Daily Current Affairs 4th September, 2019

Daily Current Affairs 4 September 2019 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Tourism Minister inaugurates first-ever architectural LED illumination at Qutub Minar

Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahalad Singh Patel inaugurated first-ever architectural LED illumination at the Qutub Minar in NewDelhi. With the illumination, the architectural beauty of the 12th-century monument will display its historic majesty after sunset. Qutb Minar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of most visited historical site in Delhi.

Vaishno Devi Shrine tops list of ‘Swachh Iconic Places’

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir has been adjudged as the Best Swachh Iconic place in the country in the ‘Swachh Iconic Places’ list released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

• The Shrine has been adjudged on the basis of the overall improvement in sanitation. Several initiatives were taken in the last few years to ensure the cleanliness of the entire Shrine area.

KVIC launches ‘Terracotta Grinder’ to reuse wasted pottery

Khadi and Village Industries Commission has launched a ‘Terracotta Grinder’ at Sewapuri in Varanasi. The machine will be able to grind the wasted and broken pottery items for re-using in pottery-making.

• This Terracotta grinder will make grinding of wasted pottery items faster than the traditional mortar and pestle. It will lessen the cost of production, and will also help in solving the problem of shortage of clays.
• On the occasion, KVIC also distributed 200 Electric Potter Wheels and other pottery machines among the villagers.

72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia held in New Delhi

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the 72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia held in New Delhi. The committee is the highest decision making and governing body of WHO in the region.

• Dr Harsh Vardhan was unanimously elected as Chair of the 72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia.

Ashok Leyland becomes first OEM to meet BS-VI norms

Ashok Leyland, a flagship company of the Hinduja group and country’s second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, announced that it has become the first Indian original equipment manufacturer to meet Bharat Stage VI emission norms across its full range of heavy duty trucks with gross vehicle weight of 16.2 tonnes and above.

• The Supreme Court has ruled that selling of BS-IV vehicle will be banned from April 1, 2020. Instead BS-VI emission norms will come into force across the country. The major difference between BS-IV and BS-VI norm is presence of sulfur in fuel.

IAF inducts 8 US-made Apache AH-64E helicopters

The Indian Air Force inducted eight US-made Apache AH-64E attack helicopters, which will give a major boots to its combat capabilities.

• The AH-64E Apache is one of the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopters, and is flown by the US Army.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

14th Conference of Parties UNCCD begins in UP

The 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification begins in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. During the event, India also assumed the presidency of COP for two years and Union Minister for environment took up the role of President of COP.

• The Convention started with an aim to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought to achieve sustainable development in the affected areas.

Iranian army introduces a new homegrown jet-propelled drone called Kian

Iranian Army unveiled a high-precision jet-propelled drone called Kian. The capacity of carrying long-time surveillance missions and attack the targets far from the country’s borders.

BANKING & FINANCE

Cabinet clears Rs 9,300 crore capital infusion in IDBI Bank

The Central government approved Rs 9,300 crore capital infusion into IDBI Bank to increase the lender’s capital base.

• The Union Cabinet cleared the recapitalisation plan with a one-time infusion of funds by both the government and the LIC, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.
• LIC, which has a controlling stake in IDBI, will infuse Rs 4,743 crore. The government will provide Rs 4,557 crore as a one-time re-capitalisation

ICICI Bank deploys ‘Robotic Arms’ for currency sorting at its chests

ICICI Bank has deployed Industrial ‘Robotic Arms’ for note sorting at its currency chests across 12 cities. It has become the first commercial bank in the country to customise and deploy industrial robots to automate and perform repetitive high volume steps in handling cash processing on high-end note sorting machines.

ESIC signs pact with SBI for payments to ESIC beneficiaries on real-time basis

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the State Bank of India (SBI) signed a memorandum of understanding to provide electronic payment services for ESIC beneficiaries.

• The payments will be made directly to bank accounts of all ESIC beneficiaries and payees without any manual intervention as an integrated and automated process.
• SBI will provide e-payment integration with the enterprise resource planning processes of ESIC through its cash management product e-payment technology platform

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

DBS lowers India’s FY20 GDP growth to 6.2%

Singapore’s banking group DBS has revised India’s real GDP growth forecast downwards for the current financial year to 6.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent projected earlier.

IIT-Kharagpur, Amazon Web Services join hands to develop AI portal

IIT-Kharagpur announced that it will collaborate with Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Resource Portal to promote learning and development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for all AI learners, practitioners and researchers in India.

• The portal will provide access to compute facilities to users for AI learning and experimentation.

SPORTS

Mithali Raj announces retirement from T20Is

India women’s batter Mithali Raj announced retirement from T20 Internationals cricket stating that she wants to focus on 2021 One Day World Cup preparation.

• The 36-year-old had led India in 32 T20Is. Moreover, she is the first Indian to reach the landmark of 2000 T20I runs.

Jinson Johnson breaks national record, qualifies for Worlds

Asian Games gold medallist Jinson Johnson bettered his own 1500m national record while clinching a silver in the ISTAF Berlin event.

• With his own national record shattering effort, Jinson also qualified for the World Championships to be held in Doha from September 28 to October 6.

Nadubhagam Chundan Lifts 67th Nehru Trophy in Alappuzha

Nadubhagam Chundan, the snake boat of Pallathuruthy Boat Club, lifted the 67th edition of the Nehru Trophy at the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha in Kerala. A total of 79 boats, including 23 snake boats, participated in the Nehru trophy.

FIFA unveils official emblem for Qatar World Cup 2022

FIFA unveiled the official emblem of the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup which is scheduled to be hosted in Qatar.

• The official emblem of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 embodies the vision of an event that connects and engages the entire world, while also featuring striking elements of local and regional Arab culture and allusions to the beautiful game.

AWARDS

University of Mumbai wins the accolade for ‘Best Use of Assistive Technologies’

The University of Mumbai, one of the oldest and premier universities of India, won the ‘Best Use of Assisted Technologies’, at the ScooNews Global Educators Fest (SGEF) held in Udaipur on 10th August 2019.

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs