Daily Current Affairs, 04th September 2018

1) President 3 Nation Visit: India And Cyprus Sign Key Agreements In Various Fields

•India and Cyprus signed key agreements in various fields cementing bilateral ties after delegation-level talks between President Ram Nath Kovind and his Cyprus counterpart Nicos Anastasiades in Nicosia. Both countries also agreed to expand cooperation in the fields of IT, tourism, shipping and renewable energy. 

•One of MoUs was signed between Financial Intelligence Unit of India and Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus. Another MoU was signed for cooperation in the field of environment. Cyprus reaffirmed its support to India for its membership of the Nuclear Supplier's Group (NSG).

2) India Along With 23 Other Nations Participates In Tsunami Mock Drill

•India along with 23 other nations participated in a major Indian ocean-wide tsunami mock drill which will involve evacuation of thousands of people from coastal areas in over half a dozen coastal states. The exercise, known as 'IOWave18', is being organised by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, which coordinated the setting up of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in the aftermath of December 2004 tsunami. 

•The primary objective of IOWave18 exercise is to enhance tsunami preparedness at community level. The purpose of exercise is to increase tsunami preparedness, evaluate response capabilities in each state and improve coordination throughout the region.

3) India To Have ‘One-Nation-One-Card’ Policy For Transport Soon: NITI Aayog

•NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant announced that India will shortly unveil a One Nation-One Card policy for public transport that will entail connectivity between various modes of transport. The announcement was made at a function on Future Mobility Summit-2018 in New Delhi. 

•The road transportation segment alone contributes to around 4% of country’s GDP with the segment still being heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The objective of the strategy is to plan for the citizens of India first, rather than focussing on vehicles alone, by providing sustainable mobility and accessibility. 

4) Rajasthan Government To Provide Free Mobile Phones To Women Of BPL Families

•In a bid to boost Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship 'Digital India' campaign, Rajasthan government will soon distribute mobile phones to women under the Bhamashah Yojana. Focused on women who fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL), the scheme aims to transfer financial and non-financial benefits of government schemes in a transparent manner.

•The Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje-led government in Rajasthan stated that they are making efforts to launch new applications so that the poor can receive all benefits by simply pushing a button on their cell phones. The state government will also provide free Wifi facilities to as many as 5,000 gram panchayats to ensure that the state is well connected with the outside world. 

5) September: National Nutrition Month Being Celebrated Across Country

•The National Nutrition Month (September) is being celebrated across the country to mark the fight against malnutrition. During this month, various programmes have been organized by the Women and Child Development Ministry to spread broad awareness on the issues related to malnutrition like stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight in children. 

•The decision to celebrate September as the National Nutrition Month every year was taken during the second meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under the Poshan Abhiyaan held in July 2018. 

6) International Aviation Summit Held In New Delhi

•The International Aviation Summit began in New Delhi, India. The seminar has been jointly organised by theAirports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

•Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu announced that the Civil Aviation Ministry is coming up with Vision 2035 under which it plans to build 100 new airports across India in the next 10-15 years with an investment of USD 60 billion and address the major issues concerning aviation industry such as airport infrastructure, taxation and use of technology. 

7) Banks With Over 10 Branches To Have Internal Ombudsman: RBI

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked all scheduled commercial banks with more than 10 branches to appoint an Internal Ombudsman (IO). The apex bank has, however, excluded regional rural banks (RRBs)from appointing IOs. 

•The internal ombudsman scheme was introduced by the RBI to strengthen the internal grievance of banks and to ensure that the complaints of the customers are redressed. In order to further enhance the independence of the IO and also to strengthen the monitoring system over the functioning of the IO mechanism, the central bank said it has reviewed the arrangement in the form of ‘Internal Ombudsman Scheme, 2018’. 

8) Anjum, Apurvi Becomes 1st Set Of Indian Shooters To Secure Quota Places For 2020 Olympics

•Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela have become the first set of Indian shooters to secure quota places for the 2020 Olympics. 

•Anjum finished second on the podium and won a silver in the women’s 10m air rifle event of the International Shooting Sports Federation’s (ISSF) World Championship in Changwon, South Korea. Apurvi finished fourth in the same event.