0 September 2016 Daily News Current Affairs


September 2016 Daily News Current Affairs

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  1. Sep 30, 2016
    1. BRICS Labour & Employment Ministerial Meeting held in New Delhi.
    2. September 30 - International Translation Day. 2016 theme is Translation and Interpreting: Connecting worlds.
    3. Karnataka Bank signed MoU with Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company for distribution of mutual fund products.
    4. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became fastest Indian and second overall to take 200 Test wickets, reaching it in his 37th Test against New Zealand.
    5. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh laid foundation stone of Gokul Gram at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh for conservation and development of native cattle breeds. Government will set up 14 such Grams across country as part of Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
    6. Noted American health care company Abbott Laboratories Ambati Venu as Head of India Operations.
    7. Government approved assistance of 1269 crore rupees for drought affected Maharashtra( 589 crores for damage to Kharif crops and 679 crore rupees for Rabi crops).
    8. World Health Organization (WHO) released its report on pollution and claimed that 92 % of world’s population lives in places where air pollution level exceed WHO limits. Estimated 6.5 million deaths (11.6% of all global deaths) are associated with indoor and outdoor air pollution.
    9. 12th edition of Asia’s oldest and world’s 3rd toughest mountain biking (MTB) race started from Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) with 67 participants from 14 countries. Total 650 kilometers would be covered by the participants during their journey.
    10. Indian Infrastructure Giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) won 99.7-million dollar (around 660 crores INR) contract from Vietnam Border Guard to construct 12 high-speed patrol vessels in 30 months.
    11. Delhi government increased retirement age of doctors working in its hospitals to 65 years, from 62 earlier.
    12. West Bengal government announced to install monorail from Budge Budge in South 24-Parganas to Ruby Connector in Kolkata, a 14-kilometre-long monorail route. It will cost 4216 crore rupees.
    13. Services emerged as overall champions at 56th Atheletics Open Nationals held in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
    14. Patna High Court quashed Bihar government's decision to complete banning liquor in the state, saying that its is ultra vires to Constitution (beyond state government's legal authority). Liquor ban law was made more stringent after Assembly passed Bihar Excise and Prohibition Bill that stated all adult members of family could be arrested for 7 years if liquor was found stored in house.
    15. China blocked Xiabuqu River (a tributary of the Brahmaputra River) in Tibet, to construct a hydro project. This Blockade may impact water flows into India and Bangladesh.
    16. Colombian voters in a referendum rejected peace deal with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, with 50.2 % polling in opposition. Deal was earlier signed by President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Timoleon Jimenez after 4 years of negotiations.
    17. Indian-origin South African girl Kiara Nirghin won Google Science Fair prize 2016. She won grand prize of 50000 US dollars scholarship for using orange peel to develop a cheaper super-absorbent material that helps soil retain water.
    18. John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation announced its ‘Class of 2016’, consististing 23 exceptionally creative people. It inlcudes 2 Indians Manu Prakash and Subhash Khot.
      1. Dr. Subhash Khot won Nevanlinna Prize in 2014 and works in theoretical computer science.
      2. Manu Prakash is a physical biologist and inventor and has invented several devices that support frugal science. He is mostly known for Foldscope, a microscope made by folding paper like in origami and sporting a glass bead lens.
    19. Indian Navy awarded a major $81 million contract to American Company Boeing for supplying 22 Harpoon missile systems for Shishumar class submarines.
    20. Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) elected I Venkat as chairman for 2017. 
    21. Punjab National Bank has been adjudged best in Rajbhasha Kirti competition for implementation of Official Language Policy in 2015-16.
  2. Sep 29, 2016
    1. 29 September - World Maritime Day. 2016 Theme is Shipping: indispensable to the world.
    2. September 29 - World Heart Day. 2016 theme is Light Your Heart, Empower Your Life.
    3. Indian Army successfully conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Over 40 terrorists and 2 Pak Soldiers were kiled during strikes. Surgical strikes were India’s first direct military response to attack on Uri army base by Pakistan-based militants that had killed 18 Indian soldiers.
    4. US appointed its first Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis to Cuba in 55 years.
    5. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved 26000 crores cash credit limit (CCL) for purchasing paddy in Punjab.
    6. Indian Badminton Player Rituparna Das won Polish Open after defeating Rasika Raje.
    7. Sanjiv Singh appointed as Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
    8. Afghanistan signed peace agreement with one of country's largest militant groups Hezb-e-Islami.
    9. Wipro's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) arm acquired China's Zhongshan Ma Er Daily Products.
    10. India approved revised Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Cyprus, for checking tax evasion.
    11. As per a Mastercard Report, Five Indian cities - Mumbai (27), Chennai (30), Delhi (48), Kolkata (62) along with Pune (91) ranked in top 100 destination cities for 2016. Asian cities make up half of global top 10 cities and Bangkok (Thailand) is at top.
    12. St Petersburg Men's Tennis Open -
      1. Singles - Alexander Zverev (Germany)
      2. Doubles - Dominic Inglot (United Kingdom ) and Henri Kontinen (Finland)
    13. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Finance Ministry) appointed ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd as asset management company for creation and launch of a new Exchange Traded Fund, comprising of shares of listed CPSEs and other corporates.
    14. Mobile payments and loans start-up ftcash launched Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for merchants in association with ICICI Bank.
    15. Chandigarh Administration and French Development Agency (AFD) signed MoU on Smart City Project and 'Technical Cooperation' in the field of Sustainable Urban Mobility.
    16. Lopamudra Raut stayed second runner-up at Miss United Continents 2016, held in Ecuador. Jeslyn Santos from Philippines won Miss United Continents 2016 title.
    17. The Hindu has been awarded Silver and Bronze awards in Reader Engagement category of South Asian Digital Media Awards at WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers) India 2016 conference in Kolkata.
    18. Riyadh Mathew has been elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI). 
    19. Shakti Sinha is appointed as director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).
    20. USA and Vietnamese navies begun 7th annual Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) in Vietnam. 
    21. Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft joined up for partnership on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
    22. Government removed Sushil Muhnot from post of Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Maharashtra.
    23. Microsoft and Adobe partnered to promote use of each other's cloud-computing tools among their mutual customers.
    24. World Health Organisation declared Americas (South and North) as Measles free. Americas are first in world to have eliminated measles.
    25. Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom and Cuba's Ministry of Science signed an agreement on cooperation in peaceful atomic energy.
  3. Sep 28, 2016
    1. 28 September - World Rabies Day. 2016 Theme is Rabies: Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate.
    2. Madhusudan Sahoo has been appointed as the new chairman of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) for 5 years.
    3. Vijay Kelkar elected as new President of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), replacing Former former RBI governor C Rangarajan.
    4. First BRICS Young Scientists Conclave 2016 hosted by India in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
    5. Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova won 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open trophy in women’s doubles event in Tokyo (Japan).
    6. Indian Table Tennis Player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won men’s singles title of Belgium Open by defeating Nuytinck Cedric.
    7. Indian NGO Slum Soccer won first-ever FIFA Diversity Award for its fight against discrimination and promote diversity in football. 
    8. Book Driven: The Virat Kohli Story, has been authored by sports journalist Vijay Lokapally.
    9. 5th Asian Beach Games held in Danang (Vietnam),
      1. India sent a contingent of 208 members for these games.
      2. Indian women’s beach kabaddi team won gold by defeating Thailand and Shweta Ramdas More won gold in women's 48kg-52kg.
      3. India stayed 16th with total 24 medals (G - 2, S - 4, B - 18).
      4. Medal Table -
         Rank  NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
        1 Vietnam (VIE) 52 44 43 139
        2  Thailand (THA) 36 24 30 90
        3 China (CHN) 12 18 19 49
        4 Iran (IRI) 9 6 6 21
        5 Mongolia (MGL) 7 4 8 19
        6 Cambodia (CAM) 6 6 9 21
        7 Qatar (QAT) 5 1 1 7
        8 Jordan (JOR) 4 4 5 13
        9 United Arab Emirates (UAE) 4 2 3 9
        10 Malaysia (MAS) 3 6 5 14
    10. Powerful typhoon Megi recently hit island-nation Taiwan with winds up to 230 km/hr.
    11. 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) will be hosted by the Government of India (GoI) in New Delhi on November 2016.
    12. Rajasthan became first Indian state to adopt centre’s Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) in all its urban local bodies (ULB). Almost 5 lakh conventional street lights have been replaced with LED street lights across the state.
    13. Former Australian cricketer and Australian rules football player, Max Walker passed away.
    14. National Mission on Bioeconomy launched in Shillong (Meghalaya) by Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) under Ministry of Science and Technology. The purpose of the mission is to boost rural economy by utilizing bio-resources.
    15. Ajay Singh is newly elected president of Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
    16. First BRICS U-17 Football Tournament will be held in Goa in October 2016.
    17. Olympic Council of Asia declared that 2026 Asian Games will be hosted by Japan.
      1. 2018 Asian Games will be hosted by Indonesia and 2022 edition will be held in Chinese city of Hangzhou.
    18. Noted Golf Player Arnold Palmer (USA) passed away. He was known as the king of golf and was part of “The Big Three” in golf during 1960s, along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
    19. Javelin thrower Annu Rani broke her own national record and became first Indian woman to cross 60m mark durin 56th Open National Athletics Championships in Lucknow.
    20. Pakistan’s lower house of parliament passed a landmark bill to address Hindu minority’s concerns over registration of marriages, aimed at protecting women’s rights. 
  4. Sep 27, 2016
    1. 27 September - World Tourism Day. Theme of 2016 is Tourism for All - promoting universal accessibility.
    2. Airports Authority of India’s Tirupati Airport awarded Best Tourist Friendly Airport under category for State Annual Excellence Awards for the year 2015-16 by Andhra Pradesh Tourism.
    3. Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be chief guest for 68th Republic Day celebrations on 26 January 2017.
    4. Scientists discovered a new species of Pika (a mammal belonging to the rabbit and hare family) in Himalayas in Sikkim. It has been identified as ‘Ochotona sikimaria’.
    5. Typhoon Malakas hit southern Japan, bringing damaging winds of up to 180 Km/hr.
    6. 20th India International seafood show (IISS) 2016 held in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) with theme Safe and Sustainable Indian Aquaculture.
    7. The first-ever United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants has been held at UN General Assembly in New York (USA), for saving lives of over 6.5 crore refugees and migrants.
    8. Rekha The Untold Story, biography of actress Rekha has been authored by Yasser Usman.
    9. North East Connectivity Summit held in Agartala (Tripura).
    10. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) became Asia's first Stock Exchange to partner up with Twitter to provide live updates of S&P BSE Sensex levels, stock prices and opening and closing figures of Sensex companies to millions of investors.
    11. 5th Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) 2016 Innovators Meet held in New Delhi with theme Biotech Innovation Ecosystem - Strategizing the Next Leap.
    12. Book Do Not Say We Have Nothing has been authored by Madeleine Thien. It is a story on classical music in revolutionary China.
    13. Tamil Nadu government allotted 204 crores for Thaaliku Thangam’ (Gold for Mangalsutra) scheme under a marriage assistance programme scheme for the year 2016-17 to benefit 12,500 women.
    14. 33rd International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) World Conference hosted by Moscow (Russia).
    15. First Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award-2016 will be posthumously bestowed to Olympic champion Muhammad Ali, who passed away recently.
    16. First exhibition on childhood cancer awareness held at Taj Mahal in Agra (Uttar Pradesh).
    17. Parliamentary committee headed by M Veerappa Moily has been constituted to review all budgetary reforms.
    18. To commemorate birth centenary of Jana Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, 149 member Committee has been made under PM Narendra Modi.
    19. UN 2016 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Report (first global analysis that assesses countries on SDG health performance ) -
      1. India ranked 143rd out of 188 countries.
      2. List is topped by Iceland, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Andorra and UK.
      3. About SDG -
        1. The SDGs are 17 universal goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators set by the United Nations in 2015 to guide a range of pressing problems including food and water security, poverty and climate change up to 2030.
        2. The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which expired at the end of 2015.
    20. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2016 Singapore Grand Prix of Formula One.
      1. 2016 Formula One season -
        1. Total 21 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2016. Calendar is -
          1. Grand Prix Date Winner
            Australia 20 March Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Baharain 3 April Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            China 17 April Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Russia 1 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Spain 15 May Max Verstappen (Netherlands)
            Monaco 29 May Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Canada 12 June Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Europe 19 June Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Austria 3 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Britain 10 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Hungary 24 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Germany 31 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Belgium 28 August Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Italy 4 September Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Singapore 18 September Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Malaysia 2 October  
            Japan 9 October    
            USA 23 October  
            Mexico 30 October  
            Brazil 13 November  
            Abu Dhabi 27 November  
  5. Sep 26, 2016
    1. 26 September: International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
    2. Jim Yong Kim (South Korea) has been re-appointed as President of World Bank for a second five-year term beginning 1 July 2017.
    3. Government approved Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) 2003 and Varistha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) 2014, along with expenditures incurred on subsidy amount released to LIC for both schemes. Both schemes were implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Total number of 3,17,991 annuitants are benefited under VPBY 2014 and 2,84,699 are benefited under VPBY 2003.
    4. Telangana government signed MoU with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to promote education. ISRO will help to improve services of Telangana’s educational channel ‘Mana TV’ by using Satcom.
    5. Minister for State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman visited Sri Lanka for for talks on Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA). She announced that India is going to invest 2 billion dollars in Sri Lanka in the next 3 - 4 years.
    6. World’s first three-parent baby boy was born in Mexico to a Jordanian couple with help a controversial new fertility technique that incorporates DNA from three people in the embryo. The ‘three-parent’ technique also known as Mitochondrial donation (Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy) allows parents with rare genetic mutations to have healthy babies.
    7. Bangladesh noted writer Syed Shamsul Haq passed away.
    8. Noted Telugu writer Kalakaluri Enoch conferred with Moortidevi Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith for 2015.
    9. Government appointed S. Sivakumar as a Member of the 21st Law Commission of India (LCI). He is the professor at the Indian Law Institute (ILI) in New Delhi.
      1. Former Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan is Chairman of commission.
    10. IT major Infosys launched Skava Commerce, a new standard for e-commerce platform for retailers. Infosys had acquired in June 2015 for 120 million dollars. Skava Commerce platform can help brick-and-mortar retailers to quickly launch new offerings, improve conversion rates of traffic coming from digital channels.
    11. European Union approved ratification of Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
      1. 28 EU Nations contribute 12 % global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
      2. Once all 28 EU nations ratify the agreement, The Paris Agreement on Climate Change will be ready to enter into force as cumulative emissions of ratifying parties will go beyond 55%.
    12. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut oil production for the first time since 2008 after an informal meeting in Algeria. It was decided to reduce output to 32.5 - 33.0 million barrels per day (bpd) from current output at 33.24 million bpd.
      1. India is 3rd largest importer of crude oil imports 85% of total oil and 95% of natural gas from OPEC nations. Decision to cut production may result in spike in oil prices in India.
      2. In recent times, lower oil prices kept the Indian economy on the shining path and managed to keep inflation under control making it fastest growing economy in G20 countries.
      3. About Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
        1. OPEC consists of 14 oil-exporting developing nations that account for 43% of global oil production and 73% of the world’s oil reserves. It was Established in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq.
        2. OPEC Members - Algeria, Angola, Libya, Nigeria and Gabon (from Africa); Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador and Venezuela.
    13. Finance Ministry decided that sports infrastructure will be included under harmonised master list of infrastructure sub-sectors.
    14. 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit to be held in Islamabad (Pakistan) has been postponed, after India and four other countries boycotted it.
    15. According to Endemic Vascular Plants of India Report by Botanical Survey of India (BSI) -
      1. 18,259 flowering plants are reported in India, 4,303 (over 23%) are found only in India (endemic to India)
      2. Tamil Nadu accounts for the highest number of species with 410, followed by Kerala (357 species) and Maharashtra (278 species).
    16. Music director and violinist Uttam Singh for 2016 Lata Mangeshkar Award for Lifetime Achievement by Maharashtra government.
    17. Short Film Murga (directed by Katyayan Shivpuri) won first prize at Swachh Bharat Short Film Festival (SBSFF), organised by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
    18. Indian-American Vinaya Manchaiah named as Future Leader of Audiology and inducted into 2016 class of the ‘Jerger Future Leaders of Audiology’ by the American Academy of Audiology.
    19. Central Board of Direct Taxes received Rs. 65,250 crores as part of Income Disclosure Scheme 2016 that provided opportunity to those who had not paid full taxes in the past to come clean by declaring their income and paying 45% in form of taxes and Penalty. Benefits of Declaration inlcude No wealth tax on asset declared, No enquiry under Income Tax Act or Wealth Tax Act and Immunity from the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988. It will bring Rs 30000 Taxes revenue for the government.
    20. India won Under-18 Men’s hockey Asia Cup by defeating Bangladesh.
    21. Delhi Police launched mobile application for senior citizens to provide immediate assistance to them in distress.
  6. Sep 25, 2016
    1. 15th Summer Paralympic Games 2016 Concluded in Rio (Brazil) -
      1. Stats -
        1. It was 15th Paralympic Games, continuing since 1960.
        2. Motto of Rio Paralympics 2016 - A New World.
        3. Tom is official mascot of 2016 Summer Paralympics (while Vinicius is official mascot of 2016 Summer Olympics)
        4. 4342 Athletes participated in 528 events in 22 sports with 159 Nations participating.
      2. India at 2016 Rio Paralympic Games -
        1. India sent delegation of 19 athletes at Rio Paralympics.
        2. India won 4 Medals -
          1. Mariyappan Thangavelu (Tamilnadu) - Gold in Men's High Jump
          2. Devendra Jhajharia (Rajasthan) - Gold in Men's Javelin Throw
          3. Deepa Malik (Haryana) - Silver in Women's Shot Put
          4. Varun Singh Bhati (Uttar Pradesh) - Bronze in Men's High Jump
      3. Major Facts of 2016 Rio Paralympic Games
        1. Medal Tally (Top 10 Nations) -
          1.  Rank  NPC Gold Silver Bronze Total
            1  China (CHN) 107 81 51 239
            2 Great Britain (GBR) 64 39 44 147
            3  Ukraine (UKR) 41 37 39 117
            4  United States (USA) 40 44 31 115
            5  Australia (AUS) 22 30 29 81
            6  Germany (GER) 18 25 14 57
            7  Netherlands (NED) 17 19 26 62
            8 Brazil (BRA) 14 29 29 72
            9  Italy (ITA) 10 14 15 39
            10  Poland (POL) 9 18 12 39
        2. India ranked 43rd with 4 Medals.
    2. Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test fired recently acquired long range air-to-air MICA missile from Mirage-2000 Upgrade combat aircraft.
    3. India’s largest pharmaceutical company Sun Pharma signed deal with International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) for clinical development Cissampelos pariera (Cipa), India’s first vaccine (drug) for treatment of dengue.
    4. According to the scientists and wildlife conservationists, Gangetic river dolphins (National Aquatic Animal of India) are at threat with decvelopment of National Waterways.
      1. River dolphins are found in Ganga and Brahmaputra and its tributaries. It has been declared endangered species and is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Fresh water dolphins rely on bio-sonar method to move around as they are alomst blind.
    5. United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approved resolution for quick global implementation of Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty (CTBT) to ban tests of nuclear weapons.
      1. CTBT bans all nuclear explosions for both civilian and military purposes. It was adopted by UNGA under resolution 50 (1996).
      2. Treaty will enter into force 180 days after ratification from all UN Members. So far, 183 countries have signed CTBT and 166 have ratificatied it.
    6. First meeting of Goods & Services Tax (GST) Council decided to exempt businesses with annual turnover below 20 lakh out of GST net.
      1. It will giverespite to approx 60 Lac assesses from paying GST. It will also reduce expenditure for tex collection agencies as these 60 lac assesses only contribute approx 2 % of Indirect Tax revenue.
      2. Businesses in Northeastern and hill states will be free of GST for for annual turnover below Rs.10 lakh.
      3. Administrative Control -
        1. States will have sole jurisdiction over assessees having a turnover of Rs.1.5 crore or less.
        2. In case turnover exceedes 1.5 crore, administrative control will be jointly with central and state governments.
      4. Existing 11 lakh service tax assessees will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the Centre.
      5. Base Year: The GST Council also agreed to settle 2015-16 as the base year for calculating the compensation.
    7. First military exercise between Russia and Pakistan named Druzhba-2016 (Friendship-2016) held in Pakistan.
    8. India’s squash player Velavan Senthilkumar won Under-19 Asian Junior Individual squash championship in Malaysia, by defeating Jordan’s Mohammad Al-Sarraj.
    9. Arun Goyal has been appointed Additional Secretary in Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which is headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It is mandated to decide on tax rate exempted goods and the threshold limit.
    10. China built world's largest radio telescope nicknamed Tianyan (Heavenly Eye or The Eye of Heaven) or the five-hundred-metre aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST).
      1. It is world’s largest filled aperture (single dish) radio telescope and the second largest radio telescope after the Russian RATAN-600.
      2. It is made up of 4,450 panels and has reflector as large as 30 football pitches. It has 500 meters diameter, giving it more sensitivity.
    11. India’s largest civilian research and development agency Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) completed its platinum jubilee (75 years of operations). CSIR became operational on 26 September 1942.
    12. Indian Table Tennis Player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won Belgium Open title after defeating Belgium's Nuytinck Cedric.
    13. India won Its Historic 500th test match against New Zealand, played in Green Park (Kanpur).
    14. Government suspended talks on India-Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty, in wake of Uri Terrorist attacks on Indian Army that killed our 19 Troops. Key Highlights are -
      1. Suspend talks on the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), the dispute redressal mechanism until terrorism stops.
      2. Build more hydropower projects on western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to exploit full potential.
      3. Expedite construction of Pakal Dul, Sawalkot, Bursar dams in Jammu and Kashmir.
      4. Use 20% of river water allocated under treaty for Jammu and Kashmir farmers.
      5. About Indus Waters Treaty -
        1. IWT is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President of Pakistan Ayub Khan in Karachi on September 19, 1960. It was brokered by World Bank.
        2. Treaty deals with sharing of water of 6 rivers — Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. As per treaty, control over three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej was given to India. While control over three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab was given to Pakistan.
        3. It allows India to use only 20% of water of Indus river for irrigation, power generation and transport.
        4. It is most successful water treaty in world.
    15. 60th Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference held in Vienna (Austria). Highlights include agreement between Russia and Cuba on cooperation in field of peaceful atomic energy use.
    16. Government approved changing name of Gurgaon to ‘Gurugram’. With this, both city and district of Gurgaon would be known as Gurugram.
    17. Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport became Asia-Pacific’s only airport to achieve a carbon neutral status, as announced by Airports Council International (ACI).
      1. This recognition has upgraded IGI airport’s status to “Level 3+, Neutrality, highest level for airports across the world.
      2. IGI airport is managed by private operator Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which has taken several initiatives to make IGI airport recognized at Global Scale -
        1. Eco-friendly vehicles
        2. 84 MW solar power plant
        3. Terminal 3 is a LEED gold certified green building
        4. Water Conservation, preconditioned air supply systems, Energy efficient lighting systems and bridge mounted equipment.
    18. New species of a lizard discovered in Maharashtra, named as Cyrtodactylus Varadgirii or Giri’s Geckoella after a Bengaluru-based scientist Varad Giri. It has been discovered 130 years after last such gecko was discovered.
    19. India and China have hold first High Level Dialogue on Counter-terrorism and Security held in Beijing (China).
  7. Sep 24, 2016
    1. Indian Consortium comprising of Oil India Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Bharat Petro Resources Limited acquired 23.9 % stake in JSC Vankorneft and 29.9 % stake in LLC Taas-Yuryakh from Rosneft Oil Company (Russia). 
    2. India ratified Paris Agreement (on Climate Change) that was adopted by 185 nations in December 2015. India had signed this Agreement in April 2016. A total of 191 countries have signed to the Paris Agreement so far.
      1. As per provisions of Paris Agreement, treaty will come into force as and when 55 countries contributing to 55 % of total global emission ratify the agreement. So far, 62 countries (Including India) have ratified it, accounting in total for 51.89 % of total global greenhouse gas emissions (India's part is 4.1%).
    3. World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2016 - 2017 -
      1. Top 5 - Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), United States (3rd), Netherlands (4th) and Germany (5th).
      2. BRICS Countries - China (28th), Russia (43rd), South Africa (47th) and Brazil (81st).
      3. India facts - India has jumped to 39th (16 places up from 55th in 2015-16), being the highest rising economy due to improvement in goods market efficiency, business sophistication and innovation. India’s overall competitiveness has increased due to improvements in institutions and infrastructure along with recent reforms such as opening the economy to foreign investors and increasing transparency in the financial system.
    4. Government appointed R. Subramania Kumar as Executive Director of Indian Overseas Bank.
    5. Government notified constitution of Six Member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI Act) has been amended by the Finance Act 2016, to provide for a statutory and institutionalised framework for a Monetary Policy Committee. Monetary Policy Committee will fix benchmark policy rate (repo rate) required to contain inflation within the specified target level. Composition of MPC -
      1. Urjit Patel - RBI Governor (Chairperson)
      2. R Gandhi - Deputy Governor RBI in charge of Monetary Policy (Member)
      3. Michael Patra - Executive Director of RBI (Member)
      4. Government Nominated Members - Chetan Ghate (Indian Statistical Institute), Pami Dua (Delhi School of Economics) and Ravindra H. Dholakia (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad). Members appointed by Government will hold post for 4 years.
    6. Government raised Employees Provident Fund (EPF) investment in Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) from 5 to 10 %, considering good returns in ETF investment. In last one year, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) invested 6577 crore rupees in ETF with a good return of 13.24 %.
    7. Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Thawaarchand Gehlot announced Cash awards of Rs 90 lakhs announced for Rio Paralympics 2016 Medal Winners under Awareness Generation and Publicity (AGP) scheme -
      1. Gold medalists Mariyappan Thangavelu and Devendra Jhajharia awarded Rs 30 lakh cash prize each.
      2. Silver medallist Deepa Malik gets 20 lakh and Varun Singh Bhati gets 10 lakh for winning bronze.
    8. Shimon Peres, Former President of Israel passed away.
    9. India Sanitation Conference nicknamed INDOSAN held in Delhi.
    10. Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India signed MOU with Puducherry Government for Regional Connectivity Scheme.
      1. RCS is key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy and would be in operation for 10 years, providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of country.
      2. Fare for a 1 hour journey of appx. 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for a 30 minute journey on a helicopter would now be capped at Rs. 2,500.
      3. Puducherry is first Union Territory to have signed RCS. Before Puducherry, states of Gujarat, Jharkhand and Maharashtra have signed this agreement.
    11. Ministry of Commerce and Industry will organize 2nd Advantage Health Care India 2016 (AHCI 2016), an International Summit on Medical Value Travel in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) in October 2016, with aim of ‘Promoting Healthcare Services Exports from India’.
    12. Government disinvested 7% of its stake in Hindustan Copper Limited, to get approx 400 crores. 
    13. To boost Industrial Activities, Government approved special Tax Rebate for Setting up Industrial Units in 7 districts of Andhra Pradesh, till Mar 31, 2020. Any manufacturing undertaking set up during concerned period in concerned districts, is eligible for 15% of higher additional depreciation and 15% of investment allowance on cost of plant and machinery acquired by it. Districts are - Anantapur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
    14. 4th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education held in New Delhi.
  8. Sep 23, 2016
    1. Eighth India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘INDRA-2016’ begun in Vladivostok (Russia). 
    2. Government release special Commemorative Postage Stamp on occassion of 100th anniversary of Lady Hardinge Medical College (Delhi).
    3. Health Ministry will launch Mission Parivar Vikas in 145 districts of 8 States, to improve family planning services. Aim is to reach replacement level fertility goals of 2.1 by 2025. States are - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Assam.
    4. 2nd meeting of Experts to strengthen SAARC Anti-Terrorism Mechanism held in Delhi. 
    5. 3 Guinness World Records created at Samajik Adhikarita Shivir and Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fittings of Aids/Appliances (ADIP) Camp in Navsari (Gujarat) -
      1. First record - Highest number of Oil lamps lit simultaneously at single location, 989 Divyangs came together to set this record.
      2. Second record - Biggest Wheelchair Logo, with 1,000 participants in wheelchairs depicted a message saying ‘Happy Birthday PM’ in Tri-colour.
      3. Torld record - Most people fitted with Hearing Aid in 8 hours at Single location (600 Hearing Aids Fitted).
    6. ISRO successfully Launched advanced weather satellite SCATSAT-1 and 7 other co-passenger satellites on board the PSLV C35.
      1. 371-kg SCATSAT-1 meant for ocean and weather related studies. This was placed into a 730-km polar sun synchronous orbit.
      2. Other seven satellites, including 3 from Algeria and 1 each from the US and Canada.
      3. It was ISRO’s longest mission spread over 2 hours and 15 minutes.
    7. Ministry of Civil Aviation approved 4 new airport projects - 3 in Andhra Pradesh (Bhogapuram, Dagadarthi (Nellore) and Orvakallu (Kurnool)) and Kothagudem in Telengana.
    8. Six member countries of South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka released Operational Plan 2016-2025.
      1. SASEC OP was Established in 2001, to promote regional prosperity by improving cross-border connectivity, boosting trade among member countries, and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
      2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the secretariat and lead financier of the SASEC program. To date, ADB has approved 40 SASEC projects worth almost $7.7 billion in transport, energy, trade facilitation, and information and communications technology.
    9. Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal laid Foundation Stone of Ludhiana Mega Food Park., to be developed at cost of 117 crores over an area of 100 acres.
    10. O.P. Singh has been appointed as Director General in Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
    11. Sudhir Pratap Singh has been appointed as Director General in National Security Guard.
    12. R. K. Pachnanda has been appointed as DG in National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). 
    13. Government approved MoUs -
      1. With Singapore for co-operation in Industrial Property Cooperation. MoU will be signed at the upcoming visit of Singapore’s Prime Minister to India from 4-7 October, 2016.
      2. Government approved MOU with South Korea on Mutual Recognition of Certificates.
    14. Government approved closure of Hindustan Cables Limited (Kolkata). Total cash infusion for closure of company will be Rs. 1309.90 crore and non-cash infusion of Rs. 3467.15 crore in the form of conversion into equity of Government of India's loan (including interest) outstanding.
      1. There was no production activity in company since January 2003.
      2. Employees will be offered attractive VRS/ VSS Package at notional 2007 pay scales.
    15. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved ‘Project SAKSHAM’ as a New Indirect Tax Network (Systems Integration) of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Total cost is 2256 crores, to be incurred over 7 years. Implementation strategy for the project will be to nsure readiness of CBEC's IT systems by April, 1, 2017, when GST is to be introduced. All Taxpayers / lmporters / Exporters / Dealers under various indirect tax laws administered by CBEC (presently about 36 lakhs), likely to go up to over 65 lakhs after introduction of GST. Saksham will help in -
      1. Implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
      2. Extension of the Indian Customs Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT).
  9. Sep 22, 2016
    1. 6th meeting of BRICS on Agriculture and Agrarian Development held in New Delhi.
    2. Government announced 2,520 cr to be spent on rejuvenation of ghats and infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh'a Vraanasi City, to make it Suramya, Samunnat, Sanyojit Kashi under Smart City Plan.
    3. USA will be partner country in 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit-2017 t be held at January 8-9, 2017. 
    4. Odisha government hosted 2016 National conference on labour in Bhubaneswar, in association with International Labour Organisation (ILO).
    5. M Leelavathi chosen for 2016 N Mohanan Suvarna Mudra Award for her remarkable contribution to Malayalam language and literature.
    6. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tied up with financial services firm Janalakshmi Financial Services (Jana) as an associate sponsor. The agreement also gives Janalakshmi benefits of prominence in stadium branding and on-ground advertising for 68 matches in three years.
    7. East Bengal FC won Calcutta Football League (CFL) for seventh consecutive time, defeating Mohammedan Sporting Club.
    8. Cauvery Supervisory Committee headed by Shashi Shekhar directed Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu.
    9. 2016 Track Asia Cup concluded in New Delhi. Hong Kong topped table with 18 medals (11 Gold) and India ended at second position with 16 medals (5 gold).
    10. NITI Aayog (think tank of government), has formed a short term and medium to long term action plan to help India achieve 50 medals in 2024 summer Olympics.
    11. Indian Oil Corporation Limited and GAIL Limited signed MoU with Dhamra LNG Terminal Private Limited for taking equity in 5 MMTPA capacity LNG Receiving, Storage and Regasification Terminal. Dhamra LNG terminal is being built by Adani Enterprises Ltd at Dhamra Port, Odisha.
    12. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd won Obaidullah Khan Heritage Cup Hockey Tournament by defeating Railways.
    13. e-Commerce platform Paytm will enable health insurance for 3 lakh auto and cab drivers (in partnership with TATA AIG General Insurance ) that accept its wallet as payment system. New health insurance scheme covers hospitalisation expenses of up to Rs 50,000.
    14. Tamil crime thriller Visaranai is chosen as India’s official entry to Oscars 2017 (89th Academy Awards) in Best Foreign Language Film category.
    15. All India Management Association elected Sunil Kant Munjal as its president for 2016-17.
    16. Centre for Strategic and International Studies (USA)'s report on status of Women's participation in workplaces in India -
      1. Sikkim is at top with highest possible 40 points score.
      2. Delhi being at bottom with score of 8.5, reflecting delhi shows worst state for working women among all states in India.
      3. India has least rate for women participation in workplaces - Just 24 %.
    17. World's largest solar power plant, with an installed capacity of 648MW has been commissioned at Kamudhi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. It has been Set up by Adani Group, on an area of around 5,000 acres and at total cost of Rs 4,550 crores.
  10. Sep 21, 2016
    1. 21 September - International Day of Peace. 2016 Theme is The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace.
    2. Standard & Poor's (S&P) Global Ratings forecasted relatively high quality and steroid-free GDP growth of 8% for India over next few years.
    3. Rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), started by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). It will be effective from April 1, 2017. Under this scheme, government is aiming to construct one crore houses by 2019.
    4. Junaid Ahmad (Bangladesh) has been appointed as World Bank's Country Director for India, replacing Onno Ruhl.
    5. Hindustani classical singer Shubha Mudgal to be honoured with 2016 'LalitArpan Samman'.
    6. Google rolled out travel app Google Trips and messaging app Allo. 
    7. BCCI appointed MSK Prasad as chief selector of Indian Cricket Team, while Ajay Shirke has been re-elected as BCCI Secretary.
    8. Misbah-ul-Haq became first Pakistani to receive prestigious ICC Test Championship mace. He has been honored for inspiring Pakistan to reach to top of ICC Test Team Rankings.
    9. Flipkart became First e-Commmerce Firm to cross 100-million (10 Crore) registered users mark. It added 2.5 crore users in past 6 months.
    10. Noted Oscar-winning USA director Curtis Hanson Passed away.
    11. Delhi's Race Course Road has now been renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg. It has Official Residence of India's Prime Minister.
    12. Forbes' '100 Richest Indians' list -
      1. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the list with net worth of 22.7 Billion USD. It is his ninth consecutive year at top of list.
      2. Sun Pharmaceuticals founder Dilip Shanghvi at number 2 and 3rd spot taken by Hinduja brothers. 4 - Azim Premji (Wipro), 5th - Pallonji Mistry.
      3. Patanjali co-founder Acharya Balkrishna entered This year's Forbes Richest Indians List with $2.5 billion net-worth owing to his 97% stake in Patanjali Ayurved Ltd
      4. Flipkart’s co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal opted out of list.
      5. Tech Entrepreneurs Bhavin & Divyank Turakhia entered into list with combined net worth 1.3 Billion USD, after selling their successful online advertising venture Media.net to chinese consortium for 900 Million USD.
    13. Ritu announced her retirement from Indian women's hockey team.
    14. MS Dhoni named captain of the Wisden's all-time India Test XI team.
    15. HDFC Bank named India’s most valuable brand for 3rd consecutive year, as per BrandZ Top 50 list released by WPP Group. HDFC Bank was followed by Airtel and SBI in the list.
    16. Government cleared deal with France's Dassault for 36 Rafale fighter jets, worth approx 7.878 billion Euros.
    17. Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA) signed agreement with Anna University for joint work on projects required for industries.
    18. Industrialist Adi Godrej (Chairman of Godrej Group), conferred with 10th Annual Clinton Global Citizen Award for leadership in business and philanthropy.
    19. Times Higher Education world rankings index -
      1. Oxford University (UK) topped the list. It become first UK university to top Times Higher Education World University Rankings in the 12-year history of the table.
      2. China’s Peking University is at 29th and Tsinghua University is at 35th.
      3. National University of Singapore, is best in Asia with 24th rank.
      4. India’s Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is at its highest ever position in 201-250 band.
      5. Overall, 289 Asian universities from 24 countries make overall list of 980 institutions and an 19 are in top 200, up from 15 last year.
      6. List of top 10 is -
      7. 2016-17 rank 2015-16 rank Institution Country
        1 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom
        2 1 California Institute of Technology United States
        3 3 Stanford University United States
        4 4 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
        5 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
        6 6 Harvard University United States
        7 7 Princeton University United States
        8 8 Imperial College London United Kingdom
        9 9 ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich Switzerland
        =10 13 University of California, Berkeley United States
        =10 10 University of Chicago United States
    20. Andhra Pradesh topped among states in attracting industrial investments in 2015-16, with investment of Rs 21,914 crore out of the Rs 1,38,700 crore gross investments across India. It pushed previous year’s topper Maharashtra to 3rd spot.
  11. Sep 20, 2016
    1. Transportation app Uber launched a new initiative in partnership with Maruti Suzuki and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for creating livelihood opportunities for 10Lakh people by 2018.
    2. 17th NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Summit held in Margarita (Venezuela, attended by Vice President M. Hamid Ansari on India's Behalf.
    3. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank won 4 awards for inclusive insurance for 2016 from Skoch Group. KVGB operates in 9 districts of Karnataka a nd has brought 28 lakh people under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna, PM Suraksha Bima Yojna and PM Jan Dhan Yojna.
      1. Microfinance institution Ujjivan Financial Services won Platinum Award for Inclusive Insurance.
    4. All India Radio (AIR) launched a website and mobile app for its Balochi service to reach people who speak Balochi language across globe.
    5. Mobile Wallet Paytm Launched service for enabling Railway Ticket Bookings on behalf of IRCTC.
    6. Telangana government signed MoU with theGoa government to help Goa in information technology (IT) development.
    7. Noted USA playwright Edward Albee passed away.
    8. Punjab National Bank appointed Cricketer Virat Kohli as brand ambassador.
    9. Scripts of Adil Hussain-starrers "Sunrise" and "Parched" have been archived at Oscar library (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).
    10. Indian-origin person Narendra Babubhai Patel honored 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at Asian Achievers Awards for his work in medical profession and public life in Britain.
    11. World Bank announced to invest over 1,000 crore rupees in Assam for betterment of inland waterways, including ghats.
    12. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bollywood actors Katrina Kaif and Juhi Chawla are among recipients of Priyadarshini Global Awards 2016, instituted by socio-cultural and educational organisation Priyadarshini Academy.
    13. West Bengal government will confer 2016 Bangabibhushan award to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.
    14. 68th Emmy Awards, television's biggest award ceremony, held in Los Angeles (USA) -
      1. Category
        Winners
        Outstanding drama series
        Game of Thrones
        Outstanding comedy series
        Veep
        Best television movie
        Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
        Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
        Rami Malek - Mr Robot
        Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
        Tatiana Maslany - Orphan Black
        Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
        Jeffrey Tambor - Transparent
        Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
        Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep
    15. Federal Bank has launched its second Skill Academy at Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), The first one being inaugurated last year at Ernakulam.
    16. Government announced plans to double number of schemes under DBT (Direct Beefir Transfer) to 147 by March 2017 (Currently 74).
    17. Trial operation of world's largest permanent ship lift designed by Chinese and German engineers on China's Three Gorges Dam began.
    18. Surinder Singh appointed as Chief of Army's Western Command.
    19. SS Mallikarjuna Rao appointed as an executive director of Syndicate Bank and Atul Kumar Goel appointed as an Executive Director in Union Bank of India.
    20. Vijaya Bank launched 3 innovative apps - VPAYQWIK, Vijaya *99# and V-eConnect+.
  12. Sep 19, 2016
    1. Book ‘Citizen and Society’ written by Vice President Mohd Hamid Ansari has been released.
    2. To help exporters, Department of Commerce brought changes in Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) -
      1. Addition of 2901 new products, taking number of items covered under scheme from 5012 to 7103.
      2. Increase in MEIS rates - Rates of 575 product items falling under 11 products categories have been increased.
      3. Total annual government support under MEIS scheme enhanced to 23,500 crore from present Rs. 22,000 crore.
    3. National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) approved Rs. 10000 crore Ken-Betwa river interlinking project. It is India’s first inter-State river interlinking project (Uttar Pradesh - Madhya Pradesh). Main feature of this project is a 230-km long canal and a series of barrages and dams (Makodia and Dhaudhan dams) connecting Ken and Betwa rivers. It will irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares in Madhya Pradesh and 14,000 hectares of Uttar Pradesh, in Bundelkhand.
    4. Government approved direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Chennai (mainland India) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, connecting mainland with Port Blair and five other islands - Little Andaman, Havelock, Car Nicobar, Kamorta and Great Nicobar. Estimated cost of project is 1102.38 crores.
    5. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited (HDCPL) as it had become inconsistent with changing times to facilitate the constant supply of rough diamonds and to make India an International Diamond Trading Hub. HDCPL was a 50:50 joint venture of the Central Government and De Beers Centenary Mauritius Limited (DBCML).
    6. G C Gupta appointed as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.
    7. Mohan M Shantanagoudar appointed as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court.
    8. Government approved to raise 31300 crores in FY 2016-17 to augment infrastructure spending. It has approved to service principal and interest against Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of Rs. 16,300 crore by Government for infrastructure spending.
    9. Government approved to enact Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016, related to powers of High Courts in respect of claims associated with transport by sea and navigable waterways. It also repealed five obsolete British statues on admiralty jurisdiction in civil matters - Admiralty Court Act 1840, Admiralty Court Act 1861, Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890, Colonial Courts of Admiralty (India) Act 1891, and Provisions of Letters Patent 1865.
    10. Right Livelihood Award 2016 (also known as alternative Nobel) given to -
      1. Syrian White Helmets also known as Syria Civil Defence is a Syrian civil organisation of emergency responders in rebel-held areas.
      2. Egypt’s Mozn Hassan and Nazra for Feminist Studies
      3. Russian mathematician and human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina
      4. Turkish Newspaper Cumhuriyet
      5. The laureates will share the 3.0-million-kronor (350000 dollar) prize.
    11. Two Indian forest officials -Ritesh Sarothiya and Sanjay Dutta, have been selected for 2016 Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards.
    12. Government appointed 3 economists on Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - Pami Dua, Chetan Ghate and Ravindra Dholakia.
    13. Government appointed Navtej Sarna as Ambassador to United States of America. Monika Kapil Mohta is appointed as next Ambassador to Sweden.
    14. Researchers from Pune (Maharashtra) produced high-quality carbon from sugarcane waste within minutes by using a low power microwave system. They used a cost-effective and quick process to convert sugarcane bagasse into anode-grade porous, conducting, activated carbon material for use in Li-ion batteries. The process will bring down the time to get anode-grade carbon dramatically. Thus, it will help to reduce electrical energy input substantially.
    15. India, USA and Afghanistan reaffirmed their shared interests in combating terrorism and advancing peace and security. In this regard, a trilateral statement was issued after meeting of their delegates in New York on the sidelines of 71st session of UN General Assembly.
    16. Committee headed by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, which was formed to tackle shortage of pulses, has recently submitted its report.
    17. Grand Buddhist festival Naropa which occurs in every 12 years, started at 17th century Hemis Monastery in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir.
    18. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, a young Yazidi woman who survived attack of Islamic State terrorists, has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
    19. Typhoon Meranti (Ferdie) hits China’s Fujian Province with winds of 173 km/h.
    20. Government approved proposals of Ministry of Finance related to certain budgetary reforms -
      1. Merger of Railway budget with General budget -
        1. Pesentation of separate Railway budget started in the year 1924, and has continued after independence as a convention rather than under Constitutional provisions.
        2. Capital at charge of Railways is estimated at Rs.2.27 lakh crore on which annual dividend (approx 9700 crore) is paid by Railways to Government, which will now be wiped off.
      2. Advancement of the date of Budget presentation from last day of February -
        1. Advancement of budget presentation would pave way for early completion of Budget cycle and enable Ministries and Departments to ensure better planning and execution of schemes from the beginning of the financial year and utilization of full working seasons.
        2. Exact date of presentation of Budget for 2017-18 would be decided keeping in view the date of assembly elections to be held in States.
      3. Merger of Plan and the Non-Plan classification in Budget and Accounts -
        1. Plan/Non-Plan bifurcation of expenditure has led to a fragmented view of resource allocation to various schemes, making it difficult not only to ascertain cost of delivering a service but also to link outlays to outcomes..
        2. Earmarking of funds for Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan/Tribal Sub-Plan will be continued. Similarly, allocations for North Eastern States will also continue. This would help in resolving the following issues.
  13. Sep 18, 2016
    1. World Deaf Shooting Championships held in in Kazan, Russia. India’s Priyesha Deshmukh won a bronze medal in 10 metres air rifle category.
    2. ISSF Junior World Cup for pistol, rifle and shotgun held in Gabala, Azerbaijan. Young Indian shooter Subhankar Pramanick has won gold medal in 50-metre rifle prone event.
    3. USA Scientists grown 3 dimensional lungs in lab, using stem cells. The lungs were created by coating tiny gel beads with lung-derived stem cells and then allowing them to self-assemble into the shapes of the air sacs found in human lungs. Laboratory-grown 3D lungs can be used to study diseases including Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) which has been difficult to study using conventional methods. IPF is a chronic lung disease makes lungs thick and stiff.
    4. China and Russia carried out joint naval exercise Joint Sea 2016 in South China Sea.
    5. Government notified new import policy for marble & travertine blocks, aimed at balancing interests of domestic consumers, producers and processors, and ease up importing -
      1. Policy ends quantitative restriction on import of marble and travertine blocks.
      2. Marble Blocks - basic customs duty on import has been increased to 40 % and Minimum Import Price (MIP) has reduced to 200 USD / metric ton.
      3. Marble & Granite slabs - Basic customs duty on import doubled to 20% and MIP on import is reduced to 40 USD / square metre for Marble and 50 USD / square metre for Grainte slabs.
    6. Scientists from USA's Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed a novel spectroscopic technique to find signs of extraterrestrial life on Mars. Ttechnique is incorporated on instrument - SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals). It will be launched by NASA’s new Mars rover to be launched in 2020 to find signs of life on Mars.
    7. Indian-origin South African Ravi Reddy has been appointed as Head of International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT).
    8. India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) became seventh member of Asia-Pacific Aerospace Quality Group (APAQG) under category Full Member with voting rights. Other nations of APAQG are South Korea, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.
    9. Invasive species (Dangerous) of Giant African Land Snail (GALS) sighted in Goa. It is among world’s 100 most invasive species as listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN).
      1. Its threats include harm to crops and local flora, displacing local land snails species (Xetatle Konge) and may cause brain fever (eosinophilic meningitis) in humans.
    10. Anandi Ramalingam appointed as First woman director on board of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL).
    11. Indian Railways launched ‘Yatri Mitra Sewa’, to make rail travel comfortable for elderly, differently-abled and ailing travellers.
    12. World Economic Freedom Index (WEFI) 2016 by Centre for Civil Society and Canada’s Fraser Institute -
      1. India has been ranked 112th out of 159 countries in List.
      2. Economic freedom index is directly proportional to freedom and opportunities available to its citizens. People in countries with high economic freedom enjoy greater prosperity and longer lives.
      3. Top 10 - Hong Kong (1st), Singapore (2nd), New Zealand (3rd), Switzerland (4th), Canada (5th), Georgia (6th), Ireland (7th), Mauritius (8th), UAE (9th) and Australia (10th).
      4. Bottom 10 - Iran (150th), Algeria (151st), Chad (152nd), Guinea (153rd), Angola (154th), Central African Republic (155th), Argentina (156th), Congo (157th), Libya (158th) and Venezuela (159th).
      5. USA is at 16th, Germany at 30th and Japan at 40th.
      6. India’s Neighbours - Bhutan (78th), Nepal (108th) and Sri Lanka (111th), China (113th), Bangladesh (121st) and Pakistan (133rd).
    13. India successfully tested surface-to-air missile (LRSAM)  Barak-8 Missile off Odisha coast. Barak-8 missile is long-range nuclear capable ballistic missile, developed jointly by Israel and India.
    14. 193 countries of United Nations (UN) signed declaration to make world free of of drug-resistant infections or Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) or superbugs.
      1. It is the fourth time a UN declaration has been reached on a health issue, following HIV in 2001, non-communicable diseases in 2011 and Ebola in 2013.
      2. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) or superbugs happens when microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites change when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs. As a result, medicines or drugs become ineffective and infections persist in the body futher increasing the risk of spread to others.
    15. Nations have adopted New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Declaration expresses political will of world leaders to protect rights of refugees and migrants to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale.
    16. Ministry of Urban Development shortlisted 27 cities from 12 States in list of 3rd batch of Smart Cities Mission. These cities were shortlisted based on scores obtained in latest round of the Smart City Challenge competition in which total 63 cities had participated. Competition was topped by Amritsar in Punjab. With 5 cities, Maharashtra has the highest number of cities.
    17. Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $631 million loan for building India’s first coastal industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam (Vizag) and Chennai. Fund will help develop the first key 800-km section of the planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.
  14. Sep 17, 2016
    1. 17 September - International Coastal Cleanup Day.
    2. United Nations Panel on Access to Medicines suggested delinking drug prices from research and development (R&D) costs and placing human rights over intellectual property laws of pharmaceutical companies. All countries must freely be able to use flexibilities granted under TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) to access affordable medicines.
    3. During visit of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to India, India and Afghanistan signed Extradition Treaty to facilitate exchange of wanted terrorists and criminals. Alongwith, Both countries signed agreements on peaceful uses of outer space technology and cooperation in commercial and civil matters. India also committed to extend one billion dollars to Afghanistan as development aid.
    4. China successfully launched Tiangong - 2 space lab, on board of Long March-2F T2 rocket. Tiangong-2 (means Heavenly Palace 2) space lab is part of China’s ambitious Project 921-2 space station program aimed at creating a third generation space station. It has replaced China’s now-defunct Tiangong 1 space lab mission which had ended its operational life in March 2016.
    5. Government banned agencies in possession of Aadhaar number of Customers to publish or post information publicly to ensure that the details are not misused.
    6. Indian-born researcher Dinesh Bharadia won 2016 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for his contribution to radio waves.
    7. India and Sri Lanka signed MoU to support livelihood of fishing and farming project to communities in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota district.
    8. Meeting of security incharges of BRICS Nations held in New Delhi, hosted by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.
    9. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft entered in the final year of its voyage to saturn, beginning November 30, 2016 Cassini will make the closest-ever observations of Saturn.
      1. Cassini spacecraft has been studying Saturn, its rings and moons for over 12 years.
    10. Writer Meghna Pant won Fellows of Nature (FON) South Asia Short Story Award in Nature writing, for her short story People of the Sun.
    11. Cricketers Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma conferred with Arjuna Award. Award was bestowed by Sports Minister Vijay Goel. Rohit Sharma was given the award for 2015 and Rahane received it for 2016.
    12. Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda visited India. MOUs signed are -
      1. Credit line agreement - India will provide US 750 million dollars to Nepal for post-earthquake reconstruction projects. It is in addition to 1 Billion USD Loan agreement signed between Government of Nepal and EXIM Bank of India in November 2014.
      2. MoU for Upgradation and Improvement of Road Infrastructure in Terai Area of Nepal.
    13. Water Resources Ministry signed MoU with Agriculture Ministry for speedy implementation of Namami Gange programme, by encouraging farmers of over 5,000 villages along Ganga River to take up organic farming to curb pollution caused by chemical fertilisers.
    14. India declared itself free from highly contagious Avian Influenza (H5N1) or bird flu and has notified it to World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
    15. Haryana Government announced Charkhi Dadri as 22nd district. At present, it is part of state’s largest district - Bhiwani.
  15. Sep 16, 2016
    1. September 16 - International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer. 2016 theme is Ozone and climate: Restored by a world united.
    2. Government approved 500 Crores as part of Prime Minister Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) for development of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.
    3. Alka Sirohi has been appointed as Chairman of Union Public Service Commission.
    4. Guided Missile Destroyer Mormugao, Second Ship of Project 15b Launched at Mazagaon Docks Mumbai.
      1. Project 15B has 4 Guided Missile Destroyers in making, First Ship of Project 15B was Warship INS Visakhapatnam and second is now Mormugao.
    5. Minister of State (IC) for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh released Book North Eastern Council: A Story of Sagacity and Successs.
    6. Human Resource Development Minister Praksh Javadekar launched PARAM-ISHAN supercomputer at IIT Guwahati. It is fastest and most powerful computer in northeastern, eastern and southern regions.
    7. 22nd Issue of Annual issue of India's External Debt has stated that India's External debt is currently US$ 485.6 billion at end of March 2016, increasing by US$ 10.6 billion (2.2 %) over previous year. Rise in External Debt was due to rise in long-term debt particularly NRI deposits. 
    8. 13 nations participated in South Asia Biosafety Conference (SABC) at Hyderabad (Telengana), aimed at sharing experience in biotechnology, environmental risk assessment and biosafety regulation in South Asia.
    9. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture & Tourism visited Australia and attended Confluence Festival of India in Australia. He also received three ancient artefacts stolen and smuggled out of India and acquired by National Gallery of Australia - Seated Buddha, Goddess Pratyangira and Worshippers of Buddha.
    10. Incredible India Tourism Investment Summit-2016 held in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan.
    11. Paryavaran Bhawan located in CGO Complex (New Delhi) has been renamed as Pandit Deendayal Antyodaya Bhawan, highlighting Antyodaya Philosophy of Pandit Deendayal who advocated upliftment of the poorest strata of the Society.
    12. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, RadhaMohan Singh visited Israel.
    13. Inland Waterways Authority of India (Ministry of Shipping) signed contract with DST, Germany to design vessels that are especially suited to navigate 1620 km stretch of NW-1, aimed at providing safe, environment friendly and economical mode of transportation through National Waterway-1.
    14. CSIR-CEERI launched Handheld GPS-Enabled Ksheer Tester Tool on occasion of its 64th Foundation Day. It will enable people to tackle a national level health hazard due to adulteration in milk.
    15. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved viability capital grant of Rs. 5,176 crores (40 percent of total cost of Rs. 12,940 crore) to GAIL India Limited for development of 2539 km long Jagdishpur-Haidia and Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project. JHBDPL project will connect Eastern part of the country with National Gas Grid.
    16. Government approved to enable Richardson & Cruddas (1972) Limited to come out of purview of Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) by converting into equity of Government's loan of Rs 101 crores given to the Company alongwith interest amounting to Rs 424 Crores accrued on this loan.
  16. Sep 15, 2016
    1. 15 September - International Democracy Day. 2016 Theme is Democracy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
    2. 15 September - Engineer’s Day in India. It is celebrated every year in India on September 15, in memory of Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. He was chief engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysore and also chief designer of flood protection system for Hyderabad
    3. Uttar Pradesh government appointed Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui as brand ambassador of its flagship programme 'Samajwadi Kisan Beema Yojana'. Scheme provides cashless treatment upto Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs one lakh for organ transplant.
    4. Forbes' best-paid television actresses List 2016 -
      1. Colombian - American actress Sofia Vergara topped List for fifth time in a row with earnings of $43 Million.
      2. Indian Actress Priyanka chopra ranked 8th with earnings of $10 million.
    5. Japanese automobile maker Isuzu appointed Hiroshi Nakagawa as head of India Operations.
    6. Mobile phone Maker Gionee signed MoU with Haryana government to set up manufacturing hub with investment of Rs 500 crore (later would be increased to 1,500 crores). 
    7. Private sector Axis Bank tied up with Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to offer specialised banking courses.
    8. Government announced that Security guards will need to be given minimum salary of 15000 per month, with classifying them among skilled workers. Armed security guards and supervisors will be classified as highly skilled workers and will entitle minimum monthly wage of 25000.
    9. Scottish Actor Ewan McGregor will receive Britannia Humanitarian Award at British Academy Britannia Awards in USA.
    10. Book Shanti ki Talaash mein Zindagi, written by Radhika Nagrath has been released, by Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul.
    11. BHVS Narayana Murthy has been appointed as Director of Research Centre Imarat (RCI) of Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).
    12. Himachal Pradesh government notified guidelines for transparent auction and scientific mining and hiked penalty for offences under mining act. Imprisonment up to two years or fine up to 25000 rupees or both has been made for those involved in illegal mining of minerals.
    13. Report by University of Queensland (Australia)
      1. Estimated 1.3 million square miles (3.3 million square km) wilderness has been reduced by 10 % since 1990.
      2. Amazon basin and central Africa have been hit the hardest.
      3. Total 30.1 million km2 (around 20 % of world's land area) now remains as wilderness. Majority in North America, North Asia, North Africa, and Australia.
    14. Sikkim’s Sushmita Rai won bronze medal at World Martial Arts Masterships 2016 in South Korea. Csompetition is considered Olympics for martial arts with 2073 participants from 87 countries.
    15. China and Vietnam agreed to manage their differences over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and safeguard stability.
    16. South Korean electronics major Samsung appointed Lee Jae-yong as executive director on board.
    17. German multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer accquired USA Based Monsanto for 66 Billion USD.
  17. Sep 14, 2016
    1. 14 September - National Hindi Divas.
    2. India Blue won inaugural day/night 2016-17 Duleep Trophy Cricket tournament by defeating India Red. It was 55th season of Duleep Trophy and was played with a pink ball.
    3. 2016 India-US Economic Summit held in New Delhi.
    4. 3 day BRICS conference on ‘Urban Transition in BRICS’ Held in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
    5. BRICS Environment Ministers meet held in Goa.
    6. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan visited India.
    7. 12th Joint military training exercise between India and USA - Yudh Abhyas 2016 begun in Uttarakhand. It is 2 week long.
    8. Qatar National Bank (QNB) received approval from India's regulatory authorities to begin operations in country.
    9. Noted Yog Guru and founder of Patanjali group Baba Ramdev laid foundation stone of Patanjali Mega Food and Herbal Park in Outskirts of Nagpur.
    10. Actress Vidya Balan appointed as brand ambassador of Samajwadi Pension Yojana by Uttar Pradesh government.
    11. 73 Venice Film Festival (World's Oldest Film Festival) -
      1. Golden Lion - The Woman Who Left (Philippines) by Lav Diaz
      2. Grand Jury Prize - Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford
      3. Silver Lion
        1. Amat Escalante for Untamed
        2. Andrei Konchalovsky for Paradise
      4. Volpi Cup -
        1. Best Actor - Oscar Martínez for Distinguished Citizen
        2. Best Actress - Emma Stone for La La Land
      5. Marcello Mastroianni Award – Paula Beer for Frantz
    12. Government issued fresh flexi-fund guidelines to give more freedom to states in spending money under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) to meet local developmental requirements. Under new norms, flexi-funds in each CSS has been increased from current 10% to 25% for states and 30% for Union Territories.
    13. Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be honoured with Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s highest honour ‘the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Laureate’, by a prominent Jewish human rights organisation for promoting human dignity and tolerance among people.
    14. HP (Hewlett Packard) acquired Samsung's printer business for $1.05 billion.
    15. Anoop Kumar Sharma appointed as CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) for 3 years.    
  18. Sep 13, 2016
    1. 2016 International Buddhist Conclave will be held in Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh) in October 2016 to promote Buddhist sites in Bodhgaya and Sarnath.
    2. China completed over 20,000 kms of Bullet Railway track network, becoming world’s longest bullet train network.
    3. Book Anything but Khamoshi: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography, is authored by Bharathi S Pradhan.
    4. India will host 2016 Track Asia Cup cycling competition in New Delhi.
    5. Book His Bloody Project has been authored by Graeme Macrae Burne.
    6. Goa Tourism department will host the first-of-its-kind Vintage Bikeand Car Festival-2016 on October 1, 2016.
    7. 5 day long 22nd Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival (Odisha) -
      1. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award 2016 for lifetime achievement - Jharana Das (Cinema) and Guru Kishore Kumar Mohanty (Odissi).
      2. Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Yuva Prativa Samman 2016 - Rajib Bhattacharya (Odissi), Madhusmita Mohanty (Odissi), P. Praveen Kumar (Bharatanatyam) and Rupak Kumar Parida (Odissi vocal).
    8. Forbes' 50 Most Powerful Women International List -
      1. List is topped by Banco Santander’s Ana Patricia Botin, followed by SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya (2nd).
      2. India's ICICI head Chanda Kochhar (5th) and Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma (19th) are also in List.
    9. Governor of Meghalaya, V. Shanmuganathan has been given Additional charge as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh after removal of Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa from post.
    10. 105-year-old Kunwar Bai has been chosen as the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ mascot, after she felicitated by PM Shri Narendra Modi for building toilet by selling off her goats.
    11. Chhattisgarh Government launched ‘Start Up Chhattisgarh’ programme to encourage entrepreneurs in state.
    12. Andhra Pradesh became 2nd state after Gujarat to achieve 100% electrification of households, as per report by JM Financials. About 35% rural households in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Assam still lacked access to power supply.
    13. Indian Writer Meghna Pant will be honoured with Kumaon Literary Festival’s FON (Fellows of Nature) South AsiaShort Story Award in Nature writing in October for her short story People of the Sun.
    14. Global online payment service provider PayU acquired Indian payments technology player, Citrus Pay for $130 million (Appox 800 Crores). Citrus Pay’s MD Amrish Rau will take charge of the merged entity, and as chief executive of PayU in India.
    15. Aleksander Ceferin has been elected as UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) president.
    16. State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, IDFC Bank, and digital wallet Paytm will start issuing electronic tags to vehicles for toll collection.
  19. Sep 12, 2016
    1. Sports Authority of India (SAI) and All India Football Federation (AIFF) jointly launched online portal for its Global Scouting Programme (GSP), aimed at enabling Indians living abroad to play in India’s team in FIFA under-17 world cup scheduled in 2017 in India.
    2. India complained to World Trade Organization (WTO) about support given to renewable energy industry in USA to its 8 states - Washington, Montana, California, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Minnesota.
      1. Complaint against US is about up proping up renewable sector with illegal subsidies and putting necessity to buy local goods rather than imports.
      2. Earlier in 2013, India filed questions at WTO about suspected subsidies in solar programmes in four US states - Delaware, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Connecticut. In May 2016, India lost a case at WTO after the US complained about India’s national solar programme over illegal subsidies and domestic content requirements.
    3. Noted BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has been honoured with Tamil Ratna award by America Tamil Sangam (ATS) in USA.
    4. India-born scientist Ramesh Raskar has won 2016 Lemelson-MIT Prize. He is an associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT’s) Media Lab and is known for his co-invention of an ultra-fast imaging camera that can see around corners, low-cost eye-care solutions. It also enables users to read the first few pages of a book without opening the cover.
    5. Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications (RCom) signed a deal with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) for merger of wireless businesses of Aircel Limited with itself. Merged entity will be country’s fourth-largest telecom company in terms of customers and revenue.
      1. Merged company will have second-largest spectrum holding amongst all operators in India, aggregating 448 MHz across 850, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands.
      2. It will be one of India’s largest private sector companies, with an asset base of over $9.7 billion (Rs. 65,000 crore) and net worth of $5.2 billion (Rs. 35,000 crore).
      3. RCom and MCB will hold a 50% stake each in the merged entity.
    6. USA signed a 38 billion USD Deal with Israel to provide Receive military assistance from Israe over a 10-year period (2019 - 2028). Israel will receive 3.8 billion dollars annually from USA, up from 3.1 billion USD currently gives Israel annually under 10-year deal that ends in 2018.
    7. Indian-American physician-author Abraham Verghese selected by USA for 2015 National Humanities Medal, along with 11 others recipients.
    8. Asia's oldest bourse Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) became first Indian stock exchange to file IPO papers with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
    9. Bykytzhan Sagintayev appointed as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
    10. Chhattisgarh government launched official AIR Regional News Unit (RNU)’s Facebook page at Raipur Radio station.
    11. World’s first robotic operation inside the human eye has successfully performed by British surgeons.
    12. Arvind Panagariya committee submitted its report about defining poverty and prepare a road map to alleviate it. It has suggested to set up committee to identify people Below Poverty Line (BPL).
    13. Himachal Pradesh government signed MoU with Singapore government for developing a smart integrated township in Jathiadevi near Shimla airport.
    14. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) students created Pratham, a 10 KG microsatellite aimed at total electron count of the ionosphere. It will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
    15. Book Hot Milk has been authored by Deborah Levy.
  20. Sep 11, 2016
    1. Government approved New Agreements -
      1. Technical Arrangement with Switzerland on the identification and return of Swiss and Indian Nationals.
      2. MoU with Kenya on cooperation in National Housing Policy Development and Management. 
      3. MoU with Mozambique on cooperation in the field of Youth Affairs.
      4.  MOU with South Africa in the field of Information and Communication Technologies. 
    2. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved initiation of Third Phase of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) as a Central Scheme with outlay of Rs. 3600 crore (1330 crore as external assistance from World Bank).
      1. Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) commenced in 2003 with World Bank assistance as a long term programme to be implemented in 3 phases. First phase ended on March 31st, 2009. It covered 127 institutes across 13 States.
      2. TEQIP-II commenced in August 2010, covering 23 States and 191 Institutes. TEQIP-II will conclude in October 2016.
      3. Focus States in 3rd Phase of TEOIP are -
        1. 3 Hill States - Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.
        2. 6 Low Income States - Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
        3. 8 North-Eastern States - It includes seven North east states plus Sikkim.
        4. Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
    3. Government approved formation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council as per Article 279A of Constitution, along with Creation of the GST Council Secretariat in New Delhi and several other key posts in the GST Council.
      1. Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill 2016 (for introduction of GST) was approved by President after being ratified by 15 states (Assam First and Goa 15th). After assent of President, bill becomes law as Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016 and It ads adds Article 279A in Constitution.
      2. As per Article 279A (1) of amended Constitution, GST Council is to be constituted by President within 60 days of commencement of Article 279A.
      3. Composition of GST Council
        1. As per Article 279A, GST Council which will be a joint forum of Centre and States. It shall consist
          1. Union Finance Minister as Chairperson.
          2. Union Minister of State (MoS) in-charge of Revenue of finance (Member)
          3. Minister In-charge of taxation or finance or any other Minister nominated by each State Government (Members)
      4. As per Article 279A (4), GST Council will make recommendations on important issues like Goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from GST.
    4. Arunachal Pradesh’s first Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Store opened in Itanagar.
    5. Alexander Tsybulsky, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russian visited India for 4thMeeting of the India Russia Working group on Priority Investment Projects.
    6. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare) declared India free from Avian Influenza (H5N1).
    7. Indian Railways won MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament 2016 by defeatig Indian Oil Corporation.
    8. India will host next Annual Meetings of African Development Bank (AfDB) Group in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in May 2017.  It will be attended by over 5000 delegates from 80 member countries of the African Development Bank.
    9. US Open Tennis 2016 Winners -
      1. Mens' Singles - Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland) defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
      2. Women' Singles - Angelique Kerber (Germany) defeated Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)
      3. Men's Doubles - Jamie Murray (United Kingdom) and Bruno Soares (Brazil) defeated Pablo Carreño Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
      4. Women' Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) defeated Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic of France
      5. Mixed Doubles - Laura Siegemund (Germany ) / Mate Pavic (Croatia) defeated Coco Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram of USA.
    10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved enhancing buffer stock for pulses up to 20 lakh tonnes (domestic procurement and imports of 10 lakh tonnes each).
    11. Government approved establishment of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) to give push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions.
      1. HEFA will be jointly promoted by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and identified Promoter (a PSU Bank or the Government-owned-NBFC)
      2. HEFA will have an authorised capital of 2,000 crore rupees and government equity would be 1,000 crore rupees.
      3. It would leverage equity to raise up to Rs. 20,000 crore for funding infrastructure and development projects of world class Labs in IIMs/IITs/NITs and such other institutions, through a 10-year loan.
    12. Government approved extension of contract with and International Seabed Authority (ISA) for exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (PMS), till 2022.
      1. Polymetallic nodules (PMN) are also known as manganese nodules. They are potato-shaped, largely porous nodules found in abundance carpeting the sea floor in the deep sea of the world oceans.
      2. Besides manganese and iron, they contain nickel, copper, cobalt, lead, molybdenum, cadmium, vanadium, titanium. Of these metals nickel, cobalt and copper are considered to be of economic and strategic importance.
    13. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan issued guidelines for states to regulate direct selling and multi-level marketing businesses to protect consumers from Ponzi frauds, titled Direct Selling Guidelines 2016 framework.
      1. Direct selling has been defined as marketing, distribution and sale of goods or providing of services as a part of network of direct selling.
      2. Legitimate direct selling is differentiated from pyramid and money circulation schemes in order to help identify fraudulent companies. Money Circulation Scheme has same meaning as defined under Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. It bars direct selling companies from charging any entry fee from agents or compelling them to buy back unsold stocks.
      3. It lays down remuneration system for person engaged in direct selling firms on sharing of incentives, profit and commission. It Adds provision for appointment of monitoring authority at both Union and state level to deal with the issues related to direct selling.
      4. Note that SEBI has earlier notified that it is not having regulatory purview of Ponzi schemes.
    14. Army Green won 2016 Durand Cup Football Title by defeating Neroca FC, final played in New Delhi.
    15. Department of Posts launched toll free number ‘1924’ to register postal complaints. Service will be operational for 12 hours on working days between 0800 hrs to 2000 hrs.
  21. Sep 10, 2016
    1. September 10 - World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). 2016 theme is Connect, Communicate, Care.
    2. Assam tourism unveiled its new logo with tagline ‘Awesome Assam, aimed at promoting state globally.
    3. Australia Made Highest T20 International Score of 263 aganst Srilanka.
    4. England Made Highest ODI Score of 444 aganst Pakistan.
    5. Government raised salary cap of beneficiaries to Rs.21,000 per month from Rs.15,000, to increase number of people eligible for Employees State Insurance (ESI) that which provides medical care to industrial workers and their dependents. It means all industrial workers drawing a salary of up to Rs.21,000 will be eligible for health care at more than 1,500 clinics and hospitals run by Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). It will add 30 lakh workers to ESIC pool. It will add nearly Rs.3,000 crore to the labour ministry-run ESICs corpus annually.
    6. Book The Last Inning and Beyond, authored by U.D. Choubey, and Smriti Rajvardhini has been released.
    7. Odisha government signed 15 year lease agreement with Falcon Marine Exports for operation of Jagatjore Shrimp Culture Project in coastal Kendrapara sddistrict. It will fetch revenue of 13 crore rupees to government.
    8. IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016 held in Hawaii (USA). International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed eastern gorilla, the largest living primate, as critically endangered in its latest red list of threatened species. Theme of 2016 IUCN Congress is Planet at the Crossroads.
    9. Tech giants Microsoft, Google and Salesforce adopted EU-US Privacy Shield frameworkm to be able to receive personal data from European Union (EU) in compliance with new standards. They are now among 103 companies out of 5526 signatories to replace defunct Safe Harbour framework.
    10. Scientists from Louisiana State University discovered a new Ghost Snake Species of elusive, pale grey reptiles dwelling at Ankarana National Park in Madagascar. It is named as Madagascarophis lolo.
    11. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) released report Uprooted: The growing crisis for refugee and migrant children. According to the report, nearly 5 Crore children have been uprooted across globe and millions migrating in hope of finding a better, safer life.
    12. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) launched e-nivaran facility for online redressal of taxpayers’ grievances. These grievances can be related to refunds, Income Tax Returns (ITRs), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), and Permanent Account Number (PAN).
    13. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled certificate of registration of 5 non-banking financial companies - Simco Consultants, Lunkad Securities, Rajvir Marketing and Investments and Crystal Investments and Shri Jaya Investments Agency.
      1. Certificates were cancelled in exercise of the powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
    14. Reliance Industries launched Jio Telecom Service offering free voice calls and zero roaming charges for its customers as a part of Jio Welcome Offer (from 5 September 2016 up to 31 December 2016).
    15. A team of scientists art Australian University of Wollongong has discovered world's oldest stromatolite fossils about 3.7 billion years old in worlds oldest sedimentary rocks in Isua Greenstone Belt along edge of Greenland's icecap.
    16. Scientists discovered a new species of pterosaur from early Jurassic period in the Patagonia region of South America, named as Allkauren koi.
  22. Sep 09, 2016
    1. Dilip Kumar Mandal has been appointed managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of IDBI Asset Management Company (AMC).
    2. HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company (HDFC ERGO) has completed acquisition of 100 percent shares of L&T General Insurance Company (L&T Insurance) for Rs. 551 crore.
    3. NHPC (Natinal Hydro Power Corporation) signed pact with BHEL for renovation of 180 MW Baira Siul power station in Himachal Pradesh.
    4. Michel Temer has been appointed new President of Brazil.
    5. S.N. Dhingra Committee submitted report to Haryana government on granting of Change of Land Use (CLU) licences in 4 villages of Gurgaon during rule of the previous Congress government.
    6. World's largest emitter of harmful carbon emissions, China has ratified the Paris global climate agreement. It is aimed at reducing factors causing climate change.
    7. Bangladesh named former Sri Lankan cricketer Thilan Samaraweera as batting consultant. 
    8. Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of Rs 6,700 crores on 10 cement companies including ACC, Lafarge, Ultratech, Jayprakash Associates, Binani etc.
    9. BRICS Wellness Workshop held in Bengaluru (Karnataka). Inaugural National Fair on comprehensive Indian Medicine system (AROGYA) was also held alongside.
  23. Sep 08, 2016
    1. 08 September - International Literacy Day. 2016 is observing 50th International Literacy Day. 2016 Theme: ‘Reading the Past, Writing the Future‘.
      1. India's National Literacy Mission (NLM) was initiated in 1988. In 1951, when first Census was conducted after Independence, literacy rate of country was merely 18%. However, in last Census held in 2011 India has achieved a literacy rate of around 73%. The present national goal is to achieve literacy rate of 80 per cent by end of 12th Plan Period
    2. Ministry of Civil Aviation prohibited use of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on board an aircraft. This has been done in light of several incidents globally, involving battery of Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
    3. Indo - Japanese Priyanka Yoshikawa has been named Miss Japan.
    4. First edition of Lonavla International Film Festival India (LIFFI) - Best Actor - Nawazuddin Siddiqui (for Manjhi-The Mountain Man) Best Actress - Tannishtha Chatterjee (for 'Rough Book'), Best Director - Anant Mahadevan.
    5. Rajasthan’s education department partnered with USA based technology firm Cisco to promote digital learning across state using virtual digital room solutions. 
    6. World's oldest cricketer, Lindsay Tuckett (South African) passed away.
    7. Government has approved six proposals to set up centres of excellence to promote and fund start-ups under National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI) (Department of Science and Technology). Proposals Included SINE-IIT Bombay, Venture Center-NCL Pune, CIIE-IIM Ahmedabad and a research park at IIT-Gandhinagar.
    8. Religare Enterprises appointed Sunil Godhwani as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
    9. Satbir Singh appointed as India's Ambassador to Algeria. 
    10. Mexico has set up its third consulate in India (and first in South India)in Chennai that will cater to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
    11. Himachal Pradesh cabinet amended Hydropower Policy 2006 in respect to transfer of shares to non-Himachalis.  Now Himachalis can sell or transfer 49% equity shares to non-Himachalis at any stage after allotment of projects upto 2 MW capacity and full disinvestment after two years of commissioning of projects.
  24. Sep 07, 2016
    1. China successfully tested a radar system that uses quantum entanglement to beat stealth technology of modern military aircrafts. Previously, USA was only country haiving stealth-defeating quantum radar technology.
      1. Quantum radar uses quantum entanglement photons to provide better detection capabilities than conventional radar systems, within range of 100 kilometers.
      2. It easily tracks aircrafts using stealth technology or targets employing active countermeasures to jam or baffle enemy radar.
    2. India’s first LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) laboratory will be set up in Aundh in Hingoli district of Maharashtra. It will be 3rd such laboratory in world and first outside USA . The existing two laboratories are located in Hanford, Washington and in Livingston, Louisiana.
    3. 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit held in Vientiane (Laos), chaired by Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith. Theme of summit was Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community. ASEAN Members are - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR (host), Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.
      1. PM Narendra Modi also attended 14th ASEAN-India summit. 11th East Asia Summit was also held alongside.
      2. India and Vietnam signed 12 agreements in different areas of cooperation incouding outer space Exploration, double taxation avoidance, co-operation on UN peacekeeping operation. Health, cyber security, advanced IT training, sharing of shipping information between the Navies of the two countries etc. PM Narendra Modi also announced a line of credit (LoC) of 500 million USD to Vietnam to facilitate deeper defence cooperation. The LoC will be used by Indias L&T to build offshore high speed patrol boats for Vietnamese Coast Guards.
    4. USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched unmanned OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to collect samples from an asteroid 101955 Bennu and return to Earth in 2023, with atleast 60 grams of debris and dirt from asteroid 101955 Bennu.
      1. OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer. NASA scientists feel that the Bennu asteroid hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
    5. Haryana won ‘Best Horticulture State’ award of Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA), for its concerted efforts made to increase income of farmers in horticulture. This award was fgiven during Agricultural Leadership Summit 2016 that organized by ICFA in New Delhi.
      1. Besides, 2016 Best Agriculture State award given to Odisha for its efforts for development of agriculture and bringing rural prosperity.
      2. Horticulture in Haryana - At present, about 2.5 lakh hectares of land is under horticulture in Haryana. The state government has ambitious target to increase it up to 9 lakh hectares. For this purpose, state government has decided to set a Horticulture University.
    6. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) commissioned offshore patrolling (OPV) vessel named Sarathi.
    7. World's first daily driverless bus service has started in Lyon (France). The buses can hold up to 15 passengers and features like LIDAR radar technology and motion sensors will help to avoid accidents.
    8. Book Imagine Me Gone has been authored by Adam Haslett.
    9. Ministry of External affairs (MEA) launched a registration module madad.gov.in for Indian students studying abroad so they could be reached in case of emergency.
    10. Odisha government launched pension scheme for construction workers, which will benefit 25 lakh beneficiaries.
      1. Construction workers above 60 years will get pension of Rs 300 / month while workers above 80 years will get pension of 500 / month.
      2. Earlier, Odisha government launched Mahaprayan scheme for taking bodies from hospital to deceased’s house and Biju Kanya Ratna scheme that aims to improve child sex ratio.
    11. Book Six Machine: I Dont Like Cricket I Love It”, is autobiography of West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle.
    12. As per latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) sanitation survey in rural areas, Sikkim is cleanest state in India, followed by Kerala, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh. Jharkhand comes last in list of 26 states.
    13. Jammu and Kashmir government launched Scooty for College Girls Scheme. As per the scheme, eligibility for a scooty is based on minimum percentage and annual family income of 65 % and Rs.4 lakh respectively. College going girl students will be given 50 % subsidy on purchase of a Scooty.
    14. T R Zeliang (Chief Minister of Nagaland) won 2016 Pangkor Dialogue Award in Malaysia for the efforts made by the people of the state for environmental preservation and promotion.
    15. Fortune 19th Most Powerful Women list 2016 -
      1. List is topped by Mary Barra (CEO of General Motors Company), with Indra Nooyi (CEO of Pepsi Co) and 2nd place and Marillyn Hewson (CEO of Lockheed Martin).
      2. There are 22 female CEO, down from 27 last year in this year's list.
  25. Sep 06, 2016
    1. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik announced to share his thoughts on different issues through radio for 10 minutes every month, through Biju Goan Radio.
    2. India's Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik won people's choice prize for his sand sculpture Mahatma Gandhi - World Peace at 9th Moscow Sand Sculpture Championship 2016.
    3. Southern state of Kerala entered into joint venture agreement with Railways for rail projects in state under 51:49 equity partnership.
    4. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its Cape Canaveral launch pad during a test, destroying a commercial satellite that Facebook had planned to use to extend Internet access in Africa. 
    5. DCB Bank launched mVisa, a mobile-based payment solution that will make payments at retail outlets much easier.
    6. LG Electronics tied-up with Amazon.com Inc on smart-home services. This tie-up will help enabling services of Amazon such as Alexa virtual assistant on some of LG's devices.
    7. Australia's oldest surviving Test cricketer, Len Maddocks passed away. 
    8. BHEL commissioned 4th and last unit of the 4x40 MW Teesta Low Dam Hydro Electric Project (HEP) Stage-IV in West Bengal.
    9. Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of over Rs 6,700 crore on 10 cement companies including ACC, Lafarge, Ultratech, Jayprakash Associates, Binani and their trade association the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) on charges of cartelisation (गुटबंदी).
    10. Former Indian Fasdt Bowler Zaheer Khan inducted as an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in England. He is the third Indian player to receive this distinction this year after Virender Sehwag and Anjum Chopra.
    11. Bangladesh Government executed Jamaat-e-Islami leader and media tycoon Mir Quasem Ali for war crimes committed during country's 1971 Liberation War.
    12. India Post released a commemorative stamp to honour Mother Teresa’s canonization.
    13. Karnataka State Wildlife Board declared Ankasamudra tank in Hagari Bommanahalli taluk as a bird conservation reserve. This is first bird conservation reserve declared in the entire Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
    14. Goa will host a bird festival from November 11 to 13 with Goa's state bird Bulbul” as logo for the festival.
    15. Software major Infosys entered into a joint venture (JV) with Saudi Prerogative  Company to offer IT services in middle eastern country, with 70% of JV owned by Infosys.
    16. Mukund Choudhari has been appointed as Charman and Managng Director of PSU MOIL (Manganese Ore (India) Limited).
    17. RIO 2016 Olympics Bronze Medalist Sakshi Malik has been appointed Wrestling Director at Maharshi Dayanand University (Rohtak). 
    18. Jan Shikshan Sansthan Malappuram won UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy in recognition of its literacy-linked skill development activities among underprivileged in rural areas.
    19. Sriram Balaji (Tamilnadu) won $10,000 ITF mens Futures tennis held in Thailand by defeatng top seed Seong Chan Hong of Korea.
  26. Sep 05, 2016
    1. 5th September - National Teachers Day in India. Observance of this day commemorates the birthday of India’s first Vice President and second President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan since 1962.
      1. On this occasion, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated Asia’s biggest digital library dedicated to memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, in NIT Silchar. This world class library is established with the help of University of Illinois, USA.
    2. 5 September - International Day of Charity. It marks death of Mother Teresa (1997).  
    3. India’s lone individual Olympic gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra officially announced his retirement from shooting.
    4. Department of Telecom (DoT) introduced helpline Urja Mitra for updates about electricity supply. Consumers can now dial 14401 and get update from their respective power distribution companies about outages in their area through ‘Urja Mitra Helpline’.
    5. Intel acquired computer vision firm Movidius, which partnered with Google to develop 3D space mapping technology for Project Tango devices.
    6. National award winner director K G George selected for JC Daniel award 2015, Kerala Government’s highest honor for outstanding contribution to Malayalam cinema. 
    7. UN Charter (seminal treaty of United Nations) has now been translated into Sanskrit. The Charter is available in all six official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
    8. 15th Summer Paralympic Games began at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Summer Paralympic Games will conclude on 18 September 2016. 4,300 athletes from over 160 countries are participating.
    9. Om Prakash Kohli has been appointed as 26th governor of Madhya Pradesh. Kohli is also Gujarat's Governor. He has been given additional charge of Madhya Pradesh after Ram Naresh Yadav’s tenure got over.
    10. 2 world records made by Indian Army DARE DEVILS team of Corps of Signals.
      1. World Record for Longest continuous ride standing on the seat of a motor cycle broken by Capt Manpreet Singh by covering 75.2 Km in 02 : 24 : 12 hours.
      2. World Record for Handle Bar Riding on a Motorcycle under fresh category established by Havildar Sandeep Kumar, covering a distance of 46.9 Km in 01 : 27 : 31 hours
    11. Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid Foundation Stone for construction of Infosys – Red Cross Sarai today at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.
    12. Nepalese Home Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi visited India. 
    13. Government approves subsidized helicopter services in State of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on a pilot basis in 10 sectors, as per stipulation that most inaccessible destination points should be chosen.
    14. Sanjay Kumar Srivastava has been appointed as Chairperson of National Authority for Chemicals Weapons Convention.
    15. J Satyanarayana has been appointed as part-time Chairman of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). 
    16. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR, on board of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F05). It was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
      1. It was seventh successful mission this year, including IRNSS series and scramjet propulsion mission.
      2. INSAT-3DR weighs 2,211-kg and will supplement services of INSAT-3D launched from French Guiana in July 2013. It has designed mission life of ten years.
      3. It will provide service continuity to earlier meteorological missions and further augment the capability to provide various meteorological, search and rescue services.
      4. Other satellittes Include Pratham - 10-kg satellite developed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. It will be used to study the total electron count in space with a resolution of 1km x 1km location grid.
  27. Sep 04, 2016
    1. Chinese action movie star Jackie Chan will be awarded with honorary Academy Award (Oscar) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his extraordinary achievements in movies. Honorary Oscar will be given to editor Anne Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary maker Frederick Wiseman.
    2. Kerala government appointed Legendary Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador for anti- liquor and anti-drug campaign to create awareness among people against alcoholism and drug abuse.
    3. First Nomad Film Festival 2016 started at India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi to raise awareness and change perceptions regarding denotified tribes. The tribes were listed as ‘Criminal Tribes’ under 1871 Criminal Tribes Act during the British rule.
    4. Noted Odia Poet Hrushikesh Mallick honoured with 37th prestigious Sarala Award for his poetry work Jeje Dekhi Nathiba Bharat.
    5. Rajasthan High Court become Fourth State to provide e-Stamp facility, after Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
    6. Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi launched ‘Shramdaan movement’ as part of Swachh Bharat and Swachh Puducherry initiative.
    7. Former union minister and senior BJP leader Arif Beg passed away.
    8. Nuakhai, agrarian mass festival of Kosali people celebrated in western Odisha to welcome new rice of the season. Every year, the festival is observed on panchami tithi, the day after Ganesh Chaturthi.
    9. Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) will link exam forms with Aadhaar card to avoid duplication. It is being done after the recent toppers scam.
    10. MobiKwik launched Bubble Pin as a one-step offline payments mode, which allows users to make payments without data connection.
    11. Government launched program National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) for nurturing ideas and innovation into successful start ups.
    12. J Satyanarayana has been appointed as part-time chairperson of Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI).
    13. Deep Kumar Upadhyay re-appointed as Nepal’s ambassador to India.
    14. K K Aggarwal elected as President of Indian Medical Association (IMA) for 2016-17.
    15. First President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov passed away.
    16. Government of Arunachal Pradesh appointed Actor John Abraham as brand ambassador for state tourism to boost tourism.
    17. USA Tennis Player Serena Williams created history by setting a record of most number of Grand Slam matches wins with her 308th win. She left past Roger Federer's record of 307 Grand Slam Match wins.
    18. A new Guinness world record for the largest LEGO ship has been set in Denmark, where employees of a shipping company successfully constructed the incredible 2,860 kg boat using over one million interlocking plastic bricks. The blue and white LEGO boat measures 12.035 metres in length. 
    19. Indian researchers made major discovery by understanding mechanisms by which premature births (between 28 and 32 weeks of gestation) occur (Normally a pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks).
      1. India with 35% accounts for the highest burden of preterm births in the world.
      2. Indian researchers have found that gram-positive Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria that produce small balloons called membrane vesicles. These small balloons contain toxins that kill both foetal and maternal cells and destroy the collagen that binds the cells together and call for a preterm birth.
    20. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2016 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One.
      1. 2016 Formula One season -
        1. Total 21 Grand Prix Races to be organized across the world in 2016. Calendar is -
          1. Grand Prix Date Winner
            Australia 20 March Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Baharain 3 April Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            China 17 April Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Russia 1 May Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Spain 15 May Max Verstappen (Netherlands)
            Monaco 29 May Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Canada 12 June Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Europe 19 June Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Austria 3 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Britain 10 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Hungary 24 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Germany 31 July Lewis Hamilton (Britain)
            Belgium 28 August Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Italy 4 September Nico Rosberg (Germany)
            Singapore 18 September  
            Malaysia 2 October  
            Japan 9 October    
            USA 23 October  
            Mexico 30 October  
            Brazil 13 November  
            Abu Dhabi 27 November  
  28. Sep 03, 2016
    1. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas launched Gas4India campaign, aimed at promoting use of natural gas in the country.
    2. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) successfully test flied indigenous Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), being developed for Armed forces. Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) is eight-seater chopper with a maximum Weight of 3,150 Kgs and fitted with Safran HE Ardiden-1U engine of 750 KW power.
    3. India and Chile sigend agreement to expand scope of their existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) by covering more goods for tariff concessions.
    4. First phase of ESIC (Employees State Insurance Corporation) Pilot Project of Telemedicine Services launched for providing specialist medical services at a distance to insured workers.
    5. Government approved 450 crore rupees for Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim under Swadesh Darshan scheme.
      1. Uttarakhand - Jageshwar-Devidhura-Katarmal-Baijnath sites with total cost 83 crores.
      2. Coastal circuit (Tamil Nadu) - Development of Chennai-Mamamallapuram-Rameshwaram-Manpadu-Kanyakumari.
      3. Ramayana Circuit (Uttar Pradesh) - Development of Chitrakoot and Shringverpur.
      4. North East circuit (Sikkim) - Development of cultural centre, paragliding centre and craft bazaar for mountaineering and meditation hall.
      5. Heritage Circuit in Madhya Pradesh - Developing Tourism Infrastructure Gwalior-Orchha-Khajuraho-Chanderi-Bhimbetka-Mandu.
    6. CK Asnani appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL).
    7. India signed MoU with Greece to allow unlimited number of flights into each other’s countries and also initiated air service agreement for open skies. Greece becomes first country with which India has inked an open sky arrangement under its new civil aviation policy.
    8. First ‘IoT (Internet of Things) India Congress 2016 held in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
      1. Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices and digital machines or people that are provided with unique identifiers. Thus it is an internetworking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items, embedded with sensors and connectivity. The internetworking can transfer data without human interaction.
    9. Government launched a new service integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) & Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC). It was Launched by Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad.
      1. With this integration, people will no longer need to carry around physical copies of their Driving Licences and RCs. Using DigiLocker mobile app, they can instead access digital copies of the same on their mobile phones.
      2. DLs and VRC documents will be now issued directly to the DigiLockers of individuals in digital formats. These digital copies can be shared with other government departments as identity and address proof.
    10. President Pranab Mukherjee have his assent to Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill 2014 as per Article 111 of the Constitution. With this, bill becomes law and a new indirect tax regime will now be implemented in India with concept of one nation, one tax - GST (Goods and Services Tax).
      1. GST is a single indirect tax throughout country. It subsumes most of the Central and State indirect taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT), excise duty, service tax, central sales tax, additional customs duty and special additional duty of customs.
      2. Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 will enter into the statute book as The Constitution (101st Amendment) Bill, 2016.
    11. Stuart Blackburn's Novel based on Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh named Into the Hidden Valley has won 2016 MM Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction in United Kingdom.
    12. ICICI Bank became first Indian Bank to deploy ‘Software Robotics’ for performing over 200 business processes across various functions, including retail banking operations, agri-business, trade & foreign exchange, treasury and human resources management.
      1. Software robotics takes up several actions done usually by humans and save time and increase efficiency by automating these repetitive, high volume and time consuming tasks.
      2. Software robots can perform over 10 lakh (1 million) banking transactions every working day.
    13. 9th India Chem 2016 International Conference inaugurated by Anant Kumar(Minister for Chemicals & Petrochemicals) in Mumbai (Maharashtra). It is organized by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals and FICCI.
    14. Ali Bongo Ondimba re-elected as President of Gabon (Central Africa).
    15. Noted Urdu poet, novelist and short story writer Kashmiri Lal Zakir passed away.
  29. Sep 02, 2016
    1. 2 Sep - World Coconut Day.
    2. 2 - day long BRICS Convention on Tourism held in Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh).
    3. First 5 Day BRICS Film Festival held in New Delhi.
      1. Russian actress Yulia Peresild won the best female actor for her role in the Russian movie Battle for Sevastopol.
      2. South Africa's Thabo Rametsi won Best actor title for his film Kalushi.
      3. Raam Reddy's Kannada film Thithi conferred Best Film award at 1st BRICS Film Festival..
      4. Best Director Award - Huo Jianqi (China).
      5. Special jury award: Brazils Phillipe Barcinski for Between Valleys”.
    4. Guinness World Records officially designated Assams Majuli as largest river island in world.
      1. Majuli island is situated in Brahmaputra River, covering area of 880 sqkm. It has toppled previous record held by Brazils Marajo island in Amazon river.
      2. Island has total 144 villages with a population of over 160,000 and a density of 300 individuals per square km.
      3. In June 2016, Assam Government had officially declared the island as the district making it Indias first island district.
    5. Coal India Limited (CIL) signed Memorandum of Understanding MoU with Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) for effectively monitoring of environment related issues in coal mining projects.
    6. Canadas British Columbia province became first foreign government to issue masala bonds, a rupee-denominated bond. It issued Rs 500 crore rupee denominated overseas bonds (masala bond) on London Stock Exchange (LSE). British Columbias issued masala bond was priced for 6.62 % semi-annual yield with 3 year tenor.
      1. Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated bonds issued to overseas buyers. It is aimed at boosting investments into Indias infrastructure sector.
    7. Government announced special package of 200 crores for Jammu and Kashmir to engage youth of state in sporting activities.
    8. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi visited India and signed agreement for cooperation in area of Maritime Transport.
    9. Election Commission of India (ECI) granted national party status to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) Party led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after TMC fulfilled required conditions to become a national party after getting status of state party in 4 states.
      1. TMC is ruling West Bengal Government and has its presence in north eastern states Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
      2. With this , TMC became seventh national party in the country along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).
      3. If any political party Secures at least 6% of the valid votes polled in any 4 states. itis eligible for getting considered for national party status.
      4. In August 2016, ECI brought changes in Paragraph 6C of Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968 to review status of political parties every 10 years, instead of present norm of 5 years.
    10. Gumthala Garhu Village near Pehowa in Kurukshetra district in Haryana became the first Wifi hotspot village in Haryana.
    11. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Chairperson of Biocon Limited) has been honored as Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour (Chevalier de lOrdre National de la Légion dHonneur) for her contribution to biosciences and research.
    12. Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao has been made acting governor of Tamilnadu. Note that he is also Governor of Maharashtra. This arrangement was done after tenure of K. Rosaiah (previous governor of Tamilnadu) ended on 31 August 2016.
    13. Ministry of Home Affairs approved use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA) shells as an alternative to pellet guns for crowd controlling in Jammu and Kashmir. PAVA sheels also called Nonivamide are chilli-filled grenades. They are less lethal compared to pellet guns and do not cause physical injury.
    14. Noted Assamese poet and author Nalinidhar Bhattacharyya passed away.
    15. Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary has been proclaimed a Saint by Pope Francis in a ceremony at the Vatican.
    16. Odisha Government launched Biju Kanya Ratna Yojana (BKRY) for improving Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) and Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in the three districts - Ganjam, Dhenkanal and Angul.
    17. 2016 Brazil Open Grand Prix Badminton -
      1. Men's Singles - Zulfadli Zulkiffli (Malaysia)
      2. Women's Singles - Beatriz Corrales (Spain)
      3. Men's Doubles - Michael Fuchs & Fabian Holzer (Germany)
      4. Women's Singles - Barbara Bellenberg & Eva Janssens (Germany)
      5. Mixed Doubles - Pranaav Jerry Chopra & N. Sikki Reddy (India)
    18. World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared Sri Lanka as malaria-free, after certifying that malaria has been completely eliminated from island nation.
    19. Ecologist and conservation activist Bibhuti Lahkar (from Assam) became first Asian to win prestigious ‘Heritage Heroes Award’ of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
    20. Health Ministry recently launched “Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC)” to eradicate leprosy from India.
    21. 11th Group of Twenty (G20) Summit 2016 held in Hangzhou (China). Theme of 2016 G20 Summit is Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy.
      1. G-20 leaders pledge have pledged to continue to work for a globally fair and modern international tax system, foster growth and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies. They vowed to go ahead on ongoing co-operation on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), exchange of tax information, tax capacity-building of developing countries and tax policies to promote growth and tax certainty.
      2. The summit was attended by PM Narendra Modi on India's Behalf.
  30. Sep 01, 2016
    1. Steel Minister Birender Singh visited United Kingdom and Luxembourg.
    2. Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) TIHAYU, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) has been handed over to Indian Navy.
    3. Joint India Kazakhstan Army exercise PRABAL DOSTYK 16 being held in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan.
    4. 69th session of WHO Regional Committee of South-East Asia Region held in Colombo (Sri Lanka). Minister of Health & Family Welfare J P Nadda visited on India's Behalf.
      1. During this meet, India along with 10 other member countries of World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) South-East Asian Regional Committee has decided to set up a dedicated fund aimed at building preparedness for health emergencies in region. The joint funding stream will be established under the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF).
    5. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj released Swachh Survekshan for rural India. A total of 22 hill districts and 53 plain areas were assessed under Gramin Swachh Survekshan launched in May 2016.
      1. Mandi was judged as cleanest district in Hills category and Sindhudurg as cleanest in Plains category.
      2. Ministry commissioned Quality Council of India (QCI) to carry out assessment.
      3. Each district has been judged on four distinct parameters.
        1. Households having access to safe toilets and using them (toilet usage, water accessibility, safe disposal of waste) (40%)
        2. Households having no litter around (30%)
        3. Public places with no litter in the surrounding (10%)
        4. Households having no stagnant wastewater around (20%) 

      4.  

        Overall Ranking - Swachh Survekshan Gramin

        Category

        Rank

        District

        State

        Cleanliness Score

        Hills

        1

        Mandi

        Himachal Pradesh

        98.4

        Hills

        2

        West Sikkim

        Sikkim

        96.4

        Hills

        3

        Shimla

        Himachal Pradesh

        94.1

        Plains

        1

        Sindhudurg

        Maharashtra

        96.8

        Plains

        2

        Nadia

        West Bengal

        95.0

        Plains

        3

        Satara

        Maharashtra

        92.9
    6. To boost tourism in State of Jammu & Kashmir, Government extended facility to travel by any airlines to visit Jammu & Kashmir on LTC (Leave Travel Concession), under Special Dispensation Scheme for Central Government employees, for upto September 2018.
    7. James Gordon Carr, Minister of Natural Resources of Canada visited India for participating in 3rd India-Canada Energy Dialogue.
    8. Former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla has been appointed as Chancellor of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University.
    9. Indian Army has set up Army Design Bureau (ADB) in an attempt to reduce import dependence, as part of governments ‘Make in India initiative. Army Design Bureau will provide better understanding of Armys requirements to research organisations and industry for developing high tech defence products in India Itself.
    10. Government constituted committee to study silt in river Ganga in Bihar, to be headed by A .K. Sinha.
    11. Government approved simplification of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy 2016 in various sectors as announced in June 2016. Changes in FDI Policy are -
      1. Defence Sector - FDI beyond 49% has been permitted through government approval route, in cases resulting in access to modern technology in the country or for other reasons. FDI limit also made applicable to Manufacturing of Small Arms and Ammunitions covered under Arms Act, 1959.
      2. Food Products manufactured or produced in India 0 100% FDI under government approval route for trading in respect of food products manufactured in India.
      3. Pharmaceutical - 100% FDI under automatic route in greenfield pharmaceuticals. FDI up to 100% under government approval in brownfield pharmaceuticals also has been approved and 74% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield pharmaceuticals.
      4. Civil Aviation - 100% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield Airport Projects. FDI limit raised to 100% in Scheduled Air Transport Service and regional Air Transport Service.
      5. Animal Husbandry - 100% FDI allowed in Animal Husbandry (including breeding of dogs), Aquaculture, Pisciculture and Apiculture under Automatic Route without requirement of controlled conditions.
      6. Private Security Agencies - 49% FDI permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond 49% and up to 74% will be permitted through government approval route.
      7. Single Brand Retail - Entities undertaking single brand retail trading have been relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 3 years that were put earlier. Entities in single brand retail trading of products having ‘state-of-art and ‘cutting edge technology have been relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 5 years.
    12. Indias first international conference on cooking gas held in Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
    13. Gujarat government signed MoU with Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India (AAI) to develop 11 small airports and airstrips under Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to boost regional air connectivity in State.
      1. Gujarat became third State after Jharkhand and Maharashtra to have signed such agreement under Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
    14. Annual 5-day socio-religious Solung festival of Adi tribe started in Arunachal Pradesh.
    15. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for first time successfully sequenced DNA in space, on International Space Station (ISS). The genome sequencing was undertaken by astronaut Kate Rubins as part of Biomolecule Sequencer experiment .
      1. The experiments were undertaken by using commercially available DNA sequencing device called MinION on samples of mouse, virus and bacteria DNA.
      2. This experiment provides a way to sequence DNA in space which can help astronauts to diagnose an illness.

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