Current Affairs Daily Updates: 08 September 2017

Mentor for Bank Exams
Current Affairs Daily Updates: 08 September 2017
Dear Aspirants,
Welcome to Mentor for Bank Exams, Current affairs Daily Updates section. Here I am presenting Current Affairs 08 September 2017 happenings of every day are covered here date wise. All types of current affairs like National, International, Economic, Science; Technology are covered in detail in this date wise current affairs section.
APPOINTMENTS
Ashish Kashyap Resigns as President and Co-founder of MakeMyTrip
  • Ashish Kashyap resigned as the President and Co-founder of MakeMyTrip with effect from 30 September 2017. As per the settlement agreement, Kashyap will be under non-solicitation and non-competition obligation for the next two years.
  • Kashyap had assumed the role of President and Co-founder after MakeMyTrip acquired Ibibo Group in October 2016. Kashyap was earlier designated as the Chief Executive Officer of the Ibibo Group.
Inder Jit Singh appointed as Chairperson of NACWC
  • Inder Jit Singh was on 7 September 2017  given the additional charge of the post of Chairperson of National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC).
  • Presently, Singh is serving as the Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat and will continue to hold this post.
  • Inder Jit Singh is a 1985-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
Viveck Goenka elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India
  • Viveck Goenka, Chairman and managing director of Express Group elected as Chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI).
  • He succeeds Riyad Mathew of Malayala Manorama group.
  • PTI is largest news agency in India. It is non-profit cooperative among more than 500 Indian newspapers and has more than 1,000 full-time employees.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Amazon's Largest Fulfilment Center in Hyderabad
  • American e-commerce company Amazon opened its largest fulfillment center (FC) in the country at the GMR-led Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
  • The new facility has a carpet area of around 4 lakh square feet, along with a storage space of close to 2.1 million cubic feet.
  • Amazon's fifth fulfillment center in Telangana, thereby increasing the firm's overall storage capacity to 3.3 million square feet in the state.
Airtel Arm Launches ‘GST Advantage’ for SMEs
  • Bharti Airtel launched Airtel GST Advantage a solution designed to enable small businesses and start-ups to file their Goods and Service Tax (GST) returns “accurately, securely and seamlessly.”
  • They are in partnership with ClearTax, Airtel GST Advantage is being offered free to all existing Airtel Business customers.
  • Airtel GST Advantage offers a three-pronged solution to customers that they can get free and secure access to the GST Network via Clear Tax, and all Airtel customers will have access to its newly-launched GST Advantage Helpdesk between 8 am and 8 pm on all weekdays.​​​​​​​
Union Government announces Rs 3,700 crore plan to provide Wi-Fi to gram panchayats
  • The Union Government planned to Rs 3,700-crore plan in an attempt to cover nearly 5.5 lakh villages with Wi-Fi facility by March 2019.
  • The government expects to start broadband services with about 1,000 megabits per second (1 Gbps) across 1 lakh gram panchayats by the end of this year.
  • Earlier, the plan was to provide 100 megabits per second connectivity to village panchayats, but under the new BharatNet, the broadband speed has been enhanced 10 times to 1 gigabit per second at every panchayat level.
Four Thousand crores disclosed by 21 thousand people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY)
  • Black money worth 4,900 crore rupees disclosed by 21 thousand people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY), the stash money declaration window announced by the government post demonetization.
  • The scheme announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the demonetization of two high-value currency notes of 1,000 and 500 rupees on November 8 last year.
  • The scheme was preceded by the Income Declaration Scheme between June 1, 2016-September 30, 2016, where 71,726 declarations disclosing undisclosed income of 67,382 crore rupees were made by black money holders.
IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
International Literacy Day is observed on September 8th
  • The International Literacy Day (ILD) is being observed every year on 8 September to emphasize the importance of literacy to individuals, society.
  • The theme of UNESCO for the year 2017 is `Literacy in a digital world’.
  • This year it is 51st International Literacy Day.
  • The main aim is to mobilize public opinion in favour of struggle against illiteracy.
  • The day was established in 1966 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
South Asian Women Development Forum to organize summit at Kathmandu
  • The South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) would be organising ‘Across Barriers-International Business Women’s Summit’ on 11th & 12th September 2017 at Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • The two-day event aims to encourage partnerships between women entrepreneurs from the SAARC and ASEAN member countries and China.
  • The Ministry of Agriculture, US Embassy in Nepal and the Department for International Development (DFID), UK would be providing financial support to the event.
India refuses to sign Bali Declaration over Rohingya issue
  • India has refused to be a part of Bali Declaration adopted at conclusion of World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development held in Bali, Indonesia to show of solidarity with Myanmar.
  • It was not adopted because it carried “inappropriate” reference to violence in Rakhine State from where 1,25,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and was not in line with agreed global principles of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Vatican declares Mother Teresa a patron saint of Calcutta
  • The Vatican on Wednesday declared Mother Teresa a patron saint of the Archdiocese of Calcutta at a Mass in the city where she dedicated her life to the poorest of the poor.
  • The honor came 16 months after Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa a saint.
  • The Vatican's ambassador to India, Giambattista Diquattro, led the Mass and inaugurated a bronze statue in the church of Mother Teresa carrying a child.
‘Pakistan’s Habib Bank to pay $225-mn New York fine for compliance failures’
  • The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced a fine of USD 225 million on Pakistan's Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and its New York branch for failure to comply with New York laws and regulations designed illicit financial transactions.
  • Earlier, the bank facing a possible $630 million fine over compliance failures by its New York branch.
  • The bank also announced that it would close its branch in New York after the United States financial regulator imposed a penalty of nearly USD 630 million.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Gujarat state, GCMMF, Dairies sign MoU to prevent malnutrition among Anganwadi children
  • The Women & Child Welfare Department of the Gujarat Government, Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and three leading dairies have signed tripartite MOU to save the children of Anganwadi from malnutrition.
  • The MoU was signed in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar. The women and child welfare state minister Nirmalaben Waghwani, Chief Secretary J N Singh, Chairman of the milk marketing federation and Managing Directors of Banas, Sumul and Amul dairies and other senior officials were also present at the occasion.
Nagaland to implement DBT under MGNREGA
  • Nagaland starts implementing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beginning from the current financial year.
  • Presently, 46,894 active MGNREGA workers have opened their bank accounts linked with Aadhar and are ready for DBT.
  • A total of 1.79 lakh MGNREGA workers have been verified with Aadhar and being processed for an opening bank account.
  • Currently, there is 4.25 lakh active job cards with 5.82 lakh active MGNREGA workers in the state.
ICAR to undertake major research works on agriculture with World Bank Fund
  • The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) will be undertaking major research works on agriculture this year with the World Bank fund of 1100 crore rupees.
  • India ranks first in milk production in the world, the milk yield per animal is very low as compared to international standards.
  • The research in making available enough fodder for cattle as it remains an area of concern now and also to address the climate change challenges.
Nestle Sets up First Food Safety Institute in India
  • The new Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal inaugurated the Nestle Food Safety Institute in Manesar, Gurugram.
  • The partnerships with private parties on food safety and standards are an imperative for FSSAI.
  • It is an effort to implement a first world regulatory ecosystem in India.
  • The company is working with Nestle India for setting up the institute at Manesar.
Union Government allows import of 3 lakh metric tonnes of raw sugar through southern ports at concessional duty of 25 %
  • The Union government allowed import of 3 lakh metric tonnes of raw sugar through southern port the of country at concessional duty of 25 per cent to augment domestic supplies ahead of the festive season.
  • The imports will be allowed through the ports Tuticorin, Karaikal, Chennai, Mangalore, Kakinada, Gangavaram and Vishakapatnam in the South.
  • The scheme shall be operated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade as per their rules and regulations.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE AFFAIRS
India and Sri Lanka Begin Joint Naval Exercise SLINEX 2017
  • Indian Navy and Sri Lankan Navy begin the 2017 Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
  • The biennial Joint Indo-Lanka Maritime Fleet Exercise will conclude on 14th September.
  • It paves the way for operational effectiveness through a common understanding of neighbouring Navies.
  • It mainly emphasis on maintaining effective maritime security in the region by integrating forces through cooperation, coordination, and collaboration leading to a mutual understanding of limitations and capabilities, to enhance service interoperability and system compatibility in countering challenges.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
India’s Sonam wins Gold in Cadet World Wrestling Championship
  • India’s Sonam 43 kilogram weight category wins Gold in Cadet World Wrestling Championship.
  • Wrestler Neelam also bagged Bronze Medal in the 43-kilogram weight category.
  • Meanwhile, Four other wrestlers Simran, Manisha, Minakshi, Karuna will also fight for Bronze Medal in different weight categories.