The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced at the Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S. The Handmaid's Tale became the first web television series to win the award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Westworld and Saturday Night Live were the most nominated programs, each with 22 nominations. Stephen Colbert was the Host of 69th Emmy Awards.
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj arrived in New York to represent India at the annual UN
General Assembly, UNGA, session.
In the first move, Mrs. Swaraj would kick off her official
engagement with a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers of India, US, and
Japan to give momentum to their cooperation. India is among the 120 countries
that have supported the reform efforts of the UN Secretary-General.
Note: India’s Permanent
Representative to the UN is Mr. Syed Akbaruddin.
Railways
Cuts Down Sleeping Hours for Passengers
According to a circular
issued by the railway board, the passengers in the reserved coaches can
only sleep between 10 pm and 6 am to allow others to sit in the seats for
the rest of the time.
Until the circular was
issued, the existing permissible time for sleeping was between 9 pm and 6 am.
The new provision replaces paragraph 652 in the Indian Railways Commercial
Manual, Volume I. This provision is applicable to all reserved coaches with
sleeping accommodation.
Note: Mr. Piyush Goyal is the
Present Railways Minister of India.
Indigenous
Artillery Gun Sets New World Record in Range
An indigenous artillery
gun, Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), being developed by
the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has set a new
world record in range by hitting targets at a distance of 48 km.
During trial firings at
Pokhran ranges, ATAGS registered the longest ever distance of 48.074 km,
surpassing the maximum range of 35-40 km fired by any artillery gun system in
this category.
Note: ATAGS is a 155mm,
52 calibers towed artillery gun being developed in mission mode by
DRDO as a part of the Army’s artillery modernization program.
Long-Endangered
Snow Leopard Upgraded to 'Vulnerable' Status
The elusive snow
leopards, long considered an endangered species, has been upgraded
to 'vulnerable'. But experts warned the new classification does not mean they
are safe.
The animals still face serious
challenges including poaching and loss of prey in their high
Himalayan habitat. Using improved methods for counting cat numbers,
experts now estimate there are about 4,000 snow leopards in the wild.
Note: Snow leopards had been
listed as endangered since 1972.
NASA’s
Cassini Spacecraft Ends 20-year Journey
The National Aeronautics
and Space Administration’s (NASA) $3.9-billion Cassini spacecraft ended
its 20-year-long ground-breaking journey with a fiery plunge into the Saturn’s
crushing atmosphere.
Operators deliberately
made Cassini dive into the gas giant to ensure that the planet’s moons remain
pristine for future exploration. No spacecraft has ever ventured so close to
the planet before.
Robert M. Lightfoot Jr.
is NASA Acting Administrator.
NASA was established in
1958.
Russia,
Iraq Restore Air Travel After 13-Year Freeze
Russia and Iraq restored
scheduled commercial airline services for the first time since 2004. This
move has been hailed as a sign of stability returning to the war-torn country.
Russia suspended regular
flights to Iraq in 2004 after the US-led invasion in 2003 plunged the
Arab country into war.
Note:
Haider al-Abadi is the
Prime Minister of Iraq.
Baghdad is the capital of
Iraq.
Vladimir Putin is the
President of Russia.
Moscow is the Capital of
Russia.
Amazon
Ties up With Bank of Baroda To Offer Micro-Loans To Sellers
Amazon has tied up with
Bank of Baroda for the loans, which can go up to Rs. 25 lakh.
The Indian arm of the US
e-commerce giant, Amazon plans to provide unsecured micro-loans, as low as
1 lakh, at interest rates as low as 10.45-11 percent at a short span of 3-5
days.
India,
Japan sign Open Sky Agreement
India and Japan today
signed an agreement that will allow their airlines to operate the
unlimited number of flights between the two countries.
The National Civil
Aviation Policy, 2016, allows the government to enter into an 'open sky' air
services agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as
countries beyond a 5,000-kilometre radius from New Delhi.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi today launched the Sardar Sarovar Dam - the world's
second-biggest - on the river Narmada in Gujarat.
The 1.2-km-long dam, which is 163
meters deep, will irrigate over 18 lakh hectares in the state
The water from
the Narmada will flow into over 9,000 villages through a canal network, Sardar
Sarovar Nigam Limited (SSNL).
Only
Marshal of IAF, hero of 1965, Arjan Singh Passed Away
THE sole Marshal of the
Indian Air Force, Arjan Singh, passed away at the Army’s Research and
Referral Hospital. He was 98 years old.
Arjan Singh had the honor of leading the fly-past of more than
a hundred IAF aircraft over the Red Fort on India’s first Independence Day,
August 15, 1947. In 2002, on the occasion of Republic Day, he was granted the
honorary rank of Marshal, the highest military rank attainable, which before
him only two Army chiefs, K M Carriappa and Sam Manekshaw, had achieved.
PV
Sindhu wins gold!
PV Sindhu becomes the
first Indian to win the Korea Open Superseries with an outstanding win
over Nozomi Okuhara in the much-talked-about women's singles final in Seoul.
Olympic
silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu beat world champion Nozomi Okuhara in a
thrilling final to clinch the women's singles title at the Korea Open Super Series today.
Google
Tez UPI-Based Digital Payments App Launched in India
Google Tez has
become the latest UPI-based payments app in the country. The new
Google Tez app can be used to pay for movie tickets, utility bills, and make
other transactions online.
Tez means fast in Hindi,
which the company stated was one of the selling points of its new app. Google
Tez is a standalone payments app, available on Android and iOS, and is
powered by UPI, a payments protocol built by government-backed organization
NPCI. The company has partnered with HDFC Bank, ICICI, and State Bank of India
for backend processing.
Note:
Sundar Pichai is the
Present CEO of Google.
Alphabet Inc. is the
Parent company of Google.
Airtel
Payments Bank, First Payment Bank to Integrate UPI on its Digital Platform
Sunil Mittal-driven
Airtel Payments Bank integrated the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on
its digital platform, allowing customer choice and convenience to facilitate
secure digital payments.
Airtel Payments Bank has
become the first payments bank in India to integrate the UPI on its
digital platform. In January 2017, Bharti Airtel launched Payments Bank in
India to enable transactions on digital platforms.
Note: Airtel Payments Bank is India's first Payment Bank.
President's
Medal for Former DIG D Roopa
Former DIG D Roopa, who
highlighted in a report alleged irregularities at the central jail in
Karnataka, was conferred the President's Medal.
The award was presented
to Roopa for her meritorious service by Governor Vajubhai Vala at a
ceremony at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah.
Note:
Siddaramaiah is the CM of
Karnataka.
Vajubhai Vala is the
Present Governor of Karnataka.
Iron
Union 5: US and UAE Joint Military Exercise
The US and UAE's ground
forces had begun a joint military exercise in Abu Dhabi, as part
of efforts to consolidate their bilateral relations and exchange training and
military expertise. Code-named Iron Union 5, the drill is an extension of
a series of Iron Claw exercises.
The exercise aims to
upgrade and boost the readiness of the UAE's armed forces and to allow both
armies to promote their international co-operation in joint military
operations.
Note: Abu Dhabi is the Capital
of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Peruvian
President Appoints Mercedes Araoz Fernandez as New PM
The President of Peru,
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has appointed a former Economy Minister Mercedes
Araoz Fernandez as new Prime Minister of Peru.
She served as an economy
minister during part of the 2006-11 administration of President Alan Garcia. Araoz
replaced Fernando Zavala, who lost the vote of confidence by lawmakers
recently.
Note: Lima is the Capital of
Peru.
Y.C
Modi Named NIA Chief, Rajni Kant Misra D-G of SSB
Senior IPS officer Y.C
Modi has been named the chief of the National Investigation Agency
(NIA). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved Mr. Modi’s
appointment as Director General of the NIA. He will take over
from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on October 30.
Another senior IPS
officer, Rajni Kant Misra, has been appointed Director General of the
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Mr. Misra is at present the Additional Director
General of the Border Security Force (BSF).
Note:
Mr. Modi will hold the
post till his superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2021.
Mr. Misra has been
appointed Director General of the SSB till the date of his superannuation, i.e.
August 31, 2019.
Mr. Modi is at present
special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Iceland's
PM Bjarni Benediktsson Resigns
Prime Minister of Iceland
Mr. Bjarni Benediktsson has resigned from the post. He lost his
nine-month-old, center-right coalition after one party quit.
The President of Iceland,
Gudni Th. Johannesson accepted the resignation of the PM. Benediktsson took
office in January 2017, uniting his Independence Party, the Reform Party, and
the centrists.
Note: Iceland is a wind-lashed
island near the Arctic Circle with a population of 320,000.
Infosys
Senior VP Sanjay Rajagopalan Quits
Infosys Senior Vice
President Sanjay Rajagopalan has resigned from his post. The decision has
come a month after Vishal Sikka stepped down as the company's MD and CEO.
He was employed with
Infosys from August 2014 to September 2017.
Note:
Nandan Nilekani has been
recently appointed as the New Chairman of Infosys.
Infosys is country's no.
2 software services exporter.
‘Father of nephrology
in India’ Dr KS Chugh dies of cancer at 85
Dr. KS Chugh, the “father
of nephrology in India”, breathed his last at the Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He was 85.
He was a recipient of
several national and international awards, including the Padma Shri, the
fourth-highest civilian award, in 2000.
