Daily Current Affairs, 17th September 2018

1) Former Union Minister Satya Prakash Malviya Passes Away

•Former Union petroleum minister Satya Prakash Malaviya passed away in Delhi. He was 84. Mr. Malaviya was suffering from prostate cancer. 

•Mr. Malaviya had served as the petroleum minister in the cabinet headed by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. He also served as environment minister in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. 

2) Jaipur Literature Festival Begins In Houston

•The Jaipur Literature Festival began in Houston at the Asia Society of Texas.  The festival, touted as the world’s largest free literary gathering, started with a soulful music performance by Indian Sufi singer Zila Khan. 

•The inaugural session also saw Congress leader and writer Shashi Tharoor discuss his book “Why i am a Hindu” with writer Namita Gokhale. The annual festival, has now become synonymous with showcasing a range of voices from India and abroad, began in 2006 and is held annually in Jaipur. 

3) New Website For '15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019' Inaugurated

•External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the website for the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019, www.pbdindia.gov.in. The online registration for participation has started for this biennial event. 

•Guests at the PBD 2019:
1. Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth will be the Chief Guest. 
2. Member of Parliament of Norway Himanshu Gulati will be the Special Guest.
3. Member of Parliament of New Zealand Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will be the Guest of Honor. 

4) Indigenously Developed Weapon System ‘MPATGM’ Successfully Flight Tested

•Indigenously developed weapon system Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM), was successfully flight tested for the second time from the Ahmednagar range, Maharashtra. All the mission objectives have been met. 

•The two missions have been successfully flight tested for different ranges including the maximum range capability. 

5) India Gets Its 1st Ever Dedicated Dog Park In Hyderabad

•For the first time in India, dog owners will have a dedicated dog park to visit. Set up in Hyderabad, the park is spread across an area of 1.3 acres. 

•The park houses dog training equipment, play equipment, splash pool, fountain, areas for exercise, amphitheatre, lawns, separate kennels for small and big dogs and a dedicated dog clinic. 

6) Rajnath Singh Inaugurates 2 CIMBS Pilot Projects In Jammu

•Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh inaugurated two Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) pilot projects along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu region. 

•The pilot project includes two 5.5 kilometre-stretches in Jammu, the performance of which will be monitored, and based on the feedback improvements will be made for the rest of the system. A 60-kilometre long pilot project along the Bhramaputra river in Assam's Dhubri district would also be launched in November. 

7) India Ranks 3rd On Family-Owned Business List: CSRI Report

•India ranks third globally in terms of number of family-owned businesses with 111 companies having a total market capitalisation of $839 billion. India closely follows China with 159 firms and the US with 121 firms,according to the ‘Credit Suisse Family 1000 in 2018’ study, published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI).

•As per the report, in terms of number of family-owned businesses within the non-Japan Asian region, the list is dominated by China, India and Hong Kong. These three jurisdictions together account for around 65% of the non-Japan Asian section of CSRI’s database. 

8) Cisco Signs Agreements With NITI Aayog And BSNL

•Cisco, a U.S.-based firm, that makes networking telecommunications equipment, has signed two agreements with the NITI Aayog and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to speed up its Country Digital Acceleration programme in India. 

•The current set of investments will focus on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship through the Atal Innovation Mission and in developing use cases to showcase the possibilities of 5G in citizen services and application of innovative digital technologies in transportation modernisation.  

9) SBI Appoints Prashant Kumar As CFO

•State Bank of India announced that Prashant Kumar has taken charge as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Bank. Before Kumar, Anshula Kant, who has been promoted as Managing Director of SBI, was the CFO. 

•Prior to this appointment, Kumar was designated as Deputy Managing Director (HR) & Corporate Development Officer of India's largest bank.

10) PNB Wins Hindi Implementation Award

•State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) bagged the "Rajbhasha Kirti" award for outstanding performance in implementing the Official Language Policy during 2017-18. The award was given on the occasion of Hindi Diwas (15th September). 

•The award, under the category of 'Nationalised Banks and Financial Institutions in Region A', was presented by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu to PNB Chief Executive and MD Sunil Mehta. 

11) Kenya's Kipchoge Smashes Marathon World Record In Berlin

•Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record in Berlin (Germany), smashing the previous best as he clocked 2 hours 1 minute 39 second.  Kipchoge has dominated marathon racing since making his debut in Hamburg in 2013. 

•The 33-year-old Olympic champion, aided by a string of pacemakers through to 25km of the 42.195 km race, took 1 minute 17 second off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto. Ethiopian Ruti Aga finished second and her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba third.