• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, exchanged the MoUs with the Tata Trusts and Dell to provide a technological platform for nation wide prevention, control, screening and management program of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

• Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The theme for International Day of Peace 2018 is “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70”.

• Anushka Sharma received the Smita Patil award for best actor.

• Private sector lender Yes Bank has paid 38 crore in fines to the GST department for alleged violations in domestic remittances. The issue relates to remittances by migrants from urban pockets to their homes in rural areas. The tax department feels the bank has violated norms and underpaid the tax. Note: Yes bank Headquarter-Mumbai, CEO- Rana Kapoor.

• Insurance regulator IRDAI has raised the minimum insurance cover for owner-driver to 15 lakh for a premium of Rs.750 per annum. Currently, the capital sum insured (CSI) under this section for motorised two-wheelers and private cars/commercial vehicles is Rs.1 lakh and Rs.2 lakh, respectively. Note: IRDAI Chairman- Subhash Chandra Khuntia.

• Rima Das’ National Award-winning feature ‘Village Rockstars’ has been chosen to represent India in the Best Foreign Language category at the 91st Academy Awards next year, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced. Note: Hindi film Newton was India’s official submission to the Oscars last year.

• World Bank Board has endorsed an ambitious five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for India, which aligns with New Delhi’s objectives of high, sustainable and inclusive growth. The framework is expected to bring between 25 and 30 billion US Dollars in financial support to India.

• The Women’s Boxing World Championships, to be hosted by India after more than a decade, will be held from November 15-24, 2018, in New Delhi.Note: India will host the Men’s World Championship for the first time in 2021.

• Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died at a military hospital following a period of illness

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana from Ranchi, Jharkhand. Under this scheme, over 10 crore families will be provided health assurance worth five lakh rupees each, every year.  This is the world’s largest government-funded healthcare program targeting more than 50 crore beneficiaries.

• Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the Maldives’ presidential election, a surprise defeat for President Abdulla Yameen.

• The BRICS’ New Development Bankhas approved a $525-million loan for infrastructure projects in India. Note: BRICS bank CEO -K V Kamath, Headquarter- Shanghai, China

• State-run telecom firm BSNL has inked a pact with Japan’s Softbank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet of things (IoT) technology in India.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Pakyong Airport in Sikkim on September 24, nine years after the foundation stone was laid. The airport is the hilly state’s first and only airport.

• Andhra Pradesh has topped the charts among States in terms of “Ease of Living Index” rankings launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).  It was followed by Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

• Renowned filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passed away in Mumbai. Lajmi, a director, producer and screenwriter, was known for her women-oriented films like “Rudaali”, “Daman”, “Darmiyaan”.

• The Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee headed by its former judge Justice Amitava Roy to look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country and suggest measures to deal with them.

• Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest and Climate change, Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated air pollution control device WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit) for traffic junctions at ITO intersection and Mukarba Chowk in This device can purify the air in an area of 500 square meters.

• Luka Modric broke a decade of award dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after being crowned world footballer of the year by FIFA. Modric was voted FIFA’s best player in the 2017-18Messi and Ronaldo were the only winners of world soccer’s main individual award from FIFA in various guises since 2008, both winning five titles each. Note:  FIFA Headquarter – Zürich, Switzerland, President – Gianni Infantino.

• Nepalis set to become the first country in the world to double its tiger population as part of the World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF) ‘Tx2’ programme which aims to double the number of tigers all over the world. The government of Nepal announced on September 23, 2018, on the occasion of National Conservation Day, that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the nation, nearly double the number (235) from around 121 in 2009.

• The Supreme Court declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid.The Supreme Court ruled that linking the Aadhaar card to PAN card is mandatory and is needed for filing income tax returns. The apex court, however, said Aadhaar is not mandatory for opening bank accounts and linking with existing accounts. The Supreme Court also struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed private companies to avail Aadhaar data.  Note: Chairman, UIDAI- Satyanarayana, CEO, UIDAI- Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey

• The Supreme Court agreed to live-streaming and video recording of court proceedings. The Supreme Court allowed live streaming of cases of Constitutional importance that take place in the Court of the Chief Justice of India.

• UN declared the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace.

• The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)landed a pair of rovers on an asteroid, marking the world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface. The two rovers Hayabusa2 managed to land on the asteroid.

• India ranks 158th in the world for its investments in education and health care, according to the first-ever scientific study ranking countries for their levels of human capital. Finland topped the list, followed by Iceland and Denmark.

• Argentina has received $57.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the biggest loan package ever from the global body aimed at boosting the country’s struggling economy.

• World Tourism Day is observed every year globally on 27th September. “Tourism and the Digital Transformation”is the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD). Hungary is the host country for this year’s WTD.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded with the UN’s highest environmental honour, also given to five other individuals and organisations, for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use plastic by 2022. Six of the world’s most outstanding environmental changemakers have been recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. Note: International Solar Alliance Headquarters- Gurugram, India. ISA Founded in- Paris, November 2015.

• No Indian institution figures in the top 250 of the Times Higher Education’s (THE) world university rankings 2019, though the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has retained its position as the highest-ranked centre in the country.

• The Reserve Bank of India allowed banks to dip further into statutory cash reserves in a bid to ease a liquidity squeeze afflicting the nation’s money markets. As per the RBI, banks could ‘carve out’ up to 15% of holdings under the statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements as compared to 13% now.

• The government has set up an eight-member Lokpal Search Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. The panel will recommend the names for the Chairperson and Members of the Lokpal to the Lokpal Selection Committee.

• World Rabies Daywas celebrated on 28 September.

• Tourism Minister K J Alphons presented National Tourism Awards 2016-17 in New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh bagged the first prize in state category for comprehensive development of tourism.

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM–U),has partnered with Google to launch the ‘Loo Review campaign’ to encourage all local guides in India to rate and review public toilets on Google Maps.

• In Madhya Pradesh, the first corn festival of the country was held in Chhindwara. Madhya Pradesh is one of the largest corn producing states in India, with Chhindwara being the highest corn producing district.

• World Heart Day was observed on 29th September.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Bandhan Bank from opening new branches and also ordered freezing of the bank’s CEO salary over failure to stick to shareholding rules.

• India has defeated Bangladesh to win the Unimoni Asia Cup Title 2018. Overall, this was India’s seventh Asia Cup triumph. Shikhar Dhawan was declared as the Player of the Series.

• Assam Government has become the first Indian state to offer a Wage Compensation Scheme for pregnant women working in the tea gardens of the state. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 12,000 will be given to the pregnant women so that they can take care of themselves and the unborn baby. Note: Jagdish Mukhi is the Present Governor of Assam.

• Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) launched a Flood Forecasting and Early Warning System (FFEWS) for Kolkata City. It is also India’s first comprehensive city-level FFEWS.

• According to Association of Mutual Funds of India’s (AMFI) statistics, Maharashtra tops the chart for state with the maximum penetration and Assets Under Management (AUM).  Headquarters of AMFI: Mumbai. A.Balasubramanian is the present Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds of Indian (AMFI).

• Ministry of AYUSH has set up an AYUSH Information Cell at the premises of the Indian Embassy in Romania to disseminate authentic information about AYUSH system of medicine and encourage Ayurveda practice in Romania.

• International Translation Day was observed on 30 September The theme for International Translation Day 2018 is “Translation: promoting cultural heritage in changing times”. 

• The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day.The theme for World Habitat Day 1 October 2018 is Municipal Solid Waste Management.

• The International Day of Older Persons was observed on October 1. The theme for the 2018 celebration is “Celebrating Older Human Rights champions”.

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to Award the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics to Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland“for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics”. 

• The Nobel Medicine or Physiology Prize has been awarded to James P Allison and Tasaku Honjo “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.”. This is for the first time that no Literature Prize will be given in 70 years because of a #MeToo scandal.

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 with one half to Frances H. Arnold (USA)“for the directed evolution of enzymes”and the other half jointly to George P. Smith (USA) and Sir Gregory P. Winter (UK) “for the phage display of peptides and antibodies”.

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”. Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending the victims. Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others.

• Renowned harmonium player Pandit Tulsidas Borkar passed away.

• Yuvraj Wadhwani has won the 25th Asian junior individual squash championship title.  Yuvraj has become the second Indian to win the Under-13 title after Veer Chotrani, who had won the title in 2014 in Iran.

• The Central Information Commission (CIC) brought the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) under the RTI (Right to Information) Act.

• India-born Harvard University professor Gita Gopinath has been appointed as the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by IMF’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Note: Managing Director of IMF- Christine Lagarde, Headquarters in-Washington DC, USA.

• The sixth edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi-National Maritime Exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies, held at Simons Town, South Africa.

• Odisha government launched the State’s own food security scheme to cover the poor people. As per the provisions of the scheme, 25 lakh poor people left out from the benefits of the National Food Security Act, will get rice of 5 kg per month for one rupee. The government will spend Rs.442 crore per year for implementation of the scheme.

• The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $240 million loan for providing safe and sustainable drinking water to about 1.65 million people in three districts of the state of West Bengal affected by arsenic, fluoride, and salinity.  Note: Headquarters of ADB is in Manila, Philippines. Takehiko Nakao is Present President of the Asian Development Bank.

• Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the “Swachh Campus rankings” under various categories, as below:

1. Cleanest ‘Government Universities’: -Maharashi Dayanand University, Haryana.
2. Cleanest Residential Campuses of ‘Private Universities’:-Symbiosis International University, Pune.
3. Cleanest Technical Institutions’:- Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore.

• Justice Ranjan Gogoi has sworn-in as new Chief Justice of Indi President Ram Nath Kovind administered him the oath of office.  He succeeded Justice Dipak Misra who retired as Chief Justice of India recently.  Justice Gogoi is the 46th Chief Justice of India. He will have a tenure of a little over 13 months and will retire on November 17, 2019.

• Iraq’s Parliament has elected Barham Salihas the country’s new President. He has named Shiite Adel Abdul Mahdi as Prime Minister of the country.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)and the Government of India signed a $150 million Loan Agreement in New Delhi to establish a Global Skills Park (GSP) in Madhya Pradesh, the First Multi-Skills Park in India, to enhance the quality of Technical and Vocational Education And Training (TVET) System in the State and create a more skilled workforce.

• World Animal Day was celebrated at various parts of the world on 4th October.

• Chanda Kochhar has quit as CEO of ICICI Bank. The private lender has appointed Sandeep Bakhshi as managing director and chief executive officer for five years, subject to regulatory approval. In June, a panel was set up under retired Supreme Court judge Justice Srikrishna to probe allegations against Chanda Kochhar.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave awards to top Ranked State, District and State with maximum citizen participation based on theNational Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018 commissioned by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Haryana was ranked as the best State while Satara District of Maharashtra was ranked as the best district as per the ranking undertaken by Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018.

• Prithvi Shaw has become the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut, achieving the feat aged 18 years and 329 days against Windies in Rajkot, Gujarat. Shaw is only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to score a Test ton before turning 19.

• The government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $110 million loan to finance the upgrade of 2,800 kilometers all-weather rural roads in the State of Madhya Pradesh under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program (PMGSY).

• According to an international survey, India’s overall ranking on the government’s adoption of e-payments has moved up to 28th in 2018, from 36th in 2011.

• The 36th National Games in Goa will be held from March 30 to April 14 next year. Shooting and cycling events will be held in New Delhi as Goa does not have facilities for these two sports.

• Alphonso Mango from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and other adjoining areas in Maharashtra, finally gets a Geographical Indication (GI) Tag. A Geographical Indication or a GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. The king of mangoes, Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra, is in demand in domestic and international markets not only for its taste but also for pleasant fragrance and vibrant colour.  The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.

• World Teachers’ Day was celebrated globally on 5th October. The theme for this year’s WTD is “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher”.

• Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyibecame the first person to be stripped of the honorary Canadian citizenship for her role in gross human rights violations against the Rohingya people.  The Canadian Senate formally revoked the symbolic honour that was bestowed on Suu Kyi in 2007.

• The Reserve Bank of India has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.5%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 6.25%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%.

• In a historic day for India, Northeast and Assam Petro-chemicals, a state-owned company launched Asia’s first cannisters based and India’s first “Methanol Cooking Fuel Program”.

• Reliance Health Insurance,a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital,  has received final approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business. The new company will commence operations by the December quarter of 2018.

• Apple displaced Google to become the top brand in the world in 2018 while Facebook, mired in data breach controversies, fell to ninth place in the top 100 brands globally.

• The 3rd Youth Olympic Games has officially begun at Buenos Aires, Argentina. 16-year-old Manu Bhaker is leading the Indian team in the opening ceremony as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the games. Note: Official Mascot of 3rd Youth Olympic Games- Pandi.

• Mohammad Mustafa is the present CMD of SIDBI. SIDBI Headquarters:  in  SIDBI was set up on 2nd April 1990 under an Act of Indian Parliament.