11 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Justice Vikram Nath appointed as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court

Justice Vikram Nath has been appointed as the chief justice of the Gujarat High Court.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Acharya Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.
Earlier, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Justice Nath for the top post in the Gujarat High Court.
At present Mr Nath posted as a judge in the Allahabad High Court.

Note:

The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat established under the Bombay State Re-organisation Act, 1960 after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State.

2. US President sacks National Security Adviser John Bolton

President Donald Trump has fired his National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton.
The exit comes amid reports that there is disagreement within the Administration over Trump's decision to host a now-cancelled meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David.
Deputy National Security Advisor Charles Martin Kupperman (68-years) was made interim United States National Security Advisor for President Donald Trump.
NSC serves as the chief in-house advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues.

Note:

National Security Advisor (NSC) Advisor is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, based at the West Wing of the White House.
The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President and does not require confirmation by the Senate.

3. Jack Ma officially retires as Alibaba's chairman

Jack Ma stepped down as executive chairman of e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Daniel Zhang succeed him at Asia’s most valuable company.
Jack will remain on the board until Alibaba’s annual meeting of shareholders in 2020.

Note:

Jack Ma (former English teacher) started Alibaba.com in 1999 as a business-to-business marketplace with 17 co-founders.

Honour & Awards

4. Odia Writer Pradeep Dash to receive Sarala Puraskar 2019

Noted Odia writer Pradeep Dash will receive the prestigious ‘Sarala Puraskar-2019” (40th edition) for his poetry work ‘Charu Chibar O Charjya’.
Sarala Puraskar will receive a cash award of Rs. 5 lakhs along with a citation at a special function scheduled to be held on 26^th October 2019.
It has been continuously awarded by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).

Note:

The 'Sarala Puraskar' was instituted by eminent Odia industrialist late Dr Bansidhar Panda and late Ila Panda in 1979 & awarded by the Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT).

Source: Odisha TV

5. Royal Society honour for Dr Yusuf Hamied

Dr Yusuf Hamied (Chairman of Cipla) has been inducted as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society.
He was elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society for his service to the cause of science.
A total of 51 new Fellows and 10 foreign members were elected to the Royal Society in 2019.

Note:

Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK and the Commonwealth which is dedicated to promoting excellence in science.

Important Days

6. Keralites celebrate Onam with full spirit

The most popular annual harvest festival of Kerala ‘Onam’ is being celebrated in all its glory.
It is a 10-day long festival from Atham to Thiruonam.
Onam celebrations include Onasadya, Onakodi, Pookkalam, Vallam Kali, Pulikali etc.
The festival is celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam.

Source: AIR News

Obituaries

7. Noted Freedom Fighter Heeralal Sharma passes away

Veteran freedom fighter Heeralal Sharma (95-years) has passed away.
Heeralal Sharma played a significant role in India’s independence.
Mr. Sharma took an active part in Quit India Movement and was also jailed for two years.

International Affairs

8. President Ram Nath Kovind holds bilateral talks with Iceland president

India and Iceland have signed agreements to enhance cooperation in the field of sustained fisheries development and organise cultural exchange programme between 2019 and 2022.
The agreements and MoUs were signed in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and his Iceland counterpart Gudni Johannesson in Reykjavik in Iceland.
Iceland also declared exemption from Visa for Indian diplomatic and official passport holders.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave a lecture on the topic India-Iceland for a greener Planet in the University of Iceland.

National Affairs

9. International conference ‘ANGAN’ being organized in New Delhi

International conference ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) for Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector is being organized by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency in New Delhi.
Indo-German Technical Cooperation is also partnering in the event.
Experts and policymakers from sixteen countries are participating in this event to discuss various alternative options and technologies in the field of design and construction of energy-efficient commercial as well as residential buildings.
It will provide a platform to deliberate on the interdependence between organizations, systems sustainability and feedback loops for better resource efficiency.

Source: AIR News

10. Multilingual Mobile App ‘CHC Farm Machinery’ launched for farmers

Parshottam Rupala (Minister of State for Agriculture) has launched a multilingual Mobile App “CHC Farm Machinery” during a conference on Crop Residue Management in New Delhi.
Now, Farmers can get affordable access to cutting-edge technology at their doorsteps.
It will allow farmers to avail custom hiring services of CHCs located in a radius of 50 km.
The App connects the farmers with Custom Hiring Service Centers in their area.

Source: DD News

11. Govt sets up a three-member committee to look into Assets, Liabilities of J&K

The Union Government has constituted a three-member committee to look into the distribution of assets and liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir between two successor Union territories.
Sanjay Mitra (former defence secretary) is the head of the committee.
The other two members are Arun Goyal (retired IAS officer) and Giriraj Prasad Gupta (retired Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer).
As per Section 84 of the Act, the assets and liabilities of the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir have to be apportioned between the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Source: News 18

12. PM Modi launches National Animal Disease Control Programme in Mathura

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme for eradicating the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the livestock from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.
The programme aims at vaccinating over 500 Million Livestock including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs against the disease.
It also aims at vaccinating 36 million female Bovine Calves annually in its fight against the Brucellosis disease.
It will be implemented for a period of five years till 2024 at a cost of 12, 652 crore rupees.
Prime Minister Modi also launched the National Artificial Insemination Programme during the event.
Mr Modi has also launched simultaneously countrywide workshops in Krishi Vigyan Kendras in all the 687 districts of the country on the topic of vaccination and diseases management, Artificial insemination and productivity.

Note:

National Animal Disease Control Programme is a 100% Centrally funded programme.
The objective of the programme is to control Foot and Mouth Disease and Brucellosis by 2025 and their eradication by 2030.

13. DPIIT launches plastic waste management campaign

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of Commerce Ministry has launched a plastic waste management campaign under Swachhta Hi Sewa 2019.
Under the campaign, DPIIT will ensure recycling of plastic waste collected on 2nd October this year in cement kilns.
It will also collect plastic waste through nationwide shramdaan on the 2nd of next month.
DPIIT has urged States and Union Territories to mobilise the Industrial Parks for collection of plastic waste across all Industrial Estates, Parks, Corridors, Nodes and Industrial Areas.
The Department has also asked the state governments to sensitize Industrial Parks by focusing on Plastic Waste Management on a sustained and continuous basis.
The move comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for action against Plastic Waste.

Banking & Finance

14. Economic census to be held every three years

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has taken upon itself to make available the latest data and come out with the economic census every three years.
The move has been initiated with the work on the 7^th economic census.
The First Economic Census in India was in 1977, second in 1980, its 3rd in 1990 and 6th in 2013.
The data being collected in the economic census undergoes three levels of scrutiny, all of which is through the mobile application developed exclusively for the economic census.
The census is aimed at getting a better picture of the economic agents in the economy from the establishment perspective and to create the framework for a National Statistical Business Register (NSBR).
The entire fund for the economic census activity is being borne by MoSPI.

Note:

In the latest census, data will be collected, validated and disseminated through advanced IT usage, which is expected to reduce the lag in finalisation of results, as well as improve accuracy and coverage of the data.
India’s Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Economic Censuses took place in 1998, 2005, and 2013 respectively.

15. IPPB rolls out Aadhaar-enabled payment services

The Union Government has announced the rollout of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System Services (AePS) by India Post Payment Banks (IPPB).
With AePS services, any person with a bank account linked to Aadhaar can perform basic banking services.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has given a strong boost to the Centre's efforts in expanding access to financial services for millions of unbanked and underbanked customers.
IPPB has become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank by leveraging the last mile unprecedented reach of the Postal network.

Source: Economics Times

Sports

16. Kraigg Brathwaite reported for suspected illegal bowling action

West Indies Cricketer Kraigg Brathwaite (26 years) has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during the second Test against India in Kingston.
ICC match officials report cited concerns about the legality of the bowling action of Brathwaite during the match.
Brathwaite will be required to submit to further testing by 14^th September.
He is permitted to continue bowling in International cricket until the results of the testing are known.

Note:

An Illegal Bowling Action is where a player is throwing rather than bowling the ball.
This is defined by the ICC as being where the player’s elbow extends by an amount of more than 15% between their arm reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.