Current Affairs Update – 7 to 9 September, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs from 7th to 9th September, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IBPS PO VI Mains, Bank of Baroda and Bank of Maharashtra PO Exams.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 7 to 9 September, 2016

  1. Himachal Pradesh government today signed a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore government
    for developing a smart integrated township in Jathiadevi near Shimla
    airport.
  2. President Pranab Mukherjee on 8
    September 2016 gave
    his assent to the Constitution 122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 as per Article
    111 of Constitution of India
    . With this assent, the bill becomes law
    and allows rolling out a new indirect tax regime.
  3. Tata Power’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Power International Pte Ltd
    and ICICI Venture
    on Friday announced the creation of a platform company to
    facilitate investment in power projects in India in two-three years, which are
    in advanced stages and near-operational or operating.
  4. Union Government on 6 September
    2016 launched a new program called National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing
    Innovations (NIDHI).
    The initiative aims at nurturing ideas and
    innovation into successful start ups. NIDHI, an umbrella programme of the Department
    of Science & Technology (DST), will focus on helping startups to meet their
    funding, infrastructure and other mentorship needs. NIDHI will allow youths of
    the country to give a concrete shape to their ideas.
  5. The first edition of IoT India
    Congress 2016
    kick started on 7
    September 2016 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
  6. India on 7 September 2016 signed the bilateral Air Services Agreement with Greece
    to allow unlimited points of call for domestic airlines in Greece
    .
  7. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union
    Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, on 6
    September 2016 launched
    #Gas4India campaign
    .
  8. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched
    advanced weather satellite, INSAT-3DR on 8 September 2016.
  9. Troops of Indian and Kazakhstan
    Army on 7 September 2016 began the joint exercise ‘PRABAL DOSTYK – 16’. The
    exercise being conducted in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan will conclude on 17
    September 2016.
  10. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on 8 September 2016 dedicated 2
    mbps download and 512 kbps upload digital connectivity to 6000 villages
    .
  11. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road
    Transport and Highways and Shipping, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of
    Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, on 7 September 2016
    jointly
    launched Integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) & Vehicle
    Registration Certificates (RC)
    in
    New Delhi.
  12. Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda
    Sonowal on 8 September 2016 inaugurated Majuli as the 35th district of Assam. With
    this, Majuli became India’s first island
    district
    .
  13. The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
    Engineers Limited (GRSE) of Kolkata on 30 August 2016 handed over TIHAYU,
    the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC)
    to the Indian Navy
    . The warship was handed over by Rear Admiral (Retd) AK
    Verma, CMD of GRSE to the Commanding Officer Cdr Ajay Kashov.
  14. Former Indian women’s cricket
    team captain Anjum
    Chopra
    in the first week of
    September 2016 was awarded an honorary life membership of the Marylebone
    Cricket Club (MCC).
  15. Veteran award-winning film
    director K.G.
    George
    on 6 September 2016 won
    the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award
    for his overall contribution to the Malayalam film industry.
  16. The International Literacy Day was celebrated on 8
    September
    2016 across the world. 

Finance/Banking/Industry –
HP, Singapore sign MoU for smart integrated township

  • Himachal Pradesh government today
    signed a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore
    government for developing a smart integrated township in Jathiadevi near Shimla
    airport.
  • The MoU was signed between
    Himachal PradeshHousing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) and Asian
    Pacific Singapore Enterprise in the presence of Urban Development and Town and
    Country Planning and Housing minister Sudhir Sharma during a meeting here.
  • Presiding over the meeting of
    delegates of the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), government of
    Singaporeand senior officers of the HIMUDA, Sharma said development of a smart
    integrated township near the state capital was an ambitious project of the government
    which would go a long way in decongesting the highly populated city.

GST Bill gets nod by President Pranab Mukherjee
  • President Pranab Mukherjee on 8
    September 2016 gave his assent to the Constitution 122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill,
    2014 as per Article 111 of Constitution of India. With this assent, the bill
    becomes law and allows rolling out a new indirect tax regime.
  • After the Presidential assent,
    the bill will be notified to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council that will
    decide the tax rate, cess and surcharges. The council to be headed by Union
    Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will comprise of state Finance Ministers.
  • Now, the union and state
    governments will have to draft the Central GST, State GST and integrated GST
    laws for being passed in the winter session of the Parliament. The CGST and
    IGST will be drafted on the basis of the model GST law.

Tata, ICICI Venture partner to launch power platform

  • Tata Power’s wholly-owned
    subsidiary Tata Power International Pte Ltd and ICICI Venture on Friday
    announced the creation of a platform company to facilitate investment in power
    projects in India in two-three years, which are in advanced stages and
    near-operational or operating.
  • The platform is co-sponsored by
    Tata Power and ICICI Bank and has commitments from partner investors, Caisse de
    dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) of Canada, the Kuwait Investment Authority
    (KIA) and the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) of Oman.
  • The platform will raise an
    initial capital of up to $850 million, to be contributed by the sponsors and
    partner investors either directly or through their affiliates. This can be
    raised. The platform targets acquisition of controlling stakes in
    power-generating companies, including thermal, hydroelectric and transmission
    assets in India.

Union Government launches NIDHI for nurturing ideas and innovation into
start ups

  • Union Government on 6 September
    2016 launched a new program called National Initiative for Developing and
    Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI). The initiative aims at nurturing ideas and
    innovation into successful start ups.
  • NIDHI, an umbrella programme of
    the Department of Science & Technology (DST), will focus on helping
    startups to meet their funding, infrastructure and other mentorship needs.
    NIDHI will allow youths of the country to give a concrete shape to their ideas.

National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations
  • The programme focuses on building
    a seamless and innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem especially by
    channelizing youth towards it and thereby bringing in the positive impact on
    the socio-economic development of the country.
  • It aims at providing
    technological solutions not only to the pressing needs of the society but also
    targets to create new avenues for wealth and job creation.
  • By design it connects and
    strengthens all the links of the innovation chain from scouting to sustaining
    to securing to scaling to showcasing, because a chain is only as strong as its
    weakest link.
  • There are eight component of
    NIDHI that support each stage of a budding startup from idea to market. The
    first component is PRAYAS (Promoting and accelerating young and aspiring
    innovators and startups) which aims to support innovators to grant up to 10 lakh
    rupees.
  • The final component is the Seed
    Support System which provides up to One Crore rupees per start-up and is
    implemented through Technology Business Incubators.
  • During the financial year
    2016-17, Department of Science has allocated 180 crore rupees, with a view to
    drive the innovation and startup centric new initiative.

Key stakeholders
  • The key stakeholders of NIDHI
    includes various departments and ministries of the Union government, state
    governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial
    institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists, industry champions and
    private sectors.

First edition of IoT India Congress begins in Bengaluru
  • The first edition of IoT India
    Congress 2016 kick started on 7 September 2016 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
  • The three-day event was
    inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Information Technology (IT) and
    Electronics Minister, and JS Deepak, Secretary, Ministry of Telecommunications.

Key highlights of the event
  • The IoT India Congress 2016 is
    one of the largest events of its kind in India.
  • It will bring together
    stakeholders from various facets of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
  • It aims to bring together key
    stakeholders across the value chain and verticals to collaborate, ideate and
    share a common roadmap for IoT implementation.
  • The event will also host the IoT
    Thought Leadership Awards 2016 and the IoT Start-Up Awards 2016.

India, Greece sign Air Services Agreement under Open Sky Policy

  • India on 7 September 2016 signed
    the bilateral Air Services Agreement with Greece to allow unlimited points of
    call for domestic airlines in Greece.
  • Both the countries have signed a
    Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard under the Open Sky Policy. It
    will be the first such ASA with Greece, a country known for its tourist spots
    and scenic beauty.
  • Indian Government Signed the MoU
    with Greece under the provisions of the new Civil Aviation Policy with an aim
    to improve international air connectivity for Indian carriers.
  • As per the policy, the government
    will enter into an Open Sky Air Services Agreement on a reciprocal basis with
    SAARC nations as well as countries with territory located entirely beyond a
    5000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.

Dharmendra Pradhan launches Gas4India campaign to promote use of
natural gas
  • Dharmendra Pradhan, Union
    Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, on 6
    September 2016 launched #Gas4India campaign.
  • The campaign is aimed at promoting
    the use of gas in the country.
  • Public and private sector
    companies working in the sector have joined hands to promote the natural gas
    sector.
  • Pradhan also launched the
    website, Twitter handle, Facebook page and theme song of the campaign.

Key highlights of the campaign
  • Gas4India is a unified
    cross-country, multimedia, multi-event campaign.
  • It promotes the national, social,
    economic and ecological benefits of using natural gas as the fuel of choice.

India –
ISRO launches advanced weather satellite INSAT-3DR

  • Indian Space Research
    Organization (ISRO) successfully launched advanced weather satellite, INSAT-3DR
    on 8 September 2016.
  • The advanced weather satellite
    was launched with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F05), from
    the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
  • GSLV-F05, the tenth flight of
    India’s GSLV, carried 2211 kg INSAT-3DR into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    (GTO). GSLV is designed to inject 2 – 2.5 ton class of satellites into GTO.
  • After reaching GTO, INSAT-3DR
    will use its own propulsion system to reach its final geosynchronous orbital
    home and will be stationed at 74 deg East longitude.

Gujarat CM dedicated 2 mbps connectivity to 6000 villages
  • Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay
    Rupani on 8 September 2016 dedicated 2 mbps download and 512 kbps upload
    digital connectivity to 6000 villages.
  • Under the E-gram program launched
    in 2006-07, total 14000 villages had been connected to internet through V-SAT
    technology which offers hardly 19-20 kbps speed. Many E-gram villages did not
    get enough speed when some centers login at the same time.
  • Now, 6000 villages out of 14000
    are given 2 mbps connectivity through BSNL network. As these villages are out
    of the V-SAT platform, the rest of the villages served by V-SAT will also get
    faster connectivity.
  • Villagers are getting various
    services like PDS, health, data entry, power and gas bills through e-gram
    project. Gujarat Government has set the target to achieve 100 percent village
    connectivity through optical fiber network 2nd October 2017.

Union Government launches Integration of DigiLocker with Driving
Licenses and Vehicle Registration
Certificates
  • Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road
    Transport and Highways and Shipping, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of
    Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, on 7 September 2016
    jointly launched Integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) &
    Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC) in New Delhi.
  • The new service will end the need
    of people carrying around physical copies of their RCs and DLs. They can
    instead access digital copies of the same on their mobile phones via the
    DigiLocker mobile app.

Key highlights of DigiLocker with DLs and RCs
  • Driving Licenses and Vehicle
    Registration documents can now be issued directly to the DigiLockers of
    individuals in digital formats.
  • These digital copies can be
    shared with other departments as identity and address proof.
  • They will also be used for on the
    spot verification through the citizen’s mobile, by various law enforcement
    authorities like the Traffic Police.

Assam’s Majuli becomes first island district of India
  • Assam’s Chief Minister Sarbananda
    Sonowal on 8 September 2016 inaugurated Majuli as the 35th district of Assam.
    With this, Majuli became India’s first island district.
  • The inauguration of Majuli as a
    district coincides with the 90th birth anniversary of music maestro Bhupen
    Hazarika.
  • Recently on 1 September 2016,
    Majuli replaced Brazil’s Marajo to become the world’s largest river island in
    the Guinness Book of World Records.

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India, Kazakhstan Joint Exercise PRABAL DOSTYK-16 begins
  • Troops of Indian and Kazakhstan
    Army on 7 September 2016 began the joint exercise ‘PRABAL DOSTYK – 16’. The
    exercise being conducted in Karaganda region of Kazakhstan will conclude on 17
    September 2016.
  • Prabal Dostyk meaning Robust
    Friendship is a significant step towards fostering military as well as diplomatic
    ties between both countries.

Highlights
  • The primary aim of the fourteen
    day exercise will be to enhance interoperability while undertaking Counter
    Terrorism & Counter Insurgency Operations in rural and semi-urban
    environment under the umbrella of United Nations.
  • The Indian Army is being
    represented by platoon strength.
  • The Kazakhstan Army contingent
    comprise of platoon from Special Operating Force’s Unit.

Union Government launches dedicated pan-India helpline for power
outages
  • The Union Government on 6
    September 2016 launched the Urja Mitra Helpline number 14401, a dedicated
    pan-India helpline for power outages.
  • With this, consumers can now get
    an update from power distribution companies about outages in their area by
    dialling 14401.
  • The Department of Telecom (DoT)
    created the helpline for pan-India usage to send information through voice
    calls and SMSes to apprise customers about power situation in their area.
  • It is a mandatory service, which
    will be provided by all the telecom operators.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited successfully tests Light Utility
Helicopter

  • Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
    (HAL) on 6 September 2016 successfully completed test flight of indigenous
    Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) Bengaluru.
  • During the test, the helicopter
    remained in the air for 15 minutes inside the HAL complex.
  • The LUH will replace the
    military’s obsolescent fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters that have flown
    for over three decades.

Key highlights of Light Utility Helicopter
  • The HAL LUH is a 3-tonne
    helicopter exclusively built for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force to
    replace the aging fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters.
  • It is a light, single-engine
    helicopter that is powered by the Safran HE Ardiden-1U engine.
  • In addition to two pilots, the
    helicopter can fly six passengers at sea level, with load capacity reducing
    with altitude.

GRSE hands over fast attack craft TIHAYU to Indian Navy

  • The Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
    Engineers Limited (GRSE) of Kolkata on 30 August 2016 handed over TIHAYU, the
    Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) to the Indian Navy. The warship was handed
    over by Rear Admiral (Retd) AK Verma, CMD of GRSE to the Commanding Officer Cdr
    Ajay Kashov.
  • GRSE had earlier built and
    delivered 10 WJFACs to the Indian Navy during 2009 to 2011, which are proving
    well in service.

About TIHAYU, the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC)
  • Named after an island in the
    Andaman, Tihayu is fitted with three water jet propulsion systems powered by
    marine diesel engines generating 2720 KW of power.
  • This Follow-on WJFAC ship is a
    further improved version of Fast Attack Crafts earlier built by GRSE for Indian
    Navy.
  • The ship has an efficient hull
    form developed by the in-house Design Centre of GRSE and proved by extensive
    model testing to achieve speeds in excess of 35 knots.

WHO certifies India free from Yaws, Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus
  • India on 6 September 2016
    received certificates from World Health Organisation (WHO) recognising the
    elimination of Yaws and Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) from the country.
  • The certificates were presented
    to Union Health Minister JP Nadda at the 69th Session of the WHO regional
    committee for south-east Asia region held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  • With this, India became the first
    country to be officially acknowledged as being yaws-free.
  • The elimination of tetanus as a
    public health problem means that the annual rate of maternal and neonatal
    tetanus in India is now less than 1 per 1000 live births.

Union Government launches Leprosy Case Detection campaign
  • Health Ministry on 5 September
    2016 launched the Leprosy Case Detection campaign (LCDC) in the country.
    Objective of the campaign is to detect the disease early so that those affected
    can be saved from physical deformity.
  • As per the Health Ministry
    release about 32 crore people across 149 districts of 19 States and Union
    Territories will be screened under the fortnight-long campaign.

Key highlights of the campaign
  • It includes, the districts having
    a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10000 people in the last three
    years.
  • Around three lakh teams will
    visit every house in their allotted area and screen all the family members for
    leprosy.

West Odisha celebrates Nuakhai Festival

  • Western Odisha on 6 September
    2016 celebrated the festival of Nuakhai, the agrarian festival of the region,
    with religious fervour.
  • The celebrations began with the
    Nabanna in which the newly harvested rice was offered to Goddess Samaleswari as
    per the stipulated Lagna, the auspicious moment. The deity was adorned with new
    saree and ornaments on the occasion.
  • Later, people offered Nabanna to
    their presiding deities.

Awards & Honors –
Novel on Apatani tribe of Arunachal, Into the Hidden Valley, wins MM
Bennetts Award

  • Novel, Into the Hidden Valley
    authored by Stuart Blackburn on 4 September 2016 won the 2016 MM Bennetts Award
    for Historical Fiction in the UK. The author was presented the award at the HNS
    Conference in Oxford.
  • The book published by Speaking
    Tiger narrates the story of the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh during
    British India. It also looks into a little-known episode in the colonial
    history of British India.
  • Into the Hidden Valley explores
    and portrays the impacts of the forces of colonialism on both sides when this
    settled civilisation forcibly collides with British Empire.
  • Into the Hidden Valley was chosen
    for the award ahead of Helena Page Schrader’s Defender of Jerusalem and
    Allegiance by Kermit Roosevelt.

Anjum Chopra becomes first Indian woman to be honoured with MCC life
membership

  • Former Indian women’s cricket
    team captain Anjum Chopra in the first week of September 2016 was awarded an
    honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
  • Chopra is presented with the
    honour along with former men’s team stalwarts Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag.
  • With this, Chopra became the
    first Indian woman cricketer to get the prestigious life membership of MCC.

Thithi wins Best Film Award at first BRICS Film Festival
  • Acclaimed Kannada movie Thithi on
    6 September 2016 won the Best Film Award at the first BRICS Film Festival,
    which concluded in New Delhi.
  • The BRICS Film Festival was
    organized as a part of the special events planned in run-up to the BRICS summit
    to be held in India.
  • The five-day-long festival
    screened movies from India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.
  • China’s Chengdu city will host
    the next edition of the BRICS Film Festival.

K G George wins 2015 J C Daniel Award

  • Veteran award-winning film
    director K.G. George on 6 September 2016 won the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award
    for his overall contribution to the Malayalam film industry.
  • The award will be given away
    along with the State Film Awards at a function to be held at Palakkad in
    October 2016.
  • Kulakkatil Geevarghese George is
    an Indian film director and screenwriter.
  • He is considered to be among one
    of the directors who revolutionized Malayalam cinema in the 1970s.
  • He is noted for his deep
    psychological analysis and character study of the human mind in his films.
  • He made his debut with 1975 movie
    Swapnadanam, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in
    Malayalam.
  • His well known films include
    Ulkadal, Mela, Yavanika among others.

Days –
International Literacy Day 2016 celebrated across the world

  • The International Literacy Day
    was celebrated on 8 September 2016 across the world. The theme of International
    Literacy Day 2016 is Reading the Past, Writing the Future.
  • The theme was chosen to honour
    the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and
    progress made to increase literacy rates around the world.
  • Further, the theme also addresses
    current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to further boost literacy
    in the future.
  • Besides, literacy is also a part
    of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable
    quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The
    target is that by 2030 all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both
    men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy.

Literacy in India
  • According to the Census 2011
    report, the illiteracy rate in India is 22%.
  • Kerala is the most literate state
    with 93.91 per cent, Lakshadweep at 92.28 per cent, Mizoram at 91.58 per cent,
    Tripura at 87.75 per cent and Goa at 87.40 per cent.
  • Bihar and Telangana have the
    lowest literacy with only 63.82 per cent and 66.50 per cent literate people
    respectively.
  • In 2014, the literacy rate of
    India increased by 10 per cent.
  • India has the world’s largest
    population of illiterates.

Appointments –
CK Asnani assumes charge as CMD of Uranium Corporation of India Limited

  • CK Asnani on 7 September 2016
    assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Uranium
    Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), an undertaking of the Department of Atomic
    Energy.
  • Asnani is a Chemical Engineer
    from Osmania University. He was the Director (Technical) of Indian Rare Earths
    Limited, Mumbai before the present assignment.
  • Asnani was earlier associated
    with Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad.

World –
ASEAN Summit 2016 concludes in Vientiane, Laos

  • The 28th and the 29th Association
    of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit concluded on 8 September 2016 at
    Vientiane, Laos. The theme for the 2016 summit was Turning Vision into Reality
    for a Dynamic ASEAN Community.
  • H.E. Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime
    Minister of the Lao PDR, was the Chairperson of the summit that was held from 6
    September 2016 to 8 September 2016.
  • The Summit was attended by the
    leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. They are
    Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Viet
    Nam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Highlights of the Summit
  • ASEAN leaders discussed the
    implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and enhancing cooperation
    with ASEAN’s external partners.
  • The leaders adopted the
    Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan III and the Master Plan on
    ASEAN Connectivity 2025, which form an integral part of the ASEAN Community
    Vision 2025.
  • They also signed the ASEAN
    Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One in
    the Region and Outside the Region.

NASA launches OSIRIS-REx to collect samples from asteroid
  • The US space agency, NASA, on 8
    September 2016 launched OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource
    Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. The unmanned
    spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA)
    Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
  • OSIRIS-REx is United States’
    first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return to Earth. The 800
    million dollar mission will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a
    near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.
  • NASA feels that the asteroid may
    hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic
    molecules found on Earth.

UN Charter translated into Sanskrit Language
  • The UN Charter, the seminal
    treaty of the United Nations (UN), was on 7 September 2016 translated into
    Sanskrit Language for the first time.
  • This came following the
    pioneering efforts of Jitendra Kumar Tripathi, the Secretary of the
    Lucknow-based Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad.

UK and Iran appoint ambassadors for first time since 2011

  • The United Kingdom (UK) and Iran
    in September 2016 appointed ambassador in each-other’s country for the first
    time since 2011. This appointment marks the restoration of the diplomatic
    relations between the two nations.
  • Nicholas Hopton, a Middle East
    specialist and former British ambassador to Qatar and Yemen, was appointed as
    UK ambassador to Iran. On the other hand, Hamid Baeidinejad, a key figure in
    the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, was appointed as the Iranian ambassador
    to the UK.
  • The Foreign Office announcement
    comes one year after the reopening of the British Embassy in Tehran. The
    embassy was reopened in August 2015 by then-British Foreign Secretary Philip
    Hammond and the two countries resumed ties on Charge d’Affaires level.

Obituaries –
World’s oldest cricketer Lindsay Tuckett passes away

  • South African Lindsay Tuckett,
    who was the oldest surviving former Test cricketer, passed away on 5 September
    2016 in Bloemfontein. He was 97.
  • With the death of Tuckett, the
    distinction of the oldest surviving cricketer in the world now passes to
    all-rounder Johnny Watkins, who is 93.

Regards

Team ExamPundit