SEP 1st TO 15TH. 2107 {Current Affairs Notes Of The Hindu By RAVI SIR }

SEP  1st TO 15^TH. 2107 {Current Affairs Notes Of  The Hindu By RAVI SIR }

1. President of Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard is on the three-day visit to India. A number of agreements are expected to be signed in several areas after the talks. India and Switzerland enjoy robust economic ties, with Switzerland being seventh largest trading partner and eleventh largest foreign investor for India.Bern is the Capital of Switzerland. Swiss franc is the currency of Switzerland.

2. Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh were the fastest expanding State economies in 2015-16, according to a new series of gross State domestic product data with 2011-12 as the base year published by the Central Statistics Office. Top 5 Largest state Economies are Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu,Gujarat,Uttar Pradesh,Karnataka.

3. India's largest autonomous public organization Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been ranked ninth in the world. The institute has been ranked ninth amongst a total of 1,207 government institutions, according to the Scimago Institutions ranking World Report 2017. Girish Sahni was appointed as Director General of CSIR.

4. India and Switzerland signed two MoUs in the field of Railways. The two MoUs were signed between Ministry of Railways and Swiss Confederation after high-level talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Doris Leuthard, President of Swiss Confederation during her visit to New Delhi.

5. Markets regulator SEBI barred Orion Capital as well as Orion Broking and their partners from the securities markets for 10 years for failing to redress several investor grievances pertaining to non- settlement of funds due to the clients. Chairman of SEBI is Ajay Tyagi. SEBI was set up on 12th April 1988.

6. Prominent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail was presented with the Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel 'Hawthan'. The novel 'Hawthan', published in 2009, captures cultural lives of traditional potter community in Goa. Mahabaleshwar Sail is a bilingual writer based in Goa.

7. The Reliance Foundation was rewarded with the prestigious Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Award at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Chairperson of the foundation, Nita Ambani collected the award from President Ram Nath Kovind.For its contribution to the promotion of sports, the award went to Reliance Foundation. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) also received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar for its ‘Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent’ (IDCO) program. Sri Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th President of India.

8. The outgoing Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was appointed Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Mr. Mehrishi completed his two-year stint as Home Secretary and handed over the charge to Rajiv Gauba.

9. Former bureaucrat Sunil Arora was appointed Election Commissioner by the law Ministry. Om Prakash Rawat is the other Election Commissioner. Achal Kumar Joti is the Chief Election Commissioner of India. NOTE:-(The Election Commission has 1 chief election commissioner and 2 election commissioners)

10. Economist Rajiv Kumar took over as the vice-chairman of government think tank NITI Aayog. Mr. Kumar replaced Arvind Panagariya, an Indian-American economist who left the think tank to return to academia.

11. PM Narendra Modi will leave for a two nation tour to China and Myanmar. In the first leg of his three-day tour to China, Mr Modi will reach Xiamen(China) to attend the 9th BRICS Summit there.

12. Gujarat’s commercial capital Ahmedabad was formally accorded the status of India’s first World Heritage City by UNESCO. UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova handed over the certificate declaring Ahmedabad as a ‘World Heritage City’ to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar.

13. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the two-day annual conference, Rajaswa Gyan Sangam, 2017 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The conference, jointly organized by the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

14. Swedish defence major SAAB announced its tie-up with Adani Group to manufacture the Gripen E fighter jets in India under the Defence Ministry’s $10 billion single-engine fighter jet procurement programme.

15. The world's highest sandcastle is now standing 16.68 meters tall in the German city of Duisburg. A German travel operator organized the construction of the mammoth sandcastle, bringing in 3,500 tons of sand over the past three and a half weeks to the site at a former steelworks in the inland city. 

16. Kenneth I. Juster, deputy director of the National Economic Council at the White House, has been nominated as the next U.S ambassador to India. Donald Trump is the Present and 45th President of India.

17. The government has issued an alert on the spread of new malware 'Locky Ransomware' that can lock computers and demand ransom for unlocking them. Electronics and IT Additional Secretary Ajay Kumar tweeted that an alert regarding spam spreading Locky Ransomware was issued by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.

18. Five banks of the BRICS Bank Cooperation Mechanism have agreed to establish credit lines in the national currencies and cooperate on credit ratings. The agreement to this effect was signed ahead of the BRICS Summit in China’s Xiamen city. The theme of the 9th BRICS Summit is "Stronger Partnership for a better future"

Brazilian Development Bank, Vnesheconombank, Export-Import Bank of India, China Development Bank and Development Bank of South Africa signed the agreement in Beijing. Ahead of the BRICS summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved 1.4 billion US dollar loans for sustainable development projects in India, Russia and China.

19. South Korea is hosting the Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang in 2018. winter games go to Beijing, China in 2022.

20. Summer Olympics : Japan hosts the 2020, 2024 : PERIS , 2028 : LOS ANGELES.

 Cabinet Ministers

S.No.	Minister	Ministry
1.	Shri Raj Nath Singh	Minister of Home Affairs.
2.	Smt. Sushma Swaraj	Minister of External Affairs.
3.	Shri Arun Jaitley	Minister of Finance Minister of Corporate Affairs.
4.	Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari	Minister of Road Transport and Highways Minister of Shipping Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
5.	Shri Suresh Prabhu	Minister of Commerce and Industry.
6.	Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda	Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
7.	Sushri Uma Bharati	Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
8.	Shri Ramvilas Paswan	Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
9.	Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi	Minister of Women and Child Development.
10.	Shri Ananthkumar	Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
11.	Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad	Minister of Law and Justice Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
12.	Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda	Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
13.	Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati	Minister of Civil Aviation.
14.	Shri Anant Geete	Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
15.	Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal	Minister of Food Processing Industries.
16.	Shri Narendra Singh Tomar	Minister of Rural Development Minister of Panchayati Raj Minister of Mines.
17.	Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh	Minister of Steel.
18.	Shri Jual Oram	Minister of Tribal Affairs.
19.	Shri Radha Mohan Singh	Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
20.	Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot	Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
21.	Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani	Minister of Textiles Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
22.	Dr. Harsh Vardhan	Minister of Science and Technology Minister of Earth Sciences Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
23.	Shri Prakash Javadekar	Minister of Human Resource Development.
24.	Shri Dharmendra Pradhan*	Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
25.	Shri Piyush Goyal*	Minister of Railways Minister of Coal.
26.	Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman*	Minister of Defence.
27.	Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi*	Minister of Minority Affairs.

21. China will give 500 million yuan ($76.4 million) for a BRICS economic and technology cooperation plan, and another $4 million for projects at the BRICS countries' New Development Bank stated Chinese President Xi Jinping.

22. Nepal has signed a USD 635 million UN assistance package for 2018-2022 to lay out the country’s development strategy for the next five years. The package involves 26 individual UN agencies.

23. The National Nutrition Week is observed throughout the country from 1st to 7th September. The Theme of the National Nutrition Week for 2017 is "Optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health".

24. Fincare Small Finance Bank (previously known as Disha Microfin Limited) kick-started its banking operations with about 25 operational branches across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Rajeev Yadav is the CEO of Fincare Small Finance Bank. It is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka

25. Karnataka government will merge the existing seven health schemes to launch a unified health scheme- ‘Arogya Bhagya’. It will cover all 1.4 crore households of the state. The main Theme of the ‘Arogya Bhagya’ scheme is ”Treatment First and Payment Next”

26. Karnataka Bank has bagged the ‘best bank’ award among small banks for the use of technology for financial inclusion at the 13th IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence Awards 2016-17.

27. Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has bagged the National Award for ‘Excellence’ in Energy Management at a conference hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

28. Star India edged out Sony Pictures to secure the Indian Premier League's media rights with a bid of Rs 16,347.50 crore. The bidding for various media rights of the cash-rich league was held in Mumbai for a five-year period from 2018-2022.

29. Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper in world cricket to effect 100 stumpings in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Dhoni achieved the feat in his 301st ODI in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

30. India has whitewashed host Sri Lanka 5-nil in One Day International cricket series. By winning all the 5 games, India became the first visiting country to inflict a 5-0 defeat on Sri Lanka. Jasprit Bumrah was named as the Player of ODI Series.

31. Pulitzer-prize winning poet John Ashbery, a post-modern American trailblazer, has passed away at age of 90 in Hudson, New York.

32. Teacher's Day is celebrated in India on 5th September in honor of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was born on September 5, 1888. Dr. Radhakrishnan was India's second president and a great scholar, philosopher and Bharat Ratna recipient. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President of India.

33. The Union Environment Ministry launched an environmental awareness initiative on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. Under the initiative, an online environmental quiz competition named Prakriti Khoj will be conducted at the national level.

34. Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth. Finishing a 288-day mission that put her over the top as the American who has spent the most cumulative amount of time in space.

35. President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone of the second phase of link IV pipeline canal of Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana in Rajkot, Gujara.

36. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched two new contraceptives- an injectable contraceptive MPA under the ‘Antara’ program and a contraceptive pill ‘Chhaya’ in the public health system to expand the basket of contraceptive choices for couples.

37. RBI included HDFC Bank in the list of 'too big to fail' lenders, referred to as D-SIB or domestic systemically important bank. India's largest lender SBI and private sector major ICICI Bank were classified as D-SIBs in 2015. With the inclusion of HDFC Bank in the list, there will now be three 'too big to fail' financial entities in the country.

38. UNESCO has announced the winners of the 2017 International Literacy Prizes, which honors excellence and innovation in the field of global literacy. The awards will be handed out to five laureates from Canada, Colombia, Jordan, Pakistan and South Africa on the occasion of International Literacy Day, which falls on September 8.

39. R A Sankara Narayanan has taken charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vijaya Bank.

40. Olympic silver-medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore being appointed as the new Youth Affairs and Sports Minister. The 47-year-old Rathore was up until now serving as the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting.

41. Captain of Indian basketball team Amritpal Singh created history by becoming the first Indian player to be signed by an Australian Basketball team.

42. India’s Konsam Ormila Devi bagged a gold medal in 44kg weight category on the opening day of the Commonwealth Youth (boys & girls) weightlifting championships, held at Gold Coast, Australia.

43. Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Jomde Kena died at a private hospital in Guwahati after a prolonged illness.

44. DBS Bank India, part of Singapore-based financial services group DBS Group Holdings, has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to convert its existing India franchise to a locally incorporated wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) in India.

45. After attending the BRICS Summit in China, PM Modi left for his three-day visit to Myanmar. He was received by the Myanmar President Htin Kyaw. Following set of agreements were signed between the two nation.

46. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Russian port city of Vladivostok on a three-day visit to attend the third Eastern Economic Forum which will deliberate on pressing issues relating to global trade. Delegates from at least 24 countries are attending the gathering.

47. The National Highway Authority of India has awarded its first international project in Myanmar to a joint venture of Punj Lloyd-Varaha. This is for the upgradation of the Yagyi–Kalewa section in Myanmar to two lanes with earthern shoulder in the engineering, procurement, and construction mode.

48. Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy and Mumbai-born scientist Veena Sahajwalla have been conferred the PLuS Alliance Prize.

49. The 12th edition of India-Nepal joint military exercise- Surya Kiran XII was held at Nepal Army Battle School (NABS) in Saljhandi, Nepal. The 14-day exercise focused on skills required counter-terrorism and counter-terror, forest fighting and natural disaster management operations.

50. India’s Ankur Mittal won his maiden ISSF World Cup medal by clinching silver in the double trap event of the edition being held in Moscow.

51. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) entered into an agreement with US-based networking solutions provider Coriant to chart the path to 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) in India.

52. Exide Life Insurance has announced a partnership with Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) to offer its protection and savings products to the latter’s customers.

53. NITI Aayog has constituted an Expert Task Force to provide a major thrust to job creation by enhancing India’s exports. It will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar.

54. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under Ministry of Power, Government of India has launched UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) Scheme in the State of Melaka, Malaysia.

55. The Andhra Pradesh government has signed an MoU with the US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT)to build India's first Hyperloop system. The planned project is aimed at connecting cities Amaravati and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, supposedly covering the distance of over 35 km in just five minutes. E. S. L. Narasimhan is the Governor of  Andhra Pradesh.

56. A joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas-2017 will be conducted at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, USA from 14 to 27 September 2017 between India and the USA.

57. SBI Life Insurance has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) of up to Rs 8,400 crore ($1.3 billion).

58. India’s first operational Smart City and IFSC, Gujarat International Finance-Tec City (GIFT City), has won the prestigious Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) Services Excellence Award.

59. Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra has been appointed as the first Indian woman ambassador in 'Friends of Australia' (FOA) advocacy panel by Tourism Australia.

60. The book of Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran named “How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century”- was launched by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

61. India will host the 2019 edition of the Commonwealth (Youth, Junior and Senior) Weightlifting Championships.

62. Airtel Business, the B2B arm of telecom major Bharti Airtel, has launched Airtel GST Advantage - a solution designed to enable small businesses and start-ups to file their GST returns “accurately, securely and seamlessly.”

63. Amazon opened its largest fulfillment center in India on the outskirts of Hyderabad, near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad.

64. The new FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal inaugurated the Nestle Food Safety Institute in Manesar, Gurugram.

65. Indian Navy and Sri Lankan Navy has begun the 2017 Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

66. Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of the Express Group was elected Chairman of Press Trust of India, the country’s largest news agency.

67. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone of the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail in Ahmedabad.

68. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone of the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail in Ahmedabad.

69. Hindi Diwas is an annual observance in India which is a celebration of the Hindi language. Celebrated on September 14 every year, Hindi Divas is an annual day celebration mostly sponsored by the central government of India.

70. India’s first State of art virology laboratory at Dr Anjali Chatterjee Regional Research Institute for Homoeopathy in Kolkata was inaugurated by Shripad Yesso Naik, Union Minister of State for AYUSH.

71. Karnataka is the first state to roll out an Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy that looks not only at boosting sales of Electrical Vehicles but also setting up charging infrastructure and special manufacturing zones.

72. The Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe is on the Two-Day visit to India. In his first move, he has inaugurated the first High-Speed Rail Project of India that will run between Mumbai to Ahmedabad.

73. India has been placed at a low 103 rank, the lowest among BRICS economies, on the World Economic Forum's Global Human Capital Index. The list has been topped by Norway.

74. The Secretary-General of UN Antonio Guterres has appointed the outgoing president of the General Assembly, Peter Thomson as the first special envoy for the oceans, seeking to galvanize efforts to protect the world's seas.

75. Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar launched -Mission 24 for Mumbai's M east ward which is known to have one of highest slum population's in the city.The project by NGO Apnalaya and Mumbai first plans to work along with the BMC -as the principal stakeholder over the next 24 months to improve the quality of lives of people living in M east ward of Mumbai.

76. Vijaya Bank has bagged the first prize under the Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar (Region C) for the year 2016-17.

77. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has formally announced that Paris has been awarded the 2024 summer Olympics and Los Angeles has been given the 2028 edition.

78. The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju attended the first National Canine Seminar organized by National Security Guard (NSG), in NSG Campus, Manesar (Gurugram), Haryana.

79. In a bid to take Internet connectivity to the remotest part of the state, Assam government signed an MoU with Google India.

80. The First water ATM has been inaugurated by Telangana State Home Minister N Narasimha Reddy at Nalgonda X Roads. A total of 200 ATMs will be set up to reach a targeted 150,000 people. In the first phase, 50 water ATMs will be operationalized by 2018.

81. The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) chief executive officer (CEO) A.B. Pandey was appointed the interim chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

82. India Wrestler Sonam Malik won a gold medal by defeating Japanese Wrestler Sena Nagamoto by 3-1 points on the fourth-day of Cadet World Wrestling Championship in Athens.

83. Women's national hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne was named chief coach of the men's side. He has replaced Roelant Oltmans.

84. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for Ranchi Smart City coming up on the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) land. According to the Urban Development Minister CP Singh, this would be the country’s first ‘green-field’ smart city.

85. Prince Charles, the heir to Britain’s throne, became the longest-serving Prince of Wales in history. The 68-year-old broke the record of Queen Victoria’s oldest son Albert, who went on to become King Edward VII after holding the title of Prince of Wales for more than 59 years before becoming monarch.

86. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank and India's second largest Microfinance company Bharat Financial Inclusion have signed a confidentiality agreement for the proposed merger between them. R. Seshasayee is the present Chairman of IndusInd Bank. It Headquarters in Mumbai.

87. Indian Ambassador in UAE Navdeep Singh Suri inaugurated the second Indian Workers’ Resource Centre (IWRC) in UAE to provide support and counseling to Indians in distress.

88. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman flagged off the Navika Sagar Parikrama by an all-women crew of Indian Navy aboard Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini from INS Mandovi jetty in Goa.

89. India's indigenously developed third generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Nag has been successfully flight tested by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in deserts of Rajasthan, marking the completion of development trials.

90. An advisory committee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is likely to discuss a proposal for extending stock market trading hours. The stock market in India currently opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 3.30 p.m., but there is a view, including among stock exchanges, that the trade hours could be extended till up to 7.30 p.m. to better align domestic trading with global markets. The 19-member committee is led by Jayanth R Varma, professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. 

91. India has finished fifth in the medals tally with one gold and two silver medals at the Moscow Shotgun World Championships. Only 16 of the 76 participating nations got amongst the medals and Italy topped the tally with nine gold medals for a total of 17 medals in all.

92. . India has won 2nd South Asian Basketball, SABA, Under - 16 Championship. India defeated Bhutan by 131-50 in its last league match at Kathmandu in Nepal. India remained unbeaten in its all four matches and accumulated 8 points. 

93. The government is moving ahead with linking Aadhaar with mobile SIM cards and all unlinked phones will be deactivated after February 2018. 

94. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Belarus President Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko in New Delhi to discuss various issues of mutual interest of both countries. A number of agreements are expected to be signed in several areas after the talks. Minsk is the Capital city of Belarus

95. The Government’s bid to extract the UK from EU law in time for Brexit has passed its first Parliamentary test. The EU Withdrawal Bill was backed by MPs by 326 to 290. The bill, which will end the supremacy of EU law in the UK, now moves onto its next Parliamentary stage.

96. India and Afghanistan exchanged four pacts in areas of health, transport, space and new development partnership. The agreements were exchanged after delegation level talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Salahuddin Rabbani in New Delhi.

97. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) announced that the upper age limit for joining the National Pension Scheme (NPS) had been raised to 65 years, from the current 60.

98. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a USD 152 million to Nepal for the implementation and enhancement of its power transmission and distribution. ADB and Nepal’s Ministry of Finance signed the loan agreement in Kathmandu.

99. The renowned Indian Badminton legend Prakash Padukone has been selected for the first life time award by Badminton Association of India (BAI). He has been selected for the award for his contributions to Badminton.

100. Eminent jurist Tahir Mahmood was awarded the prestigious N R Madhava Menon Best Law Teacher Award 2017 for his distinguished services to legal education and the legal profession on the occasion of Law Teachers' Day celebrations.

101. The Maharashtra Government and Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) have signed a lease agreement to set up a state-of-the-art milk and milk products processing plant.

102. HDFC Bank surpassed Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the country’s second most valued firm in terms of market valuation.

103. Force Motors Chairman Abhay Firodia has been elected as the new president of the automobile industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

104. Sumit Nagal of India blasted Colin van Beem of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-0 in the singles final to justify the top billing in the 8th MCC – S R Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures Men’s tennis championship in Chennai.

105. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Mr. Abe is in India on a two-day visit to attend the India-Japan annual summit meeting. They will also attend a function to mark the commencement of work of India’s first high-speed rail project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

106. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Belarus President Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko in New Delhi and discussed various issues of mutual interest of both countries. A number of agreements were signed in several areas after the talks.

107. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has sacked his deputy Tourism Minister Arundika Fernando for allegedly defying the party leadership.

108. Halimah Yacob was sworn-in as the 8th President of Singapore. She became the country’s first female President and the first in five decades to come from the Malay ethnicity.

109. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India organized the second State Startup Conference in New Delhi.

110. Kochi will host the fifth edition of the ‘Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transportation Business Summit 2017’. The summit will be an initiative to explore the immense potential of coastal shipping and waterways as well as an effort to build a shared commitment and decipher the role that each stakeholder will have to play in integrating the coastal and waterways transport infrastructure.

111. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to monitor and resolve the IT challenges faced in the implementation of GST.

112. London retained its crown as the world’s top financial center in a ranking that surveys industry professionals, extending its lead over New York and Hong Kong despite ongoing uncertainty about the implications of Brexit.

113.The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a nationwide Hackathon ‘OpenGovDataHack’ to support and showcase potential ideas/talent from inner India.

114. As per the notification of Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India will introduce 100 rupees coin to mark the birth centenary (hundredth anniversary) of AIADMK founder Late Dr. M G Ramachandran.

115. Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a RuPay-powered digital debit card. With the PPB Digital debit card, customers will now be able to transact at all merchants who accept credit and debit cards.

116. Payment gateway provider PayU has announced its collaborations with the IRCTC to provide users a safe and secure option to pay for rail tickets booked via the IRCTC website.