Sports
1. Sania Mirza-Shuai Zhang wins 2021 Ostrava Open Women’s Doubles Title
- Indo-Chinese duo of Sania Mirza and Shuai Zhang clinched Women’s double’s title at the 2021 Ostrava Open WTA 500 tournament in Czech Republic
- They won the title by 6-3, 6-2 against Kaitlyn Christian (US) and Erin Routliffe (New Zealand).
- This is the 43rd WTA doubles title victory for former World No.1 Sania Mirza
- 2021 Ostrava Open Women’s single title: Anett Kontaveit won her maiden WTA 500 title, after defeating Maria Sakkari in the final by 6–2, 7–5.
Important Dates
2. World Heart Day: 29th September
- World Heart Day (WHD) is observed every year on 29th September to draw people’s attention to heart illness and the range of associated health issues.
- Theme of WHD 2021: ‘USE HEART to connect’.
- WHD was created by World Heart Federation in 1999 to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke.
- It was originally celebrated on the last Sunday in September till 2011.
National Affairs
3. Union Agriculture Minister launches Amul Honey
- Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has launched ‘Amul Honey’, product of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation under active cooperation with National Bee Board.
- Launch saw the importance of National Beekeeping and Honey Mission for doubling income of farmers and beekeepers with budget of Rs 500 crores
- 5 large scale Regional Honey Testing Labs and 100 Mini Honey Testing Labs are being set up in India due to the major concern of pure honey
Important Dates
4. International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste: 29 September
- International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is observed on September 29 to promote and implement global efforts to resolve the issue of food wastage
- Theme for 2021: Stop food loss and waste. For the people. For the planet.
- 29 September is being designated as International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste in 2019 by UN General Assembly.
- It was first observed in 2020
- This day steps towards responsible consumption and production as well as zero hunger
National & International Appointments
5. CAG GC Murmu appointed as external auditor of IAEA
- CAG of India, G C Murmu has been appointed as the external auditor of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
- His tenure will be valid for six years from 2022 to 2027.
- He was selected as the next external auditor of the IAEA at General Conference of the IAEA in Vienna.
- IAEA is an international organization that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
- HQs: Vienna, Austria.
Arts & Culture
6. Sojat Mehndi from Rajasthan and Judima rice wine from Assam gets GI tag
- Home-made rice wine from Assam, Judima and Sojat Mehndi (Henna) from Rajasthan has been awarded geographical indication (GI) tag.
- Judima: Local fermented drink made with rice, brewed by Dimasa community in Assam. It is the first traditional brew of northeast to bag GI tag.
- Sojat tehsil of Pali district, Rajasthan has suitable geological structure, topography and drainage system, climate, and soil for naturally cultivating the mehndi leave crop.
Banking & Finance
7. RBI sets WMA Limit for Central Government at Rs. 50,000 crore
- RBI has set the limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the second half of FY 2021-22 (Oct 2021 to March 2022) at Rs 50,000 crores.
- RBI may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilizes 75% of the WMA limit.
- Interest rate on WMA/overdraft will be:
- For WMA: Repo Rate
- For Overdraft: Two percent above the Repo Rate
- WMAs are short-term advances given by central bank to help states tide over temporary mismatches in their cash flow.
Banking & Finance
8. SEBI approves frameworks for gold exchange and Social Stock Exchange
- SEBI has approved frameworks for gold exchange and Social Stock Exchange, along with amendments to delisting framework for equity shares
- Gold exchange is being set up to trade yellow metal in the form of electronic gold receipts for transparent domestic spot price discovery mechanism.
- Instrument representing gold is to be called Electronic Gold Receipt (EGR)
- Under Social Stock Exchange (SSE) creation, it will be used for purpose of fund raising by social entrepreneurs
Banking & Finance
9. Centre extends existing foreign trade policy (FTP) till March 2022
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry has further extended Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, till March 31, 2022.
- This is the third extension to FTP policy.
- First extension was given on March 31, 2020 for one year till March 2021, due to Covid outbreak and nationwide lockdown and was again extended till September 30, 2021
- FTP 2015-20 provides guidelines for increasing exports of goods and services as well as generation of employment
Honours & Awards
10. 11 scientists receive 2021 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes
- 11 scientists have been felicitated with Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2021, which is the highest science-tech award in India
- Winners:
- Biological Sciences: Amit Singh, Arun Kumar Shukla
- Chemical Sciences: Kanishka Biswas, T Govindaraju
- Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences: Binoy Kumar Saikia
- Engineering Sciences: Debdeep Mukhopadhyay
- Maths: Anish Ghosh, Saket Saurabh
- Medical Sciences: Jeemon Panniyammakal, Rohit Srivastava
- Physical Sciences: Kanak Saha
National Affairs
11. Govt sets up GoM to rationalise GST rates
- Central government has formed 7-member group of ministers (GoM) for proposing a rationalization of tax rates and considering the merger of different tax slabs under GST.
- It will be headed by Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj S. Bommai.
- Government has formed one more GoM which will look at tapping IT tools to minimize tax evasion and make compliance easier for taxpayers. Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra deputy CM has been made the convenor of this GoM.
National Affairs
12. PM Modi launches 35 crop varieties to tackle climate change, malnutrition
- PM Narendra Modi has dedicated virtually 35 crop varieties with special traits.
- He also dedicated newly constructed campus of National Institute of Biotic Stress Management Raipur to the nation and distributed Green Campus Award to Agricultural Universities.
- 35 varieties include drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, etc.
Science & Technology
13. North Korea test newly developed hypersonic missile
- North Korea has tested newly developed Hwasong-8 type hypersonic missile towards the sea off its east coast, Jagang Province.
- The development of the weapon system increases North Korea’s defence capabilities.
- Hwasong series missiles use liquid propellant engines
- This is the first test of a liquid propellant missile in North Korea since November 2017.
- Prime Minister of North Korea: Kim Jong-un.
Sports
14. Western Naval Command Sailing Championship-2021 conducted
- Western Naval Command Sailing Championship-2021 has been conducted at Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC), Mumbai
- 59 personnel from seven teams participated in this championship.
- It was conducted in seven different classes of boats: Laser (Standard), Laser (Radial), Laser (Bahiya), Enterprise, Bic-Nova, 29-er, J24
- Concept of team racing in Enterprise Class and match racing in J24 class of boats was reintroduced to facilitate wider participation
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