Current Affairs Update – 23rd September, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 23rd September, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS PO V Exam.

• Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with Liquid Telecom to
  share its fibre network to connect its mobile base stations across Africa,
  which will enable subscribers in Africa to access better speeds on 3G and 4G
  networks.
• “The framework agreement enables Airtel operations to
  leverage Liquid Telecom’s existing 20,000km-long fibre network across east,
  central and southern Africa, as well as enjoy new purpose-built fibre
  infrastructure, to connect Airtel’s mobile base stations and enterprise
  customers with fibre,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
• The company, however, did not share the financial details of
  the deal.
• Liquid Telecom is an independent data, voice and IP provider
  in eastern, central and southern Africa. It supplies fibre optic, satellite and
  international carrier services to Africa’s mobile operators, internet service
  players and businesses.

• Paytm, a mobile commerce platform, is backing logistics data
  startup company LogiNext. The company is investing $10 million in the first
  round of institutional funding for the firm.
• The move is in line with Paytm’s strategic plan to invest
  $150 million in Indian technology startups over the next few months.
• Kiran Vasireddy, senior vice President, Paytm commented that
  while large logistics companies have technoligical capabilities, smaller
  players have limited  access to good
  technologies.
• LogiNext’s big data analytics platform will help courier
  companies to bring in more efficiency in their delivery network by route
  optimisation and real time tracking of their resources.
• LogiNext is a privately held big data analytics startup
  backed by Indian Angel Network.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 22 September 2015 lowered
  India’s gross domestic (GDP) growth projections for the fiscal year (FY) 2016
  to 7.4 percent from 7.8 percent projected in its March 2015 Outlook.
• For FY2015, Indian economy growth is forecasted at 7.8
  percent which is lower than the earlier forecast of 8.2 percent.
• The causes for the lowering of growth projections has been
  the economic slowdown in industrial countries, weak monsoon, and stalled action
  of some key structural reforms.
• However; there are few upsides that may give help the
  economy to bounce back and they are:
• Inflation is trending down: The report projects inflation to
  average 5 percent in FY2015, rising to 5.5 percent in FY2016, on improved
  growth and an uptick in commodity prices. Continued soft consumer prices will
  help Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in further reducing interest rates in the
  second half of FY2015. The positive impact of monetary easing on the real economy
  would be strengthened with further headway on economic reforms.

• A team of researchers have developed an inexpensive, secure
  method named SafePay prototype system to prevent mass credit card fraud using
  existing magnetic card readers. The research was led by Yinzhi Cao, assistant
  professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University.
• The findings of the research were published on the official
  website of Lehigh University on 21 September 2015.
• This novel technique works by transforming disposable credit
  card information to electrical current and driving a magnetic card chip to
  simulate the behavior of a physical magnetic card.
•  It is compatible with
  existing magnetic card readers and due to this it will greatly relieve the
  burden of merchants in replacing card readers and at the same time protect
  cardholders from mass data breaches.
• It is related to Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) which are
  systems consisting of computational elements that control physical entities.
• The computational elements in SafePay consist of a mobile
  device and a server which distributes disposable credit card numbers.

• India and the US have signed a significant MoU on energy
  security, climate change and clean energy which Secretary of State John Kerry
  said reflects the commitment of the two countries to make the Paris summit
  later this year a success.
• India’s commitment to reach 175 gigawatts of renewable
  energy by 2022 is the world’s most ambitious target in the area of renewables,
  Kerry said referring to the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Energy and climate change are two of the many issues on
  which the two governments made progress over the last couple of days, Kerry
  said referring to series of meetings that took place between officials of the
  two countries over the past few days and in particular at the inaugural
  Strategic and Commercial Dialogue being held at the State Department
  headquarters.

• The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign
  Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) as a society under the Societies
  Registration Act, 1860.
• The ISLRTC will be under the aegis of the Department of
  Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and
  Empowerment.
• It shall be located initially at the Institute for
  Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.
• This decision will help the five million deaf community of
  the country. It shall provide for increased accessibility for the hearing
  impaired in education, in the workplace and in all activities of public life.
• The Centre will be a society consisting of a President and
  12 Members in the General Council.
• There will be an executive council consisting of a
  chairperson and nine members, some ex-officio and others, as experts from
  national level organisations of the deaf/universities/academic institutions and
  independent experts in Indian Sign Language (ISL).

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave his approval
  for the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between India and
  Germany for minor amendments in the earlier memorandum of understanding (MoU)
  for facilitating implementation of the programme “Indo-German Partnerships
  in Higher Education”.
• By signing the JDI, the term “Strategic” will be
  deleted from the title of the programme to make it “Indo-German
  Partnership in Higher Education” and the funding period for the programme
  will be changed from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2020.
• The strengthened education relationship through this Joint
  Declaration of Intent will enable the higher education institutions in both the
  countries to benefit mutually to enhance innovative partnerships in the field
  of education, research and skill development.

• Days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the
  Silicon Valley, India and the US have agreed to launch a forum next year to
  boost innovation and related two-way investment and trade.
• The two countries will launch a private sector-led
  Innovation Forum, which will serve as an additional avenue through which the
  two governments seek private sector feedback and input for bilateral
  discussions, the State Department said in a fact sheet released after the
  conclusion of the India US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue yesterday.
• The Forum will consider a set of rotating topics to ignite
  and scale innovation, increase related two-way investment and trade, support
  the advancement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and identify
  where specific skill sets are needed to propel innovation forward, it said.
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will
  serve as a convener of the annual Innovation Forum, and will be supported by a
  steering committee comprising organisations from both countries, it said.

• In a development that is likely to raise eyebrows in China,
  the US, India and Japan have decided to elevate their trilateral partnership to
  the ministerial level, first meeting of which is scheduled to be held next week
  on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
• “During the UN General Assembly sessions next week,
  Sushma (Swaraj) and I will join Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida in the first
  trilateral ministerial meeting to coordinate policies among our three great
  democracies,” US Secretary of State John Kerry, told reporters at a
  joining news conference.
• He addressed the conference yesterday along with his Indian
  counterpart Sushma Swaraj, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and Commerce
  Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• The first India-US-Japan trilateral meeting was held in
  December 2011, at the level of joint secretary. Since then officials of the
  three countries have been meeting twice a year.
• From the US perspective, the dialogue is seen as part of
  what is described as a policy “pivot” toward Asia and for India is
  part of its Act East Asia Policy.

• The Odisha Government in the third week of September 2015
  decided to implement five sub-schemes introduced by the central government for
  empowerment of transgenders.
• The state government’s newly created Department of Social
  Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) will implement
  the sub-schemes.
• The department has also prepared a proposal for recognition
  of transgenders. Upon recognition, the department will provide them with
  certificates as third gender.  Also,
  parents of every transgender will get financial assistance of 1000 rupees.
• Under pre-matric scholarship, the transgender day scholar
  will get 150 rupees and the hostelers will get 350 rupees for 10 months.
  Similarly, the transgender students will get monthly post-matric scholarship of
  550 rupees, and the hostelers will get 1200 rupees for 10 months.
• In addition, 15000 rupees per transgender trainee will be given
  for 200 hours for their skill development course. One batch will consist of 30
  trainees. The stipend will be 1000 rupees per month for the trainee.

• Telangana Government on 22 September 2015 entered into a
  power purchase agreement (PPA) with Chhattisgarh for purchasing 1000 mw of
  power. The PPA would be in force for the next 12 years.
• The supply pact aims at bridging the demand-supply gap in
  Telangana, particularly when the demand spikes up during the Rabi crop season
  and the summer months.
• According to a press release issued by the Telangana
  Government, this is in addition to the PPA both the states had earlier signed
  in November 2014 for 1000 mw.

• Korea-Andhra Pradesh Friendship Forum organized the Korea
  Caravan 2015 in Vishakhapatnam on 22 September 2015. This is for the first time
  that Caravan was held outside New Delhi.
• During this, Andhra Pradesh government announced to create a
  Korea Desk, which would be an exclusive cell to be opened in the State
  Secretariat, to issue necessary clearances and give swift response to
  investors.
• Besides, it also called upon the Koreans to join hands with
  the Indians to set up various industries in the State and in building the
  capital Amaravathi.

• Eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred
  with 24th Vyaas Samman for the year 2014 on 22 September 2015. He was awarded
  for his work ‘Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan’.
• Goenka’s work is a critical analysis of the work by Hindi
  literature’s towering giant Munshi Premchand.
• He was awarded a citation along with a cash amount of 2.5
  lakh rupees by eminent Hindi writer Prof Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

• A class 9th student from Koraput district of Odisha, Lalita
  Prasida Sripada Srisai, bagged the prestigious Community Impact Award at the
  fifth Google Science Fair held in California on 22 September 2015.
• Lalita is a student of DPS Damanjodi in Koraput, Odisha and
  she got the award for developing a low-cost bio-absorbent based water purifier,
  which aimed at cleaning waste water by flowing through difference layers of
  corn cobs.
• As a part of the award, 13 years old Lalita won 10000 US
  dollars as prize money. She will also receive support from Google for one year
  for her project.

1. Grand Prize- Olivia Hallisey (16), United States
2. Community Impact Award- Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai (13),
   India
3. Virgin Galactic Pioneer Award- Pranav Sivakumar (15), United
   States
4. Lego Education Builder Award- Anurudh Ganesan (15), United
   States
5. Google Technologist Award- Girish Kumar (17), Singapore
6. Incubator Award- Eliot Sarrey (14), France
7. Scientific American Innovator Award- Krtin Nithiyanandam
   (14), United Kingdom
8. National Geographic Explorer Award- Deepika Kurup (17),
   United States

• Once again, Indian women prove that they are the best when
  it comes to leadership. Recognizing their credibility, Shobhana Bhartia,
  Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media and Indra Nooyi, Chairman and
  CEO of PepsiCo, have been presented US-India Business Council’s (USIBC) prestigious
  Global Leadership Awards.
• The two were honoured by the largest bilateral US trade
  association made up of 300 top US and Indian companies, Monday for their
  contributions and commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and for
  their roles as women leaders.
• The awardees were introduced at the annual USIBC Leadership
  summit by Purna Saggurti, Chairman Global Corporate & Investment Banking,
  Bank of America Merrill Lynch who also serves as one of USIBC’s board of
  directors.

• Chaitanya Tamhane’s National award- winning Marathi film
  Court, a poignant commentary on India’s judicial system, beat competition from
  Bollywood entries like  PK, Haider and
  Bajrangi Bhaijaan to be selected as the country’s official entry for the Best
  Foreign Film category at the Oscars next year.
• “Court has been selected as the official entry to the
  Oscars. There were 30 films in the race this year,” Supran Sen, secretary
  general of the Film Federation of India (FFI), told PTI today.
• “PK, Masaan, Killa, Haider, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and
  Bahubali were among the movies which were in the race. But Court was the
  unanimous choice by the jury,” he added.
• The independent, low-budget but gripping drama received
  widespread praise from the critics, who hailed it as one of the best movies to
  emerge from the country in recent times and Tamhane is happy that the 17-member
  jury, headed by veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar, chose his directorial
  debut.

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  (OECD) on 22 September 2015 released the International Migration Outlook 2015.
• It analysed recent development in migration movements and
  policies in OECD countries and some non member countries.
• Also, the report delineated the evolution of recent labour
  market outcomes of immigrants in OECD countries.

1. Immigration flows are on the rise in most OECD countries.
   They increased sharply for the first time since 2007 and are back to their
   pre-crisis level with 4.3 million permanent entries to the OECD in 2014.
2. Germany is consolidating its position as one of the main
   immigration countries, now second only to the USA in the number of migrants it
   receives.
3. One in ten immigrants to the OECD is Chinese and 4.4 percent
   from India.

• The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda on
  22 September 2015 released the National Health Profile (NHP) 2015 prepared by
  the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI). The E-book (digital version)
  of NHP was also released for the first time. This is the 11th edition of NHP.
• The National Health Profile covers demographic,
  socio-economic, health status and health finance indicators, along with
  comprehensive information on health infrastructure and human resources in
  health.
• NHP 2015 for the first time also incorporates the health
  data from ESIC and Railways.
• Every government hospital serves an estimated 61000 people
  in India with one bed for every 1833 people.
• In undivided Andhra Pradesh, every government hospital
  serves over 3 lakh patients while in Bihar; there is only one bed for every
  8800 people.
• Every government allopathic doctor serves a population of
  over 11000 people, with Bihar and Maharashtra having the worst ratios.
• India now has cumulatively 9.4 lakh allopathic doctors, 1.54
  lakh dental surgeons and 7.37 lakh AYUSH doctors of who more than half are
  Ayurvedic doctors.
• India’s 400 medical colleges admit an estimated 47000
  students annually.

• Zayn Khan was on 22 September 2015 unanimously elected as
  the President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). His
  appointment was necessitated by the death of R Bharath Raj, who passed away
  while serving as President on August 15.
• Khan is a resident of Hyderabad and represents the Western
  India Automobile Association. He has years of hands-on experience in the sport
  and has contributed a lot for the technical side of the sport in India.
• As head of the stewards development, training and
  deployment, Khan has extensive knowledge about rallying. He also has experience
  in officiating at the international level.

• The World Rhino Day was observed on 22 September 2015. The
  day is observed to celebrate all five species of rhino and they are Black,
  White, Greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
• The World Rhino Day was first announced by WWF-South Africa
  in 2010. The following year, World Rhino Day grew into an international
  success, encompassing both African and Asian rhino species, thanks to the
  efforts of two determined women.
• In India, the day was observed with all-day awareness
  programmes at Kaziranga National Park (Assam), Manas National Park (Assam) and
  Laokhowa Burachapori (Assam).

• Iconic New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, an athlete as
  beloved for his folksy sayings as for his legendary baseball career, has died,
  the Yogi Berra Museum said today. He was 90.
• The Hall of Famer and three-time Most Valuable Player died
  of “natural causes” late Tuesday, the museum said in a statement.
• Berra, a 15-time All Star and 10-time World Series champion,
  was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.
• But the baseball great was equally well-known for humorous
  quips and malapropisms such as “It’s deja vu all over again.”
• Others include such one-liners as “it ain’t over till
  it’s over” and “when you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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