National News
Government puts Minimum Export Price for Onion
- The notification has been issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to export all varieties of onions only on Letter of Credit subject to the MEP of $850 FOB per tonne.
- Reasons for the price rise of onion is said to be due to falling in the supply of onions from Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, rains in parts of Maharashtra hampering onion markets followed by droughts.
‘JALDOOT’ Travelling Exhibition Launched
- The Regional Outreach Bureau, ROB, is the office under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with its headquarter at Pune for Maharashtra and Goa region.
- The Jaldoot Campaign has been launched by the ROB in association with MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation).
Relief to Indian Railways Passengers
- The Ministry of Railways has announced to rationalize the fare structure and composition of Humsafar class of trains.
- The existing variable fare system of the Humsafar class of trains has been done away with, which means these trains will now have only ‘fixed’ fare system.
Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019
- The bill will facilitate smooth and speedy eviction of unauthorized occupants from Government residential accommodations.
- The step would increase the availability of government residential accommodations and reduce the waiting period for eligible persons.
Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance
- The Union Cabinet chaired has approved the Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement) Ordinance, 2019.
- As per the ordinance, the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes shall be a punishable offence.
Mongolian president visit to India
- President Battulga and Indian PM Modi jointly unveiled a statue of Lord Buddha at Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar through video-conferencing in New Delhi.
- India announced an additional 236 million dollars Line of Credit for the ongoing Petrochemical Refinery Project in Mongolia.
Rashtriya Puraskar and National Safety Awards for the Performance Year 2017
- The "National Safety Awards (NSA)" and "Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP)".(Previously known as ShramVir National Awards) are operated since 1965 under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
- NSA is awarded for the outstanding safety performance of construction sites, ports, industrial establishments, and installations under the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in management of accident prevention programs.
LEAP-2019 & ARPIT-2019 launched
- LEAP has been launched for leadership development for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) which is a 3-week leadership development training programme for second-level academic functionaries.
- ARPIT was launched by the HRD Ministry in November 2018 as a unique initiative of online professional development of 1.5 million higher education faculty through SWAYAM.
Banking
Aadhaar Authentication made Mandatory for New Dealers by GSTN
- Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, head of the Group of Ministers of GST Network has announced the decision.
- For those dealers who do not want Aadhaar authentication, physical verification will be carried out for them.
Govt incentive to Boost Exports and Housing Sector
- To provide a 10,000 crore rupees special window to help complete the ongoing affordable and middle-income housing projects.
- The housing projects under the special window include non-NPA (Non-Performing Assets) and non-NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) projects.
RBI allowed Payment Banks to apply for Small finance banks
- The minimum paid-up capital requirement for SFBs is also revised by the RBI from Rs 100 crore to now Rs 200 crore.
- Promoter’s shareholding should be a maximum of 40% by the end of 5 years, and within 10years it should be down to 30% and within 15years it should be down to 15% shareholding.
RBI suggest Federal body like GST council for Farming Sector
- An RBI panel has suggested to set up a federal body like a GST council for providing credit flows to the agriculture sector.
- RBI had set up the 'Internal Working Group’ in February 2019 to understand the reasons for the regional disparity in agricultural credit and suggest measures.
Government Slashed the Corporate Tax Rates
- The tax rates are slashed by following an amendment in the Income-tax Act 1961 and the Finance (No. 2) Act 2019.
- The new domestic companies are those companies that are incorporated on or after 1st October 2019 and will commence production on or before 31st March 2023.
Reports
“Handbook on Fisheries Statistics - 2018”
- “Handbook on Fisheries Statistics - 2018” has been released by the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Giriraj Singh.
- This is the 13th edition of the Handbook published by the Department of Fisheries of Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.
Appointments
| Name of the Person | Designation |
| Chief Justice V. Ramasubramanian | Himachal Pradesh High Court |
| Chief Justice Krishna Murari | Punjab and Haryana High Court |
| Chief Justice S. Ravindra Bhat | Rajasthan High Court |
| Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy | Kerala High Court |
Awards and Honours
| Awardee | Awards |
| IPS officer Chhaya Sharma | 2019 Asia Society Game Changers Award |
Important Days
| Date | Day | Theme |
| 15th September 2019 | 60th Foundation Day of Doordarshan | -- |
Government Schemes
NIRVIK Launched Scheme
- The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) under the ministry has introduced the scheme with the aim to ease the lending process and enhance loan availability for exporters.
- The scheme will ensure guaranteed insurance cover up to 90% of the principal and interest including the pre and post-shipment loss.
National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT)
- The Neat platform has been created to bring all the startups providing one-stop access to these technological solutions on a single platform and use their expertise to help disadvantaged communities.
- Under the scheme, companies using artificial intelligence must offer 25% free coupons for students from disadvantaged communities.
PM Matru Vandana Yojana has Crossed 1 Crore Beneficiaries
- The scheme is implemented under the Women and Child Development Ministry.
- They eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana, through which a woman gets Rs 6000 on an average.
Defence
Air-to-Air missile ASTRA
- The missile was launched from a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI combat aircraft, off the coast of Odisha.
- ASTRA has a range of over 70 km and can fly with a speed of over 5,555 kilometres per hour.
Sports
Vinesh Phogat won bronze at the World Wrestling Championship
- Vinesh is the 5th Indian female wrestler to win the World Wrestling Championship after Alka Tomar (2006), Geeta Phogat (2012), Babita Phogat (2012) and Pooja Dhanda (2018).
- She has also assured the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualification along with winning the WWC after a medal-less run in three World Championships before.
Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya won bronze at World Wrestling Championships
- Dahiya beat Iran's reigning Asian champion Reza Ahmadali Atrinagharchi.
- Both sealed a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 65 kg category (Bajrang) and 57 kg (Ravi) category by qualifying for the bronze medal round.
Summits and Conferences
55th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
- ITEC was instituted as part of India’s Development Assistance offering for developing countries in 1964.
- ITEC offers the participants of its member developing countries to avail of short and medium-term courses in premier institutions like IITs and IISCs in India.
37th GST Council meeting
- The council has decided to link Aadhaar with the registration of taxpayers under GST and is in the process to make Aadhaar number mandatory for claiming refunds.
- No GST will be charged for hotel rooms having tariffs of up to 1,000 Rupees per night.
