Great Ganga Run 2019 flagged off in New Delhi

NATIONAL NEWS

Great Ganga Run 2019 flagged off in New Delhi

• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju flagged off Great Ganga Run-2019 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
• To connect people with water and spread awareness, Ministry of Jal Shakti organised ‘the great ganga run' in New Delhi.
• Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju along with Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat flagged of the run. A large number of people from all age groups participated in the marathon.

UNESCO to publish Guru Nanak Dev’s writing in world languages

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has decided to translate and publish an anthology of writings of Baba Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism (and also 1st of 10 Sikh Guru) in world languages to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev
• Also, National Book Trust (NBT) will publish Gurbani (various compositions by Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib) in different Indian Languages.

FACTS

UNESCO Headquarters-Paris

Centre to set up 12,500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across the country

• Union Government has set a target of setting up 12 thousand 500 Ayush Health and Wellness Centres across the country. Out of which four thousand will be set up during this year.
• AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurating an Unani Medical Centre and Siddha Clinical Research Unit at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
• Mr Naik hoped that the Unani Medical Centre and Siddha Clinical Research Unit will provide holistic health care to patients visiting Safdarjung Hospital from different parts of the country.

BANKING

World Bank to provide Rs 3,000 crore aid for food parks

• The World Bank will provide three thousand crore rupees assistance to finance, mini and mega food parks across the country.
• This will help boost farmers' income. It was announced in the 15th Indo-US Economic Summit organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce-North India Council (IACC-NIC) in New Delhi today.

FACTS

World bank Headquarter-Washington, D.C., United States

     World bank chief        -  Kristalina Georgieva

Merged entity of UBI, PNB, OBC to become operational from 1 April next year

• The amalgamated entity of United Bank of India (UBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) will come into effect from 1 April next year.
• The merged unit, likely to have a new name, will be the second largest bank in the country after State Bank of India (SBI) with a total business volume of ₹18 trillion.
• The amalgamation process will take some time and the new entity will start functioning from April 1, 2020.

Naval LCA Tejas makes successful short landing at Goa facility

• The naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas made a successful short landing with arrestor wires on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.
• This is seen as a major step forward for the delayed project as it tests modifications that will allow the naval variant of the Tejas to eventually operate from an aircraft carrier.
• Once the results of the trials on the SBTF are deemed successful, the LCA will attempt a landing on the deck of the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

APPOINTMENT

Kapil Dev appointed Chancellor of Haryana Sports University

• Cricket legend Kapil Dev will be the first Chancellor of the Haryana Sports University at Rai in Sonipat district.
• The Sports University of Haryana will be the third sports university established by a state government in the country after Swarnim Gujarat Sports University (Gandhinagar) and Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Chennai).

UN appoints veteran Indian Army officer Lieutenant-General Abhijit Guha to lead its mission in Yemen

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a veteran Indian Army official as the head of the world body's observer mission in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah.
• Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha has been appointed as the Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of the UNMHA.
• He will succeed Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard, who served as RCC Chair and head of UNMHA from 31 January to 31 July.

OBITUARY

Sivaraman Cheriyanad passes away

• Born in Chengannur on December 13, 1941, he started his career as an upper primary school teacher. Sivaraman wrote several novels, stories, besides contributing to children’s literature.
• He received the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award in 1988 and the A.P. Kalakkad Award in 2009.
• He bagged Kerala Sahithya Akademi scholarship in 1990-91 for his study on the works of writer Parappuram. He was a recipient of the National Teachers Award in 1989.

SPORTS

Sourabh Verma clinches Vietnam Open Men's Singles title

• Badminton, Sourabh Verma clinched the Vietnam Open Super 100 title, defeating China’s Sun Fei Xiang in a thrilling Men's Singles summit clash at the Ho Chi Minh City.
• Second seed Verma recovered from a mid-game slump to beat Sun 21-12, 17-2, 21-14. The match lasted an hour and 12 minutes.
• This victory marks Verma's second Super 100 win in the ongoing calendar year. He had won the Hyderabad Open earlier in August

Pankaj Advani clinches record 22nd world billiards title

• Pankaj Advani, bagged a record 22nd world title by winning a fourth straight final in the 150-up format at the IBSF World Billiards Championship.
• The 34-year-old has brought home a world trophy every year ever since returning from a professional stint in the UK in 2014.

Lakshya Sen wins Belgian International badminton title

• Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen stunned second seed Victor Svendsen of Denmark in straight games to clinch the men's singles title at the Belgian International Challenge.
• Lakshya was at his best as he notched up a comfortable 21-14 21-15 win over Svendsen in the title clash that lasted for 34 minutes.
• The 18-year-old from Almora had earlier beaten Denmark's Kim Bruun 21-18 21-11 win in a 48-minute semifinal clash on Friday night.

Kaushal Dharmamer wins Myanmar International Series

• Indian shuttler Kaushal Dharmamer clinched the Myanmar International Series title with a come-from-behind win over Indonesia’s Karono Karono in a thrilling men’s singles final.
• The 23-year-old from Mumbai, who had won the Hatzor International in October last year, recovered after dropping the opening game to outwit Karono 18-21, 21-14, 21-11 in a match that lasted an hour.