• Economy and Business

RBI makes repo-linked interest rates mandatory

• RBI has made it mandatory for banks to link all of their new loan products- personal, housing or auto to an external benchmark like the policy repo rate w.e.f 1st October 2019.
• Banks may choose any benchmark market interest rate published by FBIL.

• Economy and Business

FDI grows by 28 per cent in Q1 FY20

• Foreign direct investment into India grew by 28 per cent to $16.33 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal, according to government data.
• Inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) during April-June of 2018-19 stood at 12.75 billion.

• Economy and Business

PNB approves merger with Oriental Bank, United Bank

• Punjab National Bank’s board on Thursday gave “in-principle approval” to its merger with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India.
• This comes following FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of a plan to merge 10 public sector banks into four entities to create fewer and stronger global-sized lenders.

• Sports

Logo for 2022 FIFA World Cup launched by Qatar

• On September 3, 2019, The host city for 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar unveiled the logo for the same displaying it in public spaces in Doha and cities around the world.
• 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is the 22nd Edition, will be hosted by the Gulf Emirate.

• Awards

Prez Kovind to confer National Awards to teachers

• On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday conferred National Awards to teachers for the year 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
• Kovind, officers, and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan paid floral tributes to Radhakrishnan, a philosopher-author and India’s second president.

• Awards

Prof Muhammad Yunus conferred 'Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ' award

• Nobel Laureate from Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus was conferred the ‘Lamp of Peace of Saint Francis ‘ award by the Vatican for his contribution towards establishing peace and harmony.
• The award is recognition for distinguished work by an individual for promoting peace and dialogue among people.

• Awards

PM Modi to get Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation’s “Global Goalkeeper Award 2019 ” for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi is to be honored with ‘Global Goalkeeper Award 2019’ by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his work under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) Mission.
• He will be honored during his visit to United States (US) in September 2019.

• Appointments

Nissan India Appoints Rakesh Srivastava As Managing Director

• Nissan announced the appointment of Rakesh Srivastava as Managing Director, Nissan Motor India and would report to Sinan Ozkok, President of Nissan India Operations.
• He worked as Director in charge of electric vehicle development, JSW Group.

• Appointments

Shri Jaideep Sarkar concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Kingdom of Lesotho

• According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India(GoI) Shri Jaideep Sarkar, a 1987 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Kingdom of Lesotho, with residence in Pretoria.
• He succeeds Ms. Ruchi Ghanashyam.

• Important Days

National teachers’ day celebrated on September 5, 2019

• The United Nations(UN) officially declared to observe September 5 annually as the International Day of Charity in its 2012 UN General Assembly.
• The first International Day of Charity under the resolution/A/RES/67/105 was observed in the year 2013.

• Science and Tech

Japanese scientists find new dinosaur species

• Japanese scientists have identified a new species of dinosaur from a nearly complete skeleton that was the largest ever discovered in the country, measuring 8 m long.
• After analysing hundreds of bones dating back 72 million years, the team led by Hokkaido University concluded the skeleton once belonged to a new species of hadrosaurid dinosaur, a herbivorous beast that roamed the Earth in the late Cretaceous period.

• Science and Tech

Indian bee species named after Ladakh rediscovered after 30 years

• A Czech Republic-based researcher has rediscovered a new cuckoo bee species through a female specimen collected by German bee specialist Klaus Warncke, who first reported the bee about 30 years back.
• Warncke had named the bee ‘Epeolus ladakhensis’ after Ladakh, the only place that it is currently found in.

• Obituaries

LaShawn Daniels Grammy Award-winning songwriter dies at 41

• LaShawn Daniels, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter who penned songs for Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Lady Gaga has died. He was 41.
• He earned a Grammy in 2001 for his songwriting work on Destiny Child’s ‘Say My Name.’

Note:

About Grammy Award

First awarded     May 4, 1959

• Obituaries

Former Kalahandi king of Odisha Udit Pratap Deo passed away

• Udit Pratap Deo, former king of the erstwhile princely state of Kalahandi, has breathed his last at a private hospital .He was 71.
• Deo was a former lawmaker from Junagarh Assembly segment in Odisha from 1974 to 1977.

• Agreements

India Russia sign energy deal, set $30 bn trade target by 2025

• India-Russia signed a 5-year road map for cooperation in the energy sector, cooperation in the production of spare parts for Russian-Indian military equipment to infrastructure finance.
• Target of $30 billion in bilateral trade by 2025 was also set.