13 September 2017 Current Affairs
India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab inaugurated in Kolkata
India’s first state of art virology laboratory was inaugurated at Dr. Anjali Chatterjee Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy in Kolkata, West Bengal. The lab will play important in developing new drugs and technologies in Homoeopathy to combat emerging challenges of viral diseases.
India, Belarus sign 10 pacts to expand cooperation
India and Belarus have inked 10 agreements to expand cooperation in range of areas including oil and gas, education and sports and also decided to explore joint development and manufacture of military platforms. The agreements were signed after extensive delegational levels talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belarus President A G Lukashenko in New Delhi. Both leaders agreed to focus on ramping up economic engagement between two countries and held that their is huge scope for boosting trade and investment.
Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah to key position in Communications team
US President Donald Trump has appointed Indian-American Raj Shah to a key position in his Communications team. Shah will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary. Formerly, Shah was served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director. Trump also appointed Hope Hicks as his Communications Director. Earlier, Hicks was served as Assistant to the President and Interim Communications Director.
Japan PM in Ahmedabad for India-Japan Annual Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Mr. Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting. The 12th edition of the summit will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The two leaders will review the recent progress in the multifaceted co-operation between India and Japan under the framework of their ‘Special Strategic and Global Partnership’. They will also attend a function to mark the commencement of work of India’s first high-speed rail project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Halimah Yacob- 1st Female President of Singapore
Halimah Yacob was sworn-in as the 8th President of Singapore. She became the country’s first female President and the first in five decades to come from the Malay ethnicity. She was certified by the Presidential Elections Commission as the only eligible candidate, and since she has no opponent, there was no election held.
Kerala to open India’s first transgender-exclusive clinics
Kerala opens India’s first transgender-exclusive clinics at government medical colleges across the state. They are planning to open Transgender Clinics in all government medical colleges in the state. We also plan to provide facilities for their surgery at least in two medical colleges. The first clinic will be set up at the government medical college of Kottayam within the next two months and will be one of the first clinics to provide the sex-change surgery.
Sachin Tendulkar launches project to develop the poorest ward in Mumbai
Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has launched Mission-24 a programme aimed at improving the quality of life in one of Mumbai’s poorest wards through collaborative efforts in the next 24 months. The main aim of the program to provide basic amenities to residents of M-East ward that includes slums of Shivaji Nagar, Deonar and Mankhurd. Through this project, the organisations aim to provide amenities like secondary schools and colleges, Anganwadi’s, maternity homes, health posts and dispensaries in the ward. It also aims to improve sanitation, create more open spaces and look at computer safety.
Gay rights activist Edith Windsor passes away
Gay rights activist Edith Windsor, whose same-gender marriage fight led to a landmark US ruling, passed away. She was 88. It was Windsor’s efforts that Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, granting same-sex married couples federal recognition for the first time.
UN Secretary-General appoints Peter Thomson as 1st Special Envoy for Oceans
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Peter Thomson, the outgoing president of the UN General Assembly as the first Special Envoy for the oceans. Peter Thomson had played a leading role in the first-ever UN conference on oceans, which was held in June 2016. The conference saw 193 UN member states issue an urgent call for action to reverse the decline in the health and productivity of the world’s oceans.
RBI to Introduce Rs 100 Coin to Mark MG Ramachandran’s Birth Centenary
As per the notification of Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary (hundredth anniversary) of AIADMK founder Late Dr. M G Ramachandran. On the obverse, the face of the coin will bear Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the center with Satyamev Jayate inscribed below on it in Devanagari script. It will also bear the rupee symbol and denominational value of 100. On the reverse side, the portrait of Dr. MG Ramachandran will be in the center. The standard weight of the coin will be 35 grams.
Paytm Partners with NPCI
Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card. With the PPB Digital debit card, customers will now be able to transact at all merchants who accept credit and debit cards. Existing Paytm users need to complete a KYC process to become an account holder with PPB. Following this, they will be issued a free digital RuPay card.