Current affairs October 2, 2015

India pledges 33-35 per cent GHGs emission cut by 2030

India has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent compared to 2005 levels by 2030. The figures of mitigation action were announced by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar in New Delhi ahead of the Paris Climate Change Conference. In this regard, Union Government has submitted Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

India will host G20 Summit 2018

The G20 member nations took a decision on the Chair for 2018 earlier in September 2015 and India was selected for the same. The Group of 20 (G20) is an international forum for 20 major economies of the world.

Remember G20 Nations by trick: GURU JI SITA AB SSC FCI ME job karti hogi (use only capital letters, job karti hogi is irrelevant) for other mnemonics/tricks Click:

October 2: International Day of Non-violence

Every year October 2 is being observed as International Day of Non-violence throughout the world on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This day is observed by all member countries of the United Nations to promote the principles of non-violence through education and public awareness.

Indian-American Professor wins ‘genius grant’

Kartik Chandran, an Indian-American Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been named a 2015 MacArthur Fellow with a “genius grant” of $625,000 (Rs. 4.09 crore).

Mr. Chandran, an IIT-Roorkee graduate, has won the fellowship for his work in “transforming wastewater from a pollutant requiring disposal to a resource for useful products, such as commodity chemicals, energy sources, and fertilizers.”

Dabur will adopt five UP villages to support 'Swachh Bharat' drive

Coinciding with the first anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachh Bharat' initiative, homegrown FMCG major Dabur IndiaBSE today said it will adopt five villages in Uttar Pradesh and make them 'Open-Defecation Free' within the current fiscal.

List of 5 villages are Nandpur, Nagla Gajju, Naraina, Nidhawali and Domatikri. The company further said that it has also identified five other villages in Uttar Pradesh, six in Uttarakhand and two in Himachal Pradesh for construction of household toilets. Dabur India said it has already constructed close to 600 toilets under this initiative.

US Treasury Department adds India to its FATCA list

The US Treasury Department has issued a list of 34 countries which includes India with whom it would share information under FATCA (foreign account tax compliance act) regulations.

The pact aims to cover automatic sharing of information on bank accounts and other instruments like mutual funds, insurance and equities with each other. This is aimed at fighting the black money or unaccounted money.

Other countries named by the US Treasury Department list include Luxembourg, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil. The new list includes 16 new countries which were added to the original list of countries with which the US already has the arrangement.

 ADB to provide loan for India-Bangladesh Electricity link upgradation

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to provide 120 million dollars loan to upgrade the India-Bangladesh electricity network. This loan fund will allow Bangladesh to meet its increasing power demand from India and support power exchanges across South Asia region.

Argentina tops FIFA world rankings

Argentina continued to lead the men’s soccer world rankings in the FIFA  world rankings, while Germany overtook Belgium to land at the second place.

Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava gets Forbes award

Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava has been honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the Forbes India Leadership Awards, 2015. The award recognises his invaluable contribution to the Indian business community and exemplary leadership demonstrated over the years, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.

An IAS topper of 1956 batch, Bhargava was one of the founding members of Maruti in 1982. He led the company as Managing Director from 1990 to 1997. Bhargava, who has been Chairman of the country’s largest car maker since 2007, also serves on the board of several leading corporates.

IDFC Bank started its banking operations

IDFC Bank, backed by infrastructure financier IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Company). It started its banking operations initially with 23 branches based primarily in Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai and Delhi initially. The bank is focusing on the wholesale banking segment initially and is expected to launch retail and small and medium enterprises (SME) banking from January 2016.

IDFC and micro-finance company Bandhan were the only two entities among 20-odd aspirants that had received banking licences from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during 2014. Bandhan had already unveiled its banking operations from August 2015.

First time the Court broadcasts live proceedings

In an unprecedented move in the history of the Indian judiciary, the Madras High Court on Wednesday organised for a live broadcast. The high court was hearing contempt proceedings against two office bearers of the Madurai District Bar Association. The entire proceedings were telecast live and were made available by setting up a giant screen on the court premises.

The court took the decision to telecast the proceeding live after its earlier hearing in the case was disrupted by sloganeering and noisy protests by an army of lawyers who had descended on the corridors of the court. The case has its roots in a ruling making wearing of helmets mandatory of riders and pillion riders of two-wheelers.

Researchers discovered new lizard species

Researchers have discovered a new species of rock-dwelling lizard at Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The finding by a team of scientists led by B H Channakeshava Murthy of the Western Ghats Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kozhikode, was published in international scientific journal Zootaxa.

The new gecko species has been named Hemidactylus yajurvedi (Kanker Rock Gecko). The large-sized lizard having a snout-vent length (SVL) of up to 98mm is the 27th Hemidactylus species known in India.

Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express