Current Affairs 5th September 2017

Current Affairs 5th September 2017 - Important Points

• Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes the first wicketkeeper to have 100 stumpings in ODI Cricket on - 3rd September 2017
• International Day of Charity 2017 observed globally on - 5th September 2017
• Social media campaign to promote Geographical Indications launched by - CIPAM-DIPP
•  CBDT for resolving public grievances honoured by - Government
• FIFA U-17 World Cup song officially launched on - 4th September 2017
• Amritpal Singh becomes first Indian to be signed by Australian Basketball Team on - 31st August 2017
• Formation of task force for Namami Gange’s speedy implementation announced by - Nitin Gadkari
• Teacher’s Day celebrated across India on the birth anniversary of Dr S Radhakrishnan on - 5th September 2017
•  BRICS Summit adopts documents on cooperation in areas of Economy and Trade, Innovation and Customs on - 4th September 2017
•  Environment awareness initiative, Prakriti Khoj, on Teachers’ Day launched by - Environment Ministry

Current Affairs 5th September 2017 - Details

Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes the first wicketkeeper to have 100 stumpings in ODI Cricket on - 3rd September 2017

Former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper in the world of cricket to claim 100 stumpings in the One Day International (ODI) on 3rd September 2017. Dhoni surpassed the former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara after this, who had 99 stumpings in 404 ODI matches.
Dhoni made this achievement in his 301st ODI played against Sri Lanka in Colombo.  36-year-old Dhoni has also taken 281 catches apart from scoring 9657 runs so far. Dhoni has played 77 T20 Internationals and 90 Tests as well.
Dhoni has taken 256 catches and effected 38 stumping in 90 tests so far. Dhoni has taken 43 catches in T20 Internationals and affected 23 stumpings. Dhoni became the sixth Indian player to play 300 ODI matches earlier on 31st August 2017. With this, he has joined the elite club of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammed Azharuddin, Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid.

Other than that, on 3rd September 2017 Indian cricket team led by Captain Virat Kohli also won the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, 5-0.  Kohli scored his 30th ODI century on this occasion. Kohli became the joint-second in the list of most century makers’ and at present is behind of Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 49 ODI centuries in his career with his 30th century.

International Day of Charity 2017 observed globally on - 5th September 2017

The International Day of Charity was observed gobally on 5th September 2017 to commemorate the death anniversary of Mother Teresa who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her charity work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress.

Mother Teresa was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910. She went to India in 1928 and devoted herself to help the poor. She founded the order of Missionaries of Charity in Kolkota back in 1958 that became noted for its work among the poor and the dying in that city.

Mother Teresa died on 5th September 1997 at 87 years of age. She was proclaimed as a Saint by Pope Francis on 4th September 2016. 

Social media campaign to promote Geographical Indications launched by - CIPAM-DIPP

CIPAM (Cell for IPR Promotions and Management) launched a social media campaign to promote Indian Geographical Indications (GIs) on 4th September 2017. The CIPAM comes under the aegis of the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion), Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The campaign will be promoted with #LetsTalkIP which is an ongoing movement initiated by CIPAM to make more and more people aware about the importance of Intellectual Property Rights.
The promotion of GIs is in line with the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Government.

Key Highlights on GIs

• It is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• An assurance of quality and distinctiveness is conveyed by such signs, which is equally important to attribute to its origin in that defined geographical locality. Darjeeling Tea, Mahabaleshwar Strawberry, Banarasi Sarees, Blue Pottery of Jaipur and Tirupati Laddus are some of the GIs.
• GIs are of the great importance to the country as they are an integral part of the rich culture and collective intellectual heritage of India.
• It is an area of strength and optimism for India, whereby the GI tag has accorded protection to a number of hand-made and manufactured products particularly in the informal sector.
• Certain GI products also benefit the rural economy in remote areas, by supplementing the incomes of farmers, weavers, artisans and craftsmen.

 CBDT for resolving public grievances honoured by - government

CBDT (The Central Board of Direct Taxes) was honoured by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh for successfully resolving public grievances on 4th September 2017.
The CBDT was honoured to resolve grievances in the third category of the government departments getting more than 2 thousand grievances during a quarter. CBDT is the apex policy making body for the Income Tax department.

Besides CBDT, four other departments were also awarded under three categories of organisations, divided on the basis of the grievances volume received and disposed of by them.

•  The Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region department were awarded in the category of ministries or departments receiving up to 300 grievances in a quarter.
•  In addition to that, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Panchayati Raj were honoured in the category of organisations receiving more than 300 and up to 2,000 complaints in a quarter.

While speaking on the occasion, Jitendra Singh said that other departments should also learn from the mechanism developed by the CBDT for the grievance disposal.
Further he added that the number of grievances lodged with the government has already reached 12 lakh per anum and it is an indication to increase faith of  the citizens in the grievance redressal mechanism. Singh appealed to the states to make their grievance redressal mechanisms function in a more effective manner in order to achieve the same at the state level.

FIFA U-17 World Cup song officially launched on - 4th September 2017

The official song for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup football tournament was formally launched on 4th September 2017 by the Local Organising Committee and Sony Pictures Networks India in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya wrote the song, "Kar Ke Dikhla De Goal" and Pritam composed it.

The composition of the song puts forward the uniqueness and vibrancy of India while resonating with a global audience at the same time.

More about 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

• It will going to be the 17th edition for the Under - 17  FIFA World Cup, the biennial international of men youth football championship to be contested by the Under 17 national teams of the FIFA member associations.
• The tournament will be hosted by India between 6th and 28th October 2017.
• This will be the first FIFA tournament hosted by the nation.
• The final will be held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 28th October 2017.

Amritpal Singh becomes first Indian to be signed by Australian Basketball Team on - 31st August 2017

Captain of Indian basketball team Amritpal Singh created history on 31st August 2017 by becoming the first Indian player to be signed by an Australian Basketball team. Earlier, Singh had been a part of the four-member Indian team of Yadwinder Singh, Amjyot Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, who were a part of  the NBL (National Basketball League) Draft Combine in 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.

Key Highlights

• The Sydney Kings invited him later on for the Atlas Challenge 2017 tournament in China. They were greatly impressed with his performance at the Atlas Challenge tournament, where he was a part of winner team and scored a massive 17 points and 16 rebounds in the championship match.
• He will going to be a part of the Sydney Kings during their pre-season tour where they will also be taking on the game against Utah Jazz side.
• Singh is born in a village of Punjab.
• He started his career by playing for the Pune Peshwas in the Indian Basketball League.

Formation of task force for Namami Gange’s speedy implementation announced by - Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who assumed additional charge of water resources on 4th September 2017, has announced the formation of an inter-ministerial task force for the speedy implementation of the Centre’s Namami Gange mission. Along with this, The Minister has announced that the Water Resources Ministry would come out with a detailed schedule to achieve various targets under the mission in a transparent and a time-bound manner within a week only.

Further, Gadkari praised former Water Resources minister Uma Bharti to work hard and do all the ground work towards cleaning the river in the past three years and said he would try to see whether the ministry attained all the goals she had set. Ministers of state for water resources Satyapal Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal were also present in the occasion.

Teacher’s Day celebrated across India on the birth anniversary of Dr S Radhakrishnan on - 5th September 2017

Teacher’s Day was celebrated to celebrate the birth anniversary of Former President Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 5th September 2017. Schools and colleges organised various programs throughout India to honour the teachers who shaped the student lives to mark the occasion.

The Union Environment Ministry launched an environment awareness initiative by the name Prakriti Khoj, on the occasion of Teacher's Day. 
Teacher's day was started in 1962 to mark the birth anniversary of Dr S Radhakrishnan, second president of the country who was also an academician and teacher.

More about Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

• He was an Indian philosopher and statesman.
• He was the first Vice President of India between 1952–1962 and the second President of India between 1962 and 1967.
• He was one of India's most distinguished twentieth-century scholars of philosophy and comparative religion.
• His academic appointments were including professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore, the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford.
• His philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta in order to reinterpret this tradition for a contemporary understanding.
• He was awarded various high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna in 1954 (It is also the highest civilian award in India) and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.

 BRICS Summit adopts documents on cooperation in areas of Economy and Trade, Innovation and Customs on - 4th September 2017

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations signed four documents on 4th September 2017 aiming to improve and broaden cooperation mechanism and promote industrial and technical upgradation to increase economic complementarities.
The documents were signed with the hope to give a boost to trade ties among the five nations of the group.  Documents signed in the presence of BRICS Leaders during BRICS Summit - 2017 in Xiamen, China are as follows -

1. BRICS Action Agenda on Economic and Trade Cooperation
2. BRICS Action Plan for Innovation Cooperation( Between 2017 and 2020)
3. Strategic Framework of BRICS Customs Cooperation
4. MoU between the New Development Bank and the BRICS Business Council on Strategic Cooperation

These documents were signed during the summit on Action Agenda on Innovation, Economic and Trade Cooperation, Customs Cooperation and agreement with Development Bank on Strategic Cooperation.

 BRICS action plan for innovation cooperation is intending to facilitate innovation driven development for the sustainable development.
Strategic frame work of BRICS custom cooperation is meant for mutual sharing of information recombination of mutual assistance and customs control in enforcement as guiding principles.
MoU between BRICS business council and New Development Bank on strategic cooperation is for financial research and economic activities in local markets, human resource development and knowledge exchange financial institution cooperation.

Other than mentioning the Pakistan-based terror groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba the BRICS leaders called for a comprehensive approach to combat it.
This BRICS leaders declaration is being seen as a big achievement for India's campaign against terrorism emerging from Pakistan.

Key Highlights

• The leaders of all five BRICS nations convened for the 9th BRICS Summit on 4th September 2017 in Xiamen, China with a theme "Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future”. It saw the leaders coming together and discussing various international and regional issues of common concern and adopt the Xiamen Declaration by consensus.

 Environment awareness initiative, Prakriti Khoj, on Teachers’ Day launched by - Environment Ministry

The Union Environment Ministry launched an environment awareness initiative on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on 5th September 2017.
An online environmental quiz competition named Prakriti Khoj will be conducted at the national level under this initiative.
The Prakriti Khoj will be an ideal medium to reach out to young minds through a fun-filled interactive
learning mode to trigger their sensitivity towards conservation and environment protection.
This quiz will be providing a unique platform for students to measure their awareness level regarding environmental issues.
Important highlights

• The main motto of the quiz is to generate interest among school children about the science related to environment as per the ministry and to motivate children towards environment conservation-oriented lifestyles.
• The quiz will be helping to sensitize the children on the issues related to development and environment.
• The initiative will also be triggering their sensitivity towards appreciation and conservation of nature, leads to positive environmental actions at different levels.

This quiz is planned in two phases.

In the first phase, it is envisaged that maximum number of schools children under the National Green Corps (NGC) program of the Ministry should get an opportunity to participate in this environmental quiz.

Three age groups (8-12 years, 13-15 years and 16-18 years) is expected to be covered in first phase, which will be open only to Eco-clubs.

After this, based on the feedback received from the participants, the second phase of the quiz will be opened to students from all schools across the nation in the year 2018.
Quiz mode will be online through multiple choice questions. Thematic areas like biodiversity, climate change,forest and wildlife, pollution, waste management, rivers and lakes, natural history, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, international conventions such as Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Framework ,Convention on Climate Change, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora etc. have been chosen for the quiz.
A separate web portal (www.ngc.nic.in) has been developed by Ministry containing information on the quiz.
Dates of the quiz will be updated on the Prakriti Khoj portal and on the Ministry’s website.
The students from Eco-clubs specially registered on the portal will be able to participate in the qualification round from 18th September 2017 onwards.
Quiz will be organized in school premises under the supervision of Principals or the Eco-club Coordinators. Other than cash prize for the winners, all participants will be receiving an E-certificate of participation, duly signed by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change both.