16th September 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today is World Ozone Day / International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.
• This Day is celebrated every year on 16th September since 1995.
• This Day marks the importance of Ozone layer and its role in the environment. 
• The United Nations General Assembly has designated this Day to reflect the adoption of Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer.
• This year's (2015) Theme : 30 Years of Healing the Ozone Together - "Ozone: All there is between you and UV.”
• India and Cambodia today signed Two MoUs, One relating to Tourism and another an umbrella project under Mekong Ganga Cooperation initiative (This covers five Quick Impact Projects which include two in health care, one on Women’s Empowerment through Information and Communications Technology, one on Agriculture and another a 50,000 US Dollar grant for the Cambodia-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (CIEDC) which was launched in February 2006). 
• The agreements were signed at the Peace Palace (Phnom Penh) in the presence of Indian Vice President M.Hamid Ansari and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
•  After seven years of painstaking efforts and deliberations, Nepal today announced that it will unveil a new Constitution on September 20 which will be fully democratic and secular. 
• The Constituent Assembly (CA) has already began clause- by-clause voting on the proposed constitution, under preparation since 2008, and as of now 176 articles have already been endorsed by the 601-member strong body.

National Affairs

• Andhra Pradesh today took the historic step of interlinking its two major rivers Godavari
  
  and Krishna, a development that is being seen as a boon for farmers of Krishna delta who are facing water scarcity.
• The interlinking involves diversion of about 80 TMC of water from Godavari river to Krishna via a canal.
• Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh : N Chandrababu Naidu 
• Maharashtra government has issued an order saying from November 1 only Marathi-speaking people would get permit for new autorickshaws in the state.
• State transport minister Diwakar Raote announced one lakh new autorickshaw permits for Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) but insisted that these permits would be issued only to Marathi-speaking applicants.
• The applicant should submit a domicile certificate as a proof that he or she has been a resident of the state for the past 15 years.
• The Union government today approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission, worth Rs 5,142 crore.
• The mission is aimed at providing urban facilities in the rural areas.
• The Mission, that was announced last year to replace UPA government's PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) initiative, aims at improving the quality of life of people there by involving the government this time. 
• Rural Development Minister : Chaudhary Birender Singh 
• The government today banned Naga militant outfit NSCN-K for five years.
• NSCN-K has been involved in a series of attacks, including the killing of 18 soldiers of the Army in Manipur in June. 
• The organisation has been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Awards & Honors

• Prime Minister of Bangladesh,  Sheikh Hasina has been announced as one of the winners of the United Nations Champions of the Earth award in recognition of her country’s initiatives to address climate change.
• The awards will be handed out at a special ceremony on 27 September in New York at the close of the Sustainable Development Summit. 
• In addition to Sheikh Hasina, the other winners announced so far are,
• National Geographic Society (Science and Innovation); 
• Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura (Entrepreneurial Vision);
• South Africa’s Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (Inspiration and Action).
• 15 year old Indian American, Swetha Prabhakaran, has been honoured with the White House award, the Champions of Change. 
• She is the founder of a non-profit organisation called 'Everybody Code Now!' which collects funds for the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) activities in schools.

Business & Economy

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 'Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information' with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
• The MoU was signed by Nepal Rastra Bank's Executive Director Narayan Prasad Paudel and RBI's Executive Director Meena Hemchandra.
• Note : With this RBI has signed 27 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co-operation.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today granted an in-principle nod to 10 applicants for small finance banks.
• Note : A small finance bank, according to RBI, should have 75 percent of its adjusted net bank credit to be extended to priority sector and it should have atleast 25 branches in unbanked rural areas.
• Names of selected applicants : 
• Au Financiers (India) Limited, Jaipur
• Capital Local Area Bank Limited, Jalandhar 
• Disha Microfin Private Limited, Ahmedabad 
• Equitas Holdings P Limited, Chennai 
• ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Limited, Chennai 
• Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited, Bengaluru 
• RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited, Guwahati
• Suryoday Micro Finance Private Limited, Navi Mumbai 
• Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited, Bengaluru 
• Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited, Varanasi.

Sports

• The 55th National Open Athletics Championships began at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex, Kolkata today.
• The four-day event, which will have competitions in 44 events in men’s and women’s sections, will see more than 900 athletes from across 28 states and eight Boards in actions.  
• Manpreet Kaur of Railways created a new national record in the women's shot put to qualify for next year's Rio Olympics.
• Indian shutler P V Sindhu enters second round of Korea Super Series Badminton tournament beating Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon.
• World number one shuttler Saina Nehwal today presented her racquet, with which she became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the Badminton World Championships, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an advanced birthday present.
• Note : Tomorrow is Modi's birth day (he will turn 65).

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