GK and Current Affairs Updates

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres passed away on 28 September 2016 at Ramat Gan, Israel. He was 93.
●    Peres served twice as Israel's Prime Minister and once as President.
●    Shimon Peres was born on 2 August 1923 at Wiszniew, Poland.
●    He served as the ninth President of Israel from 2007 to 2014.
●    He served twice as the Prime Minister of Israel and twice as Interim Prime Minister.
●    His first high-level government position was as Deputy Director-General of Defence in 1952, and Director-General from 1953 until 1959.
●    He was the first former Prime Minister to be elected President of Israel.
●    At the time of his retirement in 2014, he was the world's oldest head of state.
●    In 1994, he won Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for the peace talks that he participated in as Israeli Foreign Minister, producing the Oslo Accords.

After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market
●    He and other ministers said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would reduce output to a range of 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day. 
●    OPEC estimates its current output at 33.24 million bpd.
●    "We have decided to decrease the production around 700,000 bpd," Zanganeh said. 
●    The move would effectively re-establish OPEC production ceilings abandoned a year ago.
●    However, how much each country will produce is to be decided at the next formal OPEC meeting in November, when an invitation to join cuts could also be extended to non-OPEC countries such as Russia. 
●    Oil prices LCOc1 jumped more than 5% to trade above $48 per barrel as of 2015 GMT. 
●    Many traders said they were impressed OPEC had managed to reach a compromise after years of wrangling but others said they wanted to see the details.
 

Exactly a year after strengthening regulation of the 13-year-old commodity derivatives market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has taken the first steps towards its growth by allowing exchanges like MCX and NCDEX to launch options in commodities. 

●    Also, it has expanded the list of notified commodities that exchanges can launch by adding to it eggs, diamonds, skimmed milk powder, tea, cocoa, pig iron, biofuels and brass. 
●    Sebi will spell out the details of the type of options and the products on which they can be launched in due course. 
●    An advisory committee constituted by Sebi after erstwhile commodity regulator FMC was merged with it on September 29 last year had recommended launch of gold and refined soya oil options initially. 
●    Other important regulations are allowing equity exchanges like NSE and BSE to launch commodity futures segment and commexes like MCX and NCDEX to launch equities and currency segments. 
 

The Union Cabinet on 28 September 2016 approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change on 2 October 2016.
●    Paris Agreement gives thrust to the global actions to address climate change and pertains to post-2020 climate actions. 
●    India’s decision to ratify the agreement will take the number of cumulative level of emission of countries to 51.89 percent. 
●    With its decision to ratify the Agreement, India will be one of the key countries that will be instrumental in bringing the Paris Agreement into force. 
●    It will underline India’s responsive leadership in the community of nations committed to global cause of environmental protection and climate justice. 
●    The Paris Agreement was adopted by 185 nations on 12 December 2015 and India signed the Paris Agreement in New York on 22 April 2016.
●    A total of 191 countries have signed to the Paris Agreement so far. 
●    As per the provisions of the Paris Agreement, the treaty will come into force as and when 55 countries contributing to 55 percent of total global emission ratify the agreement. 
 

World Rabies Day was observed on 28 September 2016. The theme for World Rabies Day is Rabies: Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate. 
●    The day is annually celebrated to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating the disease.
●    The theme of the day emphasizes on the two crucial actions that communities can do to prevent rabies. 
●    It also reflects the global target to eliminate all human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
●    In addition, 28 September also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur's death, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine.
●    Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans), caused by the rabies virus, of the Lyssavirus genus, within the family Rhabdoviridae. 
●    Domestic dogs are the most common reservoir of the virus, with more than 95% of human deaths caused by dog-mediated rabies.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium has a Lord’s style, space-ship like press box. 
●    Now another feature of the historic ground will find its place in an India stadium, as Cricket Association of Bengal will install a Lord’s-like bell at the Eden Garden’s, from the second Test between India and New Zealand. 
●    Former skipper Kapil Dev will ring the bell– put up at the lower tier of the Club House underneath the Eden Clock.
●    This Test match precedes the Durga Puja; Bengal’s autumn festival. 
●    Crowd attendance could be an issue and the state association is trying to create a carnival-like atmosphere to ensure decent footfalls. 
●    The CAB, in association with the Lions Club, will bring 4,000 underprivileged children from across the state on the opening day.
●    Also, felicitation have been arranged for the two teams on the third day, as part of this Test being India’s 250th at home. However, only 400 tickets have been sold.
 

A high level delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is attending 3rd Annual Ministerial Dialogue scheduled on 29th September, 2016 at Toronto, Canada. 
●    It is recognised that India and Canada have enormous scope for enhanced bilateral trade relations but, the bilateral trade between the two countries has not been up to the potential. 
●    Both sides recognized the immense potential and mutual interest in promoting trade. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi during his historic bilateral visit to Canada in April 2015, stressed the importance of bilateral business and commercial linkages as key drivers of India-Canada partnership. 
●    During his visit both the nations recognised the need for early finalisation of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) and expeditiously conclude a progressive, balanced, and mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), as a basis for expanding two-way trade and investment. 
●    Considering the potential and given the fact that bilateral trade between both the countries has grown at a decent pace, the Trade Ministers of both the countries are likely to discuss the following major issues:- 
●    Exploring ways of expeditious early conclusion of FIFA and CEPA. 
●    Exploring options for Indian interest in addressing the Temporary Foreign Workers Programmes (TWEP) of Canada which is affecting the Indian IT Industry; address equivalance by Canadian Food Inspection Agency for Indian organic product exports; and exploring investment opportunities in different sectors of India. 
●    In addition, both leaders are expected to discuss regarding recent commercial achievments between both countries, bilateral FDI flows, issues relating to intellectual property, etc in addition to other issues relating to trade and investment. 
●    The Commerce and Industry Minister Mrs. Sitharaman is also scheduled to meet some top business leaders of Canada on 30th September to discuss the various reforms undertaken in India and prospects for investment in various sectors. 

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched today in Srinagar for the state of Jammu & Kashmir by Chief Minister of J&K, Ms Mehbooba Mufti along with Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in the presence of Minister of State, PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Dy. Chief Minister of J&K, Dr. Nirmal Singh, Minister for FCS & CA J&K, Shri Chowdhary Zulfikar Ali, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Shri Nazir Ahmed Fiaz and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Shri Mir Mohammed.

●    Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which was launched by the Prime Minister on 1st May 2016 at Ballia (Uttar Pradesh), is a scheme to provide clean cooking fuel to the women belonging to the ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) households across the country. 
●    Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to provide LPG connections to 5 Crore BPL households by 2019 and is a part of larger program of adding 10 crore new LPG connections by 2019 to achieve full coverage of connections in Indian households. 
●    1 lakh LPG connections will be released in the next 15 days. He said that the central government has released 2 lakh connections during the last 2 years in J&K vis a vis 5 Lakh connections released during the previous 8 years in J&K by the previous governments. 
●    He added that there are 4 LPG bottling plants in the state and another LPG plant at Kargil will be put up and also to increase the capacity of Leh LPG plant.

A Trilateral meeting was held between Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Sh. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammadullah Batash and Minister of Road and Urban Development, Iran, Dr. Abbas Ahmed Akhoundi in the capital. The three Ministers held discussions on Trilateral Agreement on Establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor i.e. Chabahar Agreement which was signed by them on 23rd May, 2016 in Tehran in the presence of Prime Minister of India and Presidents of Iran and Afghanistan.
●    During the meeting the Ministers reiterated the importance of Chabahar as a hub for regional connectivity and their commitment to work towards this objective. It was decided to organize a connectivity event involving all stakeholders at Chabahar within two months to increase awareness about the new opportunities offered by Chabahar Port.
●    The Ministers expressed satisfaction that the three countries are taking prompt measures for completing internal processes for the ratification of the Agreement. They also exchanged views on the next steps to be taken for an early implementation of the Agreement. It was decided to evolve protocols related to transport and transit, ports, customs procedures and consular affairs. It was also decided to convene an Expert level meeting of senior officials of the three countries within one month in Chabahar.
●    Development of Ports, Road and Rail connectivity will open up new opportunities leading to new jobs and prosperity in all three countries. Trade is recognized as driving economic growth and development, the implementation of the Agreement would provide the eco-system for the private sector to seize the business opportunities emerging due to substantial reduction of logistic costs for trade among the three countries,.
●    The Minister of Road and Urban Development of Iran Dr. Abbas Ahmed Akhoundi and Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation of Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammadullah Batash are visiting India at the invitation of Shri Nitin Gadkari.

World Economic Forum (WEF) on 27 September 2015 released the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2016-2017. India 39th in Global Competitiveness.
The report assesses the competitiveness landscape of 138 economies.
•    Switzerland, Singapore and the US remain as the world's most competitive economies.
•    China ranks 28 in the index.
•    Among the other BRICS nations, Russia is ranked 43rd, South Africa is at 47 and Brazil at 81.
•    There were no newcomers to its 2016-2017 top 10, though the order of some of the leading countries shifted in its Global Competitiveness Report.
•    Top 10 countries in ranking are Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong (SAR), and Finland.