18 September 2015 Current Affair Updates | Daily GK Download
1. 10 entities, including Ujjivan Financial Services
and Equitas Holdings, got RBI's approval to set up Small Finance Banks
to provide basic banking services to small farmers and micro industries.
Other entities to get the Reserve Bank's nod are Au Financiers
(Jaipur), Capital Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disha Microfin
(Ahmedabad), ESAF Microfinance (Chennai), Janalakshmi Financial
(Bengaluru), RGVN (North East) Microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Micro
Finance (Mumbai) and Utkarsh Micro Finance (Varanasi). The Small Finance
Banks can provide basic banking services like accepting limited
deposits and small lending to the unbanked sections such as small
farmers, micro business enterprises, micro and small industries and
unorganised sector entities.
2. Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley
launched an innovative HITS digital broadcasting platform that will
provide over 500 TV channels to cable operators, with the promoter
Hinduja group pegging the total project outlay at more than Rs. 5,000
crore. The Hinduja-HITS (Headend-in-the-Sky) Network, under the brand
name NXT Digital, will serve Multi System Operators (MSOs) as well as
Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and aims to tap the transition from analog
to digital mode of cable TV services under the government's digitisation
drive.
3. The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees
Provident Fund (EPF) has decided to enhance the deposit linked Insurance
benefit to 6 lakh rupees from the present 3 lakh 60 thousand. According
to Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya it will
benefit four lakh employees across the country.
4. The OECD cut its world economic growth forecasts for
2015 and 2016, warning of a dramatic slowdown in Brazil and a global
outlook clouded by uncertainty over China. The OECD trimmed its world
growth forecast for this year to 3.0 per cent, lopping 0.1 percentage
points off its previous estimate made in June. For the world economy in
2016, the OECD lowered the outlook to growth of 3.6 per cent, a
reduction of 0.2 percentage points from three months ago.
5. Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur shattered an
18-year-old national record en route to a sixth title at the 55th
National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata. Patiala-based shot
putter broke the record of Harbans Kaur of 17.43 metres that came in
1997 by throwing 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold
medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. With this, Manpreet
Kaur (25) also qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics that is scheduled to
be held from 5 August to 21 August 2016.
6. Exhibition ‘Shauryanjali’ was launched at the India
Gate lawns in New Delhi to celebrate the Golden Jubilee (50th
Anniversary) of Indo-Pak War of 1965. ‘Shauryanjali’ has recreated the
battle scene in various sectors beginning from Rann of Kutch to the
ceasefire and Tashkent Summit. It has been presented as an ode to
splendid show of valour and sacrifice of Indian Armed Forces personnel
for protecting the borders of the country. The exhibition was
inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley.
7. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) successfully
test-fired an indigenously developed second generation, 2.8 km range,
anti-tank guided missile called Amogha-1. The test firing was carried
out at Babina Army Range in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first ever
design and developmental effort in respect of missiles by BDL,
Hyderabad. Two missiles were fired and both hit targets placed at 2.6 km
as well as 2.8 km respectively.
18 September 2015 Current Affair Updates | Daily GK Download |
8. A 43-year-old Indian-origin British MP Seema
Malhotra has been appointed as the shadow chief secretary for Treasury
by the newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Seema Malhotra became
MP for the London seat of Feltham and Heston in 2011 in a by-election
following the death of Alan Keen (Conservative). In August 2014, she was
given the newly-created role of shadow minister for preventing violence
against women and girls by the then Labour leader Ed Miliband. She will
be shadow chancellor John McDonnell's Assistant in the shadow Treasury
team.
9. Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya launched three
mobile based services -- a Mobile Application, SMS-based UAN (Universal
Account Number) Activation and Missed Call service -- for the Employees
Provident Fund (EPF) members. The members would be able to activate
their UAN accounts from the comfort of their mobile phones and can also
access their accounts for viewing their monthly credits through the
passbook as well as view their details available with EPFO. This app can
be downloaded from the website. These services will help nearly 3.54
crore contributing members, 49.22 lakh pensioners and 6.1 lakh
employers.
10. Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota was
among the 6 writers short-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize
2015. Sunjeev Sahota was short-listed for his book ‘The Year of the
Runaways’, which centers around the lives of three Indian men, one a
Dalit and a woman, all migrants from India. This is the second year that
the prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing in
English and published in the United Kingdom. Till 2014, the Booker Prize
was open to authors only from the U.K. and Commonwealth, Republic of
Ireland and Zimbabwe.
11. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has
launched M-Shiksha-Mitra mobile app to provide various services and
teaching-related work to teachers in simple and easy way. Madhya Pradesh
is the first state to develop such an app for teachers. A number of
facilities have been given in the Shiksha-Mitra mobile app, which has
been developed by the NIC. Teachers can use this app to browse salary
slips, funds sent to school under various heads, scholarships, different
circulars and GPF statement.