Changing the way of learning…

Monthly Current Affairs Capsule

September 2018

PM inaugurates Pashupatinath Dharmashala in
Kathmandu
The Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi, jointly
inaugurated the Pashupatinath
Dharmashala in Kathmandu,
with the Prime Minister of
Nepal, Shri K.P. Oli.
 He said the spiritual ties between India and Nepal
have transcended both time and distance. In that
context, he added, he feels delighted to be
inaugurating this Dharmashala.
 The Prime Minister said that the temples of
Pashupatinath, Muktinath and Jankidham showcase
Nepal's unity in diversity, besides strengthening its
bonds with India.
AYUSH Minister to inaugurate the Fourth International
Ayurveda Congress
Minister of State, (IC), for AYUSH Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
will be inaugurated the Fourth International Ayurveda
Congress (IAvC) at Netherlands on September 1.
 The Minister is visiting Netherlands from September
1-4, 2018 to participate in the Congress jointly
organized by International Maharishi Ayurveda
Foundation, Netherlands; All India Ayurvedic
Congress, New Delhi and the International Academy
of Ayurveda, Pune in association with the Indian
Embassy in the Netherlands.
 The congress would focus on promotion and
propagation of Ayurveda in Netherlands and its
neighboring countries of Europe.
 A special Seminar is also organized by the Indian
Embassy titled “India-Netherlands collaboration in
Healthcare, including Ayurveda” on 3rd September
2018.
6th East Asia Summit and 15th India-ASEAN Economic
Ministers Meeting held in Singapore
Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu attended the 6th
East Asia Summit- Economic Ministers’ Meeting (EAS-
EMM) and 15th India-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting
(AEM) in Singapore. Singapore is currently holding the Chair
of ASEAN.
 The 6th East-Asia Economic Ministers’ Meeting was
chaired by Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and
Industry, Singapore, and was attended by Economic
Ministers from 10 ASEAN countries and their
eight dialogue partners, Australia, China, India,
Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian
Federation and the United States of America.
  The Ministers welcomed the higher global economic
growth forecast for 2018 and took note of the
increasing importance of trade and investment
relations among the EAS economies.
 The 6th EAS–EMM was followed by the 15th
ASEAN Economic Ministers - India Consultation. It
was co-chaired by Chan Chun Sing, Minister for
Trade and Industry, Singapore, and Suresh Prabhu,
Minister of Commerce and Industry, India.
India Pavilion at Food and Drink Technology Africa Trade
Show in South Africa
Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) is setting up India
Pavilion at the Food and Drink Technology Africa 2018 trade
show being organized at Gallagher Convention Centre,
Johannesburg, South Africa from 4-6 September, 2018.
 The India Pavilion is part of TPCI’s efforts to promote
India’s trade related to food and beverages industry
globally and with special focus on Africa.
 Food & Drink Technology Africa (FDT-Africa) - held
biennially in Johannesburg - is the premier beverage
and food event in Southern Africa, tailored to promote
the specific needs of the market.
 The trade show covers the entire value chain related
to food and beverages industry and offers solutions to
the challenges and demands of the market in Southern
Africa.
J P Nadda addresses the‘71st Session of the WHO Regional
Committee for South-East Asia'
“India has fast-tracked many
initiatives aimed at achieving all
the core tenets of Universal
Health Coverage i.e,
strengthening health systems,
improving access to free medicines & diagnostics and reducing
catastrophic healthcare spending.”
 This was stated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of
Health and Family Welfare at the inauguration of the
‘71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for
South-East Asia,'.
 Shri J P Nadda further stated that India on its part
firmly believes in the objective of attainment of the
highest possible level of health, where health is a state
of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social
well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity.
 “Moving toward this objective, we have adopted the
National Health Policy 2017 with the aim to provide
affordable healthcare for all,” Shri Nadda added.
India to take part in tsunami mock drill
India along with 23 other nations, would be participating in a
major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock exercise (drill) on
September 4 and 5.
  The exercise, known as IOWave18, is being
organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
 The purpose of exercise is to increase tsunami
preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each
state and improve coordination throughout the region.
24th RCEP Auckland Round from 17-24th October 2018
In the 6th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) Ministerial Meeting held on 30-31 August, 2018, in
Singapore, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh
Prabhu, led the Indian delegation.
 The Ministers acknowledged the good progress made
in the negotiations so far with successful conclusion
of 4 chapters, namely (i) Economic and Technical
Cooperation; (ii) Small and Medium Enterprises; (iii)
Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation; and (iv)
Government Procurement.
 The Ministers endorsed ‘The Package of Year End
Deliverables’ and urged the negotiators to intensify
their work with a view to narrowing gaps and finding
balanced outcomes in the negotiations as it moves
forward.
 In Goods, the negotiators have been tasked to work on
the ASEAN’s Non-Paper on Trade in Goods Market
Access Negotiations, which is to be considered as the
working assumption paper.
 In Services, Suresh Prabhu emphasised on the
importance of maintaining quality and commercially
meaningful offers across all Modes.
 In a significant development, all member countries
agreed to establish the linkage between Mode 4/
MoNP and the Services text.
 While welcoming this linkage, Union Commerce
Minister urged member countries to make quality
offers by 5th October 2018.
 In Investment, the Commerce Minister underlined the
importance of negotiations focussing on the
application of Investor State Dispute Settlement
(ISDS) and mentioned that clarity on its application
would lead to further movement in the Investment
Chapter.
 At India’s behest, it was agreed that ISDS will not
apply to MFN and PPR. All member countries are
expected to submit their revised Reservation Lists
without broad sectoral carve outs.
 The Ministers directed that the negotiations on all
these issues be intensified during the 24th RCEP
Auckland Round from 17-24th October 2018.
Points to Remember
 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
is a mega regional free trade agreement being
negotiated amongst 16 countries, comprising 10
 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam) and six ASEAN FTA
partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan,
Korea and New Zealand.
 So far 6 Ministerial Meetings, 5 Inter-sessional
Ministerial Meetings and 23 Rounds of the Trade
Negotiating Committee at the technical level have
been held.
Thaawarchand Gehlot to attend the 3rd ASEM (Asia-
Europe Meeting) Conference
Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister of Social Justice
and Empowerment left for Seoul (Korea).
 He is heading a 3-member Indian Delegation to attend
the 3rd ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Conference on
‘Global Ageing and Human Rights of Older Persons’
jointly organised in Seoul during 5th to 7th September,
2018 by the Republic of Korea and the National
Human Rights Commission of Korea.
 The Conference will be attended by International
Institutions including the United Nations, Regional
Institutions such as UNESCAP, UNECE, European
Union, ASEAN, GANHRI and also International
NGOs, Experts etc.
U.S. returns two antique statues stolen from India
Two antique statues worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
stolen from India and displayed at two American museums
have been repatriated to India by the US.
 The first statue, ‘Lingodhbhavamurti’, a 12th century
granite sculpture depicting an iconic representation of
Lord Shiva, dates back to the Chola dynasty.
 Currently valued at about $225,000, it was stolen
from Tamil Nadu and was on display at the
Birmingham Museum in Alabama.
 The second phyllite sculpture depicts the bodhisattva
of wisdom, ‘Manjusri’, holding a sword and painted
in gold leaf. This statue was stolen from a temple in
Bihar in the late 1980s.
Facebook to build first Asian data centre in Singapore
Facebook has announced it will pour in more than S$1.4 billion
to construct its first data centre in Asia in Singapore.
 The new facility, located at Tanjong Kling (formerly
known as Data Centre Park) in the west of Singapore,
will span 170,000 sq m and will support hundreds of
jobs.
G20 Education Ministers’ and Joint Ministerial Meeting
The Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr.
Satya Pal Singh lead a high level delegation to the G-20
Education Ministers’ Meeting as well as Joint Ministerial
Meeting held at Mendoza, Argentina on 5th & 6th September,
2018.
 It was the first ever meeting of Education Ministers in
the history of G-20.
 While speaking on the inaugural day in Educational
Ministerial meeting, Dr Satya Pal Singh, appreciated
and thanked Argentina for hosting an exclusive
meeting of Education Ministers for first time in the
history of G20 Summit.
 He said that Education should be the first and
foremost priority area for any society to develop and
for any country to flourish. Therefore, it is most
appropriate to place education at the center of global
agenda.
G-20 Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting
Union Minister of State
(Independent Charge) for
Labour& Employment Shri
Santosh Kumar Gangwar, led a
delegation to Mendoza,
Argentina for the G-20 Labour&
Employment Ministers’ Meeting, held on 6-7, September,
2018.
 Labour& Employment Minister highlighted India’s
initiatives for promoting skill development like
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and setting up
of Sector Skill Councils and for employment creation
like the Start Up India and the MUDRA scheme.
 He added that the process of simplifying and
rationalizing nearly 40 labour laws into 4 labour codes
has been started which would not only lead to
effective enforcement, better compliance but also
ensure universal applicability of various welfare
measures.
India and Czech republic sign five agreements
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, reached the
Czech Republic on September 6, 2018 on the final leg of his
state visit to three European nations – Cyprus, Bulgaria and the
Czech Republic.
 He was received by Mr Milos Zeman, the President of
the Czech Republic.
 India and the Czech Republic are signing five
agreements as part of President Kovind’s visit.
These are:
 Cooperation between the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research, India, and the Czech Academy of
Sciences
 A work plan to support Indo-Czech projects in diverse
areas of science and technology, with the Department
of Science and Technology taking the lead from the
Indian side
  A visa waiver agreement for diplomatic passport
holders
 Cooperation in laser technology between ELI
Beamlines and the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research
 Cooperation between the Haryana Agricultural
University and the Czech University of Life Sciences
International Literacy Day 2018
International Literacy Day is celebrated annually
on September 8 across the world.
 The day was declared by UNESCO on October 26,
1966.
 According to UNESCO’s statistics, India’s literacy
rate is 72.1 per cent.
 This year International Literacy
Day theme is “Literacy and skill development.”
UN postal agency to issue special Diwali stamp next month
The UN postal agency will issue special stamps here next
month to commemorate the festival of Diwali.
 The United Nations Postal Administration will issue
a New York special event sheet on October 19 to
commemorate the Indian festival.
 The background of the sheet features the United
Nations Headquarters building illuminated with the
message of “Happy Diwali” to celebrate the spirit of
the festival.
Opening ceremony: INDO-MONGOLIA joint exercise
Nomadic Elephant-2018
Indo-Mongolia joint exercise Nomadic Elephant-2018,
commenced at Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) Five Hills
Training Area, Ullanbaatar, Mongolia with a brief but
impressive opening ceremony.
 The 12 days long joint exercise will be conducted
from 10 Sep to 21 Sep 2018.
 Exercise Nomadic Elephant is an annual, bilateral
exercise since 2006 which is designed to strengthen
the partnership between Indian Army and Mongolian
Armed Forces.
Opening Ceremony: BIMSTEC Field Training Military
Exercise
The Inaugural Military Field Training Exercise for the Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technological and
Economic Cooperation nations named MILEX-18 scheduled
from 10 September 18 to 16 September 18 started with a Grand
Opening Ceremony on 10 September 18 at Aundh Military
Station.
 Contingents of the member nations came together for
the Opening Ceremony.
  The aim of the forthcoming exercise is to practice the
BIMSTEC Nations in planning and conduct of
counter terrorist operations.
 The exercise schedule is focused upon learning of best
practices, team building & special tactical level
operations in a counter-terrorist environment in semi
urban setting.
Dubai to host India-UAE Partnership Summit
A two-day India-UAE Partnership Summit (IUPS) will be held
in Dubai from October 30.
 Second India-UAE Partnership Summit is being
organised by the Business Leaders Forum (BLF).
 Vipul, the Consul General of India in Dubai, said "I
am happy that the second edition of the IUPS is being
organised by the BLF this year in partnership with the
consulate.
India focus country in Izmir International Trade Show
The Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) led a75-member
Indian delegation for the ongoing 87th Izmir International
Trade Show in Turkey.
 The delegation had several B2B meetings and
business tie-ups with members of the Turkish
business community.
 India is the Focus Country in the trade show with a
standalone pavilion named ‘Source India’.
 The India Pavilion is a multi-product pavilion,
including companies displaying products like
ceramics, cereals and mechanical appliances.
India ranks 130 in UN's human development index
India climbed one spot to
130 among 189 countries
in the latest human
development index
released by the United
Nations Development Programme.
 Within South Asia, India's human development index
(HDI) value is above the average of 0.638 for the
region, with Bangladesh and Pakistan, countries with
similar population size, being ranked 136 and 150
respectively.
 In 2016, India's HDI value of 0.624 put it at 131 rank.
 India's HDI value for 2017 is 0.640, which put the
country in the medium human development category
 Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland and
Germany led the ranking, while Niger, the Central
African Republic, South Sudan, Chad and Burundi
have the lowest scores.
Suresh Prabhu to participate in G-20, Trade and
Investment Ministerial Meeting in Argentina
 Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation,
Suresh Prabhu, will participate in the G-20, Trade and
Investment Ministerial Meeting, being held in Mar del Plata in
Argentina on 14th – 15th September 2018.
 The meeting will provide an opportunity for a
dialogue on current developments in international
trade and its implications for the global economy.
 The Ministerial Meeting will discuss about building
an inclusive trade system that contributes to
sustainable and shared growth.
 Trade and investment must benefit all and countries
must jointly address both the opportunities and
challenges of globalization, innovation and
technological advancements.
 The Ministerial Meeting will examine the inter
relationship between trade and development with a
special emphasis on the need to promote further
integration of small and medium sized companies into
international trade, and the opportunities posed by the
digital economy and new technologies.
4th Eastern Economic Forum opens in Russia's
Vladivostok
World leaders and business tycoons gathered in Russia's Far
Eastern port city of Vladivostok to discuss cooperation at the
fourth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
 The three-day forum under the theme of "The Far
East: Expanding the Range of Possibilities" has
attracted thousands of attendees from more than 60
countries.
International Day of Democracy: 15 September
In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly resolved to
observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy.
 Its purpose is to promote and uphold the principles of
democracy and invite all member states and
organizations to commemorate the day in an
appropriate manner that contributes to raising public
awareness.
 The theme of the 2018 International Day of
Democracy is ‘Democracy under Strain: Solutions for
a Changing World’.
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer:
16 September
September 16 was designated by the United Nations General
Assembly as the International Day for the Preservation of the
Ozone Layer.
 This designation had been made on December 19,
2000, in commemoration of the date, in 1987, on
which nations signed the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
  “Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol” is
the theme for World Ozone Day 2018.
Exercise Aviaindra-18 Commences at Lipetsk (Russia)
Exercise Aviaindra is an Air Force level exercise between
India and the Russian Federation. First Aviaindra was
conducted in 2014 and has been planned as a bi-annual
exercise.
 Exercise Aviaindra 18 is being conducted at Lipetsk,
Russia from 17 Sep to 28 Sep 18 and will be
conducted in Jodhpur, India from 10 Dec to 22 Dec
18.
 The Indian contingent for Ex Aviaindra departed for
Russia on 15 Sep 18.
Germany launches world’s first hydrogen-powered train
European railway manufacturer
Alstom has launched world's first
hydrogen fuel cell train.
 French company said
that the CoradiaiLint
used fuel cells that turn
hydrogen and oxygen into electricity.
 In terms of speed, the new train can travel up to 140
kilometers per hour.
International Peace Day 2018
The global community is celebrating the International Day of
Peace. The day is observed on 21 September every year.
 The theme for this year is: “The Right to Peace – The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70”.
 This year, United Nations is celebrating the 70th year
of the declaration of human rights adopted by the
General Assembly.
7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is organizing the
7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism: A 2030
Vision for Urban Tourism, on 16-19 September, in Seoul,
Republic of Korea.
 The Summit provides a unique platform to discuss the
key issues shaping the future of urban tourism in the
context of the 2030 Urban Agenda.
Closing ceremony: Indo-kazakhstan Joint exercise kazind
2018
Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army today completed the third
edition of their joint military Exercise KAZIND 2018 in Otar
Military area, Kazakhstan.
 The two week long exercise had commenced on 10
Sep 2018.
 The primary focus of the exercise was to train and
equip the contingents to undertake joint counter
insurgency and counter terrorist operations in urban
 and rural environment under mandate of United
Nations.
AYUSH Information Cell set up at the Indian Embassy in
Romania
Ministry of AYUSH has set up an AYUSH Information Cell at
the premises of the Indian Embassy in Romania to disseminate
authentic information about AYUSH system of medicine and
encourage Ayurveda practice in Romania.
 The AYUSH Information Cell, Romania will help to
organise lectures, consultation, conduct seminars,
training courses and facilitate associations of AYUSH
stakeholders for networking conducting meetings,
develop awareness of AYUSH system among public
in Romania.
 During the visit to Romania on September 19, 2018,
Vice president of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu digitally
inaugurated the AYUSH Information Cell.
 On this occasion, a book on ‘Ayurveda in Romania’
was also released by Vice president.
India ranks 158th among 195 countries in health
care investment
India ranks 158th in the world for its investments in education
and healthcare, a survey of 195 countries has revealed.
 It ranks below countries like Sudan, Azerbaijan,
China and Bosnia Herzegovina.
 According to the survey, Finland tops the list of 195
countries in the two key sectors.
Exhibition “India - Uzbekistan: Dialogue of Cultures”
inaugurated in the Capital
Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Shri Arun Goel inaugurated the
exhibition “India - Uzbekistan: Dialogue of Cultures” at
National Museum, New Delhi,.
 The Exhibition was dedicated to the state visit of the
President of the Republic of Uzbegistan Shavkat
Mirziyoyev to the Republic of India that will begin
early next week.
Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurates air pollution control device
WAYU in Delhi
Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has inaugurated air
pollution control device Wind Augmentation Purifying Unit
(WAYU) at ITO in New Delhi.
 The device WAYU is developed by Council of
Science and Industrial Research to mitigate air
pollution at traffic junctions.
 Along with particulate matter, the device will remove
poisonous gases such as volatile organic compounds
and carbon monoxide.
First assembly of ISA to be held in India
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is organising the
First Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA); the 2 nd
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Renewable Energy
Ministerial Meeting and the 2nd Global Renewable Energy
Investment Meeting and Expo, (REINVEST- 2018) from 2nd to
5th October 2018 in New Delhi.
 The three events will be inaugurated in a common
function by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in
the presence of Mr Antonio Guterres, Secretary
General, United Nations on 2nd October 2018 in
Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
 The Business and Technical Sessions of ISA
Assembly, IORA Meet and RE-INVEST 2018 Expo
will be held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, UP.
 The International Solar Alliance (ISA), an Indian
initiative, was launched jointly by Shri Narendra
Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and H.E.
François Hollande, Hon’ble President of France on 30
November 2015 in Paris, France on the side-lines of
the 21st Conference of Parties (CoP 21) to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
NITI Aayog to Organize Conference on Empowerment of
Women SHGs
NITI Aayog is organizing a Conference on Empowerment of
Women SHGs & Organic Farmers Co-operatives from
Dantewada, Bastar Region on September 26 at NITI Aayog in
collaboration with the Tribal Affairs Ministry and Tribal Co-
operative Marketing Development Federation of India,
TRIFED.
 Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Jual Oram will inaugurate
the conference.
 The conference is a part of the visit of the team of
entrepreneurs from Dantewada to New Delhi to
identify markets opportunity for their products in
urban areas.
UN declares 2019-2028 Nelson Mandela decade of peace
A statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at the United
Nations to honour the late South African leader’s birth.
 This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mandela’s
birth.
 The UN also declared 2019-2028 the “Nelson
Mandela Decade of Peace.
Commerce Ministers of India and Bangladesh hold
Bilateral Meeting in Dhaka
A bilateral meeting was held in Dhaka between Commerce
Minister of Bangladesh, Tofail Ahmed, MP and Commerce &
Industry and Civil Aviation Minister of India, Suresh Prabhu.
 Both Ministers noted the significant progress made in
the bilateral relationship under the leadership of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
  They reiterated their commitment to further
strengthen the bilateral relations on the basis of
friendship, trust and understanding for the mutual
benefit of the people of Bangladesh and India.
World Tourism Day: 27 September
Since 1980, the United Nations World Tourism Organization
has celebrated World Tourism Day as international
observances on September 27.
 This date was chosen as on that day in 1970, the
Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted.
 The adoption of these Statutes is considered a
milestone in global tourism.
 The purpose of this day is to raise awareness on the
role of tourism within the international community
and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural,
political and economic values worldwide.
 The theme of the day in 2018 is "Tourism and the
Digital Transformation".
India ranked 96th among 162 countries on Economic
Freedom Index
In this year’s report on Economic Freedom in the World,
India’s rank improved by a couple of notches.
 However, India was still placed 96th among 162
countries.
 The report was released by the Centre for Civil
Society (CCS) along with Canada’s Fraser Institute.
 Last year, India was placed 98.
 Hong Kong and Singapore again topped the index,
continuing their streak as the first and the second
country.
China to host world Internet conference in Nov
China will hold the fifth World Internet Conference (WIC) in
November which is expected to be attended by delegates from
several countries and international organisations.
 The conference, scheduled to run from November 7-
9, will be held in the river town of Wuzhen.
 This year's WIC is themed "creating a digital world
for mutual trust and collective governance -- toward a
community with a shared future in cyberspace".
World Heart Day 2018: 29 September
World Heart Day is celebrated every year on September
29, Organised by the World Heart Federation.
 ‘Your heart, my heart’ is the ‘World Heart Day
Theme’ this year.
 World Heart Day was created to inform people around
the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world's
leading cause of death.

7th Meeting of National Medicinal Plants Board Held at
New Delhi
The Seventh meeting of
National Medicinal
Plants Board (NMPB)
of Ministry of AYUSH
was held under the
chairpersonship of
Minister of State for
AYUSH, Shri Shripad
Yesso Naik at New Delhi on 30th August 2018.
 During the meeting the Minister said that Government
will support as far as possible for development of
medicinal plants sector.
 The Board meeting considered various Agenda Items
placed before it for consideration.
8.2 percent Growth of GDP in real terms in Q1 of 2018-19
The Central Statistics Office has released the estimates of GDP
for the first quarter (Q1) of 2018-19.
 In line with momentum built in the economy, the
growth of GDP in real terms in Q1 of 2018-19 is 8.2
per cent, reinforcing the high growth of 7.7 per cent
recorded in last quarter of 2017-18.
 This growth is broad-based and has been driven by 8.4
per cent growth in consumption expenditure and 10.0
per cent growth in fixed investment.
 The latter development is particularly encouraging as
it has come about over an impressive growth of 14.4
per cent in Q4 of 2017-18 and augurs well for future
growth.
Krishna Kutir, a home for 1000 widows inaugurated by
Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi
The Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka
Sanjay Gandhi, alongwith Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
Shri Adityanath Yogi inaugurated the widows’ home ‘Krishna
Kutir’ at a function at Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
 Krishna Kutir is a special home for 1000 widows set
up by the Ministry of Women & Child Development
under Swadhar Greh scheme of the Ministry and is the
largest ever facility of its kind created by a
government organization.
 The Home for Widows, Krishna Kutir has been
constructed on 1.4 hectare of land through National
Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) at a cost
of 57.48 Crores (including cost of the land) with a
capacity of 1000 inmates.
National Conference being Organised by The Supreme
Court Advocates on Record Association
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the
National Conference being organised by the Supreme Court
Advocates on Record Association in New Delhi om September
1, 2018.
 Speaking on the occasion, the President said that
India’s judiciary is respected across the world as an
upholder of justice for the defenceless.
 It is also true that our judges are overburdened by the
sheer volume of cases. As a consequence, the Indian
legal system is marked by long delays.
 He noted that there is a backlog of 3.3 crore cases in
various courts of the country.
 Of these, 2.84 crore cases are in the subordinate
courts. Another 43 lakh are in the High Courts and
about 58,000 in the Supreme Court.
Union Home Minister chairs first review meeting of
Department of Official Language
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired first
review meeting of the Department of Official Language of
MHA to discuss the functioning and issues related to
implementation of Hindi language in official work.
 The Union Home Minister was appraised, through a
presentation, about the achievements of the
department in promoting and maximum use of Hindi
language in day to day official work and among the
general public.
 The Minster was informed that the department has
developed a computer software called “Kanthasth”
for translating the all kinds of official files from
English to Hindi and vice versa to make the
translation work simpler and quicker.
CCI imposes penalty on Karnataka Film Chamber of
Commerce (KFCC)
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found that
KFCC and others have acted in concert and impeded entry and
screening of dubbed movies and in particular the Informant’s
film –“Sathyadev IPS” in State of Karnataka, thereby
violating the provisions of section 3(1) and section 3(3)(b) of
the Competition Act, 2002.
 Such anti-competitive practice was found to have an
appreciable adverse effect on competition and
adversely affected the consumers, producers and
exhibitors of dubbed cinema in the State of Karnataka
and resulted in limiting and restricting the market for
dubbed cinemas there.
 The Commission also found that KFCC had violated
the provisions of the Act, on earlier occasions too, for
which it had been penalised in Case No.58 of 2012.
Jharkhand's railway station, town to be renamed after
Lord Krishna
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared the Jharkhand
government's proposal to rename a railway station in Garhwa
district after Lord Krishna.
 The Raghubar Das-led state government had
proposed that the railway station and Nagar Untari
town should be renamed as Banshidhar Nagar after
Bandshidhar Temple.
 The state government wants to develop the town on
the lines of Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh
to boost tourism in the city.
Delhi to host international chess tournament for school
kids
The national capital will host an international chess tournament
for school students next year which will be jointly organised
by the governments of Delhi and Moscow, Education Minister
Manish Sisodia said.
 Also, there would be a Moscow Festival in Delhi very
soon," he added.
 Sisodia is in Moscow representing the Delhi
government at the World Education Summit.
Suresh Prabhu Launches Technology Initiatives for Coffee
Stakeholders
Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh
Prabhu launched Coffee Connect - India coffee field force app
and Coffee KrishiTharanga - digital mobile extension services
for coffee stakeholders at a function.
 The mobile app Coffee Connect has been developed
to ease the work of field functionaries and to improve
the work efficiency.
 The Coffee KrishiTharanga services are aimed at
providing customized information and services to
increase productivity, profitability, and
environmental sustainability.
India to generate 100 GW solar energy by 2022
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation,
Suresh Prabhu said that demand for energy will increase due to
rapid development taking place in India and fossil fuel is not
going to last forever and therefore there is need for renewable
energy.
 He was speaking at afunction of International Solar
Alliance (ISA) Innovation and Investment Forum in
New Delhi.
 India has set a target to generate100 GW solar energy
by 2022 for increasing share of carbon free energy in
the energy mix.
National Teachers’ Day: 5 September
Every year, September 5 is observed as Teachers’ Day in India
to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,
who was born on September 5, 1888.
  A great scholar, philosopher and a Bharat Ratna
recipient, Dr Radhakrishnan was the first Vice
President and second President of independent India.
 On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, students across the
nation honour their teachers and thank them for their
endless efforts in educating them.
Curtain Raiser :Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Exercise KAZIND
2018
Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Exercise
'KAZIND' will be conducted between
the Indian and Kazakhstan Army from
10 to 23 Sep 2018 in Otar region,
Kazakhstan.
 This is the third joint military
exercise between the two countries which have a
history of extensive cooperation in the defence arena.
 The second edition of the exercise was held in India
last year.
 The aim of the exercise is to build and promote
bilateral Army to Army relations and exchange skills
and experiences between Kazakhstan Army and the
Indian Army.
Manoj Sinha inaugurates Conference on E- Mobility
A Conference on “E-Mobility in Indian Railways” organized
by Ministry of Railways through Institution of Railways
Electrical Engineers (IREE) in association with NITI Aayog
concluded in New Delhi.
 The one-day conference inaugurated by the Minister
of State of Communication (I/C) and Minister of State
of Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha was a pre-cursor to the
“Move: Global Mobility Summit” organized by NITI
Aayog on 7th and 8th Sept.’18.
The International Aviation Summit held in New Delhi
International Aviation Summit in Delhi was organized by the
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the Airports Authority
India (AAI) and International Air Transport Association.
 There was an overwhelming response to the summit
which was attended by more than 700 delegates and
leaders from global aviation fraternity.
India and Bulgaria sign five agreements
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, reached
Bulgaria on September 4, 2018 on the second leg of his state
visit to three European nations – Cyprus, Bulgaria and the
Czech Republic.
 President delivered an address at Sofia University on
the theme “Education as an Instrument of Change and
Shared Prosperity”.
India and Bulgaria have signed five agreements during
President Kovind’s visit:
  An agreement between Invest India and Invest
Bulgaria
 An agreement on cooperation in and facilitation of
tourism
 An agreement on enhanced science and technology
cooperation
 An agreement on civil nuclear research and
cooperation
 An agreement between the Indian Council of Cultural
Relations and Sofia University to promote Hindi
studies
Cabinet approves continuation of Integrated Development
of Wildlife Habitats scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved continuation
of the Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme of Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH)beyond the
12thPlan period from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
 The Scheme consists of Centrally Sponsored Scheme
of Project Tiger (CSS-PT), Development of Wildlife
Habitats (CSS-DWH) and Project Elephant (CSS-
PE).
 The total outlay is Rs. 1731.72 crore as central share
(Rs. 1143 crore for Project Tiger, Rs. 496.50 crore for
Development of Wildlife Habitats and Rs.92.22 crore
for Project Elephant) from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
HRD Minister releases the curriculum on Experiential
Learning – Gandhijis Nai Talim
Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar released the
curriculum on Experiential Learning – Gandhijis Nai Talim in
New Delhi.
 This curriculum was brought out simultaneously in 13
languages i.e., Assamese, Tamil, Bengali, Odiya,
Kannada, Malyalam, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu,
Gujarati, Urdu, Hindi and English in consultation
with the state councils of educational research and
training along with the universities in the country.
IAF & French Air force Conduct Basic Training in India
Indian Air Force (IAF) recently participated in Exercise Pitch
Black 2018 at Darwin, Australia.
 Sixteen different nations from across the globe,
including French Air Force (FAF) participated in this
exercise.
 On the return leg, Rafale fighter aircraft and transport
aircraft of FAF staged through Air Force Station,
Gwalior and Air Force Station, Agra from 01 – 04 Sep
18.
 During the staging period, FAF and IAF carried out
basic joint training, which included fighter sorties by
 pilots in their respective aircraft with observers
onboard each other’s transport aircraft supporting the
missions.
Vice President to visit US to participate in 2nd World
Hindu Congress
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu to visit
United States of America on September 8-9, 2018 to address
the 2nd World Hindu Congress being held in Chicago on the
occasion of 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s
Historic Speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in
1893.
 The Vice President will also participate in a
programme organized by 14 Telugu Associations of
the US at Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago.
 He will also participate in bilateral discussions with
several world leaders, who are attending this event, on
the sidelines of this Congress.
31st meeting of Central Hindi Committee concluded
31st meeting of the Central Hindi Committee was held in New
Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi.
 In his address, the Prime Minister congratulated all
the members of the committee for creative and
practical suggestions.
 He stressed that the Hindi language should be spread
through day-to-day conversations and complex
technical terms should be avoided or used negligibly
for official purposes.
‘Source India’ at 87th Izmir International tradeshow in
Turkey
India is the Partner
Country in the 87th
Izmir International
tradeshow which
begins in Turkey from
September 7, 2018.
 In this tradeshow India will also be launching a mega
business pavilion ‘Source India’ hosting 75 Indian
companies with the aim of tie-ups in order to increase
India’s exports to Turkey and other neighbouring
countries.
 This is part of a series of Source India pavilions that
the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) is
hosting in important tradeshows across the world for
boosting India’s exports.
Centenary of the Battle of Haifa Celebrated
The Embassy of India held a ceremony in Haifa to mark the
Centenary of the Battle of Haifa.
  On 23 Sep 1918, Indian soldiers from the Jodhpur,
Mysore and Hyderabad Lancers liberated the city of
Haifa.
 The ceremony was attended by a delegation from
India led by Maj Gen VD Dogra and included
personnel from the 61st Cavalry.
Home Minister inaugurates Defence & Homeland Security
Expo and Conference, 2018
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has called upon
the law enforcement agencies to adopt new technologies to
enhance their capacities to contain terror and to counter the
emerging challenges to homeland security.
 The Union Home Minister was inaugurating the 3-day
Defence & Homeland Security Expo and Conference
– 2018, organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce
and Industry in association with Ministry of Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
 Rajnath Singh said that the Government will soon
implement the new Drone Policy which was
announced recently, containing comprehensive
regulations on the use of drones.
India’s First Global Mobility Summit 2018 to be
inaugurated by the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate MOVE: India’s
ever first Global Mobility Summit organized by NITI Aayog
at Vigyan Bhawan in the capital on 7th and 8th September.
 The focus of the summit is on raising awareness about
various aspects of Mobility and bringing various
stakeholders involved in enhancing mobility across
different platforms.
 Representative from various Intergovernmental
Organizations, Academia, Policy Think tanks from
India and abroad, Global leaders from across the
mobility sector such as OEMs, Battery
Manufacturers, Charging Infrastructure Providers,
technology Solution Providers will be sharing their
views on enhancing mobility over the next two days
during the summit.
Six Hundred Global Buyers to Participate Indusfood- II
2019
The Dhaka based India-Bangladesh Chamber of
Commerce (IBCCI) will participate with a strong
contingent of F&B buyers in Indusfood-II 2019 to
source their food and beverage requirements from India.
 Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President-IBCCI and former
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) made this
announcement following discussions with Ashok
Sethi, Director-Trade Promotion Council of India
 (TPCI), at NitolBhaban, in Mohakhali, Dhaka
recently.
 TPCI is working to attract maximum buyers from the
SAARC countries to source their food and beverage
related requirements from India. Some of the big
buyers, including supermarket chains, from Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Iran
and the Commonwealth of Independent States or
Russian Commonwealth (CIS) countries have already
pledged their presence in Indusfood-II.
India Sri Lanka Naval Exercise Slinex-18
Indian Naval Ships Kirch, Sumitra and Cora Divh entered
Trincomalee, Sri Lanka to participate in the sixth edition of
SLINEX 2018, a bi-lateral Naval Exercise between India and
Sri Lanka, from 07 to 13 September 2018.
 SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercises were
initiated in 2005 and since then five successful
engagements have been conducted.
 SLINEX over the years has helped both the Navies in
understanding each other's procedures and enhanced
interoperability.
 This edition of the exercise will further strength ties
between the two maritime neighbours and contribute
towards maritime security in the region.
Rajnath Singh inaugurates the 6th International Geriatric
Orthopaedic Conference
The Union Home Minister Shri
Rajnath Singh inaugurated the
6th International Geriatric
Orthopaedic Society of India
Conference on the theme
“Increased Longevity with
Reduced Fragility and Enhanced
Mobility”, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
 Speaking on the occasion, the Minister hailed the
Ayushman Bharat Health Protection Scheme
announced by the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi for the benefit of the rural and poor
people.
 Under this scheme the Government will provide
affordable healthcare with universal health insurance
to poor and needy people and their families, specially
the elderly, he added.
Prakash Javadekar Inaugurates 4thWorld Summit on
Accreditation
Union Minister for HRD Shri Prakash Javadekar Inaugurates
4th World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA-2018) at New
Delhi.
 Speaking on this occasion the Minister said that
‘Ratings and Rankings’ both the quality hallmark for
 any educational institutions therefore accreditation
becomes very important.
Points to Remember
 The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is an
autonomous organisation under Ministry of Human
Resource Development engaged in quality assurance
of the programs offered by the professional and
technical institutions in India through accreditation.
 World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA) is a
biennial Summit organised by NBA, which provides
platform to stakeholders to share their knowledge and
information on accreditation.
 The focus of WOSA 2018 is on “CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUTCOME BASED
ACCREDITATION”.
Ministry of Defence announces aeroshow
The Government has decided to hold the Aero India 2019 in
Bengaluru from 20-24 February 2019.
 This five-day event will combine a major trade
exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries
with public air shows.
 Besides global leaders and big investors in aerospace
industry, the show will also see participation by think-
tanks from across the world.
 It will provide a unique opportunity for exchange of
information, ideas and new developments in the
aviation industry.
 Besides giving fillip to the domestic aviation industry
it would further the cause of Make in India.
Two Day Regional Conference on Good Governance
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public
Grievances (DAR&PG), Government of India in association
with Government of Madhya Pradesh is organizing a Regional
Conference on Good Governance with Focus on Aspirational
Districts, in Bhopal.
 Delegates from 12 States and 2 UTs will participate
in the Conference. There will be 5 Technical sessions
in the 2-day conference.
 The DAR&PG has organized 28 Regional
Conferences till date.
Home ministry sanctions Rs 3,000 cr for special women
safety programme
Public panic buttons and all-women police patrol teams will
soon be launched in eight major cities, including Delhi, under
a special women safety programme for which the home
ministry has approved nearly Rs 3,000 crore.
 Transit dormitories for women and children, smart
LED streetlights, one-stop crisis centres, and forensic
 and cyber crime cells will be part of the Women Safe  She said that the the Project "is a clear effort by India
City Project. to reach out to Africa in the critical areas of education
 It will implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and health".
Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and
Lucknow from 2018-19 to 2020-21. PM Modi, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, jointly dedicate
 Safe city proposals amounting to Rs 2,919.55 crore three projects in Bangladesh
were approved under the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ recently. Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, the
‘Arogya Yojana to also help counter childhood cancer’ Prime Minister of
A member of the Niti Aayog, Dr Vinod Kumar Paul said that Bangladesh, Sheikh
the treatment of childhood cancer will be covered under the Hasina, Chief
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Minister of West
 Dr Paul was speaking at the 10th Annual National Bengal - Ms.
Childhood Cancer Excellence Awards Programme in Mamata Banerjee,
the national capital. and the Chief Minister of Tripura - Shri Biplab Kumar Deb,
 According to him, this scheme will provide health jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh, via video
insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to poor families. conference.
 External Affairs Minister of India, Ms. Sushma
India launches new digital bridge with Africa Swaraj, and the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, also
As part of India's reachout to Africa, the External Affairs joined the video conference from Delhi and Dhaka
Ministry signed an agreement with the Telecommunications respectively.
Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL) to establish a pan-African e-  These include: (a) 500 MW additional power supply
network between the two nations. from India to Bangladesh, through the existing
 This project, called the e-VidyaBharati and e- Bheramara (Bangladesh) - Baharampur (India)
ArogyaBharati Network Project, will serve as a digital interconnection. (b) Akhaura – Agartala Rail Link (c)
bridge between the two countries, External Affairs Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of
Minister Sushma Swaraj said. Bangladesh Railways.
Successful Air-to-Air Refuelling of LCA Tejas
In a significant achievement and a major step towards Final
Operational Clearance (FOC) of LCA Tejas, the mid-air
refuelling of ‘wet contact’ trial for LCA Tejas MK-1 was
successfully carried out from an Indian Air Force base.
 Before this ‘wet contact’ trial, the ‘dry contact trials’
were successfully conducted on September 04 & 06,
2018 where the Drogue (basket) extended from the
IAF tanker aircraft by a fuel hose, was tracked and
plugged into using the aircraft refuelling probe
without taking fuel.
 IAF provided all required support to DRDO including
the tanker aircraft for the successful test flight.
India's first railway varsity starts operations in Vadodara
The first of its
kind university in
the country on the
transport sector,
the National Rail
and
Transportation
Institute (NRTI), started operations this week.
 A total of 103 students formed the first batch of this
unique institute. This year it has started with two UG
courses.
Bihar-Nepal bus service launched
Bihar and Nepal are now connected by bus. Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the first bus service between
Bihar and Nepal.
 The service will link Bodh Gaya and Patna in Bihar
to Kathmandu and Janakpur in Nepal.
 The bus service was commissioned following an
agreement between India and Nepal.
Apsara – U Reactor Becomes Operational at Trombay
“Apsara”, the first research reactor in Asia became operational
in Trombay campus of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in
August 1956.
 After providing more than five decades of dedicated
service to the researchers, the reactor was shut down
in 2009.
 Nearly sixty-two years after Apsara came into
existence, a swimming pool type research reactor
“Apsara-upgraded”, of higher capacity was born at
Trombay on 10th September 2018.
 The reactor, made indigenously, uses plate type
dispersion fuel elements made of Low Enriched
Uranium (LEU).
 By virtue of higher neutron flux, this reactor will
increase indigenous production or radio-isotopes for
medical application by about fifty percent and would
 also be extensively used for research in nuclear
physics, material science and radiation shielding.
Curtain raiser: INDO-US joint military exercise Yudh
Abhyas 2018
As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint
military training Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018 is scheduled to
be conducted in the foothills of Himalayas at Chaubattia in
Uttarakhand from 16 September to 29 September 2018.
 This will be the 14th edition of the joint military
exercise hosted alternately by both countries.
 The joint exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018 will simulate a
scenario where both nations will work together in
counter insurgency and counter terrorism
environment in mountainous terrain under United
Nation charter.
Piyush Goyal launches a web portal “Rail Sahyog”
The Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal
launched a web portal www.railsahyog.in.
 The web portal will provide a platform for the
Corporates and PSUs to contribute to creation of
amenities at/near Railway Stations through Corporate
Social Responsibility funds.
Delhi, Seoul governments to ink pact for cooperation in
urban regeneration
The Delhi Government and the Seoul Metropolitan
Government are slated to sign an agreement this week for
cooperation in urban regeneration.
 The agreement will be signed during Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal's ongoing trip to Seoul.
 Kejriwal, along with Urban Development Minister
Satyendar Jain visited the Cheonggyecheon stream in
downtown Seoul to see its transformation.
Sonowal inaugurates Indo-Bhutan Border Centre
Assam Chief Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal has
inaugurated the Indo-
Bhutan Border Centre at
Darranga in Assam's Baksa
district to strengthen
bilateral trade with the
neighbouring country.
 The Centre has
decided to construct 264 km of border roads touching
four BTAD districts of the state.
Cabinet approves “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay
SanraksHan Abhiyan”
Giving a major boost to the pro-farmer initiatives of the
Government and in keeping with its commitment and
dedication for the Annadata, the Union Cabinet chaired by
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a new
Umbrella Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan
Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA).
 The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices
to the farmers for their produce as announced in the
Union Budget for 2018.
 This is an unprecedented step taken by Govt. of India
to protect the farmers’ income which is expected to
go a long way towards the welfare of farmers.
 Government has already increased the MSP of kharif
crops by following the principle of 1.5 times the cost
of production.
 It is expected that the increase in MSP will be
translated to farmer’s income by way of robust
procurement mechanism in coordination with the
State Governments.
Cabinet approves amendment to National Institute of
Design (NID) Act, 2014
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi has given its approval for introduction of Bill in
Parliament for amendment of NID Act, 2014 to include the
four new National Institutes of Design (NID) viz. National
Institute of Design, Amaravati/Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh;
National Institute of Design, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh;
National Institute of Design, Jorhat, Assam and National
Institute of Design, Kurukshetra, Haryana within the ambit of
the National Institute of Design Act, 2014 and to declare them
as Institutions of National Importance (INIs) at par with the
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
 Some minor amendments to the Act including
consequential amendments considered necessary
namely, to re-name NID Vijayawada as NID
Amaravati and nomenclature of Principal Designer as
equivalent to Professor are also proposed in the Bill.
 Establishing new NIDs as Institutions of National
Importance in different geographical regions of the
country will help produce highly skilled manpower in
design which, in turn, will create job opportunities,
both direct and indirect, by providing sustainable
design interventions for crafts, handloom, rural
technology, small, medium and large scale
enterprises; and outreach programmes for capacity,
capability and institution building.
Cabinet approves continuation of Capacity Development
Scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved continuation
of the Capacity Development Scheme for the period 2017-18 to
2019-20 with an outlay of Rs 2,250 crore.
 The Capacity Development Scheme is an Ongoing
Central Sector Scheme of MoSPI.
  The overall objective of the scheme is to augment
infrastructural, technical as well as manpower
resources for making available credible and timely
Official Statistics for policy makers and public at
large.
Radha Mohan Singh launches Dairy Processing &
Infrastructure Development Fund
Vast opportunities exist today for dairy entrepreneurs and in
order to concretize these opportunities and help double the
income of dairy farmers, Rs 51,077 crore is needed to
operationalize the National Action Plan (Vision-2024),
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha
Mohan Singh said at the inauguration ceremony of Dairy
Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) in
New Delhi.
 Shri Singh said that as a result of the announcement
of Union Budget 2017-18, the Department of Animal
Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DADF) started
the Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development
Fund (DIDF) with an outlay of Rs 10881 crore.
 Under this, the first installment of Rs 440 crore is
being given to the National Dairy Development Board
(NDDB).
First Tribal Circuit Project under Swadesh Darshan
Scheme to be inaugurated in Chhattisgarh
Shri. K.J Alphons, the
Minister of State for
Tourism (IC),
Government of India will
be inaugurating the
project “Development of
Tribal Circuit: Jashpur-
Kunkuri- Mainpat- Kamleshpur- Maheshpur- Kurdar-
Sarodadadar- Gangrel- Kondagaon- Nathiya Nawagaon-
Jagdalpur- Chitrakoot- Tirthgarh in Chhattisgarh”
implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry
of Tourism, in Gangrel, Chhattisgarh on 14th September
2018.
 This is the second project under the Swadesh Darshan
Scheme being inaugurated in the country.
 This project which is to be inaugurated was
sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in February
2016 for Rs. 99.21 Crores.
 The project covers thirteen sites in Chhattisgarh i.e.
Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Kamleshpur, Maheshpur,
Kurdar, Sarodadadar, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Nathiya
Nawagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot, Tirthgarh.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launches National Scholarship
Portal Mobile App
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi launched the country's first "National Scholarship Portal
Mobile App" (NSP Mobile App).
  Speaking on the occasion, Shri Naqvi said that this
"National Scholarship Portal Mobile App" will ensure
a smooth, accessible and hassle-free scholarship
system for students from poor and weaker sections.
 He said that all the scholarships are being given
directly into bank accounts of the needy students
under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode through
the National Scholarship Portal which has ensured
that there is no scope for duplication and leakage.
INMAS develops India’s first indigenous anti-nuclear
medical kit
In a major shot in the arm for paramilitary and police forces,
scientists at a central research institute claim to have
developed India’s first indigenous medical kit that may ensure
protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds
resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage.
 The kit, developed after two decades of work by the
Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences
(INMAS), has over 25 items, including radio-
protectors that provide 80-90 per cent protection
against radiation.
 Developed in India for the first time, it’s a potent
alternative to similar kits that were till now being
procured from strategically advanced nations such as
the US and Russia at much higher prices.
Hindi Divas: 14 September
Hindi Divas or Hindi day is an annual day celebrated on 14
September in India.
 On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of
India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script
as the official language of the Republic of India.
World chefs' congress on Oct 12-14 in Amritsar
The World Cultural Culinary
Heritage Committee, under
the aegis of the World
Association of Chefs'
Societies (WorldChefs), will
hold the first edition of the
World Heritage Cuisine Summit and food festival from
October 12-14 at the Qila Gobindgarh in Amritsar.
 The summit, hosted by the Indian Federation of
Culinary Associations, will celebrate traditional
cuisine with live demonstrations, food tasting,
presentations, panel discussions, master classes by
chefs from around the world in the holy city.
 It will focus on inculcating appreciation for food
culture and traditions, good food habits and
sustainable practices.
Uttarakhand ranked best among states in PMGSY
Uttarakhand has been
ranked the best among
states in the country for the
construction of maximum
number of roads under the
PMGSY during 2017-
2018.
 The state constructed a maximum of 1,839 kilometre
roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
against a target of 1,500 km set for the year 2017-18.
 Uttarakhand has also been ranked second for
connecting 207 habitations with roads against a target
of 172 under the scheme.
Coast Guard commissions patrol vessel 'Vijaya'
The Indian Coast Guard commissioned the indigenously built
patrol vessel 'Vijaya', fitted with advanced navigation and
communication equipment.
 The 98-metre ship will be based at Paradip in Odisha
for extensive surveillance in the Exclusive Economic
Zone.
 Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and Coast Guard
Director-General Rajendra Singh took part in the
commissioning ceremony.
India to hold its first global tourism mart from Sep 16
India will hold its first-ever global tourism mart modelled on
the ITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade fair.
 The mart will be held in Delhi from September 16-18,
said Secretary, Tourism Ministry Rashmi Verma.
 The ten major tourist organisations like FHRAI, HAI,
IATO are involved in this mega event.
More than 21 lakh people living with HIV in India
Maharashtra has the highest number of people living with HIV
(PLHIV) in India which is around 3.30 lakh, contributing 15
per cent of total immunodeficiency virus-affected people in the
country which is 21.40 lakh, according to the latest data by
Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
 Nationally, around 69.11 thousand PLHIV died of
AIDS-related causes in 2017.
 The report "HIV Estimations 2017" released on
Friday compiled by the National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) in collaboration with the
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-
National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS) is the
14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under
National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).
PM launches “Swachhata Hi Seva”
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the
‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ Movement, to boost nation wide public
participation in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and catalyse the
fulfilment of Bapu’s dream of a Clean India.
  The Swachhata Hi Seva movement aims at generating
greater public participation towards Swachhta.
 It is being organized in the run up to the fourth
anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission, on
October 2nd, 2018, which will also mark the
commencement of the 150th year celebrations of
Mahatma Gandhi.
 The Prime Minister urged everyone to be a part of this
movement and strengthen the efforts to create a
'Swachh Bharat'.
Power Ministry launches ambitious program on energy
efficiency in Chillers
Ministry of Power, Government of India launched an
ambitious program to encourage the deployment of Energy
Efficient chiller systems in the country.
 The Chiller Star Labelling Program has been
formulated by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
 The program envisages providing star rating in terms
of its energy performance. Initially, the program is
launched on voluntary basis and will be valid upto 31st
December 2020.
 Chillers are used extensively for space conditioning
of buildings and for industrial process cooling
applications.
Narendra Singh Tomar chairs the 20th Central
Employment Guarantee Council meeting in Bhopal
MNREGA is the largest
employment generating scheme
in the country. This scheme is
demand based and provides
employment to 5.5 to 6 crore
people of the country.
 This was stated by the
Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati
Raj and Mines, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar while
addressing the 20th Central Employment Guarantee
Council (CEGC) meeting that was held in Bhopal.
 Shri Tomar said that the scheme is become more
encompassing and 260 types of works have now been
covered under it.
 The Union Minister asserted that most of the banking
issues that act as a hindrance for MNREGA wage
payment will be removed through the recently
launched India Post Payments Bank.
Jaipur Literature Festival begins in Houston
Jaipur Literature Festival was begun in Houston with a soulful
music performance followed by stimulating discussions.
 The festival is touted as the world’s largest free
literary festival.
  The inaugural session also saw Congress leader and
writer Shashi Tharoor discuss his book “Why i am a
Hindu” with writer Namita Gokhale.
 The annual festival began in 2006 and is held annually
in Jaipur. This is the first time that it is being held
outside Jaipur.
Hyderabad gets India’s first dog park
Hyderabad is set to get country’s first exclusive dog park.
 The park, which is spread over in 1.3 acres, has been
developed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation at cost of Rs. 1.1 crore.
 The park also has dog training and exercise
equipments.
India-US military exercise begins in Uttarakhand
India and US armies on Sunday began a two-week joint
military exercise in Uttarakhand to hone their tactical and
technical skills in countering insurgency and terrorism in a
United Nation peacekeeping scenario.
 Battalion-strong Army personnel from the US and an
equal number from India are participating in 'Exercise
Yudh Abhyas 2018' at Chaubattia in Almora district.
Inaugural Edition of Bimstec Milex-18 Culminates at Pune
The Inaugural Edition of the
BIMSTEC Nations Military
Field Training Exercise i.e.
MILEX - 2018 culminated on
16 September 18 after a
Validation Exercise and an
impressive Closing Ceremony
held at Foreign Training Node, Aundh Military Station, Pune.
 The tactical drills showcased during the Validation
Exercise included Hostage Rescue by insertion of
troops from helicopters, Room Intervention as well as
House Clearing Drill as part of Cordon and Search
Operations, Raid on a Terrorist Hideout and
neutralization of Improvised Explosive
Devices(IED).
 The entire exercise was monitored and controlled
through the Joint Command Post established with
representatives of the participating contingents.
 The Exercise demonstrated the commitment and
capabilities of the participating BIMSTEC National
armies in working closely with each other to eradicate
the menace of terrorism existing in different forms.
Second Flight Test of MPATGM Successful
Indigenously developed Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided
Missile (MPATGM), was successfully flight tested for the
second time from the Ahmednagar range.
  All the mission objectives have been met.
 The two missions on 15 and 16 September 2018 have
been successfully flight tested for different ranges
including the maximum range capability.
ISRO launches two British earth observation satellites
onboard PSLV-C42
The Indian Space Research Organization has launched its
heavy-weight rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV), into orbit carrying two earth observation satellites of
Britain’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited.
 PSLV-C42 is carrying two earth observation satellites
of Britain’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
(SSTL), NovaSAR and S1-4, weighing 450 kg each.
 PSLV-C42 is the first fully commercial trip of the
year, breaking a five-month-long lull, for the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Dr. Mahesh Sharma releases National Museum Research
Bulletin
The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge) and
Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma
released two important publications of the National Museum
(M/o Culture), Sindhu Ghati Sabhyata:Ek Parichay (Hindi) and
the National Museum Research Bulletin Number 10: Special
issue (In House Publication), in New Delhi.
 The National Museum Research Bulletin has been
revived after a long gap of 16 years.
 Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sharma congratulated
the efforts of National Museum to revive the research
bulletin which he said will help to generate awareness
about the activities of National Museum.
India – Morocco Tourism Bilateral meeting held in New
Delhi
A bilateral meeting on Tourism Cooperation between India and
Morocco led by the Minister of Tourism, Air Transport,
Handicraft and Social Economy, Kingdom of Morocco, Mr.
Mohamed Sajid and the Minister of State for Tourism (IC),
Government of India, Shri. K. J. Alphons, held in New Delhi.
 During this meeting both the Ministers agreed to
enhance the tourism cooperation between India &
Morocco and to work towards increasing tourist
arrivals between both countries.
 This meeting was followed by signing of an
agreement of cooperation between the India Tourism
Development Corporation and La Societe Marocaine
D’Ingenierie Touristique, also known as Moroccan
Agency for Tourism development (SMIT).
Piyush Goyal inaugurates the first ever India tourism Mart
2018
The Union Minister for Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal
inaugurated the ‘first ever’ India Tourism Mart (ITM 2018) in
the presence of Union Tourism Minister, Shri K J Alphons and
the Tourism Minister of Morocco, Mr. Mohamed Sajid, in New
Delhi.
 The India Tourism Mart is being organized by the
Ministry of Tourism from 16th to 18th September
2018, in partnership with the Federation of
Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality
(FAITH) and with support of State /UT Governments.
 The function was held in presence of the Secretary,
other senior officials of Tourism Ministry and
Chairman/members of FAITH and also delegates
from India and across the world.
 Inaugurating the event, Shri Piyush Goyal wished the
best to the Tourism Ministry to reach the ambitious
goal of US$100 billion FTA receipts/year within 5
years.
PM, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, jointly unveil e-
plaques for ground-breaking of two projects
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, and the Prime Minister of
Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, jointly unveiled e-plaques for the
ground-breaking ceremony of two projects, via video
conference.
 External Affairs Minister of India, Ms. Sushma
Swaraj, and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, also joined the
proceedings.
 The projects include: (a) India-Bangladesh Friendship
Pipeline (b) Dhaka-Tongi-Joydebpur Railway Project
 Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister
described the cooperation between the two countries
as an example for the world.
DAC Approves Procurement of Equipment Worth Rs
9,100 Crores
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha
Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, met and accorded approval
for the procurement of equipment for the Defence Forces
valued at over Rs 9,100 crores.
 Pursuing the goal of indigenisation and self-reliance,
the DAC approved procurement of two Regiments of
Akash Missile Systems under 'Buy (Indian)' category
from M/s BDL.
 The Missile to be procured is an upgraded version of
the previously inducted Akash missiles and will
include seeker technology, possess 360 degree
coverage and will be of compact configuration with
reduced signature.
 The upgraded Akash Weapon System is operationally
critical equipment which will provide protection to
vital assets.
  The DAC also accorded approval for progressing
Design and Development of Individual Under Water
Breathing Apparatus (IUWBA) for T 90 Tanks.
Union Home Minister chairs Southern Zonal Council
Meeting in Bengaluru
The 28th meeting of the
Southern Zonal Council was
held under the Chairmanship
the Union Home Minister
Shri Rajnath Singh in
Bengaluru.
 The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of
Karnataka and Puducherry; Deputy Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu; Finance Ministers of Andhra Pradesh
and Kerala Minister for Social Justice &
Empowerment and Minister for Tourism, Karnataka;
Minister for Health, Puducherry and Minister of State
for Home, Govt. of India, Lt. Governor of Andaman
& Nicobar Islands and senior officers from Central
and State Governments.
 The Council reviewed the progress of the
implementation of the recommendations made at the
last meeting relating to security to fishermen,
introduction of peninsular tourism trains, uniformity
in allocation of funds in proportion to population of
SC/ST for scholarship for all the courses, optimum
harnessing of renewable energy available in the
Southern States without endangering grid security and
development of Puducherry Airport.
 Thereafter, the Council took up issues which relate to
Pulicat lake dispute between Andhra Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu fishermen over fishing rights, menace of
red sander smuggling in the holy Seshachalam hills,
supply of Krishna water to augment the drinking
water supply to Chennai city, issues relating to fishing
in coastal States in Southern Zone, checking of
Antibiotic residues in aquaculture shrimp export,
scheme for modernization of State Police Forces in
the States of Southern Zone, issuance of 'No
Objection Certificate' (NOC) for LPG godown site
plan, issues pertaining to Biofuels programme, etc.
 Out of the 27 items discussed today, 22 were resolved
in the meeting.
Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates ‘All India Pension Adalat’
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO,
Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and
Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the ‘Pension Adalat’.
 It was organised by the Department of Pension &
Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions, Government of India.
  He also presented the ‘Anubhav’ awards 2018 to six
pensioners for their contribution towards creating
institutional memory for the departments.
 On the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh also launched a
booklet—“An era of sustained reforms for Central
Government Pensioners” enumerating simplification
of rules and steps initiated to strengthen the Grievance
Portal and make it user friendly.
PM to lay foundation stone for India International
Convention and Expo Centre
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will lay the
foundation stone for India International Convention and Expo
Centre (IICC) at Dwarka, New Delhi, on September 20, 2018.
 Located in Sector 25, Dwarka, the Centre would be a
world-class state-of-the-art Exhibition-cum-
Convention Centre, with facilities like financial,
hospitality and retail services.
 The estimated cost of the project is Rs.25,700 crores.
 The project is implemented by India International
Convention & Exhibition Centre Limited, a 100%
Government owned company under Department of
Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of
Commerce and Industry.
Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna Rolled Out
The ESI Corporation during its 175th Meeting held in New
Delhi under the Chairmanship of Shri Santosh Kumar
Gangwar, Union Minister of State for Labour &
Employment(I/C) has taken some very important decisions
towards improvements in its services and benefits being
provided to Insured Persons and their dependants.
 Considering the change in employment pattern and
the current scenario of employment in India which has
transformed from a long term employment to fixed
short term engagement in the form of contract and
temping, the ESI Corporation has approved a Scheme
named “ATAL BIMIT VYAKTI KALYAN YOJNA” for
Insured Persons (IP) covered under the Employees’
State Insurance Act, 1948.
 This scheme is a relief payable in cash directly to their
Bank Account in case of unemployment and while
they search for new engagement.
Union Home Secretary launches ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant
of Security Clearance
The Union Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Gauba launched an
online ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of Security Clearance.
 The portal will facilitate an applicant to submit
application online and also to view the status of his
application from time to time.
 Speaking on the occasion, the Union Home Secretary
said that with the introduction of online portal, the
 process has become standardized, resulting in a
process which will be faster, transparent and easy to
monitor.
 Various functionaries can access the application and
documents online and take timely decisions.
ITU South Asia Office and Technology Innovation Centre
to be established in New Delhi
The ITU South Asia Area
Office and Technology
Innovation Centre will be
established in New Delhi.
 This was announced by Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary
General (SG) of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), during the 4th BRICS Communications
Ministers Meeting held in Durban, South Africa
recently.
 ITU is a United Nations specialized agency for
Information and Communication Technologies, with
membership of 193 countries and nearly 800 private
sector entities and academic institutions.
MHA signs MoU with ISRO to set up an Integrated Control
Room for Emergency Response
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up of an
state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency
Response (ICR-ER) in Ministry of Home Affairs.
 ISRO will render its technical expertise for setting up
of proposed ICR-ER whereas the project will be
executed under overall supervision of MHA.
 The proposed Control Room is expected to be
established in next one-and-a-half year.
Successful Flight Test of Prahar
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
successfully flight tested the indigenously developed surface-
to-surface tactical missile ‘Prahar’, from Launch Complex-III,
ITR, Balasore.
 Range stations and electro optical systems tracked the
missile throughout its flight.
 ‘Prahar’ is a contemporary weapon system capable of
carrying multiple types of warheads and neutralizing
a wide variety of targets.
Inaugural Naval Flight Test Seminar held at Goa
The inaugural Naval Flight Test Seminar was held at Goa on
20 Sep 18.
 The seminar witnessed some intensive brain-storming
sessions on flight testing fixed and rotary wing
aircraft towards integrating them on the aircraft
carrier and small decks.
  There were also a series of papers which were
presented on weapon integration on service aircraft
and towards building and sustaining the training for
Naval Experimental Test Pilots and Flight Test
Engineers.
Health Ministry partners with Dell and Tata Trusts
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, here today exchanged
the MoUs with the Tata Trusts and Dell to provide a
technological platform for nationwide prevention, control,
screening and management program of Non Communicable
Diseases (NCDs).
 Smt Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Health and
Family Welfare presided over the ceremony and also
released the user manual for NCD application under
Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) IT
Solutions.
Vice President returns after successful visit to Serbia,
Malta and Romania
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu was on
an official Visit to Serbia, Malta and Romania from September
14-20, 2018 and returned after a successful official visit.
Some key outcomes:
 Support for India’s aspiration to be on UNSC and for
taking forward UN reforms.
 Endorsement of India’s stand on terror and support for
early adoption of United Nation’s Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrorism.
 Strong support for resuming EU-India trade
agreement after Romania assumes Presidency of EU.
 Business Forums generated a good deal of enthusiasm
among the industrialists and businessmen in every
country as they got to listen to the Vice President
about India’s transformative initiatives. The growth
story and the reports from World Bank, IMF quoted
by Vice President enhanced awareness.
 The leaders in all the countries expressed unequivocal
admiration for India’s economic growth and were
eager to engage and partner with India politically,
economically and culturally. In Romania, there was a
special interest in Space and Aerospace. Malta
expressed its desire to join the International Solar
Alliance.
 There was a clear demand for Parliamentary
friendship groups and frequent visits by
Parliamentarians.
 The visit gave an opportunity for the members of
India Diaspora to listen to the Vice President about
the transformative agenda of the government and
encouraged them to think of various ways in which
they can contribute to the country’s development. The
vice President underscored the growing importance of
 India on the world stage and drew attention to four
key features that need to be recognised. He called
them 4Ds – Democracy, Demographic dividend,
Demand and Diaspora.
 The visit evoked a lot of interest among the top
political leadership and there was an air of bonhomie
in all the meetings. The banquets hosted by the
President of Serbia and Malta as well as by the
President of Senate of Romania provided an
opportunity for sharing views on bilateral and
multilateral issues with rare candour.
 The address to the Serbian Parliament was very well
received and the admiration for India as the largest
democracy and a vibrant, well functioning polity was
more than evident in the standing ovation the Vice
President received at the end of his address.
 MOUs entered into related to plant protection,
tourism, air services, oil research, diplomatic training
and maritime cooperation.
 In all the three countries, there was considerable
interest in Yoga and Ayurveda and in Romania, the
Vice President launched two books on Ayurveda and
inaugurated an Ayurveda Information Centre.
Odisha to name Jharsuguda airport after Veer Surendra
Sai
The Odisha Assembly has passed a resolution unanimously to
name the newly-constructed Jharsuguda airport after noted
freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the
airport on September 22.
 Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry in July had denied
naming the airport after the freedom fighter citing the
absence of a state assembly resolution on this.
PM to launch Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana at
Ranchi
The Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi, will launch
the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) at
Ranchi, Jharkhand, on
September 23, 2018.
 Under this scheme, over 10 crore families will be
provided health assurance worth Rs. 5 lakh each,
every year.
 The Prime Minister will visit an exhibition on the
PMJAY. He will witness a demonstration of activities
such as beneficiary identification, and e-card creation.
 On September 24, the Prime Minister will inaugurate
Pakyong Airport, which will bring the State of Sikkim
on the country’s aviation map.
President Inaugurates Centenary Celebrations of
Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the
centenary celebrations of the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar
Sabha in New Delhi on September 22, 2018.
 Speaking on the occasion, the President said that
languages connect people. There are numerous
languages and dialects in India. All of them have their
special nature and beauty. This diversity adds to
India’s culture and well-being.
 He said that institutions like the Dakshina Bharat
Hindi Prachar Sabha have played a very important
role in strengthening the emotional unity of our
country. He noted that the Sabha has developed a
network of about 20,000 Hindi campaigners.
Ayushman Bharat to be launched by Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi in Ranchi
India takes a giant leap towards providing accessible and
affordable healthcare to the common man with the launch of
Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaYojana (AB-
PMJAY) by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 23rd
September, 2018 at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
 This is the “world’s largest government funded
healthcare program” targeting more than 50 crore
beneficiaries.
 Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan
ArogyaYojana (PMJAY) will provide a cover of up to
Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary and
tertiary care hospitalization.
 Over 10.74 crore vulnerable entitled families
(approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) will be eligible
for these benefits.
 PMJAY will provide cashless and paperless access to
services for the beneficiary at the point of service.
 PMJAY will help reduce catastrophic expenditure for
hospitalizations, which impoverishes people and will
help mitigate the financial risk arising out of
catastrophic health episodes.
 Entitled families will be able to use the quality health
services they need without facing financial hardships.
 When fully implemented, PMJAY will become the
world’s largest fully government-financed health
protection scheme.
3rd edition of MahaBiz 2018 to be held in Dubai
The 3rd edition of acclaimed International Business
Conference ‘MahaBiz 2018’ will be held in Dubai on 12th and
13th October 2018.
 MahaBiz is considered a bridge for business
opportunities between Maharashtra state and Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
  GCC is a political and economic alliance of six Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and
middle eastern countries. It includes Saudi Arabia , Empowerment on 23 September.
UAE , Kuwait , Oman , Bahrain and Qatar.  Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Social
Justice and Empowerment was the Chief Guest on the
Assam observed September 22 as Rhino Day occasion.
The Assam government observed September 22 as Rhino Day  A special calendar of year 2019 with Sign Languages
to generate public awareness on protection of the one-horned designed by ISLRTC was released on the occasion.
pachyderm.
 A State Rhino Project in line with National Rhino Vice President Inaugurates Indian Culinary Institute
Project will be launched in Assam soon for protecting The Vice President
the pachyderms from threats of poaching. of India, Shri M.
Venkaiah Naidu has
PM to inaugurate Sikkim's first-ever airport said that Indian food
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the heritage is a mixture
Sikkim's first-ever airport on 24th September, 2018. of art and science
 Built at an estimated cost of over Rs. 605 crore, the and is exceptionally
Pakyong airport is a new distinction for the State of vast and diverse.
Sikkim which has, in the last three to four years,  He was
achieved the distinction of becoming the first addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Indian
"Organic State" of India and also the first "Open Culinary Institute, Tirupati and two projects in
Defecation Free" (ODF) State of India. Nellore and East Godavari Districts of Andhra
Pradesh, implemented under the Coastal Circuit
DEPwD Celebrates ‘International Day of Sign Languages’ theme of Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of
“International Day of Sign Languages” was celebrated by Tourism, Government of India, in Tirupati, Andhra
Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre Pradesh.
(ISLRTC) under Department of Empowerment of Persons with
Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurates workshop on National e-
Vidhan Application
Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Shri
Arjun Ram Meghwal presided over the Inaugural Session of
the two-day National Orientation workshop on National e-
Vidhan Application (NeVA), organized by Ministry of
Parliamentary Affairs in New Delhi.
 On the occasion, Shri Meghwal also launched the new
website of the NeVA and administered the Swachhata
Pledge to over 200 delelgates, which included senior
officers from Secretariats of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha,
31 Legislative Assemblies and 7 Legislative Councils
from across the country.
 The Orientation Workshop would include technical
sessions and group discussions over 2 days, which
would facilitate exposure for the delegates about the
positive attributes of NeVA; deliberations on issues
faced by different State Legislatures in
implementation of e-Vidhan and finding solutions
thereof.
 The focus of the workshop would be to encourage all
State Legislatures to move towards e-Vidhan platform
and bring in transparency, accountability and
responsiveness in their conduct of business, through
the use of technology.
4th India International Science Festival to be inaugurated
by President of India
The fourth edition of India International Science Festival will
be inaugurated by President of India in Lucknow on October 6,
2018.
 IISF-2018 is expected to be represented by
approximately 10000 delegates including 5000
students, 550 teachers, 200 students from North-East
Region, 20 international delegates and approximately
200 startups.
 IISF-2018 with its focal theme “Science for
Transformation” will have 23 special events.
 This time the 'Science Village' will also be organized
in the festival.
21st meeting of Central Regional Council held under the
chairmanship of Union Home Minister
Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has said that regional
councils have an important role in resolving issues related to
the public by increasing cooperation between the Center and
the states.
 In the 21st meeting of the Central Regional Council
in Lucknow, the Home Minister said that all regional
councils have been made active in the last four years.
 He said that 11 meetings were held during the
Regional Councils while 15 meetings of the Standing
Committee were held.
  He said that a total of 680 cases were discussed, out
of which 428 were resolved. These issues have been
related to areas like infrastructure, medicine,
education, agriculture and security.
Vice President Inaugurates Smart City Expo India 2018
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said
that the creation of pedestrian non-motorized zones is the need
of the hour curb traffic congestions.
 He was addressing the inaugural session of the Smart
City Expo India 2018, in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
 The object of this three days long expo is to have
discussions among different experts and groups to
utilize benefits of new technology, town planning,
capacity management, challenges before socio-
economic development and development of
networking in the Smart City sector.
 Near about 6000 delegates from MNC's of different
countries , researchers , CEO's of different Smart
cities , Mayors and corporates are participating in the
expo.
Cabinet approves financial assistance for Sirhind Feeder
Canal and Rajasthan Feeder Canal
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi has approved providing Central Assistance of Rs.
620.42 Cr. and Rs. 205.758 Cr. for implementation of relining
of Rajasthan Feeder Canal and Sirhind Feeder Canal
respectively over five years (2018-19 to 2022-23) for Relining
of Sirhind Feeder from RD 119700 to 447927 and relining of
Rajasthan Feeder from RD 179000to 496000 of Punjab.
 Implementation of these twin projects would help in
addressing the problem of water-logging in 84800 Ha
of land in Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozpur districts in
South-West Punjab.
 Funding for CA to the Rajasthan Feeder and Sirhind
feeder shall be made through NABARD under
existing system for funding of 99 PMKSY-AIBP
projects under LTIF.
Cabinet approves National Digital Communications
Policy-2018
The Union Cabinet,
chaired by the Prime
Minister Shri Narendra
Modi, has approvedthe
National Digital
Communications
Policy-2018 (NDCP-2018) and re-designation of the Telecom
Commission as the “Digital Communications Commission”.
 TheNDCP-2018 envisions supporting India’s
transition to a digitally empowered economy and
society by fulfilling the information and
Communications needs of citizens and enterprises by
 establishment of a ubiquitous, resilient and affordable
Digital Communications Infrastructure and Services.
 The key objectives of the policy are provisioning of
Broadband for all; creating 4 Million additional jobs
in the Digital Communications sector; enhancing the
contribution of the Digital Communications sector to
8% of India’s GDP from ~ 6% in 2017; propelling
India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development
Index of ITU from 134 in 2017; enhancing India’s
contribution to Global Value Chains; and ensuring
Digital Sovereignty.
 These objectives are to be achieved by 2022.
Successful Flight Test of Astra BVR Air-to-Air Missile
Astra, the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-
to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), was successfully test fired by the
Indian Air Force from Su-30 aircraft, from Air Force Station,
Kalaikunda.
 The missile successfully engaged a manoeuvring
target with high precision meeting the mission
objectives.
 In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been
launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope.
 The flight test assumes significance as it was part of
the series of final pre-induction trials.
 Astra is the best in class weapon system and has
undergone more than twenty developmental trials.
Finance Ministry Launches Mobile Application “ Jan Dhan
Darshak”
Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance
and National Informatics Centre (NIC) has jointly developed
a mobile app called Jan Dhan Darshak as a part of financial
inclusion (FI) initiative .
 As the name suggests, this app will act as a guide for
the common people in locating a financial service
touch point at a given location in the country.
 While over 5 lakh FI touch points (Bank branches,
ATMs, Post Offices) have been mapped on this App,
approx. 1.35 lakh Bank Mitras would be on-boarded
by 01.12.2018.
Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad to launch Centre of Excellence
for Data Analytics and DigiVaarta
National Informatics Centre (NIC) and National Informatics
Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI) have jointly set up a
Centre of Excellence for data analytics to support Government
departments to unlock the hidden potential of the data that they
are generating as part of the governance processes and use it to
improve the overall governance.
 Launch of Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics
(CEDA) is being held on 28th September, 2018 by the
Hon’ble Union Minister of Electronics & Information
Technology, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad in the presence
of Hon’ble Minister of State, Electronics &
 Information Technology. The event will be attended
by several dignitaries from the Central Government.
Tribes India launches “Punch Tantra Collection and Ms
Mary Kom as Brand Ambassador”
Tribes India and TRIFED under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs
launched “Punch Tantra Collection and Ms. Mary Kom as
Brand Ambassador of Tribes India” at a function.
 Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs
introduced the Indian Sporting Legend and the World
Boxing Champion Ms. Mary Kom as the Brand
Ambassador of “Tribes India” and launched the
“Punch Tantra” Diwali collection.
 Four promotional video spots produced by NFDC
featuring Brand Ambassador Ms. Mary Com
promoting Tribal products of Tribes India were also
released on the occasion.
India and the United Nations to sign a Five-Year
Sustainable Development Framework
CEO NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant and United Nations Resident
Coordinator in India, Yuri Afanasiev, will sign the
Government of India-United Nations Sustainable
Development Framework (UNSDF) for 2018-2022, at a
special signing ceremony on September 28 at NITI Aayog
premises.
 The signing ceremony would be presided over by
Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar,
Members of NITI Aayog and will be attended by the
heads of UN agencies in India.
 Government of India-United Nations Sustainable
Development Framework (SDF) 2018-2022 outlines
the work of UN agencies in India, to support the
achievement of key development outcomes that have
been identified in consultation with the government
and are aligned to the national priorities.
 The NITI Aayog is the national counterpart for the
UN in India for the operationalization of the UNSDF.
 Nineteen (19) UN agencies have signed on the
UNSDF 2018-2022.
Twenty Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT) centres are
being established in the country
Twenty Embryo Transfer Technology Centres are being
established in the country and a proposal of 19 centres has been
approved so far.
 This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh.
 The Minister further stated that 3000 high genetic
merit bulls of indigenous bovine breeds are being
produced from these centres.
  Two of these centres are to be set up in Nagpur and to find a way forward in the contemporary global trade
Pune in Maharashtra. scenario.
 The HLAG will consider ways for boosting India’s
20th livestock Census to be conducted from 1st October in share and importance in global merchandise and
all districts of the country services trade, managing pressing bilateral trade
The 20th Livestock Census will be conducted in all districts of relations and mainstreaming new age policy making.
the Indian Union in participation with all States and Union  Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla, Director of Oxus Research and
Territories. States/UTs have been requested to start the census Investments will chair the HLAG.
operations from 1st October, 2018.
 The success of this novel initiative is dependent on High Level Committee Constituted on Corporate Social
full cooperation and commitment from all States/UTs Responsibility
Governments. A High Level Committee
 The enumeration will be done in all villages and urban on Corporate Social
wards. Responsibility – 2018
 Various species of animals (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun, (HLC-2018) has been
Yak, Sheep, Goat, Pig, Horse, Pony, Mule, Donkey constituted under the
Camel, Dog, Rabbit and Elephant)/poultry birds Chairmanship of Shri.
(Fowl, Duck, Emu, Turkeys, Quail and other poultry Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs
birds) possessed by the households, household (MCA) to review the existing framework and guide and
enterprises/non-household enterprises and institutions formulate the roadmap for a coherent policy on Corporate
will be counted at their site. Social Responsibility ( CSR).
 The Committee is expected to review the existing
High Level Advisory Group Constituted for Trade CSR framework as per Act, Rules and Circulars
The Minister of Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu, has issued from time to time and recommend guidelines
approved the constitution of a High Level Advisory Group for better enforcement of CSR provisions.
(HLAG) to make recommendations for identifying and  It will analyze outcomes of CSR
pursuing opportunities and for addressing challenges in order activities/programmes/projects and suggest measures
 for effective monitoring and evaluation of CSR by
companies.
 Suggestions are also expected on innovative
solutions, use of technology, platform to connect
stakeholders, and social audit.
Constitution of Group of Ministers (GoM)
During the 30th Meeting of the GST Council, the proposal of
the State of Kerala for imposition of Cess on SGST for
rehabilitation and flood affected works was discussed in detail.
 The Council decided to constitute a 7-Member Group
of Ministers (GoM) to examine this issue in depth.
 Accordingly, the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun
Jaitley, has approved the constitution of a Group of
Ministers to examine the issue regarding ‘Modalities
for Revenue Mobilisation in case of Natural
Calamities and Disasters’.
 Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of
Bihar is the Convenor of the GoM.
Kolkata launches India’s first flood forecast system
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, with the support of the
Asian Development Bank, has launched the country’s first
flood forecasting and early-warning system.
 It will provide real-time data on inundation, rainfall
intensity, temperature, air quality and other climate-
related data
 This is expected to help policy-makers make
informed decisions during disasters.
Tripura to set up flute performance research institute
Tripura Government would set up a flute performance research
institute to take out the traditional musical act and its eminence
as a traditional musical instrument across the world, Chief
Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.
 The Chief Minister said there are a huge variety of
bamboo in Tripura and other northeastern states and
with this high quality bamboo, flute can be made to
sell them in the national and international markets.
President of India Inaugurates Mahatma Gandhi
International Sanitation Convention
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the
Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention in New
Delhi on September 29, 2018.
 Speaking on the occasion, the President said that
achieving universal access to adequate and equitable
sanitation and hygiene by 2030 is a major challenge
in many parts of the world.
 Drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene are central to
Sustainable Development Goal 6, especially targets
6.1, 6.2 and 6.3.
 Target 6.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals
calls for countries to end open defecation, ensure
 everyone has access to a basic toilet and put in place
systems for safe management of excreta.
PM inaugurates Conference on Academic Leadership on
Education for Resurgence
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the
Conference on Academic Leadership on Education for
Resurgence in Vigyan Bhawan in which the Vice-
Chancellors/Directors from more than 350 universities
participated.
 The conference was organized jointly by UGC,
AICTE, ICSSR, IGNCA, IGNOU, JNU and SGT
University.
 Union Minister for Human Resource Development
Shri Prakash Javadekar and MoS, HRD Dr Satya Pal
Singh were also present on the occasion.
 Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi said that when one thinks of
resurgence or revival, the first image that comes to
mind is of Swami Vivekananda, who presented before
the world, the strength of Indian thought.
Suresh Prabhu launched the World Bank Group’s regional
trade report
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation,
Suresh Prabhu, launched the World Bank Group’s regional
trade report “A Glass Half Full-The Promise of Regional Trade
in South Asia” at a seminar organised by FICCI in New Delhi.
 Speaking on this occasion the Minister said that the
potential for intra-trade growth in South Asia region
has not been fully tapped as yet.
 India’s top three trading partners in South Asia are
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
 India’s trade with South Asia is only 3% of its global
trade.
 Today India’s trade with the world stands at 637.4
billion USD but with South Asia it stands at only
19.1billion USD.
 Trade between India and Pakistan is a paltry USD 2
billion.
PM to launch India Post Payments Bank
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will launch the India
Post Payments Bank (IPPB) at Talkatora Stadium in New
Delhi on September 1st, 2018.
 On the day of the launch, IPPB will have 650
Branches and 3250 Access Points spread across the
country. Simultaneous launch events will be held at
these branches and access points.
  All the 1.55 lakh Post Offices in the country will be
linked to the IPPB system by December 31, 2018.
RBI cancels the licence of Bhilwara Mahila Urban Co-
operative Bank Ltd
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has cancelled the
licence of Bhilwara Mahila
Urban Co-operative Bank
Ltd., Bhilwara, Rajasthan to
carry on banking business,
with effect from the close of
business on August 31,
2018.
 The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Rajasthan
has also been requested to issue an order for winding
up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
 Consequent to the cancellation of its licence,
Bhilwara Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd.,
Bhilwara, Rajasthan is prohibited from conducting
the business of banking.
ITI Limited partners with startups to boost manufacturing
ITI Limited signed agreements with leading startups and
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) covering the
manufacturing of a wide range of ICT-IOT based solutions.
 These include civil and military advanced radar
systems, advanced edge router systems, next
generation 5G technology products, data storage and
networking solutions, digital security solutions,
advanced metering solutions, and wi-fi products and
solutions.
National Housing Bank offers Rs 200 cr refinance facility
to Kerala
To provide relief to the households having annual income up
to Rs 3 lakh in rural areas and up to Rs 6 lakh in urban areas in
the floods-hit state of Kerala, National Housing Bank (NHB)
has announced a refinance assistance of Rs 200 crore.
 This refinance facility would facilitate concessional
rate of interest for construction/repair and renovation
of houses, through primary lending institutions.
 Individual housing loans, which have been disbursed
on or after August 1, 2018 and till June 30, 2019 by
primary lending institutions in rural and urban areas
of Kerala, are covered under this assistance.
India on track to buy 18 bullet trains from Japan for Rs
7,000 crore
India will purchase 18 bullet train sets from Japan at a total cost
of about Rs 7,000 crore in a deal that includes a pledge to
transfer technology for local production.
  Each train will have 10 coaches and would be able to
cruise at the speed of 350 km per hour.
 The country’s first bullet train is likely to start running
between Mumbai and Ahmedabad by the end of 2022.
 The 508-km, high speed train corridor is being built
with Japanese assistance.
Cabinet doubles Jan Dhan accounts overdraft cap to Rs
10,000 from 5,000
Commenting on government's financial inclusion scheme,
Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley said in a significant move, the
cabinet today approved doubling Jan Dhan accounts overdraft
cap to Rs 10,000 from 5,000.
 The age for availing entitlements has also been
relaxed from 60 to 65 years.
 Jaitley also stated that around 83 per cent of accounts
opened in Jan Dhan are linked with Aadhar.
India and US Hold '2 + 2' Dialogue
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of
Defence Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed Secretary of State
Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis
to India on September 6, 2018 for the inaugural India-U.S.
Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.
 They welcomed the launch of the 2+2 Dialogue as a
reflection of the shared commitment by Prime
Minister Modi and President Trump to provide a
positive, forward-looking vision for the India-U.S.
strategic partnership.
 Two plus two meeting is a kind of dialogue
mechanism where two important portfolios (say,
Finance and Defence) of the countries taking part in
the meeting.
India and France sign an implementation agreement on
“MOBILISE YOUR CITY”
India and France have signed an implementation agreement on
“MOBILISE YOUR CITY” (MYC) in the presence of Minister
of State (I/C), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA)
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and Shri Alexander Ziegler,
Ambassador of France in India.
 Mobilise Your City (MYC) is part of an international
initiative which is supported by the French and the
German Governments and was launched at 21st
Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting in December,
2015.
 Based on a proposal made by AFD in 2015, the
European Union has agreed to provide funds of Euro
3.5 million through the AFD to contribute to specific
investments and technical assistance components
within the Mobilise Your City (MYC) programme in
India.
HDFC bank most valuable indian brand
Kantar Millward Brown unveiled the Top 75 Most Valuable
Indian Brands as part of its annual Brand Z report.
 HDFC Bank is 2018’s most valuable Indian brand
followed by one of the country’s oldest brands, LIC.
IT services major TCS took third place.
 The methodology of the study involved examining
both financial performance and extensive consumer
research.
RBI slaps Rs 1 cr fine each on UBI, BoI, Maharashtra Bank
The Reserve Bank in three separate releases said it has imposed
a penalty of Rs 1 crore each on the three banks of Union Bank
of India (UBI), Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra.
 The penalty has been imposed taking into account
delay on the part of the bank to detect and report fraud
in an account, it said.
NIIF inks $400 mn agreement with Singapore's Temasek
Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings has agreed to
invest $400 million in the National Infrastructure Investment
Fund (NIIF) in another bet on India’s infrastructure asset
management space.
 NIIF, touted as India’s first sovereign investment
vehicle anchored by the government, already has
investors such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
along with several large domestic financial
institutions.
 With the entry of Temasek, NIIF’s Master Fund is
now one of the largest infrastructure funds in India,
after IDFC Alternatives and ICICI Infrastructure
Fund.
LIC launches group insurance scheme for CDSL demat
account holders
Life Insurance Corporation
of India has signed an
agreement with Central
Depository Services (India)
to provide group insurance
coverage to all eligible demat account holders serviced through
depository participants associated with it.
 The facility will be available to demat account holders
between the age of 18 years and 59 years.
 CDSL serves more than 15.85 million demat
accounts, which is 48 per cent of the industry.
IPPB ties up with FSS
India Post Payments Bank has tied up with Financial Software
and Systems (FSS), a leading payments technology and
transaction processing systems, to offer a wide range of
banking solutions to financially underserved customer
segments—especially rural households, small and medium
enterprises and women.
  FSS will help India Post to provide affordable, quality
banking and payment services to its customers.
 It comprises of a comprehensive set of solutions to
bring customers and merchants into the digital
payments mainstream, generating critical network
effects for furthering adoption and usage.
NITI Aayog, Intel and TIFR collaborate for Model
International Center for Transformative AI
NITI Aayog, Intel, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(TIFR) announced on 7th September that they are collaborating
to set up a Model International Center for Transformative
Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) towards developing and
deploying AI-led application-based research projects.
 This initiative is part of NITI Aayog’s ‘National
Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ Discussion Paper
that focuses on establishing ICTAI in the country
through private sector collaboration.
 Based in Bengaluru, the Model ICTAI aims to
conduct advanced research to incubate AI-led
solutions in three important areas – healthcare,
agriculture and smart mobility – by bringing together
the expertise of Intel and TIFR.
 It aims to experiment, discover and establish best
practices in the domains of ICTAI governance,
fundamental research, physical infrastructure,
compute and service infrastructure needs, and talent
acquisition.
Cabinet approves MoU on blockchain technology by Exim
Bank
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) on Collaborative Research on
Distributed Ledger and Block chain Technology in the context
of Development of digital economy by Export-Import Bank of
India (Exim Bank).
 Participating member banks.under the BRICS
Interbank Cooperation Mechanism are namely Banco
Nacional de DesenvolvimentoEconomico e Social
(BNDES, of Brazil), China Development Bank
(CDB), State Corporation Bank for Development and
Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank, of
Russia) and Development Bank of Southern Africa
(DBSA).
 Distributed Ledger/Block chain technology holds
potential for solutions to various challenges being
faced in the financial sector space of the BRICS
nations.
 The MoU intends to enhance understanding of
Distributed Ledger/Block Chain technology, through
the joint research efforts to identify areas within
respective business operations where it may have the
 potential for applications aimed at enhancing the
operational efficiencies.
Federal Bank inks MOU with Infopark Kakkanad
Federal Bank, which is in the process of formation of a
wholly owned subsidiary company, has executed MOU with
Infopark Kakkanad for leasing space in their campus.
 The Bank has already obtained in principle approval
of the Reserve Bank of India for the creation of a
subsidiary company.
 The proposed company will integrate and handle all
the back-end operations of the Bank.
Reserve Bank licence for PayU to open NBFC arm
PayU India has received a licence from the Reserve Bank of
India to operate its own non-banking financial company, a
development that will provide a big boost to the Naspers-
owned fintech major in growing its consumer credit business.
 The NBFC, PayU Credit, which will be a subsidiary
of PayU, is the latest offering from the company that
looks to expand its suite of credit-focused offerings.
 PayU, according to company executives, has an
estimated 4,00,000 merchants on its platform.
RBI cancels licence of Tech Mahindra for issuing pre-paid
cards
The Reserve Bank has cancelled the licence of Tech Mahindra
Limited to issue pre-paid cards following the voluntary
surrender of authorisation by the Noida-based company.
 The certificate of authorisation (COA) was issued in
November 2013, the Reserve Bank said in a
statement.
 Following the cancellation of the COA, the company
cannot transact the business of pre-paid card issuance.
Iconic Time Magazine Sold for $190 Million in Cash
Time Magazine is being sold by Meredith Corp. to Marc
Benioff, a co-founder of Salesforce, and his wife.
 Meredith announced that it was selling Time
magazine for $190 million in cash to Benioff, one of
four co-founders of Salesforce.
 The Benioffs are purchasing Time personally, and the
transaction is unrelated to Salesforce.com, where
Benioff is chairman and co-CEO and co-founder.
Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank, BoB to merge: Govt
The government said state-owned Bank of Baroda, Vijaya
Bank and Dena Bank will be merged to create the country’s
third largest lender as part of efforts to revive credit and
economic growth.
 The move follows top lender State Bank of India last
year merging with itself five of its subsidiary banks
and taking over Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the merger will
make the banks stronger and sustainable as well as
increase their lending ability.
 This merger will create third largest bank in India.
Agreement signed between Heavy Water Board and
Greenstar Fertilizers Limited
An agreement has been
entered between Heavy
Water Board (HWB)
and Greenstar
Fertilizers Limited for
routing of phosphoric
acid through Solvent
Extraction Plant,
Tuticorin and supply of utilities and chemicals.
 Heavy Water Board, a constituent unit of DAE, has
diversified its activities and is pursuing bulk
production of various special materials required for
DAE.
 This includes Nuclear Grade Solvents, Enriched
Boron Compounds, Nuclear Grade Sodium and D
Labeled compounds.
 Greenstar Fertilizers Limited is a leading
manufacturer and marketer of fertilizers in India.
Greenstar manufactures phosphatic fertilizers at
Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.
India Post Payments Bank, Bajaj Allianz join hands ‘to
provide insurance to all’
State-owned India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and private life
insurer Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd (BALIC) have
entered into a strategic partnership to provide life insurance
solutions.
 This partnership will leverage IPPB’s last mile reach
for building awareness about life insurance.
 Both the companies came together to formally sign
the Corporate Agency Agreement.
ICICI Bank teams up with HealthAssure to offer tailor-
made facilities for NRI customers
ICICI Bank has tied up with health aggregator HealthAssure to
provide tailor-made healthcare services to the bank’s NRI Pro
and Premia savings account holders and their family members.
 With HealthAssure, customers will get a ‘Health
Pass’, a personal concierge facility with a host of
exclusive healthcare benefits in India.
 Benefits include discounts of up to 50 per cent on
check-ups and consultations with specialists at over
3,000 primary health-care centres in more than 1,000
cities in India.
India signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for US$
74 Million for Uttarakhand
 A Loan Agreement for IBRD Credit of US$74 million
equivalent for the Uttrakhand Workforce Development Project
(UKWDP) was signed with the World Bank.
 The Project objective is to improve the quality and
relevance of training at priority Industrial Training
Institutes (ITIs) and to increase the number of labor-
market-relevant workers through short term training
in Uttrakhand.
BRICS bank approves USD 525-million loan for infra
projects in Madhya Pradesh
The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries
has approved a USD 525-million loan to Madhya Pradesh for
infrastructure projects.
 The Board of Directors of the NDB approved a USD
350-million loan for the Major District Roads Project
II of Madhya Pradesh and USD 175 million for
building and upgrading 350 bridges.
PPF, NSC, other small savings to give higher interest
Small saving schemes such as Public Provident Fund (PPF),
National Savings Certificates and Post Office Deposit Scheme
will fetch more in the three months period starting October 1.
 PPF and NSC will earn interest at 8 per cent while
Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, which has a tenure
of five years, will fetch 8.7 per cent.
PNB drags Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power to NCLT
Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power Limited, a subsidiary of
Lanco Infratech Limited, now faces proceedings in the
National Company Law Tribunal with the Punjab National
Bank dragging it to the tribunal in Hyderabad for resolution.
 The diversified Lanco group’s woes seem to continue
with Lanco Infratech Limited already on liquidation
process and another group entity tackling legal
proceedings and the Vidharbha unit is now taken to
NCLT, Hyderabad.
 Petitioning the NCLT Hyderabad bench, the PNB has
pleaded to take the case for the Corporate Insolvency
Resolution Plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code.
IRDAI panel to examine fintech issues
IRDAI has constituted a committee, comprising its officials as
well as senior executives of a few insurers, to study regulatory
issues fin-tech poses for insurance.
 Besides in a fast evolving financial technology
landscape, the move comes amid the authority’s
emphasis on adopting a regulatory sandbox approach
to experiment with fin-tech solutions.
 With IRDAI Chief General Manager Randip Singh
Jagpal as the chairperson, the committee would
identify key regulatory issues and gaps pertaining to
fin-tech in insurance.
Jharkhand govt inks MoU with NICL for Ayushman State-run telecom firm BSNL has inked a pact with Japan's
Bharat Scheme Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet
The Jharkhand government has signed a Memorandum of of things technology in India.
Understanding (MoU) with National Insurance Company Ltd  Under the agreement with Softbank, BSNL will look
to provide medical facilities to the people of the state under the at collaborating with the Japanese firm for its satellite
Centre’s flagship health scheme – Ayushman Bharat Yojana. constellation
 The scheme will be launched nationally by Prime  BSNL has signed agreement with Nokia and Cisco as
Minister Narendra Modi from Ranchi on 23 well for developing 5G ecosystem.
September.
 As per information received, Jharkhand government Cabinet clears proposal to convert GSTN into govt entity
and National insurance company have signed a MoU The Union Cabinet
for quality and timely medical treatment to the cleared a proposal to
citizens. convert GST Network
(GSTN), which
Corporation Bank inks pact with NeSL provides IT
Corporation Bank has signed an information utility (IU) infrastructure for the
agreement with National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) to new indirect tax
share financial and security information under IBBI (IU) regime, into a 100 per cent government-owned company.
Regulation 2017.  Briefing about the decisions taken in the Cabinet
 NeSL serve the needs of the banking system by meeting, the finance minister said after restructuring
providing data to insolvency professionals, of GSTN, ownership will be equally divided between
adjudicating authority and the Insolvency and the Centre and states.
Bankruptcy Board of India.  Shares for each state will be worked on pro-rata basis.
 Currently, the Centre and states together hold 49 per
BSNL inks deal with Softbank, NTT to roll out 5G, IoT cent stake in the GST Network.
service  The remaining 51 per cent is held by five private
financial institutions -- HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd,
 ICICI Bank Ltd, NSE Strategic Investment Co and
LIC Housing Finance Ltd.
Axis Bank, VCAT tie up to provide banking services to
start-up firms
Private sector lender Axis Bank has tied up with Venture
Catalysts (VCAT) to provide corporate banking services to
start-up companies.
 As an added benefit, Axis Bank will also waive off
banking transaction fee for the first two years for
start-ups at the bootstrapping stage.
 As part of the tie-up, VCAT will provide mentoring
to hone business ideation, apart from incubating and
providing support to upcoming start-ups.
India, Japan sign Agreement for Construction of Mumbai-
Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project
Two Loan Agreements were signed between India and Japan
on Japanese Official Development Assistance loan for
Construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project
(I) of Yen 89.457 billion (Rs.5591 crore approx.) and Kolkata
East-West Metro Project (III) of Yen 25.903 billion (Rs.1619
crore approx.).
 India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of
bilateral development cooperation since 1958.
 In the last few years, the economic cooperation
between India and Japan has steadily progressed.
 This further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic
and Global Partnership between India and Japan.
Rail Heritage Digitisation Project of Indian Railways in
collaboration with Google Arts & Culture
Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal has
launched “Rail Heritage Digitisation Project” of Indian
Railways in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture here
today through video-conferencing.
 The project is a landmark effort, first of its kind in this
part of the globe, to showcase country’s Rail Heritage
to National and International audience in an online
story-telling platform.
MoHUA partners with Google to launch #LooReview
Campaign
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of
Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM – U), has partnered
with Google to launch the Loo Review campaign to encourage
all local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on
Google Maps.
 This campaign is part of a feature which allows all
citizens to locate public toilets in their cities on
Google Maps, Search and the Assistant and also
provide feedback on the same.
  500+ cities in India with more than 30,000 toilets with The RBI has barred the bank from opening new branches and
the name of “SBM Toilet” are currently live on put a freeze on the remuneration of Bandhan Bank MD and
Google Maps. CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh.
 One of the objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission  The bank can open branches with the prior approval
– Urban (SBM - U) is to provide sanitation coverage of the RBI.
through public toilet facilities across cities in India for  The RBI pulled up Bandhan Bank for its failure to
achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. bring down the promoter holding to 40 per cent, as
 With around 3400cities already having achieved ODF mandated in the licensing norms for universal banks.
status, and other cities gearing up towards the same,
there is now a need to ensure that the ODF status is
sustained through continuous usage and proper
maintenance of public toilets.
RBI clears Rana Kapoor’s reappointment as YES Bank
NITI Aayog and Oracle sign a Statement of Intent to pilot
MD
drug supply-chain using blockchain.
The Reserve Bank of
In order to fight the growing problem of counterfeit drugs in
India gave its approval
India, NITI Aayog and Oracle signed a Statement of Intent
for the re-appointment
(SoI) to pilot a real drug supply-chain using blockchain
of Rana Kapoor “till
distributed ledger and Internet of Things (IoT) software.
further notice” as the
 Apollo Hospitals and Strides Pharma Sciences will Managing Director and
partner in this effort. CEO of the Yes bank.
 The major advantages of blockchain software will be  However, the bank’s shareholders had proposed re-
its ability to allow the sharing of information across appointment of Kapoor for a three-year term from
the drug supply chain securely. September 1.

RBI bars Bandhan Bank from opening branches Sunil Mehta elected IBA Chairman
Sunil Mehta, Managing Director and CEO, Punjab National
Bank, was elected as the Chairman of Indian Banks’
Association (IBA) for the year 2018-19 at the association’s
managing committee meeting held on August 31.
 Dinabandhu Mohapatra, Managing Director and
CEO, Bank of India, has been elected as IBA’s
Deputy Chairman.
R Madhavan assumes charge as HAL CMD
R Madhavan took over as Chairman and Managing Director of
defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from T
Suvarna Raju.
 Prior to this, he was heading the Accessories Division
of HAL at Lucknow as an Executive Director.
Binoy Kumar Assumes Charge of Secretary in Steel
Ministry
Binoy Kumar, IAS (TG:83) has taken over as Secretary,
Ministry of Steel, Government of India.
 He had been posted as Officer on Special Duty in the
Ministry since 21st May 2018.
 Prior to this, Binoy Kumar held the post of Special
Secretary, Logistics, in the Department of Commerce,
where he continued to hold additional charge till 31st
July 2018.
Tahira Safdar becomes first woman to head a Pakistan
high court
Justice Tahira Safdar was sworn in on as the first woman chief
justice of a Pakistani high court.
 Justice Safdar was sworn in as the chief justice of
Balochistan High Court at a ceremony held at the
Governor House in Balochistan.
 She made history in 1982 when she became the first
woman civil judge in Balochistan.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi to take charge as the new Chief
Justice of India
Justice Ranjan Gogoi is
set to take over as the new
Chief Justice of India on
October 3, 2018.
 His name has
been
recommended for the post by Chief Justice of India
Dipak Misra to the government.
 Justice Gogoi is expected to take oath on October 3.
He is slated to retire on November 17, 2019.
ICICI Bank reappoints Chanda Kochhar on board of
ICICI Securities
ICICI Bank has reappointed Chanda Kochhar as a director on
the board of ICICI Securities during its annual general meeting.
  This, for all intents and purposes, finalises Kochhar's
another stint at the ICICI Securities board, as the
ICICI Bank holds 80 per cent stake in its broking arm.
 Kochhar has been on leave since July 19, following
an independent probe initiated by ICICI Bank into
allegations of conflict of interest levelled against her.
Arif Alvi elected new Pakistan president
Dr Arif Alvi, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan and
one of the founding members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
party, was elected as the new President of Pakistan.
 The 69-year-old former dentist defeated Pakistan
Peoples Party candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and the
Pakistan Muslim League-N nominee Maulana Fazl ur
Rehman in a three-way contest to become the 13th
president.
 Of the 430 votes cast via a secret ballot in the National
Assembly and Senate, Alvi received 212 votes.
India retains WHO Regional Director position
India has retained the top WHO position in South-East Asia
Region with DrPoonam Khetrapal Singh unanimously re-
elected as Regional Director for another five-year term
beginning February 2019.
 The elections were held at the ongoing Regional
Committee meeting of WHO South-East Asia.
 Dr Singh is the first woman to have been elected to
the position of Regional Director for WHO South-
East Asia Region after an illustrious career in the
Indian civil service, World Bank and WHO.
SIAM Elects Rajan Wadhera As New President
The Executive Committee of the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM), the apex body of the Indian
automotive industry, elected Rajan Wadhera as its new
President.
 He is also the President - Automotive Sector,
Mahindra & Mahindra.
 He succeeds Abhay Firodia, Chairman, Force Motors
Ltd.
 Wadhera has been SIAM's Vice President till now.
Bimal Jalan heads panel to select next CEA
The government has appointed a panel under former Reserve
Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan to select the next chief
economic adviser in the finance ministry.
 Apart from Jalan, secretary of the department of
personnel and training C Chandramouli and economic
affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg will be
members of the panel.
 Current CEA Arvind Subramanian resigned from his
post before his tenure ends in May 2019 citing
personal reasons.
Amitabh Chaudhry appointed CEO & MD of Axis Bank
Ending the speculation around the appointment of its next head
once Shikha Sharma demits office, Axis Bank chose Amitabh
Chaudhry, 54, as the next CEO.
 He will take over as MD & CEO for 3 years from
January 1, 2019 and will remain in office till
December 31, 2021.
 Chaudhry has been with HDFC Standard Life since
January 2010 and is widely credited for the insurance
company's sucessful IPO earlier this year.
SBI appoints Anshula Kant as Managing Director
State Bank of India has said the Government has appointed
Anshula Kant as Managing Director of the Bank.
 The appointment is with effect from the date of Kant
taking over charge of the post and till the date of her
attaining the age of superannuation.
 Prior this appointment, Kant was the bank's Deputy
Managing Director.
 With this appointment SBI now has four MDs - PK
Gupta, DK Khara and Arijit Basu.
Alibaba's Jack Ma to hand chairman's role to CEO Daniel
Zhang next year
Jack Ma will step down as executive chairman of Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd. in exactly 12 months time with Chief
Executive Officer Daniel Zhang to succeed him at Asia’s most
valuable company.
 Jack will remain on the board until Alibaba’s annual
meeting of shareholders in 2020
 A former English teacher, Jack Ma started
Alibaba.com in 1999 as a business-to-business
marketplace with 17 co-founders.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi appointed as next Chief Justice of
India
The President of India has appointed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as
the next Chief Justice of India.
 He will assume the office of Chief Justice on 3rd
October, 2018 after the retirement of the current
Chief Justice, Justice Dipak Misra.
 He was appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab &
Haryana High Court on 12th February, 2011.
 He was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court
of India on 23rd April, 2012.
Vibha Padalkar appointed HDFC Life MD and CEO
HDFC Standard Life Insurance has appointed Vibha Padalkar
as its new Managing Director and CEO for a period of three
years.
 Before her elevation, Padalkar was the insurer’s
Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer.
  Her elevation comes after Amitabh Chaudhry
resigned as the chief of HDFC Standard Life
Insurance to join Axis Bank as Managing Director
and CEO.
National Insurance gets new CMD
Tajinder Mukherjee has been appointed as the new Chairman
and Managing Director of National Insurance Company
Limited (NIC).
 She took charge from September 14.
 Prior to her joining the NIC, she was the General
Manager and Chief Underwriting Officer of New
India Assurance.
Prashant Kumar takes charge as SBI CFO
State Bank of India said Prashant Kumar has taken charge as
the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Bank.
 Before Kumar, Anshula Kant, who has been
promoted as Managing Director of SBI, was the CFO.
 Prior to this appointment, Kumar was designated as
Deputy Managing Director (HR) & Corporate
Development Officer of India's largest bank.
Moutaz Mousa Abdallah becomes Sudan’s new PM
Moutaz Mousa Abdallah has become the Sudan’s new Prime
Minister. A 21-member cabinet was sworn in at the presidential
palace in Khartoum.
 Mousa Abdallah is also holding the finance portfolio
in a bid to revive the country’s ailing economy.
 Sudan has been grappling with an acute foreign
exchange shortage and inflation above 65 percent for
several months.
Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma signed as
ambassadors of Skill India Campaign
Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma have been signed on to
promote and endorse the Skill India Mission, chaired by the
Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
 Varun and Anushka will dedicate time to promote
India's skilled talent and their fine work by engaging
with them across different parts of the country.
Govt appoints MDs, CEOs in ten nationalised banks
Cabinet committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has appointed MDs and CEOs of ten state-owned banks.
These are:
 Mrutyunjay Mahapatra: Syndicate Bank
 Padmaja Chundru: Indian Bank
 Pallav Mohapatra: Central Bank of India
 J Packirisamy: Andhra Bank
 Karnam Shekhar: Dena Bank
 S S Mallikarjuna Rao has been appointed MD and
CEO of Allahabad Bank
  A S Rajeev: Bank of Maharashtra.
 Atul Kumar Goel: UCO Bank
 S Harishankar: Punjab & Sind Bank
 Ashok Kumar Pradhan: United Bank of India.
Govt appoints four members to local boards of RBI
Rakesh Jain and Sachin Chaturvedi are among four people
appointed members in local boards of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI).
 Jain and Chaturvedi have been appointed as member
in Southern local board and Eastern local board of the
central bank.
 Revathy Iyer and Raghvendra Narayan Dubey have
been appointed as member in Northern local board of
the central bank.
Kalraj Mishra appointed chairman of House panel
on defence
A Former minister in the Narendra Modi government, Kalraj
Mishra, replaced former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhuvan
Chandra Khanduri as the chairman of the parliamentary
Standing Committee on Defence.
 There are 24 parliamentary standing committees, of
these 16 are under the administrative control of the
Lok Sabha and eight under the Rajya Sabha.
Jaya Prada appointed goodwill ambassador for Nepal
tourism
Former Member of Parliament and Bollywood actress Jaya
Prada has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the
promotion of Nepal tourism.
 The appointment is for a period of four years.
 Tourism is an important source of revenue and
employment generation in Nepal. India is the biggest
source market for Nepal tourism.
 The Nepal government has also decided to observe
the year 2020 as the 'Visit Nepal Year' and has set a
target of attracting two million international visitors.
B. S. Mubarak appointed as next Ambassador of India to
Republic of Guatemala
Shri B. S. Mubarak (IFS:2001) has been appointed as the next
Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guatemala.
 He is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He
is presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External
Affairs.
Anil Kumar Chaudhary appointed as new SAIL chairman
Anil Kumar Chaudhary has been appointed as the new
chairman of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
 Chaudhary, at present, has been serving as the
Director (Finance) in the country's largest steel
making company.
  The post of SAIL chairman fell vacant on June 30
with the retirement of P K Singh.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih wins presidency polls in Maldives
Maldivian presidential challenger Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has
beaten incumbent Abdulla Yameen.
 Results released by the Elections Commission
showed Solih had secured 58.3 percent of the popular
vote as opposed to the incumbent, President Yameen,
who garnered less than 42 percent of the votes.
SC constitutes committee over prison reforms
The Supreme Court has constituted a three-member committee
to recommend measures on prison reforms.
 The committee, headed by apex court's Justice (retd.)
Amitava Roy will look into the problems in prisons
across the country and suggest measures to tackle
them.
 Government officials will also assist the committee
and submit a report before the top court in a stipulated
time period.
Anil Khosla to be appointed as new Vice Chief of Air Force
Air Marshal Anil Khosla will be appointed as the new Vice
Chief of the Indian Air Force.
 Air Marshal R Nambiar, who is currently serving as
the Deputy Air Chief, is all set to be designated as the
Commander-in-Chief of Eastern Air command which
is headquartered at Shillong.
 The position of Commander-in-Chief of Western Air
Command, on the other hand, will be handed over to
Air Marshal HS Arora.
Rajni Kant Misra appointed BSF chief, S S Deswal to head
SSB
Senior IPS officers Rajni Kant Misra and S S Deswal were
appointed director general of the Border Security Force (BSF)
and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) respectively.
 Misra, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh
cadre, is at present serving as the SSB chief.
 Deswal, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Haryana
cadre, will head the SSB in place of Misra.
Govt constitutes Lokpal search committee
The Centre constituted an eight-member search committee, to
be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana
Prakash Desai, to recommend the chairperson and members of
the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
 The search committee is a major step towards setting
up of the Lokpal. The committee will start its
functioning soon.
Vikram Misri next ambassador to China
The government has notified that Vikram Misri would be the
new Indian envoy to Beijing.
 A 1989-batch IFS, Misri is presently the Ambassador
of India to Myanmar.
 He would be taking over the responsibility from
Gautam Bambawale, who retires this year.
Ajit Mohan appointed Facebook India MD
Facebook has announced the appointment of Ajit Mohan as the
Managing Director and Vice President of of its India wing.
 Ajit has served as chief executive of Hotstar, a
streaming platform owned by Twenty-First Century
Fox’s Star India arm, since April 2016
Mumbai neurosurgeon named for Dr B.C. Roy award
Eminent neurosurgeon Dr B.K.
Misra has been named for this
year's prestigious Dr B.C. Roy
National Award as an Eminent
Medical Person of the Year.
 The highest medical
honour of India,
instituted by the Medical Council of India in 1962, it
will be given away by President Ram Nath Kovind on
July 1 next year, the National Doctors Day.
Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das receive Bharatiya Manavata
Vikas Puraskar
Actors Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das were among 13 others
who were awarded the Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar for
their contribution to the society and championing the cause of
equity, social justice and human welfare.
 Organised by private media company Daily Indian
Media, the ceremony witnessed eminent personalities
from politics, business, academics and entertainment.
'Sarala Puraskar' for poet Satrughna Pandav
Noted Odia poet Satrughna Pandav will be honoured with the
prestigious 'Sarala Puraskar' for his poetry collection 'Misra
Dhrupad'.
 The 'Sarala Puraskar' was instituted by eminent Odia
industrialist late Dr Bansidhar Panda and late Ila
Panda in 1979 and awarded by the Indian Metals
Public Charitable Trust(IMPaCT).
 The 39th edition of the award was announced by the
Sarala Puraskar Committee at its meeting.
India-born student Rajalakshmi Nandakumar to get 2018
‘Young Scholar’ award
Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, an India-born woman scholar in the
US, has been chosen for a prestigious award for her work to
help detect potentially life-threatening health issues using
smartphones.
 She has been selected for the 2018 Marconi Society
Paul Baran Young Scholar award.
 Nandakumar, studying at the University of
Washington, has created a technology that turns an
ordinary smartphone into an active sonar system
capable of detecting physiological activities, such as
movement and respiration, without requiring physical
contact with the device.
Manoj Jhalani, AS & MD (NHM) selected for UNIATF
Award
Shri Manoj Jhalani, Additional Secretary & Mission Director
(NHM), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been
conferred with the prestigious UN Interagency Task Force
(UNIATF) Award for his outstanding contribution towards
prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
and related Sustainable Development Goals.
 It is in recognition of Government of India’s efforts
made in the field of prevention and control of Non-
Communicable Diseases.
 National Programme to control NCDs has been scaled
up by more than eight times in the past four years and
covers all the 36 States/Union Territories now.
Poet, writer Sawai Singh Shekhawat to be honoured with
Meera Puruskar
Jaipur-based poet and writer Sawai Singh Shekhawat will be
honoured with Meera Puruskar by Rajasthan Sahitya
Academy for his contribution to Hindi literature.
 President of the academy Indushekhar Tatpurush
informed that Shekhawat was selected for the Meera
award, which is the highest award of the academy.
6 AAI-run airports bag international awards
Six aerodromes of the Airports Authority of India have bagged
seven international awards.
 The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017
were presented by the Airports Council International
(ACI) at the Customer Excellence Global Summit at
Halifax, Canada, on September 12.
 The winning airports are Lucknow, Indore,
Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune airports.
PNB wins Hindi implementation award
State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) bagged the “Rajbhasha
Kirti” award for outstanding performance in implementing the
Official Language Policy during 2017-18.
 The award, under the category of ‘Nationalised Banks
and Financial Institutions in Region A’, was presented
by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu to PNB Chief
Executive and MD Sunil Mehta.
Dr. Raghupati Singhania conferred with civilian honour of  The second gold award came for an innovative poster
Mexico Kerala Tourism had developed for the third edition of
Chairman and MD, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd., Dr. Raghupati the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB).
Singhania has been conferred with 'Mexican Order of the Aztec
Eagle', the highest honour accorded to non-nationals by the Delhi airport gets top honour at ASQ Awards 2017
Government of Mexico. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has bagged
 Melba Pría, Ambassador of Mexico to India presented the title of Best Airport to handle over 40 million passengers
the award to Dr. Singhania on behalf of the President per annum (MPPA) by the Airport Service Quality (ASQ)
of Mexico on the eve of 128th National Day of Awards 2017.
Mexico.  According to the statement, the Delhi airport is now
 The top honor is in recognition of Dr. Singhania's the seventh busiest airports in Asia and among the top
exemplary leadership, his noteworthy services 20 busiest airports across the world.
towards humanity and his efforts to strengthen
bilateral ties between India and Mexico. INSV Tarini crew bestowed with Tenzing Norgay Award
All-women crew of INSV Tarini has bagged the prestigious
Kerala Tourism wins two Pacific Asia Travel Association Tenzing Norgay National Adventure award for beating the
gold awards odds in water with their enduring skills and sailing across the
Kerala Tourism walked world for eight long months.
away with two  The award is the highest national recognition for
prestigious gold awards outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on
of the Pacific Asia land, sea and air.
Travel Association  The women Navy officers had spent as many as 194
(PATA) for its days at sea as part of a mission under the Navika Sagar
innovative marketing campaigns. Parikrama project that began in September last year.
 Kerala Tourism got the first gold for its 'Yalla Kerala'  The crew was also bestowed with Nav Sena Medal on
travel advertisement print media campaign in the Gulf the occasion of 72nd Independence Day.
countries.
Kohli, Chanu to receive Khel Ratna on September 25 Lucknow Metro First From India To Get This
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and world champion International Award
weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will receive the prestigious Rajiv The Lucknow Metro Rail
Gandhi Khel Ratna on September 25, the sports ministry Corporation (LMRC) has
announced. become the first ever
The list of awardees: metro rail corporation
 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Virat Kohli and from India to bag the
Mirabai Chanu. International 'Royal
 Arjuna Awards: Neeraj Chopra, Jinson Johnson and Society For The
Hima Das (athletics); N. Sikki Reddy (badminton); Prevention Of Accidents' (RoSPA) Award.
Satish Kumar (boxing); Smriti Mandhana (cricket);  LMRC has been given the Silver Award for its Phase
Shubhankar Sharma (golf); Manpreet Singh and 1A (North-South Corridor) in the
Savita (hockey); Ravi Rathore (polo); Rahi Sarnobat, Project/Infrastructure category for the year 2018.
Ankur Mittal and Shreyasi Singh (shooting); Manika
Batra and G. Sathiyan (table tennis); Rohan Bopanna Assamese film Village Rockstars is India’s official entry to
(tennis); Sumit (wrestling); Pooja Kadian (wushu); Oscars 2019
Ankur Dhama (para-athletics); Manoj Sarkar (para- Assamese film Village Rockstars is India’s official entry for
badminton). Oscars 2019 in the Best Foreign Language film category.
 Dronacharya Awards: C. A. Kuttappa (boxing);  The announcement was made by the Film Federation
Vijay Sharma (weightlifting); A. Srinivasa Rao (table of India (FFI).
tennis); Sukhdev Singh Pannu (athletics); Clarence  The Rima Das film was also named Best Feature Film
Lobo (hockey, lifetime); Tarak Sinha (cricket, at the 65th National Film Awards.
lifetime); Jiwan Kumar Sharma (judo, lifetime); V. R.
Beedu (athletics, lifetime). AP, Odisha & Madhya Pradesh are Three Best Performing
 Dhyan Chand Awards: Satyadev Prasad (archery); States in Ease of Living Index
Bharat Kumar Chetry (hockey); Bobby Aloysius
(athletics); Chougale Dadu Dattatray (wrestling).
Andhra Pradesh has topped the charts among States in terms of
“Ease of Living Index” rankings launched by the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
 It was followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
 The three States were awarded best performing
States at the National Dissemination Workshop on
Ease of Living Index, 2018.
Croatia’s Luka Modric wins FIFA Best Men's Player of the
Year award
Real Madrid and Croatian midfielder Luka Modric ended a
decade-long dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
on the FIFA Best Men's Player Award as he take the trophy at
an award ceremony in London.
 Modric had a brilliant summer where he helped Real
Madrid win a record third consecutive Champions
League title and then went on to guide Croatia to their
first ever World Cup final.
 Croatia came up short in the final losing 4-2 to young
French team but Modric was award the Best Player of
the tournament award.
PM Modi gets UN's 'Champions of the Earth' award
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded with the
UN’s highest environmental honour, bestowed upon five other
individuals and organisations, for his leadership of the
International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use
plastic in India by 2022.
 Six of the world’s most outstanding environmental
changemakers have been recognised with the
Champions of the Earth Award, the UN’s highest
environmental honour.
 French President Emmanuel Macron and Modi have
been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership
category for their pioneering work in championing the
International Solar Alliance.
 Cochin International Airport has also been honoured
this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision,
for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy.
AAI’s Ahmedabad and Indore Airports awarded as Best
Airports under National Tourism Awards
Airports Authority of
India’s Devi Ahilya Bai
Holkar Airport, Indore
and Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel International
Airport, Ahmedabad
were conferred with the
prestigious National Tourism Awards 2016-17 at a glittering
award function on World Tourism Day.
 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport,
Ahmedabad received the Best Airport Award in
 Major Cities category and Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Japan's swimmer Ikee named Asian Games' MVP
Airport, Indore received the Best Airport Award in Japan's young swimmer Rikako Ikee was named the 2018
‘Rest of India’ category for promotion of Tourism at Indonesia Asian Games' Most Valuable Player (MVP) after
these airports. winning 6 gold and 2 silver medals.
 The award was presented by Minister of State  The 18-year-old Japanese won the 50m and 100m
(Independent Charge) for Tourism, Shri K.J. Alphons. freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly as well as the
4x100m freestyle and medley relays.
 The teenager is the first female winner of the award,
which has been presented at every Games since the
1998 edition in Bangkok.
Asian Games 2018: India finish with 69 medals
India finishes 8th with a Alastair Cook retires from international cricket
final tally of 69 medals – Alastair Cook, England's leading Test run-scorer, is to retire
15 gold, 24 silver and 30 from international cricket after fifth Test against India, the 33-
bronze, at Asian Games year-old has annoucned.
2018.  Cook, who will play his 161st test on 7 September, is
 China topped the sixth highest scorer in test cricket with 12,254
the tally with runs, including 32 centuries.
289 medals  The left-handed opening batsman captained England
including 132 gold. in 59 tests.
 Japan finishes second while Republic of Korea
secured third place. Subramaniam Badrinath Retires From All Forms Of
 The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the 18th Cricket
Asian Games were held in Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Former India and Tamil Nadu batsman Subramaniam
from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in the Badrinath has announced his retirement from all forms of
Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang. cricket.
  With 7,850 runs under his belt, Badrinath finished as
the sixth-highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy.
 His career-best being the 250 that he scored against
Mumbai in 2009.
 The 38-year-old batsman scored 10,245 first-class
runs from 145 games, including 32 centuries.
Fast bowler RP Singh retires from cricket
Former India fast bowler
RP Singh has announced
his retirement from
Cricket.
 His international
career spanned
six years and the
pacer played 82 matches across all three formats and
picked up over 100 wickets.
 He was one of the heroes of India’s 2007 World T20
triumph and played a major role in India’s Test win
over Australia at Perth in that year.
India Blue win Duleep Trophy
India Blue thrashed defending champion India Red by an
innings and 187 runs in the final to win the Duleep Trophy.
 Spinners Deepak Jagbir Hooda (5 for 56) and Saurabh
Kumar (5 for 51) needed just 10.5 overs on the fourth
day to bundle out India Red for 172 in the second
innings.
 The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket
competition played in India.
 It is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji.
Assam government makes Hima Das as Sports
Ambassador of state
Assam government has made Asian Games medalist Hima Das
as the Sports Ambassador of the state.
 Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal has handed over
the letter to Hima at a function in Guwahati.
 The Chief Minister also announced to develop 500
village stadiums in the state.
US Open 2018: Novak Djokovic beats Juan Martin del
Potro to win title
Novak Djokovic produced an impeccable performance to beat
Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final and win his 14th
Grand Slam title.
 The 31-year-old Serb won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to earn
his third triumph in New York and equal American
great Pete Sampras' haul of major trophies.
 Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in July, will climb to
fourth in the world after back-to-back Grand Slam
victories.
  Only great rivals Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal
(17) have won more.
Osaka claims US Open title after beating Serena
Naomi Osaka became Japan's first Grand Slam singles
champion by thumping Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in a
controversial U.S. Open final.
 Williams was given a game penalty for her outburst,
which followed racquet smashing and another code
violation as Osaka won 6-2 6-4 in New York.
 Osaka, 20, kept her focus to become the first Japanese
to win a Grand Slam.
Sardar Singh announces retirement from
international hockey
Former India Hockey captain Sardar Singh has announced his
retirement from international hockey after an illustrious career
spanning 12 years.
 The 32-year-old made over 350 international
appearances for India and captained the national team
for eight long years from 2008 to 2016.
 He received the Arjuna award in 2012 and Padma Shri
in 2015.
Mumbai Marathon gets IAAF gold label
The Tata Mumbai Marathon, to be held on January 20, 2019,
was accorded the gold label by the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF).
 The 16th edition of the race became the only gold
label marathon in the country and joined the elite list
of marathons in Asia.
 The USD 405,000 event is set to witness over 46,000
participants running across six race categories.
SAFF Cup: Maldives beats India 2-1 to win title
India's quest for an eighth South Asian Football Federation
Cup title ended as it suffered a 1-2 defeat against Maldives in
the summit clash.
 India, the defending champions, largely dominated
the match with better ball possession and more shots
at the opposition goal but the Maldives team scored
from the few chances it got to lift the winners' trophy
for the second time.
 Maldives had also won the title in 2008 edition which
it co-hosted.
India to host the Women’s Boxing World C’ships
The Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by
India after more than a decade, will be held from November
15-24, 2018, in New Delhi.
  The teams will have to be in the national capital by
November 13, with the competition starting two days
later.
 The marquee tournament was last held in India in
2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of
performance.
 India had topped the medal tally with four Gold, three
Silver and one Bronze medal.
 Shikhar Dhawan was declared Man of the tournament
while Liton Das was declared man of the match.
 The first Asia cup was held in 1984 in Sharjah. India
is the most successful team in the history of the Asia
cup, winning it 7 times.

8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship Jain monk Tarun Sagar passes away at 51
Thiruvananthapuram is all Popular Jain monk Tarun
set to play host to the 8th Sagar passed away at
Asian Yoga Sports Radhapuri Jain Temple in
Championship, which will east Delhi after a prolonged
be held at the Jimmy illness. He was 51.
George indoor stadium  Born on 1967 in
from September 27 to 30. Madhya Pradesh’s
 The event will Damoh as Pawan Kumar Jain, he chose to live the life
witness around 500 participants representing 14 Asian a monk at a tender age of 13 after getting inspired by
countries showcasing their yoga skills. the sermons of another popular monk Acharya
Pushpdant Sagar.
India pip Bangladesh to win Asia Cup for 7th time  Tarun Sagar, unlike other Jain monks, openly
India beat Bangladesh by three wickets to win their seventh interacted with politicians and has delivered sermons
Asia Cup title in a pulsating last-ball finish. at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 2010
 Chasing 223 runs to win, India scored the winning run and in Haryana Legislative Assembly in 2016.
of the last ball of the match.
Former footballer Arthur Pereira dead
Former Maharashtra football player Arthur Pereira died in
Mumbai. He was 70.
 Pereira toured Russia as a striker with the Indian team
in 1971.
 He also represented Maharashtra in the national
championships for the Santosh Trophy from 1971 to
1976.
Writer Brij Katyal passes away
Veteran film writer Brij Katyal, who penned the story of Shashi
Kapoor-Nanda hit “Jab Jab Phool Khile”, passed away at a
hospice in suburban Bandra.
 One of the most accomplished writers of the film
industry, Katyal also has writing credits to his name
in many TV serials such as “Dillagi”, “Saans” and
“Pal Chhin”, both directed by Neena Gupta.
 His stint in movies also include “Ajooba” and “Yeh
Raat Phir Na Aayegi”, among others.
India’s first woman IAS officer Anna Malhotra dies at 92
India’s first woman IAS officer post-Independence, Anna
Rajam Malhotra, died at her residence in suburban Andheri.
She was 91.
 Malhotra joined the civil services in 1951 and opted
for the Madras cadre.
 She married R N Malhotra, who served as the
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1985 to
1990.
 She is also known for her contribution in setting up
the country’s modern port Jawaharlal Nehru Port
Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai. She was the chairperson
of the JNPT during the execution.
Former Union minister Shantaram Potdukhe passes away
Former Union minister and Congress leader Shantaram
Potdukhe died at a hospital following brief illness. He was 86.
 Potdukhe was a Union minister of state for finance in
the Narasimha Rao-led government.
 He was a four-time MP from Chandrapur in eastern
Maharashtra.
Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passes away
Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passed away after a long battle with
kidney cancer. She was 64.
 Kalpana Lajmi was known for directing acclaimed
movies like Rudaali, Darmiyaan and Daman.
 Kalpana’s last directorial was the 2006 film Chingari.
Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang passes away
Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang, one of the country’s top
three leaders, died after an illness. He was 61.
  Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led  He said that Shri Naidu laid emphasis on
by the president, prime minister and Communist Party responsibility (Karyabhaar), above all else.
chief.
 Quang was appointed to the role in April, 2016. Vice President Releases Book ‘Constitutionalizing India:
an Ideational Project’
Pandit Tulsidas Borkar passes away The Vice President of
The legendary harmonium artiste Pandit Tulsidas Borkar India, Shri M. Venkaiah
passed away in Mumbai on 28 September 2018, after a brief Naidu has said that we
illness. He was 83. should salute the
 Born in Borim, Goa, on 18 November 1934, Borkar constitution-framers for
was conferred the Padma Shri in 2016 for his giving us a constitution
contributions to Indian music. that strengthened
parliamentary democracy
and stood the test of times, even as it evolved through several
amendments.
 He was addressing the gathering after releasing the
Book ‘Constitutionalizing India: an Ideational
PM releases book to mark one year in office of Vice Project’ authored by Shri Bidyut Chakrabarty.
President Venkaiah Naidu  The book reveals how the ideas with completely
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, released the book different socio-economic roots competed with each
“Moving On, Moving Forward – A Year in Office” to mark other in the making of a Constitution which was
one year in office of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. acceptable to all.
 He also presented the first copy of the book to the
Vice President of India.
 Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that
he had the opportunity to work with Shri Venkaiah
Naidu for several years.
 China
Current Affairs Quiz
Netherlands

Q:1 In which of the following city the Prime Minister, Shri Q:3 Who is the Minister of State for AYUSH?
Narendra Modi, jointly inaugurated the Pashupatinath
Dharmashala with the Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri K.P. Oli?
Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Banaras
Shripad Yesso Naik

Mathura
Narendra Singh Tomar

Kathmandu
Jual Oram

Kirtipur
Inderjit Singh Rao

Janakpur Q:4 What is the Growth percent of GDP in real terms in Q1

of 2018-19?
Q:2 Fourth International Ayurveda Congress held in which of
the following country?
7.8

India
8.4

Russia
8.0

Japan
 7.6 Parvez Ahmad

8.2 Chandra Shekhar Ghosh

Q:5 On which of the following date the Prime Minister Q:7 Who has been elected as the Chairman of Indian Banks’
Narendra Modi has launched the India Post Payments Bank Association (IBA) for the year 2018-19?
(IPPB) at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi?
Dinabandhu Mohapatra
September 3rd, 2018
Aditya Puri
September 2nd, 2018
Sunil Mehta
September 1st, 2018
Shikha Sharma
August 31st, 2018
Kishor Kharat
August 30th, 2018
Q:8 Who has been named for this year's prestigious Dr B.C.
Q:6 Who has been re-appointmented as the Managing Roy National Award as an Eminent Medical Person of the
Director and CEO of the Yes bank? Year?

Rana Kapoor Dr B.K. Misra

Rajiv Lall Dr A. G. K. Gokhale

Kishor Kharat Dr S Natarajan

 Dr Naresh Trehan Hyderabad

Dr M G Bhat Chennai

Q:9 On the day of the launch how many branches IPPB had Q:11 Where did 6th East Asia Summit and 15th India-ASEAN
across the country? Economic Ministers Meeting held?

480 Manila

780 Vietnam

560 Bangkok

650 Singapore

750 Myanmar

Q:10 At which of the following city 7th Meeting of National Q:12 By whom is Krishna Kutir, a home for 1000 widows
Medicinal Plants Board Held? inaugurated?

Mumbai Maneka Gandhi

Pune Yashvant Sinha

New Delhi Kirti azad

 L.K. advani Bhilwara

Murli Manohar joshi Nagore

Q:13 Who inaugurated National Conference being Organized Q:15 Who took over as Chairman and Managing Director of
by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association? defense PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)?

Narendra Modi T. Krishnan

Deepak Mishra R. Madhvan

Ram nath kovind J.S. Reddy

Sushma swaraj Narendra Joshi

Rajnath Singh Nilima Srivastav

Q:14 RBI cancels the license of which district’s Mahila Urban Q:16 In which ministry has Binoy Kumar Assumed Charge of
Co-operative Bank Ltd.? Secretary?

Jhalawar Ministry of home affairs

Alwar Ministry of railway

Pratapgarh Ministry of agriculture

 Ministry of steel 65

Ministry of coal 63

Q:17 Who has become first woman to head a Pakistan high Q:19 Where did popular Jain monk Tarun sagar pass away?
court?
Madhya Pradesh
Salma Siddiqi
Gujarat
Tahira Safdar
Delhi
Zoya Khan
Bihar
Roobina Khurshid
Jharkhand
Sara Ali Safdar
Q:20 Where did Asian games 2018 held?
Q:18 How many medals has India achieved in Asian games
2018?
Indonesia

65
Malesia

69
Philippines

62
China
 Singapore Piyush Goyal

Q:21 In which of the following city Food and Drink Q:23 Whose name has been recommended for New Chief
Technology Africa Trade Show 2018 will be organised? Justice of India by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to the
government?
Cape Town
Justice Ranjan Gogoi
Johannesburg
Justice Madan Lokur
Nairobi
Justice Kurian Joseph
Durban
Justice Arun Kumar Mishra
Pretoria
Justice R. Banumathi
Q:22 Who chaired the first review meeting of the Department
of Official Language? Q:24 Who has been reappointed as a director on the board of
ICICI Securities?
Rajnath Singh
Rajnish Kumar
Narendra Modi
Rajeev Rishi
Suresh Prabhu
Jatinder Bir Singh
Prakash Javadekar
Chanda Kochhar
 Pawan Kumar Bajaj Kajol

Q:25 Rikako Ikee belongs to which of the following game? Q:27 Who was named the 2018 Indonesia Asian Games' Most
Valuable Player'?
Wrestling
Shinobu Ota
Boxing
Yui Ohashi
Rowing
Rikako Ikee
Shooting
Daiya Seto
Swimming
Hiroto Inoue
Q:26 Recently who has been awarded the Bharatiya Manavata
Vikas Puraskar for her contribution to the society? Q:28 How many persons were awarded the Bharatiya
Manavata Vikas Puraskar for their contribution to the society
and championing the cause of equity, social justice and human
Priyanka Chopra
welfare?

Aishwarya Rai
18

Madhuri Dixit
13

Shabana Azmi
10
 8 Malusi Gigaba

6 Pravin Gordhan

Q:29 Who released the book “Moving On, Moving Forward – Q:31 International chess tournament for school kids will be
A Year in Office” to mark one year in office of Vice President held in which of the following Indian city?
Venkaiah Naidu?
Mumbai
Ram Nath Kovind
Hyderabad
Deepak Mishra
New Delhi
Narendra Modi
Pune
Rajnath Singh
Ahmedabad
Suresh Prabhu
Q:32 How much refinance assistance has been announced by
Q:30 Who is the president of South Africa? National Housing Bank to provide relief to the households
having annual income up to Rs 3 lakh in rural areas and up to
Rs 6 lakh in urban areas in the floods-hit state of Kerala?
Jacob Zuma

Rs 1200 crore
Cyril Ramaphosa

Rs 2200 crore
Nelson Mandela
 Rs 800 crore Badminton

Rs 700 crore Shooting

Rs 200 crore Archery

Q:33 International cricketer Alastair Cook belongs to which Q:35 Former footballer Arthur Pereira passed away. He was
of the following country? belonged to which of the following state?

South Africa Gujarat

England Tamil Nadu

Zimbabwe Assam

Netherlands West Bengal

New Zealand Maharashtra

Q:34 Indian sportsmen Subramaniam Badrinath belongs to Q:36 Who is the Union Minister of Health and Family
which of the following game? Welfare?

Hockey Suresh Prabhu

Cricket Dr. Harsh Vardhan

 J P Nadda IOCtsunami

Dr. Mahesh Sharma IOCWave18

Hardeep Singh Puri None of these

Q:37 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for
South-East Asia held in which of the following country?
Singapore
Q:39 The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has cleared the
Jharkhand government's proposal to rename a railway station
after Lord Krishna. This station located in which of the
following district?

Palamu
Indonesia

Hazaribagh
India

Garhwa
Malaysia

Bokaro
Vietnam

Q:38 What is the name of tsunami mock drill exercise, Ranchi

organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC) of UNESCO? Q:40 Where is the capital of Russia?

IOWave18 Paris

TsunamiWave Moscow
 Bern Coffee Krishi

Ottawa Coffee Tharanga

Berlin Coffee Wave

Q:41 In which of the following country 6th Regional

Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial None of these
Meeting held?
Q:43 India has set a target to generate how much solar energy
by 2022 for increasing share of carbon free energy in the
Laos energy mix?

Malaysia 80 GW

Philippines 50 GW

India 200 GW

Singapore 100 GW

Q:42 Which mobile app has been launched for Coffee

Stakeholders to ease the work of field functionaries and to 500 GW
improve the work efficiency?
Q:44 National Teachers’ Day observed on which of the
following date?
Coffee Connect
5 October
 10 September Japan

5 September USA

10 October Germany

4 September South Korea

Q:45 What is the name of Indo-Kazakhstan Joint Army Q:47 Who has been elected new president of Pakistan?
Exercise?
Imran Khan
Yudh Abyas
Arif Alvi
Desert Strike
Nawaz Sharif
KAZIND
Yousaf Raza Gillani
Hind Shakti
Mamnoon Hussain
Ekuverin
Q:48 Recently RP Singh has announced his retirement. He
Q:46 From which country India will purchase 18 bullet train belongs to which of the following sports?
sets at a total cost of about Rs 7,000 crore?
Golf
China
 Hockey Manoj Sinha

Cricket Dharmendra Pradhan

Tennis Dr. Mahesh Sharma

Q:51 In which of the following country 3rd ASEM (Asia-

Wrestling Europe Meeting) Conference on ‘Global ageing and Human
Rights of Older Person’s being held?
Q:49 Where is the capital of Kazakhstan?

Japan
Baku

Germany
Astana

South Korea
Nassau

China
Kabul

France
Havana
Q:52 Recently in which city the International Aviation
Q:50 Who is the Minister of State of Railways?
Summit held?

Suresh Prabhu
New Delhi

Piyush Goyal
Pune
 Mumbai Bidyut Chakrabarty

Chennai Rajeev Bhargava

Hyderabad Vandana Shiva

Q:53 Who has been re-elected as WHO Regional Director in Q:55 South-East Asia Regional Director Dr Poonam
South-East Asia Region? Khetrapal Singh belongs to which of the following country?

Tedros Adhanom Singapore

Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab India

Dr. Shin Young-soo Brunei

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh Vietnam

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti Thailand

Q:54 Who is the author of the Book ‘Constitutionalizing Q:56 What is the central share for Project Tiger from 2017-18
India: an Ideational Project’? to 2019-20?

M. Venkaiah Naidu Rs. 1143 crore

Shashi Tharoor Rs. 496.50 crore

 Rs. 1731.72 crore Germany

Rs.92.22 crore Japan

Rs.592 crore South Korea

Q:57 What is the capital of Bulgaria? Q:59 Who is the Union HRD Minister?

Manama D.V. Sadananda Gowda

Bogota Prakash Javadekar

Sofia Ravi Shankar Prasad

Malabo Jagat Prakash Nadda

Budapest Thaawar Chand Gehlot

Q:58 Recently President Ram Nath Kovind visited which of Q:60 What is the central share for Development of Wildlife
the following country? Habitats from 2017-18 to 2019-20?

Czech Republic Rs. 1143 crore

USA Rs. 496.50 crore

 Rs. 1731.72 crore Japan

Rs.92.22 crore China

Rs.592 crore Malaysia

Q:61 US returned ‘Lingodhbhavamurti’, a 12th century Q:63 2nd World Hindu Congress will held in which of the
granite sculpture depicting an iconic representation of Lord following country?
Shiva. This statue was belonged to which dynasty?
India
Chola dynasty
Japan
Pal dynasty
Nepal
Lodhi dynasty
USA
Khilji dynasty
Germany
Slave dynasty
Q:64 87th Izmir International tradeshow held in which of the
Q:62 In which of the following country Facebook will build following country?
its first Asian data centre?
Iran
India
Iraq
Singapore
 Turkey Rs 7,500

Afghanistan Rs 12,000

Germany Rs 10,000

Q:65 The Embassy of India held a ceremony in Haifa to mark Q:67 The inaugural 'two-plus-two dialogue' between India
the Centenary of the Battle of Haifa. Haifa is located in which and the US held in which of the following city?
of the following country?
Washington
Iran
Chicago
Japan
Mumbai
Israel
New Delhi
Russia
Chennai
Kenya
Q:68 Who will inaugurate India’s First Global Mobility
Q:66 What is the new overdraft cap of Jan Dhan accounts? Summit 2018?

Rs 8,000 Ramnath Kovind

Rs 7,000 Justice Deepak Mishra

 Narendra Modi Germany

Sushma Swaraj Iran

Rajnath Singh Iraq

Q:69 In which city 31st meeting of the Central Hindi Q:71 The first ever G-20 Education Ministers’ Meeting held
Committee was held? in which of the following city?

Kanpur New Delhi

Allahabad Paris

Surat Berlin

New Delhi Mendoza

Pune Shanghai

Q:70 Which is the Partner Country in the 87th Izmir Q:72 Who is the President of the Czech Republic?
International tradeshow?
Ashraf Ghani
Japan
Abdul Hamid
India
 Charles Savarin DIMDEX

Jimmy Morales Malabar

Milos Zeman Milan

Q:73 Who is the Director of Trade Promotion Council of India Q:75 Who did inaugurate the 6th International Geriatric
(TPCI)? Orthopaedic Conference?

Ashok Sethi Jagat Prakash Nadda

Abdul Matlub Ahmad Rajnath Singh

Rajeev Kumar Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Suresh Prabhu Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ramesh Trivedi Sushma Swaraj

Q:74 What is the name of India-Sri Lanka Naval Exercise? Q:76 India has signed an implementation agreement on
“MOBILISE YOUR CITY" with which of the following
country?
SIMBEX

Japan
SLINEX

England
 France Rajan Wadhera

South Korea Ayukawa

Singapore Kamlesh Kumar

Q:77 According to Kantar Millward Brown which is the most Q:79 Who won Duleep Trophy 2018?
valuable Indian brand?
India Blue
TCS
India Red
LIC
India Green
SBI
India White
HDFC Bank
None of these
Reliance
Q:80 Naval Exercise Slinex-18 is being held in which of the
Q:78 Who has been elected the president of the Society of following country?
Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)?
India
Abhay Firodia
Japan
Ranjit Yadav
 USA 29 November

South Korea 19 October

Sri Lanka 9 November

Q:81 When is ‘International Literacy Day’ celebrated? Q:83 Where did Union Minister for HRD Shri Prakash
Javadekar Inaugurate 4th World Summit on Accreditation
(WOSA-2018)?
18 September

Bangalore
8 august

Bhopal
8 September

Udaipur
28 July

New Delhi
11 September

Q:82 When will the United Nations Postal Administration will Ahmedabad
issue a New York special event sheet to commemorate the
Indian festival? Q:84 In which city, The Government has decided to hold the
‘Aero India 2019’ from 20-24 February 2019?
9 October
Chennai
19 December
Bhubaneshwar
 Bengaluru Somendra Mukherji

New Delhi Amitabh Chaudhary

Vadodara Vinesh Sharma

Q:85 Who has been made Sports Ambassador of Assam by Q:87 Who is current chief economic adviser in the finance
state government? ministry?

Indra Bora Bimal Jalan

Ravindra Chetri Arvind Subrahmanyam

Hima Das Amitabh Chaudhary

Arvind guha Sujoy Mukherjee

Gajendra Das Vineet Chaturvedi

Q:86 Who has been appointed CEO & MD of Axis Bank ? Q:88 On which bank RBI slaps Rs 1 crore fine?

Sujit Roy Union Bank of India

Arvind Chaturvedi Bank of India

 Maharashtra Bank Himanta Biswa

All of the above Ranjit Dutta

None of the above Sarbananda Sonowal

Q:89 Under which former Reserve Bank of India governor,
the government has appointed a panel to select the next chief
economic adviser in the finance ministry?
Raman garg
Q:91 In which of the following city the Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DAR&PG),
Government of India in association with Government of
Madhya Pradesh organized a Regional Conference on Good
Governance with Focus on Aspirational Districts?

Indore
Vivek Sinha

Bhopal
Bimal Jalan

Ratlam
Mahendra Prajapati

Gwalior
N.K. Singh

Q:90 Who is chief Minister of Assam State? Shivpuri

Q:92 Recently how much amount has been sanctioned by

Hagrama Mohilary
Home ministry for special women safety programme?

Atul Bora
Rs 5,000 cr
 Rs 4,000 cr Daniel Zhang

Rs 8,000 cr Lei Jun

Rs 3,000 cr Li Shufu

Rs 7,000 cr Liang Wengen

Q:93 Recently who has been appointed as Managing Director Q:95 Who will be honoured with the prestigious 'Sarala
of the State Bank of India by the Government of India? Puraskar' for his poetry collection 'Misra Dhrupad'?

Ajay Banga Srinibash Udgata

Anshula Kant Satrughna Pandav

K. V. Kamath Haraprasad Das

Rana Kapoor Ranjit Hoskote

Usha Ananthasubramanian Abhay Kumar

Q:94 Who will be next executive chairman of Alibaba Group Q:96 Tennis Player Naomi Osaka belongs to which of the
Holding Ltd? following country?

Robin Li South Korea

 China Maria Sharapova

Japan Petra Kvitová

England Simona Halep

Q:99 Tennis Player Juan Martin del Potro belongs to which of

Switzerland the following country?
Q:97 Who is the winner of US Open 2018?
USA
Juan Martin del Potro
Argentina
Rafel Nadal
Serbia
Roger Federer
Switzerland
Novak Djokovic
China
Kevin Anderson Q:100 Where is the headquarters of National Infrastructure
Investment Fund?
Q:98 Who is the winner of US Open Women 2018?

New Delhi
Naomi Osaka

Chennai
Serena Williams
 Mumbai HDFC Bank

Hyderabad India Post Payments Bank

Pune Bank of Baroda

Q:101 What is the name of INDO-MONGOLIA joint

exercise? PNB

Q:103 What is the name of the Military Field Training

Emerald Mercury Exercise for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral
Technological and Economic Cooperation nations?
Nomadic Elephant
MILEX-18
Desert Strike
BIMSTEC-18
Ajeya Warrior
SLINEX-18
Hind Shakti
DIMDEX-18
Q:102 Recently Which of the following bank has tied up with
Financial Software and Systems (FSS) to offer a wide range of
banking solutions to financially underserved customer None of these
segments—especially rural households, small and medium
Q:104 Which Insurance Corporation of India has signed an
enterprises and women?
agreement with Central Depository Services (India) to provide
group insurance coverage to all eligible Demat account holders
ICICI Bank serviced through depository participants associated with it?
 HDFC Standard Life Insurance 1500 MW

Kotak Life Insurance 800 MW

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance 300 MW

Life Insurance Corporation of India 1200 MW

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance 500 MW

Q:105 Who is the Prime Minister of Bangladesh? Q:107 Who is Chief Minister of Tripura?

Abdul Hamid Pema Khandu

Hamid Karzai Raghubar Das

Sheikh Hasina Lal Thanhawla

Bidhya Devi Bhandari Pawan Kumar Chamling

Khadga Prasad Oli Biplab Kumar Deb

Q:106 How much additional power will be supplied from Q:108 Recently India has launched new digital bridge with
India to Bangladesh through the existing Bheramara which of the following country?
(Bangladesh) - Baharampur (India) interconnection?
 Nepal Monaco

Sri Lanka Managua

Pakistan Ulaanbaatar

Africa Abuja

Germany Rabat

Q:109 In Arogya Yojana how much health insurance cover Q:111 In which of the following city Second India-UAE
will provide to poor families? Partnership Summit will be held?

Rs 2 lakh New Delhi

Rs 3 lakh Mumbai

Rs 2.5 lakh Dubai

Rs 8.5 lakh Abu Dhabi

Rs 5 lakh Sharjah

Q:110 Where is the capital of Mongolia? Q:112 Which is the focus country in 87th Izmir International
Trade Show?
 Turkey New Delhi

Iran Vadodara

Japan Mumbai

China Chennai

India Hyderabad

Q:113 Who flagged off the first bus service between Bihar and Q:115 “Apsara”, the first research reactor of Asia is located in
Nepal? which of the following city?

Nitish Kumar Pune

Narendra Modi Chennai

K P Sharma Oli Kudankulam

Lalji Tandon Trombay

Rajnath Singh Kota

Q:114 Where is India's first railway university? Q:116 INDO-US joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018
will be held in which of the following state?
 Tamil Nadu Rajalakshmi Nandakumar

Rajasthan Ananda Theertha Suresh

Gujarat Dinesh Bharadia

Himachal Pradesh Himanshu Asnani

Uttarakhand None of these

Q:117 Who is the Minister of Railways and Coal? Q:119 With which institute NITI Aayog and Intel has
collaborated to set up a Model International Center for
Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) towards
Suresh Prabhu
developing and deploying AI-led application-based research
projects?
Nitin Gadkari
IIT Kharagpur
Ananth Kumar
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Piyush Goyal
IIT Bombay
Jagat Prakash Nadda

Q:118 Who has been selected for the 2018 Marconi Society IIT Kanpur
Paul Baran Young Scholar award?
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
Q:120 Where is Bhabha Atomic Research Centre located? Q:122 Who has inaugurated the Indo-Bhutan Border Centre at
Darranga in Assam's Baksa district to strengthen bilateral trade
with the neighbouring country?
Pune

Sarbananda Sonowal
Trombay

Narendra Modi
New Delhi

Tshering Tobgay
Hyderabad

Tshering Yangdon
Bangalore

Q:121 With which city Delhi government will ink a pact for Ram Nath Kovind
cooperation in urban regeneration?
Q:123 The Union Cabinet has given its approval for
introduction of Bill in Parliament for amendment of NID Act,
Paris
2014 to include how many new National Institutes of Design
(NID) within the ambit of the National Institute of Design Act,
Tokyo 2014?

Beijing 5

Seoul 8

Berlin 3
 7 012

4 2016

Q:124 How much amount has been approved for continuation
of the Capacity Development Scheme for the period 2017-18
to 2019-20 by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs?
Rs 3,350 crore
Q:126 The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval
for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
Collaborative Research on Distributed Ledger and Block chain
Technology in the context of Development of digital economy
by............

Exim Bank
Rs 2,250 crore

RBI
Rs 1,450 crore

SBI
Rs 2,850 crore

NHB
Rs 5,350 crore

Q:125 In which year Sardar Singh did receive the Padma Shri? NABARD

Q:127 Who has been conferred with the prestigious UN

2015
Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) Award for his outstanding
contribution towards prevention and control of non-
2013 communicable diseases?

2014 Manoj Jhalani

 Kailash Saini Seoul

Dinesh Sankhala Busan

Rajeev Sharma Jakarta

Rakesh Sharma Tokyo

Q:128 In which year Sardar Singh did receive the Arjuna Q:130 What is the currency of Bhutan?
award?
Dinar
2015
Ruble
2013
Ngultrum
2014
Real
2012
Krone
2016
Q:131 In which state did First Tribal Circuit Project under
Q:129 Where is the Capital of South Korea? ‘Swadesh Darshan Scheme’ got inaugurated?

Pyongyang Jharkhand
 Bihar Vidhya chaturvedi

Odisha Vibha Padalkar

Chattisgar Kirti narayan

Manipur Bhoomi sankhla

Q:132 Which Poet, writer of jaipur to be honoured with Q:134 Who has been appointed as next ‘Chief Justice of
‘Meera Puruskar’? India’?

Man singh rajavat Ranjan gogoi

Sawai Singh shekhawat Rajesh Mehta

Rajendrs Rathore N.K. Mishra

Virendra singh sisodiya Rakesh Garg

Manmohan shekhawat Somendra mukharjee

Q:133 Who has been appointed MD and CEO of HDFC Life? Q:135 With which company did Federal Bank ink MOU?

Kavita subrhmanyam Elgi Equipments

 Rane holdings National Security Portal Mobile App

Infopark Kakkanad National Sports Portal Mobile App

Nava Bharat ventures National health Portal Mobile App

Ador Fontech National education Portal Mobile App

Q:136 Which institution developed India’s first indigenous Q:138 Who is chief minister of chattisgar?
anti-nuclear medical kit?
Raghubar das
BARC
Raman singh
INMAS, New Delhi
Nitish kumar
HBNI, Mumbai
Naveen patnaik
IIT, Madras
Shivraj singh chauhan
SNE, Gandhinagar
Q:139 Who is Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare?
Q:137 Recently, Which Mobile app was launched by Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi?
Jagat prakash nadda

National Scholarship Portal Mobile App

Ravi Shankar Prasad
 Radha Mohan Singh 120

Prakash javedkar 115

Mukhtakr Abbas naqvi 130

Q:140 Which department does Mukhtakr Abbas naqvi belong Q:142 G-20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting is
to? being held in which of the following country?

Ministry of consumer affairs Argentina

Ministry of minority affairs Germany

Ministry of skill development affairs Japan

Ministry of human resource USA

Ministry of textile Norway

Q:141 What is the rank of India in UN's human development Q:143 Hindi Divas is observed on which date?
index 2017?
14 September
123
10 September
136
 10 May Madhya Pradesh

08 November Uttarakhand

4 July Tamil Nadu

Q:144 First edition of the World Heritage Cuisine Summit and Q:146 Recently which indigenously built patrol vessel fitted
food festival will be held in which of the following city? with advanced navigation and communication equipment has
been commissioned by the Indian Coast Guard?
New Delhi
Jeet
Mumbai
Prahar
Amritsar
Sufal
Jodhpur
Vijaya
Pune
Lakshya
Q:145 Which state has been ranked the best among states in
the country for the construction of maximum number of roads Q:147 In which of the following city first Indian global
under the PMGSY during 2017-2018? tourism mart will be held?

Rajasthan New Delhi

Gujarat Mumbai
 Jodhpur Science

Agra Writing

Chennai Politics

Q:148 How many aerodromes of the Airports Authority of Q:150 Where is the capital of Argentina?
India have bagged international awards at the Customer
Excellence Global Summit at Halifax, Canada?
Santiago

4
Buenos Aires

5
Vienna

3
Gaborone

6
Bogota

2 Q:151 In which city of Russia did ‘4th Eastern Economic

Forum’ open?
Q:149 Recently Brij Katyal passed away. He was belonged to
which of the following field? Moscow

Journalism Sochi

Sports Vladivostok
 Saint Petersburg Swachta Hi Manjil

Q:154 Which Marathon gets IAAF gold label?

Volgograd

Q:152 When is ‘International Day of Democracy’ celebrated? Mumbai

25 September Chennai

15 September Delhi

10 October Hyderabad

15 November Lucknow

Q:155 Which bank won ‘Hindi implementation award’?

5 August

Q:153 Which program is being organized in the run up to the UBO

fourth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission, on October
2nd, 2018? Canara Bank

Swachta Hi Lakshya ICICI bank

Swachta Hi Srijan SBI

Swachta Hi Seva PNB

Swachta Hi Aasha
Q:156 Who has been appointed new CMD of National
Ruble
insurance?

Pound
Narendra chaturvedi

Euro
Dinesh basu

Dolor
Tajinder Mukharjee

Yen
Somesh upadhyay
Q:159 What is the figure of HIV affected People in India
Virendra mukharjee according to the latest data by Health and Family Welfare
Ministry?
Q:157 In which city did Narendra Singh Tomar chair the ‘20th
Central Employment Guarantee Council meeting’?
32 lakh

Bangalore
15 lakh

Pune
28 lakh

New Delhi
21 lakh

Vadodara
10 lakh

Bhopal Q:160 Chillers are used in-

Q:158 What is currency of Russia?

Heating
 Cooling Mumbai

Trading Chennai

Irrigation Hyderabad

Q:163 In which state did India-US military exercise begin?

Cooking

Q:161 Where did ‘Jaipur Literature Festival 2018’ begin? Himachal Pradesh

London Uttarakhand

Hongkong Jammu Kashmir

Singapore Rajasthan

Brazil Punjab

Q:164 Where did Inaugural Edition of ‘Bimstec Milex-18’

Houston
Culminate?
Q:162 Which city of India is set to get country’s first exclusive
dog park? Mumbai

Ahmadabad Pune

New Delhi Bhopal

 Hyderabad PSLV-28

Ranchi PSLV-40

Q:165 From where did indigenously developed Man Portable Q:167 Which payment gateway of India has received a license
Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) successfully flight from the Reserve Bank of India to operate its own non-banking
tested for the second time? financial company?

Raipur PayU

Gandhinagar PaySimple

Dehradoon PayPal

Ahmadnagar Paytm

Patna SecurePay

Q:166 Onboard which vehicle did ISRO launch two British Q:168 Of which company did RBI cancel license for issuing
earth observation satellites? pre-paid cards?

PSLV-42 Infosys

PSLV-37 Wipro

PSLV-46 TCS
 Q:171 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone
Tech Mahindra
Layer is observed on which of the following date?

IBM
16 September
Q:169 Who is the winner of SAFF cup 2018?
18 September
India
10 September
Maldives
10 July
Malaysia
18 July
Sri lanka
Q:172 Recently in which of the following city India –
Morocco Tourism Bilateral meeting held?
Indonesia

Q:170 Where is Houston situated? Chennai

U.K. Mumbai

China Chandigarh

Japan New Delhi

U.S.A. Pune

Mauritius
Q:173 Which of the following Bank will be merged with Bank Q:175 Heavy Water Board (HWB) has signed an Agreement
of Baroda to create the country’s third largest lender as part of with which of the following company for routing of phosphoric
efforts to revive credit and economic growth? acid through Solvent Extraction Plant, Tuticorin and supply of
utilities and chemicals?
Allahabad Bank and Dena Bank
National Fertilizers Ltd
Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank
Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited
Andhra Bank and Vijaya Bank
Greenstar Fertilizers Limited
Syndicate Bank and Dena Bank
Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd
UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank
Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited
Q:174 Who is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of State
Bank of India? Q:176 By whom first ever India tourism Mart 2018 has been
inaugurated?
Prashant Kumar
Raj Nath Singh
Rajnish Kumar
Arun Jaitley
Arijit Basu
Piyush Goyal
P. K. Gupta
Nitin Jairam Gadkari
B. Venugopal
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Q:177 Who is the Minister of State for Culture (Independent Q:179 Montreal Protocol was signed in which of the following
Charge)? year?

Anant Geete 2000

Jual Oram 2005

Dharmendra Pradhan 1987

Dr. Mahesh Sharma 1995

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi 1993

Q:180 Where is the headquarters of Bank of Baroda?

Q:178 Where is the capital of Morocco?

New Delhi

Port Louis
Mumbai

Rabat
Pune

Bamako
Chennai

Riga
Vadodara

Rome
Q:181 In which of the following city the 28th meeting of the Q:183 Which bank has tied up with health aggregator
Southern Zonal Council was held under the Chairmanship of HealthAssure to provide tailor-made healthcare services to the
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh? bank’s NRI Pro and Premia savings account holders and their
family members?
Bengaluru
HDFC Bank
Chennai
Axis Bank
Hyderabad
ICICI Bank
New Delhi
IPPB
Mumbai
SBI
Q:182 Recently which of the following bank has signed an
agreement to provide insurance to all with Bajaj Allianz? Q:184 Who is the new Prime Minister of Sudan?

HDFC Bank Omar al-Bashir

BOB Ahmed Ouyahia

SBI Moutaz Mousa Abdallah

India Post Payments Bank Armen Sarkissian

Andhra Bank Michel Temer

Q:185 Recently who has been signed as ambassador of Skill Q:187 Which state's tourism department has won two
India Campaign? prestigious gold awards of the Pacific Asia Travel Association
(PATA) for its innovative marketing campaigns?
Varun Dhawan
Rajasthan
Anushka Sharma
Assam
Rahul Dravid
Manipur
Aksay Kumar
Goa
Both A and B
Kerala
Q:186 Recently who has been conferred with 'Mexican Order
of the Aztec Eagle', the highest honour accorded to non- Q:188 India’s first woman IAS officer post-Independence,
nationals by the Government of Mexico? Anna Rajam Malhotra, passed away recently. She was
honoured with the Padma Bhushan award in which of the
Kailash Satyarthi following year?

Anil Agarwal 1993

Sunil Bharti Mittal 1989

Dr. Raghupati Singhania 1996

Rahul Bhatia 2005

 Q:191 Exercise Aviaindra is an Air Force level exercise
1978
between India and :
Q:189 Where is the capital of Sudan?
Japan
Khartoum
Germany
Cairo
Bangladesh
Kampala
Russia
Asmara
Afghanistan
Tripoli
Q:192 Where will the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,
Q:190 Who did inaugurate ‘All India Pension Adalat’? will lay the foundation stone for IICC in New Delhi?

Narendra Modi Karol bag

Ram Nath Kovind Chankyapuri

Rajnath Singh Vaishali

Dr Jitendra Singh Dwarka

Sushama Swaraj Greater Kailash

Q:193 Which is India’s first all women Crew?

 INSV Tridevi Kerala

INSV Tarnag Uttarakhand

INSV Tarini Odisha

INSV Trisha Bihar

Q:196 Where will ITU South Asia Office and Technology

INSV Tejasvini
Innovation Centre be established?
Q:194 Which airport gets top honor at ASQ Awards 2017?
Bangalore
Chennai
Gurgaon
Calcutta
Noida
Kochi
Delhi
Jaipur
Hyderabad
Delhi
Q:197 Which portal has been launched by Union Home
Q:195 For which state has India signed Loan Agreement with Secretary for grant of Security Clearance?
the World Bank for US$ 74 Million?
E sahaj
Himachal Pradesh
E secure
 E surksha Santosh kumar Gangwar

E saral R.K. Sinha

Q:200 What is full form of ITU?

E sugam

Q:198 Exercise Aviaindra will be conducted in which district International Telecommunication Union
of Rajasthan?
International Telegram Union
Jaisalmer
Internal Telecommunication Union
Jodhpur
Integral Topology Union
Badmer
International Technocrat Union
Bikaner
Q:201 Which country has launched world’s first hydrogen-
powered train?
Sri ganganagar

Q:199 Who is Union Minister of State for Labour & Japan

Employment?
China
Rao Indrajeet singh
Germany
Dr. Jintendra Singh
Scotland
Dr. Mahesh Sharma
 Q:204 Where did Inaugural Naval Flight Test Seminar held
Russia
on 20 sep. 2018?
Q:202 With which organization has MHA signed MoU to set
up an Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response? Kochi

DRDO Goa

IIS Chennai

IIT Khadagpur Lakshadweep

ISRO Andaman Nicobar

Q:205 Health Ministry partners with which company to

Ministry of Science of Technology
provide a technological platform for nationwide prevention
Q:203 Recently, of which indigenously developed surface-to- from Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs)?
surface tactical missile has DRDO successfully flight tested?
Dell
Aakrman
HP
Dhava
Samsung
Prahar
Lenovo
Yudh
Acer
Hamla
Q:206 For infra projects in which state has BRICS bank
3
approved USD 525-million loan?

6
Uttar Pradesh

7
Bihar

5
Rajasthan

4
Madhya Pradesh
Q:209 Recently, Govt. appointed MDs, CEOs in how many
Kerala nationalized banks?

Q:207 Which sport does Mirabai Chanu belong to?

12

Shooting
8

Archery
10

Weightlifting
14

Boxing
7

Wrestling Q:210 Which player along with Virat kohli is to get ‘Rajiv
Gandhi khel ratn award’ on 25 sep.?
Q:208 How many members to local boards of RBI did Govt.
appoint?
Neeraj chopra
 Hima Das Georgia

Ravi rathore Vietnam

Mirabai chanu Bhutan

Q:213 In which city will PM launch ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan

Manoj sarkar
Arogya Yojana’?
Q:211 When is ‘International Peace Day’ celebrated?
Kanpur
18 September
Raipur
21 October
Ranchi
20 august
Bhopal
21 September
Lucknow
28 September
Q:214 Which Metro from India has become first to Get the
Q:212 Where is 7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban International Award?
Tourism organized?
Chennai
Korea
Calcutta
Sudan
Jaipur
 Q:217 Recently which representative of India has returned
Delhi
after successful visit to Serbia, Malta and Romania?

Lucknow
Prime minister
Q:215 PNB drags which Thermal Power to NCLT?
President
Vindyanchal
Vice President
Mundra
Foreign minister
Talcher
Minister of external affairs
Sipat
Q:218 Odisha to name Jharsuguda airport after whose name?

Lanco vidarbha
Veer mahendra Sai
Q:216 What is capital of Serbia?
Veer sukhvir Sai
Pyongyang
Veer surendra Sai
Belgrade
Veer somendra Sai
Juba
Veer narendra Sai
Khartoum
Q:219 Who is chief minister of Jharkhand?

Bahrin
 Raghubar Das China

Raman singh Japan

Nitish kumar Russia

Shivraj singh chouhan Mongolia

Q:222 Which of the following countries will be the strategic

Manohar lal khattar
partner of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)?
Q:220 What is the full form of NCLT?
Iraq
National company legal tribunal
Iran
National corporation law tribunal
Saudi Arabia
National company law tribunal
Afghanistan
National company law trading
India
National collegiums law tribunal
Q:223 Indo-kazakhstan Joint exercise ‘Kazind 2018’ was held
Q:221 The 4th Asian Para Games 2022 will be hosted by in which of the following region?
which country?
Otar
India
Uttarakhand
 Madhya Pradesh Ranchi

Almaty Noida

Astana Agra

Q:224 The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind,

Surat
inaugurated the centenary celebrations of the Dakshina Bharat
Hindi Prachar Sabha in New Delhi. Who is the founder of this Q:226 The 3rd edition of International Business
Sabha? Conference ‘MahaBiz 2018’ will be held in which of the
following city?
Subhas Chandra Bose
Dubai
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Berlin
Sarojini Naidu
New York
Lala Lajpat Rai
Johannesburg
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
New Delhi
Q:225 Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan
AarogyaYojana has been launched by Prime Minister Shri Q:227 Which state observed ‘September 22’ as Rhino Day?
Narendra Modi in which city?
West Bengal
Gurgaon
Assam
 Odisha New Delhi

Nagaland Mangalore

Sikkim Bangalore

Q:228 Recently which state government has signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National
Insurance Company Ltd to provide medical facilities to the
people of the state under the Centre’s flagship health scheme –
Ayushman Bharat Yojana?
Haryana
Noida
Mumbai
Q:230 Assamese film ‘Village Rockstars’ is India’s official
entry for Oscars 2019 in the Best Foreign Language film
category. Who is the director of the film?

Karnataka Anurag Kashyap

West Bengal Karan Johar

Jharkhand Mani Ratnam

Kerala Rima Das

Q:229 Corporation Bank has signed an information utility
(IU) agreement with National e-Governance Services Ltd Ashutosh Gowariker
(NeSL) to share financial and security information under IBBI
(IU) Regulation 2017. Where is the headquarters of Q:231 Where is the headquarters of Oil and Natural Gas?
Corporation Bank?
Bhopal
 Dehradun Assam

Mathura Uttar Pradesh

Surat Goa

Q:234 Pakyong airport which was recently in the news is

Chennai
located in which state?
Q:232 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Jharsuguda
Airport in which state? Assam

Sikkim Sikkim

Assam West Bengal

Jharkhand Odisha

Goa Telangana

Q:235 Recently ‘International Day of Sign Languages’ was

Odisha
celebrated by which of the following Department?
Q:233 Which of the following is the first "Open Defecation
Free" (ODF) State of India? Department of Empowerment of Persons with
Disabilities
Haryana
Department of Commerce
Sikkim
 Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Irfan Khan

Department of Public Enterprises Sunny Deol

Q:238 Which country will host the Women’s Boxing World

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Championships, 2018?
Q:236 Who has been appointed the chairman of House panel
on defence? India

Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri Germany

Kalraj Mishra UK

P. Sathasivam Russia

Anurag Thakur China

Jagdish Singh Khehar Q:238 कौन सा देश महिला मक्ु के बाजी हिश्व चैहपियनहशि, 2018 की मेजबानी करेगा?

Q:237 Recently who has been appointed Goodwill भारत

Ambassador for the promotion of Nepal tourism?

जममनी
Amitabh Bachhan

Jaya Prada यूके

Ranveer Singh रूस

 Q:241 Recently the Vice President of India inaugurated Indian
चीन Culinary Institute in which of the following city?
Q:239 Recently Kalpana Lajmi passed away. She was related
to which field? Varanasi

Bollywood Tirupati

Politics Kolhapur

Sports Mathura

Science Ujjain

Q:242 The 4th India International Science Festival will held

Medical in which of the following city?
Q:240 Tran Dai Quang, recently passed away, was the
President of which country? Hyderabad

China Lucknow

Vietnam Mumbai

Sri Lanka Jalandhar

Laos Agra

Indonesia
Q:243 Recently 21st meeting of Central Regional Council was Q:245 Recently B. S. Mubarak has been appointed as next
held under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister in which Ambassador of India to which of the following country?
of the following city?
Republic of Guatemala
Bhopal
Mexico
Lucknow
Venezuela
Allahabad
Canda
Nagpur
Spain
Indore
Q:246 Recently Anil Kumar Chaudhary has been appointed
Q:244 Which of the following company has inked a pact with as the new chairman of which of the following Public Sector
Japan's Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and Undertaking?
internet of things technology in India?
GAIL
Airtel
SAIL
Jio
NALCO
BSNL
ONGC
Vodafone Idea Limited
IOCL
Tata DOCOMO
Q:247 Recently Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has won presidency Q:249 Which of the following state has got first rank in terms
polls. He is related to which country? of “Ease of Living Index” rankings launched by the Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)?
Sri Lanka
Gujrat
Maldives
Uttar Pradesh
Myanmar
Andhra Pradesh
Afghanistan
Goa
Indonesia
Madhya Pradesh
Q:248 Which of the following three States have been awarded
best performing States on Ease of Living Index, 2018? Q:250 The first India International Science Festival was held
in which of the following city?
Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh
Mysore
Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala
Raipur
Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala
Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh, Gujrat and Punjab
New Delhi
Haryana, Jharkhand and Bihar
Ahmedabad
Q:251 The Aral Sea is located between which two countries? Q:253 What is the rank of India among 195 countries in health
care investment according to survey?
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
185
Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan
158
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
123
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
69
Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan
82
Q:252 Recently Ministry of AYUSH has set up an AYUSH
Information Cell at the premises of the Indian Embassy in Q:254 Shavkat Mirziyoyev is the president of which of the
which of the following country? following country?

Romania Tajikistan

Spain Turkmenistan

Bulgaria Uzbekistan

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan

UK Kyrgyzstan
Q:255 Recently Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has Q:257 NITI Aayog is organizing a Conference on
inaugurated air pollution control device 'WAYU' in New Delhi. Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups & Organic
What is the full form of 'WAYU'? Farmers Co-operatives in which of the following city?

Wind Augmentation Purifying Unit Dantewada

Wind Augmentation Refining Unit Bhopal

Wind Automatic Refining Unit Saharanpur

Wind Automatic Purifying Unit Mangalore

Wind Augmentation Pollution Unit Vishakhapatnam

Q:256 The First Assembly of International Solar Alliance Q:258 The Supreme Court has constituted a tcommittee to
(ISA) will be held in which city? recommend measures on prison reforms.Who will head the
committee?
Hyderabad
Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan
Bhopal
Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad
Paris
Justice Ranjana Desai
New Delhi
Justice Amitava Roy
Lyon
Justice Vikramajit Sen
Q:259 Who will be appointed as new Vice Chief of Indian Air Q:261 Recently which decade has been declared as Nelson
Force? Mandela decade of peace by United Nation?

R Nambiar 2018-2027

HS Arora 2019-2028

Anil Khosla 2020-2029

Arup Raha 2021-2030

Pankaj Saran 2022-2031

Q:260 Who has won the FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year Q:262 The bilateral meeting of Commerce Ministers of India
award, 2018? and Bangladesh was held in which of the following city?

Cristiano Ronaldo Dhaka

Lionel Messi New Delhi

Luka Modric Kolkata

Paulo Dybala Chittagong

Neymar Barisal
Q:263 Recently the Vice President of India has inaugurated Q:265 Air Force Station, Kalaikunda which was recently in
Smart City Expo India 2018 in which of the following city? the news is located in which state?

New Delhi Gujrat

Jaipur West Bengal

Hyderabad Rajasthan

Chennai Goa

Bangalore Odisha

Q:264 Recently a successful flight test of 'Astra' was recently Q:266 Recently a mobile application “Jan Dhan Darshak” was
launched. What is 'Astra'? launched by Central Ministry. This application has been jointly
developed by which of the following?
Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile
Department of Financial Services and National
Artillery Gun Informatics Centre

Submarine National Informatics Centre and SBI

Intercontinental missile SBI and Department of Financial Services

Land to air missile Department of Financial Services and SEBI

SEBI and RBI

Q:267 Which of the following metro has become the 2nd
Ministry of Human Resource Development
largest Metro Rail network in India?

Ministry of Home Affairs

Delhi Metro

Ministry of Finance
Kolkata Metro

Ministry of External Affairs

Jaipur Metro

Ministry of AYUSH
Hyderabad Metro
Q:270 Recently Central Cabinet has cleared proposal to
Lucknow Metro convert GSTN into government entity. Currently what is the
stake of the Centre and states together in the GST Network?
Q:268 Where is the headquarters of New Development Bank?
100
New Delhi
51
Beijing
49
Shanghai
74
Kolkata
26
Chennai
Q:271 On which date the World Tourism Day is celebrated
Q:269 Recently which Ministry has launched “Jan Dhan globally?
Darshak” mobile application?
 27 September Cochin International Airport, Kochi

28 September Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

26 September Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai

25 September Jaipur International Airport

Q:274 Recently who has been named as Brand Ambassador

24 September
of Tribes India?
Q:272 What is the theme of the World Tourism Day, 2018?
Mira Bai Chanu
Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development
Mary Com
Tourism and the Digital Transformation
Irom Sharmila
Tourism for all – promoting universal accessibility
Hema Das
One billion tourist’s one billion opportunities
Rajni Kant
Tourism and world
Q:275 Recently which private sector bank has tied up with
Q:273 Which Indian airport has received the best Airport Venture Catalysts (VCAT) to provide corporate banking
award in ‘Rest of India’ category for promotion of tourism? services to start-up companies?

Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport, Indore ICICI

 HDFC Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar

Axis Bank Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha

Yes Bank Justice T. S. Thakur

Kotak Mahindra Bank Justice K. G. Balakrishnan

Q:276 Recently who has been appointed director general of Q:278 Which Indian leader has been bestowed by United
the Border Security Force (BSF)? Nation's 'Champions of the Earth' award?

S S Deswal Rahul Gandhi

Rajni Kant Misra Narendra Modi

OP Singh Maneka Gandhi

Rajesh Ranjan Rajendra Singh

Pankaj Saran Sunderlal Bahuguna

Q:277 Recently Central Government has constituted Lokpal Q:279 Recently which Indian Airport has won United Nation's
search committee under the chairmanship of which of the Environment Award?
following?
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport,
Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai Ahmedabad
 Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport, Indore Iceland

Cochin International Airport, Kochi New Zealand

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi Canada

Q:282 What is the rank of India on Economic Freedom Index,

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai
2018?
Q:280 The 8th Asian Yoga Sports Championship is being held
in which city? 130

Bhubaneswar 96

Thiruvananthapuram 104

New Delhi 82

Dharamshala 112

Q:283 Which country will host the 5th World Internet

Lucknow
Conference?
Q:281 Which country has topped on Economic Freedom
Index, 2018? Japan

Singapore China

Hong Kong India

 Canada Anil Kumar Chaudhary

Germany Asit Kumar Jana

Q:284 How many Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT)

K Durga Prasad
centers are being established in the country according to
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare? Q:286 Recently a High Level Committee on Corporate Social
Responsibility – 2018 (HLC-2018) has been constituted under
12 the Chairmanship of which of the following to review the
existing framework and guide and formulate the roadmap for a
15 coherent policy on Corporate Social Responsibility?

20 Dr. Sanjay Kumar Pandey

26 S. P. Bhatia

39 Anshu Bhardwaj

Q:285 The Minister of Commerce & Industry has approved
the constitution of a High Level Advisory Group (HLAG) to
make recommendations for identifying and pursuing
opportunities and for addressing challenges in order to find a
way forward in the contemporary global trade scenario. Who
will head this Advisory Group?
Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla
Prakash Kumar Singh
V.S. Bhandari
Injeti Srinivas
Q:287 Recently the Union Finance Minister has approved the
constitution of a Group of Ministers to examine the issue
regarding ‘Modalities for Revenue mobilization in case of
Natural Calamities and Disasters’. Who is the convener of the
Group of Ministers?
 Shivraj Chauhan Vietnam Indonesia

Sushil Kumar Modi Egypt Iran

Vijay Rupani Somalia

Q:290 Recently India has won Cricket Asia Cup for 7th time
Yogi Adityanath
by beating which country?

Nitish Kumar
Afghanistan Bangladesh
Q:288 Recently Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has
partnered with Google to launch a campaign to encourage all Pakistan Hong Kong
local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on Google
Maps. What is the name of this campaign? Sri Lanka

#GiveReview Q:291 World Heart Day is celebrated every year on which

date?
#TakeReview
September 29
#LooReview
September 27
#CleanReview
September 28
#ToiletReview
September 25
Q:289 Recently the government has notified that Vikram
Misri would be the new Indian envoy to which country? September 30
Q:292 What is the theme of World Heart Day 2018?
Tripura

Depression: Let's talk

Uttar Pradesh

Small bite, Big threat

Haryana

Urbanization and health

Nagaland

Your heart, my heart Q:295 Recently the President of India has inaugurated
Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention in which
Share the power city?

Q:293 Which of the following city has launched the country’s Jaipur New Delhi
first flood forecasting and early-warning system with the
support of the Asian Development Bank?
Hyderabad Lucknow

Kochi Kolkata
Jodhpur

New Delhi Jaipur Q:296 The RBI has barred which bank from opening new
branches and put a freeze on the remuneration of Managing
Bangalore Director and Chief Executive Officer for its failure to bring
down the promoter holding to 40 per cent?
Q:294 Which state to set up flute performance research
institute? PNB SBI

Assam Bandhan Bank Bank of Baroda

 Q:299 Which one of the following is not the part of World
ICICI
Bank Group?
Q:297 Recently who has been appointed Managing Director
and Vice President of Facebook India? International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Ajit Mohan International Finance Corporation

Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas International Centre for Settlement of Investment

Disputes
Satya S. Tripathi
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
Dr. G Satheesh Reddy
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
K S Srinivas
Q:300 India’s trade with South Asia is only how much
Q:298 Recently Pandit Tulsidas Borkar passed away. He was percentage of its global trade?
a
7% 12%
Pakhavaj artist
9% 3%
Harmonium artist
6%
Flutist

Tabla player

Ghatam artist