01-02 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. New Governors appointed in 5 States
- President Shri Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of new Governors of five states.
- Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari (77-years) has been appointed as the new Governor of Maharashtra
- Former Union Minister Arif Mohammed Khan (68-years) will take the responsibility of Kerala governor.
- Former Union Minister and BJP leader, Bandaru Dattatraya (72-years) will be the new Governor of Himachal Pradesh in place of Kalraj Mishra (78-years) who has been given the charge of Governor of Rajasthan.
- Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (58-years) is the new Governor of Telangana.
Bhagat Singh Koshyari:
- Bhagat Singh Koshyari was born to Gopal Singh Koshyari and Motima Devi at Palanadhura Chetabgarh, Bageshwar District, Uttarakhand.
- He also served as 2nd Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal) from 2001 to 2002
- In the 2014 Indian general election, he was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Lok Sabha constituency.
- Arif Mohammad Khan was born in 1951 in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.
- He was educated at Jamia Millia School, Delhi, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh and Shia College, Lucknow University
- Former cabinet minister Arif Mohammad Khan has had several portfolios ranging from energy to civil aviation.
- Bandaru Dattatreya was born at Bandaru Anjaiah and Eswaramma at the city of Hyderabad.
- He received B.Sc. degree from Osmania University.
- Dattatreya began his political career and joined Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1965.
- He was made a Minister of State for Labour and Employment in the Modi ministry and became the lone minister from Telangana.
- Mr. Kalraj Mishra was born in Malikpura Ghazipur District of Uttar Pradesh.
- He obtained his M.A. degree from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi.
- Kalraj Mishra is the former Cabinet Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the BJP-led NDA government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- He was a member of Parliament from Deoria constituency in Uttar Pradesh from 2014 to 2019.
- Tamilisai Soundararajan was born in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District on 2nd June 1961.
- She pursued her MBBS at Madras Medical College, Chennai also pursued her obsterics & Gynaecology at Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai.
- She was a National Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Important Days
2. Ganesh Utsav begins across the country with traditional gaiety
- Today, the ten-day long festival of Ganesh Utsav begins with great devotion.
- The festival marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, who is a symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
- Ganesh Chaturthi is a major attraction in Maharashtra, where people celebrate it with great zeal.
- On the first day of the festival, devotees are welcoming the idols of Lord Ganesha to their homes and at public pandals in various parts of the state.
- In Tamilnadu, the annual festival of the famous hill-top Ganesh temple in Trichy, popularly known as the Malaikottai (Hill Fort), also begins today.
National Affairs
3. VP M Venkaiah Naidu dedicates country's longest electrified rail tunnel to nation
- The length of the rail tunnel is 6.6 kilometre.
- The Vice-President also flagged-off a new inter-city superfast express train between Guduru and Vijayawada.
- Mr Naidu stressed the need to step up investment to strengthen and modernize infrastructure, be it railways, airways, ports, inland waterways, rural roads, warehouses and cold storage units.
4. The Union Government approves Gorewada International Zoo in Nagpur
- Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced the approval of the new ‘Gorewada International Zoo’ in Nagpur district of Maharashtra.
- The Zoo will have attractions like Bio Park, Indian Safari, African Safari, Night Safari, Research, Education and Training, facilities for tourists, etc.
- The task of construction of Indian Safari and ancillary activities, Water Reservoir and Gorewada Reserve has been given to FDCM Ltd. with Government Grants.
- The Government of Maharashtra has accorded permission for establishing the International Zoo, through Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM. Ltd.), Nagpur.
- The Gorewada International Zoo is likely to be one of the largest captive Zoo Safari in India with over 1914 Hectares of land adjoining the Gorewada Lake.
5. September month to be celebrated as 'Rashtriya Poshan Maah'
- The entire month of September will be celebrated as the ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’.
- This year the theme is ‘Complementary Feeding’.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan is a multi- ministerial convergence mission with the vision to address malnutrition with a targeted approach by 2022.
- Under the Poshan Abhiyaan, the Union government has set a target to reduce the stunting rate in children from 35% to 25%.
- The programme aims at achieving improvement in the nutritional status of children up to six years of age, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
6. CGHS services to be made available in 100 cities by 2022: Health Minister
- The Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched a new scheme of Annual Health Check-up for CGHS beneficiaries who are pensioners of the age of 75 years and above.
- He also inaugurated state-of-the-art CGHS Bhawan in New Delhi.
- Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that CGHS services should be made available in 100 cities by 2022.
- The CGHS services which started in 1954 from Delhi expanded to only 25 cities till 2014.
7. Govt allows ‘Kulhad’ (mud pots) for serving tea at 400 railway stations
- Union Minister for Road Transport and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Nitin Gadkari has announced the decision to use tiny earthen pots or ‘kulhad’ for serving tea at around 400 railway stations across the country to encourage the pottery industry.
- According to Mr Gadkari, his Ministry has discussed with the Railway Ministry the use of earthen pots in order to provide employment to pottery workers.
- The government has decided to increase the import duty on incense sticks by 30% to benefit domestic producers.
- ‘Kulhar’ is a traditional handle-less clay cup from North India that is typically unpainted and unglazed, and meant to be disposable.
- The most interesting feature of Kulhar is not being painted and that differentiates a kulhar from a terra-cotta cup.
8. Google signs a pact with IT ministry for 'Build for Digital India'
- Tech giant ‘Google’ has signed a statement of intent with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) for rolling out 'Build for Digital India' programme.
- The programme will offer a platform for engineering students to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions that address key social problems.
- As part of the program, engineering students across the country will be invited to present their ideas and solutions in areas like healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, women safety, smart mobility and transportation, environment, accessibility and disability and digital literacy.
- Google will also offer mentorship sessions in product design, strategy and technology to the most promising products and prototypes.
- This initiative will not only motivate the college students across India to innovate but will also produce some good technology solutions for some major social challenges of India.
9. Varun Dhawan's 'Coolie No.1' first Bollywood film set to go plastic-free
- Bollywood has taken lead to promote India’s plastic-free movement with Varun Dhawan's upcoming movie "Coolie No. 1" becoming the first Bollywood film to go plastic-free.
- The movie’s producer Deepshikha Deshmukh announced on twitter today that the movie is going plastic-free and urged her peers to do the same.
- Actor Varun Dhawan too applauded the move and tweeted that being a plastic-free nation is the need of the hour.
- This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, urged people to shun single-use plastic and encouraged usage of jute and cloth bags to protect the environment.
10. COP14 to UN Convention to Combat Desertification begins in Greater Noida
- The 14th conference of Parties (COP 14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification will get underway in Greater Noida.
- The Conference will focus on desertification and degradation of land and will go on till 13th September 2019.
- This Conference will provide a framework for countries to restore the land and protect human health.
- The Conference is expected to agree on about 30 decisions to ramp up and elaborate further actions needed on the ground.
- The main objective of the convention is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought or desertification.
- India will host over 3000 participants and take the responsibility of leading 196 nations towards Sustainable Development for the next two years in COP14.
- It will present sustainable solutions for better land management.
- The land is the lifeline for all living beings, and the impact of land degradation is ultimately on human health and well-being.
Sports
11. India lift SAFF Under-15 Championship title in Kolkata
- India defeated Nepal 7-0 in the final of the 2019 SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) U-15 Championship at the Kalyani Stadium, Kolkata, West Bengal.
- With seven goals to his name, Jangra finished as the top scorer in the tournament in which the hosts had secured their place in the final with a game to spare.
- They won the title for a record third time after previous wins in 2013 and 2017, both of which came in Nepal.
- The 2019 SAFF U–15 Championship was the 6th edition of the SAFF U–16 Championship held at Kalyani Stadium from 21st to 31st August 2019.
- Five teams (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India (Host), Nepal and Sri Lanka) from the region has taken part in this tournament.
12. Shot putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor clinches silver in Czech Republic
- Indian Shot putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor (24-years) clinched a silver medal during an athletic meet at Decin in the Czech Republic.
- The Asian Games gold medallist came up with the best throw of 20.09m in his last attempt at the event. Tajinder has been awarded the Arjuna Award this year.
- Toor has already qualified for World championship being the Area champion following his gold-winning feat at Asian Athletics Championships in April next year.
13. Charles Leclerc wins F1 Belgian Grand Prix
- Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took his maiden Formula 1 victory after holding off Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes to win the Belgian Grand Prix 2019.
- Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom) was on second while Valtteri Bottas (Finland) finished third.
- The Belgian Grand Prix is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship.
- Monaco C. Leclerc (Ferrari) -1:23:45.710
- L. Hamilton (Me rcedes) - +0.981
- V. Bottas (Mercedes) - +12.585
14. Jasprit Bumrah became the 3rd Indian to take a Test hat-trick
- Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah (25-years) has become the third Indian to claim a hat-trick in Test cricket during the ongoing second Test against West Indies at Sabina Park.
- Bumrah got the wickets of Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase off successive deliveries to achieve the feat.
- Burmah is also the 44th player to achieve the feat in the longest format of the game.
- Harbhajan Singh was the first Indian to pick up a Test hat-trick (vs Australia in Kolkata in 2001).
- left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan repeated the feat when he took three wickets off consecutive balls against Pakistan in Karachi in 2006.
| S. No. | Indian Player | Against | Dismissals | Venue | Date |
| 1. | Harbhajan Singh | Australia | (i) Ricky Ponting (ii) Adam Gilchrist (iii) Shane Warne | India Eden Gardens, Calcutta | 11th March 2001 |
| 2. | Irfan Pathan | Pakistan | (i) Salman Butt (ii) Younis Khan (iii) Mohammad Yousuf | National Stadium, Karachi | 29th January 2006 |
| 3. | Jasprit Bumrah | West Indies | (i)Darren Bravo (ii)Shamarh Brooks (iii) Roston Chase | Sabina Park, Kingston | 31st August 2019 |
