Daily Current Affairs-September 17th, 2019

Amit Shah questions multi-party democracy: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday stirred a major controversy today, said that after 70 years of Independence, people are wondering if multi-party democracy has ‘failed’. The makers of the constitution, he said, had envisaged an “equal, prosperous India”. They had adopted the multi-party democratic system after studying various democracies across the world so that all sections can have representation.

NATIONAL

The Delhi High Court has transferred all cases pertaining to Aircel-Maxis scam, involving P Chidambaram and his son, from Special Judge OP Saini to Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar, who is trying INX-Media cases against the father-son duo. All pending matters related to this case will be handled over to Special Judge Kuhar from October 1.
India’s indigenously designed air-to-air missile Astra was successfully test-fired from the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Odisha on September 17.The beyond-visual-range missile was launched from Sukhoi-30 MKI as a part of user trials.
On September 14, the union minister for environment, forest and climate change Shri Prakash Javadekar flagged off a bus named “Jaldoot” in Pune, Maharashtra which showcases the importance of water conservation. This bus which is redesigned to create “Jaldoot: Travelling Exhibition on Jalshakti Abhiyan” would travel to 8 districts of Maharashtra for 2 months and would also convey to people about the work of govt. in last 100 days, along with bold initiatives and decisions are undertaken.
On September 15, 2019, India’s top billiards and snooker player, Pankaj Advani(34) of Bangalore , Karnataka has won the 22nd world title of his career with the fourth consecutive IBSF World Billiards title 2019 in the 150 up format held in Mandalay, Myanmar. This is his fifth title in the last 6 years in the short billiards format. Like 2018, this year too, Advani won the final with 6–2 scores against Nay Thway Oo of Myanmar.
On september 15 Justice P. Lakshmana Reddy was sworn in as the Andhra Pradesh’s (AP) first Lokayukta after the state’s bifurcation in 2014. Reddy will have a five-year term as Lokayukta. AP Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan administered the oath of office to Justice Reddy at a function in Vijayawada.
On September 13, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Chhaya Sharma who led the investigation of the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape, was selected for the 2019 Asia Society Game Changers Award along with six others by Asia Society, which is a leading educational organization. She has been awarded for redefining the role of female police officers.
Bill Gates to honour PM Modi on his 69th birthday.

INTERNATIONAL

American breast cancer survivor Sarah Thomas, 37, an open water marathon swimmer from the US state of Colorado, today became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop in a 54-hour feat of endurance.
Global energy prices spiked more than 14% on 16^th September, after a weekend attack on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused the worst disruption to world supplies on record. The attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil processing plant disrupted more than half of its daily exports. US crude oil jumped more than USD 8 to close at USD 62.90 a barrel, and Brent picked up nearly USD 9 per barrel, to reach USD 69.02.
An IMF delegation visited Pakistan to review its economic progress and the use of the first tranche of the $6 billion loan extended to the cash-strapped country.In July, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $6 billion loan to Pakistan with a string of conditions to be fulfilled and the progress review every quarter.
POK is part of India: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Tuesday, said that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and “we expect to have physical jurisdiction over it one day”

TODAY’S ECONOMY

The government on September 16, launched an online system to monitor steel imports, The Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) will provide advance information about steel imports to both the government and stakeholders.
Sensex falls 642 pts, Nifty ends at 10,818 on oil crisis and global tension.
Jio continues to lead 4G mobile broadband chart in Aug with 21.3 Mbps speed.
No slowdown in online consumer spending in India, say Amazon and Flipkart.

REVIEW TODAY

On August 29, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakaomet India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi in New Delhi and committed over $12 billion to lend India over the next 3 years (2020-22) in support of new flagship initiatives, averaging annually over $3 billion for sovereign operations and $1 billion for non sovereign operations.
On August 29, in a move to make the city cleaner & greener, the Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah has flagged off the first fleet of eco-friendly e-buses (electric buses) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which will be operated on major junctions in the city. He also inaugurated India’s 1^st automated battery charging & changing station for e-buses there.
On August 29, The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekarhas announced the approval for the establishment of new International Standard Zoo and Biopark on 1914 hectares in the forest land at Gorewada in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The Zoo will be equipped with Bio Park, Indian Safari, African Safari, Night Safari, Research, Education and Training, facilities for tourists among others. Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM), a wholly-owned company of the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) has been established for this purpose.
On August 29, ‘Angikaar campaign was launched by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri,Minister of State(MoS-independent) of Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA), in order to bring the PMAY(U) (Pradhan MantriAwasYojana-Urban) beneficiaries into the fold of other schemes like the Ujjawala(free gas connections) and Ayushman Bharat(health protection scheme). The campaign will be rolled out on October 2 till December 10, 2019, in all the cities with PMAY (U).