Daily Current affairs - September 26th, 2017 for all competitive exams
A new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli
Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya” has been launched to
ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as
well as urban areas.
- The total outlay of the project is Rs. 16, 320 crore
while the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crore.
- The States and Union Territories are required to
complete the works of household electrification by the 31st of December
2018.
- The beneficiaries for free electricity connections
would be identified using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011
data.
Economic panel to be revived
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has decided to reconstitute the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister, rendered defunct after the previous UPA government demitted office in
May 2014.
- NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy has been picked as
the Chairman of the Council, which will include NITI Aayog’s Principal
Adviser and former Finance Secretary Ratan Watal as its member-secretary.
- Economist Surjit Bhalla, National Institute of
Public Finance and Policy director Rathin Roy and Indira Gandhi Institute
of Development Research professor Ashima Goyal have also been roped in as
members of the Economic Advisory Council.
‘PENCIL’ Portal On Child Labour Elimination
The government has launched a web portal called ‘PENCIL’ for effective implementation
of the National Child Labour Project, (NCLP).
- PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No
Child Labour) — an electronic platform for no child labour in the country
is being developed by the Labour Ministry.
- PENCIL portal has five components — Child Tracking
System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project
and Convergence.
Kandla Port renamed as
Deendayal Port
The Ministry of Shipping has issued a notification renaming Kandla Port
Trust as Deendayal Port Trust with effect from 25th of September, 2017.
- Kandla Port, located on the Gulf of Kutch in
Gujarat, is one of the twelve major ports in the country.
- As per the Ministry’s notification, the Central
Government, in exercise of powers conferred on it under Indian Ports Act,
1908, made the amendment to replace “Kandla” with “Deendayal”.
Tribes India products to be sold on Amazon
To popularise the ‘Tribes India’ brand in national and international
markets, Trifed has signed a
memorandum of understanding with Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd for sale of tribal products through e-commerce giant
www.amazon.in.
- As a part of the MoU, authentic tribal art and craft
items crafted and sculpted by tribal artisans from all over the country
will be showcased on the online portal for sale.
- TRIFED is an apex organisation at National Level
and functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of
Tribal Affairs.
SC refuses more time for
medical admissions
The Supreme Court has
refused to extend the deadline for filling up vacant seats in medical super-speciality,
post-graduate and MBBS courses.
- A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra
refused to extend the September 14 time limit, especially in the case of
super-speciality courses.
- The petitioners, led by Chennai-based doctor T.T.
Senthilnathan, had contended that over 25% of the seats in super
speciality DM/ M.Ch. Courses remained unfilled even after two rounds of
counselling.
Putin to send special
representative
Russia is sending President
Putin’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov to Delhi in
October.
- Mr. Kabulov’s visit, when he is also expected to
discuss Moscow’s new position on talks with Taliban, will come amid
growing concerns in India over Russia’s ties with Pakistan.
Republic of Palau mints Lord Venkateswara coin
On the occasion of the
Brahmotsavam of Lord Sri Venkateswara, the Republic of Palau, an island country
in the western Pacific Ocean, has minted silver coins of the god and it was
collected by numismatist Putsa Krishna Kameswar.
- The silver coin weighs one ounce and the country
issued 1,111 coins.
N. Korea, Venezuela in new
travel ban
U.S. President Donald Trump
issued a new open-ended travel ban that saw North Korea, Venezuela and Chad
among a list of eight countries cited for poor security and lack of cooperation
with U.S. authorities.
- The new restrictions replace an expiring 90-day
measure that had locked Mr. Trump in political and legal battles since he
took office in January over what critics alleged was an effort to block
Muslims from the country.
- Sudan, one of the six majority-Muslim countries on
the original travel ban, was removed from the list.
- Full bans were newly placed on nationals from North
Korea and Chad, and extended for five countries on the original list:
Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Limited
restrictions meanwhile were placed on Venezuela
Japanese PM Abe calls snap
election
Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe called a snap election, seeking a fresh term. He will dissolve the
House of Representatives on the 28th of September.
- He did not give a date for the vote but it is widely
expected to be October 22.
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission completes 3 years in orbit
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission has successfully completed 3 years in orbit.
- The country had on 24 September 2014 successfully
placed the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft in the orbit around the red
planet, in its very first attempt, thus breaking into an elite club.
- ISRO had launched the spacecraft on its
nine-month-long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra
Pradesh on 5 November 2013. It had escaped the earth’s gravitational field
on 1 December 2013.
- The Rs450-crore MOM mission aims at studying
the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scan its atmosphere
for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).
SBI lowers minimum balance
to Rs. 3,000; pensioners, minors exempted
The country’s largest lender
State Bank of India lowered the minimum average monthly balance (MAB)
requirement in a savings account to Rs.3,000 from Rs.5,000, in addition to
revising downwards penalties for non-adherence.
- The revised MAB requirement and charges will become
applicable from October, the bank said in a statement.
- The public sector lender also decided to exempt
pensioners, beneficiaries of social benefits from government and minors
from the requirement of minimum balance in savings account.
Rajiv Mehrishi appointed new CAG of India
Rajiv Mehrishi has taken charge as the 13th Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). He has a three-year tenure till August 2020.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India
is an authority, established by the Constitution of India under
article 148.
- CAG audits all receipts and expenditure of the
Government of India and the state governments,
including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the
government.
Kapadia is Tata Sons’ new CFO
Tata Sons, the promoter of
major Tata Group companies, has appointed group veteran Eruch N Kapadia as its
new chief financial officer (CFO).
- Mr. Kapadia, who is vice-president at Tata Sons and
a member of the audit committee at Tata Business Support Services, assumed
the new role following the retirement chief operating officer (COO) F. N.
Subedar.
Sindhu recommended for Padma
Bhushan
Olympic silver medallist
shuttler P.V. Sindhu has been recommended for the prestigious Padma Bhushan,
the country’s third highest civilian award, by the Sports Ministry.
- The 22-year-old clinched the 2016 China Open Super
Series Premier, India Open Super Series, bagged a historic silver at the
Glasgow World Championship last month before laying claim to her third
Super Series title at the Korea Open this month. A three-time Macau Open
champion, Sindhu also won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow this
year.
- In March 2015, Sindhu was awarded India’s fourth
highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri.
Eman Ahmed dies in Abu Dhabi
Egyptian national Eman Ahmed
Abd El Aty, once the world’s heaviest woman at 500 kg, passed away.
- She had improved considerably when she was in Mumbai. Eman had celebrated her 37th birthday on September 11.
