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National
Baristha Bunakar Sahayata Yojana for aiding Weavers
- the scheme is aimed at providing financial assistance to the elderly weavers in the state of Odisha
- the state government would provide Rs 500 pension to the weavers, on the occasion of National Handloom Day.
- The weavers above the age of 60 years will get an allowance of Rs. 500 per month while weavers above 80 years of age will get Rs. 700 per month
- Also, approval to a new education loan scheme for poor meritorious students in the state.
- Named as “Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana” the state government will provide education loans at interest of just 1 percent per annum to the poor students.
- state government has earmarked 500 crores for Kalinga Sikshya Sathi Yojana from its own resources.
Haryana Government Approved NCR TAXI SCHEME
- “NCR Taxi Scheme 2016” in 13 districts of the state falling in the National Capital Region.
- This scheme would be implemented in the Districts of
Gurgaon, Faridabad,Jhajjar,Rohtak,Bhiwani,Sonepat,Panipat,Karnal,Mewa,Palwal,Rewari,Jind and Mahendragarh. - licenses to operate this NCR Taxi would be granted under sections74 and 76 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
- License would be granted to an individual or firm or society or company including IT based aggregator registered under Haryana Societies Registration Act 2012 in case of firms and societies and the Companies Act 2013 in case of a company formed to provide public transport services.
- licensee would ensure adequate parking facility for the vehicle and the GPS or GPRS deviceis fitted in the vehicle.
Sushma Swaraj to Address UNGA on September 26
- Sushma Swaraj willaddress the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26 in New York.
- general debate will open on 20 September and will run through to 26 September. Sushma Swaraj will speak at the annual high-level debate.
- Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 21.
- For the first time in his reign, Mr. Narendra Modi will miss this General Assembly Session.
Centre forms panel to study enhanced allowance for retired employees
- Centre has constituted a high-level committee toexamine enhancement of `Constant Daily Allowance’ that benefits retired employees with 100 per cent disability
- The Committee would also look into the fitment formula on revision of pension.
- The move will enhance day allowance for day-to-day functions, from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 6750 per month and fixed medical allowance to retired employees from Rs. 500 per month.
- The pension shall be 2.57 times the earlier as per the pay committee recommendations to arrive at an alternate value for the revised pension.
- move comes as a follow up of recommendations of the7th– Pay Commissionwhich among other issues had examined the principles which should govern the structure of pension and other retirement benefits.
Panel for electric car tech
- committee to monitor and coordinate the development of technology for indigenous manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles.
- 30 member committee was set up under the Department of Heavy Industry and Ministry comprising automobile industry executives, experts and government officials and academicians and technical experts from Indian auto firms.
- committee will monitor the work of the Technology Platform for Electric Mobility(TPEM), which to develop an indigenous technology.
- move comes in line with the Make in India’ program upon that to boost green vehicles also making more Auto players to involve in Electrical segment vehicles.
IIT Raipur inaugurated
- Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Raipur at the campus of Chhattisgarh -Government Engineering College.
- IIT Bhilai is the first IIT in Chhattisgarh and 23rd in India. It is being mentored’ by IIT Hyderabad.
- institute enrolled 118 students in various streams like Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering classes from this academic year and Nine Engineering course will also be launched from 2018-2019 at IIT Bhilai.
- Campus will be ready in 4 years and it was Steel Authority of India Limited that has provided 325 acres of land from its Bhilai Steel Plant.
Himachal to plant 1 Cr saplings to increase green cover
- Himachal Pradesh has come up with a target of planting over one crore saplingsthis year to increase green cover in the state.
- It is the first state to earn carbon credit.
- state has received from the centre Rs 1.93 croreas the first installment for this purpose, which was distributed to self-help groups.
- HP is set raise new plantations over 15,000 hectare area at a cost of Rs 150 crore this year.
- It set a target of planting one crore saplings on 15,000 hectares of forest land by spending Rs 150 crore.
- state devised a policy for plantation of one lakh saplings of shahtoot (mulberry), jamun (Jambolan), saru (Cypress), sheesham, spheda (Ceruse), piple, deodar and neem had been planted through MGNREGS this year.
International
Singapore is second happiest country in the world:
- Misery Index, computed by adding inflation to the unemployment rate, gives Thailand a score of 1.11 percent, which is the best – or least miserable – for all 74 economies surveyed by Bloomberg
| S. No | Country | Miserable Index Percent |
| 1 | Thailand | 1.11 |
| 2 | Singapore | 1.4 |
| 3 | Japan | 2.7 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 3 |
| 5 | Iceland | 3.5 |
Business and Economy
Japan records biggest current account surplus since 2007
- Japan has recorded the largest currentaccount surplus in the first half of 2016 that quantify the international trade of goods, services and investments in and out.
- marked a surplus of 10.63 trillion yen ($104 billion) in the duration which is up 31.3 per cent from a year earlier.
- Japan has been showing good result in tourism also in Goods trade, a key component of the current account balance,
- registered a surplus of 2.35 trillion yen compared with a deficit of 375.4 billion last year same duration.
- Japan’s travel balance posted a surplus of 775.8 billion yen, the largest since comparable data became available in 1996.
Mahindra Inter trade and MSTC sign a Joint Venture to set up auto shredding centre
- Mahindra Inter trade Ltd., a part of the Mahindra Partners Division of the $17.8 billion Mahindra Group, and MSTC Ltd. (a Government of India enterprise) signed a formal joint venture agreement to set-up India’s first-of-its-kind Greenfield auto shredding and recycling capability.
- Gujarat and Maharastrahave been short listed for setting up the facility, which will commence operations by early 2018.
- proposed facility will be equipped with fully automated end-of-life vehicle recycling equipment.
- first-of-its-kind in India auto shredding facility will establish an Integrated Automotive Recycling capabilityfor end of life vehicles
- from collection, compaction, transportation, de pollution, dismantling, shredding, recycling, and disposal.
- Joint Venture is a significant first-step towards ensuring thatend-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are recycled in a sustainably responsible manner, with the aim of 100% recycling of all materials.
First-ever ‘Pizza ATM’ opens in US
- first-ever pizza vending Machine has been installed on the campus of Xavier University(XU) in Ohio that can hold seventy 12-inch pizzas and dispense in just three minutes.
- customers opt for the types of Pizzas in 24-hour machine’s touchscreen. The Pizza ATM, to come up on August 10.
- machine vents each pizza that cost around $10, with the ATM accepting credit and debit cards, as well as a student card.
- Pizza ATM has been made by French-based Company Paline, which offers full remote communicationalso comes with several features like tracking, real-time email and text alerts, webcam monitoring, remote error and shutdown detection.
Global Healthcare Provider Zydus group acquired Melgain from Issar Pharma
- Zydus Group, an innovation-led global healthcare provider, has acquired Melgain from Hyderabad based Issar Pharma.
- Melgain will be marketed by Liva Healthcare, a specialty division of the group catering to the dermatological segment.
- Zydus group firm Cadila Healthcare Ltd has acquired Melgain lotion used fortreatment of skin depigmentation from Issar Pharma to strengthen its dermatological portfolio.
- Melgain is used for the treatment of Vitiligo, a chronic skin conditioncharacterized by portions of the skin losing their pigment.
- Nearly 15-20 million people in India are estimated to be suffering this condition. Half of those affected show the disorder before age 20, though most develop it before age 40.
- The patches can appear randomly on their face, hands, feet or their hairline due to which the hair within the patch may sometimes turn white.
- With a strong presence in the hyperpigmentation, acne, hair care and anti-fungal segments, the expansion into the re-pigmentation segment gives Zydus an edge in the fast-growing dermatology market which is currently growing at 14% and valued at over Rs.6,000 crore
IRCTC teams with Manipur Government to foster Hospitality and Tourism Services
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Manipur governmenthave signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
- IRCTC mulls to provide improvedhospitality and tourism services to their customers.
- both the parties will identify areas of cooperation and draw up detailed plans for development of joint tourism products.
- MoU mainly emphasizes for development of joint tourism products and opening and managing various catering and hospitality outlets, budget hotels and handicrafts shops at railway as well as non-railway locations.
- The MoU also covers
Setting up of water vending machines,
2.Use of Rail Neer and development of lounges and
3.Greeting services for tourists. - IRCTC and Manipur government will strive to market each other’s products and services throughphysical outlets and websites.
- IRCTC is a mini Ratna Public Sector Unit of the Ministry of Railways, handles catering and tourism activities over Indian Railway through its network of offices and associates/licensees.
People in News
KK Khurana took charge as the Head the Head of BHEL Corporate R&D
- Corporate R&D division leads BHEL’s research efforts in a number of areas of importance to BHEL’s product range.
- Groups for each product group at the manufacturing divisions play a complementary role.
- R&D efforts of the company are aimed not only at improving the performance and efficiency of existing products, but also developing new products using state-of-the-art technologies and processes, relevant to the needs of the country to remain current both in terms of technology and features vis-à-vis global benchmarks.
- BHEL continues to rank among the highest R&D spenders in Indiain the engineering and manufacturing segment.
- KK Khurana was earlier involved in Project Engineering Management (PEM),Technical service among other areas in the company. He has wide experience in thermal power plant projects.
Australian surfing champion Bernard Farrelly dies
- Australia’s first surfing champion Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrellyhas passed away following a stomach cancer.
- First Australian to clinch a world championships in Makaha, Hawaii in 1963.
- he is also the first president of Australia’s oldest surfboard riders club,Dee Why Surfing Fraternity.
- Farrelly was honored by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985and in Surfing Walk of Fame at California’s Huntington Beach in 2007.
Awards
‘People vs OJ Simpson’ wins big at 2016 TCA Awards
- American Crime Story the People vs OJ Simpsonhas topped in the Television Critics Association Awards 2016.
- Sarah Paulson received Individual Achievement in Drama.
- FX story of the OJ Simpson is based on the true story of three nods that includes the coveted Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials.
- FX has comes as the winner with four. In addition the People vs OJ Simpson triple victory, the network added another gong with The Americans’ which won Outstanding Achievement in Drama.
- USA’s Robot has been named Outstanding New Program and ABC’s ‘Black-ish’ was recognized as Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.
Sports
Four South African cricketers banned for attempting to fix matches
- The Ban varies form 7 years to 12 years.
- banned players include former Test wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, received a 12-year ban for contriving to fix a match or matches” in the 2015 Twenty20 domestic competition.
- other players are Pumelela Matshikwe, Ethy Mbhalatiand Jean Symes who were banned for accepting money from ex-international Goolam Bodi for attempting to fix matches in the Twenty20 tournament.
- ban term for Matshikwe and Mbhalati was 10 years for receiving payments, while Symes received a seven-year ban for also receiving a payment