1) International Day to Protect Education from Attack: 09 September
•International Day to Protect Education from Attack is observed globally on 9th September. In proclaiming the International Day to Protect Education from Attack to be celebrated for the first time in 2020. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness regarding the importance of safeguarding schools as places of protection and safety for students and educators and the need to keep education at the top of the public agenda.
2) India to host G-20 summit in 2023
•India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders’ summit in 2023 for the first time. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister has been appointed as India’s Sherpa for the G20 in 2023 (18th edition). A sherpa is a diplomat who undertakes preparatory work prior to a summit conference. The 2021 edition of the G20 meet will be held in Rome, Italy. The 2022 G20 meet will be held in Bali, Indonesia.
3) Gujarat govt launches Vatan Prem Yojana
•The Government of Gujarat announced, that it plans on undertaking public welfare projects worth Rs. 1,000 crores jointly with non-resident Gujaratis by December 2022. The projects will be under the state government’s ‘Vatan Prem Yojana’. The Yojana was launched in Gujarat focusing on rural development through public and state contributions.
4) Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates PRANA portal
•Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav launched a portal named PRANA, for the regulation of air pollution in 132 cities across the country. PRANA stands for Portal for Regulation of Air pollution in Non-Attainment cities. The portal (prana.cpcb.gov.in) will support tracking of physical as well as the financial status of city air action plan implementation and disseminate information on air quality to the public.
•The cities which come under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) will be covered. Apart from this, the Union Minister also dedicated the first functional smog tower of India, installed in Anand Vihar in New Delhi to the country.
5) India’s tallest air purifier tower installed in Chandigarh
•India’s tallest air purification tower has been inaugurated in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The tower has been installed at the initiative of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) at Transport Chowk, Sector 26, by Pious Air Pvt Limited.
•This is the highest air purifier tower of the country and covers an area of around a 500-metre radius and is 24-metre-high. The purification tower will clean 3.88 crore cubic ft of air from the surrounding environment.
6) AP Govt. appoints former SBI Chairperson Rajnish Kumar as economic advisor
•The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed Rajnish Kumar as its economic advisor. A former SBI chairman, Rajnish Kumar’s tenure in the cabinet rank position is for two years. Rajnish Kumar who had retired as SBI chairman in October 2020, is an independent non-executive director at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. He joined SBI as a Probationary officer in 1980.
•The appointment comes amid the growing concerns over the state’s financial situation which has been badly hit by the Covid pandemic, even as the opposition has been critical over the sops and freebies being distributed by the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government. Rajnish Kumar’s appointment is expected to help the state government steer through the financially tough juncture.
7) A book titled “Gita Govinda: Jaydeva’s Divine Odyssey” by Utpal K. Banerjee
•Union Minister of Culture Shri Kishan Reddy Gangapuram has launched a book titled “Gita Govinda: Jaydeva’s Divine Odyssey” authored by Dr Utpal K. Banerjee. The book is the first-ever fully-rhymed translation of the book GeetaGovindam by great 12th-century poet Jayadeva.
•Union Minister also launched a programme named ‘BujurgonkiBaat–DeshKeSaath’ that aims at enhancing the interaction between the youth and the elder persons who are 95 years and above and thus have spent around 18 years in India before independence.
8) S&P Global Ratings Projects India’s GDP for FY22 at 9.50%
•S&P Global Ratings has revised India’s growth forecast and now expects the economy to grow 9.5 per cent in 2021-22 (FY22) and 7.0 per cent in 2022-23 (FY23). India’s external position is very strong and this is quite supportive of India’s sovereign rating despite the fact that we have had this deterioration in fiscal position concurrently. India is expected to post strong economic growth in the coming quarters, even as inflation, led by food prices, is likely to remain elevated.
9) RBI removes lending curbs on UCO Bank
•Reserve Bank of India has taken public sector lender UCO Bank out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework on improvement in financial and credit profile. This decision gives the bank more freedom for lending, especially to corporations and grow the network, subject to prescribed norms. The Kolkata-based lender was placed under PCA in May 2017 on account of high Net Net-Performing Assets (NPAs) and negative Return on Assets (RoAs).
•Following UCO Bank’s exit, two banks — Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India — remain under PCA. The central bank uses the PCA framework to rein in banks that have breached certain regulatory thresholds in bad loans and capital adequacy. PCA entails curbs on high-risk lending, setting aside more money on provisions and restrictions on management salary.
10) Guinness World Records recognise Ronaldo for most goals scored
•Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo has broken the world record for most goals scored in men’s international football. Ronaldo surpassed Iranian striker Ali Daei’s long-held record of 109 international goals by scoring a brace against Ireland in a World Cup Qualifier. Ronaldo at 36 years of age is now a Guinness world record holder of most international goals of all time with 111 goals.
•The Guinness world book of records has recognised Cristiano Ronaldo as a world record breaker for the most goals scored in international football (soccer) matches scored by an individual (male). Ronaldo achieved the feat scoring goals for his native Portugal between 2003 and 2021 proactively over a span of 18 years with a career still going strong as he looks to overcome yet another new challenge after his move away from Turin with a year left on his contract with the Bianconeri.
