Daily GK Update 24th & 25th September 2017, Important Current Affairs

1. PM Narendra Modi launches 'Saubhagya' scheme
i. Today, The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Saubhagya’ scheme in New Delhi, to mark the birth anniversary of ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’.
ii. The scheme ‘Saubhagya’ will provide subsidy on equipment like transformers, meters, and wires and expected to cover all rural families after expected electrification of all villages by the end of 2017.
iii. Prime Minister also inaugurated ONGC’s new corporate office that was renamed Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Urja Bhawan, from Rajiv Gandhi Urja Bhawan.

2. West Bengal gets USD 300 Million ADB loan
i. The board of Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a USD 300 million loan facility for carrying forward fiscal reforms in West Bengal.
ii.The full effect of reforms would take at least 5 years to materialize and a follow-on program would be needed to carry these forward
iii. First time in 2012, West Bengal had received a USD 400 million from ADB, its first policy based lending with an aim to create a fiscal space necessary to sustain higher public investment in the eastern India.

3. Balraj Joshi appointed as New NHPC Chairman
i. Balraj Joshi has been appointed the chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd. (till December 31, 2019).
ii. Currently, Mr. Joshi is the director (technical) in the organization.
iii. Alli Rani has been appointed the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India(CCI) Ltd. for a period of five years.
iv. Currently, she is the director (finance) in Container Corporation of India Limited.

4. Chief Economic Adviser to get one-year extension
i. According to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian will get one-year extension (till October 2018).
ii. He has been quite vocal in his stand on RBI's monetary policy and has openly supported the need for a rate cut.
iii. Subramanian had assumed the office of India's CEA in October 2014 after the government picked him up out of many aspirants for the coveted job.

5. Veteran Marathi writer & journalist Arun Sadhu passes away
i. Veteran Marathi writer and journalist Arun Sadhu (76-years) passed away in Mumbai.
ii. He is better known for his novel in Marathi "Simhasan" and "Mumbai Dinank".
iii. As a journalist, he has won several awards including Sahitya Academy award, Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad, NC Kelkar and Acharya Atre award.
iv. He has written on rise of Shiv Sena, Vietnam War, and Chinese revolution.

6. C.N.R Rao chosen for international honour for materials research
i. Eminent scientist, Bharat Ratna ‘Professor C.N.R Rao’ (first Asian) has chosen for the prestigious Von Hippel Award for his immense contribution in materials research.
ii. The award is the US-based Materials Research Society’s (MRS) highest honour.
iii. It recognizes, those qualities most prized by materials scientists and engineers - brilliance and originality of intellect, combined with vision that transcends the boundaries of conventional scientific disciplines.
iv. The award citation noted Mr. Rao’s immense work on novel functional materials, including nanomaterials, graphene and 2D materials, superconductivity, and colossal magnetoresistance.
v. The award includes a cash prize, trophy, and a diploma, will be presented on 29th November in Boston.

7. Sports Ministry recommends Shuttler Sindhu for Padma Bhushan
i. The Sports ministry has recommended Olympic silver medallist shuttler ‘P V Sindhu’ (22-years) for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, country's third highest civilian award.
ii. Sindhu has become the first Indian to win a silver at Rio Games last year.
In March 2015, Sindhu was awarded India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri.

8. Masala bonds to be treated as ECBs from 3rd Oct.
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed norms for issuance of rupee-denominated overseas bonds (masala bonds).
ii. They will be treated as external commercial borrowings from October 3, thereby freeing up more investments by FPIs.
iii. From 3rd October, masala bonds will no longer form part of the limit for FPI investments in corporate bonds.

9. ICC launches anti-corruption investigation in Sri Lanka
i. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched an anti-corruption investigation in Sri Lanka.
ii. According to the Sri Lanka Cricket, forty of its contracted players called for an immediate inquiry into the allegations made by Pramodya Wickremasinghe (former player and selector) insinuating unnatural and mysterious match patterns.
iii. Earlier, Sri Lanka had lost a home ODI series against Zimbabwe before suffering a whitewash at the hands of India in all the three formats.

10. Mary Kom to be AIBA representative at IOC athletes' forum
i. Olympic bronze-medallist ‘MC Mary Kom’ (33-years) has become the first Indian to be picked as the International Boxing Association's representative for the IOC Athletes' Forum.
ii. She has been invited to attend the 8th International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Athletes' Forum in Lausanne from 11th to 13thNovember this year.
iii. This bi-annual forum brings together athlete representatives from across the Olympic Movement and provides an in-person community where athletes can exchange and discuss their viewpoint.

11. 57th National Open Athletics Ch'ships to begin in Chennai
i. Today, the 57th National Open Athletics Championships 2017 has begun at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
ii. Around 1200 athletes from various states and departments & public-sector undertakings would be taking part in the four-day meet.
iii. Besides, state teams, numerous athletes will also participate on behalf of their institutions like All India Police Sports Board, ONGC, LIC, apart from the Railways and Services.
iv. The host state (Tamil Nadu) would be represented by 41 men and 35 women athletes.

12. Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy clinches Belgian Junior badminton title
i. Indian Shuttler ‘Vaishnavi Reddy’ (2nd seed) has clinched the women's singles Under-19 title at the Belgian Junior Open badminton tournament at Herstal, Belgium.
ii. She defeated Vivien Sandorhazi (top seed, Hungary) in a three-game final (21-19, 17-21, 21-12) in summit clash at the Hall Omnisport La Prealle.

13. Slovenia Open TT: India's duo Manav Thakkar & Manush Shah win gold
i. The Indian duo Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah claimed gold in the doubles event of Slovenia Open Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis championship.
ii. Indian duo beat the top-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Feng I-Hsin and Tai Ming-Wei 11-7, 11-6, 17-15 at Otocec, Slovenia.

14. Wrestler Bajrang wins gold in Asian Indoor Games
i. Wrestler Bajrang (India) beat Daichi Takatani (Japan) in the men's freestyle 65kg final to win the gold in Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
ii. Now, Indians added four medals including a gold on the ninth day of the games at Ashgabat in Turkmenistan.
iii. Two women wrestlers Sheetal Tomar and Navjot Kaur also grabbed a bronze each.
iv. Krishnan Sasikiran won the third bronze in men's standard individual chess.
v. India now stands at 12th place in the medals tally with 6 Gold, 7 Silver, and 11 Bronze.

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