Daily Current affairs - September 19th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the Sardar Sarovar Dam - the world's second-biggest - on the river Narmada in Gujarat.
- The 1.2-km-long dam, which is 163 meters deep, will irrigate over 18 lakh hectares in the state, the water from the Narmada will flow into over 9,000 villages through a canal network, Sardar Sarovar Nigam Limited (SSNL).
Sashastra Seema Bal to get intelligence wing
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has launched the SSB’s first ever intelligence wing. The intelligence wing have 650 field and staff agents to gather actionable information.
- The SSB has been mandated to guard the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders where there are no restrictions on the movement of people on either side. These borders are often used by criminals and Kashmiri militants returning from Pakistan. India shares a 1,751-km-long border with Nepal and a 699 -km-long border with Bhutan.
- The SSB has also been declared as the lead intelligence agency for both the borders. Thus, the central government felt that a well-knit intelligence network of the highest capability that can function and deliver would be the prime requirement for comprehensive border management.
- The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is a paramilitary police force under the Ministry of Home affairs responsible for guarding India’s international borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
Law Min okays draft bill on fugitive economic offenders
The law ministry has given its concurrence to the draft Fugitive Economic Offenders bill that will give powers to the government to confiscate property of economic offenders and defaulters who flee India, albeit with a new provision.
- The bill flows from Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys 2017 -18 Budget speech promising legislative changes or even a new law to confiscate the assets of such fugitives.
- It seeks to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by fleeing the country.
- The proposed law will be applicable in cases where the value of offences is over Rs 100 crore.
Yesudas can visit temple in Thiruvananthapuram
The executive committee of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple has given formal permission to singer K.J. Yesudas to offer prayers at the temple.
- The temple allows only Hindus and those who declare faith in Hinduism and its modes of worship to enter and offer prayers. Mr. Yesudas has given such a declaration along with his application to enter the temple which was delivered via a special messenger.
Trump calls for ‘bold reforms’ at UN
U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the UN for bloated bureaucracy and mismanagement on his first visit on September 18 to UN headquarters, calling for “truly bold reforms” so it could be a greater force for world peace.
- Trump said that, The United Nations must hold every level of management accountable, protect whistleblowers and focus on results rather than on process.
Kulsoom wins Lahore parliamentary seat
Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has won his Lahore parliamentary seat, according to unofficial results.
- She won Sunday’s bypolls by securing 61,254 votes, defeating Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s candidate Dr. Yasmin Rashid.
Dhaka plans to initiate dialogue
The Bangladesh government is likely to hold ministerial- level talks with Myanmar regarding the Rohingya issue on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
- There are currently about 800,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh. For Bangladesh, it is obviously a security threat. They are registering the Rohingya population for the first time and work has begun about a weak ago.
Norms eased for fund raising by REITs, InvITs
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has relaxed the guidelines for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in order to broaden the scope of fund raising by such instruments.
- It has been decided to allow REITs and InvITs to raise capital by issuing debt securities. REITs have also been allowed to lend to an underlying holding company or a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
- REITs are similar to mutual funds. While mutual funds provide for an opportunity to invest in equity stocks, REITs allow one to invest in income-generating real estate assets.
OVL can run Azeri oilfield till 2049
ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Company, said a consortium it is part of has entered into an agreement with the Azerbaijan Government and State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) to extend the duration of the production sharing agreement (PSA) for a major oilfield to December 31, 2049.
- The PSA is for the Azeri-Chirag-Deep water portion of Gunashli (ACG).
- The international co-venturers will pay a bonus of $3.6 billion to the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and SOCAR will increase its equity share in the ACG PSA from 11.65% to 25%.
Google Tez UPI-Based Digital Payments App Launched in India
Google Tez has become the latest UPI-based payments app in the country. The new Google Tez app can be used to pay for movie tickets, utility bills, and make other transactions online.
- Tez means fast in Hindi, which the company stated was one of the selling points of its new app. Google Tez is a standalone payments app, available on Android and iOS, and is powered by UPI, a payments protocol built by government-backed organization NPCI.
- The company has partnered with HDFC Bank, ICICI, and State Bank of India for backend processing.
‘Rolling Stone’ magazine to be put up for sale
Rolling Stone , the iconic 50-year-old magazine of music and counterculture, is putting itself up for sale amid an increasingly uncertain outlook.
- Jann Wenner — who started Rolling Stonein 1967 as a hippie student in Berkeley, California and now runs it with his son Gus — told The New York Times that the future looked tough for a family-run publisher.
- Rolling Stone last year sold a 49% stake to a Singaporean music and technology start-up, BandLab Technologies, which is headed by Kuok Meng Ru, the scion of one of Asia’s richest families.
Nigerian lawyer gets top UN peace prize
A Nigerian lawyer who helped secure the release of more than 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram was on Monday awarded one of the United Nations’s prize.
- The UNHCR said Zannah Mustapha was given the annual Nansen award for his “crucial mediating” role as well as his work helping children affected by the long-running conflict.
Y.C. Modi appointed NIA chief
Y.C. Modi, a senior IPS officer who gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of the Gujarat riot cases of 2002, was appointed Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) .
- He will take over from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on October 30 and will hold the post till his superannuation on May 31, 2021.
- Mr. Y.C. Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is now a special director in the CBI.
Infosys’s design head Sanjay resigned
Sanjay Rajagopalan, senior vice-president, Infosys, who headed design and research, has quit the company.
- He quit Infosys a month ago after working for more than three years with the firm. Earlier, he was a senior vice-president with the German software maker, SAP from 2004 to 2014.
Purnima clinches pentathlon gold
India won its first athletics gold, through Purnima Hembram in women’s pentathlon (4062 points), in the fifth Asian indoor and martial arts games held at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
- India also got two silvers, through Sanjivani Jadhav in women’s 3000m (9:26.34s) and Tejinder Singh Toor in men’s shot put (19.26m), and a bronze through Kerala’s V. Neena in women’s long jump (6.04m).
