On September 25, 2019 the 23rd edition of the trilateral maritime exercise of India, Japan and the United States(US) named “Malabar 2019” exercise begun at Sasebo, Japan.Indian participation: India fields 6,100-tonne stealth frigate Indian Navy Ship(INS) Sahyadri, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan along with first time deployment of Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its outlook (Asian Development Outlook 2019) for India’s economy with growth now expected at 6.5 per cent in fiscal year (FY) 2019 and 7.2 per cent in FY20. In July, ADB had forecast 7 per cent growth for FY19 and 7.2 per cent in FY20. India’s fiscal year starts on April 1 and ends March 31 of the next calendar year

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Asset Management Company (AMC), has been appointed as the new chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

SBI Life Insurance has signed a corporate agency agreement with city-based Repco Home Finance Ltd to offer the company’s range of products to RHFL customers.

• As many as 17 Indian companies, including Infosys, TCS, and HDFC, have been named in the list of World’s Best Regarded Companies compiled by Forbes.
• IT major Infosys has been ranked third in the list of World’s Best Regarded Companies, along with global payments technology company Visa and Italian car-maker Ferrari on the first and second position, respectively.
• Infosys jumped to the third spot from 31st position in 2018. The other top ten companies in the list for 2019 are Netflix at the 4th position, followed by PayPal (5), Microsoft (6), Walt Disney (7), Toyota Motor (8), Mastercard (9), Costco Wholesale (10).

The two southern-most states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have decided to form a panel to resolve water sharing issues. An inter-state committee comprising five members from each side will be formed to sort the difference between the two states.

The eighth IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2019 was released on 25 September 2019. Reliance Industries’ Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List. He has topped for the eighth consecutive year, with a net worth of Rs 3,80,700 crore.

The leaders across the globe were invited to the summit with concrete, realistic plans to enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.

Payal Jangid of Rajasthan has been awarded the ‘Changemaker Award’ by the Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation for bringing change in society. Payal Jangid was given this honor because of the efforts made by her to stop child marriages in her area.

• India and the United States are set to hold their first tri-services exercise code-named “Tiger Triumph” at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in November this year.India-US tri-services ”Exercise Tiger Triumph” is being organised under the aegis of the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff.
• Final Planning Conference (FPC) for India-US Tri-Services Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) concluded at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command. This is the second such tri-service exercise to be conducted by India with any other country after Russia.

SEBI has imposed a penalty of over Rs 22 crore on Aurobindo Pharma and its promoters. They have been penalized for violating insider trading norms. The regulator had conducted an investigation into the trading in the scrip of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. SEBI found that these entities purchased shares while in possession of the UPSI pertaining to Aurobindo, and made unlawful gains.

Madhuri Dixit has been chosen as ‘goodwill ambassador’ by the Chief Electoral Officer in Maharashtra to create awareness among people about the importance of voting. State Assembly polls are scheduled for October 21, 2019 and results will be declared on October 24, 2019. Dixit will be seen in a video titled ‘Let’s Vote” speaking about the democratic process and role of voters in the development of the country.

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of Shyam Srinivasan as the Managing Director and CEO of Federal Bank for another year, giving him a full decade as the head of the private sector lender.His re-appointment is with effect from September 23 this year until September 22, 2020

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was named for the winner of Dada Sahab Phalke award, which is Indian cinema’s highest honour for an artist.

According to the report, “The burden of child and maternal malnutrition and trends in its indicators in the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017” published in a monthly journal of the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health by India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Malnutrition Collaborators , two-thirds of the children below 5 years deaths in 2017 (706,000 out of 1.04 million) in India are still attributable to malnutrition. However, the deaths caused by malnutrition have shown a much smaller decrease to 68.2% in 2017 from 70.4% in 1991.

The National Unity Day 2019 will be celebrated across India on October 31, 2019 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This year, the day will witness the launch of ‘Sardar Patel National Unity Award’.

Author Neha J Hiranandani’s book titled Girl Power: Indian Women Who Broke The Rules was released. The new book elaborates the struggles and achievements of stories of 50 Indian women role models. The book includes the contemporary women like Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, Actress Priyanka Chopra, Subhasini Mistry, Chandro Tomar. It also includes historical figures like queen Abbakka of Chowta dynasty.

On September 23, 2019 the union minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences,Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched ‘UMMID’(Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders) initiative designed on the concept of “prevention is better than cure” to make efforts to tackle genetic diseases inherited by new born babies in New Delhi.

Tejas Express, India’s first corporate-run train will be launched on October 4, 2019. The train will run from Lucknow to Delhi. The train will be operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Ponung Doming, created history after she became the first woman officer from Arunachal Pradesh to hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. She was elevated to the post of a Lieutenant Colonel on 23 September 2019. Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami became the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force to be elevated as the Flight Commander of a flying unit in August 2019.

The Rajasthan government has issued a notification declaring 40 villages in four districts of the state as “lacking” taking into account the amount of damage to crops owing to heavy rains. These villages were declared inadequate on the basis of Girdawari report of rabi crop 2019.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh embarked on a 2-day visit to Chennai on 24 September 2019 to attend the investiture ceremony of Indian Coast Guard. The Defence Minister will also be taking part in the commissioning ceremony of the ship ‘ICGS Varaha’. On September 19, Singh had scripted history by becoming the first Defence Minister to fly the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’.

• Director Zoya Akhtar’s musical drama Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt has been selected as India’s official entry to the Academy Awards in the foreign film category for next year. India has submitted films for the foreign film category at the Oscars since 1957, a year after the incorporation of the category.
• The award is given annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US that contains primarily non-English dialogue.
• In the recent past, India submitted films such as Village Rockstars, Newton and Barfi! to be considered for nominations, but only three films made it to the final list — Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay! (1988) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan (2001). Mother India was India’s first submission.

Delhi government has announced a scheme under which “Pink tickets” will be issued to women passengers for free travel in DTC and cluster buses till March 2020.

Murphy addressed the 1st Sustainability Innovation Summit held in Hyderabad, Telangana. The summit was organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in partnership with the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Limited (TSREDCO), Department of Energy, and Government of Telangana.

Co2

Vinod Rai, Chairman of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), recently announced that the BCCI’s elections have been rescheduled to October 23, 2019 due to the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Madhya Pradesh government will appoint filmstar Govinda as brand ambassador to promote state’s traditions and tourist places.The government also has plans to set up a film city in the state and plans to promote Madhya Pradesh as a destination for film making.

Bharti Airtel has tied up with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer a pre-paid plan with insurance protection cover for its customers.

The Election Commission of India appointed two ex-Indian Revenue Service officers – Ms. Madhu Mahajan and B Murali Kumar as Special Expenditure Observers for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra. They will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken.

The special observers will supervise and monitor the work being done by the electoral machinery and ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken against all persons and entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash, liquor, and freebies.