAD) was observed on September 21, 2019. It is held annually to raise awareness
about Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Key Points:
i. WAD was first observed in 2012.
ii. The month of September is observed as World Alzheimer’s Month (WAM). It is observed by
the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) run by the Alzheimer University. The theme for the year is raising
awareness and challenging the stigma around the disease.
iii. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Alzheimer’s is “an irreversible, progressive brain
disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills.”
iv. Dementia is described as a range of symptoms that are associated with deteriorating memory or other
thinking skills.
World Rhino Day 2019 observed on September 22

World Rhino Day was observed on September 22, 2019. It is an international ecological observance to raise
awareness on the protection of 5 existing species of rhinoceros- white rhino, black rhino, Indian rhino, Javan
rhino, and Sumatran rhino.
Key Points:
i. It was first observed in 2010 by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) South Africa.
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ii. Indian cricketer & brand ambassador for rhino protection in WWF India, Rohit Sharma had
launched “Rohit4Rhinos campaign” in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet (wildlife channel) to
spread awareness about the need for conservation of one-horned rhinos.
World rose day observed on 22nd September 2019

On September 22, 2019, World rose day is observed all over the world for the welfare of cancer patients who
are battling cancer. The purpose of celebrating this day is to make cancer patients become strong enough to face
the disease with spirit and will power.
Key points:
i. The day is observed in the memory of 12-year-old Melinda Rose from Canada, who when diagnosed with a rare
form of blood cancer called, Askin’s Tumour and did not give up hope.
ii. On this day, hand-made roses (a symbol of love, tenderness and concern), cards and gifts were provided to
cancer patients. Special events were also organised to give strength to those suffering from cancer.
iii. Cancer : It is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to
other parts of the body.
International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) observed on September 23, 2019

On September 23, 2019, The second International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) was observed throughout
the world to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of
people who are deaf. The theme of this day for 2019 is “Sign Language Rights for All”. The day corresponds
with International Week of the Deaf, which also took place annually from 24th -30th September.
Key points:
i. In 2017, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 23 September as the International Day of Sign
Languages. The 1st International Day of Sign Languages was celebrated on September 23, 2018.
ii. The day, September 23 was chosen as it commemorates the date when the WFD (World Federation of the Deaf
(WFD), a federation of 135 national associations of deaf people, representing approximately 70 million deaf
people’s human rights worldwide) was formed in 1951.
iii. As per the report of World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are about 72 million deaf people present
worldwide and over 80 % live in developing countries. As a whole, they are known to use more than 300
different sign languages. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international human rights
treaty of the United Nations(UN), recognises and promotes the use of sign languages.
iv. The sign languages : These are full-fledged natural languages, just structurally different from spoken
languages.
Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre celebrates ‘Sign Language Day’
An autonomous body under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment, Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) has celebrated
Sign Language Day. Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot was the
Chief Guest of the event held in New Delhi.
Key points:
i. Thaawarchand Gehlot has applauded ISLRTC for bringing out a Dictionary of 6000 Sign Language words and
hoped that 4000 more new Sign Words will soon be added in to it by 2020. He also distributed the Prizes to
Winners of ‘2nd Sign Language Competition, 2019 . For this, entries on jokes, stories and essays in Indian Sign
Language were invited from children with hearing disability studying in Delhi-NCR(National Capital Region).
They showcased their creative skills and knowledge in their submissions.
The list of winners at the 2nd Indian Sign Language Competition 2019:
Rank Name Class School

Area: Joke-Telling Category: Classes IV-V
1st Bittu V Mata Bhagwanti Chadha Niketan, Noida (Uttar Pradesh)
Area: Joke-Telling Category: Classes IX-XII
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1st Nishant X Govt. Lady Noyce Senior Secondary School for Deaf, Delhi
Area: Story- Telling Category: Classes I-III
1st Aman Yadav I Govt. Secondary School for the Deaf, Kalkaji (New Delhi)
Area: Story- Telling Category: Classes IV-V
1st Gaurav Kumar IV Welfare Centre for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment,
Gurugram (Haryana)
Area :Mimicry Category: Classes VI-VIII
1st Uday Kumar VIII Welfare Centre for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment,
Sonepat (Haryana)
Area: Essay Category: Classes VI-VIII
1st Nirchara VII Welfare Centre for Persons with Speech & Hearing Impairment,
Gurugram (Haryana)
Area: Essay Category: Classes IX-XII
1st Vinay Kumar X Govt. Lady Noyce Senior Secondary School for Deaf, Delhi
About WFD:
Formation : 1951
Headquarters : Helsinki, Finland
President : Joseph Murray
1st Edition of Ayushman Bharat Diwas for 2019 observed on September 23

The 1st edition of Ayushman Bharat Diwas was observed on September 23, 2019. It was on this day a year
ago Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) was launched by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi from Ranchi, Jharkhand. It is the world’s largest health care programme which provides a health
cover of Rs 5 lakh annually to vulnerable families.
Key Points:
i. In the last one year, more than 46 lakh beneficiaries have received the treatment.
ii. At present, 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) have implemented the scheme. J&K becomes first state to
issue highest number of golden cards under Ayushman Bharat scheme.
iii. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ayushman Bharat scheme is Indu Bhushan.
About PMJAY:
It is also known as National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). All the previous government schemes such as
Senior citizen health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS), Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, Central Government Health
Scheme (CGHS), and Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) were subsumed to form NHPS.
International Coastal Cleanup Day observed on 21st September

The International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICCD) is observed annually on the third Saturday of September. This year
it was observed on September 21, 2019. It encourages people along with ocean conservation groups, and
environmental organizations to clean up the garbage/trash on the beach. 2019 International Coastal Cleanup
Animal is The Pelican.
Key points
i. Coastal Cleanup Day was established by the Ocean Conservancy in 1986, an organization that works
in protecting the ocean from the challenges it faces every year. The fist cleanup had only 2800 volunteers. It has
now grown into an International event in more than 100 countries.
Coastal states across the country took part in massive beach cleaning drive with many volunteer
participations:
i. As part of the ICCD, The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) organised a cleanup drive with the theme —
strive for trash-free seas and coasts in Chennai.
ii. Also, U.S. Consulate General in Chennai, in partnership with the Indian Maritime Foundation also launched a
cleanup drive to raise awareness about global marine pollution at Besant Nagar, Chennai.
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iii. In Odisha, a beach clean-up was organized as a part of “Mo-Beach” cleaning programme. Sudarshan Pattnaik
is the ambassador of “Mo-Beach” cleaning programme. Puri, Odisha witnesses world’s biggest drive on the
International Coastal Cleanup Day.
iv. In Mumbai also, thousands of volunteers joined Thousands join ‘clean Versova beach‘ and Juhu beach clean
up drive on the ocassion of ICCD.
President inaugurates 6th India Water Week 2019 in New Delhi

On September 24, 2019, The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated 6th India Water Week
2019 in New Delhi with theme “Water cooperation: Coping with 21st Century Challenges”. The event was
addressed by Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri Gajendra Singh Sekhawat. Water Resources Ministers of various
States & many reputed National and International Organizations, Research Institutes, Educational Institutions
and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) have participated in the Inaugural Function event. About 1500
delegates from India & abroad were attended the event. Japan and European Union have been associated as
partner countries for this mega event.
Govt initiatives to tackle issues related to water:
To combat the problems related to water our govt has already started many initiatives like:
i. Jal Jeevan Mission initiative of Government, that envisages offering clean drinking water to all households in
India.
ii. India has strengthen the internation cooperation with 14 countries like Israel, Canada, Japan, Germany and the
UK (United Kingdom) for optimal utilization of water.
iii. Jal Shakti ministry initiated Jal Shakti Abhiyan, a campaign for water conservation and water security. It is
focusing on 256 water-stressed districts and 1,592 water-stressed blocks.
iv. Water week: Since 2012, the Jal Shakti ministry has been organizing India Water Week as an international
event to primarily focus on water-related issues
About Ministry of Jal Shakti:
Founded: 31 May 2019
Antyodaya Diwas Day 2019 observed on September 25

Antyodaya Diwas Day was observed on September 25, 2019, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyaya, a noted philosopher, historian, and political activist. Antyodaya means uplifting of the
weakest section of the society.
Key Points:
i. He was the coordinator and famous leader of the Jan Sangh, which is considered a precursor to Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
ii. He was the founder of Rashtra Dharma Prakashan publishing house in Lucknow and launched Rashtra
Dharma, a monthly magazine. He also launched weekly Panchjanya and daily Swadesh. He has written a drama
on Chandragupta Maurya in Hindi and a biography of Shankaracharya.
iii. He was found dead in mysterious circumstances, and his body was found on 11 February 1968 on a railway
track near Mughalsarai Junction railway station, Uttar Pradesh. In 2018, the railway station was renamed in his
honour.
iv. Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Skill development Dr
Mahendranath Pandey paid homage to the leader and various functions were organised in different parts of
India.
v. In Uttar Pradesh, senior BJP leaders and party workers held different public welfare initiatives including
Swachhta campaign, plastic free India campaign and environmental protection initiatives.
World Pharmacists day observed on September 25, 2019

On September 25, 2019, World Pharmacists Day was observed all over the world.The aim of this day is to
promote and spread awareness about the pharmacist’s (health professionals who practice in pharmacy) key role
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in improving health in every part of the world.The theme for the year 2019 is “Safe and effective medicines for
all”.
Key points:
i. In 2009, the day was created by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Council at the World
Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Istanbul, Turkey.
ii. On this day (September 25) FIP came into existence in the year 1912.
iii. On this occasion, Several programmes & activities were organised all over the globe to underscore the
importance of Pharmacists and to make people understand about the crucial role they played in the medical
world.
About FIP:
♦ Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands
♦ Motto: Advancing pharmacy worldwide
International day for the total elimination of nuclear weapons 2019 observed on September 26
The annual event of International Day for the total elimination of nuclear weapons was observed
on September 26, 2019. The day creates public awareness of nuclear disarmament matters, educates people on
the potential threat by nuclear weapons and stresses the need for their elimination.
Key Points:
i. It was declared by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2013 and was first celebrated in 2014.
ii. There are 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world at present.
World Environmental Health Day 2019 observed on September 26

World Environmental Health Day (WEHD) was observed on September 26, 2019 under the theme “Climate
change challenges, time for global Environmental Health to act in unison”. The day was declared by
the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) to review environmental health issues and take
appropriate actions. It was first observed in the year 2011 in Indonesia.
World Maritime Day 2019 observed on September 26

World Maritime Day (WMD), which is usually held on the last Thursday of September, was observed
on September 26, 2019. It stresses the importance of safety, maritime security, and marine environment and
marks the contribution of international maritime industries towards the economy of the world. The theme for
WMD 2019 is “Empowering women in the maritime community” which emphasizes gender equality in line
with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs- Goal 5).
i. WMD was first observed in 1978 and it also marks the date of adaptation of the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) Convention in 1958.
ii. London, United Kingdom-based IMO is a United Nations specialized agency responsible for the safety and
security of shipping and prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships.
World contraception day observed on 26 September, 2019

On 26th September 2019, World contraception day was observed throughout the world to create awareness
about the contraceptive methods available and enable the young people to make informed decisions regarding
their sexual and reproductive health.
Key points:
i. This day was first observed in the year 2007.
ii. There are different methods of contraception, including Long-acting reversible contraception, such as the
implant or intrauterine device (IUD), Hormonal contraception, such the pill or Depo Provera injection,
Emergency contraception, Fertility awareness, and Permanent contraception such as vasectomy and tubal
ligation.
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World Tourism Day observed on September 27 2019

The World Tourism Day(WTD) is celebrated annually on September 27. The theme for the year 2019 is
“Tourism and jobs: a better future for all”. The host nation for this 2019 WTD is India, selected by the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation(UNWTO) where the main eventwas held at New Delhi. The day aims to
promote social, cultural, political and economic values through tourism.
Key points
i. The third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), of the UNWTO General Assembly decided to
celebrate World Tourism Day, from 1980 onwards. The day was chosen to coincide with the day, the World
Tourism Organization was constituted in 1970.
ii. Theme selection: Every year, the UNWTO selects the theme for world tourism day on UNWTO Executive
Council’s recommendation.
iii. Reports: International tourist arrivals worldwide have grown from 25 million in 1950 to 1.3 billion in 2019.
Similarly, international tourism revenues have also grown from United States(US) $2 billion in 1950 to US $1260
trillion in 2015.Tourism is expected to grow by 3% per annum until 2030. Tourism which generates 10% of jobs
annually, is included in the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).
Vice president confers National Tourism Awards 2017-18 in New Delhi
The vice president of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented National Tourism Awards for the year 2017-18 in
New Delhi. A total of 76 awards under various categories were conferred. During the event tourism minister
Prahlad Singh Patel announced that good Samaritans awards for people who help tourists, would be conferred
from 2020 onwards.
• The event seeks to address the global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
• The awards are annually conferred by tourism minister in travel, tourism and hospitality industry etc.
The 2019 tourism day celebration had the participation of 82 international delegates.
• India was chosen as a host country due to its diverse geographical entity, diverse art, culture, cuisine,
history and even language. The tourism minister also made an announcement that UNWTO Academy
would soon offer tourism courses on its portal in Hindi.
Important awards: Some of the most important awards won by several states are given below.
Award name State
Best state award Andhra Pradesh
Adventure tourism award Goa and Madhya Pradesh
Best film production-friendly state Uttarakhand
Best state in innovative use of Information Technology(IT) Telangana
• Kerala has received a total of seven awards in different categories, the key one being, national award for
the Best Tourism Film Come Out and Play for 2017-18.
• Odisha’s Tapan Kumar Mishra has been conferred with the Best Tourist Guide Award (2017-18) by
the Ministry of Tourism for his lifetime contribution to the tourism industry.
About UNWTO:
Headquarters- Madrid, Spain
Founded- October 1975
Secretary General-Zurab Pololikashvili
World Rabies Day 2019 observed on September 28

World Rabies Day (WRD) was observed on September 28, 2019 under the theme “Rabies: Vaccinate to
Eliminate”. This 13th annual observance raises awareness about rabies disease and its preventable measures.
Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain (acute encephalitis) in warm-blooded animals. It is
a zoonotic disease i.e. transmitted from one species to another, commonly by a bite from an infected animal such
as dogs to humans.
Key Points:
i. WRD was initiated by Kansas, United States based Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and was first
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held in 2007.
ii. It also marks the death anniversary (September 28,1895) of Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and
microbiologist who had developed the first rabies vaccine.
iii. There is a target to eliminate rabies deaths by 2030.
International Day for Universal Access to Information 2019 observed on September 28

International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), also known as Access to Information Day was
observed on September 28, 2019 under the theme “Leaving No One Behind!”. This 4th annual observance
promotes the idea that every individual in the world has the right to seek and receive information.
Key Points:
i. IDUAI was first observed in 2016 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) after the adoption of 38 C/Resolution 57.
ii. This year, it was observed with a series of ‘Open Talks’ and the global level Open Talk event was held in Lima,
Peru.
iii. IDUAI is also connected with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) Agenda 2030 with
special reference to SGD 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 16 (Peace and
Justice Strong Institutions).
About UNESCO:
World Heart Day 2019 observed on September 29

World Heart Day (WHD) was observed on September 29, 2019. The day which is celebrated annually creates
awareness of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) including heart disease & stroke and highlights the preventive and
control measures.
Key Points:
i. It was initiated by the Geneva, Switzerland based World Heart Federation (WHF), in conjunction with the
World Health Organization (WHO) in 1999.
ii. The idea was proposed by Antoni Bayés de Luna, the then president of WHF from 1997-99.
iii. There is an aim to reduce global mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like CVD which accounts
for nearly half of all NCD deaths, by 25% by 2025.
World Deaf Day 2019 observed on September 29

World Deaf Day (WDD) which is usually observed every year on the last Sunday in the month of September, was
observed on September 29, 2019. It creates awareness about the contributions of deaf people to society. The
day was initiated by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.
International Week of the Deaf (IWDeaf)
This initiative of WFD was first launched in 1958 in Rome, Italy and is observed annually by the global Deaf
Community in the last full week of September to commemorate the first World Congress of the WFD which was
held in September. This year it was celebrated from September 23-29 under the theme “Sign Language Rights
for All!“
International Translation Day observed on 30th September 2019

The International Translation Day by the United Nations (UN) is observed annually on the 30th of September,
under the resolution A/RES/71/288, adopted in 24 May 2017 at the General Assembly. This day is observed as a
tribute to the work of language professionals playing an important role in uniting the nations, contributing to the
development and strengthening world peace and security. The theme for 2019 is “Translation and Indigenous
Languages”.
Key points
i. 30th September is celebrated as the feast of St. Jerome, who was the Bible translator and is considered as the
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patron saint of translators.

ii. Since 2005, the UN invites all the UN officials and students from select partner universities to compete in the
UN St. Jerome Translation Contest, that rewards best translations in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian,
Spanish as well as German, with the aim of celebrating multilingualism and highlighting the important role of
translators and other language professionals.
STATIC INFORMATION FROM CURRENT AFFAIRS

Indian States
Andhra Pradesh:
♦ Chief Minister- Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
♦ Governor-BiswabhusanHarichandan.
♦ Capital- Amaravati.
Arunachal Pradesh:
♦ Capital: Itanagar
♦ Governor: B. D. Mishra
Assam:
♦ Capital: Dispur
♦ Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal
♦ Governor: Jagdish Mukhi
Gujarat:
Capital- Gandhinagar.
Governor- Acharya DevVrat.
Haryana:
♦ Capital: Chandigarh
♦ Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya
J&K:
Governor- Satya Pal Malik.
Capitals- Jammu (Winter), Srinagar (Summer).
Kerala:
♦ Capital- Thiruvananthapuram.
♦ Chief Minister- Pinarayi Vijayan.
♦ Governor- Arif Mohammad Khan.
Madhya Pradesh:
♦ Capital: Bhopal
♦ Governor: Lalji Tandon
Maharashtra:
♦ Capital: Mumbai
♦ Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis
♦ Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
New Delhi
♦ Chief Minister: Arvind Kejriwal (Aam Aadmi Party)
♦ Lt Governor: Anil Baijal
Odisha:
♦ Capital- Bhubaneswar.
♦ Governor-Ganeshi Lal.
♦ Chief Minister- Naveen Patnaik.
Rajasthan:
Capital: Jaipur
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Chief minister: Ashok Gehlot

Governor: Shri Kalyan Singh
Tamil Nadu:
Capital- Chennai.
Deputy chief minister- O. Panneerselvam.
State butterfly- Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroathais).
Telangana:
♦ Capital: Hyderabad
♦ Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao
♦ Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
Tripura:
♦ Capital: Agartala
♦ Governor: Ramesh Bais
♦ Chief minister: Biplab Kumar Deb
Uttar Pradesh:
♦ Capital: Lucknow
♦ Governor: Anandiben Patel
Uttarakhand:
♦ Capital: Dehradun
♦ Governor :Baby Rani Maurya
♦ Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
West Bengal:
♦ Capital: Kolkata
♦ Chief minister: Mamata Banerjee
♦ Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuary:

Arunachal Pradesh:
♦ National Park : Mouling National Park ,Namdapha National Park
Gujarat:
♦ National Parks: Vansda National Park, Blackbuck National Park, Gir Forest National Park ,Marine National
Park, Gulf of Kutch.
Haryana:
♦ National Parks: Kalesar National Park, Sultanpur National Park
♦ Wildlife Sanctuaries: Abubshehar WLS, Bhindawas WLS, Bir Shikargarh WLS, Chhilchila WLS, Kalesar WLS,
Khaparwas WLS
J&K:
National Parks(NP)-Dachigam NP, Hemis NP, Kishtwar NP, Salim Ali NP
Madhya Pradesh:
♦ National Parks: Bandhavgarh National Park, Fossil National Park, Kanha National Park, Madhav National
Park, Panna National Park, Pench (Priyadarshini) National Park, Sanjay National Park, Satpura National Park, Van
Vihar National Park, Dinosaur National Park
♦ Wildlife Sanctuaries: Bagdara WLS, Gandhi Sagar WLS, Karera WLS, Narsighgarh WLS, Orcha WLS, Pench
WLS, Ratapani WLS, Son Gharial WLS, Veerangna Durgawati WLS etc.
Maharashtra:
♦ National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National
Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
♦ Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,
Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc.
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Rajasthan:
National Park s: Desert National Park , Keoladeo Ghana National Park , Ranthambhore National Park ,Sariska
National Park.
Telangana:
♦ National Parks: Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park , Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park
,Mrugavani National Park.
Tripura:
♦ National Parks: Clouded Leopard National Park, Rajbari National Park
Uttar Pradesh:
♦ Wildlife Sanctuary: Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary
♦ National Park: Dudhwa National Park
West Bengal:
♦ National Parks: Buxa National Park ,Gorumara National Park ,Neora Valley National Park ,Singalila National
Park ,Sunderban National Park ,Jaldapara National Park.
Dances:
Odisha:
♦ Dance forms- Ghumra Dance, Chhau dance,medhanacha, odissi.
Dams
Arunachal Pradesh:
♦ Dams: Ranganadi Dam,Dibang Dam,Subansiri Lower Dam
Assam:
♦ Dams: Pagladia dam, Khandong dam, Umrong dam, Subansiri Lower Dam, Karbi Langpi Dam.
Gujarat:
♦ Dams: Ukai Dam ,Sardar Sarovar Dam ,Kadana Dam , Dantiwada Dam
Uttar Pradesh:
♦ Dams: Rihand Dam, Rajghat Dam, Matatila Dam, Dhanraul Dam
Power Plants:
Uttar Pradesh:
♦ Thermal Power Plants: Obra Gajrajnagar , Panki Thermal Power Station, Parichha Thermal Power Station,
Rihand Super Thermal Power Plant, Rosa Power plant
Lake
J&K:
Lakes: Dal Lake , Wular lake, Gangabal Lake, Nigeen Lake
Other Countries
Australia:
♦ Capital: Canberra
♦ Currency: Australian dollar
Bangladesh:
♦ Capital: Dhaka
♦ Currency: Bangladeshi taka
♦ Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
♦ President: Abdul Hamid
Belgium:
♦ Capital: Brussels
♦ Currency: Euro
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China:
♦ Capital: Beijing
♦ Currency: Renminbi
♦ President: Xi Jinping
England:
♦ Capital- London.
♦ Currency- Pound sterling.
♦ Prime Minister- Boris Johnson.
Eritrea
♦ Capital- Asmara.
♦ Currency- Eritrean Nakfa.
♦ President- Isaias Afewerki.
France:
♦ Capital: Paris
♦ Currency: Euro
Greece:
♦ Capital: Athens
♦ Currency: Euro
Lesotho:
♦ Capital: Maseru
♦ Currencies: South African rand, Lesotho loti
Kingdom of Norway:
♦ Capital: Oslo
♦ Currency: Norwegian krone
Iceland:
Capital- Reykjavik.
Currency- Icelandic krona.
Indonesia:
♦ Capital: Jakarta
♦ Currency: Indonesia rupiah
Iran:
♦ Capital: Tehran
♦ Currency: Iranian rial
♦ President: Hassan Rouhani
Israel:
♦ Prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
♦ Capital: Jerusalem
♦ Currency: Israeli new shekel
Japan:
♦ Capital: Tokyo
♦ Currency: Japanese Yen
Maldives:
♦ Capital: Male
♦ Currency: Maldivian rufiyaa
♦ President: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Mongolia:
Capital- Ulaanbaatar.
Currency- Mongolian tögrög.
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Myanmar:
♦ Capital: Naypyidaw
♦ Currency: Burmese kyat
♦ President: Win Myint
Nepal:
♦ Capital: Kathmandu
♦ Currency: Nepalese Rupee
♦ President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Poland:
♦ Capital: Warsaw
♦ Currency: Polish złoty
Republic of Guinea Bissau:
♦ Capital: Bissau
♦ Currency: West African CFA franc
♦ President: José Mário Vaz
♦ Prime Minister :Aristides Gomes
Russia:
♦ Capital: Moscow
♦ Currency: Russian ruble
Saudi Arabia:
♦ Capital: Riyadh
♦ Currency: Saudi riyal
Singapore:
♦ Currency: Singapore dollar
♦ President: Halimah Yacob
♦ Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Sri Lanka:
Capitals- Colombo, Sri JayawardenepuraKotte.
Currency- Sri Lankan rupee.
President- MaithripalaSirisena.
Prime MinisterRanilWickremesinghe.
Sweden:
♦ Capital- Stockholm.
♦ Currency- Swedish krona.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines:
♦ Capital: Kingstown
♦ Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Switzerland:
Capital- Bern
Currency- Swiss franc.
Slovenia:
Capital- Ljubljana.
Currency- Euro.
Thailand:
♦ Capital: Bangkok
♦ Currency: Thai Baht
UAE:
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
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President : Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Prime Minister : Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
UK:
♦ Prime Minister- Boris Johnson.
♦ Official language- English
♦ Currency- pound sterling.
Uganda:
♦ Capital: Kampala
♦ Currency: Ugandan shilling
United States(US):
President- Donald Trump.
Capital- Washington, D.C.
Currency- US dollar.
Ukraine:
♦ Capital: Kiev
♦ Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
Vietnam
♦ Capital: Hanoi
♦ Currency: Vietnamese dong
♦ President: Nguyen PhuTrong
Banking Terminologies
basis points(bps)
Pass-Through Certificates (PTCs)
Central Registry for Securitisation Assets Reconstruction and Security Interest (CERSAI)
Management Information System (MIS)
Core Banking Solution (CBS)
Kisan Credit Card (KCC)
Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)
Ground-Level Credit Flow (GLC)
Automated Teller Machines(ATM)
Equated Monthly Installments (EMI)
Turn Around Time (TAT)
Point of Sale(PoS)
Immediate Payment System(IMPS)
Unified Payments Interface(UPI )
National Automated Clearing House (NACH)
Prompt Corrective Action (PCA)
capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRR)
Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1)
Return on assets(RoA )
Preventive Vigilance (PV)
Terms of Reference(ToR)
Average Monthly Balance(AMB)
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)
for Responsible Lending (CRL)
Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN)
Niryat Rin Vikash Yojana(NIRVIK )
Standing instructions(SI )
Aadhaar-enabled payment system(AePS)
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Express Mail Service(EMS)
Other Terminologies
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) [PMAY (U)]
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)
Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK)
under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)
Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB)
Ayushman Bharat-Mahatma Gandhi Rajasthan Swasthya Bima Yojna (AB-MGRSBY)
Bhamashah Health Insurance Scheme(BSBY)
Public-private partnership (PPP)
Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE)
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders(UMMID)
Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems(ICPS)
Good and Service Tax Network (GSTN)
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)
Gross State Domestic Product(GSDP)
Uniform Resource Locator(URL)
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS)
Management Information System (MIS)
Network for space object Tracking and Analysis(NETRA)
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Current Affairs for Competitive Exam

Cabinet approval on September 18, 2019

New health insurance scheme, ‘AB-MGRSBY’ launched in Rajasthan

Beneficiaries under PMMVY scheme crossed 1 crore

Launches & Inaugurations

CGHS Bhawan inaugurated in Sector 13 of R K Puram in New Delhi

“Garvi Gujarat Bhavan” inaugurated by PM Modi in New Delhi

‘Terracotta Grinder’ Launched by KVIC at Varanasi to Re-use wasted pottery

First ‘Make in India’ Metro Coach In Mumbai inaugurated by PM Modi in Mumbai

PM Shri Narendra Modi launched NADCP in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

PM Modi Launched “Swachhta Hi Seva 2019” Campaign at Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

Javadekar inaugurates the renovated Jayakar bungalow at NFAI in Pune, Maharashtra

3 CMC, Vellore Washim Maharashtra

Dr Jitendra Singh launched CPGRAMS reforms in Department of Posts

3-day International Snacks Festival 2019 inaugurated in Hyderabad

5th Indian International Science Festival 2019 to be held in Kolkata

Other News Related to Indian Affairs

Cultural event ‘Namaste pacific’ organised in Delhi

Food ministry announces single-use plastic bottles ban from Sep 15

5 public institutes were awarded IoE status by the HRD Ministry

IoE recommended universities:

India declares free from H5N1 avian influenza

Kerala to set up India’s first iWTC in Kozhikode

MP govt. to offer cows for online adoption

India joins as a 16th member of global AMR research hub

About the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW):

New amendments made to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2011

♦ Minister In-charge: Amit Shah (Constituency: Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat)

Country’s first Central Police University to be built in Greater Noida,Uttar Pradesh

Govt gives special attention to 250 Districts under Poshan Maah

NTPC Ltd to set up 5 GW solar park- biggest in the country, in Gujarat

Nuakhai- harvesting festival celebrated in Odisha

WB to fund UP’s “Pro-Poor Tourism”(PPT) Development Project worth $57 million

“C-plan” app to aid community policing by UP police launched

Former Kalahandi king of Odisha Udit Pratap Deo passed away

Mini conclave of first J&K investor summit -2019 is held at Leh

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurates food park of Telangana

Hyderabad-Karnataka Regional Development Board renamed as Kalyana –Karnataka Regional

Justice Vikram Nath designated as the new Chief Justice of Gujarat HC

Senior Journalist Dilip Satpathy from Cuttack, Odisha passed away

Happiness department of Madhya Pradesh opens “Time Bank”

Overview of TN CM Palaniswami’s visit to three-nation tour to the US, UK and UAE

Meenakshi Madan Rai takes charge as acting CJ of the Sikkim HC

A 3-day long traditional Neermahal Jal Utsav concluded in Agartala, Tripura

Telangana declares 2020 as Artificial Intelligence(AI) year

Noted Malayalam actor Sathar passed away in Kochi, Kerala

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched ‘champions campaign’ against dengue

S.No Loan amount Subsidy

CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal launched Mukhyamantri Kirayedar Bijli Meter Yojana

for Tata Power.

Madhya Pradesh government launched a month long “Swachhata hi Seva Abhiyan”

Telugu film comedian Venu madhav passes away in Secunderabad, Telangana

Justice Vineet Kothari of Rajasthan appointed as the Acting CJ of Madras

Vietnam unveils southeast asia’s largest solar power farm

Overview of 44th Toronto International Film Festival for 2019

Tripartite step on Rohingya return agreed by Bangladesh, Myanmar and China

For the first time, Saudi Arabia to offer tourist visas

Nepal’s biggest hindu festival named Bada Dashain begun

Overview of France’s NSA Emmanuel Bonne visit to India

Overview of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Haryana