Today's Current Affairs-4th September 2022

INTERNATIONAL

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to begin visit to Mongolia on September 5

• Defence Minister to hold bilateral talks to further consolidate defence cooperation between the two countries. He will also travel to Japan for the 2+2 Ministerial dialogue. In a first, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit to Mongolia from September 5 to 7. “The upcoming visit is the first ever visit by an Indian Defence Minister to Mongolia and will further consolidate the defence cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries,” the Defence Ministry said. He is also scheduled travel to Japan for the 2+2 Ministerial dialogue.
• During the visit, Mr. Singh will hold bilateral talks with his Mongolian counterpart Lt Gen. Saikhanbaya and also call on the President of Mongolia, U. Khurelsukh and Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia, G. Zandanshatar. “During the bilateral talks, the two Defence Ministers shall review the bilateral defence cooperation between India and Mongolia, and explore new initiatives to further strengthen bilateral engagements.
• In Japan, Mr. Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will join their Japanese counterparts under the framework of ‘2+2’ foreign and defence ministerial dialogue, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The dialogue is taking place over five months after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India for the annual India-Japan summit.
• India has the ‘2+2’ ministerial format of dialogue with very few countries including the U.S., Japan, Australia and Russia.

About Mongolia:

Capital: Ulaanbaatar

Currency: Mongolian tögrög

President: Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh

Official language: Mongolian

About Ministry of defence:

Officeholder: Rajnath Singh (Minister)

Formed: 1776; 246 years ago (as Military Department); 15 August 1947; 75 years ago (as Ministry of Defence)

Annual budget: ₹525,166 crore (US$66 billion) (2022–23)

 NATIONAL

India's first Night sky Sanctuary to be set up in Ladakh

• The Union minister Jitendra Singh announced on Saturday (September 3) that within the next three months, Ladakh will host India's first-ever "Night Sky Sanctuary" as part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary in the union territory.
• Singh also claimed that the proposed 'Dark Sky Reserve' will be finished at Hanle in the UT within three months, which will boost Astro tourism in India and make it one of the highest-located sites in the world for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.
• The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), and the UT administration recently signed a tripartite MoU to establish the Dark Space Reserve.
• All three parties will work together to prevent the night sky from being illuminated and polluted, which severely threatens scientific observations and the sky's natural conditions.
• It should be noted that Hanle is ideally suitable for the project because it is situated in the freezing desert region of Ladakh, far from any human interference, and has dry weather conditions all year round.

About Ladakh:

Capital: Leh, ‎Kargil

Lt Governor : Sh R K Mathur

Union territory: 31 October 2019

Districts: 2

 SPORTS

Leh to host Cycling World Cup on Sept 4

• Leh will host the first-ever highest level of World Cup Cycling event ‘UCI MTB World Cup Eliminator’ on September 4.
• The UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup is being organised by the UT Ladakh Police in association with City Mountain Bike and Cycling Federation of India (CFI) wherein 100 participants are expected to participate in the cycling event including 70 from India.
• The event will be organised in the Old town area of Leh to showcase unique heritage and culture of the world. With this event, Leh will be among world famous cycling event venues like Abu Dhabi, Barcelona and Paris and India will be on the cycling chart among Germany, France, Sweden, Indonesia, Brazil, Belgium, Turkey etc.
• Registered cyclists will ride one lap to qualify. In the qualifying rounds, 32 cyclists will be selected from men and women categories. Among the selected, best qualifying timers would get the easiest heat of One kilometre competing with four best timing cyclists. Two best from the four go to the next round. Similar rounds continue till all applicants take part.

About Ladakh:

Capital: Leh, ‎Kargil

Lt Governor : Sh R K Mathur

Union territory: 31 October 2019

Districts: 2

 OBITUARY

Historian and former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore and Goa Universities B. Sheik Ali, passed away at 97

• Noted historian and first Vice Chancellor of Mangalore and Goa Universities Professor B. Sheik Ali passed away. He was the general president of the Indian History Congress at its 47th Session in 1986 and the founder president of the South India History Congress in 1985. He is a recipient of the Rajyothsava award and has authored a total of 23 books in English.
• Sheikh Ali was an authority on Mysuru rulers Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan and had carried out extensive research on the Mysuru kingdom in the British era. He authored 32 books and edited others, including Tipu Sultan: A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation; Tipu Sultan, a Great Martyr; British Relations with Hyder Ali; Dr Zakir Hussain — Life & Times, A Comprehensive Biography, besides other Urdu publications.
• He was the recipient of the prestigious Golden Jubilee Award of Mysore University for research in Humanities and Social Sciences, Rajyotsava award for Distinguished Educationist, Mythic Society of India Award for Distinguished Historian, and Maulana Jauhar Award in 2003.

Former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry dies in car crash at the age of 54

• Former chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus Mistry has died in a road accident while en route from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Mistry was aged 54 years. He was travelling with Jahangir Dinshaw Pandol, Anahita Pandol, and Darius Pandol. Mistry is survived by his wife Rohiqa and their two sons.
• Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was an Indian-born Irish businessman. Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, was ousted from the position in October 2016. He had taken over as the chairman in December 2012 after Ratan Tata announced his retirement. N Chandrasekaran later took over as Executive Chairman of Tata Sons.
• The Supreme Court in May had dismissed a plea of the Sapoorji Pallonji (SP) group seeking a review of the 2021 verdict which had upheld the Tata group’s decision to remove Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata Sons.

About Tata Sons:

Founded: 1868

Owner: Tata Trusts (66%); Shapoorji Pallonji Group (18%)

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founders: Tata Group, Jamsetji Tata

 APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Senior IAS Officer Utpal Kumar Singh Appointed Lok Sabha Secretary General

• Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker jointly decided that Utpal Kumar Singh, currently holding the post of Secretary General Lok Sabha, will additionally charge the functions of CEO Sansad TV. Ravi Capoor has been relieved of his duties as the Chief executive officer (CEO) of Sansad TV.
• Sansad TV was launched in September 2021 after merging the Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV channels. The 24-hour channel, through its content, showcases the democratic ethos and the functioning of democratic institutions of the country with an aim to target national and international audiences. In February 2021, the decision to merge Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV was taken and Ravi Capoor- a retired IAS officer, was appointed as its CEO in March.

About Lok Sabha:

Seats: 543

Founded: 17 April 1952

Speaker: Om Birla, BJP; since 19 June 2019

Term limits: 5 years

Voting system: First past the post

Indian Football: Kalyan Chaubey is the new AIFF president – the first former player elected to post

• Kalyan Chaubey, who was a goalkeeper with the storied Mohun Bagan and East Bengal football clubs in Kolkata, was elected president of the All India Football Federation. Choubey got 33 votes in the 34-member electorate comprising representatives of various state associations. His opponent and former East Bengal teammate Bhaichung Bhutia, also 45, had to be content with a solitary vote.
• Former AIFF president Praful Patel, whose ouster and replacement by a committee of administrators appointed by the Supreme Court had resulted in the federation being suspended for the first time in its 85-year history by the sport’s world governing body FIFA.

About International Federation of Association Football (FIFA):

President: Gianni Infantino

Founded: 21 May 1904, Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris, France

Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland

Video games: Panini Sticker Album, FIFA FUTSAL WC 2021 Challenge

About All India Football Federation (AIFF):

Founded: 23 June 1937

Headquarters location: New Delhi

Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam takes over as Tamilnad Mercantile Bank MD & CEO

• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd on Sunday said veteran banker Krishnan Sankarasubramaniam has taken over as its managing director and Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
• Sankarasubramaniam succeeds K V Rama Moorthy and his term would be for a period of three years, which has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India.
• Prior to taking up the new role, Sankarasubramaniam was serving Punjab and Sind Bank as its Managing Director and CEO, a bank statement said here.
• During his tenure at Punjab and Sind Bank, he played a crucial role in the bank's turnaround leading to it registering the highest ever profit in 2021-22.
• A post graduate in commerce from the Madurai Kamaraj University and a qualified cost accountant, Sankarasubramaniam had served Syndicate Bank as its executive director before joining Punjab and Sind Bank.

About Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd:

Headquarters: Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India

CEO: K V Rama Moorthy (Sept 2017)

Founded: 11 May 1921

Revenue: 4,253.4 crores INR (US$530 million, 2021)

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

HDFC Bank introduces new sms banking facility for its customers

• The private sector lender HDFC Bank introduced a new SMS banking facility for its customers. The bank claims that now customers can access a wide range of banking services round-the-clock. 24/7 x 365 no matter where they are. With the new SMS banking facility, customers can now check account balances & summaries, apply for loans, manage credit cards, apply for chequebook requests, generate account statements and more. Customers no longer need to remember or type lengthy pre-defined keywords to conduct SMS banking thanks to HDFC Bank's new SMS facility, which is integrated with AI technology. Instead, they can type in their own style and convenience and the AI will understand exactly what you need, allowing you to interact leisurely and conveniently as a result.
• HDFC Bank has said via a Tweet that “Banking services are now a text away! #BankOnUs and access a wide range of banking services from wherever you are, round-the-clock. 24/7 x 365! To get started, SMS “Register" <Space> “Last 4 digits of customer ID" <Space> “Last 4 digits of account number" to 7308080808."

About HDFC Bank:

CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan (27 Oct 2020–)

Owner: Housing Development Finance Corporation

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: August 1994, Mumbai