NATIONAL
- Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Farooq Abdullah was detained today under the Public Safety Act (PSA). The place where Mr. Abdullah will be housed has been declared a temporary jail, through an order. The PSA allows detention of any individual for up to two years without a trial.
- The Indian Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) will jointly engage to conduct a large war exercise code-named ‘Him Vijay’ 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, Nelco, a security service provider company of the TATA group, announced the launch of maritime communication services. By this launch, Nelco became the first Indian company to provide broadband services in maritime sector. This communication service that provides uninterrupted Broadband internet to any maritime vessel sailing in Indian waters was launched by Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad in Mumbai.There was also a pilot launch of Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system to track stolen mobile phones.
- The Supreme Court on Monday allowed CPI(M) leader Mohd Yusuf Tarigami to go back to his home state Jammu and Kashmir.
- Days after P K Mishra and P K Sinha were appointed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Principal Secretary and Principal Advisor respectively, the Prime Minister’s Office has defined the work areas for the two officers, and also for National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
- Former Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, who was at the centre of a row over alleged theft of assembly property, is said to have committed suicide on Monday.
- Ajay Singh appointed press secretary to president
INTERNATIONAL
- The slowdown in China’s economy deepened in August, with industrial production growth rate 4.4%, which is at its weakest pace in 17-1/2 years due to rising US trade pressure and softening domestic demand.
- Seven Chinese Navy warships are operating in and around the Indian Ocean Region, including an over 27,000 tonnes amphibious vessel, which have been tracked closely by the Indian Navy using its American-origin P-8I anti-submarine warfare spy planes and other surveillance assets.
- A shock exit by Britain from the EU without an agreement would be “a disaster”, the European employers’ organisation, Business Europe, warned today. One of the EU’s most powerful lobbies, Business Europe issued the warning just hours before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg.
- The United Auto Workers union began a nationwide strike against General Motors on Monday, with some 46,000 members walking off the job after the manufacturer’s four-year contract with workers expired without an agreement on a replacement.
- US President Donald Trump will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Houston’s mega “Howdy, Modi!” event on September 22, the White House said on Sunday.
- President Donald Trump said Sunday the US is “locked and loaded” to respond to an attack on Saudi oil infrastructure that Washington has blamed on Iran, as Riyadh raced to restart operations at plants hit by drone attacks.
TODAY’S ECONOMY
- Sun TV’s income from movie distribution has gone up to Rs 223.36 crore in 2018-19 (FY19) from Rs 3 lakh in 2017-18, according to the company’s Annual Report.
- India First Life Insurance, in which Andhra Bank owns 30% equity, might see Warburg Pincus emerge as its biggest shareholder., Economic Times reported. The PE investor, which owns 26 per cent in the IndiaFirst, might buy an additional 20.5 per cent stake from Andhra Bank. Bank of Baroda currently owns 44 per cent and Andhra Bank 30 per cent in the life insurence. Andhra Bank may earn Rs 700 crore by selling the stake of India First Life Insurance.
- 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 that the SFBs should have Rs. 200 crores minimum capital within 5 years of its operation. SFB should initially have at least Rs.100 crores for start of operation and they should make it to Rs. 200 crores capital within 5 years.
- Oil prices surged more than 10 per cent Monday after attacks on two Saudi Arabian plants that slashed output in the world’s top producer by half, with Donald Trump blaming Iran and raising the possibility of a military strike on the country.
ENVIRONMENT TODAY
- 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, from September 2-13, 2019 under the theme “Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities”. It was for the first time, India had hosted the conference. Some key points of ths convention are as follows:-
- The convention was presided by Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate.
- India pledged to convert degraded land of nearly 50 lakh hectares to fertile land in the next 10 years i.e. by 2030.
- Researchers at UNCCD COP 14 informed that 3 species of animals – the Indian cheetah, pink-headed duck, and the Great Indian Bustard have become extinct due to desertification in India and many more are on the verge of becoming extinct.
- Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda launched the biggest Tribal movement to promote tribal enterprise through Bamboonomics for combating desertification and climate change at “The Indian Perspective through Bamboonomics” session at ‘COP 14 UNCCD: TRIFED-GIZ’ organized at Greater Noida Expo.
- On September 9, 2019, The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the High-Level Segment Meeting of the COP14 to UNCCD in the presence of guests from different countries.
- Prime Minister Modi exhorted UNCCD to include A Global Water Action Agenda which is central to the Land Degradation Neutrality strategy and condemned the use of single-use plastic.
- PM Modi took India’s remote sensing and space technology to the world stage by mentioning it at the COP14 to UNCCD.
MARKET TODAY [ 16 Sep, 2019 ]
- SENSEX – 37123.31 (-261.68)
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- GOLD (MCX 10 GM) -38090.00 (566.00)
- SILVER (MCX 1 KG) -47134.00 (1373.00)
- USD ($) / INR(Rupees Icon) -71.58 (-0.21)
