CURRENT AFFAIRS - SEPTEMBER 2018
DAY: 15, 16 SEPTEMBER
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
News Title 01: UN agrees on global plan to battle TB
 UN member-states agreed on a global plan to step
up the fight against tuberculosis, the world's
number one killer among infectious diseases,
settling a row with the United States over access to
cheap drugs.
 Following weeks of tough negotiations, the text of
a final declaration won approval and will be
formally adopted at the first-ever TB summit
on September 26, on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly meeting in New York.
 In July, South Africa clashed with the United States
over proposals to water down language
recognizing the right of poorer countries to access
cheaper medicines.
 The contested language referred to the so-called
TRIPS trade arrangements dealing with
intellectual property rights. A compromise was
reached that strengthened references to TRIPS.
 Medical charity MSF had backed South Africa's
stance and urged countries to resist what it
described as an "aggressive push" by the US
pharmaceutical lobby to restrict access to low-cost
drugs.
 At the summit world leaders will commit to end
the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030 and come up
with $13 billion annually to achieve that goal,
according to the 53-point final declaration.
 An additional $2 billion will be spent globally to
fund tuberculosis research up from $700 million
currently.
 Last year, the World Health Organization sounded
the alarm when it said tuberculosis had
surpassed HIV/AIDS as the world's number one
infectious killer and was the ninth cause of death
worldwide.
 Five countries are the hardest-hit by the TB
pandemic: India, which accounts for a quarter of
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cases, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and
Pakistan.
News Title 02: Call for car-free day in Europe
 Europe should hold an annual car-free day in a bid
to ease air pollution, the Mayors of Paris and
Brussels announced on the eve of a vehicle-free
day in their cities.
 The call came in a joint statement by Paris Mayor
Anne Hidalgo and her counterpart in Brussels,
Philippe Close, in which the two pointed to “the
urgency of climate issues and the health impact of
pollution”.
 Both capitals will on Sunday hold their annual car-
free day as part of the European Heritage Days
2018, a weekend of cultural events staged every
year in countries throughout the bloc.
 In Paris, City Hall had said six areas at the heart of
the capital would remain traffic-free on the first
Sunday of every month, including Ile de la Cite and
Ile Saint-Louis, Louvre, Opera, Chatelet and the
Marais.
 The plan will kick in from October 7.
 Between 2017 and 2018, car traffic in central Paris
fell by 6.0%, which reduced air pollution “by a
comparable proportion,” City Hall said, calling it a
“record” drop.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
News Title 01: 37 lakh new mothers receive cash
benefits
 Nearly 37 lakh women have received cash
incentives under the Centre’s maternity benefit
programme since the implementation of the
scheme last year.
 The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
(PMMVY) offers pregnant women and lactating
mothers a cash incentive of ₹ 5,000 for the
birth of their first-born as partial compensation
for wage loss with the aim to reduce maternal and
child mortality as well as malnutrition.
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 A sum of ₹ 1,000 is also given to women after  UP CM Adityanath said his government was
institutional delivery under the Janani Suraksha working to ensure that every family had a toilet by
Yojana. October 2019.
 The scheme came into effect from January 1,
News Title 03: U.P. to launch first-ever dial-FIR
2017, and has an estimated 51.6 lakh beneficiaries
 The Uttar Pradesh Police are set to launch a first
a year.
of its kind dial-FIR scheme in the country where a
 As many as 48.11 lakh women have been enrolled,
common man can register regular crimes without
while 37.30 lakh have received cash incentives
going to a police station even as it is preparing an
since the scheme was implemented in September
online photographic dossier of criminals that will
last year.
be provided to policemen on 22,000 new i-pads.
 The Centre has disbursed an amount of ₹ 1,168.63
 Besides this, the Uttar Pradesh Police is also
crores to various States, the Ministry of Women
expanding the counter-terror combat and
and Child Development said in a statement.
response grid in the State by training over 100
 An amount of ₹ 2,594 crore was set aside for
fresh commandos in special skills including a
PMMVY in last year’s budget and another ₹ 2,400
maiden batch of women personnel.
crore was allocated for the current fiscal.
 U.P. is the only second state to prepare such a
 The scheme is being implemented on a 60:40
localised online criminal database after
cost-sharing basis with the State governments.
Punjab.
News Title 02: PM launches cleanliness campaign
News Title 04: NIMHANS programme to de-stress T.N.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the
policemen
“Swachhata Hi Seva” (“cleanliness is service”)
campaign and took up a broom to clean a school  The National Institute of Mental Health and
named after Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar. Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, will run
 Mr. Modi said the sanitation coverage in India had a programme for Tamil Nadu policemen to combat

increased from 40% to over 90% in the four stress.

years of the “Swachh Bharat” (Clean India) project.  The State government recently sanctioned Rs. 10
 He said few would have thought that nine crore crore for the programme.
toilets would be built and 4.5 lakh villages News Title 05: 3,400 centres to aid in practice tests
declared free of open defecation in four years.  Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar
 He launched the “cleanliness is service” exercise to inaugurated a network of 3,404 Test Practice
push for greater public participation in one of his Centres (TPCs) spread across the country to help
government’s centrepiece programmes launched students get familiar with the pattern of
on October 2, 2015. It will continue till Mahatma competitive exams to be conducted by the newly
Gandhi’s birth anniversary next month. established National Testing Agency (NTA).
 More than 450 districts would be open-  The Minister inaugurated the TPCs over Google
defecation-free (ODF) in four years or that 20 Hangouts.
States and Union Territories would be open-  These test centres have been set up to help
defecation-free in four years. students appearing for entrance examinations for
 Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous higher education get used to the changed mode
and among the most poor States, would be ODF and pattern of exams.
by October 2.

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 CURRENT AFFAIRS - SEPTEMBER 2018
 TPC is launched across the country for those
students who do not have computers and smart
phones.
 The NTA has also launched an application for
students to take practice tests on their computers
or on smart phones.
News Title 06: Odisha man, team builds private
satellite
 Gurudatta Panda, a 28-year-old from Odisha’s
Berhampur, is part of a small team of technocrats
that built a satellite for a private satellite design,
manufacturing and management company.
 The eight-member team, including Mr. Panda, from
Hyderabad-based Exseed Space Private Limited
has constructed 10 cm cube-sized
communication satellite, which will be
launched into space by the United States-based
SpaceX in November.
 Mr. Panda said the small satellite will carry a linear
transponder on FM for voice communication.
 He claimed this is the first of its kind private space
endeavour.
 “This satellite will serve the ham or the amateur
radio community. As a result, it will be of great
help during natural calamities, when conventional
communication services get disrupted,” he said.
 After the launch, this artificial satellite will be on a
polar orbit with two passes over India everyday.
 The public will be able to receive this artificial
satellite’s beacon on 145.90 Mhz using a TV
tuner and USB dongles, Mr. Panda added.
 He and Exseed Space co-founder Ashhar Farhan
were the communication engineers who played a
key role in building the satellite.
 This small communication satellite has been
constructed a cost of less than ₹20 lakh.
News Title 07: More river stretches are critically
polluted: Central Pollution Control Board
 The number of polluted stretches of the country's
rivers has increased to 351 from 302 two years
ago, and the number of critically polluted stretches
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where water quality indicators are the poorest has
gone up to 45 from 34, according to an assessment
by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
 CPCB says several of the river’s stretches in Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh are actually far less polluted
than many rivers in Maharashtra, Assam and
Gujarat.
 These three States account for 117 of the 351
polluted river stretches.
 Based on the recommendations of the National
Green Tribunal, the CPCB last month apprised the
States of the extent of pollution in their rivers.
 The most significant stretches of pollution
highlighted by the CPCB assessment (which is yet
to be published) include the Mithi river from
Powai to Dharavi with a BOD (Biochemical Oxygen
Demand) of 250 mg/l; the Godavari from
Someshwar to Rahed with a BOD of 5.0-80 mg/l;
the Sabarmati from Kheroj to Vautha with a BOD of
4.0-147 mg/l; and the Hindon from Saharanpur to
Ghaziabad with a BOD of 48-120 mg/l.
 In its compilation of polluted stretches in Uttar
Pradesh, the Ganga, with a BOD range of 3.5-8.8
mg/l is indicated as a ‘priority 4’ river.
 The CPCB, since the 1990s, has a programme to
monitor the quality of rivers primarily by
measuring BOD, which is a proxy for organic
pollution the higher it is, the worse the river.
 The health of a river and the efficacy of water
treatment measures by the States and municipal
bodies are classified depending on BOD, with a
BOD greater than or equal to 30 mg/l termed
‘priority 1,’ while that between 3.1-6 mg/l is
‘priority 5.’
 The CPCB considers a BOD less than 3 mg/l an
indicator of a healthy river.
BANKING AND FINANCE
News Title 01: Union Bank to exit Antwerp hub
 State-owned Union Bank of India has decided to
quit the Antwerp diamond hub in Belgium as
the branch did not generate expected business.
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 The Finance Ministry had advised all the public (GSDP) citing their FY19 Budget estimates, from
sector banks to review their overseas business 3.1% in FY18.
and close branches that are not profitable as part  But an analysis of the FY19 Budgets of nine States,
of strategy to conserve capital. accounting for about 62% of the combined GSDP
 Based on this Union Bank has decided to exit of all 29 States in FY17, shows that their fiscal
Antiwerp hub. deficits are budgeted to slip to 2.5% of GSDP in
FY19 from 2.6% in FY18.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
 As 12 of the 29 States, three of which were part of
News Title 01: Netflix acquires rights for two Russian the nine included in the analysis, are also poll-
cartoons bound, apart from the general elections before
May 2019, there is a risk of new schemes being
 Netflix has acquired the rights to two Russian
announced or a higher allocation for welfare
cartoons, Leo and Tig and Be-Be Bears.
schemes, the note said.
 Both series are created by the Moscow-based
Parovoz Animation Studio. SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
 While Leo and Tig is aimed at children aged 3 and
above, Be-Be Bears is for children of all age. News Title 01: NASA puts laser satellite in space to
track ice loss
News Title 02: ‘States may miss FY19 fiscal targets’
 NASA’s most advanced space laser satellite blasted
 “Given the factors such as funding of crop loan
off on a mission to track ice loss around the world
waivers, election-related spending and the flood
and improve forecasts of sea level rise as the
relief will see the States miss their fiscal
climate warms.
consolidation targets,” ICRA wrote in a note.
 The $1 billion ICESat-2 mission was launched
 The States’ fiscal deficit is primarily financed by
aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air
issuing State development loans (SDLs).
Force base in California.
 In April-August of FY19, gross issuance of SDL
 The launch marks the first time in nearly a decade
contracted by 3.4% to ₹1.32 trillion, primarily led
that NASA has had a tool in orbit to measure ice
by a sharp decline in issuance by Uttar Pradesh,
sheet surface elevation across the globe.
Maharashtra and Gujarat.
 The preceding mission, ICESat, launched in
 However, excluding these three States, total SDL
2003 and ended in 2009.
issuance by the remaining States has grown 14.7%
 The first ICESat revealed that sea ice was thinning,
in the first five months of FY19.
and ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas
 The agency also estimates that ₹1.3 trillion of SDLs
in Greenland and Antarctica.
are scheduled to be redeemed in FY19, much
 The new laser will fire 10,000 times in one second,
higher than ₹0.8 trillion redeemed in FY18.
compared to the original ICESat which fired 40
 “Given the sharp rise in the redemption amount,
times a second.
and assuming an annual growth of 10-20% over
 The mission will gather enough data to estimate
the net SDL issuance of ₹3.4 trillion in FY18, gross
the annual elevation change in the Greenland and
SDL issuance may rise to ₹5-5.3 trillion in FY19
Antarctic ice sheets even if it’s as slight as four mm
from ₹4.2 trillion in FY18,” says the report.
- the width of a No. 2 pencil.
 Recently, the Reserve Bank of India had estimated
 Importantly, the laser will measure the slope and
that fiscal deficits of all the 29 States might decline
height of the ice, not just the area it covers.
to 2.6% of their gross State domestic product

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News Title 02: Archaeologists discover ancient sphinx
in Egypt
 Archaeologists have discovered a statue of a lion’s
body and a human head in the southern city of
Aswan.
 Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry said the sphinx made
of sandstone was found in the Temple of Kom
Ombo.
 The statue dates back to the Ptolemaic Dynasty,
which ruled Egypt for some 300 years from
around 320 B.C. to about 30 B.C.
News Title 03: ISRO launches two U.K. satellites
 PSLV-C42 lifted off, carrying two satellites from
the United Kingdom – NovaSAR and S1-4 from the
first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre, Sriharikota.
 The lightest version of the PSLV, flying in its core-
alone version without the six strap-on motors, the
PSLV-C-42 rose into the skies at 10.08 p.m.
 This was the 12th such launch of a core-alone
version of the PSLV by ISRO.
 The two satellites, owned by Surrey Satellite
Technology Ltd (SSTL) were placed in a circular
orbit around the poles, 583 km from Earth.
 The commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation
earned more than Rs. 220 crore on this launch.
 The NovaSAR is a technology demonstration
mission designed to test the capabilities of a new
low cost S-band SAR platform.
 It will be used for ship detection and maritime
monitoring and also flood monitoring, besides
agricultural and forestry applications.
 The S1-4 will be used for environment monitoring,
urban management, and tackling disasters.
 Chandrayaan-2 is planned for a window from
January 3 to February 16, 2019.
SPORTS
News Title 01: Ramirez retains WBC crown
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 Unbeaten Jose Ramirez kept his World Boxing
Council junior welterweight title with a unanimous
decision over Mexican challenger Antonio Orozco.
 The 26-year-old former American Olympian
knocked down Orozco twice in the first defence of
his title in front of his home crowd at the Save
Mart Center in Fresno, California.
 Ramirez showed off his improved jab, as both
fighters kept busy from the opening round to the
final bell.
News Title 02: Puranik bags silver
 GM Abhimanyu Puranik defeated Armenia’s
Aram Hakobyam to claim the silver behind top-
seeded Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo in the 11-
round World junior chess championship.
News Title 03: Indian boxers win three golds in
Turkey
 Simranjit Kaur (64kg), Monika (48kg) and
Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) claimed gold medals
as Indian boxers notched up an impressive seven
podium finishes at the Ahmet Comert
Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.
 However, Pinki Jangra (51kg), a former
Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist, had to be
content with a silver as she lost to another local
hope Busenaz Cakiroglu. Sonia Lather (57kg) too
won the bronze.
News Title 04: Momota wins Japan badminton title
 24 year old Japan’s Kento Momota outgunned Thai
rival Khosit Phetpradab 21-14, 21-11 in a
one-sided final to capture the Japan Open
badminton title.
News Title 05: Tendulkar exits Kerala Blasters
 After four years and just a few weeks before the
ISL’s fifth edition, Tendulkar has decided to leave
the club Kerala Blasters FC.
 The existing 80% shareholders of KBFC,
comprising of IQuest, Chiranjeevi and Allu Arvind
have entered into a definitive agreement to
acquire Tendulkar’s 20% stake in the club.
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News Title 06: Hamilton eases to victory in Singapore News Title 01: Former Union minister Satya Prakash
Grand Prix Malviya passes away
 Britain’s Lewis Hamilton eased to victory from  Former Union petroleum minister Satya Prakash
pole at the Singapore Grand Prix as the Mercedes Malaviya died at a private hospital in Delhi. He was
driver extended his championship lead over 84.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to 40 points with six  Born at Malviyanagar in the city of Allahabad, the
rounds remaining. former Union minister was jailed for 18 months
 Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red during the Emergency.
Bull’s Max Verstappen to register a record-  Mr. Malaviya had served as the petroleum minister
equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay in the cabinet headed by former Prime Minister
Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to Chandra Shekhar.
slip further behind in the title race.  He also served as environment minister in the
 Hamilton’s 69th overall victory was his seventh of Uttar Pradesh cabinet.
the season.  He began his political career as a member of Praja
Socialist Party. He later joined the Congress.
News Title 07: Kipchoge smashes world record
 Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon
world record in Berlin smashing the previous best
as he clocked 2hr 1min 39sec.
 The 33-year-old Olympic champion, initially aided
by pacemakers in the 42.195km race, took 1min
18sec off the previous best set four years ago by
Dennis Kimetto.
 It was the largest single improvement on the
marathon world record since Derek Clayton
improved the mark by 2:23 in 1967.
 He has notched up 10 wins from the 11 marathons
he has raced, winning three times not only in
Berlin but also London, with victories in Rio for
Olympic gold as well as in Hamburg, Rotterdam
and Chicago.
 By 40 kilometres, reached in 1:55:32, a world
record looked a certainty.
 There was a Kenyan double as Gladys Cherono ran
2:18:11, a course record and world leading time, to
win the women’s race. Ethiopian Ruti Aga finished
second in 2:18:34 and six-time Olympic and six-
time world medallist Tirunesh Dibaba third
(2:18:55), making more history as it was the first
time three women have broken 2:19 in one race.

OBITUARY

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