1. BRICS
summit begins in Xiamen
i. The 9th BRICS
summit begins in the Chinese city of Xiamen, the second time the China has
hosted the summit after the 2011 summit.
ii. In a
joint declaration, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS)
condemned all terror attacks worldwide, including those attacks in the member
states, stressing that there can be no justification whatsoever for any such
act.
iii. Host
country China has also invited five guest countries (Egypt, Kenya, Tajikistan,
Mexico, and Thailand) for the summit under its BRICS plus approach.
iv. Prime
Minister ‘Narendra Modi’ raised the issues of international terrorism and ban
on all active terror groups among others.
v. In BRICS
plenary session, the leaders discussed the practical cooperation for common
development and institution building.
2. Nepal
signs UN development assistance plan
i. Nepal
govt. has signed a USD 635 million United Nations Development Assistance
Framework (UNDAF) for 2018-2022 to lay out the country’s development strategy
for the next five years.
ii. The
agreement signed between the govt’s planning body National Planning Commission
and the UN country team in Nepal.
iii. The
package involving 26 individual UN agencies is aimed at assisting Nepal in four
areas, include inclusive economic growth, social development, climate change
adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
3. Trump
to nominate Kenneth Juster as US Ambassador to India
i. America's
foremost expert on US-India trade relations ‘Kenneth I. Juster’ (62-year) has
been nominated as the U.S ambassador to India.
ii. He will
succeed Richard Verma
iii. The
appointment will take effect once the U.S Senate confirms him.
iv. Juster
holds Bachelor’s degree in Govt. from Harvard College and master’s degree in
Public Policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He also
holds a law degree from the Harvard Law School.
4. State
of emergency declared in Los Angeles
i. A state
of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles (USA) as the city battles the
worst wildfires in its history.
ii. Hundreds
of homes have been evacuated around the Glendale and Burbank suburbs.
iii. The
fires, covering about 5,000 acres, started in La Tuna Canyon and have sent
plumes of smoke over the city.
iv. The
declarations allow state and federal funds to be provided as soon as possible.
5. Narendra
Modi Cabinet reshuffle
i. Nirmala
Sitharaman has taken charge as the Minister of Defence
ii. Now, She
has become the first woman to take charge as the full-time defence minister
(Indira Gandhi-additional charge).
iii. Previous
Railways Minister, Suresh Prabhu will hold the office of Minister of
Commerce & Industry.
iv. Piyush
Goyal has taken charge as the Minister of Railway and also hold the
post of Minister of Coal.
v. Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi, who earlier had the independent charge as the Minister of
State for Minority Affairs will now hold the office of Minister of Minority
Affairs.
vi. Uma
Bharti will hold the post of Minister of Drinking Water &
Sanitation. Earlier, she held the portfolio of River Development & Ganga
Rejuvenation.
6. Pulitzer-Prize
winning poet John Ashbery passes away
i. Pulitzer-prize
winning poet John Ashbery (90-year), a post-modern American trailblazer passed
away in Hudson, New York.
ii. His 1975
collection, "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror," was the rare winner
of the book world's unofficial triple crown: the Pulitzer Prize, the National
Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle prize.
iii. He was
given a National Humanities Medal and credited with changing in 2011.
7. TMC
MP Sultan Ahmed passes away
i. Trinamool
Congress (TMC) MP Sultan Ahmed (64-years) passed away after suffering a cardiac
arrest.
ii. Mr.
Ahmed was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Uluberia (Lok Sabha constituency)
on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
iii. Ahmed
had been a two-time Congress MLA from Entally (1987–91 and 1996–2001) before
joining Trinamool Congress.
iv. He also
served as the Union Minister of State for Tourism in the Manmohan Singh
government.
8. Country's
foreign exchange reserves swell to life high of USD 394.55 billion
i. The
country's foreign exchange reserves swelled by USD 1.148 billion to a new
lifetime high of USD 394.55 billion for the week ended 25th August
this month.
ii. RBI data
showed the foreign currency assets (FCAs) increased by USD 1.142 billion to USD
370.833 billion for the week under review.
iii. Gold
reserves remained unchanged at USD 19.943 billion.
iv. The
country's reserve position with the IMF also rose by USD 3.6 million to USD
2.273 billion.
v. The total
reserves had declined by a marginal USD 211.1 million to USD 393.401 billion in
the previous reporting week.
9. Govt
notifies hike in GST cess on range of cars from mid to large ones to 25%
i. The union
govt. has notified hike in GST cess on a range of cars from mid-size to a
hybrid variant to luxury ones to a maximum of 25% (earlier 15%), from 2nd of
September this year.
ii. With
this amendment, taxation on luxury, SUV, and other vehicles would be brought at
par with that prevailing pre-GST rollout.
10. Kerala
celebrating Thiruonam today
i. Today,
Kerala is celebrating the biggest cultural festival Thiruonam (the 10th day)
and the most auspicious day of Onam.
ii. The
harvest festival of Kerala ‘Onam’ falls in the first month of Malayalm
calendar, chingam.
iii. Keralites
across the globe irrespective of religious differences is celebrating the
festival in full vigour.
iv. It is
believed the state had its golden period during the reign of King Mahabali and
his annual visits to his subjects marks the Onam celebrations.
11. President
to lay foundation stone for Link-4 of SAUNI Scheme in Rajkot
i. Today,
President Ramnath Kovind laid the foundation stone for a link - 4 of Saurashtra
Narmada Avataran Irrigation Scheme (SAUNI) Yojana in Rajkot, Gujarat.
ii. Earlier,
SAUNI project had been launched by Mr. Modi to fill up 115 major dams by
diverting overflow of water from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada River.
iii. Three
phases of SAUNI yojana already dedicated to the people following completion of
the work.
12. Locky
ransomware hits Indian cyberspace, government issues alert
i. State-run
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team(CERT-in) has issued an advisory on the
spreading of Locky ransomware in the country, urging users to not open any
emails with attachments from unknown senders.
iii. The
alert said the ransomware spreads through “massive spam campaign”.
iii. Ransomware
is a type of malicious software that blocks access to the victim's data or
threatens to publish or delete it until a ransom is paid.
iv. Locky
Ransomware (first surfaced in 2016) is a deadly ransomware,
that encrypts files on victims’ PCs and adds a .locky file extension.
v. The
attackers then demand a ransom to unlock the files.
13. M
S Dhoni becomes the first wicketkeeper to effect 100 stumpings in ODI Cricket
i. Former
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (36-year) has become the first wicketkeeper
in world cricket to effect 100 stumpings in One Day Internationals(ODI).
ii. Mr.
Dhoni achieved the feat in his 301st ODI in Colombo (Sri Lanka), when he
whipped off the bails to remove batsman Akila Dananjaya (Sri Lankan) off
leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling.
iii. He has
taken 281 catches apart from scoring 9,657 runs so far.
14. India
becomes 1st visiting country to inflict 5-0 whitewash on Sri Lanka
i. India
beat the host by six-wickets in the fifth One Day International (ODI) match and
became the first visiting country to inflict a 5-0 defeat on Sri Lanka.
ii. Skipper
Virat Kohli 30th ODI hundred (unbeaten 110) in only his 194th game and is
now joint-second in list of most century makers
alongside Ricky Ponting (30) with only Sachin
Tendulkar (49) ahead of him.
iii. Player of the series: Jasprit
Bumrah
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