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NASA's OSIRIX-Rex Blasts Off to Visit Asteroid

The US space agency, NASA, on 8 September 2016 launched OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. 
•    The unmanned spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
•    OSIRIS-REx is United States’ first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return to Earth. 
•    The 800 million dollar mission will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.
•    NASA feels that the asteroid may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
•    Scientists at NASA said OSIRIS-REx's main goal is to gather dirt and debris at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study.
 

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North Korea conducts Nuclear Test

North Korea said it hit the button on its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test Friday morning, claiming to have successfully detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets.
•    State media said the test would enable North Korea to produce "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power."
•    The blast, detected about 9 a.m. local time in the area of North Korea's Punggye-ri underground test site, is estimated to have had the explosive power of 10 kilotons, almost twice as large as the most recent test in January, said Kim Nam-wook of South Korea's Meteorological Administration.
•    The test comes on North Korea's national day, and six months after it claimed it had miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missiles.
•    At the same time, South Korea is negotiating an expected deployment of a US missile defense system -- a plan that Pyongyang has decried as provocative.
 

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India inks open skies pact with Greece

India on 7 September 2016 signed the bilateral Air Services Agreement with Greece to allow unlimited points of call for domestic airlines in Greece.
•    Both the countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard under the Open Sky Policy.
•    It will be the first such ASA with Greece, a country known for its tourist spots and scenic beauty.
•    Indian Government Signed the MoU with Greece under the provisions of the new Civil Aviation Policy with an aim to improve international air connectivity for Indian carriers. 
•    As per the policy, the government will enter into an Open Sky Air Services Agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.
 

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GSLV Puts Satellite in Precise Orbit

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched advanced weather satellite, INSAT-3DR on 8 September 2016.
•    The advanced weather satellite was launched with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F05), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
•    GSLV-F05, the tenth flight of India's GSLV, carried 2211 kg INSAT-3DR into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSLV is designed to inject 2 - 2.5 ton class of satellites into GTO.
•    INSAT-3DR is an advanced meteorological satellite of India configured with an imaging System and an Atmospheric Sounder.
•    INSAT-3DR is an improved variant of INSAT-3D, the improvements incorporated includes
•    Imaging in Middle Infrared band to provide night time pictures of low clouds and fog
•    Imaging in two Thermal Infrared bands for estimation of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) with better accuracy
 

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Bengaluru hosts first edition of IoT India Congress

The first edition of IoT India Congress 2016 kick started on 7 September 2016 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
•    The IoT India Congress 2016 is one of the largest events of its kind in India.
•    It will bring together stakeholders from various facets of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
•    It aims to bring together key stakeholders across the value chain and verticals to collaborate, ideate and share a common roadmap for IoT implementation.
•    The event will also host the IoT Thought Leadership Awards 2016 and the IoT Start-Up Awards 2016.
•    In 2013, the Global Standards Initiative on Internet of Things defined the IoT as the infrastructure of the information society.
•    The IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure.
•    British entrepreneur Kevin Ashton coined the term in 1999 while working at Auto-ID Labs.
 

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Integration of Digi Locker with Driving Licenses & Vehicle Registration Certificates launched

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, on 7 September 2016 jointly launched Integration of DigiLocker with Driving Licenses (DL) & Vehicle Registration Certificates (RC) in New Delhi.
•    The new service will end the need of people carrying around physical copies of their RCs and DLs. 
•    They can instead access digital copies of the same on their mobile phones via the DigiLocker mobile app.
•    Driving Licenses and Vehicle Registration documents can now be issued directly to the DigiLockers of individuals in digital formats.
•    These digital copies can be shared with other departments as identity and address proof.
•    DigiLocker was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2015.
•    It aims at transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
•    It is a platform for issuance and verification of documents and certificates digitally.
•    DigiLocker currently has 2126332 registered users with 2411702 uploaded documents and has issued over 42673232 documents as on 1 September 2016.
 

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President gives assent to the Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014

President Pranab Mukherjee on 8 September 2016 gave his assent to the Constitution 122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 as per Article 111 of Constitution of India. 
•    With this assent, the bill becomes law and allows rolling out a new indirect tax regime.
•    After the Presidential assent, the bill will be notified to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council that will decide the tax rate, cess and surcharges. 
•    The council to be headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will comprise of state Finance Ministers.
•    The GST is a single indirect tax, which will subsume most of the Central and State taxes such as the Value Added Tax (VAT), excise duty, service tax, central sales tax, additional customs duty and special additional duty of customs.
•    The bill passed by both houses of Parliament in August 2016 and ratified by 19 states was sent to the President’s secretariat. 
•    The states that ratified the bill include Assam (first to ratify), Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Haryana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Telangana, Goa, Odisha, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
 

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Premium Railway Fares hiked upto 50 % in New Dynamic Pricing Model


Passengers travelling by Rajdhani, Shatadbi and Duronto trains will have to shell out between 10 and 50 per cent more under a dynamic surge pricing system to be introduced from September 9, aimed at raking in Rs 500 crore more during the current financial year.
•    The base fare for the three premium trains will be on flexi fare system, Railway Board Member.
•    There are total 42 Rajdhani trains, 46 Shatabdi and 54 Duronto trains and railways expect to garner about Rs 500 crore from the new fare structure in these trains.
•    The passenger revenue target for the current fiscal is Rs 51,000 crore as against Rs 45,000 crore in the last fiscal, an increase of Rs 6000 Cr for 2016-17.
•    For II AC and Chair Car, the maximum hike will be 50 percent while for III AC, it will be 40 percent.

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WHO certifies India Yaws, Maternal & Neonatal Tetanus free

India on 6 September 2016 received certificates from World Health Organization (WHO) recognizing the elimination of Yaws and Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) from the country.
•    Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum pertenue.
•    It is spread by direct contact with the fluid from a lesion of an infected person.
•    The disease is most common among children, who spread it by playing together.
•    The disease infects only humans.
•    Neonatal tetanus is a form of generalized tetanus that occurs in newborns.
•    Infants who have not acquired passive immunity from the mother having been immunized are at risk.
•    It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument.
•    The disease mostly occurs in developing countries, particularly those with the least developed health infrastructure. It is rare in developed countries.

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Union Government Launches #Gas4India Campaign to Promote Use Natural Gas in the Country

The Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today launched #Gas4India  campaign, aimed at promoting the use of gas in the country. 
•    Public and private sector companies working in the sector have joined hands to promote the natural gas sector.
•    #Gas4India  is a unified cross-country, multimedia, multi-event campaign to communicate the national, social, economic and ecological benefits of using natural gas as the fuel of choice to every citizen who uses, or will use in the near future, gas in any way- cook, travel, light their homes, and power their business.
•    The campaign includes social engagement via Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, and its official blogsite, as well as hyper local, offline events to directly connect with consumers through discussions, workshops and cultural events. 
•    Shri Pradhan launched the website, Twitter handle, facebook page and Theme song of the campaign.

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