State-run banks will kick off mega credit campaigns across the country.

State-run banks will kick off mega credit campaigns across the country.

- State-run banks will kick off mega credit campaigns across the country on Friday to give a push to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

-This (campaign) will not only generate greater credit to micro enterprises but also create a sound ecosystem subsequently for bank credit to aspiring entrepreneurs especially small and micro entrepreneurs.

- The campaigns will run till October 2.

-All state-run banks, regional rural banks and private banks together have a target of 1.22 lakh crore during the current financial year for disbursement to small and micro enterprises up to 10 lakh.

-Mudra has been established as a subsidiary of SIDBI , with an initial corpus of Rs 5,000 crore to provide refinance to all banks seeking refinancing of small business loans under PMMY.

- As of September 22, a total of 35.60 lakh borrowers have availed of credit under Mudra to the tune Rs 24,123 crore. Of these, 52 per cent of beneficiaries are women and about 50 per cent new  enterprises.

-PMMY loans do not need to be supported by collateral security.

Spice Route.

Spice Route.

The Spice Routes, also known as Maritime Silk Roads, is the name given to the network of sea routes that link the East with the West. They stretch from the west coast of Japan, through the islands of Indonesia, around India to the lands of the Middle East - and from there, across the Mediterranean to Europe. It is a distance of over 15,000 kilometres and, even today, is not an easy journey. From our very earliest history, people have travelled the Spice Routes. At first, they probably ventured only short distances from their home ports but over the centuries their ships sailed further and further across seas and oceans. They braved treacherous seas and eventual hostile reception on arrival in an unknown land. These journeys were not undertaken purely in the spirit of adventure - the
driving force behind them was trade. The Spice Routes were, and still are, first and foremost trade routes. Since ancient times, trade has had an important role in human life. When we buy something we are trading, exchanging one item (usually money) for another. However, our purchase is the final link in a long chain of buyers and sellers: from the supplier of raw materials, to the manufacturer, to the wholesaler, to the shop - and if the
goods we buy come from abroad there may be several other stages in between.
The journey of the goods between all these links in the chain is what is called a trade route.

In the case of the Spice Routes the links were formed by traders buying and
selling goods from port to port. The principal and most profitable goods they traded in were spices - giving the
routes their name. As early as 2000 BC, spices such as cinnamon from Sri Lanka and cassia from China found their way along the Spice Routes to the Middle East. Other goods were exchanged too - cargoes of ivory, silk, porcelain, metals and dazzling gemstones brought great
profits to the traders who were prepared to risk the dangerous sea journeys. But precious goods were not the only points of exchange between the traders. Perhaps more important was the exchange of knowledge: knowledge of new peoples and their religions, languages, expertise, artistic and scientific skills. The ports along the
Maritime Silk Roads (Spice Routes) acted as melting pots for ideas and information. With every ship that swept out with a cargo of valuables on board, fresh knowledge was carried over the seas to the ship's next port of call.

Today, it may seem strange that the demand for spices was the main reason for such large-scale trade across
such long distances. One probably thinks of them simply as flavouring for food. Yet, the word “spice” comes from the Latin species, which means an item of special value, as compared to ordinary articles of trade.

Travelling these long distances becomes understandable if one considers the fact that many of the important spices had ritual and medical values and could only grow in the tropical East, from South of China to Indonesia as well as southern India and Sri Lanka. In particular, they grew in the Moluccas or, as they are better known, the Spice Islands. These are a chain of mountainous islands strung out in the Pacific Ocean between Sulawesi (Celebes) and New Guinea. From here came the fragrant spices of cloves and nutmeg which grew nowhere else in the world. To reach the spice markets found across Asia and Europe, the spices had to be transported thousands of kilometres over the seas.
One may never discover how people came to know and value these spices which grew so far away. As trading
links from Indonesia fanned out through south and Central Asia, they met with links that spread from the Middle East
and the north. Goods were exchanged and traders would return to their homeland carrying the beautifully scented, exotic spices. Perhaps it was their strangeness and rarity that led great medicinal and spiritual values to be attributed to them. From ancient times, spices were burned as incense in religious ceremonies, purifying the air and
carrying the prayers of the people heavenward to their gods. They were also added to healing ointments and to
potions drunk as antidotes to poisons. To hide the many household smells, people burned spices daily in their homes. They were used as cooking ingredients very early on - not only to add flavour but also to make the food, which was often far from fresh, palatable, particularly in
hot climates. Myths and legends were woven around these exotic substances. They were linked to strange beasts like the phoenix, giant eagles, serpents and dragons. In the Fifth Century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote how the
spice cassia grew in a lake “infested by winged creatures  like bats, which screeched alarmingly and were very
pugnacious”. Some of these stories were probably created by the traders who, wishing to protect their profits, tried to
hide the sources of the spices. The profits to be made from spices were considerable. They were small and dried, and consequently could be transported easily. The wealth of the spice trade brought great power and influence and, over the centuries, bloody battles were fought to win control of it and the routes along which it took place.

Something About Solar Energy in India.

Solar power in India.

Upcoming world's largest solar power plant in India
A 4,000MW Ultra Mega Green Solar Power Project (UMPP) is being built near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan. Upon Completion, it would be world's largest Solar Power Plant. It is expected to be built in 4 phases, with the first phase likely to be commissioned by the end of 2016 with 1,000 MW capacity

At present world's largest solar power plant
Currently 392 MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, located in California's Mojave Desert, is the world's largest solar thermal power plant project in operation.

World's largest solar steam system.

Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust in Maharashtra has the world's largest solar steam system.

The system is used to cook 50,000 meals per day for pilgrims visiting the shrine, resulting in annual savings of 100,000 kg of cooking gas and has been designed to generate steam for cooking even in the absence of electricity to run the feed water pump for circulating water in the system. The project to install and
commission the system was completed in seven months and the system has a design life of 25 years.

Largest Solar power plant in India.

The Welspun Solar MP project, the largest solar power plant in India set up at a cost of Rs. 1,100 crore on 305 hectares of land.

Welspun Solar Madhya Pradesh Project India's largest solar power plant.

Leading state in Solar power generation in India

Gujarat. Leader in solar power generation in India and Asia's biggest solar park.

Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation and contributes 2/3rd of the 900 MW of photovoltaics in the country.The State has commissioned Asia's biggest solar park at Charanka village. The park is already generating 2 MW solar power out of its total planned capacity of 500 MW. The park has been functioning on a multi-developers and multi-beneficiaries paradigm and has been awarded for being the most innovative and environment-friendly project by the CII Confederation of Indian Industry.

Asia's biggest solar park in India

Asia's biggest solar park at Charanka village of Gujarat.

Coal. Coal Resources in India.

Coal.

Coal starts off as peat.
After a considerable amount of time, heat, and burial pressure, it is metamorphosed from peat to lignite.

Lignite is considered to be "immature" coal at this stage of development because it is still somewhat light in color and it remains soft.

 As time passes, lignite increases in maturity by becoming darker and harder and is then classified as sub-bituminous coal. As this process of burial and alteration continues, more chemical and physical changes occur and a the coal is classified as bituminous.

At this point the coal is dark and hard. Anthracite is the last of the classifications, and this terminology is used when the coal has reached ultimate maturation.

Anthracite coal is very hard and shiny.

The degree of alteration (or metamorphism) that occurs as a coal matures from peat to anthracite is referred to as the "rank" of the coal. Low-rank coals include lignite and sub-bituminous coals. These coals have a lower energy content because they have a low carbon content. They are lighter (earthier) and have higher moisture levels. As time, heat, and burial pressure all increase, the rank does as well. High-rank coals, including bituminous and anthracite coals, contain more carbon than lower-rank coals which results in a much higher energy content. They have a more vitreous (shiny) appearance and lower moisture content then lower-rank coals.

 Coal Classification

The coal of India may be classified under two categories:
(i) Gondwana coal
(ii) Tertiary coal.


Gondwana Coal 
-The Gondwana coal belongs to the carboniferous period (570 million years to 245 million years back).
-It is found in the Damodar , Mahanadi, Godavari, and Narmada valleys. Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Ramgarh, Giridih, Chandrapur, Karanpura, Tatapani, Talcher, Himgiri, Korba, Penchghati, Sarguja, Kamthi, Wardha Valley, Singreni (A.P.) and Singrauli are some of the important coal mines of the Gondwana formations.
-The Jharguda coal mine (Chhattisgarh) is the thickest coal seam 132 metres of the Gondwana Period, followed by the Kargali seam near Bokaro coalfield which is about 30 metres in thickness.

-- Over 98 per cent of the total coal reserves of India belong to the Gondwana Period. The Gondwana coal is mainly bituminous or anthracite in which the carbon content varies between 60 to 90 per cent.
-The bituminous coal is converted into coke before being used in the iron and steel industry..




The Tertiary: 
-Tertiary coal is found in the rocks of the Oligocene period of the Tertiary Era. It is about 15 to 60 million years old.

-The Tertiary coal is also known as the 'brown coal'.

-The Tertiary coal contributes only about two per cent of the total coal production of the country.

-It is an inferior type of coal in which the carbon varies between 30 per cent in Gujarat and Rajasthan to 50 per cent in Assam. Lignite coal is found in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat (Kachchh) Kerala, ammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal (Darjeeling District).


--The largest lignite deposits of the country are at Neyveli in the state of Tamil NadU



Jharia Coal Mine.

- Jharia is in Dhanbad district in Jharkhand state, India.
- Jharia is famous for its rich coal resources, used to make coke.
- The coal field lies in the Damodar River Valley, and covers about 110 square miles (280 square km).
- Produces bituminous coal suitable for coke.


Bokaro Coal mine.

West Bokaro Coalfield is located in Hazaribagh and Ramgarh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.



 Ramgarh coal mine.
Ramgarh Coalfield are located in Ramgarh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.



List of imp coal mines in Jharkhand.
-Jharia.
-Ramgarh
-Giridih
-Tatapani


 Coal Mines of Madhya Pradesh.
- Penchghati
- Singrauli


Coal mines of Odisha
Talcher
Himgiri

Chandrapur Black Gold City of Maharashtra .


The top 3 Coal producing states are:

1. Orissa - Talcher in Angul district
2. Chhattisgarh
3. Jharkhand (Largest )





 Nationalization of coal mines - 1973

India is the 3rd largest coal producing country in the world after China and USA.

Coal Producing companies.

Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Sanctoria, West Bengal


Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Dhanbad, Jharkhand


Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Ranchi, Jharkhand


South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Bilaspur, Chattisgarh


Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Nagpur, Maharashtra


Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh


Mahanadi Coalfields Limtied (MCL), Sambalpur, Orissa


Coal India Africana Limitada, Mozambique


The consultancy company is Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), Ranchi, Jharkhand.




Coal India Limited is a Maharatna Company.

Full list of Maharatna Companies.

1 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
2 Coal India Limited
3 GAIL (India) Limited
4 Indian Oil Corporation Limited
5 NTPC Limited
6 Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited
7 Steel Authority of India Limited


 Maharatna status, which raises a company's investment ceiling from Rs. 1,000 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore The Maharatna firms can decide on investments of up to 15 per cent of their net worth in a project; the Navaratna companies could invest up to Rs 1,000 crore without explicit government approval.

Crude oil producing regions in India.

Crude oil producing regions in India.

1 Western Coast-  
The Bombay High (Largest Oil producing region of India, Located at 176 km north weat of Mumbai),
Bassein Oil Field( It lies south of Bombay High)
Aliabet Oil Field (It is on Aliabet island  at 45km from Bhavnanagr)

2. Gujarat Coast.
- Ankaleshwar Region (Located at Barauch District),
- Cambay Luni Region (Located at 60km west of Vadodra).
- Ahmedabad Kalol Region ( It is north of Gulf of Khambat)

3. Brahmaputra Valley.
-  Digboi (Oldest oil producing Field of the country, Located at Dibrugarh district of upper Assam.)
- Naharkatiya Oil Field (32 KM of Digboi on the bank of Dihing River tributary of Brahmaputra River )
-The Moran Hugrijan Field (Located at 40km of South west of Naharkatiya Oil Field)
  

Gir Sanctuary completes 50 yrs as the home to Asiatic lion

Gir Sanctuary completes 50 yrs Home to Asiatic lion

Gir Sanctuary & National Park

India’s State of Gujarat is in the forefront of development, Saurashtra is the westernmost, mainly dry and dough-prone region of Gujarat, and Gir is the jewel of Saurashtra.  Spread over 1412 sq. km. Of undulating land with dry deciduous forest, Gir is best known as the last of the Asiatic lion in the wild.

Over 400 lions, more that 250 leopards, and a number of other carnivores; ungulates crossing that 50,000 mark and 300+ species of birds flitting about among 500 types of tress; more than 2000 species of insects and other lesser know animals green revering patches of forest and dry scrub jungle; That’s Gir National park and Sanctuary a veritable paradise of biological diversity.

Asiatic Lion (Pathera leo persica)

The Asiatic lion once ranges from Iran/Iraq to UP and Bihar in India, the river Narmadawhich it never crossed-marking the southern boundary.  Hunting and loss of habitant caused its disappearance everywhere except in Gir.  Protection given by the Nawab of Junagadh and after independence, by the Gujarat State Forest Department has brought this magnificent animal back from the brick of extinction in the wild.

The Gir Sanctuary was created in 1965 and part of it was declared a National Park in 1975.

The Asiatic lion is some what different from the African lion.  Its mean is smaller, and it has a prominent belly-fold.  In Gir its main prey based comprises chital, sambar, wild boar.

Biological diversity

Gir National Park and Sanctuary harbours an amazing variety of life and habitats, besides the widely know Asiatic lion.

National Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).

PM Modi launches IPDS to ensure 24-hour power supply to every household

- With a goal to provide 24-hour power supply to each and every house of the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launches the National Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).

- Under IPDS, Varanasi will get 572 crore rupees. To start the scheme in Varanasi, foundation stone of two power substation were laid.

- IPDS is the beginning to make Varanasi a smart city and appealed to the people to use LED bulbs in order to reduce their electricity bills.

G4.

G4.

The G4 nations comprising Brazil , Germany , India , and Japan are four countries which support each other's bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security
Council .

G4's primary aim is the permanent member seats on the UN Security Council

Unlike the G7 , where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives. . Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN's establishment.


G4 Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are going to be in New York in the last week of September.

Indo US. Joint Challenge Coin.

Indo US. Joint Challenge Coin.

-India and the US have created a "joint challenge coin" to symbolise their unique partnership in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy.


-One side of the coin reads

 "Forward Together We Go"
 and
"Chale Chale Saath Saath" in Hindi which is the vision statement of US President Barack Obama Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued in their first meeting at the White House last September.


-The other side of this coin, which is golden in colour, has the flags of India and the United States and an aircraft carrier floating on blue water.


-The "joint challenge coin" was created by the joint working
group at their first meeting in US last month "to symbolise partnership"

-During Obama's visit to India in January, the two countries had announced the establishment of a working group for a next-generation aircraft carrier to bolster the Indian Navy'sblue-water capabilities, which held its first-ever meeting here last month.

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

 Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)


Union Government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) for the welfare of people affected by mining related operations.

The new scheme is meant to provide for the welfare of people and areas affected by mining related operations by using the funds collected by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).

 About Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)...

Aim: Mitigate the adverse impacts due to mining operation on the health and environment. It also seeks to ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

Objective: To implement various welfare and developmental projects in mining affected areas by complementing the existing ongoing schemes of State and Central Government; To mitigate and minimize the adverse impacts during and after mining on the health, environment and socio-economics of people in mining districts. To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods to people in areas affected by mining.

DMF spending: 60 per cent of the DMFs will be spent on high priority areas including health care, education, drinking water supply, sanitation and skill development of the affected people. Rest of the funds will be spent on infrastructure developmental projects such as making roads, railways, bridges, waterways projects, irrigation and alternative energy sources. About District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 has mandated in setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all districts in the country affected by mining related operations. Union government also has notified the rates of contribution payable by miners to the DMFs along with launching PMKKKY.

 In case of mining leases granted before 12th January 2015 (on this date Amendment Act came into force) miners have to contribute 30 per cent of the royalty payable by them to DMFs. While, in case of mining leases executed after 12th January 2015, miners have to contribute 10 per cent of the royalty.

PM launches financial inclusion initiative in Varanasi

PM launches financial inclusion initiative in Varanasi

• Distributes, e-rickshaws, pedal rickshaws
• Beneficiaries to get Jan Dhan Accounts and RuPay cards
• PM interacts with beneficiaries, shares their dreams with people

-A total of 101 e-rickshaws, 501 pedal rickshaws, and push-carts are being given as part of this initiative.
-The beneficiaries will also get bank accounts and RuPay cards under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
-The e-rickshaws are equipped with digital gadgets including GPRS and cameras.

The initiative has been synergized through various financial institutions including SIDBI, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank and the American India Foundation.

Nuakhai or Nuankhai.

Nuakhai or Nuankhai.

It is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India.

 Nuakhai is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. According to the Hindu calendar it is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

Indian Railways Develops Hybrid Vacuum Toilets

Indian Railways Develops Hybrid Vacuum Toilets 

One Prototype is Fitted in a Coach of Dibrugarh Rajdhani for Trail

-Development Cell of the Railway Board has come up with a design that combines the advantages of Vacuum toilets and those of Biotoilets to create a new design of “Hybrid Vacuum Toilet”.

- A prototype has been made by modifying the standard flushing protocol of a vacuum toilet so as to create water seal and additional post flush cycles and this concept has been converted into a working prototype by Indian Railways as a first ever system of its kind to have been developed and built by any railway system in the world.


- This newly developed toilet has been fitted in one coach No. 153002/C FAC that is running in Dibrugarh Rajdhani for trail.

-Custom designed Vacuum toilet adapted from a commercially available vacuum toilet that is used in aircrafts which evacuates its discharge into a biodigester tank which is now successfully proven in the biotoilets of Indian Railways.

-The biodigester tank is fitted underneath the coach and contains anaerobic bacteria that converts human fecal matter into water and small amount of gases before discharging the same on the ground/track

India-Cambodia sign 2 MOUs.

Vice Prez Hamid Ansari in Cambodia, India-Cambodia sign 2 MOUs.

The two countries signed two MoUs - one on tourism and the other on "quick impact projects".

Under the MoU on "quick impact projects" undertaken by India, there were five projects in all as part of the Mekong- Ganga Cooperation initiative.

Both sides also discussed possibilities of shoring up of trade and investment, and agreed that the bilateral investment protection agreement must be signed as soon as possible.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, is on a 4 day visit to south east asian countries.

Multidose vial of Diclofenac banned.

Environment Ministry bans multidose vial of Diclofenac to save vultures .

Diclofenac.
It is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) taken or applied to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in certain conditions. It is supplied as or contained in medications under a variety of trade names.


-The commonly-used anti-inflammatory drug for cattle is considered the chief cause for the steep decline in the number of vultures in recent years. 
-The drug is harmless to the cattle it is administered to, but is fatal for the vultures, who routinely feed on the carcass of dead cattle. 
-Studies have shown that the drug causes kidney and liver failure in vultures. 

-Earlier, in 2006, the Government of India had imposed a ban on the use of Diclofenac for treating cattle.

Current Affairs. 11th to 14th September 2015.

- According to a World Bank Report 2015 on Ease of Doing of Business.
_Gujarat bags top slot. AP, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh & MP among first 5 .
_The report assesses implementation status of 98-point reform measures across the following eight areas: Setting up a business, Allotment of land and obtaining construction permit, Complying with environment procedures, Complying with labour regulations, Obtaining infrastructure related utilities, Registering and complying with tax procedures, Carrying out inspections and Enforcing contracts.

- China has build the world's longest solar park in Pakistan. Pakistan will get about 100 MW electricity with the help of this solar park. China has installed around 400,000 solar panels to build the world's longest Solar Park. The park is being installed on 200 hectares.

- Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has proposed projects under these two categories worth Rs.1,087 cr for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry during the current financial year. Under the State Annual Action Plan, AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT cities in Rajasthan.

- The UN General Assembly gave its overwhelming approval to a Palestinian resolution which permits the flag of Palestine to fly at the UN Headquarters in New York, despite this country not being a member of the UN.

- India and Australia began their first bilateral naval exercise that will focus on anti-submarine warfare as the two countries look at deepening defence cooperation especially in the Indian Ocean. AUSINDEX-15 is being conducted off the east coast of India from September 11-19.

- Obituary.
Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away in New Delhi. He was 86. Iyer was known for forming an expert committee on water policy and environmental issues. His last held position was that of an honorary research professor at the Centre for Policy Research. Prior to that, Iyer served as Secretary of Water Resources in the central government as an officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service.

- The Indian government has approved the purchase of 10 missile-armed drones from Israel — a crucial acquisition that will enhance India's cross-border military strike capability. Government approved this $400-million proposal for buying armed Heron TP drones from Israel. These drones will be operated by the Indian Air Force.

- All about Mooshak.
_Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Hindi networking site, 'Mooshak' envisaged on the lines of popular English social media platform Twitter in the 10th World Hindi Conference. This new networking site is targeted at Hindi language buffs. According to the Hindi networking site's CEO Anurag Gaud the word limit on Twitter is 140, while in 'Mooshak' it is 500 words. 'Mooshak' can be accessed on smart-phones by downloading it from Google Play Store or visiting its website of the same name. The Madhya Pradesh capital is hosting the 10th World Hindi Conference from September 10 to 12. The three-day meet is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

- The Union Cabinet allowed 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operation. White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and operate their own brand of ATMs. Till date, foreign investment in White Label ATM Operations (WLAO), was allowed through the government approval route. This required some processing time and projects were delayed. The move to allow 100% FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operations is expected to promote financial inclusion in the country.

- Axis Bank has launched the mobile wallet app 'LIME'  to shop, pay and bank

Axis Bank will allow customers   both account and non-account holders  to compare and shop, split bills, transfer money and even share their mobile banking wallets. This will be through the lender's mobile banking app, 'LIME'. The country's third-largest private sector lender launched the app.

- Indian scientists decode Tulsi plant genome
_BY- A multi-institutional team led by Sowdhamini Ramanathan from the National Centre of Biological Science, Bengaluru.
_ First report of draft genome
_The genome map will help in making new medicines using the plant.
_Tulsi to make ursolic acid a medically important compound
_The plant synthesises a wide range of bioactive compounds, known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic and anti-cancer properties.
_These compounds are metabolites, compounds that are a by-product of plant metabolism, typically used for plant self-defence. These metabolites are very poorly understood because of lack of genomic information.

- All about Paryushana Parv.
Paryushana Parv Celebrated across India
_Paryushana  Parv is an important Jain festival celebrated by the Jain community in the month of August or September.
_Normally Svetambaras refer to it as Paryushana, while Digambaras refer it as Das Lakshana.
_Paryushana means "abiding, coming together". The duration of Paryusana is for eight days for Swetambar jains and ten days for jains belonging to the Digambara sect.
_Paryusana is a time when the laity take on vows of study and fasting with a spiritual intensity similar to temporary monasticism.
Recently, Bombay HC upheld the ban at Mumbai but ban takes place in other part of the country includes Ahmedabad, J&K etc.
On 14 March 2008, The Supreme Court of India upheld the ban on slaughter houses in Ahmedabad during Paryushan festival for 8 days .
_The date for the Paryushana festival is Bhadra shukla chaturthi. For this minimum duration, Paryushana must be initiated by panchami (the fifth day) of the shukla paksha phase of Bhadra._
_The last day is called Samvatsari, short for Samvatsari Pratikramana.
_During the 8day festival, the Svetambaras Murtipujaki recite the Kalpa Sūtra, which includes a recitation of the section on birth of Mahavira on the fifth day. Some Śvētāmbara Sthanakvasis recite the Antagada Sutra, which details the life of great men and women who attained moksha during the eras of Neminatha and Mahavira.

- Indian-American Jagdeep Grewal sworn-in as the first woman postmaster of Sacramento city in California. With her swearing-in, Sacramento got a female postmaster after a span of 166 years.

- 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.

- Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, an eminent missile scientist of DRDO conferred with prestigious Silver Medal by London based Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS).

- Largest volcano of Japan Mount Aso Volcano erupted .
_The 1592-metre Mount Aso is one of the most active peaks in Japan but is also a popular hiking spot.
_It is also the second largest mountain in Japan and is one of the biggest calderas in the world, encompassing an area 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north to south and 18 kilometers (11.2 miles) east to west.
_ Japan is located in a horseshoe-shaped band of fault lines and volcanoes running around the edges of the Pacific Ocean known as Ring of Fire. There are over 100 active volcanoes in the area.

- TN to set up Tamil Nadu Fibernet Corporation to implement the Union Government's Bharatnet scheme.
_The corporation will be established at an estimated cost of 3000 crore rupees and will oversee the linkage of 12524 villages in the state through optical fibre network.

- Axis Bank has launched the mobile wallet app 'LIME'  to shop, pay and bank
_Axis Bank will allow customers   both account and non-account holders  to compare and shop, split bills, transfer money and even share their mobile banking wallets. This will be through the lender's mobile banking app, 'LIME'. The country's third-largest private sector lender launched the app.

- Indian scientists decode Tulsi plant genome
BY- A multi-institutional team led by Sowdhamini Ramanathan from the National Centre of Biological Science, Bengaluru.
_First report of draft genome
_ The genome map will help in making new medicines using the plant.
_ Tulsi to make ursolic acid a medically important compound
_ The plant synthesises a wide range of bioactive compounds, known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic and anti-cancer properties.
_ These compounds are metabolites, compounds that are a by-product of plant metabolism, typically used for plant self-defence. These metabolites are very poorly understood because of lack of genomic information.

- Renowned Hindi writer Uday Prakash has returned his Sahitya Akademi Award as protest against the recent killing of Kannada litterateur M.M. Kalburgi, and in disapproval of the national literary body's deafening silence over the assaults on writers. The 63-year-old writer had received the award in 2010 for his creation 'Mohandas'

21st Law Commission of India (LCI).

The Union Cabinet  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 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2018.
- Composition Chairperson (full-time), Four Members (full-time). It will include a Member-Secretary. 3 Secretaries: Department of Legal Affairs, Legislative Department and Legislative Department as ex offcio Members.

-Up to 5 part-time Members Functions Undertake research in existing laws by reviewing them for making reforms therein and enacting new legislations.
-Undertake studies and research to bring reforms in the justice delivery systems in the country in order to eliminate the delays in procedures, speedy disposal of cases and cost reduction of litigations etc.
-Suggest enactment of new legislations to implement the Directive Principles and attain the various objectives enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution. Prepare and submit reports to the Union Government on all matters, issues, studies and research undertaken by it.
-These reports should recommend effective measures to be undertaken by the Union or any State government.


Background
- The Law Commission of India (LCI) is a non-statutory and non-constitutional body constituted by the Union Government from time to time.
-The first commission was constituted in 1955 and since then various commissions were re-constituted every three years. So far, various Law Commissions have submitted 262 reports in which they were able to make important contribution towards codification and progressive development of laws of the country.

-The 20th LCI was headed by Justice A P Shah, Former Chief Justice (CJ) of Delhi High Court and its tenure ended on 31 August, 2015.

"Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)" - a corporate level recycling program.

"Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)" - a corporate level recycling program. Launched in - 2007 Launched by - The Paperboards & Specialty Papers business of ITC Focus - Focused on creating scalable solutions for spreading awareness about recycling, encouraging people to segregate & dispose waste responsibly and creating sustainable livelihoods for people working as rag pickers

About. -Wealth out of waste (WOW) – a recycling program launched by ITC – is being received well by the citizens in various southern cities and towns and the company has plans to extend it to the whole country,

 -As against 60-70 per cent of the waste being recycled in the West (the US and Europe), only 14 per cent gets recycled in India.

 -Even China and other Asian countries are better placed, with 25-30 per cent recycling, - Studies are being carried out to explore viability of converting waste plastic to fuel.

   Environmental hazards -

“Roughly, 60 per cent of the waste generated in households consists of paper and the rest, metal, plastics and other things.

 - Awareness of the public about the two-bin system – segregation of waste into two categories (recyclable and the rest) at source. Implementation of the programme in some of the cities and towns in Andhra Pradesh




Generated quantity
-Every day, 4,200 tonnes of waste were being generated in Hyderabad, of which 1,200 tonnes could be recycled.

 Mumbai generating 6,800 tonnes (2,000 tonnes); Kolkata 5,500 tonnes (1,600); Chennai 4,500 tonnes (1,300); New Delhi 6,000 tonnes (1,800) and Bangalore 4,000 tonnes (1,200).


-In all parts of Hyderabad city, ITC, along with Ramky, was implementing the wealth out of waste programme. - “As an incentive, citizens have been receiving Rs. 4 a kg of recyclable waste collected and as a result, those areas are looking much cleaner”.


 -Each individual household is getting roughly Rs. 200-250 a month Extending to other cities -ITC taking up the programme in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and it would be extended to the other cities and sought the co-operation of civic bodies, NGOs and other corporates.

-“Economically, ecologically, the programme will pay rich dividends. Recycling is absolutely essential to conserve precious natural resources and to preserve the planet for the posterity,”


-Roughly 900 tonnes of waste were being generated every day in the city and scientific processing of the waste was becoming difficult but ITC has come into the picture with its initiative problem can be summed upto some stage. The company will collect the waste without any charge

Current Affairs. 9th and 10th September 2015.

Nub Current Affairs. 9th and 10th September 2015.

Cabinet allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for white label ATM operations,  aimed at promoting financial inclusion.
_White labeled ATMs are set up by private non-bank companies that own and operate their own brand of ATMs.
_Any non-bank entity intending to set up WLAs should have a minimum net worth of Rs 100 crore as per the latest financial year's audited balance sheet, which is to be maintained at all times
_-White label ATM operators in the country include Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd , Muthoot Finance and Vakrangee Software .Currently, there are over 1.82 lakh ATMs operated by 54 public, private and foreign banks in the country.In 2014-15, FDI into the country increased by 27 per cent to $30.93 billion.

- The Union Cabinet has approved additional dearness allowance, DA of 6% for central government employees.
With this announcement the total DA will go upto 119% from 113% .
_The hike will take effect from 1st of July.
_It will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners. As per the agreed formula, the DA rate increase is an average of 12-month consumer price Index-industrial workers from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

- Twitter-like Hindi networking site 'Mooshak' launched
_'Mooshak' is envisaged on the lines of popular English social media platform
_This new networking site is targeted at Hindi language buffs.
_The word limit on Twitter is 140, while in 'Mooshak' it is 500 words
_'Mooshak' can be accessed on smart-phones by downloading it from Google Play Store or visiting its website of the same name

- Koshyari Committee.
-Report On Grant Of One Rank One Pension
-In 2011, the Petitions Committee of the Indian Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, known as the Koshyari Committee after its Chairman, a veteran member of the BJP, examined the issue of grant of OROP to Armed Forces Personnel and submitted its report on 19 December 2011.
_The concept includes “bridging the gap between the rate of pension of the current pensioners and the past pensioners, and also future enhancements in the rate of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners
_Koshiari Committee. The chairman of a parliamentary committee in 2011, BJP MP from Uttarakhand Bhagat Singh Koshiari.
_The Koshiari committee had calculated6Rs.1,300 crore. But later on FM Arun Jaitley calculated it would incur a cost of Rs.8,000 crore annually.

- Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand appointed as full time NITI aayog member.

- Pakistan SC ordered adoption of Urdu as official language.

- US Open: Doubles delight for India as Sania Mirza, Leander Paes reach Finals. Interesting to note that both have same partner Swiss Martina Hingis, one in Women's Doubles and others as Mixed Doubles.

- Indian Space Research Organisation received the "Gandhi Peace Prize 2014", presented by President of India.

- BSE of India has highest number of listed companies in the world: WFE World Federation of Exchanges.
_World Federation of Exchanges (WEF),in the first week of Sept 2015,announced that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number of listed companies in the world.

- World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was observed on 10 September 2105. The theme
of the World Suicide Prevention Day 2015 is Preventing Suicide: Reaching Out and Saving Lives.
_The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health, to host World Suicide Prevention Day. Since 2003,
the day is annually observed on 10
September.

- 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.

- INS Vajrakosh 2015 Commissioned .
_The INS Vajrakosh was on 9 September 2015 commissioned by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at Karwar, Karnataka. INS Vajrakosh is the latest establishment of the Indian Navy.
_Indian Naval Station (INS) Vajrakosh was constructed as the second phase of Project Seabird, which was initiated by the Centre in1985. INS Kadamba had been the first phase commissioned earlier.
_Together with INS Kadamba 20 km away,INS Vajrakosh is now the world's largest naval base east of the Suez Canal.
_Karwar Base is the third naval base of Indian Navy in the Western Sea Board, the other two are Bombay, Cochin Harbours.

- The Union Cabinet on 9 September 2015 gave its approval for the Constitution of the 21st Law Commission of India.
_The formation of the commission was necessitated as the term of the 20th law commission ended on 31 August 2015. It was headed by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah.
_The 21st law commission will be functional for a period of three years between 1 September 2015 and 31 August 2018 and will consist of
_A full-time Chairperson;
Four full-time Members (including a Member-Secretary)
_Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio member
Secretary, Legislative Department as ex - officio member
_Not more than five part-time Members.

- Bollywood actor Anupam Kher conferred with the Honoured Guest of Texas award for his
contribution to the cinema and the world of art.

Current Affairs. 8th September 2015.

Nub of Current Affairs. 8th September 2015.

- India announced an aid of 5 lakh dollars to Jordan, so that Jordan can cope up with Syrian refugee problem effectively

- Britain's Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. The final race was held at Monza near Milan in Italy.

GIM 2015. GLOBAL INVESTER MEET - Tamil Nadu.
_The Global Investors Meet, Tamil Nadu biggest industrial venture, is expected to generate more than 1,50,000 jobs in the NEXT three years.
_Of the 100 MoUs that will be
signed at the two-day event, a few would be operational by end of this year.
_Mega and Ultramega projects in phased manner to be start in Tamil Nadu.
-e - commerce firms to invest in Tamil Nadu
_The UK is delighted to be
partner country for the first ever GIM. UK remains by far the largest G20 investor in India.”
_Global Inventors Meet (GIM) 2015 aims to attract more than Rs 1 lakh crore (USD 16 billion) into Tamil Nadu. The government
earmarked Rs 100 crore for  event.
_Major Focus.
The focus sectors of this event are
Aerospace; Agro & Food Processing;Automobile and Auto Components; Electronic Hardware; Heavy Engineering,
Infrastructure; IT & ITES; Renewable Energy; Skill Development; Textiles and Apparels; Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology;Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Minerals.
More than 5,000 people including chambers of commerce, IAS officers, district officers and the police are involved in the
preparations of GIM.

-International Literacy Day 8th September.
_International Literacy Day is being
celebrated across the world on 8
September
_2015 Theme  "literacy and sustainable societies".
_The day was designated as such by UNESCO and first observed in 1966.
_UNESCO Literacy stats for India. Till 2014.
_India's adult literacy rate is 63%.
Despite improving from a level of just 48% in 1991, India still ha a relatively low literacy rate — especially compared to other major emerging markets in Asia.
_A relatively low literacy rate is a severe disadvantage as countries try to advance their economic prospects.
_A particularly dire aspect of India's illiteracy problem is the large gap between male and female literacy.
_About 75% of Indian men had at least a basic level of literacy — 24 percentage points higher than the 51% literacy rate for women.
_The gender gap is lower — but still wide — for young Indians. The 88% literacy rate for young Indian men is 14 points higher than the 74% rate for young women.
_All over the world, women account foralmost two-thirds (496 million) of the illiterate adults worldwide.
_More than one-third of all women
around the world who are illiterate are Indian women (187 million).
_Worldwide, there are only ten countries in which the number of illiterate adults exceeds ten million
_India a (286million),
China (54 million),
Pakistan (52 million),
Bangladesh (44 million),
Nigeria (41million),
Ethiopia (27 million),
Egypt (15 million),
Brazil (13 million),
Indonesia (12 million)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (12 million).
_These ten countries were home to 556 million — or more than two-thirds —of the 781 million illiterate adults worldwide.

- Bhupen Hazarika 82nd Birth Anniversary.
_A multifaceted genius, Bhupen Hazarika was more than a singer from Assam
_ He was the only pioneer of
Assam's film industry in the northeast.
_Bhupen Hazarika was an Indian lyricist, musician, singer, poet and film-maker from Assam. He was
born on Sept 8, 1926 in Sadiya, Assam.
_He is the lone winner of the Dada Sahib Phalke Award (1992) – the highest honour in the
country's field of cinema – along with the Sangeet Ratna honour of the Sangeet Natak Akademi
(2009) from Assam which were conferred on him for his lifetime contributions to the Indian cinema
and music respectively.

- Earth observation satellite NISAR.
_Launch Time.
India ISRO and US NASA set a target of 2021 to put their collaborative earth observation satellite NISAR in orbit
_Launch Satellite.
One of the GSLV Mark II will carry NASA's satellite NISAR in 2021
_About.
NISAR Mission (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Mission) will be a dedicated mission to optimally measure
intrinsic changes of the Earth's surface associated with motions of the crust and ice surfaces.

- BSNL to provide minimum 2mbps broadband Internet speed from 512 kbps to all its customers at no additional costs.

-  Arun Jaitley launched the electronic version of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), which document the leader's life from 1884 till his demise on January 30, 1948.

-Indian Apurvi Chandela bags silver at ISSF World Cup Finals at Munich Germany.

- J Manjula appoints new Director General (DG - Electronics Communications Systems) of DRDO, becomes first ever female to hold this post.

- Sumit Bose Committee.
_A committee set up by the government to rationalise distribution incentives for financial products and curb their mis-selling, has in its report recommended flexible exits for financial products and that profits from exit charges not accrue to product providers. Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary is the head of the committee. The report   recommended that the choice of withdrawal of all financial products, except those pertaining to pensions, should remain with the investor.

- RBI released its Annual Report for 2014-15. It has revealed that the central bank's Contingency funds, used in case of unforeseen shocks, have fallen to 8.4% of total assets. Apart from this, for the last two years, the RBI has made no transfers to its Contingency Fund or its Asset Development Fund. While the total in these contingency funds of the RBI stood at Rs. 2,424 billion in 2012-13, it was Rs. 2,434 billion in 2014-15. This meant that balance in these funds has barely changed since 2013. The stipulated target for funding of RBI's contingency funds is 12% of assets.

- India's Leopard Estimate.
_India finally has an estimate of leopards. The first ever count of India's leopards, conducted alongside last year's tiger census, has put the spotted cat population at 7,910 in and around tiger habitats across the country, except the northeast. The leopards were counted using the same methods adopted for the tiger census. India's total leopard population is in the range of 12,000 to 14,000. The exercise covered 3,50,000 sq km of forested habitat of central and western part of the country.

- British financial services major Barclays has maintained its India growth forecast of 7.8 percent for 2015-16. According to Barclays the strong rise in central government spending should help GDP growth to accelerate in second quarter of fiscal year 2015-16.

-Chinese, Pakistani forces launch joint air drill called 'Shaheen (Eagle)-4.

Earth Observation Satellite NISAR

Earth observation satellite NISAR.

Launch Time.
India ISRO and US NASA set a target of 2021 to put their collaborative earth observation satellite NISAR in orbit

Launch Satellite.
One of the GSLV Mark II will carry NASA's satellite NISAR in 2021

About.
NISAR Mission (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Mission) will be a dedicated mission to optimally measure
intrinsic changes of the Earth's surface associated with motions of the crust and ice surfaces.

NASA’s ROLE
NASA has been studying concepts for a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission to determine Earth change in three disciplines -
1.ecosystems,
2.solid earth
3. cryospheric sciences.
In the course of these studies, a partnership with ISRO developed that led to a joint mission with L-band and S-band SAR systems on board.

ISRO'S ROLE
ISRO has identified a range of applications of particular relevance to India that the mission will address, including monitoring of agricultural biomass over India, snow and glacier studies in the Himalayas, Indian coastal and near- shore ocean studies, and disaster monitoring and assessment.

Upcoming  ISRO Satellites.

Three IRNSS satellites by December 2015,
February 2016,
March 2016.

On status of moon mission Chandrayaan-II,  ISRO was targeting to launch it by end of 2017 or early 2018.

ASTROSAT is expected to be launched by end of September on board PSLV.
ASTROSAT has a number of science payloads. This is a unique satellite because it has got many observations on a common platform.

US 4 satellites will be launched with ASTROSAT

ASTROSAT

All you want to know about ASTROSAT.

'' India's first space Observatory''

Launch.
Scheduled to be launched by end of September and in early October from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

About.
It's 1,650-kg spacecraft would orbit Earth equatorially at 650 km and study distant stars, galaxies,
black holes and other cosmic objects.

Elite status.
The space-based observatory was built at the ISRO Satellite Centre here to operate for five years and will provide useful data for the country's astronomy community. It will put India in an elite orbit with the U.S.,Europe, Russia and Japan.

Ready to Launch.
Spacecraft has been assembled and switched on. All the [six] payloads and sub-systems are integrated into the satellite. Mechanical fit checks of the satellite with the PSLV [polar satellite launch vehicle] payload adaptor have been performed successfully,”

Astrosat would be the first such satellite to scan simultaneously the sky in most of the frequency spectra from ultraviolet to optical and low- and high-energy X-ray bands.

Large scale
Although previous national satellites carried small astronomy-related devices, “Nothing on this scale, with a dedicated satellite, has been done before [at ISRO]. It should be of immense benefit to our scientists, who have depended on inputs from other agencies and sources like the Hubble [US-European space telescope].

In the coming days, Astrosat will undergo a host of
- environmental tests
-electromagnetic interference,
-electromagnetic compatibility,  thermal vacuum, vibration and acoustics and so on.

6 Payloads.
ISRO developed the six payloads in partnership with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai; the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru; and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.

Two payloads were developed with the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Leicester, U.K.

Astrosat will be a proposal-driven general purpose observatory, with main scientific focus on:
- Simultaneous multi-wavelength
monitoring of intensity variations in a broad range of cosmic sources

Major Focus.
-Monitoring the X-ray sky for new
transients
-Sky surveys in the hard X-ray and UV bands
-Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies and stellar coronae
-Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources
-Astrosat will carry out multi-wavelength observations covering spectral bands from radio, optical, IR, UV, X-ray and
-Gamma ray regions both for study of specific sources of interest and in survey mode.

Current Affairs. 6th and 7th September 2015.

Current Affairs. 6th and 7th September 2015.

- OPV Injectable Polio Vaccine in India from November 15.
_OPV introduction marks a major milestone in total eradication of Polio and it will come 6 months ahead of WHOs global plan.

- Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies, representing around 85 per cent of global GDP.
_G20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia,Saudi Arabia, South Africa , South Korea, Turkey , the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
_ Gender Inclusive Economic growth 2015.World's 20 largest economies, including India, today launched W20, an engagement grouping of women leaders, The push for gender inclusive global economic growth.
_The W20 group -- having 20 women leaders from G20 nations -- would host its first summit next month in Istanbul after all
member countries appoint their nominees.

- Telangana the country's latest state soon to have more number of districts for faster growth and administration convenience.

-Black Money. Upto Rs 15 lakh reward for info on defaulters : Income tax department.

- Indian Railways to tie up with ISRO For better safety.
_Massive exercise of GIS mapping of the entire route and assets including building lands, workshops etc using GEOSPATIAL technology.

- Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple renovated under India-Nepal Economic programme inaugurated.
_Bala Tripura Sundari Devi Temple at Tripurakot. It is situated on the bank of glacial river Thuli Bheri in Dolpa district of Nepal.
_The temple was constructed with 33.3 million Nepali rupees financial support from the Indian government.

- Thailand's military-appointed National Reform Council rejected the draft of the new constitution.

- Four-colour logo of Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games was scrapped by Games Organising Committee on 1 September 2015.
_The logo was scrapped amid allegations by a Belgian graphic designer Olivier Debie that it was plagiarised from his work.
_Debie claimed that the design was similar to his 2013 logo for the Theatre de Liege.

- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)  successfully positioned India's latest communication satellite 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 .
_About GSAT-6 satellite
GSAT-6 satellite was carrying S-Band and C-Band transponders meant for public and strategic purposes. It weighs 2117 kg and has mission life of nine years.
_The satellite is having S-Band Unfurlable Antenna (UFA) of 6 m
diameter. This is the largest antenna ever made by ISRO for a satellite.
_GSAT-6 is the 25th geostationary communication satellite of India and 12th in the GSAT series.
_Application: It will provide S-band multimedia communication and broadcasting services across the country. C-Band is for strategic purpose and it will provide national security and law enforcement agencies a secured satellite telephony services.
Background
-ISRO had successfully launched GSAT-6 from an indigenous cryogenic engine GSLV-D6 rocket from Sriharikota on 27 August 2015. ISRO had performed successive orbit raising operation of the satellite and had deployed the UFA successfully after the launch.

- China and its strategic partner Pakistan have launched a joint air exercise called Shaheen (Eagle)-4 in China.

Current Affairs. 5th September 2015.

INS Trikand to Participate in Exercise 'Konkan 2015'
_Annual bilateral exercise
between the Royal Navy and the Indian Navy,termed as KONKAN series of exercises
_The KONKAN series began in 2004 and the previous exercise, KONKAN 2013, was conducted off Goa. KONKAN 2015 is the10th edition and will be conducted from 05– 11 Sep 15, hosted by RN, in two phases.

- Boxer Vikas Krishan gets silver in Asian Championships in Bangkok.

- RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden Jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war

- Describing BodhGaya as the 'Land Of Enlightenment' Indian govt would develop the site as the spiritual capital.

- India among few bright spots in global economy: IMF Chief.
'' Among emerging economies, if there is any growth, that is in India. India is among the few bright spots in the global economy,'' quoting Ms. Lagarde(Managing Director of IMF)

Metro in Haryana.
_PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Delhi-Faridabad Metro Line on 6th September that would allow hassle free travel for around two lakh daily commuters between the national capital and the industrial hub in Haryana.

-Outstanding Teacher Award 2015.
_An Indian-Americanprofessor at a leading university in the UShas been selected for the prestigious Outstanding Teacher Award for demonstrating special dedication and creativity in her teaching.
_Indian-origin professor name is Preethika Kumar.

- 'Amma salt' set to be launched
nationwide
_Amma Salt. It is an affordably priced quality common salt
made by the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation(TNSC) for the benefit of the weaker sections.
_Other initiatives launched earlier in Tamil Nadu includes AMMA initiative "Amma" brand, including Amma Unavagam(Hotels), Amma Water (drinking water) and Amma Cement.

- Boeing opens commercial spaceship plant in Florida, USA which NASA plans to use to fly crews to the International Space Station.
_Boeing - World's largest Aerospace company of USA.

- Jumpa Lahiri to get National Humanities Medal.

- InSPA is the abbreviation used for International Agency for Solar Policy & Application.

-Union Government is planning to launch the global alliance on solar energy in New Delhi.
_The convention will be held in the third week of November 2015 ahead of the COP-21 of The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Paris.
_107 member countries that are located between tropic of cancer and tropic of Capricorn including
China and Australia will attend the launch event as expected.
_ The members of the grouping are also called as sunshine countries as they receive high solar energy round the year
_India's  leadership role in the launch of the grouping is concurred with the recent revision in the target of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).With an approximate investment of 6 lakh crore rupees, India is expected to reach the production of
1 GW or 1 lakh MW of solar energy by 2022 under the mission.

- NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission first Joint Steering Group (JSG) meeting was held.
_NISAR is a unwavering US and Indian InSAR mission, in partnership with ISRO, developed for studying hazards and global
environmental change.
_ As a part of the mission, during the year 2021, NISAR satellite, which will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequency and to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth, is expected to be launched.
_ About NISAR Mission
The motive of the mission is to design, develop and launch a Dual
frequency S Band (12-centimeter wavelength Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture) and L Band (24-centimeter wavelength Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar) Radar Imaging Satellite.

- Government to implement OROP. All about One rank One Pension :
_1. Defence Minister Manohar Parikar announced thedecision to implement the One Rank One Pension, w.e.f July 1, 2014.
_2. OROP arrears to be paid in four half-yearly instalments; all widows, including war widows, to be paid arrears in one instalments.
_3. The ex-servicemen, who have been agitating for the last 82 days, said they will not accept review of the pension after every five years.
_4. It is understood that a draft proposal on OROP was circulated at a RSS meeting on Friday, which envisaged commencement o
the scheme from July 2014, besides revision of of pension every five years.
_5. Veterans have opposed to excluding ex-servicemen, who had opted for pre-mature
retirement, from the ambit of OROP.
_6. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced the setting up of a One member Judicial Committee, which will give its report on OROP in six months.
_7. Veterans have rejected this committee, an instead demanded a committee under the Defence Minister which will include an ex-
serviceman too.
_8. To begin with, OROP would be fixed on the basis of calender year 2013.
_9. Officials said the annual burden on the pension bill will be about Rs. 8,000 crore which would progressively go up with revision in pensions. The current pension
of the defence ministry stands at Rs. 54,00 crore.
_10. Close to 22 lakh retired servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be theimmediate beneficiaries of the scheme.

- On occasion of National Teachers Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasesed commemorative coins of 125 rupees and 10 rupees denomination in honour of former President S Radhakrishnan.

Current Affairs. 4th September 2015.

Current Affairs. 4th September 2015.

- PM Narendra Modi releases Rs 125 coin to commemorate birth anniversary of former President Dr S Radhakrishnan
_‘Skill India’ connects with India Inc through Google+ Hangout on partnerships for Skill Development
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in
partnership with the World Bank organized a Google+ Hangout with participants from some of India’s largest companies to enable greaterengagement in the skills space.
_It marked one of the first direct
engagements between the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the
corporate sector.
-YouTube link for viewing the Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=wPTzhHhy7Og

- President of India inaugurates ‘Be A Teacher’ programme at -_Rashtrapati Bhavan
Under the ‘Be a Teacher’ programme of Delhi Government, successful leaders from allwalks of life - Judiciary, Civil Services, Media, Medicine, Entrepreneurship etc– willvolunteer themselves to spare some quality time to share their experiences with students of government schools. It is expected that the initiative will not only motivate teachers but also persuade the youth to adopt teaching as a profession.

- Shri Suresh Prabhu Flags Off Andaman Express Through Remote Control From Jammu Tawi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, flagged off 16031 Chennai Central Jammu Tawi Andaman Express Train from Jammu Tawi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK). This is the extension of the existing train from Jammu Tawi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra(SVDK)
[18 crore bank accounts have been opened under  PMJDY and 15.74 crore Rupay Debit cards have been issued to the account
holders so far. Over 22,000 crore rupees have been deposited in the bank accounts since the launch of the scheme.

- Kudos for women. Delhi High Court allows permanent commission for women in Navy.

-HAJJ PILGRIMAGE. The Hajj ( Hajj " pilgrimage ") is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca , and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.
It is one of the five pillars of Islam , alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat , and Sawm. The gathering during Hajj is considered the largest annual gathering of people in the world. The state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istita'ah , and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati
Haj Pilgrimage 2015 The Ministry of External Affairs and Haj Committee of India organises the Haj pilgrimage annually. Haj 2015 commenced on 16th August 2015 and is proceeding smoothly. A total number of 1,36,020 pilgrims are expected to take part in Haj 2015, of which 1,00,020 will be participating through Haj Committee of India and remaining 36,000 through Private Tour Operators.

- Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal
which would be presented to her by US President Barack Obama next week.
_The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996.

- Wheeler Island in Odisha named after Kalam
_ Aurengzeb Road in Delhi was named as Dr Kalam's Road.

- SAARC countries' conference on disaster mitigation begins in Delhi
_A conference of SAARC countries to chalk out and undertake joint efforts on various issues related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations began.
_The conference, including the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and National Disaster Response Force , is being held keeping in mind the prevalent geo-climatic conditions as well as increased frequency of natural calamities in the SAARC
region, especially in the wake of the recent earthquake in Nepal in April.

-India has taken the lead to begin the process of simulation exercises on disaster management in the region coined as "South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise" (SAADMEx) and has requested the participation of all SAARC countries for augmenting current levels of individual and joint preparedness for rescue, relief and response efforts during disaster situations.

- State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bought a 15 per cent stake in Russia’s second-largest oil field Vankor from Rohnert for about 1.35 billion US dollars.In this regard, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) theoverseas investment arm of ONGC has signed agreements to buy 15 per cent stake in the Vankor oil field located in East Siberia

-First-ever bilateral Maritime exercise AUSINDEX between both countries is scheduled to be held in September 2015.
_Australia and India first time bilateral Navy exercise.

- Haryana Government wins Skoch Order-of-Merit National award for implementing e-governance, IT
_Haryana Government has won the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award for implementing 6 e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state.

- Punjab Government has established a special MGNREGA cell to coordinate effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the state.

- Turkish industry leaders to invest in India including in smart cities, textiles, food processing and renewable business sectors.

Current Affairs. 3rd September 2015.

Current Affairs. 3rd September 2015.

-Durban in South Africa confirmed as 2022 Commonwealth Games host.

- First time in the History of Haryana. Advocate General AG has been given the status of a Cabinet Minister. AG Baldev Raj Mahajan has accorded the status of a Cabinet Minister.

-  For the First time India, Oz to hold naval exercise from SEPTEMBER 11. India and Australia first time announced Navy to Navy bilateral Maritime exercise.
_Naval Exercise involve multiple ship visits and Maritime assets from both the countries. It will be a SUBMARINE HUNTING EXERCISE.
_India Conducts such high level bilateral exercise with US, RUSSIA, FRANCE AND THE UK.
_Both the countries are interested in keeping South China Sea for Navigation

- Snapdeal acquires Silicon Valley startup Reduce Data.

- Ericsson bags 3G,4G network contract from Bharti Airtel. It will be supply, install and manage services for WCDMA radio access networks and will provide multi standard radio equipment.

-US backs India's bid for UNSC seat.

- Number of trees halved to 3 trillion in the world . There are just 3.04 trillion trees in the world,in data from the first spatially continuous map of forest tree density suggests. The estimate of the ratio of trees per person is 422:1. Though 3.04 trillion trees is an “order of magnitude higher” than previous estimate,  the number of trees cut down each year is a staggering 15.3 billion and the global forest cover loss is approximately 192,000 sq. km per year. As a result, the global number of trees has reduced by as much as 46 per
cent since the start of human civilisation. These are some of the results of a study published today in the journal Nature .
_As per the study, a tree is defined as a “plant with woody stems larger than 10 cm diameter at breast height.
-Of the 3.04 trillion trees in the world, the tropical and subtropical forests have the highest number of trees at approximately 1.39 trillion (nearly 43 per cent), followed by boreal regions (0.74 trillion trees accounting for 24.2 per cent) and finally the temperate regions at 0.61 trillion trees (21.8 per cent).While the tropical forests have the highest number of trees, they have also witnessed
the highest rate of tree loss.
_Though the tropical forests have the highest number of trees, the tree density is highest in the forested regions of the Boreal and Tundra regions

- Kala Utsav initiative of MHRD to be launched on Teacher's Day,Dr Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan

- Kala Utsav is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to promote arts in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at the secondary stage in the country.
_At secondary stage for 4 areas, i.e, visual arts, music, dance and theatre.
_Kala Utsav website will be launched on Teacher's Day
Prime Minister will also release a commemorative coin of Rs. 125/-denomination and a circulation coin of Rs. 10/- denomination in the honour of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the great educationist, teacher and philosopher, on the eve of his birth anniversary.

-*Govt to invest more than Rs. 8 lakh crore for infrastructure development in Railways.

- LAPAN A2/Orari India will launch a second multi-spectral remote sensing Indonesian satellite.
_India will launch a second multi-spectral remote sensing Indonesian satellite that will help the country to monitor land-use, natural resource and in disaster mitigation.The satellite will be shipped to India tomorrow to be launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
_LAPAN A2/Orari will function as a tool to monitor land usage, ship movements, sea resources and fishing explorations. The satellite will orbit the Earth along the equator with an altitude of 650 kilometers, and travel at 7.5 kilometers per second - enabling it to circle the Earth 14 times a day.

- In Sri Lanka, the Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan has been elected unopposed as the leader of opposition in Parliament.
_This is a significant development for the country as the leader of the opposition plays an important role in Sri Lanka.

- China to reduce its military by 3 lakh out of its 20 lakh troops.

-Union Government notified the merger of commodities market
regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with an effect from 28 September 2015.
_In this regard, Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification mentioning that Regulation of Commodity Derivatives Market will shift to SEBI under Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA) 1956.
_Forward Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA), 1952 gets repealed so does the FMC cease to exist.
_With this merger, all three national and six REGIONAL %%commodity exchanges will come under the ambit of national capital market regulator SEBI.
_Implication: This merger will create a unified regulator for commodities and capital markets which in turn will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations in the market.
_Earlier during budget it was announced, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) had recommended merger of SEBI, IRDA, FMC and PFRDA into a single entity called Unified Financial Agency (UFA).

-*The West-Central Railway (WCR) zone headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings.

- Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games logo was scrapped by Games Organising Committee after there were allegations by a Belgian graphic designer Olivier Debie that it was plagiarised from his work. Designer claimed that this logo was similar to his 2013 logo for the Theatre de Liege.

- Russia rejected the proposal of France asking United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent members to limit the use of the veto power at least in cases involving mass atrocities that demands action.

- Union Government recognizes Yoga as Sports discipline.
_Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and place it in the Priority category.

-  Canada entered first technical recession in six years
_Pulled by falling energy prices and economic troubles in China, Canadian economy entered into the first technical recession in six years. This was revealed by Canada's national statistical agency Statistics Canada on 1 September 2015.
_Technical recession means negative economic growth by a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for two consecutive quarters.

- Union Government launched Indian Wind Resource Atlas as an online GIS tool
_Union Government on 2 September 2015 launched the Indian Wind Resource Atlas at 100 metre level. The Atlas will help policy makers at Centre and State Governments to deal with issues related to tariff fixation, transmission, grade frequency, etc.
_The Indian Wind Atlas is an important online GIS (Geographic Information System) tool for identification of the regional and local wind energy potential in India.

Artificial leaf makes fuel from water

Successfully developed an artificial leaf which mimics the process of photosynthesis to create fuel using water, carbon dioxide and sunlight.

The new system consists of three main components: two electrodes — one photoanode and one photocathode — and a membrane.

The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidise water molecules, generating protons and electrons as well as oxygen. The photocathode recombines the protons and electrons to form hydrogen gas.

A key part of the design is the plastic membrane, which keeps the oxygen and hydrogen gases separate. If the two gases are allowed to mix and are accidentally ignited, an explosion can occur; the membrane lets the hydrogen fuel be separately collected under pressure and safely pushed into a pipeline.

The new solar fuel generation system, developed by Nate Lewis, professor at California Institute of Technology, and colleagues, uses a 62.5-nanometre-thick titanium dioxide (TiO2) layer to effectively prevent corrosion and improve the stability of a gallium arsenide-based photoelectrode.

“The device grew out of a multi-year, large-scale effort to define the design and material components needed for an integrated solar fuel generator,”

The photoanode was grown onto a photocathode, which contains a highly active, inexpensive, nickel-molybdenum catalyst to create a fully integrated single material that serves as a complete solar-driven water-splitting system.

Current Affairs. 2nd September 2015

Current Affairs. 2nd September 2015.

-Punjab Government  won first award in the category of highest capacity addition in grid connected solar rooftop power in the country during the financial year 2014-15.

- Rialways Ministry launched three IT initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), IT arm of Ministry of Railways. These initiatives are:
_ Paperless unreserved ticketing through mobile phone between New Delhi-Palwal section (nr)
_Currency coin cum card operated automatic ticket vending machines at New Delhi railway station
_Mobile application for freight operations (PARICHAALAN)

-Swachhata Sangraam Abhiyaan  launched in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh.
_The aim of the programme is to make theentire district open defecation-free by the end of the financial year 2015-16.
_Depalpur tehsil is going to be the first tehsil of the district to achieve this milestone.

- Bihar Government decided to give two percent reservation in government jobs to the grand children of freedom fighters.

- Delhi to produce 2,000 MW solar power by 2025: Satyendra Jain - Delhi to produce 2,000 MW solar power by 2025: Satyendra Jain

-Thai university develops bullet-proof vest made of silk - Thai university develops bullet-proof vest made of silk

-Defence Ministry approves purchase of 48 more Mi - 17s
Mi - 17 V5 helicopters from Russia.

- 7 Akash Missiles inducted to be soon for IAF.

-36 Rafale fighter jets to be purchased from France.

- NCMC. Smart National Common Mobility Card Model. UNDER NCMC Smart Card to enable metro travel and shopping.
_Urban Ministry also approved EMV Open Loop Card �� with stored value
_What does it means...?  HERE it is...  This card meets travel needs based on stored value of money and can be used for any means of transport and also enables account based retail applications.

-New Scheme for girls in Haryana. My Target, My Aim. For girls started today under BBBP. Under the same girls would get a chance to get practical knowledge about a career of their choice.
_ BBBP Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

- RBI declared SBI & ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks

- NASA and US Agency for International Development (USAID) have started the SERVIR-Mekong project, to strengthen the environmental monitoring in Southeast Asia region.
_It has been launched in the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center in Bangkok, Thailand to serve the 5 countries of the Mekong River
Basin viz. Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Current Affairs. 1st September 2015.

Current Affairs. 1st September 2015.

-World Hindi Conference. World Hindi Conference is a world conference on Hindi language . The conference consists of several Hindi scholars, writers and laureates from different parts of the world to contribute the language.
-First World Hindi Conference was inaugurated on 10 January 1975 by then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. The first conference held from 10 to 12 January 1975 in Nagpur. Seewoosagur Ramgoolam , then Prime Minister of Mauritius attended conference as the Chief guest.
- Ninth World Hindi Conference held from September 22 to September 24, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa .

-10th world Hindi Conference to be inaugurated by PM MODI in Bhopal, from 10 - 12 September.
_Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan will address the gathering on the concluding day.
_10th World Hindi Conference Theme. "Hindi jagat: Vistar evam Sambhavanai" (World of Hindi: Expansion and Scope), is being organised by the External Affairs Ministry
_1,270 delegates from 27 countries registered for the Conference.
_ Search engine giant Google and iPhone maker Apple Inc will be among a number of technology companies which will participate
in the exhibition at the event where they will highlight their efforts to popularise Hindi.

-Good news for FII Foreign Institutional investors no need to pay MAT Minimum Alternate Tax.
_Government accepts Shah panel recommendation on exempting Foreign Institutional investors from Minimum Alternate Tax, MAT prior to 1st April this year.
_Minimum Alternate Tax (" MAT") is a tax levied under India's Income Tax Act of 1961 that targets companies that show
profits on their books and declare dividends, but pay minimal or no tax .

-India bags UNESCO Award for conserving temple in Kerala.
& India wins United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) prize 'Award of Excellence' 2015 for the conservation efforts of the Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala.

- UN chief Ban Ki-moon has commended the vibrancy of India's democracy. During a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan at the UN headquarters in New York, the UN chief also emphasised the important role played by the country's parliament in protecting women's rights and
enhancing gender equality.

-India is planning to send a maiden tea delegation to Georgia later this month. The 10-member official delegation will dovetail
the Georgia trip with a visit to Russia. The visit to Russia, India's single largest tea importer, is the second one this year.

- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced the inauguration of a Japan-centric Delivery Center (JDC), located inside TCS Sahyadri Park in Pune.

- Ratan Watal designated as finance secretary
_The government, approved the designation of Expenditure Secretary Ratan Watal as the finance secretary.