18 September 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Wing Commander Anjali Singh becomes India's first military diplomat

Wing Commander Anjali Singh (41-years) has become India's first female military diplomat to be posted in any of the Indian missions abroad.
She has joined the Indian Embassy in Russia as the Deputy Air Attache.
Until now, only male officers from the three services (Indian Air Force, Navy and Army) were appointed as military attaches in overseas Indian missions.
Anjali Singh (hails from Bihar) is from the aeronautical engineering branch of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 17 years of service, trained on MiG-29 aircraft.

Note:

A military diplomat is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy.
In the Indian Air Force, Navy and Army, the women constitute 13% (highest among armed services), 6% and 3.80% of the workforce respectively.

Source: Hindustan Times

2. Takehiko Nakao to step down as Asia Development Bank President

The president of the Asia Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao (63-years) has planned to step down from the post on 16^th January 2020.
Mr. Nakao took the ADB post in 2013 and was re-elected to a second five-year term in 2016.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19th December 1966.
The headquarters of the bank is at 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippine.
As of 23rd March 2019, Asian Development Bank has 68 members (49 members from the Asian and Pacific Region and 19 members from Other Regions).

Source: BBC

Science & Defence

3. Air-to-Air Missile Astra successfully flight tested from Su-30 MKI

India's indigenously designed air-to-air missile ‘Astra’ was successfully test-fired from the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha.
As part of the trial, the live aerial target was engaged accurately demonstrating the capability of the first indigenous air-to-air missile.
Various radars, electro-optical tracking system and sensors tracked the missile and confirmed its engagement with the target.
The Astra is capable of engaging targets of different ranges and altitudes including long-range as well as short-range targets.

Note:

‘Astra’ has been designed by the premier research and development organisation of the armed forces in the country, DRDO.

4. Trilateral Exercise “SITMEX” Commences at Port Blair

The Navies of Singapore, India and Thailand began their first joint maritime exercise ‘SITMEX-2019’ in Port Blair.
The Singapore’s Navy (RSN), Royal Thailand Navy (RTN) and Indian Navy (IN) are conducting the five-day exercise (till 20^th September 2019).
The objective of the ‘SITMEX’ exercise is to bolster maritime relationships and contribute significantly to enhancing overall maritime security.
This would also strengthen the mutual confidence amongst three navies in terms of interoperability and development of a common understanding of procedures.

Source: The Hindu

Banking & Finance

5. Govt waives three-year lock-in period on investments made by NRIs in IDFs

As per Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notification, the Union government has waived the three-year lock-in period on investments made by non-residents in infrastructure debt funds (IDFs), to promote funding in the infrastructure sector.
Now, any amount of interest received by non-resident or foreign company from investment in such IDFs is charged at a reduced tax rate of 5%.
IDFs are investment vehicles to accelerate the flow of long-term debt to the sector.

Note:

If a non-resident transfers rupee-denominated bonds of IDF to another non-resident outside India, such transfer is not regarded as transfer for the purpose of capital gain, and no capital gain tax is charged on such transfer.

Source: Economics Times

National Affairs

6. Hyderabad-Karnataka region renamed ‘Kalyana Karnataka’

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has announced that the Hyderabad-Karnataka region has been renamed as 'Kalyana Karnataka'.
The Hyderabad Karnataka region comprises six north-eastern districts of Karnataka Bidar, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Ballari, Yadgir and Raichur.
A separate secretariat would be set up for the development of Kalyana Karnataka, through which funds would be released for developmental work.

7. 5th International Ramayan Festival organized in New Delhi

Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah has presided the 5th International Ramayan Festival in New Delhi (17-19 September 2019).
The three days International Ramayan Festival has been organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
Ramayan is one such scripture of India that has transcended Personal, Religious, Societal, Cultural and National boundaries and reached a global audience.
17 countries have participated with their artists and rendered their versions of Ramayan.

Note:

The ICCR was established with the vision of propagating Indian culture and its values to the whole world and organizing Ramayan festival is one way to realize this vision.

8. India’s first National Antimicrobial Resistance Hub inaugurated in Kolkata

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General (DG) Balram Bhargava has inaugurated India’s first National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Hub in Kolkata.
AMR is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe.
The Kolkata centre would be the hub for research on antibiotic resistance not only for the country but for entire South Asia.
The AMR facility has been developed by ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) in collaboration with the USA.

Note:

India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R & D) hub as a new member.

9. Himachal Govt launched Mukhyamantri Seva Sankalp Helpline ‘1100’

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has launched a helpline number ‘1100’ (Mukhya Mantri Service Resolution Helpline) for the speedy and time-bound redressal of public grievances.
The helpline number will make use of the latest technologies to help people register their complaints online, making the whole procedure paperless and lessen the footfall in government offices.
Now, Himachal Pradesh has become the fourth state (after Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh) in the country to have such a helpline.
Around 56 departments and 6500 officers working under government have been linked to Chief Minister’s Service Resolution Helpline by Geo Mapping and Go Tagging.

Note:

Mukhya Mantri Service Resolution Helpline will function 6 days a week (Monday-Saturday) from 7 am to 10 pm
Every complaint will be resolved within a period of 7-14 days.

Honour & Awards

10. Agnes Kharshiing Gets Hrant Dink Award in Istanbul

Meghalaya’s Right to Information (RTI) activist Agnes Kharshiing has been awarded the 11th International Hrant Dink Award at the Lutfi Kirdar International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Istanbul.
Kharshiing, who was assaulted by a group of 40 people for complaining against illegal mining and transport of coal in the East Jaintia Hills district.
The Hrant Dink Award is an annual award presented by the Hrant Dink Foundation on the birth anniversary of Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

Source: The Hindu

11. Neena Gupta wins two awards at Boston Film Festival

Bollywood actor Neena Gupta registered a double victory at Indian International Film Festival of Boston.
The 'Badhaai Ho' actor won Best Actress award while her film 'The Last Color' emerged victorious in Best Feature Film category.
The directorial debut of world-renowned chef Vikas Khanna 'The Last Color' deals with taboo surrounding widows in Vrindavan and Varanasi in India.
The film's first look was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival and has since travelled around the world to various film festivals including New York Indian Film Festival 2019 and Indie Meme Film Festival among others.

Source: Hindustan Times

Obituaries

12. Filmmaker Shyam Ramsay of Ramsay Brothers passes away

Popular filmmaker Shyam Ramsay (67-years) from the Ramsay Brothers passed away in Mumbai.
He is one of the seven Ramsay Brothers who were active in Indian cinema throughout the 1970s and the 1980s.
They produced the number of horror movies such as Darwaza, Purana Mandir and Veerana.

Source: Times of India

Sports

13. Dinesh Mongia announces retirement from all form of cricket

Former Indian Cricket all-rounder Dinesh Mongia (42-years) has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Mongia went on to play 57 ODI for India where he scored 1230 runs at an average of 27.95 but never played a Test cricket match.
Dinesh Mongia was last seen on a cricket field (in 2007) playing for Punjab, before being banned by the BCCI for joining the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Source: Times of India

14. US swimmer Sarah Thomas criss-crosses Channel in 54-hour feat

An American swimmer Sarah Thomas (37-years) became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop in a 54-hour feat of endurance.
Ms Thomas swam from England to France and back - twice - in just over 54 hours.
It should have been a total distance of about 80 miles (129 km) but the tidal pulls in the Channel increased the distance by more than 60%, meaning she ended up swimming nearly 130 miles (209 km).
Sarah Thomas completed treatment for breast cancer a year ago.

Note:

The English Channel is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: BBC