05 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

05 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Prof Muhammad Yunus conferred 'Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ' award by Vatican

• Nobel Laureate from Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus was conferred the 'Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ' award by the Vatican for his contribution towards establishing peace and harmony.
• The award is a recognition for distinguished work by an individual for promoting peace and dialogue among people.
• The ceremony took place at the historic Papal Basilica of Assisi in Italy.

Note:

• The Lamp of Peace award was first given to the Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa in 1981.
• Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev and Angela Merkel are a few other prominent persons who received this award earlier.

Source: DD News

2. Vaishno Devi Shrine tops the list of 'Swachh Iconic Places'

• Based on the overall improvement in sanitation, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir has been adjudged as the Best Swachh Iconic place in the country in the 'Swachh Iconic Places'.
• The list was released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
• The President will confer the prestigious award to the Shrine during the ‘Swachh Mahotsav’ on 6^th September 2019.
• The Shrine was in direct competition with dozen other iconic places including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Maharashtra), Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh), Tirupati Temple (Andhra Pradesh) Golden Temple (Punjab) Manikarnika Ghat (Varanasi), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (Rajasthan) among others.
• In 2018, the Shrine was also declared as the cleanest religious place by the IndiaToday Group.

Note:

• Governor of Jammu and Kashmir ‘Satya Pal Malik’ is the Chairman of Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

Source: Hindustan Times

Important Days

3. 5th September: National Teachers' Day

• Teachers' Day is being celebrated throughout the country on the birthday (5th September 1888) of educationist and former President Bharat Ratna Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
• Dr. Radhakrishnan was India's first Vice President and second President.
• President Ramnath Kovind has given the National Teachers’ Awards to 46 teachers at a function in New Delhi.
• The awards have been given to meritorious teachers, who through their commitment have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students.
• The awards which were instituted in 1958 carries a Silver medal, a certificate, and award money of 50 thousand rupees.
• On teacher's day, the Uttar Pradesh government schools are going to enter a new era of digital transformation with "Prerna App" which was launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday. 

Science & Defence

4. The US and 10 ASEAN navies begin first joint military exercises in Southeast Asia

• The United States and 10 Southeast Asian countries kicked off maritime drills at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand and ending in Singapore (2-6th September 2019).
• As part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint the South China Sea with eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel.
• The drills come at a time of stepped-up U.S. engagement in the region and tensions between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea.
• The exercise includes 8 warships and 4 aircraft from 7 countries and more than 1,000 personnel from all 11 participants namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US.

Source: The Japan Times

5. Exercise Yudh-Abhyas 2019 begins between India and USA

• Joint military training, Exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas – 2019’ is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord, Washington, the USA (5-18th September 2019).
• Yudh Abhyas-2019 will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.
• It will be the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.

Note:

• Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavours between India and USA.

Source: The Hindu

National Affairs

6. Asia's only 5th Generation - VR based simulator centre launched at Chennai by AASI

• Asia's first 5th Generation Virtual Reality based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre was launched at the Automobile Association of Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai.
• Under 'Safe Drivers Campaign', AASI will train 200 Ambulance drivers in the first six months, free of cost.
• The patented simulator was ideated, designed and developed by Chennai based Red Chariots Technologies Pvt Ltd.
• The training session is a combination of level-based practical learning modules coupled with self-learning theory modules through an interactive e-learning quiz app built in-house.

Source: Economics Times

7. CBI's 1st national conference on cybercrime investigation inaugurated

• CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla has inaugurated the 1st National Conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics at CBI Headquarters in New Delhi.
• The two-day conference covers one of the mandates of CBI which is to investigate crimes with inter-state and international ramifications.
• According to Mr. Rishi Kumar Shukla, Cybercrimes pose unique challenges to law enforcement officers and such crimes are complex and require certain skills and forensic skills for detection. 
• The conference is aimed at creating the platform and bringing together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to discuss challenges related to cybercrime and ways to find solutions.
• It will also be a platform to share good practices to learn from experiences of various State police and Law Enforcement Agencies. 
• Around 50 officers including DGPs, ADGPs, and SPs dealing with cybercrime, officials and academia are participating in the Conference.

Banking & Finance

8. RBI Makes External Benchmark Based Interest Rate mandatory for certain categories of loans

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for banks to link all new floating-rate loans for housing, auto and MSMEs (Micro and Small Enterprises) to external benchmark like repo from 1^st October 2019.
• The banks are free to choose one of the several benchmarks indicated in the circular.
• Industry and retail borrowers have been complaining that banks do not pass on the entire RBI's policy rate (repo rate) reduction to them.
• In 2019, the Reserve Bank has already reduced the repo or short-term lending rate by 110 basis points, but the banks have reportedly passed on only up to 40 bps to borrowers.
• Government of India (GoI) three-Months Treasury Bill yield published by the Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd (FBIL).

9. Growth of eight core sectors slows to 2.1% in July

• Growth of eight core industries dropped to 2.1% in July mainly due to a contraction in coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products.
• The eight-core sector industries, coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, had expanded by 7.3 per cent in July last year.
• The output of coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products recorded negative growth in July.
• During April-July, the eight sectors grew by 3% compared to 5.9% in the same period the previous year.

Source: Economics Times

Sports

10. FIFA unveils official emblem for Qatar World Cup 2022

• For Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022, FIFA has announced the official emblem for the event.
• The emblem has a swooping curve which represents the undulations of desert dunes and the unbroken loop depicts both the number eight and the infinity symbol.
• The eight represents the number of stadiums that will host the football tournament while the infinity symbol reflects the interconnected nature of the event.
• Qatar also unveiled the logo for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
• The design is a stylised Arabic white unisex shawl with maroon patterning, which is displayed in a figure-of-eight symbolising infinity while creating a heart shape above the words “FIFA WORLD CUP Qatar 2022”.

Source:

• The 2022 FIFA World Cup (22nd edition) is scheduled to be held from 21 November to 18 December in Qatar.
• This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Arab world and the first in a Muslim-majority country.

11. Hockey: schedule of FIH Pro League season 2 released

• As per schedule of FIH Pro League season 2 Hockey, India will play a total of 16 home and away games.
• The opening match will oppose China and The Netherlands in the women's event on 11^th January 2020.
• Indian men's hockey team will open its campaign against the Netherlands at home on 18th and 19^th January 2020.
• This will be followed by two home fixtures against Australia on 22^nd and 23^rd
• In away games, the Indian team will travel to Germany, Great Britain, Argentina and Spain in April, May and June.
• India will play the last leg of the Pro League round-robin matches in Spain in June 2020.
• The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the match schedule of the second edition of the FIH Pro League, which includes 144 matches.

Source:

• The Men's FIH Pro League is an international men's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Men's FIH Hockey World League.

12. Indian boys settle for silver at Asian Junior and Cadet TT Championships

• The Indian boy's team has settled for a silver medal after losing the final 0-3 to top seed China at the Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships held at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• The second place helped Indian boys qualify for the World Junior Championships to be held at Korat, Thailand (Nov 2019).
• The individual events at the Championships will begin from tomorrow.

Source: AIR News

13. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan becomes the youngest skipper ever in Test cricket

• Today, Afghanistan Spin sensation Rashid Khan (20 years and 350 days old) has become the youngest ever Test skipper at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.
• Rashid beat the previous record held by former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu (20 years and 358 days) by a mere 8 days.
• Taibu was 7 days short of his 21st birthday when he led his side against Sri Lanka in Harare on 6^th May 2004.
• Afghanistan obtained Test status in 2017.
• India's Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi rounds up the top-3 in this regard, having made his captaincy debut against West Indies at the age of 21 years and 77 days on March 23, 1962.

Source: India Today

14. Bianca Andreescu becomes 1st teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade

• Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu (19-years) has become the first teen US Open semi-finalist in a decade defeating Belgium's Elise Mertens to set up a battle with Belinda Bencic for a spot in the final.
• Bianca Andreescu (15th-seeded) from suburban Toronto rallied past 25th seed Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach a clash against fellow Slam semi-final debutante Bencic.
• Andreescu, a winner this year at Indian Wells and Toronto, is the first teen in the US Open's last four since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
• She could become the first teen to win a Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova captured the 2006 US Open.

Source: AIR News