National
IMF increases India’s quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 12.57 billion to India. (approx USD 17.86 billion). With this, the total SDR holding of India has gone up to SDR 13.66 billion (equivalent to around USD 19.41 billion).
SDR is one of the components of the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) of India. Hence the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) have also increased now. IMF has allocated a total of SDR 456 billion to all its member countries out of which India has got SDR 12.57.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- IMF Headquarters: Washington, D.C. U.S;
- IMF Managing Director and Chairman: Kristalina Georgieva;
- IMF Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath.
Maharashtra to set up science city named after Rajiv Gandhi in Pune
The Maharashtra Government has decided to set up a world-class science city at Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune to develop a scientific outlook among the students and prepare them to become students in the future.
To be named as ‘Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Science Innovation City’, a science Centre will be developed on the one-acre area in an eight-acre complex in the PCMC area. The Centre has granted assistance of Rs 191 crore to build the Science city in the PCMC area.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- Maharashtra Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari;
- Maharashtra Capital: Mumbai;
- Maharashtra CM: Uddhav Thackeray.
Appointments
Vartika Shukla becomes first woman CMD of Engineers India Ltd
Vartika Shukla took charge as the first woman Chairperson and Managing Director of public sector enterprise Engineers India Ltd. She spearheaded the company’s innovative energy programmes, including biofuels, coal gasification, waste to fuel and hydrogen energy, among others.
A graduate in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Shukla joined EIL in 1988 and has extensive consulting experience comprising design, engineering, and implementation of complexes in refining, gas processing, petrochemicals and fertilisers.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- Engineers India Ltd Founded: 1965.
Business
HDFC Life to acquire Exide Life Insurance for ₹6,687 crore
HDFC Life has announced to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Exide Life Insurance Company in a stock and cash deal, for Rs 6,887 crore. Subsequently, Exide Life will be merged with HDFC Life, subject to regulatory approvals.
Exide Life is a wholly-owned subsidiary of battery maker Exide Industries. This acquisition will mark one of the first and the largest acquisitions in the life insurance space.
From the total deal value of Rs 6,887 crore, HDFC Life will pay Rs 725 crore in cash, while the balance amount will be in form of shares.
HDFC Life will issue 87.02 million equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 at a price of Rs 685 per share to Exide Industries Limited.
Post the acquisition, Exide Industries will hold a 4.1 per cent stake in merged HDFC Life and mortgage lender HDFC Ltd will hold 47.9 per cent. Currently, HDFC Ltd. holds a 49.9 per cent stake in HDFC Life.
Useful notes for all competitive exams:
- HDFC Life Headquarters: Mumbai;
- HDFC Life CEO: Vibha Padalkar;
- HDFC Life Founded: 2000.
Ranks and Reports
The University of Oxford tops Times World University Rankings 2022
The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022 has been announced. The University of Oxford is at the top of the list, followed by the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University at the second and third positions, respectively.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is placed between the 301-350 position. Incidentally, it is also the only university in the top 350 rankings.
Three Indian educational institutes have found a place in the top 400 list:
- IISc Bangalore – 301-350 bracket
- Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar – 351-400 bracket.
- IIT Indore – 401-500 bracket.
Top Five Universities in the world:
- University of Oxford, UK
- California Institute of Technology, US
- Harvard University, US
- Stanford University, US
- University of Cambridge, UK
India becomes 3rd largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world
Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, as per which India is the third-largest Unicorn/startup ecosystem in the world. The USA is on top followed by China on second.
India has 51 unicorns according to the list. The USA has 396 and China has 277 unicorns. Zilingo is the top unicorn in the ranking in India with a funding of USD 310. The headquarters of Zilingo is in Singapore.
Bengaluru is the top Indian city in terms of the number of Unicorns headquartered in a city. Bengaluru has 31 unicorns followed by Mumbai which has 12 unicorns.
Summits and Conferences
India to host a conference on International Climate Summit 2020-21
India is all set to host a key conference as part of the International Climate Summit (ICS) 2020-21 to build a dialogue for India’s transition to clean energy. Policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, experts, and scientists from across the globe are going to be a part of the climate summit.
Director of CSIR, National Chemical Laboratory, Dr Ashish Lele has underlined the importance of the conference for the future mitigation strategies of climate change. The need to adopt these strategies and the problems arose due to dependence on conventional fuels.
PM Modi Virtually Addresses 6th Eastern Economic Forum 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the plenary session of the 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), organised in Vladivostok, Russia. An Indian delegation led by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri and comprising leading Indian oil and gas companies are participating in the EEF Summit 2021 in Russia.
On the sidelines of EEF, Petroleum Minister will also have meetings with Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov to review bilateral energy cooperation in the energy sector and with the Russian Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov to discuss the collaboration between Indian and Russian companies in that region. Petroleum Minister will also co-chair India-Russia Business Dialogue.
Sports
Paralympics 2020: Archer Harvinder Singh Clinches Bronze in Men’s Individual Recurve
In Paralympics 2020, India’s ace archer Harvinder Singh has won the bronze medal in the men’s individual recurve open. The 31-year old has become India’s first-ever archer to win a medal in the Paralympics.
With this win, India’s medal haul at the ongoing Paralympics Games in Tokyo has reached 13 [2G,6S,5B]. Harvinder defeated South Korea’s Kim Min Su 6-5 in a shoot-off to win India’s third medal of the day at Tokyo 2020, taking India’s tally to 13.
Earlier, United States of America’s (USA) Kevin Mather defeated Harvinder by 6-4 in the semi-final.
Tokyo Paralympics: Manish Narwal wins gold in 50m Mixed Pistol
Indian shooters Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adhana clinched the gold and silver medal respectively in the P4 – Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 final at Asaka Shooting Range.
The 19-year-old Manish created the Paralympic record as he amassed 218.2 points to clinch the gold while Singhraj grabbed his second medal of the Tokyo Paralympics with 216.7 points.
The Russian Paralympic Committee’s (RPC) Sergey Malyshev won the bronze medal.
India’s medal tally now stands at 15 at these Paralympics. It has now won three golds, seven silvers and five bronze medals. This is India’s best tally at a single edition of the Para Games. It had won four medals at Rio 2016 and four at the 1984 Paralympics.
Miscellaneous
Canadian City Burnaby to Observe September 5 As Gauri Lankesh Day
The Canadian city of Burnaby has declared September 5 as “Gauri Lankesh Day”, as a tribute to the dead journalist on her death anniversary, her sister Kavitha Lankesh.
The proclamation issued by the office of the Mayor of Burnaby Mike Hurley said Gauri Lankesh was a courageous Indian journalist who stood up for truth and justice, challenged superstition and social ills, and dedicated her life to serving the poor and oppressed.
Gauri Lankesh, a left-leaning journalist who brought out a magazine “Gauri Lankesh Patrike”, was shot dead by two assailants on September 5, 2017 evening just outside her house in Bengaluru allegedly for her anti-Hindutva stand.
- Daily Current Affairs in English 11 Sep 2022 – Useful for all Competitive Exams
- Hindu Editorial with Vocabulary: Sep Month – Day 10
- 11 Sep 2022 Daily Current Affairs in Hindi – सभी प्रतियोगी परीक्षाओं के लिए महत्वपूर्ण
- 10 Sep 2022 Daily Current Affairs in Hindi – सभी प्रतियोगी परीक्षाओं के लिए महत्वपूर्ण
- Hindu Editorial with Vocabulary: Sep Month – Day 9
- Daily Current Affairs in English 10 Sep 2022 – Useful for all Competitive Exams
