Daily Current Affairs and GK | 18 September 2024

Topic: Indian Economy

1. India’s exports declined 9.3% in August, and the trade deficit reached a 10-month high.

• India’s trade deficit widened to a 10-month high of $29.7 billion in August.
• India’s imports reached a record high of $64.4 billion on the doubling of gold inflows.
• The exports have contracted for the second month to $34.7 billion.
• Merchandise exports contracted 9.3 percent to $34.7 billion in August.
• Imports grew 3 percent yearly, and gold imports touched $10 billion in August.
• Petroleum products contracted 37.5 percent in August at $5.95 billion.
• Petroleum, gems, and jewellery saw a massive contraction of 23 percent at 1.9 billion in August.
• Non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports grew 2.4 percent at $26.76 billion.

Topic: National News

2. A centre has been opened in New Delhi by the University of Melbourne.

• The Melbourne Global Centre – Delhi will serve as the University’s central hub in India.
• It will make cooperation and information sharing easier between the community, industry, research, and education.
• The Melbourne Global Centre is not intended to be an off-campus learning environment or for teaching.
• The Melbourne Global Centre in Delhi represents firm commitment to help India achieve its long-term goals in research and academia.
• The University of Melbourne is a government-run institute in Australia. It is ranked number one in Australia.

Topic: Space and IT

3. SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission was completed recently.

• The billionaire Jared Isaacman led the mission.
• After five days of travel, the mission came to an end, marking numerous important turning points in the history of private space exploration.
• "Resilience," the Crew Dragon capsule, made a safe return to Earth.
• Along with pilot Scott "Kidd" Poteet, the Polaris Dawn crew comprised SpaceX engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.
• On September 12, the crew conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk.
• During the spacewalk, SpaceX's newly built EVA suits were tested by Isaacman and Gillis as they went outside the capsule.
• With a total duration of more than 20 minutes, this spacewalk is considered a crucial step towards upcoming deep space missions.
• Apart from the spacewalk, the crew carried out around forty scientific investigations, examining the impact of microgravity on the human body and evaluating advanced medical technologies.
• Testing SpaceX's Starlink satellites for communication was another main part of the mission.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

4. Infosys has been selected by LIC to develop its NextGen digital insurance platform project.

• It will be an integrated end-to-end digital insurance solution.
• The digital platform will be modular, flexible, and cloud-native.
• It will have platform driven architecture that will be capable of quickly integrating new features, products, and cutting-edge technology.
• It will serve as the foundation for the development of high-value business applications including LIC's digital branch, portals, and super apps for sales and customers.
• Infosys declared that it will work with LIC to lead the DIVE (Digital Innovation and Value Enhancement) digital transformation program.
• Additionally, LIC's digital platform will function as an open platform, facilitating quick integration with partners in bancassurance and fintech.

Topic: Sports

5. India retained the Asian Champions Trophy title by defeating China.

• On September 17, the Indian men's hockey team successfully defended the Asian Champions Trophy title after registering a hard-fought 1-0 win over hosts China in the final at the Moqi Hockey Training Base in Hulunbuir, China.
• Jugraj Singh's decisive goal in the 51st minute sealed the win, making India the most successful team in the tournament's history, winning a record five titles.
• India retained the trophy for the second consecutive edition following their win in 2023.
• India had earlier won consecutive titles in 2016 and 2018.
• The Indian team was playing the final for the sixth time in the eight Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournaments held so far.
• Following the win, Hockey India announced cash rewards of Rs 3 lakh for each player and Rs 1.5 lakh for each support staff member.
• Earlier, Pakistan defeated Korea 5-2 to finish third in the six-team competition.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Geography

6. Earth will get a temporary mini-moon, which will be named 2024 PT5.

• An asteroid named 2024 ON recently passed by Earth without causing any damage, and another asteroid, which may appear to be a mini-moon, is heading toward Earth.
• This asteroid named 2024 PT5 is just 33 feet long and is traveling in space.
• It will soon be dragged into an eccentric orbit by Earth's gravity.
• This means that the 2024 PT5 asteroid will travel halfway around the planet in a horseshoe-shaped orbit before continuing on its cosmic journey.
• The asteroid that cannot escape Earth's gravity is called a mini-moon.
• Asteroid 2024 PT5 is not technically a mini-moon, as it will not make a full revolution around Earth but instead will orbit the planet for more than 56 days.
• The 2024 PT5 asteroid, first discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System on August 7, will make a full orbit around Earth from September 29 to November 25.
• It will then break free from our planet's gravitational pull and continue its journey.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. A two-day national symposium entitled Exercise AIKYA started in Chennai.

• It is being organised by the Army Southern Command and the National Disaster Management Authority.
• Enhancing disaster preparedness and promoting strong coordination among important stakeholders are the exercise's main aims.
• The exercise includes expert insights into various roles of disaster management, technology discussions, and simulations.
• In the symposium, there are representatives from the Indian army, State and National disaster management agencies, health, environment, and climate change departments, as well as the railways and transportation departments.
• Attendees at the symposium include representatives from IMD, National Remote Sensing Centres, the Central Water Commission, and the Forest Survey of India.
• Current issues like landslides, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, forest fires, and recent disasters will be reviewed.
• The symposium also features strategic planning for Exercise Aikya, capacity building, and knowledge exchange.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

8. Health Minister JP Nadda unveiled the logo and brochures for the GFRS 2.0 in New Delhi.

• The 2nd edition Global Food Regulators Summit (GFRS 2.0) will be organised by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India from the 19th to the 21st September in New Delhi.
• Delegates from over 70 countries are likely to take part in GFRS 2.0.
• They will discuss and prepare strategy on key regulatory issues.
• The aim of the summit is to promote knowledge-sharing and international collaborations on food safety and regulatory issues.
• Over 5,000 people will attend GFRS 2.0. More than 1.5 lakh people will join it virtually.
• The FSSAI is going to introduce a new portal called 'Food Import Rejection Alert' during the event.
• Additionally, it will initiate the food import clearance system 2.0. This will be aimed at improving food safety standards and streamlining import procedures.
• The State Food Safety Index 2024, which evaluates the performance of States and Union Territories in terms of food safety, will also be introduced by the FSSAI.
• The first edition of Global Food Regulators Summit was held in July 2023 in India.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Environment and Ecology

9. India will soon launch its carbon market.

• India will launch its carbon market after the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme comes into force.
• It will set emissions targets for emitters and allow overachievers to sell their excess emission cuts.
• In the carbon market, underachievers will have to purchase Carbon Credit to meet their goals.
• The Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) is a market-based mechanism to reduce or limit emissions.
• India, one of the NDC’s targets, is to reduce the “emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.”.
• India had also declared the target of becoming a net-zero emitter by 2070.
• Developing countries, like China and Indonesia, have developed carbon markets.

Topic: National Appointments

10. Samir Kumar appointed as Amazon India's new country manager.

• Amazon’s leader, Samir Kumar, took over as country manager for India by replacing Manish Tiwary.
• Manish Tiwary has stepped down from his role in August.
• Samir Kumar will take India's responsibility in addition to his current charter of leading Amazon’s consumer businesses in the Middle East, South Africa and Turkey.
• Samir Kumar joined Amazon in 1999.
• He was among the key executives who came to India in 2013 to set up Amazon's business.
• He will assume operational responsibilities for India starting October 1.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

11. India hosted high-level international meetings on anti-doping in sports.

• India hosted the second meeting of the COP-9 Bureau and the third formal meeting of the Fund Approval Committee under the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sports in New Delhi on September 17-18, 2024.
• As Vice President of the COP-9 Bureau, India took the lead in organising high-level events that brought together key decision makers and dignitaries from across the world on one platform.
• The meetings organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports were attended by eminent delegates representing countries.
• It includes such as Azerbaijan, Barbados, Estonia, France, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Netherlands, Turkey, UAE and Zambia.
• Senior officials of the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport were also present and held discussions in a hybrid format.
• These meetings serve as an important forum for countries and international organisations to discuss doping prevention, fair sporting practices and global cooperation in maintaining integrity in sports.

(Source: DD News)

Topic: National Appointments

12. Atishi will replace Arvind Kejriwal as the Chief Minister of Delhi.

• Current Chief Minister of Delhi and national convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal has proposed to appoint Atishi as the party's chief ministerial candidate.
• On 17 September, Kejriwal recommended her name and she was later elected leader of the AAP Legislative Party.
• Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has made it clear that he will not remain in his post unless the people re-elect him.
• Till then the party will appoint a new Chief Minister and the government will work under that leadership.
• On 14 September, Kejriwal announced his resignation as Chief Minister and that he would not contest elections again until the people of Delhi declared him "honest".
• Recently, he was released from Tihar Jail after getting bail from the Supreme Court in a corruption case related to the Delhi excise policy scam.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

13. Aishwarya Rai wins Best Actress at SIIMA 2024.

• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the Best Actress in a Leading Role (Critics) for her performance in Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2.
• She received the award from director Kabir Khan.
• Aishwarya Rai played two roles in Ponniyin Selvan 2 - as Nandini and Mandakini Devi.
• South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) 2024 ceremony was held in Dubai.
• It is given for the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry.
• It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli.
• The Award nominees are selected by a jury of senior artistes and professionals and voted for by public polling.

Topic: Sports

14. Anmol Kharb won her first individual international badminton title.

• India's emerging player Anmol Kharb secured her maiden international title at the senior level by winning the Belgian International 2024 badminton women’s singles title.
• She defeated Denmark's Amalie Schulz by 24-22, 12-21, 21-10 in a hard-fought final.
• In the semi-finals, Anmol defeated Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria by 21-13, 24-26, 21-19.
• In the men’s singles, Darshan Pujari reached the quarter-finals.
• Earlier, Anmol became the women’s singles national badminton champion at the age of 16.

(Source: News on AIR)