20th September, 2022

1. Renewable Energy (India) Expo will take place from September 28-30, 2022 at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
2. The second edition of the 2+2 meeting between India and Japan’s foreign and defence ministers has concluded in Tokyo.
3. The 9th National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) of INSPIRE Awards – MANAK was conducted at ITPO, Delhi, on 14 September 2022, where the exhibits of 556 students from schools across the country were displayed.
4. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has decided to adopt over 35,000 tuberculosis (TB) patients by providing nutritional support under the Ni-kshay Mitra program.
5. Ministry of Textiles has cleared 23 strategic research projects worth around Rs 60 crores in the areas of specialty fibres, sustainable textiles, geotextiles, mobiltech (automotive textiles) and sports textiles.
6. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched the “Swachchta Pakhwada” (cleanliness drive) from Sept 16 to Oct 2.
7. World’s Largest Museum on Harappan Culture is being developed in Rakhigarhi, Hisar district, Haryana.
8. The 2nd edition of ANGAN 2022 (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) international conference will be organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), in collaboration with Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC) under the Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP).
9. Ministry of MSME has inaugurated 72 Units assisted under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
10. PM Narendra Modi has released the National Logistics Policy 2022 to reduce the logistic cost in India to 8% of GDP, in the next 5 years, as opposed to the current 14-15%.
11. US Agency for International Development and UNICEF have launched Doordarshan and YouTube series titled ‘Door Se Namaste’ to promote healthy behaviours in a post-pandemic world.
12. The Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) has included new variants of Sitagliptin (diabetes drug) and its combination across its Jan Aushdhi Kendras.
13. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel attended the 10th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Siem Reap City, Cambodia.
14. National Conference of Tourism Ministers of States & UTs was held in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
15. A total of nine District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs) were inaugurated across the country by Dr Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
16. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh will lead the Joint Indian Ministerial Delegation of Power, New and Renewable Energy and Science and Technology to USA to participate in the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, which will be held from Sept 21-23 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
17. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that Odisha will get 5G service along with other cities in the first phase of its launch.
18. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is hosting Hackathon 3.0 “KRITAGYA” to promote “speed breeding for crop improvement” in association with its National Agricultural Higher Education Project and Crop Science Division.
19. Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has entered into an agreement with Biovet Pvt Ltd. for the commercial production of the indigenous vaccine of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) called ‘Lumpi-ProVacind’.
20. Indian Navy warship INS Tarkash has taken part in a Joint Maritime Exercise with Nigerian Navy Patrol Ships on September 12-13.
21. UN-International Organization for Migration (IOM) has signed an MOU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for ensuring the safe migration of Indian citizens.
22. European Parliament has declared that Hungary is no longer a democracy now. It has become an electoral autocracy.
23. The Reef-World Foundation, in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), has launched ‘Green Fins Hub’, first-ever global marine tourism industry platform.
24. The 46th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) was organized in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
25. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved an investment of ₹665-crore in Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI) by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) under the green channel route.
26. Federal Bank was ranked at 63rd position on the Best Workplaces in Asia 2022 and becomes the only bank in India to be listed by Great Place to Work.
27. India has emerged as the largest bilateral lender for Sri Lanka, overtaking China. India has provided a total of $968 million in loans to the island nation in four months of 2022.
28. A new type of trojan virus named SOVA (which in Russian means ‘OWL’) has reached India.
29. SBI has entered into an agreement with SIDBI, Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra to acquire the 13.82% combined stake held by these companies in SBI Global Factors (a subsidiary of SBI).
30. Google Cloud has partnered with Kubernetes platform and FutureSkills Prime for providing a beginner-level course in cloud computing, cloud basics, big data and machine learning (ML) via its Google Cloud Skills Boost platform.
31. Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) has partnered with Chennai-based Repco Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) to offer insurance solutions to all home loan customers of RHFL.
32. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has revised the definition of small companies as companies having a paid up capital of “not exceeding Rs. 4 crore” and turnover of “not exceeding Rs. 40 crore”.
33. Ministry of Commerce and Industry has permitted exports and imports to be invoiced, paid for, and settled in the Indian currency to promote trade in domestic currency.
34. HDFC Life Insurance Company and Exide Life Insurance’s merger has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal.
35. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has lowered its GDP growth forecast for India for FY23 to 6.9%.
36. IndusInd Bank has approved the re-appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as its MD and CEO for three years with effect from March 24, 2023.
37. Central Govt has appointed Thomas M Devasia as a member (non-life) on the board of IRDAI.
38. Kerala-based CSB Bank has appointed Pralay Mondal as the its new MD and CEO.
39. Pratap Pawar, the chairman of the Sakal Media Private Ltd. which publishes Marathi daily newspaper SAKAL, has been elected as the chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2022-2023.
40. September 16 – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; Theme – “Montreal Protocol@35: global cooperation protecting life on earth”
41. World Patient Safety Day; Theme – Medication Safety
42. September 18 – International Equal Pay Day
43. Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate (aged 25 years) has been appointed as the newest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
44. Prominent Indian scientist and industrialist Dr Swati Piramal has been conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur or Knight of the Legion of Honour by France.
45. Aniket Doegar of Haqdarshak, a tech platform that connects citizens with their eligible government welfare schemes has won the 13th Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award-India given by Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
46. Toronto International Film Festival 2022 –
47. Bengaluru Football Club has won the 2022 Durand Cup by defeating Mumbai City FC in final at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.
48. Former President Ram Nath Kovind launched a book titled ‘Ambedkar and Modi: Reformer’s Ideas Performer’s Implementation’.

National News

1. Renewable Energy (India) Expo will take place from September 28-30, 2022 at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
   • The Indian Biogas Association (Chair: Gaurav Kedia), an industry association comprising operators, manufacturers, and planners of biogas plants, will organize the expo.
   • The bio-energy pavilion is supported by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, NITI Aayog, Punjab and Maharashtra Energy Development Agency.
   • Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) is a government initiative taken up to extract economic value from bio-mass waste in the form of CBG and bio-manure.
2. The second edition of the 2+2 meeting between India and Japan’s foreign and defence ministers has concluded in Tokyo.
   • India and Japan are celebrating 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
   • India and Japan are collaborating on various international platforms –
     • Quad
     • ASEAN+6 (China, India, Japan, S Korea, Australia and New Zealand)
     • ReCAAP
     • Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (Supply Chain Resilience Initiative)
   • Both nations decided to conduct a fighter exercise between the Air Forces soon.
     • Bilateral exercises – Dharma Guardian (army), Malabar and JIMEX (navy)
     • In March 2022, Japan has also participated in the MILAN 2022 (a multilateral exercise hosted by the Indian Navy).
       • Theme of MILAN – Camaraderie – Cohesion – Collaboration

   About ReCAAP –

   • Full Form – Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia
   • Year of Enforcement – 2006
   • Members – 21 countries
   • Purpose – to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.
   • ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre was established in Singapore in 2006.

3. The 9th National Level Exhibition and Project Competition (NLEPC) of INSPIRE Awards – MANAK was conducted at ITPO, Delhi, on 14 September 2022, where the exhibits of 556 students from schools across the country were displayed.
   • Top 60 start-ups and over 53,000 students have been selected in this competition for the award.
   • Dr Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences presented the awards to the students.
   • The NLEPC is an important milestone under the annual INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge), a flagship scheme jointly implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous body of the DST, to motivate students in studying in classes 6 to 10.
   • INSPIRE scheme – ‘Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research’
4. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has decided to adopt over 35,000 tuberculosis (TB) patients by providing nutritional support under the Ni-kshay Mitra program.
5. Ministry of Textiles has cleared 23 strategic research projects worth around Rs 60 crores in the areas of specialty fibres, sustainable textiles, geotextiles, mobiltech (automotive textiles) and sports textiles.
   • Among these 23 Research projects, 12 Projects of Speciality Fibres have application in Agriculture, Smart Textiles, and Healthcare.
6. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched the “Swachchta Pakhwada” (cleanliness drive) from Sept 16 to Oct 2.
   • The focus of the drive is ‘Seva, Sushashan, and Gareeb Kalyan’.
7. World’s Largest Museum on Harappan Culture is being developed in Rakhigarhi, Hisar district, Haryana.
   • Rakhigarhi is considered as one of the biggest Harappan civilisation site.
   • The village is also a famous archaeological site from the Indus Valley civilisation period.
8. The 2nd edition of ANGAN 2022 (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) international conference will be organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), in collaboration with Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC) under the Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP).
   • Title of the conference – “Making the Zero-Carbon Transition in Buildings”
9. Ministry of MSME has inaugurated 72 Units assisted under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).
   • Margin Money Subsidy was disbursed to 720 PMEGP beneficiaries.
10. PM Narendra Modi has released the National Logistics Policy 2022 to reduce the logistic cost in India to 8% of GDP, in the next 5 years, as opposed to the current 14-15%.
    • Shri Modi pointed out that the total capacity of Indian ports has increased significantly and the average turn-around time of container vessels has come down from 44 hours to 26 hours.
    • For promoting export, 40 air cargo terminals have been constructed. 30 airports have been provided cold-storage facilities. 35 multimodal hubs are coming up in the country.
    • Drone transportation is likely to emerge as a significant logistics mode.
11. US Agency for International Development and UNICEF have launched Doordarshan and YouTube series titled ‘Door Se Namaste’ to promote healthy behaviours in a post-pandemic world.
12. The Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) has included new variants of Sitagliptin (diabetes drug) and its combination across its Jan Aushdhi Kendras.
13. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel attended the 10th East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Siem Reap City, Cambodia.
    • Participants – ASEAN countries and 8 partner countries viz. Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and the USA
14. National Conference of Tourism Ministers of States & UTs was held in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
15. A total of nine District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs) were inaugurated across the country by Dr Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
16. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh will lead the Joint Indian Ministerial Delegation of Power, New and Renewable Energy and Science and Technology to USA to participate in the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, which will be held from Sept 21-23 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

State News

1. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that Odisha will get 5G service along with other cities in the first phase of its launch.
   • Around 13 cities are likely to get 5G telecom service across the country in the first phase.
   • A 5G lab has also been developed at IIT-Madras.
   • Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that India is looking at developing hydrogen-powered trains by

Agriculture and Rural Development

1. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is hosting Hackathon 3.0 “KRITAGYA” to promote “speed breeding for crop improvement” in association with its National Agricultural Higher Education Project and Crop Science Division.
   • This initiative aims to help the crop sector achieve the desired immediate results by fostering employability, entrepreneurship, innovation, and problem-solving skills.
   • KRITAGYA – KRI for Krishi (Agriculture), TA for Taknik (Technology), and GYA for Gyan (Knowledge)
2. Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has entered into an agreement with Biovet Pvt Ltd. for the commercial production of the indigenous vaccine of Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) called ‘Lumpi-ProVacind’.

Defence News

1. Indian Navy warship INS Tarkash has taken part in a Joint Maritime Exercise with Nigerian Navy Patrol Ships on September 12-13.
   • INS Tarkash is currently deployed in the Gulf of Guinea.
   • The exercise marked India and Nigeria’s first joint operational deployment in support of anti-piracy operations in the GoG.
   • INS Tarkash has also participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise with Royal Morocco Naval Ship Hassan 2 in the Atlantic Ocean in July 2022.

Memorandum of Understanding

1. UN-International Organization for Migration (IOM) has signed an MOU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for ensuring the safe migration of Indian citizens.
   • Purpose – to create an opportunity for these two internationally reputed entities to collaborate on a range of initiatives related to the safe, orderly, and regular migration of Indian skilled professionals and youth internationally
   • IOM was created as an inter-governmental organization in 1951 within UN for promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It has 174 member states and a presence in over 100 countries.

International News

1. European Parliament has declared that Hungary is no longer a democracy now. It has become an electoral autocracy.
2. The Reef-World Foundation, in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), has launched ‘Green Fins Hub’, first-ever global marine tourism industry platform.
   • The Green Fins Hub will help operators to make simple, cost-efficient changes to their daily practices by utilising tried and tested solutions, keep track of their annual improvements and communicate with their communities and customers.
3. The 46th Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) was organized in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
   • The Army leaders from the 24 nations belonging to the Indo-Pacific region participated in the seminar.
   • Theme – ‘Prospects and Challenges in Maintaining Peace and Security in the Indo-Pacific’

Banking and Economy

1. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved an investment of ₹665-crore in Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI) by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) under the green channel route.
   • Green Channel Route is an automated approval scheme for the merger transactions. This route provides a bypass from the regular legal proceedings to enable them for speedy settlements and quicker administrative decisions.
2. Federal Bank was ranked at 63rd position on the Best Workplaces in Asia 2022 and becomes the only bank in India to be listed by Great Place to Work.
3. India has emerged as the largest bilateral lender for Sri Lanka, overtaking China. India has provided a total of $968 million in loans to the island nation in four months of 2022.
   • India had provided nearly 4 billion dollars in food and financial assistance to Sri Lanka.
   • In August, India handed over 21,000 tonnes of fertilizer to crisis-ridden Sri Lanka.
4. A new type of trojan virus named SOVA (which in Russian means ‘OWL’) has reached India.
   • SOVA is a banking trojan. A banking Trojan is a piece of malware that is used primarily to steal banking credentials by remotely installing malicious software on a victim’s computer system.
5. SBI has entered into an agreement with SIDBI, Union Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra to acquire the 13.82% combined stake held by these companies in SBI Global Factors (a subsidiary of SBI).
6. Google Cloud has partnered with Kubernetes platform and FutureSkills Prime for providing a beginner-level course in cloud computing, cloud basics, big data and machine learning (ML) via its Google Cloud Skills Boost platform.
   • FutureSkills Prime is a digital skilling initiative of IT Ministry and Nasscom.
7. Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI) has partnered with Chennai-based Repco Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) to offer insurance solutions to all home loan customers of RHFL.
8. Ministry of Corporate Affairs has revised the definition of small companies as companies having a paid up capital of “not exceeding Rs. 4 crore” and turnover of “not exceeding Rs. 40 crore”.
   • Earlier, the limit for paid up capital was Rs 2 crores and turnover was Rs 20 crores.
9. Ministry of Commerce and Industry has permitted exports and imports to be invoiced, paid for, and settled in the Indian currency to promote trade in domestic currency.
   • RBI had instructed banks to set up additional provisions for export and import transactions in Indian rupees in July.
   • The authorised dealer banks in India are authorised to open specific rupee vostro accounts to settle trade transactions in INR.

10. HDFC Life Insurance Company and Exide Life Insurance’s merger has been approved by the National Company Law Tribunal.

GDP Forecasts

1. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has lowered its GDP growth forecast for India for FY23 to 6.9%.

Appointments

1. IndusInd Bank has approved the re-appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as its MD and CEO for three years with effect from March 24, 2023.
2. Central Govt has appointed Thomas M Devasia as a member (non-life) on the board of IRDAI.
   • Thomas M Devasia is currently technical expert at Marsh Insurance Brokers India.
3. Kerala-based CSB Bank has appointed Pralay Mondal as the its new MD and CEO.

4. Pratap Pawar, the chairman of the Sakal Media Private Ltd. which publishes Marathi daily newspaper SAKAL, has been elected as the chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2022-2023.

Important Days

1. September 16 – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; Theme – “Montreal Protocol@35: global cooperation protecting life on earth”
   • India became a party to the Montreal Protocol in 1992, which was adopted on 16 September 1987.
   • The Ozone Day celebration took place in Mumbai.
   • First edition of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; was celebrated in 1994.
2. September 17 –
   • World Patient Safety Day; Theme – Medication Safety
   • International Coastal Cleanup Day; Theme – Fighting for Trash Free Seas
3. September 18 – International Equal Pay Day
Awards
1. Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate (aged 25 years) has been appointed as the newest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
2. Prominent Indian scientist and industrialist Dr Swati Piramal has been conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur or Knight of the Legion of Honour by France.
   • Piramal (aged 66) is the vice-chairperson of the Mumbai-headquartered Piramal Group.
   • It is France’s top civilian honour given for her contributions in the fields of business and industry, science, medicine, and towards strengthening Indo-French ties.
3. Aniket Doegar of Haqdarshak, a tech platform that connects citizens with their eligible government welfare schemes has won the 13th Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award-India given by Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
4. Toronto International Film Festival 2022 –
   • People’s Choice Award – ‘The Fabelmans’, directed by Steven Spielberg
   • NETPAC Award – Sweet As, directed by Jub Clerc

Sports

1. Bengaluru Football Club has won the 2022 Durand Cup by defeating Mumbai City FC in final at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

Miscellaneous

1. Former President Ram Nath Kovind launched a book titled ‘Ambedkar and Modi: Reformer’s Ideas Performer’s Implementation’.

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