RAJASTHAN

• Mega cleanliness drive in Bharatpur on Sept 16

• Apart from locals, all government officials, employees, municipal corporation councillors and the MLA will participate in the cleanliness drive, Gupta told reporters. “The initiative will spread awareness among people to clean their cities.

• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the district administration declared 157 of the 374 panchayats open defecation free (ODF) till August. Rarah panchayat under Kumher sub-division was the first to be free of open defecation on September 30, 2015.

• Agri dept book to help fight pests

• The Rajasthan agriculture department has brought out a book to help officials identify pests affecting crops and guide farmers on fighting them.

• As a pilot project, the department has selected the Kota agroclimatic zone — the state has 10 zones. The book carries pictures of pests, infections on crops and effective pesticides.

• The objective of the project is to suggest pesticide use in right quantity to protect crops, environment and human health. The book has pictures of pests and their effects on stems, leaves, pods, fruits and roots.

• This initiative of Rajasthan will be taken up as a global project. Such books will be published for 128 agro-climatic zones in India, and later in Asian and African countries.

• About 6000 agriculture supervisors will refer to the book and prescribe pesticides to farmers in 10 agro-climatic zones in Rajasthan.

INTERNATIONAL

• India up 2 spots on WEF Human Capital Index.

• India has moved up two spots on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Human Capital Index 2017.

• The country ranks 103rd of 130 countries, up from 105th the year before.

• Norway leads the latest rankings, followed by Finland, Switzerland, the US and Denmark.

• India ranks even lower than Kenya (78th), Myanmar (89th) and Ghana (72nd).

^·         International Day of Democracy on September 15^th

• The International Day of Democracyis observed on September 15th across the world.
• The theme of the year 2017 is Democracy and Conflict prevention.
• This year’s theme of democracy and conflict prevention focuses on the critical need to strengthen democratic institutions to promote peace and stability.

• Unstoppable: My Life So Far’: Maria Sharapova’s autobiography

• The book titled ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’ authored by tennis star Maria Sharapova was released recently.

• In this gripping autobiography, the five-time Grand Slam winner recounts the story of her phenomenal rise to success.

• Unstoppable is an inspiring tale of persistence, pulsing with fearlessness and candor.

• UN chief appoints first UN envoy for oceans.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed the outgoing president Peter Thomson of the General Assembly as the first special envoy for the oceans, seeking to galvanize efforts to protect the world’s seas.
• Peter Thomson played a leading role at the first-ever UN conference on oceans in June.
• The 193 UN member states issued an urgent call for action to reverse the decline in the health and productivity of the world’s oceans.
• Paris and Los Angeles confirmed as hosts of 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games

• After three failed attempts and 12 years after the demoralizing and disheartening loss to the London bid in 2005, Paris has finally been awarded the Olympic Games it has craved.
• International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that the French capital would host the 2024 Olympics, while Los Angeles was awarded the 2028 Games.
• Tokyo, Japan will host 2020 Olympic Games.

·       India-Japan ink Open Sky Agreement

• India and Japan agreed to ink open sky arrangementto allow airlines from both countries to operate an unlimited number of flights.
• In this regard, both countries exchanged RoD (Record of Discussions) on civil aviation cooperation with respect to open sky.
• The open sky agreement will be signed in accordance with the National Civil Aviation Policy(NACP), 2016.

Gk bit – Open Sky

• Open skiesis an international policy concept that calls for the liberalization of the rules and regulations of the international aviation industry—especially commercial aviation—in order to create a free-market environment for the airline industry

NATIONAL 

·       Odisha to set up the first Odia language university

• The Odisha government passed a bill to launch the first-ever Odia language university for post-graduation in literature and linguistics among other subjects.
• The university which will be established in Bhubaneswar will also devise ways to make Odia script more adaptable to technology.
• It mainly aims at making Odia script more adaptable to computer technology.
• It would also administer PG courses in literary criticism, the evolution of East Indian language scripts, historical scripts, archaeology, musicology and translation into and from Odia.

·       President Ram Nath Kovind to launch nation wide campaign Swacchata Hi Sewa from Kanpur

• President Ram Nath Kovind will launch a nation wide campaignSwacchata Hi Sewa from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• He will administer nation-wide Swachhta Hi Seva pledge initiating parallel action in all the two lakh 50 thousandplus Gram Panchayats and cities in India.
• The objective of the campaign is to mobilize people and reinforce the public movement for sanitation to contribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Clean India.
• Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal will launch program campaign at Connaught Place.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is scheduled to visit a village in Karnataka for Cleanliness Program.

·       Karnataka is the First Indian State to Approve e-vehicle Policy

• 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.
• Karnataka is looking to attract investments to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore from companies looking at R&D and manufacturing of electric vehicles in the state.

^·         National Engineers Day – September 15^th

• The Indian nation celebrates Engineer’s Day to mark the 156th birth anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, one of the greatest engineers India produced and a person behind many iconic constructions in India.
• He will mark the 49th anniversary of the Engineers Dayin India.
• He began his career as an Assistant Engineer with Public Works Department (PWD) at Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1884 and was later requested to join the Indian Irrigation Commission. As a Public Works Department engineer, he accomplished several projects related to maintenance of public buildings, road construction and laying out city developments plans in several important towns.

·       Maharashtra Chief Minister launches Maha Mission 1 Million

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today launched the ‘Maharashtra Mission 1 Million’initiative under which over 10 lakh students across the state will play football.
• It is the first time in the country and Maharashtra to support was decided by Tawde.
• The entire Maharashtra becomes Pro footballthe Mission will not only create football players and lovers of the game but will also help in overall development of the state.
• Under the initiative, the state government aims to ensure that children come out in open spaces and play.

·       Google to Launch Mobile Payment Service in India

• Googleannounced to unveil a digital payment service in India that has been developed for the local market.
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) stated that Google had completed the testing of its UPI payment service and was awaiting Reserve Bank of India’s approval to launch its service in the country.
• Google is looking at launching a payment service ‘Google Tez’,which will include support for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as well as mobile wallets like Paytm and MobiKwik.

·       IAF successfully conducts development trials of Astra missile

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully conducted developmental trials of indigenously developed Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM).
• Total of seven trials of Astra BVRAAM conducted in various missions and two of them were against Pilotless Target Aircrafts(PTA) successfully fired.
• It is one of the smallest weapon system developed by DRDO, having a length of 3.8-metre and weighing 154kg. It is a single stage solid fuelled missile.

·       India’s First Centre for Animal Law set up at Hyderabad

• India’s first Centre for Animal Law established at the city-based NALSARUniversity of Law.
• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi inaugurated the centre according to a release issued by Humane Society International (HSI).
• The Centre will create curriculum on animal welfare laws, including developing topics for research.
• It will also conduct workshops on animal laws and animal welfare issues with judicial magistrates, animal welfare advocates, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders in the government.

·       India’s Forex Reserves Top $400 billion for the First Time

• According to the Reserve Bank of India Data, India’s foreign-exchange reserves rose past $400 billion for the first time ever, strengthening policy makers’ buffers ahead of an expected reduction in US stimulus.
• In the previous week, the reserves increased by$3.572 billion to$398.122 billion.
• The gold reserves remained unchanged at $20.691 billion.
• The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund(IMF) increased by $14.2 million to $1.520 billion.

·       India’s First Lithium-Ion Battery Unit in Gujarat

• Suzuki Motor invest more thanRs 1,150 crorealong with Japanese partners Toshiba and Denso to set up India’s first lithium-ion battery facility in Gujarat.
• The announcement by the parent of the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki is a major boost to the government’s ambitious vehicle electrification and Make in India initiatives.
• It will hold half the stake and meanwhile, Toshiba will own 40% and Denso the remaining 10%.

^·         International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is observed on September 16^th

• The International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer (World Ozone Day)is observed every year on September 16 for the preservation of the Ozone Layer.
• The theme of the year 2017 is ‘Caring for all life under the sun’.
• The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet.
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol.
• As part of the anniversary celebrations, the Ozone Secretariat will launch a communication campaign ahead of World Ozone Day to be marked on 16 September 2017.