Current Affairs Today – September 20 2015

Dear Readers, We cover some important news in Current Affairs Today Section, which are not covered in Daily Detailed News, More Current Affairs coverage will help you to Score Good Marks in Competitive Exam.

• Current Affairs September 2015
• Current Affairs September Quiz 2015

Indian Affairs 

• Historic accord signed between Nyishis and Apatanis
• PM Narendra Modi to address India-US Start-Up Konnect 2015

AIBS formed for Banjara’s Rights

• All India Banjara Sangh(AIBS), an independent organization has formed to fight for the pending issues of the Banjara community.
• Maharashtra MLC Haribhau Rathod was as elected as the first national president of the AIBS and the organization will have representations from all states of the country.
• The organization demanded that the community would be removed from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list and a separate category be created for them with a grant of 7% reservation.
• Next year, A mega rally would be organized at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi by the All India Banjara Sangh(AIBS)

Government hikes import duty by 5% on edible oils

• According to a notification of Central Board of Excise and Customs import duty on crude and refined edible oil by 5%
• The crude oil has been raised from 7.5% to 12.5% while the refined edible oil has been raised from 15% to 20 %.
• As per the statement of SEA Executive Director B V Mehta, the current import duty hike will not support farmers to a great extent. The industry demanded substantial hike in duty of crude edible oil to 25 % and refined oil to 45 %, to support farmers. 
• The country’s 60% of annual edible oil demand of 18-19 million tones is met through the imports from the foreign countries namely, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

International Affairs 

Sherif Ismail sworn in as new Prime Minister of Egypt

• Sherif Ismail, an Egyptian Engineer who served as the Minister of Petroleum and mineral resources in the Ibrahim Mahlab’s government sworn in as new Prime Minister of Egypt.
• Sherif Ismail took oath of office as the Prime Minister in the 33 member cabinet includes 16 new members and 3 female members before the President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
• The Ministers of Defence, Interior, Justice Foreign Affairs and Finance in the resigned government have kept their positions also in the new Cabinet.
• Three Ministries have been merged that includes Health and Population, Education and Higher Education, and Scientific Research.

Indo-Swiss project in low-carbon cement to get boost in India

• LC3, a low-carbon cement jointly developed by Indian and Swiss researchers, is set to grow in India where the demand for cement will increase hugely as the country embarks on a $1 trillion infrastructure development plan.

Singapore most preferred tour destination

• According to Hotel Price Index (HPI) survey of Hotels.com, Singapore has got the first position in a list of most preferred overseas destinations for Indian travelers.
• Dubai (UAE) and Bangkok (Thailand) have secured second and third places respectively.

Ranking of preferred destination for Indian travelers:

Hong Kong, Pattaya (Thailand) and Bali (Indonesia) are some other preferred locations of Indian travelers in the South East Asian Countries.

While Top five preferred destinations for Foreigners in India are

• Delhi
• Mumbai
• Bengaluru
• Goa
• Chennai

Business 

• FICCI signs MoU with Toronto to facilitate Indo Canadian Co-productions

Awards and Recognition

• TCRIP conferred with Global Award GRAA

Urdu scholar Shamim Hanfi wins Jnangarima Manad Alankaran Award

• Eminent Urdu Scholar Shamim Hanfi received the Jnangarima Manad Alankaran by Bharatiya Jnanpith at his home.
• Shamim Hanfi has been chosen for the first Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award at the annual ‘Kavita Samay’, which was created by the Bharatiya Jnanpith this year.
• Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award was instituted to recognize the contribution of writers in Indian languages.
• The Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award comprises a silver statue of Saraswathi and a stipend of Rs 11,000 per month for the next one year from the Bharatiya Jnanpith. 
• Shamim Hanfi is best known for his books like “Jadidiyat ki Falsafiyani Asas,” “Ghazal Ka Naya Manzarnama” and “Infiradi Shaoor aur Ijtemai Zindagi.” 
• Director of Bharatiya Jnanpith – Leeladhar Mandloi.
  

P.Siva Kumar elevated as Distinguished Scientist

• The Director of CVRDE, P Sivakumar elevated as a Distinguished Scientist by the Union Ministry of Defense to recognize his efforts in the field.
• P Sivakumar, the director of Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) which is located at Avadi in Tamil Nadu involved in development of various products that includes the Arjun MBT Mark-II, Carrier Command Post Tracked Vehicle and unmanned ground vehicles.
• He is a member of many professional institutions namely American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA), American Society of Metals (ASM), National Academy of Engineering and Institution of Engineers, India.

Bank of Baroda wins first prize under Rajbhasha Kirti Purashar Scheme

• Bank of Baroda won the first prize under the Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar Scheme of GOI.
• This PSU bank has secured the award for its outstanding performance in official language implementation under the category of nationalized banks in the linguistic region – B – for the year 2014-15. 
• Ranjan Dhawan, MD & CEO of the Bank of Baroda received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. 
• Bank of Baroda also won many prizes at national level for the performance in official language implementation.

IDFC gets RBI nod to utilize Rs.2500 crore reserve

• Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) gets RBI nod for using Rs 2,500 crore reserve as provision against bad loans.
• RBI has granted the approval to utilize non-distributable Statutory Reserves of Rs 2,500 crore for the creation of specific provisions against stressed assets.
• IDFC’s banking operations will start from October 1 with 20 branches. 15 out of 20 will be located in three districts of Madhya Pradesh namely, Khandwa, Harda and Hosangabad. Current CEO, Rajiv Lall executive will be its vice-chairman and MD.
• Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai, will be the non-executive chairman and Former Union home secretary Anil Baijal will be the Chairman of IDFC bank.

Science & Technology

• Four new isotopes discovered

Sports 

Ajay Jayaram clinched silver in Korea Open 2015 Super series

• Indian Shuttler Ajay Jayaram lost the final match against the World No1.Chen Long of China.
• He lost 14-21, 12-21 in the final round and settled for a Silver medal in the Korea Open Superseries in Seoul.
• Ajay JayaRam defeated Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in his first round and Wong Wing ki Vincent of HongKong in the second round of the competition.
• The other shuttlers, Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy lost in the first round of the competition While P.V Sindhu lost in the second round of the Superseries.

Dutee Chand wins on return from gender test ban

• Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, who won gold (100 m) at the National Open Athletics Championships in Salt Lake, India. She finished (100 m) in just 11.68 seconds. She also won gold medal in 200 m as well as 400 metre relay.
• However the Railways Sprinter could not achieve the Olympic qualifying mark of 11.32 seconds.
• Dutee Chand was banned last year by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) under athletics’ hyperandrogenism policy, which found she had naturally high levels of testosterone above a permissible level.
• But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cleared the sprinter by suspending the ‘hyperandrogenism’ rules, which may also be scrapped if the IAAF fails to provide evidence in the month of July.
• Dutee also won gold medal in the Womens 400 metre relay with her teammates, Himashree Roy, Srabani Nanda and Merlin K Joseph.

 Obituary

• BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away

British novelist Jackie Collins dies

• Jackie Collins, a 77-year old renowned British born novelist died in Los Angeles, USA.
• She is well known for her novel “Hollywood Wives” and it was made into a mini-series by ABC, starring Anthony Hopkins and Candice Bergen.
• Her first book “The World is full of Married Men” was published in 1968.