Daily Current Affairs 28 September 2019

Current Affairs Of Today are

1) 30 film reels of unedited footage of Mahatma Gandhi discovered

National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has discovered 30 reels of unedited footage on Mahatma Gandhi that amounts to almost six hours of duration. These 35mm celluloid footages, unedited and stock shots with title cards in between, are taken by several prominent film studios of the time, such as Paramount, Pathe, Warner, Universal, British Movietone, Wadia Movietone, etc. 

 Manilal Gandhi

• The major highlight of the discovery is rare half-an-hour footage that has visuals of a special train carrying Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes from Madras to Rameshwaram.
• A visual showing Manilal Gandhi seems to be a rare one from the collection. He was the second son of Mahatma Gandhi and served as the editor of ‘Indian Opinion’ a Gujarati-English weekly publication, at Phoenix, Durban in South Africa.
• Another important footage shows Mahatma’s South India tour and Harijan Yatra in January-February 1946.
• The collection has a reel that showcases Mahatma and Kasturba engaged in various activities at Sevagram Ashram in Wardha, Maharashtra.
• Another reel in the collection has the entire footage of the Mahatma’s voyage on board ship S Rajaputana to England to attend the Second Round Table Conference.
• The collection has visuals of his last days including those from the period just after his death, close-ups of his body and blood-stained clothes, newspaper reports of the day, Birla House, people thronging to have a darshan and the procession to Raj Ghat. 

2) National Launch of 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029)

• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI launched the 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029), which focus on sustaining the sanitation behavior change that has been achieved under the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), ensuring that no one is left behind, and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.
• Since the launch of the SBM-G in 2014, over 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas; over 5.9 lakh villages, 699 districts, and 35 States/UTs have declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF). 
• The strategy also speaks about potential collaborations with development partners, civil society and inter-government partnerships. It also highlights innovative models for sanitation financing.

3) CCI approves the acquisition of 70% shareholding in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) by Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002,

The proposed transaction entails an acquisition of 70% shareholding in SABIC, currently held by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia by Saudi Aramco. Through this acquisition of shares, Saudi Aramco will acquire sole control over SABIC.

About Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco is primarily engaged in the exploration, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. It is also active, to a lesser extent, in the production and marketing of refined products and petrochemicals. In India, Saudi Aramco is mainly active in the supply of crude oil, liquefied petroleum gas, base oil, and petrochemical products.

About SABIC

SABIC is primarily active in the production and sale of commodity chemicals (including petrochemicals), intermediates, polymers, fertilizers and to some extent metals. In India, SABIC is mainly active in the supply of agri-nutrient and petrochemical products

4) Smt. Renuka Singh to Inaugurate Aadi Mahotsav in Noida

• Shri Renuka Singh, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs will inaugurate National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” being organized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs at India Expo Centre, Sector-62, Noida (UP)
• The scheme of the festival is A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Culture, Craft, Cuisine and Commerce.
• TRIBES India has signed the MoUs with Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, PayTM and GEM, a government of India portal for e-commerce of the tribal products. Besides TRIBES India also has its own e-com portal www.tribesindia.com. 
• The tribal textiles manufactured by Master tribal craftsmen from Jammu & Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and from Gujarat in the West to Nagaland/Sikkim in the East will be available in the Mahotsav. The traditional tribal jewelry, Dokra Craft, Cane-Bamboo and also the items of attraction. 

5) NDMA discusses ‘Fire Safety in India’ on its 15th Formation Day

• Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, inaugurated the 15th Formation Day of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in New Delhi
• The theme of this year's Formation Day was ‘Fire Safety’.  
• The First session discussed Fire Risk in India and focused on emerging issues on Fire Safety Management in the country, like Train Fires, Electric Vehicles charging stations and Fires in Warehouses. It also held presentations on the issues of Forest Fires – factors and management of forest fires and their linkages with global warming and climate change. Various aspects of Industrial Fires were also discussed.
• The Second session held discussions on various measures that could be taken to prevent and mitigate fire-related events. It saw presentations on how to reduce fire risk, especially in urban areas.
• The Third Session saw presentations on challenges related to Fire Fighting Institutions and on the aspects related to the need for modernization and technological up-gradation of Fire Services in the country, vis-à-vis the rapid developmental growth.

6) INDO-KAZAKHSTAN Joint Military Exercise KAZIND - 2019

Joint Military Exercise KAZIND-2019 between India and Kazakhstan will be conducted at Pithoragarh from 02 to 15 October 2019.

About KAZIND 2019

Exercise KAZIND-2019 is the fourth edition of an annual event that is conducted alternatively in Kazakhstan and India. This exercise aims to conduct company level joint training with an emphasis on counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain. During the exercise, aspects of emerging trends of global terrorism and hybrid warfare have also been included.

7) Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat takes over as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee

• Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat received the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) baton from outgoing Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, at a brief ceremony
• As the next Chairman COSC, General Rawat is focused to operationalize the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), enhance Tri-Service integration, stimulate simultaneous growth of the Services, rapid operationalization and synchronization of modern warfighting capabilities to ensure that the Armed Forces are well aligned to the future.

8) Regional Workshop on “SDG11 Monitoring, Opportunities and Challenges and how City/Urban and Rural definitions can be harmonized” during 23rd - 26th September 2019

• National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation along with UN-Habitat, is hosting a workshop on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable), during 23rd - 26th September 2019 in New Delhi.
• The delegates came from the National Statistical Offices of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and the UK and also had experts from UN-Habitat and European Commission.
• The Workshop is focusing on evolving a standardized definition of Rural and Urban habitations and sensitizing the participants on the developments taking place globally so that the member countries can adapt these definitions to suit the national requirements. 
• The participants are being briefed about the new metric, Degree of Urbanization (DEGURBA), which is a classification that indicates the character of an area, based on the share of the local population living in urban clusters and in urban centers. 
• The main goal of the workshop is to introduce the new metric DEGURBA approach to city definition and get direct feedback from the participating countries on its applicability, need for adaptation and customization as per their national needs.

9) Japan launches "World's Biggest Transport Space Ship" for Space Station.

Japan launched an unmanned H-2B rocket towards the International Space Station. The H-2B rocket lifted off with cargo vessel Kounotori8, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The launch took place from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan. This Rocket is considered as the world's biggest transport spaceship. It intends to deliver about 5.3 tonnes of supplies to astronauts at the ISS.

10) NASA launched a miniature satellite RamanSat 2

An independent space agency of the United States(US) , NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has successfully launched a miniature satellite called "RamanSat 2" made by a 17-year old New Delhi-based Indian student Aabhaas Sikka ,from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in New Mexico, US and achieved an altitude of 38 km. The minisatellite (measures 4 cm x 4 cm x 4 cm) designed by Sikka during his internship with SPACE-India (an organisation working in the field of astronomy, space education and technology) with help from Sachin Bahmba, Founder and CMD (Chief Managing Director) of SPACE Group, as well as the SPACE-India's research team. RamanSat 2 came after the success of Kalam Sat, named after former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, and made by an Indian high school team (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) that attended in 2017 in this same program.

11) The United Nations observes 26 September as World Maritime Day.

The United Nations observes 26 September every year as the World Maritime Day. This year the theme for the day is Empowering women in the maritime community. The theme for this years' World Maritime Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of gender equality, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and to highlight the important yet under-utilized contribution of women within the maritime sector.

12) Uttar Pradesh government announces 6,000 as annual aid for triple talaq victims

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath announced an annual support of ₹6,000 to the victims of triple talaq till their rehabilitation and they will get free legal aid. The victims of triple talaq came under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) and govt also gives rights over waqf properties and also called for several welfare measures that should be undertaken for their rehabilitation.

13) Adam Harper wins the 2019 SASTRA Ramanujan prize.

Mathematician and assistant professor of the University of Warwick, England, Adam Harper, from the United Kingdom(UK) won the SASTRA Ramanujan prize for 2019. He will be awarded a citation and an award of $10,000. The award is given to people under the age of 32 workings in the area influenced by mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

14) The United Nations celebrated International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September

The United Nations observes 26 September every year as the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The day provides an occasion for the world community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament as a priority. It provides an opportunity to educate the public - and their leaders - about the real benefits of eliminating such weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them

15)  PM Narendra Modi announced $150 million  for the Pacific Island nations at the India-Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) Leaders' Meeting 

India-Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) Leaders' Meeting was held in New York, US on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). In the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $150 million line of credit to the group of Pacific island nations. The grant will help to undertake solar, renewable energy and climate-related projects based on their requirements

What is PSIDS?

Forum for India-Pacific Islands cooperation (FIPIC) is a multinational grouping developed in 2014 for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations which include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. All heads of state or heads of government of the above countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 for the first time where the annual summit was conceptualized.