Current Affairs

 Moutaz Mousa Abdallah has become Sudan’s new Prime Minister. A 21-member cabinet was sworn in at the presidential palace in Khartoum. Mousa Abdallah is also holding the finance portfolio in a bid to revive the country’s ailing economy. Sudan has been grappling with an acute foreign exchange shortage and inflation above 65% for several months.
Source- AIR World Service

 The second edition of Nepal-China joint military exercise (JME) named Mt Everest Friendship Exercise-2018 (Sagarmatha Friendship-2018) commenced in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. The 12 day long joint exercise will focus on combating terror and disaster management trainings. Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Mt Everest, which stands in between both the countries. 
Source- Business Standard

 Cisco, a U.S.-based firm, that makes networking telecommunications equipment, has signed two agreements with the NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration programme in India. The current set of investments will focus on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through the Atal Innovation Mission and in developing use cases to showcase the possibilities of 5G in citizen services and application of innovative digital technologies in transportation modernisation.  
Source- The Hindu

 External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the website for the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019, www.pbdindia.gov.in. The online registration for participation has started for this biennial event.
Guests at the PBD 2019:
  •  Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth will be the Chief Guest. 
  •  Member of Parliament of Norway Himanshu Gulati will be the Special Guest.
  •  Member of Parliament of New Zealand Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will be the Guest of Honor.
  • Source- The Tribune

     Indian five-time world boxing champion M C Mary Kom clinched her third gold medal of the year in 48 kg category, while Jyoti Gulia picked up the country’s lone gold in 51 kg of the youth category of the Silesian Open boxing Tournament for women in Gliwice, Poland. In the youth competition, Jyoti, a former world champion and India’s only boxer to have qualified for Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, out-classed Poland’s Tatiana Pluta. Former world champion Sarita Devi, however, signed off with a bronze medal in the senior category. In the junior competition, the Indian team produced a terrific performance to sign off with 13 medals six gold, six silver and a bronze. 
    Source- DD News

     Maldives have lifted the 2018 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup. In the final at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka, they defeated defending champions India 2-1. At half-time, the winners led One-nil. The win for Maldives comes 10 years after their first SAFF Cup title in 2008. Seven-time champions India had started as favourites in the summit clash. The Indian team, comprising mostly under-23 players, was the only unbeaten side in the tournament. 
    Source- Air World Service

     International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on 16th September throughout the world. The theme for International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2018 was 'Keep Cool and Carry On: The Montreal Protocol'. This day aims to create awareness on issues related to climate change and ozone depletion.
    Source- The United Nations

     NASA launched its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, known as ICESat-2,which will use an extremely precise laser to collect measurement data to track the Earth’s shrinking polar ice from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The laser, known as ATLAS (Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System), splits into six beams and fires 10,000 pulses per second to collect very precise measurements for scientists to analyze. The ATLAS will focus on two areas: changes to the earth’s ice sheet and sea ice thickness change. 
    Source- DD News

     Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani presented ‘Shilp Guru’ and National Award to Master craft persons at a function held at Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. Eight ‘Shilp guru’ and 25 National awardswere presented for the year 2016. Shilp Guru’ is the highest award in the Handicraft sector in India. The handicraft export has witnessed a year-on-year growth and in the last four years, handicraft items worth Rs. 1 lakh 26 thousand crores had been exported from India. 
    Source- AIR World Service

      India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-August 2018-19 (as per the RBI Press Release) are estimated to be USD 221.83 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 20.70% over the same period last year. Overall imports in April-August 2018-19 are estimated to be USD 269.54 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 21.01% over the same period last year. 
    1. Merchandise Trade  
    • EXPORTS: Exports in August 2018 were US $ 27.84 Billion, as compared to US $ 23.36 Billion in August 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 19.21 per cent. 
    • IMPORTS: Imports in August 2018 were US $ 45.24 Billion, which was 25.41% higher in Dollar terms and 36.34% higher in Rupee terms over imports of US $ 36.07 Billion in August 2017. 
    2. Trade In Services  
    • EXPORTS: Exports in July 2018 were US $ 17.55 Billion registering a positive growth of 4.04 per cent in dollar terms, as compared to a positive growth of 4.32 per cent in June 2018 (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).
    •  IMPORTS: Imports in July 2018 were US $ 10.85 Billion registering a positive growth of 5.35 per cent in dollar terms, as compared to a positive growth of 0.89 per cent in June 2018 (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).
    • OVERALL TRADE BALANCE
     Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-August 2018-19 is estimated at US $ 47.72 Billion as compared to US $ 38.95 Billion in April-August 2017-18. 
    Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)


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