Current affairs notes on September 22-30

 1.State Bank of India has raised ₹7,000 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds. Basel guidelines refer to broad supervisory standards formulated by group of central banks- called the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The set of agreement by the BCBS, which mainly focuses on risks to banks and the financial system are called Basel accord. The purpose of the accords is to ensure that financial institutions have enough capital on account to meet obligations and absorb unexpected losses.

2.The Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR, 2020) came into force on September 21. They set guidelines for enforcement of the ‘rules of origin’ for allowing preferential rate on imports under free trade agreements. Under these rules, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it.

3. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) have entered into a formal agreement to cement the key terms for operationalising the NSE IFSC-SGX Connect. An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy. The first IFSC in India has been set up at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar.

4. DRDO recently conducted the successful flight test of ABHYAS–High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT). The vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight.

5. Indian Navy (IN) is scheduled to undertake a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the East Indian Ocean Region from 23 to 24 Sep 20.

6. World Rhino Day: Celebrated on September 22. In india, One horned Rhino mostly seen in kaziranga National park.

7. Foreign Ministers’ meeting of SAARC Nations was held recently. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. The Headquarters and Secretariat of the Association are at Kathmandu, Nepal. ndia started investing in other regional instruments, such as BIMSTEC, as an alternative to SAARC.

8. Jnanpith award announced in November last year was handed over to poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri at a special function held recently. Award was Instituted in 1961. English language was added to the list of languages for consideration after the 49th Jnanpith Award.

9. JIMEX is a bilateral Maritime Exercise Between Japan and India. The 4th edition of the exercise will be held in the North Arabian Sea from 26 to 28 September 2020.

10. Pinaka Rocket  is a free flight artillery rocket system having a range of 37.5 km. Pinaka rockets are launched from a multi-barrel rocket launcher which has a capability to launch 12 rockets in 44 seconds.

11. CPCB recently celebrated its 46th Foundation Day. Central Pollution Control Board:It is a statutory organisation which was constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

12. World’s Longest High-Altitude Shinkun La Tunnel: The tunnel is 13.5 Km long. The tunnel connects the Union Territory of Ladakh and tribal Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

13. World Tourism day Observed on 27th September every year. This Day has been celebrated since 1980 by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Theme this year is “Tourism and Rural Development”.

14. Dr Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Deptt. of Geology & Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur Selected for ‘Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar’ Prize. The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), the late Dr (Sir) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. The Prize is given each year for outstanding contributions to science and technology.

15. Haiyang-2C: It is a new ocean-monitoring satellite launched recently by China. It can provide all-weather and round-the-clock observation of wave height, sea surface height, wind speed and direction, and temperature.

16. UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National e-Governance Division (NeGD) to drive Mobile Governance in India. UMANG provides a single platform for all Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov services ranging from Central to Local Government bodies and other citizen centric services.

17. UVIT is a remarkable 3-in-1 imaging telescope simultaneously observing in the visible, the near-ultraviolet (NUV), and the far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum. It is one of the five payloads onboard India’s first multi-wavelength astronomical observatory AstroSat.

18. Bhagat Singh’s 113th birth anniversary celebrated on 28th September, 2020. In 1924 in Kanpur, he became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association, started by Sachindranath Sanyal a year earlier. Revolutionary activities he was involved in: 1. Lahore Conspiracy case. 2. 1929 Central Assembly Bombing Case. 23rd March is observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ or ‘Shaheed Diwas’ or ‘Sarvodaya Day’ in honour of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.

19. PM Modi inaugurated 6 mega projects in Uttarakhand under Namami Gange. It an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ in June 2014. It is being operated under Ministry of Jal Shakti. National Ganga Council (NGC) was Created in October 2016 under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016. It is Headed by Prime Minister. Ganga Avalokan is the first museum on the river located at Chandi ghat in Haridwar. It was inaugurated recently.

20. India and Denmark recently elevated their relations to a “green strategic partnership”. The Green Strategic Partnership is a mutually beneficial arrangement to advance political cooperation, expand economic relations and green growth, create jobs and strengthen cooperation on addressing global challenges and opportunities; with focus on an ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.