International News
President Visit to Switzerland
- President Kovind unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, marking the 150th anniversary of the Father of the Nation at Villeneuve, Switzerland.
- Mahatma Gandhi had a special connection, as he visited Villeneuve in 1931 at the invitation of Noble laureate Romain Rolland.
National News
Task Force for Infra Projects by Finmin
- The Finance Minister has constituted a task force to draw up a National Infrastructure Pipeline worth $1.4 trillion.
- The Task Force will submit its report on the pipeline for FY 2019-20 by 31st October 2019 and by 31st December 2019 on the indicative pipeline for FY 2021-25.
1st Mega Food Park in Telangana
- The initiative will aid the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme by reducing post-harvest losses and hedging the farmer’s risk, by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain.
- The government provides financial assistance up to Rs50 crore per Mega Food Park project.
New Animal Facility established by University of Hyderabad
- The facility is one of the largest in the country and will cater to the needs of research investigators working with small animal models like rodents and rabbits.
- It will provide the researchers to perform cutting edge research and publish them with facts and accuracy in high impact journals.
India’s second Multi-Modal Terminal
- The MMTs are built as part of the Jal Marg Vikas Project which aims to develop navigation of large vessels upto1500-2000 tonnes weight, on river Ganga between Varanasi to Haldia.
- Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the Implementing Agency of the MMT project.
Motihari-Amlekhganj Petroleum Products Pipeline
- This is a 69 km pipeline with a capacity of 2 million metric ton per annum, will provide petroleum products to Nepal at a cheap price.
- The project is led by the Indian Oil Corporation and the Nepal Oil Corporation.
PM Modi to launch National Animal Disease Control Programme
- The programme is launched for eradicating the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis in the livestock.
- If a cow/buffalo gets infected with FMD, the milk loss is up to 100% for 4 to 6 months and with infection of Brucellosis, the milk output reduces by 30%, for the entire life cycle.
NCST demanded inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th Schedule
- The commission observed that the territory of Ladakh created recently is predominantly a tribal region, accounting for more than 97% tribal people.
- The Scheduled Tribe population represent 66.8 per cent in Leh, 83.49 per cent in Kargil, 89.96 per cent in Sanku and 99.16 per cent in Zanskar, 73.35 per cent in Nubra, 97.05 per cent in Khalsti areas of the Ladakh region.
Indian Institute of Skills, Mumbai
- The institute is launched to provide skills to students who want to pursue technical education after completing Class X and Class XII.
- It will operate on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and Tata Education Development Trust (TEDT) was selected through a competitive bidding process as the private partner for setting up IIS at NSTI campus in Mumbai.
Rajasthan launched the “ Jan Soochna Portal”
- The portal has promised to provide information about government authorities and departments suo motu to the public in the true spirit of the Right To Information Act, 2005.
- Rajasthan, where the RTI movement had started in the 1990s has become the 1st state in the country to launch a public portal for providing governmental information to the public.
Banking
ADB to provide $200 million to Maharashtra
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $ 200 million to Maharashtra to improve road safety by upgrading rural roads to all-weather standards.
- The state of Maharashtra accounts for 8% of the total road incidents in India.
- The states’ agriculture accounts for about 47% of employment and contributes 11% to the state gross domestic product.
IPPB rolled out AePS Services
- IPPB with the launch of AePS services has now become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to the customers of any bank.
- IPPB’s 100% equity is owned by the Government of India.
Awards and Honours
| Awardee | Award |
| Prof. Sibnath Deb | Visitor’s Award for Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
| Prof. Sanjay Puri | Visitor’s Award for Research in Physical Sciences |
| Prof. Asad Ullah Khan | Visitor’s Award for Research in Biological Sciences |
| Dr Shaon Ray Chaudhuri | Visitor’s Award for Technology Development |
MOU's Signed
GeM and Punjab Government sign MoU for Setting up PMU
- GeM under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Government of Punjab, signed MoU to set up GeM Organizational Transformation Team- Project Management Unit (GOTT PMU).
- It is projected that through the initiatives of GOTT PMU, the Punjab government will be able to transact about Rs 1700 crore on GeM platform in the first year, in terms of annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).
Ministry of Railways signs MOU with CII
- Ministry of Railways has signed an MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to facilitate green initiatives in Indian Railways.
- The MoU has been signed as part of Indian Railways’ green initiative to mitigate the cause of global warming and its effects that are causing climate change.
Government Schemes
National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self Employed Persons
- NPSTSEP is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, with the provision for minimum assured pension of Rs 3,000/- monthly once the subscriber attains the age of 60 years.
- The beneficiary should be within the age group of 18 to 40 years.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana is an age-old pension scheme for all small and marginal farmers between the age group of 18 to 40 years.
- Under the scheme, the farmers would receive a monthly pension of Rs 3000, once they attain the age of 60 years.
Science and Technology
Water found on an Exoplanet
- Researchers have found both water and temperatures on K2-18b, being the only exoplanet having such components.
- The team used the Hubble Space Telescope and developed open-source algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered through K2-18b's atmosphere.
Defence
INS Khanderi to be commissioned into Indian Navy
- Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) has manufactured the submarine in Mumbai and designed by the French naval Defence and Energy Company DCNS.
- It is named after its predecessor INS Khanderi (S22), which was named after Chhatrapati Shivaji's island fort of Khanderi.
Indo-Thai Maitree – 2019
- 50 soldiers from each the Indian Army (IA) and the Royal Thailand Army (RTA) would participate in the event.
- MAITREE is an annual training exercise which is conducted since 2006 alternatively in India and Thailand.
Sports
US Open Tennis 2019
- Rafel Nadal won beating Daniil Medvedev and Bianca Andreescu won beating Serena Williams.
- Bianca Andreescu is the 1st Canadian to win the Grand Slam singles title.
Summits and Conferences
7th RCEP Ministerial Meeting
- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between 16 countries including 10 ASEAN countries and its 6 FTA partners (India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and China).
- The RCEP negotiation was launched at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia in November 2012.
68th Plenary Session of NEC
- Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma proposed the 8-laning of Guwahati- Shillong- Dawki-Sylhet-Chittagong Highway.
- Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal suggested the council to start hosting a festival in each country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote the northeastern states of India as "hub of opportunities".
Conference on Energy Efficiency ‘ANGAN’ began
- The Conference is being organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power in collaboration with the Indo German Technical Cooperation.
- In the 3-day conference, experts will discuss the technologies/designs for making energy-efficient Commercial as well as Residential Buildings.
22nd Session of UN Committee on CRPD
- India ratified the UNCRPD Convention on 1st October 2007 and submitted its First Country Report on Status of Disability in India on November 2015.
- The UN Committee appreciated the initiatives taken by the Government of India like RPwD Act, 2016, the launch of Accessible India Campaign, the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) for persons with disability.
42nd UN Human Rights Council Meeting
- Pakistan demanded to set up a commission of inquiry, which is UN’s highest-level probes for major crisis, to look into the issue of Kashmir.
- Pakistan has termed the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir by India as “Indian brutality" in the region.
