Test : September 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 4" - Current Affairs MCQ

On September 13, 2019 the Chief Minister(CM) Shri Ashok Gehlot, of the govt. of Rajasthan has launched a portal called ‘Jan Soochna Portal’ under the Rajasthan Innovation Vision (RAJIV) campaign that was started to commemorate former Prime minister(PM) Rajiv Gandhi’s 75th anniversary. This portal designed by the information and technology(IT) department, is a first of its kind in India to provide access to information about govt. departments in a single platform. This portal will provide people to seek the Right to Information(RTI) with transparency and accountability.

The 12-day, 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India from September 2-13, 2019 under the theme “Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities”. It was for the first time, India had hosted the conference.

India took over the COP Presidency from China for the next two years till 2021.India is one among the selected few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on climate change, biodiversity and land.Shri Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change was elected as the COP President for the next two years.

The Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) will jointly engage to conduct a large war exercise code-named ‘HimVijay’ in October 2019 along the china border near Arunachal Pradesh. This would be the 1st and biggest ever war game done by the strike corps in the eastern region. For the first time, 17 Mountain Corps will be involved, over 2500 soldiers will participate in it.

On September 13, 2019 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has framed new guidelines in licensing Small Finance Banks(SFB) under ‘On-tap’ regime in order to make more participants in the finance banking section. The new guideline is thatthe SFBs should have Rs. 200 crores minimum capital within 5 years of its operation. They (SFB) should initially have at least Rs.100 crores for start of operation however it should make it to Rs. 200 crores capital within 5 years.On- tap licencing: It is a time-efficient feature that will allow eligible parties to obtain license on-demand basis and without the need to wait. RBI allows license to the applicants throughout the year.

On September 13, 2019, The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) panel chaired by Mahesh Kumar Jain has suggested creating an institution like the GST (Goods and Services Tax ) Council to implement reforms in the agricultural sector. It was also recommended to transfer subsidy directly to the account and avoid debt waiver. The panel stated that subsidy on interest subvention or agricultural credit should be converted into direct benefit transfer (DBT) like LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) and fertilizer with an overall limit of Rs 3 lakh per individual farmer through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) mode.

On September 13, 2019 the International Monetary Fund(IMF) has reduced the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth rate of India to 7% from its previous estimate of 7.3% which is much weaker than expected by IMF. this rate cut is attributed to uncertainty in corporate and environmental regulatory in some Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC).This economic growth rate is expected to rise to 7.2 % FY21, which is also a downgraded projected growth rate of 7.5 in the earlier report.

On September 13, 2019 the first ever arrested landing of the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA) Tejas was successfully executed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) and Aeronautical Development agency(ADO) of DRDO at INS Hansa, Goa at a shore based facility centre. This achievement would pave way to take up aircraft carrier landing demonstration on Indian Naval Aircraft Carrier, INS (Indian Naval Ship) Vikramaditya.

An umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rationalized merchant discount rate (MDR) on transactions with RuPay debit cards. The new rate will be effective from 20 October 2019. MDR has been revised to 0.60 percent on transactions above Rs 2,000. There will be a maximum of Rs 150 per transaction. Currently, MDR of 0.90 percent is charged on transactions above Rs 2,000. The maximum limit was fixed at Rs 1,000 per transaction. Bharat QR (Quick Response) i.e. card-based QR transactions also reduce MDR to 0. 50 percent has been reduced and the maximum MDR will be Rs 150 per MDR.

The newly formed 8-membered high-level panel headed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan to study issues related to non-personal data and suggest the ways to regulate non-personal data.

Over Rs 70,000 crore package for the exports and real estate sectors was announced, including setting up of a stressed asset fund.Inflation has been kept very much below the 4% mark.Buying new homes will become easier and more affordable in the country as Rs 10,000 crore special window has been announced.

Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) will replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). It will come into effect from January 1, 2020.Existing dispensation in textiles of MEIS + old Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) will continue up to 31.12.2019. Textiles and all other sectors which currently enjoy incentives upto 2% over MEIS will transit into RODTEP from January 1, 2020.In effect, RODTEP will more than adequately incentivize exporters than existing schemes put together.

Thrissur in Kerala, India received a special mention award as an emerging destination on the global accessible tourism market. San Sebastian, a Spanish city, was awarded the 2019 UNWTO prize for Public Policy and Governance 2019 for the initiative “Love San Sebastian, Live Donastia”.In the Enterprises category, it was given to “Community Impact by V Resorts”, an initiative of V Resorts under the aegis of Bliss Inns Ltd, India.Fundación Once from Spain was awarded Best Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) 2019.Turismo Portugal was awarded the first international distinction of Accessible Tourism Destination (ATD) 2019.

The biennial international women’s youth football championship, 2020 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup, will be held in India from November 2-21, 2020. It will be the 7th edition and India will host the FIFA women’s football tournament for the first time. In the football tournament, 16 national teams of the member associations of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) are expected to participate.

Double Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel will come out next March with the final novel of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy which she says has been the greatest challenge of her writing life. “The Mirror & the Light” will brings to a close the series she began in 2005 with “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies”. The first two books fetched her the Booker awards.

Star forward Rani Rampal named captain of the 18-member Indian women’s hockey team which will take on England in a five-match series starting September 27 in Marlow.

28th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) is being conducted from 05 – 15 September 2019. Indian Naval (IN) Ship Kesari and His Majesty’s Thailand Ship (HTMS) Kraburi along with Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both the navies are participating in the CORPAT.