Daily updates 14 September 2019

National

1. World Bank to sanction Rs 3,000 crore for food parks

• The World Bank will provide Rs 3,000 crore assistance to finance mini and mega food parks across India.
• The announcement was made by Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries during the 15th Indo-US Economic Summit.
• The 15th Indo-US Economic Summit was organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce-North India Council (IACC-NIC) in New Delhi.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• President of World Bank: David Malpass; Headquarters: Washington DC, USA.
• Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries: Rameswar Teli.

2. Centre to set up 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres

• Union Government has set a target of setting up 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across the country.
• Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Minister Shripad Yesso Naik announced this during the inauguration of a Unani Medical Centre and Siddha Clinical Research Unit.
• Out of 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres, 4000 centres will be set up in 2019.

State News

3. Rajasthan launches "Jan Soochna Portal-2019"

• Rajasthan has launched "Jan Soochna Portal-2019" a public information portal to provide information about government authorities and departments to the public in the true spirit of the Right To Information Act.
• The portal ensures compliance with Section 4(2) of the RTI Act mandating the public authorities to disclose information in the public domain.
• The State government has collaborated with the civil society groups to develop the portal, presently giving information pertaining to 13 departments on a single platform.
• The portal empowers the common people with access to useful information.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Chief Minister of Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot; Governor: Kalraj Mishra.

Schemes and Committees

4. NGT constitutes committee to cease illegal groundwater extraction

• The National Green Tribunal has constituted a committee to formulate steps to cease illegal groundwater extraction.
• The committee comprises joint secretaries of Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Water Resources, Central Ground Water Board, National Institute of Hydrology (Roorkee), National Remote Sensing Centre and Central Pollution Control Board.
• The committee aims to ensure that groundwater is not illegally extracted and to monitor manning and functioning of the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).

Agreement

5. Railway ministry signs MoU with CII

• The Railway Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for evaluating the green initiatives and rate the performance of its industrial units pursuing environmentally sustainable practices.
• The MoU was signed for Green Business Centre (GBC) of CII to extend technical co-operation for various green initiatives. It has developed a GreenCo Rating system to evaluate the various steps and rate them.
• GBC will also assess and certify 3 industrial units of the Railways and organise studies on energy efficiency.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Union Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal.
• John Mathai was the first Railways Minister of Independent India.

Appointment

6. Kapil Dev appointed as chancellor of Rai Sports University

• The Haryana Government has appointed cricket legend Kapil Dev as the first Chancellor of Sports University, Rai (Sonepat).
• The Haryana Assembly recently established Haryana’s first sports university at Rai.
• Kapil Dev was the captain of India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup winning team.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Chief Minister of Haryana: Manohar Lal Khattar; Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

Defence

7. DAC approves Capital Procurement of Rs 2,000 crores

• The Defence Acquisition Council accorded approval for Capital Procurement for the Services amounting to approximately Rs 2,000 crores.
• The decision was taken during the Defence Acquisition Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh.
• Focussing on the 'Make in India' initiative, DAC granted:
• The approval for indigenous development and production of the main gun 125mm Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) ammunition for T-72/T-90 tanks by the Indian Industry.
• Approved procurement of DRDO developed and Industry manufactured Mechanical Mine Layer (Self Propelled) to improve automated minelaying capability with the Indian Army.

Awards

8. 5 Indian women police officers honoured by UN

• Five Indian women police officers were honoured by the United Nations for their commendable services in the world body's mission in South Sudan.
• The women officers who were conferred the UN medal were

1. Reena Yadav (Inspector Chandigarh Police)
2. Gopika Jahagirdar (DSP, Maharashtra Police)
3. Bharati Samantray (DSP, Ministry of Home Affairs)
4. Ragini Kumari (Inspector, Ministry of Home Affairs)
5. Kamal Shekhawat (ASP, Rajasthan Police)

• The Indian women police officers received the UN medal at a medal parade in the United Nations Mission in Juba in South Sudan.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• On 24 October 1945, The United Nations officially comes into existence
• Antonio Guterres is the Secretary-General of the United Nations
• United Nations is headquartered in New York.

Sports

9. Andrew Strauss becomes chairman of ECB's cricket committee

• Former England captain Andrew Strauss has been appointed as the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s cricket committee.
• As a chairman, Strauss will monitor all levels of cricket in England and Wales to ensure a “thriving professional game at the heart of the sport”.
• Andrew Strauss played 100 tests for England from 2004-12, scoring more than 7,000 runs at an average of 40.91, and captained the team to two Ashes series wins. He also served as England’s director of cricket between 2015 and 2018.

Important Days

10. Hindi Diwas celebrated on 14 September

• Hindi Diwas is observed every year on 14 September to mark the popularity of Hindi as an official language of India.
• On the occasion, International Hindi Conference was also organised by World Hindi Council in New Delhi.
• Hindi lovers from 6 countries including Mauritius, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka attended the International Hindi Conference.

Obituaries

11. Former bureaucrat B.N. Yugandhar passes away

• Former bureaucrat and Secretary to the PMO, B.N. Yugandhar passed away.
• He served as Secretary to the PMO between May 1995 and March 1997 during former PM P.V. Narasimha Rao’s term. He also served in the Ministry of Rural Development from March 1993 to May 1995.
• B.N. Yugandhar was the father of Microsoft's present Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella