• National

PM Matru Vandana Yojana crosses 1 crore beneficiaries

• PMMVY scheme crossed 1 crore beneficiaries, under which Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in 3 installments on fulfilling the conditionality.
• Total amount disbursed under the scheme has crossed Rs. 4,000 crores.

• Economy and Business

India Post launches speed post service for six new countries

• The Department of Posts has expanded its speed post service to 6 new overseas destinations in Asia, Europe and South America.
• It has introduced International Speed Post (EMS) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and North McDonia.

Note:

About India Post

Headquarters: New Delhi

Founded: 1 April 1854

• Economy and Business

Sensex up 1,700 points after govt. slashes corporate tax rate to 22%

• Indian equity benchmark Sensex surged nearly 1,700 points (4.6%) on Friday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a corporate tax reduction to 22% if the companies don’t avail any exemptions.
• The effective tax rate for these companies will be at 25.17% inclusive of all surcharge and cesses.

• Economy and Business

Banks to organise 'loan melas' in 400 districts within a month

• FM announced that all scheduled banks will hold gatherings in a total of 400 districts, where customers can come & take any type of loan they want from the banks & NBFCs partnering with them.
• No MSME stressed loan to be classified as NPA until March 2020.

• Sports

Vinesh Phogat wins Bronze- maiden Wrestling World Championships 2019 medal in Kazakhstan

• On September 18, 2019 Indian wrestler VineshPhogat, defeated Greece’s two-time world bronze medalist Maria Prevolaraki and won a bronze medal in the women’s 53kg category at the “2019 World Wrestling Championships” held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
• Earlier she won both matches of the repechage round in the 53kg category and became the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

• Awards

Super 30 founder Anand Kumar honoured with Education Excellence Award 2019

• Super 30 founder and noted mathematician Anand Kumar has been felicitated in the US with a prestigious teaching award for his contributions towards imparting education to the country”s needy students.
• The Education Excellence Award 2019 was presented Anand Kumar, 46, by the Foundation For Excellence (FFE) at a function on the occasion of the organisation’s 25th anniversary gala in San Jose, California over the weekend.

• Awards

Pralhad Joshi confers the National Geoscience Awards

• The National Geoscience Awards for the year 2018 for outstanding contributions in the field of geosciences, mining and allied areas were presented to twenty-two scientists from across the country.
• The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Shri Pralhad Joshi, while conferring the awards said that the need of the hour is to strengthen the synergy between the professional and academic institutions working in field of geoscience.

• Awards

Entrepreneur Kapil Pathare honoured with Doctorate in Business by Ballsbridge University

• On September 17, 2019 Entrepreneur and author Kapil Pathare, the Director of VIP Clothing Ltd, was honoured with Doctorate in Business from Ballsbridge University for extensive contribution to business and entrepreneurship.
• The well-known entrepreneur for his iconic brand ‘VIP Innerwear’ was also awarded the 2019 Global leaders award ‘Enterprise Edition 2019’ in Dubai by Indian film director Madhur Bhandarkar for promoting small business at International, national and regional level.

• Appointments

SC appoints 4 new judges, judges count goes up to Highest-ever of 34

• On September 18, 2019 the Supreme Court (SC) of India has appointed 4 new judges which now took the total strength of judges to 34.
• Recently the parliament increased the no. of judges to 34(inclusive of Chief Justice (CJ)) from previous count of 31.

• Appointments

RKS Bhadauria appointed as new Indian Air Force chief

• Government has appointed Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria as the new chief of Indian Air Force to serve for a 3-year term or till the age of 62.
• He is the current Vice-chief of Air Staff & takes over the post from his predecessor BS Dhanoa.

• Science and Tech

Protodontopteryx ruthae -world’s oldest bird species is discovered in Waipara, New Zealand

• On September 18, 2019 scientists from the Canterbury Museum (England) have discovered the world’s oldest bird species’ fossils in Waipara, New zealand that lived 62 million years ago.
• It was a sea bird, and is named as Protodontopteryx ruthae with its discovery details mentioned in the journal ‘Palaeontology’.

• Defence

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders delivers 2nd Scorpene submarine “KHANDERI”

• Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd delivered 2nd Scorpene submarine ‘KHANDERI’ to Indian Navy at an event held in Mumbai.
• It is named after the wide snouted Saw fish, a deadly sea predator of the Indian Ocean.

• Defence

Defence Minister Rajnath singh approves for writing history of India’s borders

• On September 17, 2019 the Union Minister of Defence Shri Rajnath Singh gave approval for writing history on India’s borders for better understanding of the borders.
• The proposed work will include making and unmaking and shifting of borders, role of people in the border & their socio economic aspects of life etc.

• States

Telangana declares 2020 as AI year

• The Telangana state Government will celebrate 2020 as Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by organising multiple programs and activities related to the new age technology throughout the year.
• The decision comes in the backdrop of the emerging talent workforce and renewed focus by industry and other ecosystem players on this space in the past four to five years.

• Miscellaneous

Moti Bagh, a documentary film on the hard work of an elderly farmer, claims to have an entry at the Oscars 2020

• A documentary film, “Moti Bagh” based on the life of a farmer Vidya dutt Sharma (82) , who belongs to a remote village in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand has been nominated for an Oscar 2020.
• The film, directed by Nirmal Chander Dandriyal, shows the struggles of Sharma to keep his farm alive and on deserted hilly land.

• Agreements

An Allotment Agreement signed between Ministry of Coal and WBPDCL regarding world’s second-largest Deocha Pachami Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal block

• On September 16, 2019, Ministry of Coal and West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) signed an allotment agreement regarding the Deocha Pachami Dewanganj-Harinsingha coal block which is the world’s second-largest coal block.
• The project is slated to generate both direct and indirect employment in West Bengal considerably and also contribute to the socio-economic development of the region.