Daily Current Affairs, 26th September 2019

1) World Maritime Day: 26 September

•The United Nations observes 26 September every year as the World Maritime Day. This year the theme for the day is: Empowering women in the maritime community.

•The theme for this years’ World Maritime Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of gender equality, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and to highlight the important yet under-utilized contribution of women within the maritime sector.

2) International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons: 26 September

•The United Nations observes 26 September every year as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

•The day provides an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a priority. It provides an opportunity to educate the public – and their leaders – about the real benefits of eliminating such weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them.

3) J&K becomes first state to issue highest number of golden cards under Ayushman Bharat scheme

•Jammu and Kashmir has become the first state in the country to issue the highest number of golden cards under Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). Over 11 lakh golden cards have been generated within the first 90 days of the launch of the scheme with 60% of families having at least one golden card which is highest in the country.

•Under the scheme, 155 Hospitals including 126 public and 29 private hospitals have been empanelled to provide free and cashless treatment to the entitled beneficiaries while as per Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) 6.30 lakh poor and vulnerable families of J&K are entitled to it.

4) Assam Govt launches “Aponar Apon Ghar” scheme

•The Assam Government has launched a housing loan subsidy scheme “Aponar Apon Ghar”. The scheme was launched to provide financial assistance on purchase or construction of the first house for a family. The subsidy of up to Rs 250000 will be provided for loan amounts from Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 40,00,000. The above scheme is meant for the loan sanctioned in this financial year. The initiative is expected to provide impetus to the economy and led to the expansion of real estate in the state.

•The state government also launched education loan interest subsidy wherein subsidy will be provided to children who have availed education loan for pursuing higher education. The one time subsidy will be of Rs 50,000.

5) Agriculture Minister launches CHC Farm Machinery and KrishiKisan App

•Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched 2 mobile apps named CHC Farm Machinery and KrishiKisan App for geotagging purposes in for easy access of technical agricultural equipment at farmers’ doorstep.

•The government launched a multilingual app-based service CHC Farm Machinery for Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs). This service will facilitate local farmers with the use of shared resources including tractors and other farm machinery at affordable prices. Through KrishiKisan App, the farmer will be provided with information about high-yielding crops and seeds in their nearby area. It helps in geo-tagging and geo-fencing of crop and also gives weather forecast messages to farmers.

6) 23rd edition of “Malabar 2019” naval joint exercise of India, US and Japan

•The 23rd edition of the trilateral maritime exercise of India, Japan and the United States(US) named “Malabar 2019” exercise begun at Sasebo, Japan. India fields 6,100-tonne stealth frigate Indian Navy Ship(INS) Sahyadri, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan along with the first-time deployment of Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

•The United States fields Arleigh Burke-class destroyer United States Ship (USS) McCampbell, amphibious warship USS Green Bay and a Los Angeles class nuclear fast attack submarine, while Japan fields 27,000-tonne Izumo-class helicopter carrier JS Kaga, destroyer Samidare and cruiser Chokai.

7) IMF elects Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva as its new chief

•Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva has been selected as the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She will succeed Christine Lagarde.

•Kristalina Georgieva had previously served as the chief executive of the World Bank. She will also become the first person from an emerging economy to lead the IMF.

8) EC appoints Madhuri Dixit as goodwill ambassador for Maharashtra Assembly polls

•Actor Madhuri Dixit has been chosen as “goodwill ambassador” by the Chief Electoral Office in Maharashtra to create awareness among people about the importance of voting. She will be seen in a video titled ‘Let’s Vote” speaking about the democratic process and role of voters in the development of the country.

9) India International Science Festival to be held in Kolkata

•The 5th edition of India International Science Festival (IISF) will be held in Kolkata from November 5-8. IISF is the largest science festival in the world. The focus will be on youth to inspire and motivate them to learn real science in motion. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘RISEN India – Research, Innovation, and Science Empowering the Nation’.

•The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Medical Research and the Ministry of Earth Sciences are major government sponsoring bodies for the event. The IISF will also host 28 different events such as Agriculture Scientists’ Meet, Vigyan Samagam, Young Scientists Conference, Vigyanika-International Science Literature Festival, International Science Film Festival of India.

10) ADB cuts India growth forecast to 6.5% for 2019-20

•The Asian Development Bank has slashed its growth forecast for India for fiscal  year 2019-20 to 6.5% from 7%. The bank lowered the growth rate because of weaker growth in the first quarter due to a slowdown in consumption and investment activities that hit manufacturing and service sectors.