Current Affairs Updates: 2-3 September

Current Affairs 2018: Daily Current Affairs 2018 updates for IBPS, RRB, Insurance, UPSC, SSC, Railway & other Competitive Exams.

1. Indian Railways has signed an MoU with GAIL for use of Natural Gas

In order to replace Industrial gases like Dissolved Acetylene, LPG, BMCG and Furnace Oil  with environment friendly Natural Gas, Indian Railways has signed a MoU with GAIL.

• Its aim is to provide infrastructure facilities for supply of Natural Gas to Indian Railways Workshops.
• This MoU is a broad-based, in principle agreement, for the creation of infrastructure and supply of CNG/LNG/PNG for both industrial and domestic purposes.

2. G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting 2018 was held in Salta

In Argentina, the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting 2018 was held in Salta with theme ‘Building consensus for fair and sustainable development’.

• India was represented by Union Minister for Electronics and IT & Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
• It allowed India to showcase the inclusive use of digital technology by the Government to empower the people.
• It also allowed India to articulate it’s views on global issues relating to cyber security, data protection and innovation for growth.

3. SBI changes its names and IFSC codes of its branches

The State Bank of India (SBI), has changed the names and IFSC codes of 1,300 of its branches.

• The idea behind the move is to rationalize SBI’s merger with six associate banks and the Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) which came into effect from April 1, 2017.
• SBI has updated the list of branches with old and new names and IFSC codes on its website.

4. Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix 2018

Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix 2018 at Spa-Francorchamps Track in Belgium.

• Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who tops the driver standings by a 17-point lead, and secured the first position.
• Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished in the second position.
• He was followed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the third position.

5. Tahira Safdar sworn in as first woman CJ of a Pakistani high court

Justice Tahira Safdar has been sworn-in as the first woman Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court at a ceremony held at the Governor House in Balochistan.

• She will remain in this post until 4 October 2019. With this, she became the first female chief justice of any court in the history of Pakistan.
• Earlier, Safdar created history in 1982 when she became the first female civil judge in Balochistan.

6. The 4th International Ayurveda Congress 2018 was held at Leiden, the Netherlands

The 4th International Ayurveda Congress (IAvC) 2018 has been inaugurated by Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik at Leiden, the Netherlands on September 1.

• The congress would focus on promotion and propagation of Ayurveda in the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries of Europe.
• A special Seminar is also organized by the Indian Embassy titled “India-Netherlands collaboration in Healthcare, including Ayurveda”.

7. Sunil Mehta elected as new Chairman of Indian Bank’s Association

Sunil Mehta, the MD &chief executive of Punjab National Bank (PNB), has been elected as the new chairman of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) for 2018-19.

• Apart from him, Dinabandhu Mohapatra, MD & CEO of Bank of India (BoI), has been elected as IBA’s Deputy Chairman.
• The IBA is a representative body of management of banking in India and has its headquarters in Mumbai.

8. Dr. B. Vatwani and S. Wangchuk received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2018

Two Indians, Dr. Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2018 on August 31.

• The award, which is regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize, was established in 1957.

9. PM Modi inaugurated Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharamshala in Kathmandu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated a 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharamshala in Kathmandu, Nepal.

• It is a rest house for pilgrims, which is located on the banks of the Bagmati River.

10. Renowned Jain Muni Tarun Sagar ji has passed away

Renowned Digambar Jain Muni Tarun Sagar ji (51), who was popularly known for his sermons titled ‘Kadve Pravachan’, has passed away in New Delhi on September 1, 2018.

• He was born as Pawan Kumar Jain on 1967 in Damoh district of MP, and accepted celibacy and decided to lead a life of a monk in 1981.
• All his life, he spread the message of peace and non-violence in the society.