Source: Click Here

• The US has announced plans to send forces to Saudi Arabia in the wake of attacks against the country's oil infrastructure.


• Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told reporters the deployment would be "defensive in nature". Total troop numbers have not yet been decided.


• Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attacks against two oil facilities last week.

Source: Click Here

• Millions of people around the world held a global climate strike, inspired by activist Greta Thunberg.


• Protesters across continents waved placards and chanted slogans in what could be the biggest ever demonstration over global warming caused by humans.


• "Our house is on fire", Ms. Thunberg said at a rally. "We will not just stand aside and watch."


• The day began in the Pacific and Asia and culminated in a massive demonstration in New York.

Source: Click Here

• Tear gas has been fired to disperse demonstrators in Egypt, at some of the first protests since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2014.


• Hundreds of Egyptians filled Tahrir Square in Cairo - a key site of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution - demanding his resignation.


• Demonstrations also reportedly took place elsewhere around the country.


• The protests are in response to corruption allegations against President Sisi's government.

Source: Click Here

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced Israeli media headlines suggesting power is slipping from his grasp after an election in which he trails his main rival with nearly all votes counted.


• The right-wing leader failed, for the second time in five months, to secure a clear election victory and the centrist Blue and White party led by ex-armed forces chief Benny Gantz rebuffed his calls to join a unity government.

Source: Click Here

• Children across Asia and the Pacific kicked off what are set to be the largest global climate protests in history, demanding adults act now to stop environmental disaster.


• From Sydney to Seoul, Manila to Mumbai, children heeded the rallying cry of fellow teen activist Greta Thunberg and shut their textbooks in a collective call to action.

Source: Click Here

• U.S. President Donald Trump has said he does not feel the need to strike a trade agreement with China before the next year’s presidential elections, emphasizing that he is looking for a complete and not a “partial deal” with Beijing.


• The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a bruising trade war since Mr. Trump in March last year imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 % on $250 billion of Chinese goods.

Source: Click Here

• In a first of its kind discussion in the Army, the Jaipur-based South Western Command will discuss ways of incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mechanised forces at an internal seminar next week.


• “We will be discussing the concept of AI and disruptive technologies and how it can help us become more effective and more lethal.


• We can use AI in the next decade or so to assist in decision making. We are trying to link it to mechanized warfare,” said South Western Army Commander Lt. Gen. Alok Keller.

Source: Click Here

• In an effort to “re-energise” ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off his visit to the United States with a major LNG investment deal which is expected to be announced right at the beginning of his visit.


• His first engagement as he lands in Houston, Texas will be a roundtable with top executives of 16 oil and gas companies, including LNG major Tellurian Inc. that is developing a $28 billion LNG terminal project called Driftwood in Louisiana.


• In February this year, Indian PSU Petronet LNG inked an MoU with Tellurian to buy an equity stake in the project, and industry insiders say officials are rushing through the details in time for Mr. Modi’s meeting.

Source: Click Here

• The government reduced the income tax rate for companies by almost 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent and offered a lower rate of 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms to boost economic growth from a six-year low.


• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the reduction in tax rates has been done through an ordinance to an amendment to the Income Tax Act.


• "In order to promote growth and investment, a new provision has been inserted in the Income Tax Act, with effect from the financial year 2020.

• All domestic companies to be allowed to pay corporation tax at the rate of 22% (effective rate 25.17% including cess and surcharge).


• This would be subject to the condition that these companies do not avail of any tax incentives or exemptions. Moreover, no Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) would be imposed on these companies.


• Any new domestic manufacturing company, incorporated on or after October 1, 2019, will be allowed to pay corporation tax at the rate of 15% (effective rate 17.01%). No MAT will be imposed on these companies either.


• This will be subject to the condition that the company does not avail of any tax incentives or exemptions and commences production by 31 March 2023. Companies that are availing tax holidays at present can join the new regime once their tax holiday period ends, announced the minister.


• To provide relief to companies that continue to avail of exemptions and incentives, the rate of MAT has been reduced from 18.5% to 15%.


• Enhanced surcharge introduced by the Finance Act 2019 shall not apply to capital gains arising on sale of equity share in a company/unit of the equity-oriented fund or unit of business trust liable for a securities transaction tax, the FM announced.


• The enhanced surcharge shall not apply to capital gains on the sale of any securities, including derivatives, in the hands of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs)


• Relief to listed companies which have already made a public announcement of buyback before 5th July 2019. No tax on buyback of shares in case of such companies.


• The finance minister also announced an expansion in the scope of CSR activities. The companies can now spend 2% of the money on state or union govt incubators, PSUs, state universities, IITs, public-funded entities.

Source: Click Here

• Dates for the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be announced by the Election Commission at noon.


• Dates for polls in Jharkhand, the third state where elections are due, will not be announced along with the two states.


• Polling in Maharashtra and Haryana could be held before the Diwali festival on October 27, sources had said.


• The moment the dates are announced, the model code of conduct will be in place in these states.

Source: Click Here

• The Lucknow to New Delhi ticket prices for IRCTC's Tejas Express will be Rs. 1,125 for AC chair car and Rs. 2,310 for executive chair car, officials said.


• A ticket on the reverse journey will cost Rs. 1,280 for AC chair car passengers and Rs. 2,450 for those opting for executive chair car, they said.


• The price for AC chair car tickets from Lucknow to Kanpur will be Rs. 320 in AC chair car and Rs. 630 for executive chair car, while the Lucknow to Ghaziabad fare will be Rs. 1,125 in AC chair car and Rs. 2,310 for executive chair car.

Source: Click Here

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all universities and colleges in the country to appoint and promote faculty members on the basis of its new list of approved journals, in which the higher education regulator has de-recognised names of all predatory papers.


• In the new UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics) list, compiled by a team of experts including scholars and subject experts from various academic councils, around 800 verified and genuine journals have been included.


• The previous list had over 5,000 journals and nearly 88 percent of them were found to be predatory. CARE is a government-appointed body.

Source: Click Here

• Controller of Examinations, Bankura University, has released the results for Undergraduate exams today.


• The varsity has released the provisional results of all UG courses (Honours and Programme) of semesters two and four for the examinations held for the session 2018-2019.


• The Bankura University result has been published on the University portal. The results are available at bankurauniv.ac.in.

Source: Click Here

• Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad's decision to release PhD admission notification without the provisions of reservation for the 2020 session has drawn ire from various corners.


• The admission process for the PhD, which is a full time residential programme, began on September 10.


• Siddharth Joshi, a Fellow of IIM Bangalore and Deepak Malghan, Associate Professor at IIM Bangalore, while writing a letter to IIM-A director Errol D'Souza in this regard said the decision is "In clear violation of the IIM Act (2107) that granted unprecedented autonomy to IIMs".

Source: Click Here

• Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC) has invited online applications for the posts of assistant statistical officer and assistant research officers (statistics) in different departments of UP government.


• There are a total of 904 vacancies in total. Candidates can apply online at upppsc.gov.in.


• There are a total of 623 vacancies for ASO while the other 281 vacancies are there for ARO (Statistics). The last date to apply is October 9, 2019.
 

• Applicant should be between 21 to 40 years of age. A date for calculating cut off age is 01/07/2019.

Source: Click Here

• Staff Selection Commission (SSC) will release the official notification for stenographer group C, D recruitment 2019, September 20.


•  Earlier, SSC had to release the stenographer group C, D notification on September 17 which was postponed to September 20.


• With the release of notification, SSC will also start accepting online applications. The last date to apply is October 20, 2019.

Source: Click Here

• The HRD Ministry has called a meeting of its Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on Saturday and discussions on giving shape to the new National Education Policy is on the agenda, sources said.


• Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' and education ministers of the states will be present at the meeting of the CABE, which is considered the most important educational advisory body of the government.

Source: Click Here

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), unveiled a framework on harmonisation of Turn Around Time (TAT) for resolution of customer complaints related to failed transactions across all authorised payment systems and compensation for such transactions.


• The central bank said the framework will result in customer confidence and bring in uniformity in the processing of failed transactions, which have not been fully completed due to any reason not attributable to the customer.

Source: Click Here

• Asserting that the Reserve Bank of India is more than autonomous, Governor Shaktikanta Das, on Friday, said that though the central bank engages with the government in free and frank discussions, there is no interference from it when it comes to taking decisions.

Source: Click Here

• Dinesh Kumar Khara, Managing Director, State Bank of India, said that bank credit must grow 12 per cent on year-on-year basis till 2024 if India has to become a $5-trillion economy.


• Bank credit, which is at ₹98-lakh crore at present, should go up to ₹400-lakh crore to be able to achieve the target.


• Supporting the mega bank merger move by the Finance Ministry, he said that the move would help strengthen the country’s banking system and help achieve the target of becoming a $5-trillion economy.

Source: Click Here

• Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd said it will raise up to Rs 3,000 crore by issuing bonds to augment its long-term resources.<


• The secured redeemable non-convertible debentures will be issued on a private placement basis to persons who are specifically addressed through communication, HDFC said in a regulatory filing.

Source: Click Here

• Rupinder Pal Singh made a long-delayed return to national duty after being named in the Indian hockey side for the upcoming Belgium tour.


• The experienced defender and drag-flicker, whose last major outing was the 2018 Asian Games before being relegated to the sidelines, was included in the 20-member squad for the five-match series, the last outing for the team before the Olympic Qualifiers in November.

Source: Click Here

• Reigning junior world champion Deepak Punia on Saturday became the fourth Indian to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after moving to the 86kg semifinals at the World Wrestling Championship in Nur Sultan.


• Competing in his maiden senior World Championship, Deepak locked the quota after prevailing 7-6 in a tense semifinal against Colombia's Carlos Arturo Mendez.

Source: Click Here

• Dominic Thiem and Jack Sock won their singles matches as Team Europe and Team World shared the spoils in the day session on the first day of the Laver Cup here.


• Team Europe struck first as Austrian Thiem beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 5-7, 13-11, saving three match points in the super tie-break.


• Thiem, ranked fifth in the world, needed only one break of serve to take the opening set, but the 20-year-old Shapovalov fought back to break twice in the second set to tie the game at one set apiece.

Source: Click Here

• Bharat bags an award at Dada Saheb Phalke Awards 2019. Superstar Mahesh Babu wins the best actor award for Bharat Ane Nenu. This is the first year of Dada Saheb Phalke Awards South.

• BEST ACTRESS: Anushka Shetty for Bhaagamathie


• OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR (MALE): Yash for KGF Chapter 1


• BEST ACTOR IN NEGATIVE ROLE: Jagapathi Babu for Aravindha Sametha


• BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rathnavelu for Rangasthalam


• BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR: DSP for Rangasthalam


• OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR (FEMALE): Keerthy Suresh for Mahanati


• BEST DIRECTOR: Sukumar for Rangasthalam


• BEST DEBUT FEMALE: Payal Rajput for RX 100

Source: Click Here

• Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Shri Pralhad Joshi conferred The National Geoscience Awards for the year 2018 in New Delhi to 22 scientists for their outstanding contributions in geoscience fields, mining and allied areas in the country.


• The awards were given in 10 disciplines covering the areas such as Mineral exploration, Groundwater exploration, mining technology, Mineral beneficiation, Sustainable mineral development, Basic and applied geosciences, Geo-environmental studies and Natural hazards investigation.

Source: Click Here

• Ajoy Kumar, who joined the AAP after quitting the post of Jharkhand Congress chief, was appointed as the party's national spokesperson.


• Kumar joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the presence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.


• AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said Kumar has been appointed as the party's spokesperson.

Source: Click Here

• India's largest domestic airline, InterGlobe Aviation Limited operated IndiGo, on Friday said that the board of directors of the airline has approved the appointment of advocate Pallavi Shardul Shroff as an independent woman director in the company.


• Shroff, who's a managing partner at law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, has been inducted in the airline's board, with effect from, IndiGo said in a statement.

Source: Click Here

• The Board of Directors (BoD) of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI Bank) approved the appointment of Samuel Joseph Jebaraj as Deputy Managing Director (DMD) for a period of 3 years with effect from succeeding KP Nair.


• This is the first major appointment on the Bank’s Board after Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired a majority stake of 51% (January 2019) in the bank.


• He currently serves as Chief General Manager of the Loan Administration and Human Resources Management Groups of the Bank.

Source: Click Here

• The Congress appointed Supriya Shrinate, who was the party's candidate from Maharajganj in the Lok Sabha polls, as a spokesperson.


• Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the appointment of Supriya Shrinate as spokesperson of All India Congress Committee, a statement issued by the party's communication department chief Randeep Surjewala said.

Source: Click Here

• Vice President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu released the book in New Delhi named ‘Himalayan Odyssey’ written by Member of Parliament (MP) Veerendra Kumar.


• The book is an English translation of the Kendra SahityaAkademi and Kerala SahityaAkademi award winning Malayalam original ‘Haimavathabhuvil’ by Veerendra Kumar, who is also the Chief Managing Director(CMD) of Mathrubhumi.

Source: Click Here

• Book titled ‘Turbulence & Triumph: The Modi Years’ jointly authored by Rahul Agarwal and Bharathi S Pradhan is set to release in October 2019.


• It is published by Om Books International. It depicts the journey of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from this young days to becoming 14th prime minister of India.


• A new book titled “Being Gandhi” written by award-winning author Paro Anand will be released on September 21, 2019.