1) National Engineer’s Day: 15 September
•In India, the Engineer’s Day is celebrated on September 15 every year, since 1968, to recognise the contribution of engineers’ in the development of the nation. The day marks the birth anniversary of the engineering pioneer of India, Sir Mokshagundam Vishweshvaraya, (popularly known as Sir MV).
•Sir MV was regarded as the “Father of Modern Mysore”. He was awarded ‘Bharat Ratna’ for his exceptional contribution to the building of India in 1955.
2) International Day of Democracy: 15 September
•International Day of Democracy is observed globally on 15th September every year. The International Day of Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.
3) Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology celebrates ‘Himalaya Diwas’
•Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, virtually celebrated the ‘Himalaya Diwas’.
•On the occasion of ‘Himalaya Diwas’, the scientists who are specialising in different aspects of the Himalayas deliberated on a range of areas namely landslide disaster risk reduction, Himalayan seismicity, risk awareness, and mitigation, and journey of black carbon towards Himalayan cryosphere.
4) India becomes member of UN’s ECOSOC body
•India has been elected as a member of the United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women, a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). India will be a member of United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, 2021 to ‘25.
•India, Afghanistan and China had contested the elections to the Commission on Status of Women. Even as India and Afghanistan won the ballot among the 54 members, China could not cross the half-way mark.
5) Yoshihide Suga to succeed Shinzo Abe as Japan’s PM
•Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga has been elected as the new Chief of country’s ruling, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Prime Minister-designate of Japan. The 71-year-old will assume charge of the office from 16 September 2020.
•Suga received maximum votes of 377 of the 534 valid votes in the Party election, held to pick a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced in August 2020 that he would resign due to health problems.
6) Union Cabinet approves establishment of AIIMS at Darbhanga, Bihar
•The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved establishment of a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar. This will be established under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The approved AIIMS would be established at a total cost of Rs. 1264 crore and is likely to be completed within a period of 4 years from the date of the approval of Government of India.
•The new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments. The proposed institution shall have a hospital with capacity of 750 beds which will include Emergency / Trauma beds, ICU beds, AYUSH beds, Private beds and Specialty & Super Specialty beds.
7) TikTok choses Oracle as its technology partner for its US operations
•TikTok has chosen Oracle to be its technology partner for its American operations. Microsoft was also in a bid to acquire TikTok in the United States but the Chinese owner of the video-sharing platform “TikTok” chose Oracle over Microsoft to be its technology partner for its American operations.
•The partnership was signed by the two entities as in an executive order signed last month, President of the United States, Donald Trump stated that TikTok would be blocked in the US if it did not sell its US operations to an American company by 20th of September 2020.
8) S&P Global Ratings Projects India’s GDP at -9% in FY21
•S&P Global Ratings has projected the GDP of India to contract by 9% in the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21), as against its previous estimate of a 5% contraction, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the FY22 (2021-22), S&P expects GDP growth of 6% and for the FY23 (2022-23), GDP growth is projected at 6.2%.
9) Rajesh Khullar appointed Executive Director at World Bank
•A 1988 batch IAS officer, Rajesh Khullar has been appointed as Executive Director at World Bank in Washington DC. The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Rajesh Khulla for a tenure of three years from the date of assumption of charge or till the date of his superannuation (August 23, 2023). Khullar is currently posted as principal secretary to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He will join the World Bank in the first week of November.
•As executive director, Khullar will represent India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the World Bank. The World Bank Group comprises 25 executive directors who each represent a country or constituency of countries, are either appointed or elected to the position.
10) Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
•Janata Dal (United) parliamentarian Harivansh Narayan Singh has been re-elected as the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The upper house has cleared his name with a voice vote. The proposal to elect Harivansh as the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha was moved by BJP President JP Nadda.
•Harivansh Narayan Singh was first elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha on August 8, 2018. His term as Rajya Sabha member ended in April 2020.
11) Sameer Kumar Khare appointed Executive Director at ADB
•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sameer Kumar Khare as new Executive Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila. Khare is a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Assam cadre. He is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance. He has been appointed to the post for a tenure of three years with effect from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
12) Gauri Khan announces her debut book ‘My Life in Design’
•Interior designer, Gauri Khan has authored her first book titled “My Life In Design”, which will be published by Penguin Random House India in 2021. It is a coffee-table book, in which Gauri has written about her journey as a designer.
13) Aditya Puri conferred Lifetime Achievement Award by Euromoney 2020
•Managing Director of HDFC Bank, Aditya Puri has been conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by Euromoney Awards of Excellence 2020. He has been awarded for his skills in building a world-class bank in India at a time where there were no similar institutions in existence.
•Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence are the awards that matter to the banks and bankers who matter. They were established in 1992 and were the first of their kind in the global banking industry.
