International Translation Day being observed today
- International Translation Day is celebrated every year on 30th September on the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators.
- This year, the United Nations celebrates for the first time International Translation Day
- The celebrations have been promoted by FIT (the International Federation of Translators) ever since it was set up in 1953.
Note: On 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30th September as International Translation Day.
President appoints governors for 5 states
- Today President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Governors in five states and Lieutenant Governor (LG) in one Union Territories(UT).
- Former Union Minister Satya Pal Malik has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar while Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit will now be the new Governor of Tamil Nadu.
- Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, Prof Jagdish Mukhi will replace Mr. Purohit as the Governor of Assam.
- Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar in place of Prof. Mukhi.
- Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra has been appointed as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and former member of Bihar Legislative Council Ganga Prasad Governor of Meghalaya.
BHU appoints its first woman chief proctor
- The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has appointed Professor Royana Singh as the first woman Chief Proctor, as per an official of the 101-year-old central University.
- Professor Singh is a professor in the Anatomy department of the Institute of Medical Sciences and the chairman of the Women's Grievance Cell of the BHU.
- She takes charge after O.N Singh resigned from the post of Chief Proctor.
Union Finance Minister releases book on Financial Management
- The Union Minister for Finance Minister ‘Shri Arun Jaitley’ has released a book on financial management in New Delhi.
- The book titled “A to Z of Financial Management in Autonomous Institutions” is authored by Dr. Rajat Bhargava and Shri Deenanath Pathak.
- This book covers almost all aspects of financial management in Autonomous Institutions and offers an insightful perspective on the challenges of managing public money.
Veteran actor Tom Alter passes away
- The Indian actor of American descent Tom Alter (67-year) passed away at his residence in Mumbai.
- He made his big screen debut in 1976 with a small role in Dharmendra-starrer Charas and later went on to work in films like Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Gandhi, Kranti, Bose: The Forgotten Hero and Veer Zara.
Note:
- Tom Alter was born in Mussoorie in 1950.
- Alter was a third-generation American in India who studied at Woodstock School in the Himalayas and then briefly at Yale University in the USA, before returning to India in the early 70s.
Congress veteran Makhan Lal Fotedar passes away
- A veteran Congress leader, Makhan Lal Fotedar passed away at a hospital in Gurugram.
- Fotedar was ushered into politics by Jawaharlal Nehru in early 1950s and he gradually strengthened his position in the Congress to become one of the most powerful persons in the party.
- Fotedar was a member of the highest decision-making body of the party Congress Working Committee (CWC) for a long time.
Third India International Science Festival to be held in Chennai
- The third India International Science Festival will be held from 13-16 October at IIT-Chennai.
- The festival is being organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Science and Technology.
- The first two were held at IIT-Delhi and National Physical Laboratory, Delhi.
Note: The Festival will be jointly inaugurated by science and technology ministers of Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Portugal.
EESL to procure 10,000 electric vehicles from Tata Motors
- Energy Efficiency Services Limited will procure ten thousand electric vehicles from Tata Motors, through an international competitive bidding.
- These cars will be used to replace the petrol and diesel cars used by government and its agencies over a 3 -4 years period.
- The total number of vehicles used by the government and its agencies is estimated to be 5 lakh.
- According to the NITI Aayog report,India’s passenger mobility shared, electric, and connected can cut its energy demand by 64% and carbon emissions by 37% in 2030.
- The shift to Electric vehicles through this programme will reduce dependence on oil imports and promote power capacity addition in India thereby enhancing energy security of the country.
- This will also lead to reduction in green-house gas emissions from the transport sector.
Govt to exempt small exporters from furnishing bank guarantee for shipping goods & services
- The union Govt. has decided to exempt small exporters from furnishing bank guarantee for shipping goods and services.
- To facilitate exports under GST, it has been decided that the facility of furnishing Letter of Undertaking, in place of a bond, for exporting goods and services shall be allowed to exporters and no bank guarantee will be required.
RBI increases foreign investor limits in G-secs
- The Reserve Bank has increased foreign portfolio investors' investment limits in central and state government securities by an aggregate Rs 14,200 crore for the October-December period.
- Limits for investment by FPIs for the December quarter have been increased by Rs 8,000 crore in Central government securities and by Rs 6,200 crore in state development loans.
- Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets passively held by foreign investors.
- It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of financial assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market.
- Foreign portfolio investment differs from foreign direct investment (FDI), in which a domestic company runs a foreign firm, because although FDI allows a company to maintain better control over the firm held abroad, it may face more difficulty selling the firm at a premium price in the future.
Indian football team qualifies for AFC Under 16 Championship
- Indian football team qualified for the AFC Under 16 Championship to be held next year in Malaysia after finishing second in their group qualifying round played in Kathmandu.
- India qualified as one of the six best second-placed teams from the group matches of qualifying round.
- Besides India, the other five best second-placed teams to qualify for the Championships are Oman, Thailand, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
- Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and China failed to qualify for the Championships.
