Current Affairs Current Affairs September 2018

 Midsized private sector lender Yes Bank has paid Rs 38 crore in fines to the GST department for alleged violations in domestic remittances. Over Rs. 32 crore has been paid to the GST department, while Rs 6 crorehas been paid in service tax which has been replaced by GST.  The issue relates to remittances by migrants from urban pockets to their homes in rural areas. The tax department feels the bank has violated norms and underpaid the tax, while the bank feels the opposite.
Source-Inshorts

 The Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by India after more than a decade, will be held from November 15-24, 2018, in New Delhi. The teams will have to be in the national capital by November 13, with the competition starting two days later. The marquee tournament was last held in India in 2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of performance. India had topped the medal tally with four gold, three silver and one bronze medal.
Source-The Pioneer

 India won 3 Gold, 3Silver and a Bronze on the opening day of the 5th Track Asia Cup Cycling in New Delhi.  Mayuri Lute won the country's first Gold in the Women's Junior 500 metres race.  Another Gold came after the Indian men's junior team performed as expected in the team sprint event, by defeating Kazakhstan.  The tournament at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is being organised by the Cycling Federation of Indiaand has attracted participation from 12 countries.
Source- News on AIR

 India settled for the silver medal after losing to Pakistan 2-3 in the final of the Asian Team Snooker Championship. Pankaj Advani and Malkeet Singh represented India while Babar Masih and Mohammad Asifwere from the Pakistani side.  
Source-The Hindu

 Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died aged 61 at a military hospital in the capital Hanoi following a period of illness. Quang was appointed the president, a largely ceremonial role, in April 2016, and served alongside Vietnam’s de facto leader Communist Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Before that, he served as minister of public security.
Source- CNN

 India has contributed one million US dollars for the installation of solar panels on the roof of the imposing UN building at the world body’s headquarters in New York. The contribution will help reduce carbon footprint and promote sustainable energy. According to India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, India is the first responder to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‘ call for climate action. The UN has thanked India for its contribution.
Source-News on AIR

 World Bank Board has endorsed an ambitious five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India, which aligns with New Delhi’s objectives of high, sustainable and inclusive growth. The framework is expected to bring between 25 and 30 billion US Dollars in financial support to India. The move is aimed at supporting India’s transition to a higher middle-income country by addressing some of its key development priorities such as resource efficient and inclusive growth, job creation and building its human capital. 
Source-News on AIR

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in Dwarka, New Delhi. The facilities provided at the centre will be on par with the best in the world in size and quality, offering setting for international and national events, meetings, conferences, exhibitions and trade shows. It will rank among the top 10 in the world and the biggest indoor exhibition space in India. The project is planned over an area of 221.37 acres in Sector 25, Dwarka, at an estimated cost of Rs 25,703 crore. 
Source- DD News

 The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu was on an official Visit to Serbia, Malta and Romania and returned after a successful official visit. The visit was characterised by extremely cordial discussions with Heads of Governments, PMs and other senior political leaders. The visit helped in deepening bilateral ties with each of these three countries.
Some key outcomes:   
  • Support for India’s aspiration to be on UNSC and for taking forward UN reforms.
  • Endorsement of India’s stand on terror and support for early adoption of United Nation’s Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
  • Strong support for resuming EU-India trade agreement after Romania assumes Presidency of EU.
  • Business Forums generated a good deal of enthusiasm among the industrialists and businessmen in every country as they got to listen to the Vice President about India’s transformative initiatives.  The growth story and the reports from World Bank, IMF quoted by Vice President enhanced awareness.
  • The leaders in all the countries expressed unequivocal admiration for India’s economic growth and were eager to engage and partner with India politically, economically and culturally. In Romania, there was a special interest in Space and Aerospace. Malta expressed its desire to join the International Solar Alliance.
  • There was a clear demand for Parliamentary friendship groups and frequent visits by Parliamentarians.
  • The visit gave an opportunity for the members of India Diaspora to listen to the Vice President about the transformative agenda of the government and encouraged them to think of various ways in which they can contribute to the country’s development. The vice President underscored the growing importance of India on the world stage and drew attention to four key features that need to be recognised. He called them 4Ds – Democracy, Demographic dividend, Demand and Diaspora.
  • The visit evoked a lot of interest among the top political leadership and there was an air of bonhomie in all the meetings. The banquets hosted by the President of Serbia and Malta as well as by the President of Senate of Romania provided an opportunity for sharing views on bilateral and multilateral issues with rare candour.
  • The address to the Serbian Parliament was very well received and the admiration for India as the largest democracy and a vibrant, well functioning polity was more than evident in the standing ovation the Vice President received at the end of his address.
  • MOUs entered into related to plant protection, tourism, air services, oil research, diplomatic training and maritime cooperation.
  • In all the three countries, there was considerable interest in Yoga and Ayurveda and in Romania, the Vice President launched two books on Ayurveda and inaugurated an Ayurveda Information Centre.
  • Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

     The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space signed an MoU for setting up of an state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER) in Ministry of Home Affairs. ISRO will render its technical expertise for setting up of proposed ICR-ER whereas the project will be executed under overall supervision of MHA. The proposed Control Room is expected to be established in next one-and-a-half year. 
    Source-Press Information Bureau (PIB)


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