National:
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Badarpur-Faridabad Metro in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). The metro corridor will connect the national capital with the satellite town and give impetus to economic growth in the region by fast transportation of people.
2. Union Government is going to develop Bodhgaya in Gaya district of Bihar as Spiritual Capital of the country in order to serve the civilizational bond between India and the Buddhist world.
3. Union Government has given its nod to implement One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for ex-servicemen.
4. Haryana legislative Assembly has passed Haryana Police (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to abolish the Police Recruitment Board in order to end the nepotism in the police recruitments in the state.
5. The book titled To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story was in news in the first week of September 2015. It was written by former Union Environment and Forest Minister (Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.
The book deals with fast-paced changes in the economic sector introduced by the duo P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in 1991.
The sixth Indo-Maldives joint Training Exercise has commenced at Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
Aim of the Joint Exercise is to acquaint forces of both countries with each other’s operating procedure and increase understanding and interoperability between Armies of both countries.
The Andhra Pradesh government launched the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA) e-Pragati project to bring all the government services under one roof.
The APSEA is a comprehensive architecture to leverage the latest advances in e-governance tools.
6. To promote organic farming in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Government organized a three-day organic fair and food festival in the state.
The organic fair and food festival was organized in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh.
7. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched the e-version of the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in New Delhi.
8. Maharashtra government decided to abolish the Local Body Tax (LBT) within 15 days on petrol and diesel. The decision was taken to end the disparity between fuel dealers and other traders.
9. Haryana Assembly has passed Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to fix matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs).
With this Haryana became second state in India after Rajasthan to fix educational and other qualifications for the candidates contesting Panchayat elections.
10. Haryana government has completely banned the gutka, pan masala and other similar products containing tobacco in the state for one year from September 3, 2015.
11. The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot inaugurated the new production facility for producing affordable lower limb prosthetic systems.
The facility was launched under the Make In India initiative with an estimated cost of 6 Crores rupees.
12. The Jharkhand Government approved the formation of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in the state.
The State cabinet also gave its approval to create 243 ATS posts.
13. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa launched the Amma Baby Care Kit scheme wherein the state government will provide accessories for the newborn and its mother.
14. The World Federation of Exchanges (WEF), in the first week of September 2015, announced that theBombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number of listed companies in the world.
By the end of June 2015, a total number of 5689 companies were listed with the BSE. However, out of 5689, only one company was a foreign company.
15. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme.
The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialized) gold bonds.
16. The Union Cabinet has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for white label ATM operations (WLAO).
17. The Union Cabinet has approved spectrum trading norms for harmonious spread of telecom services in the country.
These norms were approved based on the recommendations Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in order to increase emphasis on evolving more flexible and market oriented approach in Telecom sector.
18. Tamil Nadu’s first Global Investors Summit (TNGIM 2015) has begun in Chennai to woo investors to invest in the state.
TNGIM 2015 was officially inaugurated by state Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa at the Chennai Trade Centre.
19. The first of kind investor’s summit in southern state of India is seeking to targeted investment commitment of one-lakh crore rupees.
20. Union Cabinet cleared National Offshore Wind Energy Policy to generate electricity from offshore windmills located in areas within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country.
21. The Union Cabinet approved introduction of Gold Monetization Schemes (GMS) in a bid to lure away Indians from buying physical gold.
The approved schemes are Gold Deposit Scheme (GDS) and the Gold Metal Loan (GML) Scheme.
22. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) launched Niryat Bandhu @ Your Desktop, an online certificate program in export-import business under the Niryat Bandhu Scheme of Department of Commerce.
This program will serve the twin objective of Digital India and Skill India.
23. The Levels & Trends in Child Mortality Report 2015 was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
24. The Group consists of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank Group and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
25. The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot inaugurated the new production facility for producing affordable lower limb prosthetic systems.
The facility was launched under the Make in India initiative with an estimated cost of 6 Crores rupees.
26. India and Pakistan have started a three-day Director General (DG)-level border dialogue in New Delhi.
Director General of Border Security Force, D K Pathak is leading 23 member Indian delegation and his counterpart Major General Umar Farooq Burki, DG of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) is leading a 16 members Pakistani delegation.
27. The Tenth World Hindi Conference has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the theme of Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye.
28. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to constitute the 21st Law Commission of India (LCI).
The 21st LCI will have a period of 3 years with effect from 1st September 2015 to 31st August 2018.
29. Rajasthan became the first Indian state to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Under the Action Plan, Rajasthan has targeted universal coverage in respect of water supply connections, sewerage connections and urban transport to all urban households in the state.
30. The Global Investors Meet (GIM 2015) was held in Tamil Nadu to woo investors to invest in the state.
The GIM 2015 was officially inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Chennai Trade Centre.
International:
1. China and its strategic partner Pakistan have launched a joint air exercise called Shaheen (Eagle)-4 in China.
It is fourth edition of air exercise between the air forces of both countries which was launched as part of a series of military exchange programs between two countries.
2. Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Ranjit Rae inaugurated the newly renovated Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple at Tripurakot.
It is situated on the bank of glacial river Thuli Bheri in Dolpa district of Nepal.
3. Supreme Court of Pakistan on 8 September 2015 ordered immediate adoption of Urdu as official language of the country.
With this order, Urdu will be used as an official language at the government offices of Pakistan.
4. India and Indonesia have signed a pact for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperate in all criminal matters, including gathering evidence.
Sports:
1. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One. This was his seventh victory of the season.
Ranking after British Grand Prix 2015
1st position: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) of Mercedes.
2nd position: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Ferrari.
3rd position: Felipe Massa (Brazil) of Williams.
4th position: Valtteri Bottas (Finland) of Williams.
5th position: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) of Williams.
6th position: Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India.
7th position: Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) of Force India.
Top 5 Teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Force India.
2. Veteran all-rounder cricketer Shane Watson from Australia has announced his retirement from International Test cricket.
3. Indian boxer Vikas Krishan has won the silver medal in the Asian Championships held in Bangkok, Thailand.
In the final match of 75kg weight category, he was defeated by Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuziev by 0-2 score.
In this edition of Asian Championships, Vikas only has won silver medal for India. Shiva Thapa (56kg), Devendro Singh (49kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won bronze medal each in their respective category.
4. Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold medal in fifth Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) held in Apia, Samoa.
He won the medal the 62 kg category after finishing with a total of 258 kg with 120 kg in snatch.
He has created a new CYG record and 138 kg in clean and jerk.
5. Anirban Lahiri became the first Indian golfer to qualify for a Presidents Cup.
He will be part of the International Team in the 2015 championship.
The championship is scheduled to be held at Incheon in South Korea between 2nd October and 4thOctober 2015.
6. Leander Paes and Swiss Martina Hingis on 11 September 2015 won the US Open Mixed Doubles Title 2015.
7. Virat Kohli, the test cricket captain of India became the co-owner of the UAE Royals. The team will be led by tennis ace Roger Federer.
Awards & Recognition:
1. Puducherry Government announced the annual State Best Teachers’ Awards 2015. 20 teachers from four regions of the Union Territory were awarded in different categories.
A. Winners of the year’s Best Teacher awards in different categories were-
Dr. S Radhakrishnan Award:Two awards each were given at two levels, that is, Primary (up to standard VIII) and Secondary level (up to standard IX to XII). These are-
Winners at the Primary level award
R Sivakumar Headmaster Government Primary School, Irulansandai and G Krishnamoorthy, Headmaster Government Girls Primary School, Bahour.
Winners at the Secondary level
R Kulasegaran, Trained Graduate Teacher GGHSS, Kadhirkamam and NM Saminathan, Lecturer in Economics, Sinnatha Govt. Girls Higher Sec. School, Muthialpet.
B. The Chief Minister’s Special Awards
These awards are given to a language teacher, four women teachers and a technical teacher.
Best Language Teacher
K Thamban, Lecturer in Hindi, VN Purushothaman Government Higher Sec. School, Palloor, Mahe.
Women Teachers
M Sandacoumary, Primary School Teacher, Government Primary School, Murungapakkam; R Anita, Trained Graduate Teacher, Arutchelvi Ayee Ammal, Government Girls Middle School, Mutharapalayam; R Vijayarani, Trained Graduate Teacher, Thanthai Periyar GHSS; Kovilpathu, Karaikal and Peddinty Padmavathi, Trained Graduate Teacher (Telugu), Kamala Nehru GGHS, Yanam.
Technical Teacher
M Sankar, Physical Education Teacher, Jeevanandam GHSS, Karamanikuppam, Puducherry.
C. The Education Minister’s Regional Awards
These awards are given to six teachers in Puducherry, two in Karaikal and one each in Mahe and Yanam.
Winners in different school
Puducherry: Soundarapandian, Computer Science Teacher from Jeevanandam GHSS, Karamanikuppam; K Latha, Headmistress, Government Girls’ Primary School, Bahour; P Kandiban, Trained Graduate Teacher, Government Middle School, Andiyarpalayam; V Rajaram and P Sahayamary Fathima, Trained Graduate Teachers, Thiru. Vi. Ka. Government Higher Secondary School; Arumathapuram and K Sidharthan, Headmaster, Arjuna Subbaraya Naicker, Government Middle School, Muthialpet.
Karaikal: S Ravindran, Trained Graduate Teacher, GGHS, Tirumalairayan Pattinam and J Krishnan, English Lecturer, Thanthai Periyar GHS, Koyilpathu.
Mahe: K Radhakrishnan, Mathematics Lecturer, Jawaharlal Nehru GHS.
Yanam: GV Suryanarayana, Headmaster, Rajiv Gandhi GHSS.
The State/Regional Awardees were awarded with a cash prize of 10000 rupees and a certificate on the occasion of Teachers’ Day Celebration on 5 September.
2. Seven Indians have featured in the new group of philanthropists in the latest 9th edition of Forbes Asia magazine in the Asia-Pacific region.
The list has featured top philanthropists from 13 Asia-Pacific region countries for their individual noteworthy contributions to health and education sectors.
Seven Indians are –
Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani
Senapathy Gopalakrishnan
SD Shibulal
Rohan Murthy, represented his father, Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy as a philanthropist in the list
Sunny Varkey
London-based India-born brother entrepreneurs Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan.
3. Tennis star Sania Mirza was conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
The country’s highest sporting honor while shooting sensation was among the Arjuna award recipients in a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Sania became the second tennis player to receive the country’s highest sporting honor after Leander Paes on a day when Sports Ministry was fighting a court case that raised questions against its process of selecting the awardees.
4. Ace Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri has become the first Indian to qualify for the prestigious President’s Cup of Golf.
World No.40, Lahiri qualified to this prestigious cup through automatic qualifications as team member of the International Team.
5. Indian weightlifters Deepak Lather won a gold medal in the 62 kg category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa.
6. Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das on 9 September 2015 won bronze medals at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Apia in Samoa.
Manuel won the medal in girls 800m race, while Das won it in shot put event on the third and final day of athletics competitions.
7. Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning Monarch of Britain and the longest-reigning female monarch in history.
8. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014 on Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar on behalf of the organization received the prize at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
9. Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was conferred with the Honored Guest of Texas award for his contribution to the cinema and the world of art.
10. Indra Nooyi, CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo is the sole Indian-origin executive in 2015 edition of Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.
11. India-born Nooyi was placed at second position in this year’s list and has moved up by single position from her previous third position in year 2015.
The list also includes-
Third position: Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM.
Fourth position: Marillyn Hewson, CEO, Chairman and President of Lockheed Martin.
Fifth position: Ellen Kullman, CEO and Chairman of DuPont.
Sixth position: Abigail Johnson, CEO and President of Fidelity Investments.
Seventh position: Meg Whitman, CEO, Chairman and President of Hewlett-Packard (HP).
Eight position: Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Ninth position: Irene Rosenfeld, CEO and Chairman of Mondelez International.
Tenth position: Phebe Novakovic, CEO and Chairman of General Dynamics.
Mergers & Acquisition:
1. Reliance Defense Ltd (RDL) led by Anil Ambani has inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to set up a strategic partnership for construction of naval ships.
2. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) and Integrated Association of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of India (IamSMEofIndia) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at creating awareness among Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the benefits of commodity price risk management.
This collaboration will encourage them to hedge on exchanges and face competition adroitly.
3. It will also disseminate in-depth knowledge about the derivatives market and its benefits among MSMEs will lead to their growth and development.
4. Doha Bank tied up with Anil Ambani-led Reliance ADA Group to generate business opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council nations and India.
5. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
6. Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) signed an MoU with Tamil Nadu Government with the investment of INR 2,000 crore in Tamil Nadu, adding that the amount can be doubled by 2022.
7. Jaipur-based CarDekho acquired Zigwheels, an auto portal owned by Times Internet. The combined entity of CarDekho, Gaadi.com and Zigwheels will compete with the likes of Cartrade.com and Carwale.com.
After completion of the acquisition, Zigwheels will work as an independent entity within the group.
8. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories signed pact with US-based medical company PanTheryx to market PanTheryx’s nutritional intervention DiaResQ for infectiou diarrhea in India, Nepal, Russia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Jamaica, and select LATAM markets.
Economics:
1. Group of Twenty (G-20), a forum of world’s 20 largest economies, including India launched W20, an engagement grouping of women leaders in order to push for gender inclusive global economic growth.
It was launched in the on-going G-20 Summit of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Ankara under the Turkish Presidency.
2. Yes Bank is planning to raise around $1 billion in 2016 to support its growth plans.
3. Dearness Allowance was today hiked to 119%, up 6 percentage points, a move which will benefit over 1 crore government employees and pensioners.
The DA hike will take effect from 1st
Appointments & Resignations:
1. Renowned Agriculture expert Professor Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new full time member of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
2. Brij Raj Sharma was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. J Manjula was appointed as the Director-General of the Electronics and Communication Systems cluster of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
With this, Manjula became the first woman DG of DRDO.
4. Rakesh Sharma was appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bengaluru-headquartered Canara Bank.
5. Noted Kathak danseuse Professor Kumkum Dhar was appointed as Vice Chancellor of Bhatkhande Music Institute, a deemed university.
Science & Technology:
1. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully positioned India’s latest communicationsatellite GSAT-6 into its orbital slot.
It was positioned in its orbital slot 83 Degree east after carrying out four drift arresting maneuvers.
It has been collocated with other four communication satellites INSAT-4A, IRNSS1C, GSAT 12 and GSAT 10.
2. State owed telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to upgrade Broadband speed to minimum 2 Mbps in the country.
3. Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) of South Africa was selected for the 2015 UNEP Champions of the Earth award in the inspiration and action category.
4. As per a new study Antarctic Ocean has been absorbing increasing levels of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) , a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) over the past decade.
The research study was published in journal Science and was undertaken by an international research team led by Nicolas Gruber, a professor at ETH Zurich.
5. Scientists have discovered a new ancestral species in the human family tree dubbed as Homonaledi in South Africa.
The new discovered species were named after the location where it was found i.e. naledi which means star in Sesotho, a local South African language.
Characteristic of Homonaledi Species-
These species are among the first of our kind (genus Homo) and could have lived in Africa up to 3 million years ago.
They have a tiny brain, a primitive pelvis and shoulders.
They have more progressive human like body shape of its skull and have relatively small modern-looking teeth, primitive fingers, modern-looking feet and characteristic long legs.
Important Dates:
1. The International Literacy Day was celebrated on 8th September 2015 across the world. The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 is Literacy and Sustainable Societies.
2. World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was observed on 10th September 2015.
The theme of the World Suicide Prevention Day 2015 is Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives.
3. First Telangana Language Day (Telangana Bhasha Dinosthavam) was observed on 9th September 2015.
The day was observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of noted poet Kaloji Narayana Rao, who was called people’s poet.
The day was observed to popularize Telangana Language which has influence of Deccani Urdu, Marathi and Kannada.
Death:
1. Eminent Bollywood Music composer Aadesh Shrivastava passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was 49 and died due to cancer.
2. Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away in New Delhi following a severe bout of viral fever. He was 86.
3. Hollywood actor John P Connell passed away due to brief illness in Los Angeles. He was 91.