Current affairs : September 21, 2016 for all competetive exams
Govt announces 27 more cities in third round
The government has selected 27 new smart
cities in the latest round of ‘Smart City Challenge’ competition.
- Amritsar has topped the list.
Eight other cities of pilgrim and tourism importance that made to the
third list of smart cities are ; Ujjain, Tirupati, Agra, Nashik, Madurai,
Thanjavur, Ajmer and Varanasi.
- With this the number of cities selected under Smart City Mission for financing implementation of smart city plans has gone up to 60.
India successfully test
fires long range surface-to-air missile
India has successfully test-fired the Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air nuclear-capable ballistic missile, jointly developed
with Israel, from a defence test facility off the Odisha coast.
- LRSAM is also called Barak 8
missile in Israel which in Hebrew language means Lightning.The missile
configuration is same for both LRSAM/MRSAM.
Indira Awas Yojana Renamed After Prime Minister
The flagship rural housing scheme Indira Awas
Yojana (IAY), started by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been
restructured and renamed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), which
will be launched next month.
- The IAY
will be subsumed by the PMAY from April 1 next year. Under the new scheme,
the government is aiming to construct one crore houses by 2019.
Wildlife panel clears first phase of Ken-Betwa
project
India’s first interState
river interlinking project was given a go-ahead by the National Board for
Wildlife (NBWL) at a meeting chaired by Environment Minister Anil Madhav on
August 23, according to a report that was made public on Tuesday. This would be
the first time that a river project will be located within a tiger reserve.
- The Rs. 10,000-crore Ken-Betwa project will irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region but in the process will also submerge about 10 per cent of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, feted as a model tiger-conservation reserve.
Moody’s report on
banking:
According to a report released by Moody’s Investors Service, India’s banking system is moving past the worst of its asset
quality slump.
- This outlook is based on the company’s analysis of five key factors—operating environment, asset risk and capital (stable), funding and liquidity, profitability and government support.
PwC report on “Closing the water loop, reuse of
treated wastewater in urban India”:
According to the PwC report on “Closing the
water loop, reuse of treated wastewater in urban India”, India needs a national waste water reuse policy to help address the “perennial concern” of urban water
stress by mandating targets and laying out legislative, regulatory and financial
measures to hit those targets.
- The suggestion for such a policy comes against the backdrop of the PwC report highlighting “water stress to be a perennial concern’’ in most Indian cities.
India slips 10 notches in
World Economic Freedom Index 2016
The Economic Freedom of the World: 2016
Annual Report has been released worldwide by the Centre for Civil Society, a
public policy think tank, along with Canada’s Fraser Institute.
- Hong Kong topped the index,
followed by Singapore and New Zealand among 159 countries.
- India has been ranked 112th. India has slipped 10 positions and ranks behind Bhutan (78), Nepal (108) and Sri Lanka (111) but stood higher than China (113), Bangladesh (121) and Pakistan (133).
Delhi women’s panel chief booked over recruitment
scam
Delhi Commission for Women
(DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal was booked by the Delhi Anti-Corruption-Branch
(ACB) under Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) in connection with an alleged
illegal recruitment in the Commission.
- The registration of the case under relevant provisions of the PCA and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.
U.N. suspends aid convoys to
Syria after air strike
The United Nations suspended
all aid convoys in Syria, the day after a deadly airstrike on trucks loaded
with crucial supplies of food and medicine.
- The airstrike came after the
Syrian military had declared an end to a seven-day partial cease-fire.
Baloch leader seeks asylum
Exiled Baloch leader
Brahamdagh Bugti, heading the movement in Balochistan, on Tuesday approached
the Indian Embassy here seeking asylum in India and exuded confidence of a
positive response from New Delhi.
- Mr. Bugti, who is leader of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP)
Bangladesh's Junaid Ahmad new
World Bank head in India
Junaid Ahmad has become the
World Bank's Country Director for India, replacing Onno Ruhl who served a
four-year term based out of the national capital.
- The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries
Flipkart becomes 1st
e-commerce in India to cross 100 million customers
Flipkart has crossed the
100-million registered users mark, becoming the first e-commerce company
in the country to hit the
milestone.
- The Bengaluru-based company has doubled its user base over the last year.
Ajay Shirke re-elected as BCCI
Secretary
The Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) has elected Ajay Shirke as Secretary
unopposed at its Annual General Meeting.
- Shirke became the secretary
in July after Anurag Thakur was elevated as the president.
- In another major development, former Indian seamer Venkatesh Prasad was appointed as the new chairman of selectors.
Shubha Mudgal to get 'LalitArpan
Samman'
Hindustani classical singer
Shubha Mudgal will be honoured with the annual 'LalitArpan Samman' this year.
- Mudgal, a Padma Shri recipient, was born in Allahabad and is known for her singing in genres of Khayal, Thumri and Dadra.
Misbah-ul-Haq becomes first
Pakistani to receive Test mace from ICC
Misbah-ul-Haq has received
the prestigious ICC Test Championship mace for inspiring Pakistan to the top of
the ICC Test Team Rankings.
- This is for the first time a
Pakistani cricketer has received the award.
- The current rankings system was introduced in 2003.
Anup Kumar to lead India in
Kabaddi World Cup
Star raider Anup Kumar from
Haryana will lead India in next month’s Kabaddi World Cup to be held in
Ahmedabad.
- All-rounder Manjeet Chillar will be Anup’s deputy in the 14-member squad for the tournament that is set to commence on October 7 and will feature 12 teams.
Warren Beatty to be honoured
at Santa Barbara film fest
Actor Warren Beatty will
receive the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the Santa Barbara
International Film Festival this year.
Oscar-winning writer and
director dies at 71
Oscar-winning writer and
film director Curtis Hanson has died at his home in Hollywood at the age of 71.
- He is known for his work in films
like Kevin Spacey-starrer LA Confidential, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
and The River Wild.
Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Founder
of French Culinary Institute, Dies at 67
Dorothy Cann Hamilton, who
started the French Culinary Institute — one of the world’s leading culinary
schools — died in Nova Scotia, U.S.
