Banking and Financial Awareness
- Punjab National Bank and BSNL have teamed up to roll out open mobile wallet Speedpay.
- Income tax department is set to launch Project Insight from next month, which will gather virtual information to trace black money.
- The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has raised upper age limit for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) to 65 years, from the current 60.
- Paytm Payments Bank has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch RuPay-powered digital debit card.
- Payment gateway provider PayU has collaborated with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide online payment services.
- The Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for automatic sharing of data and information on a regular basis.
- India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves have crossed $400 billion mark for the first time, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- The Union Cabinet chaired has given its approval to introduce of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament.
New Appointments
- Force Motors Chairman Abhay Firodia has been elected as the new President of the automobile industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
- Mahindra & Mahindra's President (Automotive Sector) Rajan Wadhera has been elected as the new Vice-President of the organisation.
- Ramakant Khandelwal has been appointed the new Chief Marketing Officer of PAYBACK India.
- M. Nagaraja Sarma has been appointed the chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of the United India Insurance Co. Ltd.
Obituaries
- The sole Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Arjan Singh passed away following cardiac arrest in New Delhi on September 16, 2017.
- P. Donleavy, the Irish-American author and playwright died on September 11, 2017.
- Xavier X Atencio, an animator behind early Disney movies including "Pinocchio" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", died on September 10, 2017.
Honour and Awards
- Indian economist Bina Agarwal, a professor at the University of Manchester, is among the winners of this year’s Balzan Prize.
- Indian-American Raj Shah has been appointed by the US president as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary.
- Raghunandan Industries Pvt Ltd was conferred with Krishi Pragati Awards 2017 by NCDEX.
- Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) was awarded "Container Terminal of the Year" Award for the above 0.6 million TEUs category at The Gateway Awards 2017.
- Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was honoured for his pioneering work in the field of organic farming. He was honoured during a ceremony at Germany’s Lagau on the occasion of the One World Festival
Important Days
- Hindi Diwas (Hindi Day) is annually observed in India on September 14.
- International Day of Democracy is observed on September 15, 2017. This year's theme is- Democracy and conflict prevention.
- International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer is observed every year on September 16. This year's theme is -Caring for all life under the sun.
Books and Authors:
- Tech giant Microsoft’s India-born CEO Satya Nadella’s first book ‘Hit Refresh’ will be launched soon.
Index and Ranking:
- London has retained its position as the world’s top financial centre in the Global Financial Sevice Index 2017.
- India has secured 103rd rank in the latest Global Human Capital Index 2017.
MoUs and Partnerships:
- The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of health.
- The Union Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Central Silk Board (CSB), India and National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), Japan.
- India and Japan have signed an open-sky pact which will result in the reduction in airfares.
- India signed a loan deal worth $76 million with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The deal is to upgrade the environment management plan at Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yards.
- India has decided to hold a major combat exercise with Russia this year.
- This exercise will aim at cranking up military-to-military ties between the two countries.
- The 2nd meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council between India and Afghanistan was held in New Delhi on 11 September 2017.
Important News- World
- Two mountain ranges on Pluto have been named after Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary by the International Astronomical Union.
- Charles, the heir to Britain's throne became the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history. He broke the record of Queen's Victoria's oldest son Albert.
- The 74th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2017 at Venice Lido.
- The 49th Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) was held in Pasay City, the Philippines.
- Pakistan Air Force and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Air Force (PLAAF) kicked off their joint training exercises dubbed “Shaheen VI” in China.
- India has decided to send humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh. This would be called Operation Insaniyat and is executed for the refugees of Rohingya.
- Halimah Yacob, the former speaker of parliament of Singapore was elected as the first woman president of Singapore.
Important News- India
- India's first High-speed bullet train network will run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. It is expected to be operative from 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone.
- The Central Government of India will conduct a contest to measure the quality and impact of various ongoing smart city projects.
- A team of six women naval officers have started a historic around-the-world mission called Navika Sagar Parikrama.
- Noida and Greater Noida Police have launched its two services – Shakti and Garud. It aims to improve law and order situation in the regions.
- The Government has set up an online service facility Contact@DGFT.
- It can be used by importers and exporters to resolve all foreign trade-related issues
- The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved a 1% hike in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) to 5%.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for a significant project to acquire 48,243 Line Kilometer (LKM) 2D seismic data for appraisal of Indian sedimentary basins
- Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the two-day Conference on “Sustainable Landscapes & Forest Ecosystems: Theory to Practice”. He also launched the “Wood is Good” campaign on the occasion.
- Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad had launched a nation-wide hackathon.
- The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the 2-day National Conference on “Uniformed Women in Prison Administration”
- India has started producing the world's most expensive coffee.
- It is called Civet coffee or the Luwark Coffee.
- The Government of India notified about the introduction of Rs 100 coins to commemorate the birth centenary of AIADMK founder Dr MG Ramachandaran and renowned Carnatic singer Dr MS Subbulakshmi.
Science and Technology:
- Food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a nationwide online platform FoSCoRIS to bring in transparency in food safety inspection and sampling.
- Reliance Energy announced the launch of ELEKTRA, a digital assistant bot powered by artificial intelligence.
- Scientists have created the first map of water trapped in the uppermost layer of the Moon’s soil. The map is created using data from an instrument aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
- The final Development Flight Trials of Astra Missile- Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) were successfully conducted over the Bay of Bengal, Off the Coast of Chandipur, Odisha.
- The advanced towed artillery gun system (ATAGS) has set a world record in terms of range by hitting targets at distance of 48 km during trial firings.
Important News- States
- E-commerce company Amazon has announced to open its largest fulfilment centre in Hyderabad.
- The second World Congress of Optometry began in Hyderabad on September 11, 2017. It was organised to discuss new ideas and share research and knowledge about various facets of optometry.
- The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion along with the Government of India has organized the Second State Startup Conference on 12 September 2017 in New Delhi.
- West Bengal Cabinet ministers cleared a proposal to change the name of the state from West Bengal to Bangla.
- Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh launched the first phase of the ongoing Kashang hydel project(65 MW) in Kinnaur.
- The state government of Assam has decided to empower nearly 30 thousand surrendered militants by providing a skill development training.
- India’s first State of art virology laboratory was inaugurated in Kolkata.
- The President Shri Ram Nath Kovind had launched the nationwide campaign Swachhta Hi Seva, from Iswarigunj, a village in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Sports News
- Harinder Pal Sandhu won his fifth straight PSA title in the Malaysian Squash Tour X-2017.
- Rafal Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3 6-4 to win the U.S. Open 2017.It is his second grand slam title of the season and 16th of his career.
- Badminton Association of India has decided to confer Prakash Padukone with its first Lifetime Achievement Award for his rich contribution to the sport.
- India finished fifth in at the Moscow Shotgun World Championship 2017.
- Indian won one gold and two silver medals.
- Indian Tennis player Sumit Nagal won 8th MCC – S R Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures Men’s tennis championship.
- 36th National Games by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is to be held in Goa.
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